Pine Bluff daily graphic. (Pine Bluff, Ark.) 1893-1942, 1919-08-03
1lINc | AND-POOR NATIVE
Et yIiSJ HAMLET BECOME VEAL THY


rifle roar was not unlike the subter-
ranean disturbances of volcano. 1t
was magnificent spectacle nature,
calculated to inspire peculiar admira-
ton and wonder and not a little trifle
of apprehension. Visitors were mott
fled that they were not wanted with
in 500 feet Of the well. Trespassers
were warned that no matches should
be struck within half mile. Farmers
nearby were not permitted to have
fires in their stoves for several sue
cessive days. Drilling crews within
1000 feet of the gasser dared not
light match, and drilling was sus-
pendedf
Gradually the gas grew wetter and
,, the derrick darker from the stains
of crude oil. Spots of grease were
spit upon the sides of houses and
other .derricks became as speckled as
guinea eggs. Vegetation was brown
ed and then it wilted and died. Out
of the mouth of the 2O-inch casing
came solid cylinder of oil-charged
gas. It's whiteness was in admirable
contrast ID the dark brown of the
derrick. Gradually the cylinder
broadened and loosened and before it
reached halfway to the top of the tall
derrick it split into many fans, and
each fan was torn into millions of
globules that found freedom and burst
into the air. Besides this terrible
storm and beneath it men labored to
shut off the flow. Bandages dulled
the roar in their heads and protected
their ear drums. Their looked like an
impossible task. but it wasn't. After
many hours the monstrous pressure
from the bowels of the earth succum-
bed to the diversion tactics of men,
and the onster was put to sleep.
Riches Came to Few.
These Texas fields have a peculiar
ity of special interest. Sometimes a
gasser blows in product as dry as
smoke. Early in the game prepara-
tions were made to set aside such
wells as exclusive gas producers.
Then in a few days, and in some in
stances few weeks, the gas beins to
dampen and before long the entire
output is crude oil, perhaps with a
capacity of several thousand barrels
Gaily. So it is not improbable that
4 the Cosden we'll may develop into the
heaviest oil producer fthe BESIDE
mona district.
Riches have come to but few in this
district, but there is no longer any
excuse whatever for single case
of poverty among persons who are
physically able to work. AS a mat
ter of fact, because Of high prices
paid for leases over a territory with
in radius of ten miles from BESIDE
mona, every landowner has money.
Most of them have healthy bank ac-
counts A. G.. Brown, farmer living
near here, already has as much mon
ey as he can agreeablv take care of,
and he has refused $1,000 an acre
bonus for a lease on tract of zoo
acres near the producing wells. One
of the luckiest of them all is Frank
Hogg, an elderly farmer living up the
creek that bears the same name. He
has 1000 acres of land on the struc-
ture. One we'll on one tract of it is
making 1000 barrels a day, which
means a dailv income from that we'll
of SLIPS day for Mr.. Hogg. With
the structure now proven it is diff
cult to conceive how Frank Hogg can
help becoming many times million
iaire. Yet he is credited with the
statement that he had rather have
assurance that his farm would pro-
duce three-quarters of bale OF cot
ton each yaer.
Widow Acquires Wealth.
Up on hill two and one-half miles
northeast of Desdemona, skirts the
of land belonging to Mrs. Josephine
Harrington, widow of a Mississippi
farmer who moved into west Texas
twenty eight years ago. In the val
ley beyond the tract spreads to the
verge of another hill. The lease to
this land is held by the Ohio Oil and
Gas company, which paid Mrs. Her
rington the insignificant bonus OF $3
an acre and agreed to drill. A wei!
was drilled on the hill and back OF
! the Harrington cowlot. A whole year
was spent in the project and the pub
lie eventually heard that the we'll was
. drv. The valley between the two
!, hills looked like condemned territory.
Then came one of those lucky shots
lucky shots Of nitroglvcerine. The
we'll flowed 200 barrels an hour:
Mrs. Harrington was made rich ana
: she has a chance of being worth MIL
lions before DEVELOPMENT of her land
is half complete. One of her sons.
u. D. Herrington, has 1OO-acre tract
; down near Desdemona on which the
!. Pleins Oil and Gas comnanv has
we'll that makes 400 to 600 barrels a
dav. and there are five rigs now built
or building on the tract. There are
ton children in the Herrineton famliv.
Each has been apportioned his state
leaving their mother with TIA acres
} in her own name.
Dick GRAY was a. rancher Of Desde-
mona. One Of his tracts of land, con-
sistinp Of forty-eight acres lay, ." m, a
rugged hillside. ONE mile west. THIS
The leased to the Humble Oil and Re-
fining comnanv and lone before a
we'll was drilled in he sold half m
+arest in his one-eighth royalty TO me
Higginhotham Oil corouanv for $ln;-
OCO. The Humble well was shot tne
dav the CORRESPONDENT arrived anu
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