USA > California > Los Angeles County > Los Angeles > Men of achievement in the great Southwest Illustrated. A story of pioneer struggles during early days in Los Angeles and Southern California. With biographies, heretofore unpublished facts, anecdotes and incidents in the lives of the builders > Part 19
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One of the most desirable features in regard to the Cen- tral Oil Company's property is its accessibility and consequent low cost of transportation to the markets. The 2200 acres owned by the company lie about one and one-half miles east of the town of Whittier, which, by the way, owes much of its prosperity to the presence of this million dollar corpora- tion. The excellence of its location can best be appreciated when it is known that the Santa Fe Railroad Company's tracks are but four miles from the property, while the South- ern Pacific and the Salt Lake Railroad companies run within one and one-half miles of the land owned by the company.
The first prospecting on the ground was done by the former owners in the summer of 1895, at which time a well was sunk 1000 feet and a good flow of oil struck. In fact, the well is still producing, thus establishing the theory that the district is a lasting one. Since that date development work has resulted in thirty-four producing wells, while five drilling outfits, owned by the company, are constantly employed on additional wells. It is a significant fact that the deep wells are the most productive, and the thirty-four wells are now producing over 25,000 barrels of oil monthly. It is interesting to note in this connection that the produc- tion is steadily increasing under the policy adopted by the management, and this year will witness a total production double that of 1903.
The shipping facilities of the Central Oil Company are most excellent. At the junction of the Santa Fe and the Southern Pacific Railroad tracks, four miles from the com- pany's oil land, five acres of land have been purchased upon which have been constructed storage tanks with a capacity of 40,000 barrels, together with such pipe lines for loading as are required for the prompt filling of ten cars at once. These storage tanks are connected with the receiving and set- tling tanks at the wells by a four-and-one-half-mile four-inch pipe line. No pumping is required, as the elevation of the company's oil land above the storage tanks is over 750 feet, thereby providing sufficient pressure to insure a rapid flow to the storage tanks from the wells.
The water problem, which confronts many oil companies operating in remote places as one of their most serious diffi- culties, has been solved by the Central Oil Company in a most satisfactory manner. It owns five acres of land in the town of Whittier, where it has built a cement reservoir with a capacity of 750,000 gallons, and into this reservoir is received an ample supply of water from artesian wells. Another reservoir capable of holding 420,000 gallons is located on the company's oil land two and one-quarter miles distant, and connected with the receiving reservoir by a six-inch pipe line, through which powerful pumping machinery forces 10,000 gallons per hour. This supply is not only ample for its own needs, but permits the company to dispose of large quantities to consumers in that vicinity. As from thirty-five to forty men are constantly employed in prosecuting the work of the company, quite a little settlement is maintained on the ground. A feature that is of great advantage is the presence of skilled blacksmiths and machinists, together with a com- pletely equipped machine shop, permitting of all necessary repairs on the ground without incurring the loss of time that would be occasioned if the company had to send all repair work to the city. The wells are operated by pumping jacks, capable of pumping from ten to a dozen wells each, although most of the deeper wells are provided with walking beams.
It is a well known fact that Whittier oil has established a reputation that makes it much sought for by consumers. It is said by some refiners to make a better illuminating oil than the Coalinga product with 38 degrees gravity, or the Ventura oil with 34 degrees gravity. It is interesting to note that in one specific case, where the Central Oil Com- pany furnished a local consumer with 10,000 barrels of oil in one lot, that he deducted but nine and one-half barrels for moisture out of the entire consignment. This is no doubt due to the fact that especial care is taken in handling the oil both at the receiving, settling and storage tanks, it being the custom to settle the oil before shipping.
