Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-03-04
MEN AND MONEY
BY NJ. S. Rukeyser.
tCopyrieht. 1877

! tive, melodiamat1c lines. .
| When a new petroleum poor ~
| found there is an unciviliZed rush oIl
the part of prospectors TO drill out
| the oil promptly before their neighborS
do. President Coolidge's Oil Consefva'
| ton Commission suggested that lhe
| remedy perhaps lies in unit drilling vi
| oil wells along systematic lines.
! AS the oil industry tries TO become
! 'egularized. it turns increasingly ior
| guidance TO biologists.
! In describing the role when Inc
geologist has been able TO play In the
! Industry, Wallace T.. Pratt, geologlst
of the humble OH & Refining Co. i'm
piled that his craft had learned more
| from the oil industry than the trade
! had absorbed from geologtsts~~the pro-
| fesso,-s OF the nature of rock lorna
| ions. Eventually, however" ne
nrophesied. 1--WE shall certainly place
| geology on The other side OF the
| ledger and make the industry pro
| foundry our debtor.
| The biologists Role.
! In exposing the rituals of the geol
| ogists, this candid man. stripping Nun
| self of the robes OF professional dig
nity. disclosed: For many years the
.seologisr who undertook q commission
+, In petroleum work did so in the man.
| nor of one who descends from lofty
position. It was his mission to guide
and direct. This was his own impress,
| sion of his part in the industry. ana
! this role was conceded to him by those
who sought his services. lie was TO
| show the industry where 10 ma lls
! oil. But no such miracle came
| 10 pass Petroleum deposits are more
elusive than that.
inTo Tlf
was pitifully inadequate to cope win
such problem. We did not begin
to have the necessary background OF
| geologic fact. Out OF this miScOncep-
ton on the part of the first BIOLOGISTS
| who condescended to undertake OIL
| finding and of the early producers who
employed them has arisen most OF the
Ills that petroleum geology is heir to.
THE biologists prestige in the pc
| troleum work has risen because his
attempts at oil finding have actually
| taught him little geology and what
| he has learned he has at once turned
| to good account in finding and pro-
ducing more oil. He has not done
| this solely through his function as a
geologist. Geology in the petroleum
industry is no longer dispensed eXclu-
sively by a long.haired scientist sit
| ting apart from the common organiza-
| ton and untouched by practical con-
| siderations.
Many Biologists Now.
| "On the contrary. the geologic point
of view now presents itself from every
angle of the producing game. Geolo-
gists, or men with geologic training.
abound in every company and in every
capacity roustabouts, tooldressers.
gaugers, drillers, scouts, engineers,
| leasemen. superintendent, directors
and independent owners or proprie-
| tors-all these are biologists, in amaz-
| ing number. Geology has seeped in
at every pore until the producing in
dustry is saturated with it. In this
wise geology truly serves petroleum
| finding beyond calculation and beyond
analysis
| Because of present temporary over
production the trade cannot get eX
| cited over prophecies of prolonged
shortages in the future.
Mr.. Pratt is optimistic about pros
poets for discovery of new oil wells,
particularly along the Gulf of Mexico
coast.
when geologist," he says. looks
81 the Gulf Coast. he sees one of the
three or four greatest oil provinces
on earth, where. when wells are
drilled as deep as his friends are
already drilling in California and in
West Virginia; where, when wells
penetrate the deepest possible oil
sand in the Gulf Coast region, as
wells have already done In part of
Oklahoma and Kansas; where, when
these featS are accomplished, he
hopes to have provided a volume of
petroleum, which will bulk very large
indeed beside the total production of
Nation tn dafnn
Now that the McFadden bill has
become a law the Federal Reserve
ba nks, which, since the war, con
Structed important new buildings to
house them, have been indicated
The new law makes the charters Of
the reserve banks perpetual, where
as under the act which created the
system the charters would expire in
1882. In place of the widespread
opposition to the central banking sys-
tenn which was voiced when the
system was proposed in 1913, there
| is almost universal approval on the
part of bankers. With the beginning
of q return to normal banking rela-
| tions among the world centers for
the first time since the Federal Re
serve system was established. the
new method of banking will at
length be tested under conditions
which it was created to meet
Now that the McNary-Haugen bill
has been vetoed. the air is cleared for
consideration of a constructive pro.
gram Of farm relief along economic
instead of political lines.
A new holding company has been
launched to take over the chain of
Huyler candy stores, which passed out
of the control Of the Huyler family In
December, 1925. Once a trade name