Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, 1910-03-26
LAKE VIEW WELL
DIES VICTORIOUS
CASING WEARS OUT AND HOLE
CAVES IN
ENORMOUS FLOW OF OIL STOPS
LIKE SPENT VOLCANO
Gusher Now in Ruins in Brief career
of Ten Days Produced About
Four Hundred Thou
sand Barrels

The Lake View gusher is dead. Lite
with 1t was too rapid to continue ul'ii
old age put it to rest naturally win
dvindling production ana WltIoue
honors. 1t had to die quickly Mlilio
II was breaking all records and making
+boneands of dollars for it's owners.
The great gusher, located IN Ifac-
tiona1 section rs, Sunset Midway hela'
after maintaining an average prouuc-
tiop of 200 barrels for ten days, wore
out It's casing yesterday morning, M
terrific gas pressure that nau lVi -.
the oil hundreds of rect INTO thc az
continued to hurl forth the tofnndtioH'
blowing out in brief space OF tline
a hole ten feet in diameter. After the
gae nressure was oVerpowered by inc
falling earth the tcn-foot mole many
cayed in and the well quit hoWlng'
The gusher now lies In RUNS anu an
other we'll will soon have TO De oIileu
But that will be easy ior 'lle '1 Co. ~ this
production will more than pay lot lui9
we'll and all the wells the company
viii probably ever drill on TINS prop
erty in the future. -.
Estimating the production for Ten
DAYS at 10000 barrels day, there Is
now in the temporary reservoirs anu II.
tanks ON the property 100000 barrels OF
oil. and estimating this production at
the market price of 65 cents a barrel
fhe Lake View Oil company of MARI
coma controlled by the Union OH con-
many of california, has realized $2oO,0O0
in cold cash, all in ten days
Most Remarkable Well
The Lake View gusher is probably
tbe most remarkable well ever drilled
I'm California, and while its total cor
LAPSE Yesterday Is taken by some 10 ne
a streak of bad luck, the consensus on
opinion is that 1t has outtopped an
predecessors and produced more Oh
in less time than any well in the state.
II started Monday morning. March Ia,
with a production modesty estimated
At 10 900 barrels a day. and by O'CLOCK
Tuesday afternoon had increased to
10000 barrels through 6 b-S-inch
casing. At this time the oil shot twenty
feet above the derrick, and it was rated
as the biggest well ever drilled in the
Sunset Midway field, it proving up sew
eraI thousand acres of land there.
The great stream Of oil continued 10
Increase until the last moment or
the gushers existence, and reached
gradually height of ESQ feet
above the derrick. Inc stream
coming in contact with the ele-
ments. scattered over wide area
and the atmosphere was filled with OIL
resembling rain. For miles around the
gusher the air was charged with the
oil. and at one time one could not ven
ture nearer than one mile without get
ting sprayed by the falling oil. During
n high wind last Tuesday the oil was
blown for miles, and a Southern Pacific
freight train was painted with the huld
from engine to caboose.
Reservoirs Resemble Lakes
The oil stored In the temporary reser-
voirs on the property resembled lakes
and the greatest care was exercised TO
keep fire from ignitng it. Ropes were
stretched and none were allowed within
without a permit. 1t was feared lest
a match or lighted cigar or cigarette
reach the oil Fortunately, however
no accidents occurred, and IN conse-
quence the production OF the gusher
was all practically saved.
When the we'll first began to flow the
oil was pumped into tanks belonging
to the Independent Producers located
on the property, and when the produc-
ton increased the surplus was run by
gravity into n number of stump holes
nearby and later a temporary reser-
Voir with a capacity of 100000 barrels
was formed of q canyon bv damming
the lower end. BY these vigorous
methods the enormous and rapidly in
creasing production did not get beyond
81 control of the men on the job and it Is
estimated that not over per cent of
the production mot including the spray
that scattered in the air. was wasted.
While the deal for the Monte Cristo
property in sections 81 and 80 by Ed
ward l.. Doheny and the American Oil
fields company was pending at the
time the Lake View gusher came In,
it was probably FASTENED to consum-
nation, an event that occurred last
Saturday by the wonderful production
of this WELL
Formed Missing Link
The Lake View it might be said.
formed the missing link in the strike
of the oil sands of the field and estab
flished beyond a doubt that the same
sand OF the Standards new gusher on
section 80, Midway, traversed the sec
tions upon which the property of the
Monte Cristo is located.
The property which sold to the
American Oilields company for 81 $780,
000 now has three wells drilling, one
of which has reached depth in excess
of 5000 feet. Another Of these wells
is more than 2100 feet deep and the
third is about 700 feet deep. OF the
three wells, and four more which the
American Oilhelds company will drill
at once. it is declared, as a reasonable
speculation, that at least one of them
will develop a giant gusher. probably
as great as the Lake View AS these
several wells progress interest grad
ually centers in them. The excitement
occasioned by the Lake View must now
trend elsewhere and on the strike of
this gusher and the Standards. it is
said. the next spectacular performance
is very likely to occur.
Therefore the blowing out and the
caving in of the Lake View gusher in
fractional section 25 has had more to
do with the Sunset Midway field than
to produce nearly 100000 barrels of oil
in ten days and net its owners some
thing like $250,000. 1t has established
record that will be hard to beat. and
in proving up a large area of land has
extended the territory of the great
gushtr region of California, raised the
price of oil property and caused to be
consummated the largest sale of the
West Side fields, that of the Monte
Cristo to the American Oilfelds com
pany for $1,500000 The gusher, now
in ruins, has turned the tide of deveI-
opment into new channels and more
than paid for itself in a thousand diff
ferent ways.
THE REAL CHANTECLER