Often the best test of business sagacity is shown by the ability to grasp an opportunity which may seem to others hazardous, and to bring it to successful issue. This rare and unmistakable talent is possessed in a marked degree by the officers of the above company, and no better evidence could be desired than that afforded by the success of the Central Oil Company. Mr. W. W. Neuer, the president of the company, is a gentleman with previous experience in the oil regions of Pennsylvania, where he operated successfully during the latter '70's. It is largely due to his untiring energy and practical experience that the company has suc- ceeded where others failed. Mr. Robert N. Bulla, the secre- tary of the company, is prominent in the legal profession and a well known figure in the political arena of the State, where he was a successful candidate for the State Senator- ship during the years 1897 and 1899. His knowledge of the intricacies of the law has without doubt contributed much to the success of the company in assisting it to avoid disastrous litigation. Mr. H. R. Lacey occupies the position of super- intendent of the company, and personally supervises all field work. He has been identified with the company from its incipiency, and is largely interested in its stock. All are men of substantial character and resources, and as a firm present one of the strongest associations of business talent in the city. It commands the confidence of the public in all its business relations, a universal respect for its unqualified success, and esteem for the manner in which it has con- tributed to the development of one of the State's greatest industries.
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MRS. EMMA A. SUMMERS.
D URING the past few years one of the most remarkable features of development in Southern California has been the greatly increased production of petroleum. For a number of years previous to the excitement of the carly 'go's there had been a small amount of oil produced in this county, but it has been since the discovery of the rich field within the city limits of Los Angeles that the industry has assumed a place that gives it rank with the mining inter- ests of the Southwest, and there is abundant evidence that within a few years California will be the leading petroleum State of the Union, and that the value of the oil product will equal that of the gold mines.
Emma A. Summers is a Kentuckian by birth, having been born and educated in Hickman, that State. Her father was a local merchant and banker, and possessed of what at that time was considered ample means. At an early age the lit- tle miss developed marked musical talent, and upon com- pleting her education in her native State, entered upon a complete course at the New England Conservatory of Music, in Boston, Massachu- setts. Success attended her studies in a most gratifying degree, and in the summer of 1879 she received her diploma and graduated from that cele- brated institution of musical culture. Returning to her home, she remained but a com- paratively short time before be- ing married to Mr. A. C. Sum- mers. In the year 1881 the young married couple, deter- mined upon carving a fortune out of the rugged West, moved to Fort Worth, Texas, where they remained for two years, Mrs. Summers forming a circle of most cultured and delightful friends. In 1883, however, re- ports of the. attractions of Southern California proved so irresistible that the same year found her a resident of this city. It is not the intention to follow her career through the ten years that intervened between her arrival in Los Angeles and the commencement of the oil excitement in '92-3. Suffice to say that her executive ability and ambition would erop out at most unexpected inter- vals, and for a number of years during the "boom " she made purchases of real estate, disposing of them all to advantage. She is the owner of much realty in various parts of the city, all of which she has made revenue-producing. Her musical genius, too, was evidenced in her class of pupils, organized to pass away the idle hours, as Mrs. Summers is an indefatigable worker, and does not believe in “idle hours." Many of her former pupils have continued the musi- cal training commenced under her tutelage, and have won prominence in their profession.
Business perception and executive ability were her heritage, and these had been supplemented by associations which fitted
EMMA A. SUMMERS.
her for the creation, control and expansion of extensive inter- ests. Naturally when oil was first discovered in the vicinity of her home on California street, Mrs. Summers was early on the ground in the morning of its fame. That she secured a good location for her first well is best evidenced when it is announced that the well is still producing after ten years' pumping. It is located on Court street, near Temple, in what was formerly the very heart of the oil belt. Since that day, Mrs. Summers has sunk many wells in various parts of the oil field, and today she is operating fourteen which she owns. But to estimate her position in the oil circles of Los Angeles by the production of these fourteen wells would be erroneous, for be it known that this soft-spoken, pleasant-faced little Southern lady is the heaviest individual operator in the dis- trict, and is known on "the street " as the "Oil Queen," a title that she has earned by virtue of her extensive and stu- pendous operations in the local fields. It is authoritatively announced that she deals in over 50,000 barrels of the sticky stuff every month, yet in her handsomely-appointed offices in the Mason Opera House build- ing there is no evidence of this vast amount of oil (enough to float a battleship), unless it be in the extensive correspondence and innumerable telegrams that are constantly being received.
