The Tabor independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1913-19??, 1914-02-26

ADOPT 1000 KIDDIES
Charles Page, Multi Millionaire Oil Operator, Spending His
Fortune Lavishly to Relieve Poor Children
and Worthy Widows. ,

had about made up his mind that there
was no Oil there, be struck the oil
sand He knew that q few feet more
or drilling would reach oil, and he
stopped the. work, told his worlSmen
that 1t was undoubtedly, q dry hole"
and paid them off and let them go.
The next day Page went alone to the
derrick, set the machinery going, and
drilled down through a few feet OF oil
sand, when, suddenly the rich oil came
gushing out. He pulled out his dr1ll,
plugged" he well so the oil would
not flow, and apparently abandoned II.
The next few weeks he spent In get
ting oil leases on the LAND surrounding
his well In all directions and when he
had secured these he went back to his
well, unplugged 1t, and invited every
one to come n see 1T.
/ It was al wonderful well. 1t flowed
1000 barrels Of oil q day n every
barrel of Il worth IS cents in cash at
the well, an income Of 500 a day TOT
Page, minus one-eighth Of the product
which went to the owned of the land as
his share.
He drilled other wells on the and
he had leased and they were good pro.
ducers, too. and one day a syndicate OF
financiers of New York. led by CON-
modore Benedict, James King DUTY
and clifford b. Harmon offered MIN
81, 000, 900 in cash for his leases. rage
asked $500. 900 more and the sale was
finally made for $1.250.000 in cash.
which was paid to Page.
Keeping His Promise.
PAGES mother was dead years before
this wealth came: but In all the time
that he had been wandering over the
west. working at first one thing ano
then another. he had never forgotten
the promise he had made her t51t some
day. when he grew big and rich. ne
would tighten the burdens OF poor
widows who had to wash to put bread
In the mouths of their hungry children
and that he o take care OF the
orphans, too. Now he was rich. and
that plan began to a definite shape
in his mind.
The Arkansas river flows over its
sandy bed just south of Tulsa and its
north bank Is a low. level fla spread
ing back to a line Of sandhills, Page
believed there was oil oeneath tnat t SiG
It was a Jungle Of brushwood and Dig
trees. owned by Indians who did not
i've on 1t. Page Eot an oil lease on a
tract Of 1t and put down a we'll. the
drill pierced a layer of coal four Feet
thick and then dropped into an i'm
mense pocket Of natural a
Again Page plugged his Wen and
quietly went and bought outright 1000
acres Of that land. extending from near
the city limits Of Tulsa seven miles
out along the river. He built an cleo
tric railway out from Tulsa through
his 1000 acres to q point seven miles
away. and there he decided to build a
city of his own and to put upon the
summit Of q hill his orphans home.
Before the home was begun Page
came across a family of eight orphaned
children In Tulsa. who were destitute
and homeless. He bought a tent, pitched
II on h summit of the hill. furnished
a. htHnH a woman Ohio InVan children
and could cook, and placed her with the
eight Davis children in the tent under
the big hickory trees. Then he built the
orphans home and other children be-
gan coming.
His cay Of Sand Springs.
At the same time he began building
his city at the end Of his railway. sand
Springs he called 1t, and he paid
bonuses for factories to come, and
graded streets and put in a waterworkS
plant and sewers.
This cost a great deal Of money and
Page had to borrow. Now the oil coun-
try is full Of financial sharks who lie
in wait for independent operators who
become pinched and close in on them,
and a year & they thought they had
Page squeezed 80 tightly that he could
not escape failure, and they began to
close their hands. Ns.
It Ia an axiom of the oil fields that
where there is gas there Is oil not far
away. South Of the river,
directly opposite Pages land, a rock
bluff arose sheer from the river bank.
It was known as Lost City, from the
peculiar formation of the limestone
rocks, that were gashed with ravines,
like the streets Of a city. 1t was a
hopeless looking place for oil, and for
that reason no oil speculator had ever
leased it or sunk a well there. For
tina same reason. too, Page was able
to get Oil leases upon nearly all OF 1t
for very small sums.