Evening star., 1930-11-30

II y ooLS VI
- IL flame. crashing
and laundering
through heavy billows OF smoke
that from a distance looked like
heavy rain clouds, and its is
lands of more intense flames,
.whirling and swinging now and
then against the brink to send
dried grass and trees up IN
smoke-such was the spectacle
which thousands of inhabitants
of Central Oklahoma witnessed
q few Sundays ago.
The scene was the Canadian
River at a point a few miles
frcm Oklahoma City, where for
two days the Morgan Petroleum
Co.'S wild oil gusher, the Stout
No. /, dubbed "Stout Fella" by
the oil men. had flooded the
countryside with crude oil and
coated the nearby stream with
a highly infiammable scum. The
inevitable had happened; the
river and caught on fire, but
at a safe distance from the
vel.
-nere it was, this STOUT
Feila," pouring out oil at the
rate of $4,000 barrels a day.
roaring with the energy OF a
thousand earth devils, squirting
its purple-black cloud high into
the air and raining oil for 10
miles to the leeward. The black
stuff fell onto the group OF
workmen gathered around the
base of the derrick and on the
surrounding terrain, budding
in pools for a second and then
hurrying of to feed the ever
mounting wall Of flame that
stretched through the country
side.
fortunately the current OF
the river carried the flame
farther and farther from the
well, never allowing it to creep
backward to ignite the gnsher
and turn it into a spout OF
LIQUID fire. Fire and river
fought ceaseless battle. AS the
oil gathered in spots in the
eddying current Of the stream
and flames burst into the air 1t
seemed at times as If the f1re
would win; but the tricky river
quickly dissipated the source OF
supply, only to collected it into
another flaming geyser few
miles down the stream.
The thousands of curious who
lined the banks on both sides
of the river often were forced
to draw back in haste as the
current swung one of these
columns landward. Here and
there along the river feeble
blazes, divorced from the main
body of the fire. struggled to
clsmber up the steep bank into
the underbrush. For 90 miles
in every direction farmers and
citizens of the smaller towns
gazed at the towering black
smoke and reckoned that Okla
homa City's big oil fire had
come at last.
Over in the State House sec
ton of Oklahoma City, where
the city'S Oil millionaires have
built rows of expensive homes W
which came to them so sudden
millionaires kept one apprehensi
distant smoke and the other OF
Their expensive lawns were soal
their garages were so coated W
they looked like patent leather
wondered how long it would b
could light fires again-they +
light a cigar, lest this very {
rescued them from agricultural
suddenly become a raging terr,
destroy their castles.
Down on the flats" at the '
80 or so on-Soaked "roughnecE
and hands already blistered by
crude Oil, battled with the 70
that threatened at every minute
In flames. Several hours before
called from the well by the sire
warned of a nearby blaze.
quenched, and they hurried back
big job of placing the bonnet" o.
column.
Slowly this bonnet two
metal-was lowered over the ca!
the workmen rushed in with Il
to screw it on. Finally it was ia
gates were closed and for the fl
hours the oil and gas ceased
Workmen clambered down the slid