Arizona republican., 1919-04-05
TEXAS O|L bOON bEATSOLD-T|M
 MINING STRIKES
Stories of Sudden Wealth
 and Great Excitement in Burkburnett Field Borne
 Out by Visit, Says Lewis

R. Allyn Lewis, who has just re- turned from the great new Texas oil fields, had the following to say last night:
 T have just returned from a ten days visit to the oil fields in the Burk- burnett and Ranger districts of Texas. It is impossible to describe the de- velopments in these two places, and conditions must be seen to be under stood and appreciated. In Arizona we have all witnessed mining booms and in the past 30 odd years of my eXperi- ence in this state I have seen few, but what I saw at Burkburnett and Ranger is so much greater than any thing I ever saw in the mining boom line that there is no comparison.
 At Fort Worth, which is really ones first objective to get to these fields, we saw the first evidence of the boom. Trains and hotel Hobbies are over crowded and to get accommodations is out of the question. From Fort Worth to Wichita Falls ten and twelve sleep CTS run nightly and many people have been living on the sleeping cars, going from Wichita Falls at night to Burk- burnett, back to Wichita Falls and then back to Burkburnett in the sleeper.
 At Wichita Falls, which is a town normally of about 15,000 people and in which I am told there are now 30,000 | one gets closer to the excitement. It is 1 about twelve miles from there by auto l to Burkburnett over almost impossible roads The country between these l two places is dotted everywhere with small oil wells which the natives call "two-br bumpers These are the wells producing all the way from one or two to 20 barrels a day in the shal- l low sands.
 Forest of Derricks
 Within a few miles of Burkburnett one obtains a skyline picture of the | derricks looming like a large forest or the horizon. Arriving there, the con- 1 ditions resemble the stories one hears of the congestion of the traffic at the l war front in France. A constant stream of trucks. wagons, autos aud vehicles of all description blocks the marrow 1 muddy roads. In the townsite proper wells are as thick as trees in forest No place seems to be home without an oil well, as derricks are located il the front and back yards and almos on the porches of the houses. All tht wonderful stories heard before arriv- Ing IleTe are IUOIt lildu pOi llc ouN Ol the facts in evidence.
 Many companies, consisting of few individuals in some cases, ar paying monthly dividends of from I 10 25O per cent. Stories of the Fowler the first deep well in the district; tn | Marine the Humble and other larg producers have been told so often tha the general public is fairly familia ! I fh Fowler farm, on which the origina well was located, sold for $2,000,00 to the Standard Oil company, 1 Wa informed.
 The area of deep production ther is very well defined, running north west by southeast, and even to on not familiar with the fields, it can b easily traced. In this area, 9S per cen of the completed wells are producer and the remaining two per cent, I al told are not producing because tn wells were spoiled by the rotary goin through the sand, spelling the hole.Ou side of this district are the dry hole:
 Should Study Map
 Of course, companies are bein formed by the score right along in thi district and to the uninitiated who ar not posted, Burkburnett means oil, bu if the prospective investor who de bends upon the advertisements of com panies outside the state who have n local representation would take tn trouble to study a map of the distric he would be much better able to iudg the chance of getting some return from his investment than by simpl buying stock in a company locate anywhere at Burkburnett
 The primary object of my visit wa to inspect the property of the Burkle Oil company and see what prosres had been made. I found that on loca tion No. l 96-foot derrick had bee erected, the fuel oilstanks, water stor age tanks and water well were con pleted and the contractors were moN ing the drilling rig on the ground Tn location is in the heart of production surrounded on all sides by producin wells. in fact by some of the large: companies and the best dividend pay CTS in the whole district. It seem impossible that oil will not be brougi in on this location as there are T dry holes there.
 "On location No. 2, block 72, soutf west of the Thrift well, just complete erection of a derrick has been con menced, so the company has two wei being drilled at Eractically the san time. The best posted men of the dis trict with whom 1 talked regard ot location No. ? as extremely valuab and it is their belief that productie in this vicinity will be very large. c the occasion of my visit. the Thri well No. had been completed and [ pipe line built, but there was a gnai , on the property and we could moi s' cure admittanee. Two and one ha acres owned by the company on Bloc
 103 are not to be drilled at preser or at least until the first two wei
 have been completed.
 Water is Wealth
 "The field manager of the Burklt . Oil company. Mr. Iiggett, is vel , competent man who comes to tn I company after IS years of experien' with the large oil companies. Wat in Burkburnett is very scarce and vel valuable. In sinking the well f, , water on No. l, they encountered spring which insures them more tha enough water for their needs, al , while 1 was there, deals had bet closed to furnish water to other con panies from this source at a net prot
 to the Burkley company of over SIP
 per month. Conditions could not
 more promising so far as the Burkl' f Oil company is concerned.
 v "Retufning to Fort Worth, [ we 7 to Ranger on my return home. IT 2 wells in this district are almost twi
 as deep as those at Burkburne
 and the production very much largG
 Due to the heavy expense of sinkil
 wells to 3,200 feet. the operations the ). are mostly confined to the larger COT e panies. The Texas Pacific Coal al o Land company, as subsidiary to t : Texas Pacific railway, originally own I most of the leases of this ground al they have completed a large nIlnab