Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1922-10-07
A LAND OF CONTRASTS
Vol Wells Old and New

oil company or toob his ono-eiFh'h
royalty, are abandoned 10 idle growth.
Their former owners are living in
the GcrfiOn OF the state which James
Lane Alien has celebrated in novels
descriptive of the soil and the sociai
life OF the region in which ell roads
lead TO Lexington,
Irvine, in Estiil county has become
a substantial town, but mainly because
Of large railroads yards established
nearby after the oil Development
Beastyville, the county seat ~ Lee.
the largest oil producing county in
Kentucky and among the largest
producing sectional In America, in little
| changed. Tho station is three quar-
ters of a mile from the old fashioned
mountain tavern tina. has been the
| leading hotel since the large modern
motel became a school when the boom
subsidized. No light burns iu the Office
/ q the tavern late ~ night The boys
/ nave been doing some shooting late
! ~ war the explanation. Eiabora-
! ton of that explanation revealed sur
I vivsl of old conditions under which
/ u was deemed safer not "a Iss lights
/ unnecessarily, attracting attention Of
village terroriss full Of moonshius
whiskey and the spirit Of sport.
Many Lee countiaus, beneflcisris~
OF oil, left the roadless section Of the
state never 70 return The effects
OF the exodus are less apparent in
Monticello. in Wayne the Oldest oil
county in Kentucky. because Wayne
il foothills county In which there
IL good land and modest mileage or
roads III for automobiles. Yet Mont
cello. an old OIL center. rcrassns q
small town.
Two Glasses Enriched
Kentucky oil enriches two ci-~paa,
the landowners who are wiae enough.
or lucky enough not 20 miss their OPP
portunity to participate IN the profits
Of wells drilled On their farrne and oil
companies which as a rule are no;
J founded upon ca pitsl owned In tho
? oil region.
r KentuckY's oil resources are as yet
| not fully known. Much Of nc terri
e tory has good agricultural resources
: destined perhaps 70 produces mora
$ wealth IN the kong run than would
n come from oil wells. But immediate
8
= farmers whose son f. fertile tn l0se
e interest in farming and 70 neglect
Il their farune
Q The search for oil e not unlike. IL
n point Of excitement and hardships en-.
L dured. the search for gold oil rigs
a cumbersome edulpr snt for driliins
2 wells. are dragged in by oxen or mule.
z TO points. 40. 50. so miles from rail
" reads in Wild cat fields where IN.
drilling may or may not pay Sue
Il experimenting. done sometimes b.
n adventurous whose financial coIIaps
& follows failure "a strike oil. 10 *
u treneiy costly. but one gusher = re
e gsrdef az good ground for belief tia
l. others will be found IN the same teri,
" tory. The prospect "a always app.a,
/ ing because striking spouting n0
n 81 oil IL Ike striking pay dirt IN a
s Alaskan gulch.
- Oil development brings about A
'e the types Of humanity found IN a rod
II field. including tho adventursr WI
must make good or walk away rror
the scene OF his failure. the gamble
who comes 20 fleece the fortunate, n
u girls, not all of them youthful, who's
iy1 like followed the army q Xerxes an
70 the rush Of gold seekers 20 the Yuko
81 and whose Observation-Disclosures foe
u TO Louisville when the kenruck
E. Derby r. run for 5000 at Church.
be Downs.
n Agricultural development "a
en- healthier growth and a more Ias,ir
II source OF welfare. In the CurTnsriar
or oil pool there Ia large opportunity Il
m. agricultural development which
nd present Is impossible because OF IaF
TO of transportation by railroad, highroa
he or river.
Oil Along the Cumberland River ~
OIL IS block of eight counties wnol
~ untouched by railroads and almo
ID wholly without improved public road
nd Il strangely retarded but potential
)e- fruitful region. Oil wells VIII =
SITS make il populcus, but with agricultl1
OF and adequate transportation i Won
,or blossom Ike the rose.
es, - -