The Oroville weekly gazette. [volume] (Oroville, Wash.) 1905-19??, 1919-12-26
TO COMMENCE
DRILLING FOR OH

! DRILLING FOR OIL
Inc IDEA prevails among a few nao
PIE III ths community that oil can b
struck in this part of the Okanoga,
."'iey II proper drilling apparatus i
installed and operated by men of ex
perlehce in oil drilling methods an,
the drills can only be sent down do,
enough. This is not a recently evolve
ioea' nor would an oil drilling cam
paign at this time be altogether a new
venture. And the idea has soma sub
stahtial grounds for existence Oil in
uica'iohs have been known to exis
near ofoVille for several years. Tb
odof and presence of oil has been M
| uced and found on both the Elton q
rice place in the very southern edo,
| OF town, and at the Riste ranch a fou
miles south of town. In the latte,
pace no effort has been made to pros
| pect the find, so far as we know hu
on the former place real we'll drilIint
mas been attempted, but unfortunate,,
| exploration has never gone far enough
10 determine finally if the encouragine
evidence of eyes and olfactory nerve,
! mas really basis of foundation in tb,
shape of "gusher."
, Some two or three years ago Elton
u. Rice decided to sink an artisan
Well or at least bore down into the
bowels Of the earth with that object in
view. A drill was set up and SLOWLY a
mole OF small diamater was driven
downward. At depth of some 200 feet
II our memory is not at fault, the
drlilers and owner of the property
were very agreeably surprised to find
that the core that came up out of the
mole was strongly impregnated with
the odor of coal OIL volatile fluid
that has piled up numerous and enor-
nous fortunes during the past hall
century, and the discovery of which in
almost any locality is sufficient to Gre
ate stampede paralelled only by the
excitement that follows the discovery
or rich placer gold. At first those in
terested were inclined to believe that
they were being made the victims of
some practical joker who had "salted'
the well, but as depth was gained the
evidence of oil was still present. The
machinery in use for driving the we'll
was not the modern drills used In the
development of oil fields, and many
in thn % I,,.I
occurred through breakage and other
causes. Finally the tubing crumplei,
the drill could not be made to func-
tiOn and further effort was halted for
the time being. Oil seeking on the
Rice place ceased in 1917.
But confidence in an underly ing
strata of oil has not been shattered by
Iany means, and we have it on good
authority that thorough and sys-
tematic effort is soon to be made to
clear pthe mystery of the presence
of oil indications on Mr.. Rice's prop
erty. If the oil is anywhere under
ground between the Okanogan valley
and China it is the purpose of those
behind the latest movement to find
out. Our informant, who is interested
in this proposed oil search, was rather
reticent when approached and ques-
toned on the subject, but he did ad
nit that movement was on foot to
explore this prospective oil land, that
experienced oil drillers with an outfit
especially constructed for the purpose
had been engaged, and that actual op-
erations would probably commence
early in January.
This is merely cold statement of
facts. Reference to oil drilling is not
for the purpose of arousing any oil
excitement with the promise Of flow
ing wells that may never be realized
The effort to determine the presence
of oil will be pushed, and if boom
finally follows it will only be when
the lubricant is finally tapped and
smooths the skids for the boom to
travel on. That indications of oil were
present in this well so far as it was
drilled cannot be questioned. That
there has been found surface indica-
tions of oil on the Riste place, only a
short distance south of the Rice well
in an air line. is declared to be authen-
tic Oil booms have been builded on
far less evidence of the presence of
that precious fluid than exists at our
very doors. We are not promising that
the skyline Of the valley is soon to be
intersected with oil derricks, but such
things have happened elsewhere and
it is within the bound of possibility
that they may be repeated here. The
same indications existing elsewhere
would inaugurate feverish campaign
of drilling, and that febrile excitement
would be repeated here if the forth
coming experiment should result ir
the tapping of even limited flow ot
oil We have no desire to create any
wrong impression that might lead t6
homes never to be realized. The mer
who are about to investigate this OF
proposition by drilling are going at i
rs a cold blooded business venture
They are willing to chance their owl
/ money in the experiment and no doub
| there are others with the sporting
blood to take a chance For if we hat
the means we would rather take ;
FLYER in this Okanogan valley expert
ment than the thousand and one OF
companies that are advertising thei
stock for sale at prices so attractive
that il leaves a suspicion that the onl,
attraction in the proposition is tha
enjoyed by those pocketing the re
CENTS from the sale of stock
|
L. w. Barnes was called to Monroe