The Arizona copper camp., 1919-07-19
CoMANCHf COUNTY HISTORY

Desdemona, Tex, July 14-They
used to call it Hogtown. That was
before Joe Duke brought in the 10000
barrel we'll on the Duke farm in the
heart of the former burg that had Il
population of so.
And now let it be known to the
world that Hogtown yclept, now Des-
demona, State of Texas, is at the
present time the center of the greatest
oil boom in the world
Ranger and Burkburnett are wonder
fields, Desdemona the wonder of them
all. Here in this field the other day
the Warren-Wagoner well came in
with a $4,000 barrel gusher. This is
the greatest of them all-the marvel
well of Texas.
Spindletop in it's early days of boom
never saw the equal of Desdemona.
Transcontinental trails during the
rush to the California gold fields have
miniature replicas in the roads lead
ing to the Desdemona oil fields.
From Ranger, the town of Desde-
mona is distance of 80 miles; it is
Is miles from De Leon and miles
from German, the nearest railroad
point. Due to the absence of a rail
road prices here are much higher
than in other oil towns. To Offset
high prices, wages are much higher.
Drillers receive from $40 to $23 a
day, tool dressers from $16 to $18 per
tower. This is almost double the
scale paid in other fields.
Arizona men are much in evidence
in this field. l saw quite a number of
prominent Arizona men, some VINO
have already been successful in secur-
ing land, others after property. And
here let it be known that prices of
land have gone sky high the past two
weeks. Lots that were sold three
months ago for 500 down and $40 per
month have lately changed hands for
as high as $16,500. A quarter-acre Of
ground sold the other day at the rate
of $92,999 per acre. Such figures as
these would indicate that nothing sold
in Burkburnett up to date will ap-
proach them. Lands and lots are not
always old for cash, however, as many
of the owners prefer their profits in
oil and drilling contracts are popular
There is an outstanding fact that
cannot be disprOved, and that is Des-
demona today is enjoying boom like
of which has never been exceeded in
the history of oil booms. The town
is growing at the rate of 200 people
daily, and it would take moving pic
ture machine to record the rapid
changes in the town and landscape
hourly. No business is too small to
be represented, hole in the wall, be-
tween buildings, stands encroaching
on the sidewalks, all mark the place
of some sort of commerce.
Where the population of the town
of Desdemona was SO souls when the
first Duke we'll came in, today there
are over 5000 people. With an in
crease to the population of 200 people
daily the town will equal Rangers
present size by October 1st.
1t is not generally known that this
field is capable of producing $4,000
barrels of oil daily. The average
daily for the month of May was 10000
barrels. Since that time so many
wells have come in that no accurate
estimate of the production may be
had. The Magnolia pipe line is un-
able to take care of the present produc-
tion, and many wells are not drilled
in because of the lack of transporta-
ton facilities Two lines are being
rushed to the field and the next
week should see them in operation.
By the 1st of August there will be
700 rigs in sight of Desdemona. At
the present time 400 may be counted.
On an average, ten rigs per day are
erected in the field.
Within radius of four miles of
Desdemona, more than $10,00O,000 is
being spent on development work. In