The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1953-07-09
Oil Found In
Key largo Area
To Be Tested For
Commercial Use
~ DOROTHY RAYMER

come up with 'sbIack gold. !"
And that's oil, brother.
About 112 miles north Of
Key West, but not - the
crow flies, near the northern
tip Of Key Largo on the At
Iantic Ocean side. there's =
$50 foot oil derrick with
test drill equipment In full
operation. It's . wildcat we'll
being drilled BY the Harry J.
Morgan Company out Of
Shreveport, La. for Sinclair
OH and Gas Company. The
well name Il No. | H. r.
Williams.
on men IN charge were reeicent
yesterday about how deep they
have drilled or whether or not
they had found Oh. Superintendent
W. y. ConIey, Louisiana Oh expert
said, 'sany information 81 that sort
has to come from the company
heads II New York City"
However, both no and &. G.
Buchanan, who q charge of tech
meal operation of the driIl stem
derrick, admitted that The facts
disclosed Ii Z story which appear
Cd Ia the Wall Street Journal, were
s.prstty sound.
According 10 the WAN Street
paper, Sinclair on and Gas Com.
pany have reported ''the finding
AZ . showing d oil.'' The article
explained that the drill test ''was
being taken In an attempt % de-
termine whether Or not this indi-
cation of oil e of commercial i'm.
portanee."
An item IN q Mani paper On
Tuesday atafed that The CONNER
eiAl valne 81 any O. found wonld
e nnaeunce6 within y Aosrs.
let1 ~. during Dc trip % the
Wildcnt vel, 18th Oh ehlefs laugh
~ and said Is as certainly going
q " Il0Es than j d. u tNe' be-
f1Es any such verliif6ti0n came
through.
however, they stated tie work
continued Hround The clock with
three crews Of ave men eaeh con-
tlnuously operating The Oh appara-
tns. The working aeetion is COM
prised az . total 81 a men inclnd-
Ing the truck driver, Z motor man,
drillers, derrick men and two
'.rounhneeks." These latter are
known Is the speed-On man and
the back.up man. Their Job 4 10
operate the chain hung pipe t0ngs
which grab hold IL the pipe thread
and lower L down inside the well
70 The BIT which cuts deep into the
terrain.
The men On ne derrick look
exactly the way they % Ii the
movies, hardy fellows dressed m
overalls Or Lewis, ed shirts, and
wear silver helmets something Ike
the ones donned by The doughhoyS
q World War I.
The derrick structure y not vlsi-
Me from TIE Federal Highway IL
though Il rises from the ground to
. platform 10 feet n the, air and
then continues n 1 supeF-structnre
smother IS feet Power for the
work eomes from huge generators
installed On the spot me thread,
which looks liz ! long pipe. b IN
three seetiona. Il drops from high
On the Oh derrick. guided b. an
elevator bloch, y The opening atop
. raised wooden platform with .
loud crash. There's I period az
silence while TIE sections are rails
Cd again b over d hundred feet
above The earth, then tho crash
comes again. Men On The grave
yard shift Who ~ b get some rest
during the day must become IN
ured % tha intermittent noise.
superintendent Conley, 4 good
naenrod Southarner and veteran
/ I'll man said his crew was based
d Homestead. ia, . few niles
away. They bring their lunches
with them and Stay o tie joh IN
u Tie rsIief crew eomes q %
that there . : hour drilling.
He explained ~ meaning ~ tha
word, '.uild-eas, |" at first joking
about No. I Williams wildcat ret
tinR its name from The animals
they bad 10 chase out u swampy
jungle about Z quarter Of Z mile In
land from The Atlantic.
'sWhen there Is No other oil pro
duetion around u the location d
The drilling, the vel u called
wildcat, = . explained.
Opersiinns man Baehanan SAID
he crew had started tie ven lasl
January u. ~ added that Tie
MOund work was begun b. petTOle.
tconainned on Pare TwOl
& . =