Some idea of the extent of her operations may be gained from the knowledge that she has contracts with such oil- consuming plants as those oper- ated by the Los Angeles Rail- way Company, the San Pedro, Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad, the Redondo Railway Company, the Pacific Light and Power Company, the Ice and Cold Storage Company, besides a number of oil refineries and practically every large hotel, laundry and machine shop in the city.
Mrs. Summers has always acted independently in her ope- rations, and the measure of success her ventures have yielded must be credited to her individuality and personal efforts. She lives in an artistic and comfortable home on California street, where she has resided for many years before Fortune bestowed her smiles upon her, preferring to remain in the old home to seeking other surroundings, though it is a well- known fact that she could be mistress of the most preten- tious residence in Los Angeles should she choose to do so. In business circles her opinions are sought for and valued by bankers, mining men and successful business men of years of long experience. Her office is beset with persons seeking interviews to present Utopian schemes. For a while these proved a source of amusement, being, in instances, so absurd as to pass belief. But such fanciful propositions received the peremptory dismissal they merited, and when they became a nuisance, measures were taken to forestall them.
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MEN OF ACHIEVEMENT IN THE GREAT SOUTHWEST.
RUFUS H. HERRON.
R UFUS H. HERRON came to Los Angeles at about the time of the first discoveries of a rich field of petroleum almost within the city limits. He has since been closely identified with the great industry, and has done as much to advance its interests as any man in the State. Having had an experience covering a number of years in the great oil regions of Western Pennsylvania and West Vir- ginia, it will be seen that he brought to the coast not only his own private capital, but an invaluable experience, both of which he freely invested in this greatest of Southern Califor- nia's young enterprises.
Rufus H. Herron owes his nativity to Pennsylvania, where away back in smoky old Pittsburgh he was born in '49. As a youth he evi- denced a rare determination of purpose and character ; as a man of affairs these characteristics have been even more pronounced. His education was obtained in the Western University of his native city, and there the boy grew to man's es- tate. Having early dis- played a fondness for busi- ness, he secured a position with the Pennsylvania Rail- road, where he acquired much valuable knowledge that he used in good stead when later, resigning his railroad position, he became associated with his father and brother in the real es- tate and brokerage business in Pittsburgh. When later his father was appointed Pension Agent, Mr. llerron assumed charge of the of- fice and conducted it for a period of four years most satisfactorily.
Although a member of the firm of William A. Herron & Sons until 1890. Mr. Herron's interests were by no means confined to the real estate and broker- age business of which he was a partner. He ac- quired holdings in various portions of the oil fields of both Western Pennsylvania and the adjoining State of West Virginia. So assiduously did he apply himself to business that in 1890, after having met with gratifying success in his operations in the field, he was com- pelled on account of failing health to retire from active busi- ness life and seek to recuperate in a less rigorous climate. After traveling extensively throughout the Southern States, and the famous watering places of the Continent, he finally came to Los Angeles in 1893, after having been retired for three years. At the time of his arrival in Southern California
RUFUS H. HERRON.
he had abandoned all idea of ever again engaging in business, but so beneficial was the climate and so ambitious the man, that shortly after his arrival the opportunities afforded in the then newly discovered oil fields proved irresistible. Profiting by his experience in the older oil regions of the East, he decided to open an oil well supply house in this city, and accordingly in 1895, two years after his arrival in the State, opened the first oil well supply house on the coast. Realizing the importance and necessity of having supplies available without expensive delays, he shortly after opened a second establishment in the heart of the Coalinga district; this was followed by a third house in San Francisco, which was designed to supply all the rich territory then being de- veloped in the northern part of the State. It is interest- ing to note, in this connec- tion, that Mr. Herron is the only man selling this class of goods on the coast who has been an operator, and fully understands the re- quirements of the business. As sole agent for the Oil Well Supply Company of Pittsburgh, he represents the largest manufacturers of oil well supplies in the world, and is enabled to keep in constant touch with the fluctuations of the market. The success which attended the establishment of the first three houses induced Mr. Herron to still further in- crease his facilities for sup- plying the market by open- ing stores in Bakersfield, McKittrick and Mariposa, all of which carry complete stocks of the machinery, tools and supplies in de- mand in their respective sec- tions. Nothing required by the trade is too small or nothing too large to be found and secured in these establishments. In the line of engines, boilers, belting, cordage, Reading casing (which is by the way made of iron and far superior to steel for the purpose,) drilling and fishing tools, the stock is complete. "Fishing " tools, which are expensive pieces of mechanism owing to patents, etc., are rented at a nominal charge, thereby enabling drillers in need of such appliances to take advantage of this progressive idea, without incurring the expense of purchasing a tool that might not again be required for a year.
