Evening Republican, Volume 23, Number 261, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 November 1920 — Page 2 Advertisements Column 2 [ADVERTISEMENT]

The Cost of a Hole in the Ground COMMENTING upon tne rise in the price ' of gasoline, a man who is unfamiliar with petroleum production writes: “The Lord, who put the oil in the * x earth, charges no more for it than he ever did. It comes for nothing out • of the ground when you dig a note. This is true, if it comes out of the ground - without help. The greatly increased cost lies in digging the hole,-casing it, caring for the oil when it comes out, and transporting and handling it on its way to* the refinery. Petroleum Age in its September issue says: “The cost of drilling and equipping a well at the present scale of prices for material and labor runs from Five Thousand Dollars for a shallow sand pumper to Seventy-five Thousand Dollars for the deep wells. A general average covering the entire country would run about Twenty Thousand Dollars per well.” One item which is often overlooked is the cost of dril- ’ ling wells which fail to produce oil. It is estimated that from 20 to 36 percent of all wells put down are dry holes. Yet, in spite of all discouragements, which included shortage of casing, difficulties of transportation, and the increasing expense of labor, on July 31st, 1920, there were eleven thousand wells drilling or under way > east of the Rocky Mountains, with completions averaging about, three thousand wells a month. Probably thirty-six thousand wells win be completed during 1920. The total expense including investment in drilling > tools, lease equipment and labor, is roughly estimated at one billion dollars. * Deducting two hundred, fifty million dollars (25 per- - cent) for salvage on equipment susceptible of further use, the net investment in new production for the year will be seven hundred fifty million dollars. It is apparent that oil does not come “for nothing out of the ground.” Oil is usually discovered in spots remote from rail • centers. The cost of pumping and transporting it to % * the refinery is a heavy charge. At the refinery charges begin tp pile up, for refining oil is a true manufacturing process involving application of chemistry, the use , • of specialized machinery, and human labor. All of these factors add to the cost of a product which _ Nature has given us. The Standard Oil Company (Indiana) has been steadfastly applying the trained power of jts organization to increasing the yield of-gasolinq. from crude, and in achieving economies by large scale operations in refining and distributing its products. Standard Oil Company (TmKnm/ V910 So. Michigan Ave., Chicago 1308 ' ;

TAXI LINE SERVICE j Having purchased the taxi line of F. G. Deschahd, I am prepared to give you prompt taxi service at all times with the promise of efficient service and courteous" treat- । ment. Phone Rensselaer garage, 365, or my residence, 452-Black. PETER MCDANIELS. NOTICE. All the suits contesting ths will of the lata Benjamin J. Gifford, an now disposed of and I am in a position to sell land. I have yet unsold several hundred acres of good land located in Jasper and Lake counties, which I will sell as executor on reasonable terms, but carnet take bny trade. - - Call at my office or at the office of T. M. Callahan, at Rensoelaer, InGmfoED MARRIAGE LICENSE. Oct. 30. William Jasperson, bom Feb. 18, 1881, Jasper county; present residence, Wheatleld; occupation, merchant. And Mary Elizabeth Alexander, boro, Goodland, June 10, 1903; present residence, Tefft; occupation, housekeeper. First marriage for each. •-' - • Miss Ruth Saylor returned Saturday from a two months’ visit with her -brother, A. M. Saylor and other relatives at Great Bend, Kans.' ■■— — — Mrs. Joseph Smith is quite sick at her home on -South Ven Rensselaer street, i - • Fann leases for sale at the Republican office, grain and cash rent.

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