Montana oil and mining journal. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1931-1953, 1942-09-05
PLEASE HELP Us FIND Them

We wish to locate the whereabouts Of tn
following persons:
HELEN ANDERSON, whose address was
formerly Sand Point Idaho
RICHARD EDENFTELD, whose address
was formerly Omaha, Neb.
JOHN r. FITZPATRICK, whose address
was formerly Kennebec s. ID.
These people are the owners of royalties
purchased through us and there have ac-
cumuIated to their credit considerable sums
Of money which win be Immediately paid to
them If we can but locate them.
These people moved, apparently without
sending us their forwarding addresses.
We have made investigation i'm each case
through usual channels, to determine wheth-
er they are deceased without success.
We spend much time, in these recent
years, hunting up people who have been
careless in keeping us informed of their adj
dresses. We try to keep in touch with them,
knowing that at any time we may need
their signatures on a division order. When
ever we are unable to find a royalty owner
it always causes a delay in the division order
that must be signed by all owners of mineral
rights before royalties are distributed.
We have been buying royalties for a com
parativeIy small group Of investors for more
than 20 years and it is surprising that we
do not have more difficulty of this kind
than we do, as 20 years is a long time and
many people are careless about their in
vestments.
In one of the above cases. the royalty own
err bought only one royalty. There was well
to be drilled on the tract and he took one
flyer" The well was drilled and abandoned
as a dry hole. This man thought that his
sv.~vo En-
to answer our subsequent letters and did
not keep us informed as to his changed adj
dress. That well was drilled before the days
of acidizatiOn and when operators started
making flowing wells out of "dry holes" the
history Of this particular well was checked,
revealing that it had showing of oil. An
other well was drilled, getting a similar
showing, and after acidizatiOn it was a 100
barrel well
The buyer of the oil called upon us to
find the royalty owners whose addresses
were lacking. We found all but this one
and started Systematically to trace him
through credit exchanges and other agencies
without success. Meantime, royalties have
been accommodating to his credit and when
ever he signs the division order he win have
a fat check waiting for him.
This careIessness is second only to the
strange custom Of failing to file royalty
deeds for record. BY personal letters and
bulletins we urge everyone to file their deeds
Immediately. Some will hold their deeds off
record, waiting for the completion Of the
well. If the well fails to find oil, the deed
is not placed of rec0rd-a net saving Of
S125. But we have had dozens of cases where
another well has been drilled and found
production and our trustee is called upon
to accept royalties which rightfuIly belong
10 someone else. 1t is again our duty TO go
searching for the rightfuI owner.
When the owner is found, we frequently
discover that he has lost his deed. That
brings another headache involving the prep
aratiOn and signing of affidavits and a
duplicate deed. Much of our time-mOre time
than we can affords spent In this sort
of work. 1t is a service that we did not
contemplate when we started in business 20
years ago but is something that Is Of great
Importance, not only TO help the investor
get the earning to which he is entitled but
to clear up the division order.
If there is any royalty owner who reads
these lines who has not filed all Of his