As an operator, Mr. Herron has been active ever since his introduction to the oil fields of the State. He was one of the first men to enter the Summerland district in Santa
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MEN OF ACHIEVEMENT IN THE GREAT SOUTHWEST.
Barbara county, and organized the Duquesne Oil Company in company with Thomas D. Wood, an old Pittsburg friend. This is a close corporation, and owns a large ocean frontage in that well known district. Thirty wells are producing at the present time, while development work is being actively prosecuted on other parts of the property, which is the most uniquely situated of any in the State. Owing to the location of the property, exceptional shipping facilities are at the com- mand of the com- pany, although at present the oil is sold on the ground.
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Mr. Herron is interested in a proposition near Santa Maria, which gives promise of a great future. He was the pioneer in Colusa county, north of San Fran- cisco, and operated in the Fullerton fields. In the Coa- linga district he was among the first and most en- ergetic developers of that region, and was for a time in- terested largely in the local west end oil fields. The growing demands of his business made it imperative to devote almost his entire time to its needs, and at present he has disposed of all of his interests except those in Santa Barbara county.
With injustice to none, it may safely be stated that few other men in the State have contributed in so generous a degree to the success and development of this great industry as Mr. Herron. He organized and was president of the first oil exchange of the State- the Los Angeles Oil Exchange - and held at the same time the position of vice-president of the San Francisco Oil Exchange. He has given freely of his private fortune to the promotion of the interests of petroleum in the State, and has been one of the most active members of the Chamber of Commerce, the Los Angeles Board of Trade, and other prominent local or- ganizations. It was he who founded the Manufactur- ers' Association, which later was merged into the Merchants' and Manufacturers' As- sociation.
He is a director of the Southern California Masonic Home Association, a Shriner, a Knight Templar, a Thirty- second Degree Mason, a Son of the Revolution, and
KESILENCE OF RUFUS H. HERRON.
a member of the Loyal Legion, while among the social clubs he is equally well known, beirg a member of the California Club of this city.
RESIDENCE OF MRS. EMMA A. SUMMERS.
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MEN OF ACHIEVEMENT IN THE GREAT SOUTHWEST.
W. W. NEUER.
S OUTHERN CALIFORNIA is one of the world's great- est sanatoriums, and, in viewing the influence of the climatic conditions upon the growth and prosperity of Los Angeles, the casual observer is likely to overlook many other noted features of the city's supremacy. Long ago the fame of its climatic and scenic attractions overbalanced our natural undeveloped resources, and it is not surprising that this has also distanced the report of the progressive and enterprising spirit which dominates the business element of Los Angeles. To this characteristic, not less than to the wealth of natural resources with which nature has endowed this section of the State, Los Angeles owes her development ; and it is the purpose of the writer to present in these sketches the most striking examples of individual en- ergy our rich field affords. W. W. Neuer was born in the little village of Ham- burg, in Central Pennsyl- vania, in the year 1839. He is descended from staunch old Pennsylvania stock. his great grand parents having immigrated to this country and settled in William Penn's colonies early in the seventeenth century. As a lad, young Neuer attended the schools of his native town until attaining the age of fourteen, at which time he commenced to earn his living, and was ap- prenticed to a carpenter and joiner, during which time he also studied archi- tecture.
