El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1917-07-28

WI ole zoo acres Win cruue OH 70
To seek Deeper on Lake
The field has long since been prac-
tfcallv exhausted, but some peopla
here believe that there is another
great reservoir Of oil lying a thousand
feet OF more below the first and cap
itaHsts have bought up the property
with the idea Of getting that OIL IN
derstand that much OF the mound nov
belongs 70 the Gulf Refining company
and that II viii test the lower strata
within the near future
The belief as TO there being more oil
lower down is based on the fact that
other fields in this region which have
produced vast quantities Of petroleum
are now being worked at lower
depths with results better than those
from the first strata discovered This
is so Of the Humble field. Is miles
northeast Of Houston, and also OF
those Of Sour Lake and Goose Creek
sour Lake is % miles northwest OF
here. A big gusher was struck there
in 1908. and by the end Of that year
500 wells had been sunk and nine NIL
lion barrels Of oil produced The whole
field had produced about 35,000.000
barrels when il was thought to BE-
exhausted, but they have since gone
down a thousand feet OF more deeper
and srtuck a second supply At Goose
Creek they have found great beds o.
oil bearing rock at two thousand feet.
ana LueN are 1lLhAllE " 1AAa LAA1-a low
feet deeper.
am told that one company has
leased 20 acres not far from Spindle
Top hill on a contract which pro-
vides that the ground Is 20 be rested
70 a deuth OF $500 feet The tract Hes
in the direction that the oil strata j.
supposed to run Another well sunk
within plain view Of the nil haa
proved a buster" That is. II has no
oil at all although the drills were
-Ha-- m
more than three-fOurths OF mile.
New Almost Deserted.
The Spindle Top of today Is almost
deserted. It's only inhabitants are the
men who are managing the snatA
pumping stations and the -squatters'
who have taken possession Of the rat
tIe-trap buildings which spranE up in
the days Of the great oil excitement
There are less than hundred der
ricks now standing and the total out
put OF the field is not more than 500
barrels every - hours
/ went out to Spindle Top with M
Courtney Marshall the secretary and
treasurer Of the Magnolia Refining
company. which is now producing Pc
troleun and its by-products under the
direction Of the United states govern
ment The plant. 10 which I shall refer
later on is one Of the largest in the
United States. and Mr. Marshall has
been connected with 1t since its BE-
ginning
Mr.. Marshall came 70 Beaumont in
1902. when the oil excitement was az
its height. He tells me that the only
roads they had at that time were OF
mud. and the cost OF freight from
Beaumont TO Spindle Top was almost
as great as the value Of the machinery
carried Hack rates were SO pas
senger. hall bedrooms rented for 500
a month. and the country about was
covered with tents
La At "a ~ rHFr
table. fiEurativsly speaking. upon
which fortune hunters from the four
quarters Of the earth threw down
their money. The place had all the
surroundings OF a new mining camp
IL had its saloons and dance halls
Betting was done on the quiet and
fortunes were made and lost In
night For miles around the land was
bought and divided up into oil claims
To jumped from s. to tens OF thou-
sands OF dollars an acre. and some
OF the land on the hill was sold or
as much as S3oo, 900 an acre
u is said that a New York broker
stood up one night in the Crosby house
at Beaumont and offered 100000 cash
for any acre in the proved ground Of
Spindle Top hill He was laughed at
and he had the good sense to take his
money back home
Capt. Lucas tells me that one set Of
men bought an acre for $4,000 and
bored a we'll in the center They then
divided the acre into four quarters.
each represented by million dollar
company. and these companies sold
that $4,000. 900 worth of stock Tar ana
wide over the union Capt Lucas was
offered 100000 Of the stock OF nil
lion dollar company II he would allow
them 70 use his name as its president
They said that their property was as
good as that surrounding the Gusher,
but when Capt Lucas looked at IL he
found il to be utterly worthless and
refused
Has Necklace Of OF Tanks
Today a chain OF oil tanks hangs
about Spindle Top hill like a necklace
Of mighty rubies Each tank is OF
steel IL Is painted red and IL repre-
Of pigeon-bloOd gems ever gotten to-
gether. The tanks belong to the great
oil companies and their contents are
valued at millions The oil IN them
does not come from Spindle Top II
has been piped here from the other
great fields OF petroleum which have
been discovered since that OF Beau
mont was exhausted Some OF IL is
from northern Louisiana and some
from northern and eastern Texas A
great deal comes from Kansas and
Oklahoma. representing a part OF the
vast output OF what is known as the
midcontinent oil field. which is now
producing several hundred thousand
barrels every week. The state OF
Oklahoma produced one hundred and
i've million barrels last year. II led
the United States in its output Of oil
In addition to the tanks here there
are tank farms at Port Arthur, on
the Mexican gulf and there are great
refineries at both places where the
crude oil is turned into the many
forms in which il goes TO the market
1t seems strange TO speak OF tank
CONTINUED on next paEe9-