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Another Oil Well(Galveston Daily News, March 2, 1901) Beaumont, Tex., Mar. 1--Reports Reached Beaumont That A Big Strike Has Been Made On Taylor's Bayou--Created Excitement--The Indications Giving Rise To The Report Account For Along Another Line---Struck Gas at Sixty Feet--Gauge Shows Four Thousand Pounds Pressure To The Inch--Excitement Soon To Break Out Afresh. There was a touch of the old oil excitement in Beaumont this afternoon, and the spirit, which has been calm for several weeks, was aroused in every man over the report which came here by telephone from Port Arthur this afternoon that another spouter (gusher) had been struck on Taylor's Bayou. about nine miles south of this city. The rumor came in this wise. People in the vicinity of the fish oil plant on Taylor's Bayou reported that great quantities of crude oil were passing down the bayou and out to sea with the current of the stream. Men set to work dipping up the oil while others spread the news and started the excitement. People in Port Arthur soon afterward discovered a dark object in the northwest of that city which added to the story of the oil fluid on Taylor's Bayou, soon shaped it into another spouter. That is the rumor which started the excitement and whether there is anything to it or not must be gleaned from the facts which follow. The supposed well was designated as the one now being drilled by Sturm Bros. on the Stockwell-Davis survey for or under lease to W. R. J. Stratford. A reporter for the News first found Mr. Stratford would not take the report seriously. He said when he left the well, it was not spouting, nor did it show any signs of spouting. On the condition of the well, he said the drill was down farther than 1,000 feet, but he declined to say what they had found. He said he did not expect the well to come in for several days yet, and would not believe that anything had happened. When he left, the drill was not working. J. A. Paulhamas says it is not at all probable that any of his wells in the Taylor's Bayou vicinity have sprung a spouter (brought in a gusher), because the drills are not working. This includes all the facts about these wells, but there is yet some foundation for the rumor, which can be accounted for without a spouter. The oil on the bayou came from the Lucas overflow. For the first time in several days, the wind has blown from the west today, and this would run the oil and water out of Taylor's Bayou which had accumulated by southeasterly winds. Again it might be that a bunch of oil got away from the Lucas pond. The J. M. Guffey Company is burning the oil which flowed from the Lucas well during its early days. This is being done by drawing off small quantities at a time and setting fire to it. This smoke is the object which the Port Arthur people took for a spouter. But the town is excited just the same, and it serves to show that the excitement here is merely smothered, and when another well is found, it will be like launching a match to powder. That Mr.Stratford's well is near the oil, there can be no question, and it may be that he has it now. But no one has been found who saw the gusher, and circumstances tend to knock out the report. A man on a swift horse was started toward the oil wells this afternoon with instructions to come back if there is anything going on, or otherwise he has to remain there tonight. He has not returned. An importnt discovery has been made in the field near the Lucas well, however, about which there is no doubt. The Star and Crescent Oil Company has completed the drilling rig in the Charles Ingalls tract and only need water to begin drilling. To get this water they sunk a 4-inch pipe and on Wednesday afternoon, found a gas well at a depth of 90 deet. The gas flowed from the well too strong to control easily, and it was necessary to screw a cap on the pipe. Before doing this, someone touched a lighted match to the gas and it burned steadily. And it was with great difficulty that the flame was extinguished after use of great quantities of sand. After the pipe was capped, a pressue gauge read about four pounds pressure to the square inch. Several other wells will be sunk on this spot to get water, and the gas will be used to furnish fuel for the furnace (boiler). This well is several hundred feet from the Lucas well and only about 100 feet from the well of the Southwestern Oil Company, which is now drilling. The discovery of this gas is deemed important, both for its own value as well as indicating the pressure of the oil underneath. Captain A. F. Lucas, W. P. H. McFaddin, Dewey Heywood, and Senator Beaty came in this morning from Austin, where the first three named have been working in the interest of the oil bill. It will not be many days until something will turn up in the oil line here, and when it does, the former excitement will be outdone entirely. The discovery of another gusher will be much more significant than the first and will be far more productive of substantial results. Stratford is undoubtedly near the oil strata at the Taylor's Bayou well, and even if he does not develop a gusher, he may find a much higher grade and lighter oil. In fact there are many surprises he might spring. (comp. by W.T.Block)
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