Rensselaer Journal, Volume 12, Number 29, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 December 1902 — The Oil Field Again. [ARTICLE]

The Oil Field Again.

“An Old Settler,” in the Medaryville Advertiser of last week, says: Concerning the oil field located in Jasper and Pulaski counties, Ind., will say that I think the field has been very badly operated by “old drillers” who thought they knew more than they did. I think that if most of those wells had been properly treated, they would pay 100 per cent on every dollar invested, when I have stood by and seen numbers of these wells gushing oil out on the ground for weeks, the oil running into the dredges and road ditches until the company was notified of the fact; that they had to put in tile to hide it. This is the way the land owners have been treated while this company was to give one-eighth royalty. They tell them to wait until they get a market for the oil and then they would get their share. Well, we have waited almost three years and nothing has been done yet m the way of giving us % single cent. They tell us the oil is worth $5.00 per barrel and we would be perfectly satisfied if they would make some effort to have our share sold and let us have our money. We have lots of oil and there will be many more good wells drilled, as there is just as good territory to drill on as has been drilled. The Federal Co. has some good wells, but other companies have as good, if not better. The St. Joe Co. has wells on both sides of the Federal that have given better satisfaction to the old settlers than the Federal, for they have shipped car load after car load of oil to St. Louis. The Mudge Co. is drilling lots of good wells as is also the Davis Co. The Jasper County Co. has some good wells and the Tippecanoe Asphalt and Oil Co., with headquarters at Monticello, Ind., has some as good wells as there are in the field. On Mr. Henry Snider’s eleven acres one well pumped in about 90 days 1590 barrels of oil. This well is in the northwest corner of the tract and there Ib room for many more and plenty of room just over the line from the St. Joe and Federal companies.There is a reason for the publication of the article by “An Old Driller” and that reason is as plain as the nose on your face—it is to scare or keep away capitalists or companies that are as yet not in the field. There are other reasons, of course, that , come home more closely to “An Old j Driller, ” and if he wants us to enumerate them, We shall do so in the future. An Old Settler.