The daily star-mirror. (Moscow, Idaho) 1911-1939, 1920-07-10

Here's a Man From Missouri

The following letter will interest you:
In your advertisements you say there is no gamble in your
o1field; that there r no dry holes; that this particular field will
last a long. time. Now if these statements are really true, then you
have something worth while. Will you please give me more in
about the profits in oil-if you get it. 1 can figure that part of it.
l can see that one barrel of crude oil, worth 1915 per barrel at the
well, will make 81, $685. rs in 365 DAYS. And l can see that one six
barrel well will do six times as well as a one barrel WE'LL or return
$8212.50 in a year. Also l can understand that if the owner OF
the farm gets one-eighth, that you will have 81, 1854 left. So
l can see that when you tell the public that you can net 1000 per
year from a well, that you can do it and have a lot left, if you have
nothing bigger than six-barrel wells, a statement l do not doubt,
if you have any oil whatever, and l have investigated sufficiently
to know that what you say about this is true. But the thing I want
to know is that you not only have the oil under your leases, but that
this oil is not going to give out before you have had time to pump
enough to pay a reasonable return on the money invested.
you cannot blame me for being skeptical; for insisting on be-
ing shown, when there is so much worthless oil stock on the mar
ket. From the amount Of oil that is being consumed, | know there
must be some oil produced, and there must pc some good oil prop
osiions-but somehow I have never had an opportunity to get in
to a good one. l want to say this, for you. That the thing about
your ads that impress me IS your modest claims. All the Oh ADS
/ ever read before in my life led me to believe that oil wells were
ionaires over night. 1 was really du1nbfounded when 1 read your
ads and found you claiming only six barrels per day for your
wells, the smallest Of which at first made me think your PROPOSE
ton could not possibly pay. If you have the oil / can see how
you can pay from rs per cent to 100 per cent a year"
With the vast amount of skulduggery that is going on in the
oil business, we can understand the feeling of the gentleman, and
because many others have put the same questions up to us, w are
making the inquiry and our reply public. Let us stop for a mo
ment and use a little common sense. In an issue of the San An
tonic Light of June 10, 1920, is a whole page, showing pictures of
her oil refineries, representing vast expenditures of money in
permanent. equipment dependent on crude oil for business. The
city has three plants in operation, two more building, and a sixth
refinery soon to go up. The combined cost of these is several
millions of dollars. And they will be worthless unless there is
crude oil. Do you suppose Mark P. Miller and the Farmers Union
would invest in expensive grain elevators at Moscow if there was
no wheat or oats or barley grown here? Do you suppose men
are going to spend a lot of good money building an ice plant at the
north pole, or a blanket factory at the equator? Do you suppose
a company of sane business mel are going to build an orange
packing plant in Canada? You know why they are building oil re-
fneries at San Antonio, Texas-there is crude oil there, and lots
of it. More than that, these men know this field is going to last,
and that it is going to increase rapidly in production, or they
would not build so far in advance of present production. Let us
see what the San Antonio papers and oil men have to say about it:
San Antonio Light, June 10, 1o20-"The development of the
refining business in San Antonio has kept pace with the discovery
and development Of oil in the nearby fields. Probably no one thing
has given more impetus to the construction of refineries here than
has the expansion of the Somerset field, some 20 miles from the
city where oil is found at a shallow depth, IN PRACTICALLY
AN INEXHAUSTIBLE SUPPLY"
San Antonio Idght, June 49, 1sN-"The Grayburg Oil Company, besides owning
Somerset field 1t has SO producing wells several others drilling and has only re-
announced a program calling for the drilling of apnoximate $50 wells within
the next ew years. The Grayburg is now a nve-miNo dollar concern 1t is ok
pending approximately $4,000 a month"; for drilling Expenses and supplies"
We have before us a picture of one of the Somerset field, and
the camera shows more than so derricks, each one over a pro-
ducing we'll. Underneath this picture is the following comment:
Acreage proven up sufficient for from 5000 to 1000 wells, and
rapidly expanding as each new series of tests are ~drilled-pubic
does not realize wonderful possibilities of this great shallow pool
which is at city's door," The article continues:
"A shallow nd adjacent to San Antonio producing 10000 barrels Of high grade
daily whch at present prices is worth about 100000 a day or 100000 a month