The daily morning oasis., 1920-03-11
MEX|CO: The
WORLDS new
OIL FRONTIER
BY RALPH H. TURNER

TAEIPICO, March 10. = The OF
frontier is moving southwark. Where
it will be tomorrow--neither thu
magnate nor his scout in the fiele
will hazard an answer to that ques
tion--but today the front lines are
at Tampico, down in the semi tropical
malarial lands of Mexico's east
coast. And the same types who
blazed the way at Sisterville and
Bradford, on to Robinson and In
dependence and down to Tulsa, Beau
mont and Shreveport, are here today
pioneering with the zest and persist
ence that have always marked the
explorer.
The story of Tampico is a story of
oil and in writing that story the
American has played the most con-
spicious part, a part which cannot
help but bring a sense of pride to the
American who sees for the first time
the magnitude of the. enterprise
which his countrymen are carrying
forward today in the greatest oil
field of the world. =; -
Tampico is about six miles up the
Panuco River, which empties into the
Gulf of Mexico at the southernmost
point of the state of Tamaulipas.
Oil fields are both to the north and
south of Tampico. No sooner how
ever, has your ship crept over the
shallow bar at the mouth of the
Panuco than both the eye and the
nose are greeted by evidences of
petroleum. The smell of oil is in the
air; signs of oil are on the land and
in the water.
At the entrance of the Panuco,
stranded on the rocks by the caprices
of a heavy norther', is none other
than John D. Rockefeller, John d. in
this case being tank ship. The swell
from your boat carries on it's crest
the stains Of heavy crude, spraying
it against the hulls of huge tankers
whose sterns bear the names of home
ports-BayOnne, or perhaps Los An.
geles. These tankers seem to line
the river, but peep past the decks
reveals dock construction terminal
facilities, filling stations and other
installation that serve to empahize
still further the size of the oil pro-
ducing job in Mexico. AS the eye
moves to the banks of the river, it
catches sight Of great storage tanks
and of tank cars taking their place
on railway sidings. River craft of
every description plays its part in
thsi great industry, but most con-
spicious, next to the tankers, are the
scores of gasoline launches-the
property of the oil companies, darting
about with a fearfully busy air
and the enormous barges, offering a
marked contrast to the launches as
they move slowly, determinedly down
the river with their cargoes of wealth.
A trip to the fields provides the
climax, but this isn't necessary to
demonstrate the forcefulness Of
Franklin K. Lanes statement that
"this is the age of OIL" You already
are convinced of this and you are
convinced, too, that Tampico is won-
derful monument to American enter
prise.
All of this spectacle, it is true, does
not represent American develop
ment The British have been heavy
investors in the Tanipico district and
a British company, Ell Aguila, is be-
lieved to possess the greatest produc-
tion. Of the total output, however,
nearly three-fourths is produced by
Americans; American companies are
vastly in the majority and American
nationals compose the largest part of
the foreign population.
There are between $500 and 5000
Americans in Tampico-in the town
proper and in the field. They're all
here-all of the oil fraternity-from
the college trained geologist, who re-
duces the magnate's gamble to the
Continued on Page Four)