Evening star., 1927-08-21
j. S. OIL INDUSTRY
ISSHOWN IN FILM
Bureau of Mines Completing
: Epic Picture on Romance
of Petroleum.

tnS DetEOl6ult lUuuSttN IL III III bNtS-
Cf production by the Bureau of Mines.
One day next December the first
showing of the film. the greatest
undertaking in the way OF education
via. the Pickering film yet essayed by
the Mines Bureau. will be made before
the annual meeting of the American
Petroleum Institute in Chicago. The
institute appropriated S25,000 TO aid
The Bureau Of Mines in producing the
picture. NJ +. Leopold, safety en-
giuee,, of the Bureau Of Mines, is the
director
The film, now nearing completion
In the laboratories of the bureau, is
the crowning piece Of work of an idea
that started nine years ago, when the
bureau first undertook to produce
films of American industry. In those
nine years, GA films dealing with al
most every phase Of the metaiiur-
giCal and mining industry nave been
produced, all at cost TO the Govern
ment, only of Mr.. Leopold's salary, for
the actual production costs have been
borne by the industries themselves.
Worked Mile Underground.
In his work Mr.. Leopold has had
some unusual experiences. Last sum
mer, while he was producing the story
of copper, in the copper mines on the
peninsula OF Michigan he worked for
days a mile deep underground, crawl
ing and working his way through
narrow pasageways with motion PIC
ture camera. hauling hu-" search
lights behind him SO the interior OF the
mines might be lighted and brought
before the eyes of persons who had
no idea of how copper is mined.
This Summer, UP in the highlands OF
Wyoming and Colorado, he was more
than a mile above sea level working
on the story of oil, in the clear, Tree
atmosphere of those mountain placest
Occasionally he went down into the
muck and mud of boom producton
towns-Smackover the Seminole Flelo,
Goose Creek, Huntington Beach ana
other fields whose golden production
Is literally making millionaires every
day.
He has carried the story Of oil pro
duction right through from the day
many thousands of years ago. when
minute rganisms-animal and Vege-
Tableware buried in a fold of the
earth, twisted and turned, subjected
to enormous pressure and enormous
heat. until at last their mineral con-
tent was turned into oil. These pro-
cesses he has pictured in animated mo-
ton picture form, for, of course. there
is available no actual reproduction OF
the formation of OIL
Travel 10000 Miles.
Leopold, H. c. Fowler, petroleum
engineer, and their camera crew nave
covered IA States since early April N
their quest for pictures OF the pro-
duction of oil. They have ranged from
little towns in Pennsylvania, where
oil was first found nearly 70 years ago,
into the tremendous developments in
Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas, where
millions of dollars has been made over
night as the earth spouted forth it's
LIQUID wealth. Their eyes have be-
held and their cameras have faith
fully recorded the true story of this
flow of black gold into tanks and bar
rels and the start of it's long journey,
via pipe line from Kansas. across half
the width of a continent to its deStl-
nation somewhere in New Jersey.
They have literally compressed into
O. few feet of film, an hour-and-a- -halt
of entertainment-the story and the
glory and the heartaches of the in
dustry that has created new million
aires by the score every year. They
have covered 10000 miles in their trav-
els on foot, by train and automobile,
and have taken a foot Of film for every
mile travelled. OF course, the COM
pleted film will not be 10000 feet in
length, for that is entirely too long.
The cutting, editing and title-writing
are now going on and will be COM
pleted within a week.
They have seen and recorded the
development at Huntington Beach,
Calf, where oil was found on the
sands Of the sea shore and the COM
pany built huge concrete retaining
wall to keep it from flowing back into
the ocean, diverting 1t into enormous
natural tanks holding millions of dol
lars IN liquid wealth. They have
watched oil brought out Of the ground
literally through the water for in the
Goose Creek Field near. Houston. Tex.
oil is pumped out of the bowels of
the ground by derricks out in 10 feet
Of water. And more dramatically still,
they have seen an oil field oust the
dwellings of suburbanites on the edge
of a city, for oil has been found only
a few moments ride from the center
of Los Angeles, and the derrickS
raised their turreted heads literally
within the city. And they have filmed
the story of oil being produced in the
midst OF the orange groves of Cali
fornia, whose owners have leased the
land and extracted from the petro-
leum producers a bonus Of S5 for every
orange spoiled by drop Of the sticky
liquid wealth.
Produced at No Extra Cost.
They are doing a big job-these
men who work for the Government to
produce the romantic story of Amcri-
cas- great petroleum industry, climb
ing up the side Of tanks that hold
many thousands of gallons; carelessly
handling the dynamite that either con
firms or destroys the conclusions Of
The delicate seismograph that records
oil bearing structures or geologic for
nations that might produce Oil And
the fine part Of it--from the Govern
ment standpoint-is that it costs the
Government nothing beyond their sal
ary. The newest picture is the twelfth
TO be paid for by the oil industry and
by far the largest--for the industry
has spent some 100000 in furnishing
the story OF itself through the medium
Of Government-produce films. The
field work is now about 80 per cent
completed, Virtually all the film is
now in the bureau laboratories. The
Job is nearly complete.
Just a word 10 tell Of the magni.
fude OF this tremendous industry.
Imagine a tank as tall as the Wash
ington Monument and as broad II
would have to be miles long 10
hold the production Of oil last year.
when 770.874000 barrels Of petroleum
were taken from the ground
And not alone will the film go into
the flush production Of oil. For. bear.
ing :he warning of leaders Of he N.
dustry and the Federal OH C0nser& a.
ion Board IN mind, the producers have
gone at length into oil-conservation.
preaching a message Of saving in this
pawn Of the nations.