Albuquerque morning journal., 1913-12-22

I paper which goes out 90 those we hope
I % have locate and make their homes
| With us, the hardest t0 handle prop
erly is one dealing with mineral de-
7 velopmcnt Too often has the publi
been "flccccd' through some rosy
/ looking gold mine or Oh field. MIL
I Hons of dollars have been pot IN
/ places whore Tot the slightest shove
I ing of mineral wealth was made. and
many man can look back with re-
gret upon some plunge he mnde into
I the mining Industry with a hope of
getting rich quick. on the other
hand legitimate fields Of mineral
wealth have suffered from Just such
publicity az is given by fakers For
instance. oil fields which at shallow
depths have shown indications of oil
misrepresentation made by promot-
ora 90 the outside world. II Is our
Intentions 20 deal fairly with the oil
situation ia the pecos valley and 90
state the facts as nearly az anyone
who is on the outside. and who la nor
technical expert, can describe what
ig happening iu the pecos valley OH
field today
The beginning OF The Pecos valley
oh field ls lost 20 local history AZ
nearly as can be learned outcroppings
OF Oh sand or oil rock were found
west of Lakewood years and years
ago. by people who diG not know
what Il was. The story Of the rock
that would burn with fierce heat was
thought by many 20 be mere wind
story. like the local gossip which
every community hands down from
one generation to another, and the
actual instances related may be in
part mere rumors. but the facts are
that oil sand outcroppings have been
located southwest OF Artesia, AMI
there is on in the rock From the lo-
cation OF this outcropping and the oh
IN t. il is not improbable that somc
pioneer built his fire around a chunk
OF IL some chilly night ana that the
rock burned.
Tho first intimation OF oil under
wing the Artesian basin came from
q Young OH expert several years ago.
who came to Artesia seeking health.
He found traces OF oil on the watoF
from some OF the ortesian wells. The
same thing had been noticed before
but no one paid any attention to H.
This man said that the immense
pressure could be taken away ami oil
strata might be located which would
pay good returns. lie never recovered /
his health, but returned TO his home .
In the east whore he died, and today +
% ls impossible to even learn hia /
name. We didn't think much of the T
oh In those days.
oil. real oil, was first located. or
thought To- be located, in q well south I
west of Artesla, which was shot with .
a heavy charge Of nitroglycerinc six +
or seven years ago, but no oil I'm any
quantity resulted from the shot +
Then the Giant oil q Gas company /
collected cash on stock mp ana down
the country to prospect the Hammond /
well. south Of Artesia. They got on .
Some little of &c flowed out with the
water. but the only way to get any
10 amount to anything was Go pump. .
This Is The Brown well, which, after
passing through many hands, finally
became the property OF q company
of local capitalists, backed and aided /
by Judge Loyojoy Of Houston.
The history of the well is the relia-
Bile history Of the oil in the Pecos .
valley. other wells have given forth /
oil and gas. but this is the only Wei
which has been steadily pumped for {
any length Of time, and 1t has not
always been steady In It's production
After the Loveioy syndicate took
charge of this well every effort was
made 10 see what could be done with
pumping Sometimes IL pumped good
aud sometimes It admit pump at an
one day IL pumped little better than
twenty-five barrels OF OH IN twelve
hours. ana week later the machln
cry was shifted in some manner and
# wasn't producing "A drop. Why I
Well, II the drillers could tell You
why. they would be pumping every 4
day in the week The pump runs
tWrnty-four hours a day and at the f
time this article Is being written De- (
ccmbcr C., the well Is flowing q good
stream OF OIL, ana has boer for the
past seven days. The tanks are full
ana the oil Is being run off into a
dirt tank constructed when Oh was
first brought from the well. Whether
or not the men in charge have lo-
estod the real strata and put the
pump ON 1t or not we are unable TO
say II they have, the OH viii con-
tmue to come out II they haven't
IL viii stop again.
Am OF this PUMPING Is done at a
depth of from 900 TO $50 feet for the
deeper strata has never been sought F
in the pccos valley OH field. II is be-
lievcd that the men who are now
most active In developing the field
intend to develop a number Of pump
ers which viii eventually pay the
cost OF putting down a deep hole TO
where the big oil pool Hes, IL 1t Is
there. they have suffered many dis
couagements, due mainly TO the un-
reliable reports which have been cir-
oulated about the field On one oc-
easion the Associated Press news
papers carried dispatches from AR
tesla that one company had q well (
flowing, without pump, thirty barrels
a day, another we'll flowing fifty bar
rels per day ANA would sopn have in
operation a third well which was eN-
pectea to produce l50 barrels per day
The story was baretaced lie from
beginning to end. There has never f
been a. well in the district producing .
en- without pumping. Ii would be f