Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1914-04-17


ahmed are never given to promoters
or TO anyone else in advance of pub
llcation. Ii people who are solicited
TO buy oil stocks on the strength OF
alleged Endorsement by the govern
ment would insist on seeing publlca-
tons in which it is distinctly stated
mat oil may be found in the field
that is being promoted, or would
write to the survey at Washington
lnquiring if there are such publica-
TONS the loss of their savings wonld
be avoided.
The cleverness of some of these
promoters is nothing short of mar
Vicious. Recently a pamphlet has
come to my attention advertising So
called oil properties near Moorcroft,
Wyoming, and stating that the lands
owned by this particular company
are surrounded by a naval petroleum
reserve AS a matter of fact, the
government has never made and does
not intend to make a naval reserve
in this part of Wyoming. Certain
lands in the vicinity were at one tine
temporarily withdrawn pending ex-
animation as to their oil character.
but after biologists of the survey mad
examined them the entire area was
classified as 'no-oiI in February.
More recently a widespread ad-
Vertising campaign has been carried
on in the newspapers by a company
claiming to own oil lands east Of
Denver. Thousands of dollars must
have been expended in full-page ad-
yertisements worded with consum-
mate cleverness. Prominent in the
headings is the statement, Read
what your Uncle Sam thinks about
it. Throughout the advertisement
are paragraphs most skilfully framed
to convey the impression that gov
eminent biologists have examined
this property and reported upon it
favorably, although nowhere is such
statement directly made. So care
fully are these paragraphs worded
that after having read them once or
twice you are aim st willing to take
oath that government biologists are
enthusiastic over these lands as a
rich oil territory, when, as a matter
of fact, no government geologist
would risk 10 cents on their oil pos
sibilities. Notice, for example, the
.cleverness of this:
All of our operations are based
on our thorough investigation of the
United States government report on
the Denver basin. The governments
own biologists ought to be reliable
authority on what is in this region.
They are unprejudiced. They have
no axe to grind. Independent geolo-
gists, engineers, and oil experts
agree with the government investi-
gators. On the strength of the in
formation obtained there has been a
wild rush to secure land in the re-
gion. Who wouldn't consider this
a statement that government geolo-
gists have investigated and reported
fayorably? The letters sent out IN
response to inquiries contain many
such skilfully drawn sentences. In
recent letter to a sucker one Of
the officers states: But reports kept
coming so persistently and always
backed up with the statement that
the United States biologists had
made Investigations and reported
fayorably," that finally, after hear
ing all this for long time, we were
induced to look up these geological
reports and see for ourselves, and
sure enough we found the elaborate
map made by the government ex-
perts, together with their reports on
Denver basin He neglected to state
what those maps and reports show,
but who would notice such an omis-
sion in a letter calculated to make
man expect sudden wealth over
night? In another piece of adyertis-
ing which these men send out, it is
stated that the land lies within the
United States geological survey Of
the Denver basin and is described
by eminent biologists as being valu-
able petroleum lands Wouldn't the
ordinary reader conclude that the
eminent biologists referred to were
those of the government?
'The fact is, the geological survey
made careful study of the Denver
basin some 20 years ago and pub
lished the results in book known as
Monograph 27. At that time there
had been no successful oil develop
ment anywhere in the region exam
| ined and there is no mention in the
monograph of oil in this vicinity.
Except in the Boulder field, which
| lies 20 miles or more from this land,
no successful oil well has yet been
drilled in the region about Denver,