The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1919-06-19


ing the oil of old ones, or hurrrying
land scurrying from one job to another,
inspecting this, directing that, until
one could get a fair impression of
what an army going into hasty action
must be like.
Surrounded almost completely by
a low range of hills, Ranger, with its
cosmopolitan population, estimated
last January to be in excess of 30,0 900
souls, occupies practically the entire
direction one may turn the eye is
met with the sight of tall derricks,
either singly or in groups of three to
| five, each of which marks the spot
| where some adventurous investor is
either sinking into the bowels of the
earth an immense shaft of black iron
| pipe in search of that dark, elusive
| liquid which is more to be desired
than precious stones, or has sunk and
| found the fountain of wealth which
pours stream of dollars into his
bank account, or even yet the in
vestor whose ship has gone on the
rocks in wreck and ruin when no oil
is reached or at best he gets a flow
of gas which is practically worthless
| because of his inability to market it
or utilize it to advantage.
I recall the stories told me of how
those investors from the outside who
have guessed right have been made
immensely wealthy in a period Of
only few weeks. There was told me
the story of man from Nevada who
telegraphed request for s5,000.00
| worth of a certain company's stock
long before they even had hopes of
finding oil and Immediately trans
ferred the money by wire when told
it could be secured. In less than
three weeks he closed out his hold
ings at more than $165, 900 since the
company's we'll which first started off
as "gasser" "came in," as they say,
with a production of 1900 barrels
per day. Others tell of investors who
have sold their holdings after their
we'll. begins to produce oil and each
hundred dollars invested has brought
| back $3.50. Naturally, there comes
out of place of this kind a great
| deal of fiction, but many of the
stories heard are founded on fact
and knowing of results such as we're
secured by those investors of whom
I have just written it prepares one
for what he might hear of the man
who owned stock in we'll that
'tcame in with production of 4,S00
barrels per day.
To the uninitiated there seems to
be nothing but utter confusion every
where one turns in Ranger and yet
he is conscious of the fact that there
is an absolute absence of intoXication
and rowdyism which is very remark
able when one thinks that it's popu
lation includes practically every ma
tionality on earth. The negro is con-
spicuous by his absence, the only
dusky brother with whom came into
contact was the porter of the Sleep
ing car a nd he was merely tran
sient visitor. The consuming passion
of each man, woman and child seems
to be to get first to the fountain
head of wealth.
A greater variety of living condi-
tions could hardly be found any
where on earth. There are tents and
shacks, converted railway cars, bunk
houses, improvised hotels, fairly re-
spectacle lodging houses, and even
some really modern homes, every one
of which is filled to capacity and be-
yond and aside from the main street
of the town there seems to be very
little attempt to lay out in regular
order either streets or building
blocks. This, however, begins to take
hold now and I saw a very efficient
ditching machine, capable of digging
several hundred feet of ditch, two
feet wide and more than six feet
deep, per day, in operation as it pre-
pared for laying of sewer systems
that will much improve insanitary
conditions that now exist. The pres
ence of flies makes one think of how
well the commander of one of our ar
my cantonments would fit into the
scheme of things here.
Paving is also being started and it
requires no great imaginative power
to see in the future a modern city of
great proportions rise from the pres
ent conglomerate mass which is Ran
|