El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-03-15

]
/ of over 100000 barrels. and il took
just IS DAYS TO fiji IL. That lake IS
/ still full Of oil, and there are guards
who watch II day and night Ior rear
OF fire The vegetation about the
/ shores has been cut back to a distance
I Of 500 feet, and electric lights are kept
I burning every night-tO aid in guarding
{ the oil. am told that the OIL is fast
deteriOraCng. Some of IL is caklng,
and 1t is questionable whether il viii
; be worth a great deal when the time
comes for it 70 be exported or sent TO
the reflneries
The great Eusher Is now under con
ting on caps after this flow of three
months. and 1T is now connected with
/ a pipe line which carries il off to the
, tanks and the coast.
An OIL Flame 2OOO Feet High.
Another enormous gusher was the
Dos BOcas. near the mouth Of the san
GERONIMO river g. miles south of here
This was struck at 1900 feet on the 4th
of July. 1910. and It produced the great
est fireworks that have ever been seen
on independence day The oil came
forth at the rate Of about 1000 barrels
an hour almost Immediately and
caught fire from the boiler of one Of
the engines It then sent up an enOr-
nous column Of smoke ana flane,
which reached. it is said. height OF
1000 feet, the flame measuring from
40 to rs feet in width. That lame
lasted for over two months, and at
night il could be seen for more than
200 miles away on the Mexican gulf.
It illuminated the whole country, and
newspapers could easily be read at
away. It has been estimated that
something like a hundred thousand
barrels of oil were daily consumed be
fore the fire was put out.
An enormous amount OF money was
spent in the efforts TO shut off this
Dos BOcas well. The owners tried
everything to extinguish the flames.
/ but it was only when the salt water
Of some subterranean channel broke
through that they were checked rms
water became mixed with the oil and
ruined the well I am told the oil still
flows and that there is a lake Of oil
and water there which is hot now, al
though the fire itself has disappeared
The mixture is valueless.
Another well is the Casiana we'll
which produces $4,000 barrels a day,
and scattered over the field are oIher
wells which are running from 500 to
THESE are not fairy stories. have
before me the report of the United
States geological survey as to the big
gusher of 10000 barrels daily capec-
ity. II was drilled under the supervls-
ion Of Dr. @. W Hayes, who Formerly
belonged to the survey. ana ne mao
left the discouraged drlllerS Two days
before IL was struck. for q trip into the
country AS he went away on his mule
he told them that they would prob
ably reach oil within u feet or more.
He had only gone 50 miles and the
drill had gone down seven feet when
the oil and gas threw the tools out OF
the well and 1t began TO flow at a
10. 600 barrel rate It steadily in
creased. Within "a hours the flow was
20 600 barrels. The next day It was
10000 barrels. and the gain continued
until it reached 10000 barrels, after
which If subsidized 20 its present flow,
which &c has kept up for three years
Wen I'' of history The Lucas gusher
at Spindletop. Texas, flowed $4,000 bar
rels day for day OF two and the
wells is reported at slightly over 100
coo barrels. but none has approached
the yield Of big gusher No. 4.
Great Subterranean OIL lake
The Portrero del Llano, or big gush-
er. is supposed 10 have tapped a
mighty subterranean lake OF oil which
lies something like 1000 feet below the
surface OF the earth and IS capped by
a solid shell Of stone 500 feet thick.
This stone shell does not require iron
casing, and 1t so protects the reservoir
that the top can never cave in.
This is said to be the first well OF
the kind which has ever tapped a lake
Of petroleum beneath solid rock cap
ping All the great wells Of Russia
and California have been in dirt for
NATION. and they have had trouble with
caveins, fires and other handlcapS be
fore they could be controlled. and their
flow cared for.
The big gusher is supposed to come
from an entirely different field than
the Dos Bocas, and there appears to be
no connection between the giant reser-
vOir which feeds II and that which sup
plies the Dos BOcas. The presence OF
the lake must De enormous as may be
seen when II IS remembered Ihat IL
threw a column Of heavy crude oil as
big around as a nail key more than
500 feet into, the air.
Streams OF Gold.
Oil wells like these are very streams
Of gold ] am told that the oil as IL
comes forth is worth here in the stor-
age tanks about So cents a barrel At
II Ia H.
could be allowed to flow at its fun
capacity, would realize $4,000 day,
or more than S2700 every hour, or ber
tween $40 and $50 every minute. day
and night ali the year through. That
is one kind of gold that old mother
earth is nov splitting out in this part
big gusher belOngns 10 the British
This same Pearson company has
large interests all over Mexico. II has
oil wells on the isthmus of Tehuante-
pee, and il pumps that oil to its re-
finery at Minatitlan, where there is a
branch Of the Tehuantepec National
railway. That oil is intended for the
export trade. its situation giving IL
easy access TO the Pacific ports through
Salina. Cruz, while tank steamers on
the Atlantic side can be loaded at its
I am told that they are now loading
steamers which cannot cross the bar
at TuXpan, near here, by running six
inch pipes out into the sea TO where
the water has a. depth Of 60 feet. Here
the tank steamers can catch up the
flexible pipes and thus take on the
oil The Dipes are about one mile
long. and they are connected with 10
great tanks on the shore. each Of which
holds $4,000 barrels. These tanks are
filled from the big gusher have al
ready referred to, which is 80 miles
away
New OIL Fleet.
7 hear also a report that the Ham
burg American line will put on a fleet /
of oil steamers to run to TampicO and !
that ii only awaits the building OF !
enough tanks to warrant it a constant
supply Of freight OF this character. 1t !
Ia kes about q tankfUl of oil to fill a
ship. and a single steamer will carry
from 5000 to 200 barrels. Tt is
rumored that a British company has
already been organized to build fleet I
Of 50 tank steamers, each to hold 40 (
900 barrels. the same to be engaged in
the Mexican trade Connected with the
company viii be also so tanks OF the l
same capacity. and the scheme is to |
carry this oil for the fuel trade TO the ]
various points Of the United Kingdom !
and the continent
Fuel OIL for Panama
A great part OF the oil which comes /
from Mexico is well adapted for fuel /
1t is of q heavy ViscOus character and
can be used TO make steam lust as il
comes from the wells, although il can
also be refined into a good standard.
Illuminating oil A large amount Of