While yet a young man Mr. Neuer removed to Wilkesbarre, Pa., and be- came engaged in the build- ing and real estate business, where for many years he was engaged in the prac- tice of his profession, and his architectural skill was evidenced in erecting many of the most imposing public and private buildings in that handsome city. For nearly a third of a century Mr. Neuer was a resident of Wilkesbarre, during which time his name was prominently associated with the real estate and other interests of that city. His confidence was manifested in large personal holdings, which included some of the choicest resi- dence and business property. He did more than buy for speculation ; he improved property and made it revenue-pro- ducing. Several of the handsomest and most sightly resi- dence sections of Wilkesbarre were platted and placed upon the market through Mr. Neuer's personal efforts.
In 1878 Western Pennsylvania was in the midst of an oil " boom." Mr. Neuer had established a reputation for clear
judgment and keen perception, which had always been guided by conversatismi, and his reputation in business and financial circles was that of a man of high authority and strict integrity. When he entered the oil fields in the vicinity of Bradford, Pa., in the year 1878, he had had no previous experience in those lines, but a ripe business experience soon demonstrated that correct business principles were quite a match for luck in the exploitation and development of the virgin territory which he entered at that time. Success attended his efforts, and after a time he practically retired from the field, so far as his personally directing affairs was concerned, although he still retained extensive interests there for many years.
In 1891, after having led an exceptionally active life for over forty years, Mr. Neuer came to Southern California and Los Ange- les, with the intention of practically retiring fron business cares. Either the genial climate imbued him with renewed energy or so many years in the business world induced habits that were hard to throw off, for in less than two years after his adopting this city as his home, we find him a pio- neer in the Whittier oil fields, which at that time had been prospected and re- ported adversely upon. In 1895 Mr. Neuer organized the old Central Oil Com- pany, and commenced the active development of the Whittier fields in the face of the unsuccessful efforts of other parties on the ground. For five years the company under the direc- tion of Mr. Nener, its pres- ident and leading spirit, continued the development of the property they had acquired in that section, finally selling out to the Central Oil Company of Los Angeles, of which Mr. Neuer is also president, and under which title the company has been working for the past four years.
W. W. NEUER.
A complete story descriptive of the company, its history and operations, will be found in another portion of this book.
A review of the career of W. W. Neuer furnishes food for reflection for the youth of today. Starting in life as clerk in a village store at wages of $1 a week, he had, by frugality and rare business acumen, acquiring quite a fortune at age of thirty-two. For ten years he was an honored member of the City Council of Wilkesbarre, Pa., each succeeding election finding him the unanimous choice of his constituents. A pioneer in the Western Pennsylvania oil fields in 1878 he
MEN OF ACHIEVEMENT IN THE GREAT SOUTHWEST.
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reaped the reward offered the fearless and yet eon- servative investor in that most alluring of pursuits, and again, about twenty years later, we find him opening virgin territory on the opposite side of the continent.
Mr. Neuer's architectural taste has found expression in the building of a beau- tiful home in one of the city's most exclusive residence sec- tions. Here he lives and entertains in a manner befitting his rank and station in life. His life is open and true-hearted, reflecting the open- handed generosity of the West. Among mining, business and financial men he is held in high esteem and enjoys the confidence of those who know him.
The success which has attended his efforts is purely the result of meritorious effort. Inher- iting little but a steadfast honesty of purpose, it was doubtless emulation of those virtues in his sturdy parents that instilled into Mr. Neuer's character that industry and probity which have marked his career, and it seems but the fulfillment of a just destiny that life should hold in store for such a man the rewards of usefulness - wealth and position.
RESIDENCE OF W. W. NEUER.
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MEN OF ACHIEVEMENT IN THE GREAT SOUTHWEST.
ROBERT N. BULLA.
I T IS interesting in reviewing the careers of men who have made signal successes in oil and mining in the Southwest to note the various stations in life from which they come. While Fortune has chosen her sponsors from all ranks of society, as established by difference of means and education, it is a conspicuous fact that the favored ones represent, as a rule, the conservative, persevering and deserving element. The subject of this biography was possessed of both financial and educational resources before he entered the active field of industry, and is one whose experience has evidenced a marked fitness for the obligations imposed by success.
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