Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-10-08
The HQSkin Letter
By
J. HASKN
A LAND OF
IV-Oil Wells Old and New

celebrated In novels deScrlptlVe OIL tn0
soil and the social life OF the region
in which all roads lead to Lexington.
Irvine. in Estill county, has become
n substantial town, but mainly be-
cause oil large railroad yards estab-
lished nearby after, the oil development.
Beattyville. the county seat of Lee, the
largest oil producing county In Ken
lucky, and among the largest producing
sections in America, is little changed.
The stations three-quarters OLA mlie
from the old-fashioned mountain taV.
ern that has been the leading hotel
since the large modern hotel became
a school. when the boom subsidized. No
| light burns in the office of the tavern
late at night. The boys have been
doing some shooting lately was the
explanation. Elaboration of that ex-
PLANTATION revealed survival Of old con,
ditions, under which it was deemed
safer not to use lights unnecessarily,
attracting attention of village terror
ists full of moonshine whisky and the
spirit Of sport. ,
Many Lee countians, beneficiarIes OF
oil. left the roadless section OF the
state never to return. The effects OF
the exodus are less apparent in Montl-
cello. in Wayne, the oldest oil county
in Kentucky, because Wayne is n loot.
hills county. in which there is good
land and a modest mileage of roads FIT
for automobiles. Yet Monticello, an old
oil center, remains q small town.
Two Glasses Enriched
Kentucky oil enriches two classes,
, the land owners who are wise enough
or lucky enough, not to miss their OPP
%portunity to participate in the profits
of wells drilled on their FARMS, ano
oil companies which, as aerule, are no,
founded upon capital owned in the OIL
regions
kentucky's oil resources are as YET
not fully known. Much of the terri
tory has good agricultural resources
destined perhaps to produce mor'
wealth in the long run than woult
come from oil wells. Bat immediate
wealth from oil has caused many farm
ers whose soil is fertile to lose interes'
in farming and to neglect their farms
The search for oil is not unlike il
point of excitement and h%ardships en-
dured, the search for gold. Oil rigs
cumbersome equipment for drlIlh'
wells. are dragged in by oxen or mule
to points 40. 30, go miles from ran
roads in wildcat fields where the drill
ing may or may not pay. Such experi
menting. done sometimes by adventur
ers whose financial collapse follow
failure to strike oil. is extremely costly
but one gusher is regarded as goo
ground for belief that others will b
found in the same territory. The pros
pect is always appealing because strlk
ing a spouting flow of oil is like strik
, ing pay dirt in an Alaskan gulch.
Oil development brings about all 0
the types Of humanity found in a gol
, field. including the adventnrer VIII
4 must make good or walk away from tn
t scene of his failure, the gambler VII
comes to fleece the fortunate, tn
girls. not all of them youthful, who's
like followed the army of Nerxes an
5 the rush of gold seekers TO the Iukor
!, and whose Sisters-in-adventuTe flock I
{ Louisville when the Kentucky derby !
" run for $4,000 at Churchill Downs,
/ Agricultural development is a health
3 Ter growth and a more lasting source G
: welfare. In the Cumberland oil poo
there is large opportunity for agricu.
tural development which at present
impossible because of lack of trans
. portation by railroad. highroad or rive
Along the Cumberland river there
q a block of eight counties wholly VI
: touched by railroads and almost who'll
without improved public roads,
e strangely retarded but potent ally frui'
ful region. Oil wells will not make
{ ~populous. but with agriculture and adj
e quate transportation it would blossol
5, like the rose.