The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1917-11-13


Twelve girl clerks in a railroad office in
Wichita pooled their savings and bought
cheap leases in Wo9dson county at $1 $40
YOU KNOW THE REST!
THE PLAY.
The name Yates Center soon will
strike a thrill into the get-rich-over-
night hearts of Kansans.
The boom soon will be on in Wood
son county.
A party of Topeka men-the writer
was a member-took a pleasure trip
by motor car into this section of Kan
sas this week. The trip from Topeka
to Yates Center was a round of adj
miration of fields, valleys, hills and
streams On the way back the party
saw only anticlines, domes, rigs,
pumps-even the water in the peace
full creeks seemed coated with oil.
And the marvellous feature of the
whole outing is summed up in the fact
that Yates Center, the hub of the
roulette wheel that will bring riches
to hundreds, lies peacefully nibbling
her pastures and attending her picture
shows without a muscular recognition
of the wealth that gurgles beneath her
surface.
The submarines in Europe are send
ing fortunes the QSpInS. III WOOu-
son county the submarine" drills are
bringing wealth to the top.
Boom means several things. The
word originated as the sound of an
empty barrel or drum.
There are drums. in Woodson county
but they are revolving cylinders OF
rope and cable. There are many bar
rels, too-but they are not empty
they are full of oil.
WoodSon county's boom deffes the
definition, again, in that it is boom
without a noise. The oil men who are
fIocking to Yates Center cannot under
stand what has placed the Maxim
silencer on the boom down there I'M
less it is the intensiveness of the artil
Iery barrage in Ell Dorado.
At any rate there are Is producing
oil wells in the county, hundreds OF
rigs, thousands of feVerish leases and
nice little batting average of $50. The
batting average is computed from the
figures-S5 per cent of the wells sunk
have been producing. Yates center
soon will be leading the league.
In lieu of the actual general expen-
diture of money for the erection of
rigs and the maximum production in
the country the oil interested public is
engaged now in purchase of leases IN
the Woodson district Two months
ago leases were selling at 81 an acre
Then thew brought So. Now the leases
are sold at from SIS to 500 an acre,
and in many cases they are hard 70
get A large part of the county TO-
day is under lease.
ON one location ABOUT ten miles
out of Yates Center nine wells are
hooked up to one little power plant
The "creak creak'' of these pumps
standing almost deserted in the middle
of a big stretching pasture, at night
would be taken for the chirplng OF
birds. There is rear music in these
little pumps-and there is plenty or
oil to grease them. Nine wells, pump.
ing away without the attention OF
man or beast, producing about htty
barrels a day, each bringing an IN
come of more than $500 a day to the
owner.
No song bird can sing a prett1er
message to man!
This location, by the way, up until
a short time ago, was owned by
Yates Center business mana drug
gist, I believe. Things didn't move to
suit him so he unloaded his leases for
a trif1e. The purchaser set up his
rigs, shot his wells, one after another,
and he is still drilling in this pasture
The high cost of postage stamps
isn't worrying him.
The oil wells might as well be in
Alaska as far as a large part of the
population of Yates Center is con-
cerned A 100-barrel well was shot
within 200 yards of the city limits
the other day. It has all the ap-
pearances of being conner. l.. h
Hamacher, president and general
manager of the Hay Oil & Gas COM
pany of Kansas City, who is in charge
of the operation, went to plumber
to buy some materials in Yates Cen
ter and the plumber hadn't heard OF
11xr
town of 1000, too. One of the local
papers ran an item recently in dis
couragement of oil investments. The
newspapers pay little heed to the de-
velopments in their own back yards.
The newspapers, of course, are to
be CONGRATULATED upon their attitude
toward the promotion of blue-sky
methods-methods that might throw
millions into their little city-but
they apparently exhibit little concern
over the news value of their new in
dustry.
Mr.. Hamacher with C. F. Powell.
general manager of the Mccall Rash
Oil and Gas company of Oklahoma
City, has been doing some mission
airy work. the last few weeks among
the business men of Yates Center
and reports that the interest Their
mometer is rising-but very slowly.
Just east of Yates Center is one of
the demonstrations of the ancient
idea of the value of oil wells. Six
teen years ago a well was sunk N
pasture on this spot. The promoters
were hunting for gas. Instead of gas
they found oil Oil was not bringing
the price it does now and the well
was abandoned.
There that well sits" today
mute evidence of how times and val
ues- have changed. The oil is within
ten feet of the top of the casing On
the ground is a tin can attached to a
wire. Farmers in the fields for years
have let this can down in the well to
gather lust enough of the substance