The Morning Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Okla.) 1919-1927, 1922-07-09

ship 16. range Is. Union county Ar
kansas. blew In at ! y. M Sunday
May "a. i922.
'rhis we'll was being drilled In
what was commonly known aS rank
wildcat aud not very promising terri
tory a depth ot 2.O25 foct had been
reached without anything OF interest
taking place and with only ISL fCct
of lUluch surface casing iu the hole.
At this depth they encountered "a
sand rock and decided to come out
OF the hole TO take core barrel
sample Of the formation Tho idea
was q. Is. hut they failed 20 take in
20 consideration the possibility Of
having something whore they were.
They had taken out all the drill stem
with the exception of 400 feet when
out ~ came with q rush that reduced
thr derrick to kiudliuE wood and
with roar that startled the country
for miles around. Tho derrick man
got down from his Su-fOot perch iust
HH the pipe came out ~ tho hole.
having what can hc truthiuUy called.
u miraculous escape.
THE pressure of the we'll Vn.
ruuJmuus. coming ont OF lu.iu,h
hole with q pressure that was suuk-
nE the ground FOR radius of 100
Nuud- ii was evident chat iiphi that
iho Dusiug in the hole would not hc
There long During the night ca'cr-
hogan 90 form, not close IN as might
ho expected but several hundred
yards from the base OF the derrick.
Throwing mud, sand aud rocks these
ciutcrs formed am interesting variu-
uou of the wonders OF Yellowstone
'hruuphout the day OF the 10Th.
"ro add 10 the wonders ot nature
these Orators caught fire about dark
The night ot tho 18TH lighting up
the country for miles around
About dlNlght the well itself which
had been roaring with apparently
uuuhItud pressure blew out tho lNl
foot OF 1o-iuch casing and tho dor
rick ANA rotary table disappeared
into tho rapidly Increasingly cavity
which was instantly formed within
an hour the well had caught frc
and became a sccthinE mass of
flames sand ana dust which ap-
pears in the picture,
Throughout the day Of the lGth.
the crater whore tho we'll had stood
continued to helCh flames hundreds
OF feet into tho air clouds NJ dust
and sand drIttod for miles around.
covering tho ground for a depth of
several inches as far away as throo
or four miles and covering the tops
or automobiles parked around the
public square for 10 miles away
The cavinE Of tho sand and the
enlarging of the crater so reduced
the pressure that daylight Of the
l1th found the flames eNtinEuishcd
and tho clouds OF dust replaced bv u
yawuiug cavity some 400 feet I'm
width ana 100 feet I'm depth from
the center Of which continued TO
cruut a huge mass Of earth and
rocks shooting several hundred foot
into the air. The boiler which had
stood too close TO tho we'll to be
hauled back 10 safety pitched and
tossed I'm the hottomlcss pit like n
chip in a swirluE whiripool.
with the pressure gradually ex-
hausting itself and with tho hole
constantly caving tho well has with
tho exception ot occasional out
bursts quletcd down and given up
It's place In the limclight and inter
est has now turned to speculating
what tho next well I'm that neigh
borhood viii bring forth.
Pressure I'm tho well has been var
iously estimated at any place be-
tween ono hundred and one hun
dred fifty million cubic feet An
actual Euagc, OF course. was impos-
slble, but IT made several wells I'm
the field which actually tested bot
ter than for'y-flve million look like
"a mere whisper in comparison.