Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 22, Number 99, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 August 1901 — The Gillam Oil Field. [ARTICLE]

The Gillam Oil Field.

Some Facts Noted By a Republican Representative, Right On the Spot.

A visit to the Jasper county oil fields is both interesting and instructive and persons who have never visited that section have but little idea of the activity there. A great .many thousands of dollars have been expended there and while the machinery used in the pumping is for the most part not so very expensive, it represents a considerable amount in the aggregate. From thirty to fifty men are employed in the different branches of the business, and are drawing salaries ranging from S4O to $125 per month. The greatest activity is occuring in a small territory of land about a mile square, the south line being at G. M. Comer’s store and the north line at the terminus of the Gifford railroad oil field branch. It is right along the wagon road that xost of the wells are operated, but some very good wells have been struck at more remote points, some four or five miles northeast and across the line into Pulaski county, and some good oil prospects extend south and west almost to the town of Gifford. Within the square mile first mentioned about 60 wells are being pumped and five companies and two or three private concerns are operating. The cheapest pumping method is by means of power houses, large horizontal balance wheels propelling eccentrics to which are attached the rod lines connecting with the pumping jacks. The rods are hung down from firmly set posts about 9 feet high and are tied with lopes in such manner as to permit of a slothful swaying to and fro. The movement of all the lines connected with a plant are uniform and, as different jrells require different motions of the pump to get the best results, the pumping is not entirely satisfactory. Log switches or turning tables permit of operating wells in any position, and the movement of the rods lines and jacks is so noiseless that they can scarcely be heard, and they furnish a queer spectacle as they work up and down all over a field, some of the pumps being almost a half mile from the power houses. The St. Joe company, which have the best plant, works only 18 pumps, while the Bird Syndicate work 28 from their power house. The single rigs are more successful, because the stroke can be regulated to suit the well. The water and oil is pumped into tanks of about 250 barrels capacity and the oil being the heaviest comes to the top and the water is drained away in pipes inserted at the bottom of the tanks and pointing upwards at an angle of 45 degrees to within a foot of the height of the tanks. There seems to be a great demand for the product, which is now almost wholly shipped to St. Louis, and used in the manufacture of asphalt. It is also used largely as a lubricant, contains a small percent of kerosene and some valuable chemical properties. The price paid is generally believed to be $5.50 per barrel of 42 gallons. The greatest difficulty experienced is in securing railroad tank oars for the shipping of the oil. The average product per well is thought to be abdut 2| barrels each day, but some At the best wells are producing much more, and the Gifford well operated by a single rig by the Bird Syndicate, is said to produce from 10 to 30 barrels daily. As several wells are frequently pumped into one tank it is difficult to tell the average percent of oil to water A quart glass fruit jar, caught at well No. 1, the best well in the St Joe field, shows about one-sixth oil. The Gifford

well in six weeks last fall produced 1,950 barrels of of!. It was not operated during the winter and since it was resumed about six weeks ago, it has not produced so much oil nearly as in previous years. Gifford’s proposed town, Asphalturn, is located at the north end of the field at the terminus of his oil field branch. Guild & Robinson, the Medaryville grain dealers, have made the first and only real estate - purchase. They bought 125 feet square and have constructed weight scales and a grain office. Perry Des Elms is in charge of the grain Mr. Gifford holds lots of 50x150 feet at SIOO and reserves the oil privileges. Benjamin Rouse, who owns the farm just west and across the wagon road, talks of laying a portion of it off in town lots at SSO per lot. The sale of the Toyne 160 acres for $16,000 has created much interest. The purchasers are New York men, represented here by C. P. Wright. 140 acres of the land is leased for oil privileges to the Bird Syndicate and only 20 acres is free to its new owners for oil prospecting and operations, so the company practically pays $16,000 for 20 acres. Other sales or prospective sales are rumored and the price seems to range higher as the activity there increases. New companies are forming and those now there are contemplating branching out, and it is rumored that the St. Joe people will soon drill.!,000 wells. The fact that B. J. Gifford, who is on the inside of all movements there, has planned for an extensive oil business at his new town, coupled with the interest in real estate matters and the actions and overheard conversations of the capitalists who frequently visit the oil fields, lends strength to the idea of permanent' and more extensive operations. The Jasper county oil fields are no longer an experiment, say those who are familiar with affairs there, and the supply of oil seems inexhaustible.