Arizona republican., 1921-05-10
By Frederic J. Haskin

WASHINGTON, D. C., May 9- What scientists say is the last known great oil field in the United States will be thrown open to the public un- der the oil leasing act, on June 10. All preparations for that event, which is expected to put thousands Of new gushers into action. are now being made by the department of interior here.
 The field in question is the Salt Creek oil field, near Douglas, Wyo- ming. The leases, on tracts of not more than GAO acres each, will be sold at public auction in Douglas beginning on the above date and con tinuing until all are sold
 Under the oil leasing act of 1920, it is provided that proven oil lands in the public domain shall be dis- posed of in this way. The lease on a given tract will be sold to the individual or company offering the highest amount for it. In addition to this bonus, the individual must give the government 25 to S3 1-3 per cent of the oil which he extracts as a royalty. The fee title to the lands remains in the government
 Of the money which the govern ment receives from the sale of the leases and from royalties, 521s per cent must go into the general rec amation fund which is used in piac- ing the arid lands of the public do- main under irrigation; STA per cent of the money goes to the state of Wyoming for use in the development of schools and roads, and the re- maining 10 per cent goes into the treasury of the United States
 This opening of the Salt Creek field may be regarded as the part of the last act in the drama Of oil production here in the United States Ever since the great value Of pc ftroleum began to be realized, oil boorns have been one of the mosl spectacular features of our nationa life. The history of them is rich ir sensational interests of fortunes made in day. of fierce struggles ovei titles. of gushers worth millions.
 The opening of the Salt Creek field will not repeat any of that history There will be no "Ccal Oil Johnnies.' no unexpected gushers, no sudden ano easy fortunes, and above all none ol that waste of a precious substance which characterized the early booms Science. business and government vii cooperate to make the development o the Salt creek field an orderly ane conservative affair. It will produce less melodrama and more oil thar the older fields.
 A Model Field
 For one thing, the scientists say that this field is an almost ideal specimen: that is, it follows the law which usually control the occurrence of oil almost without exception. Il the old days. boring an oil well was ; great speculation. But science hal been constantly learning more abou the nature of oil deposits. and it hal learned so much about this oil fiel' in particular that it has made map and diagrams showing exactly wher the oil is and how it may be reached When a man buys a lease on a sec | tion of this land, he will know abou | how much oil he is buying, and hoy deep he will have to bore to get Il | As a result there will be no specula tive excitement about the undertak l ing. It is not improbable that ther l will be some brisk trading on Wal | street in the stocks of these com l panies, for the very reason that to al unusual extent they will represent | known values.
 | The undeVeloped character of thi
 field may be gauged from the fact | that it is estimated to have a ca | pacity of 3,2O0 wells, but that onl
 200 wells are now in operation.
 Is expected to produce about one
 third of a billion barrels of oil iron the two upper oil sands which hay l already been tapped. Below thes
 are three other oil sands which cal | be reached. The whole product O
 the field is expected to be not ia
 from a billion barrels of oil. and i | will take about a quarter Of a cen
 tury to exhaust it. Incidentally, whe
 that quarter of a century is over al
 most the entire oil supply within tn United States will probably hav'
 been exhausted, and that struggle fo
 oil which has become the leading
 feature of the worlds industrial Tiff
 and the leading motive of interna
 tionaI politics, will have shifted for
 ever to other scenes.
 The field is described as afford ing a good opportunity for those wh
 wish 10 enter the oil business but | should be fully understood that thi is an investment for capital and af
 lords no opportunities for the ma