Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1905-1919, 1913-03-02

their well was commenced ana bofor
the location Of the wen was known o
even determined by them,
Regarding the testimony that tn
West Rossor company paid 90 cent
an acre on their leases in the vicin
! ity of school land at GoteM, II cal
be shown that these leases had run
! for long time prior 10 this wlthou
any rental. and that payment w2i
made only on q few quarters Of lane
located IN the immediate vicinity OF
their wen.
II can be shown by other GOtebC
witnesses that my leases have not re-
tardcd the development Of the field
there. but that and my sub-lessoe'
have done more 10 proof the extent
or lack Of extent Of the field in tht
past six months than was ever done
before, our drilling not being confined
to a small area. but having been done
over considerable extent Of terri
tory.
As far as the Kiowa county lands
~ q 'hll' VI llfil l slll AAlAN llA''h ~ ANlf
own mind that there win never be a
paying oil pool at Gotobo. and thai
II the Commissioners of the Land
office SO desire they can cancel the
lease on this Kiowa county land,
l simply want the right to pull my
casing from these wells and properly
plug them. Personally | have spen,
all the money at Gotebo that ! care
to spend,
Regarding that section in Pawneo
county ] understand that Mr.. CLARK
testified that / went upon his land to
drill for oil without ever making any
attempt to settle with him for his
surface damages This is untrue.
| did make an attempt to settle
with him. ! sent a man there to set
tie the damages and Clark told this
man that he, Clark, had signed an
agreement with the school land lessces
league that he would not settle dam.
age with me at any price, but that he
would fight to keep me or the state
from developing oil on his land
l condemned enough of his land to
drill a well by proper court proceed
ing, and drilled well there which
looks like pretty fair oil wen. inn
mcdiately took up the matter with
Clark for settlement and liquidation
Of all damage done to him. and have
since paid him $2,0000.O00 in full IL
quldation of his damages.
Clark has been paying to the state.
as ! understand, at the rate Of $5S. 90
a year rent on this quarter. His en-
tire lease buildings and Improvements
are only worth in the neighborhood of
$1500.O0. ! paid him 100000 ana
let him keep his buildings and i'm
proyements and allowed him to farm
his land where it viii not interfere
with the oil operations.
My operations on school land al,
Blackwell in Kay county have been
confined as yet to sections | have
completed T. wells on these > sec
tions and am selling gas from them
ana the state is getting its royalty Of
Il ~ per cent on the gas sold.
I'm my Judgment the development on
this land will require an expenditure
Of about $S0,00O.O0. Under my con-
tract for the sale Of gas from this
land l expect to receive about $4,000
per year 1t will take me at this rate
about two years and a half from this
time to get back the cost of these
wells, and | will have then about two
years in which to make my profit
from this drilling.
1t is absolutely necessary for the
state TO lease these lands to me OF
someone else who could compete with
the Blackwell Gas company so that
the state might get its share of the
revenue from the sale of gas in that
field.
The gentlemen who testified before
this committee from Blackwell arc
of mine in the gas pro-
ducing business and naturally there is
rivalry between us
These gentlemen had an opportunity
to bid on that land. It was advertised
In the town papers, and they refused
to bid.
Recently, Mr.. Foster, who repre-
sents this company has offered to buy
one of these sections from me, but
did not entertain his proposition.
Regarding my lease Of August 18th,
1912, / would like to show this com
mttee maps showing the location OF
the lands covered by this lease. A
great deal has been said regarding the
value of this lease which ! think is
1ntrua and which I desire to ,orract