Democratic Sentinel, Volume 5, Number 23, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 July 1881 — “Shooting” Oil Wells. [ARTICLE]

“Shooting” Oil Wells.

“ Moonlighting” is a peculiar industry that owes its existence to the Patent laws. The late Col. E. A. Roberts introduced the use of nitro-glycerine torpedoes in increasing the yield of oil wells. When the great flowing wells of Oil creek, after draining the petroleum pools of the lower field for three years, had exhausted the supply, as was supposed, Col. Roberts experimented on an abandoned well with a quantity of nitroglycerine, confined in a tin shell and exploded by concussion. The explosion was followed by a flow of oil, and the old well yielded thirty barrels a day for several years afterward. The nitro glycerine had shattered the oil-bearing rock and opened the paraffine clogged veins. While serving in the army, Col. Roberts noticed that a bombshell exploding beneath the water invariably spent its force on the bottom of the stream, throwing up mud and stones in great quantities. This was due, he supposed, to the solid fluid tamping above the explosive. It was this idea that led him to try the experiment of nitro-glycerine at the bottom of oil wells, beneath hundreds of feet of fluid tamping—oil and water collected in the well. He obtained patents on his device. The validity of the patents was questioned, and nitroglycerine torpedoes were used by others without paying royalty to Roberts. He brought nearly 5,000 suits to protect his rights. One of these, as a test, was carried through all the State courts and to the United States Supreme Court. Roberts won in every court, and nearly sl,000,000 in royalties was recovered. The monopoly in nitro-giycerine torpedoes led to the illicit use of them in wells. Men without fear of death or regard for law went into the business of “shooting” wells for producers who did not care to pay tribute to Roberts. Any one has a right to manufacture nitro-glycerine and to place torpedoes in wells. In the exploding of them lies the liability to prosecution and penalty. The moonlighter is always ready to contract for the shooting of a well. He carries his nitro-glycerine in wagons made especially for the purpose. They are buckboards, with cushioned apartments under the seat, into . which the cans are placed. The roads of the oil regions would scarcely be called roads elsewhere. When not hub deep with mud they are stretches of deep rut and gulleys and projecting rocks. Drawn by powerful horses, these wagons, loaded with sixty or a hundred quarts of one of the most destructive explosives known, and which a sudden jar is at any moment likely to explode, are driven by their reckless owners over these roads in the darkest nights at the top of their horses’ speed. The men work at night always. They are called moonlighters, but the absence of the moon does not prevent them from undertaking a job. The Roberts company has a wonderful detective system, which is constantly employed in ferreting out the trespasses in the torpedo patent. It frequently happens that a moonlighter is spotted as he starts out on one of his nocturnal missions. The moonlighter rarely fails to be aware of the fact when he is followed by one of Roberts’ men. Then it is a race between the two. If the moonlighter cannot evade the detective and finish his job, he manages to secret his nitro-glycerine in the bushes, old buildings, barns, or other outbuildings of farms, or in any place where he is most likely to be able to recover it for use on a more auspicious occasion. Thus it happens that these dangerous storehouses are liable to be come upon at any time by people passing through the woods or along the streams, or by the farmers whose premises have been utilized. The cost of torpedoing a well under the Roberts patent averages $250. The moonlighter will shoot it for less than half of that Thus the saving effected if the work is not discovered is a great temptation to a certain class of producers. If detected, however, the penalty is heavy. The Roberts price for the torpedoing must be paid, and whatever damages may be assessed. If the well is an old one, and has been shot to increase its yield, the value of the increased yield up to the time the damages are assessed is added to the cost of detected illicit torpedoing. —New York Sun.