USA > Kansas > Illustrated directory of Kansas oil men, 1918 > Part 2
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Beginning with their drilling in May, 1917, no bad luck known to the oil producer had passed them by, until their Number Two well came in with a 200 barrel production, and aparently raised the hoodoo. For by the time this goes to press, Number One will be in and they will have begun drilling on two more offsets and three more absolutely proven locations.
Incorporated in April, 1917, with a $60,000.00 closed corporation, they already con- trol these valuable parcels: Northeast of Northwest 3-26-5, consisting of 20 acres; 80 acres near production Northeast of Eureka, Greenwood County; 40 acres in the Fox Bush Dis- triet, south part of Butler County.
The fact that Mr. O. E. Foulke as president, Mr. J. M. Reynolds as vice-president, and Mr. A. M. Griffith as secretary and treasurer, are the officers of the organization ac- counts for the loyalty and patience of the stockholders and for the A-1 financial condition of the corporation.
Returns will be in in the near future after which date a large monthly dividend will be paid to all who are fortunate enough to be associates in this company.
PAGE NINETEEN
The Midland Refining Company El Dorado, Kansas
T
The accompanying picture of The Midland Refinery tells its own story for it illus- trates the ultimate success of unlimited endeavor, and depicts the last word in modern effi- ciency for producing, manufacturing, and distributing petroleum and its products. It is one of the show places of the Mid-Continent field.
But, in case you are interested in a few statistics, you might consider these. From the activities on those eighty acres two miles south of El Dorado, 250 of the company's tank cars are in continuous service, and the products are shipped in train load lots to Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, and New York State, beside filling their share of middle west orders. They are breaking into the retail department by establishing stations in Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas.
Mr. W. G. Skelly, the President, is a director in cleven other oil companies and is one of a few really responsible for the development of the Illinois, Texas and Oklahoma fields. He doesn't need the boost but we would like to add our approval to his enterprise and our appreciation for the difficulties he has overcome. Mr. F. A. Pielsticker as Vice President and Dr. G. W. Gray as Secretary complete the trio of human dynamos who, since the in- corporation in March, 1917, have put this big project "over the top."
PAGE TWENTY
The Inland Oil Company
Incorporated in April, 1917, as the producing department of The Midland Refining Company, The Inland Oil Company, appropriated two and a half million for that purpose and formed an organization of their largest stockholders who secured leases on 2,000 acres in Kansas, consisting of sixteen pieces, some of which is offset acreage. They also operate valuable production in Oklahoma, and the policy of handling the business is to get the af- fairs of the company on a firm, good paying basis and then pro rate any extra funds needed among the original stockholders. So far, they have never had to go outside of that list for anything they financed. That may be explained by the fact that only a small amount has been set aside for speculative purposes as all the rest is spent in proven territory. But we suspect that their large annual income has something to do with it.
When you know that Mr. W. G. Skelly, as President; Mr. F. A. Pielsticker, as Vice- President and Secretary, and Mr. R. H. Hazlett as Treasurer form the personnel of the board, you will understand why the charter membership still stands . Mr. Pielsticker, who was formerly at the head of The Ice and Light Company for El Dorado, was placed in charge of the company's office at 308 El Dorado National Bank Building. He is an expe- rienced oil operator, holds an engineering degree from the Iowa State College, and in vari- ous ways, seems especially equipped to fill his office in the company.
PAGE TWENTY - ONE
The Famous Shumway Lease at Towanda
Operated by The Gypsy Oil Co. (See Frontispiece Panorama.)
There is no doubt that the quarter section most prominent in the history of the oil industry of Kansas is the N. E. 1/4 of section 11-26-4 Butler County, known in petroleum parlance as The Shumway. There has been no way to speak of it except in superlatives and here are a few of the most used ones: It has been considered the greatest produc- ing oil property of its size in the United States (having yielded over twelve million dollars in oil within ten months) ; operated by The Gypsy Oil Company, the lease is per- haps the best equipped and most thoroly developed quarter section in the country; their Number Five has made a record-unequaled in the entire field. It came in 16,000 barrels strong on September 7, 1917, and flowed natural for over seven months. Number Thirteen struck oil on March 16, 1918, and was good for 16,000 barrels. One-sixteenth of the royalty paid in excess of $66,000.00 for fifteen days in Marclı.
As to equipment, it is a marvel of ingenuity and efficiency. There are two 55,000- barrel tanks on the lease and a great number of the 1600-barrel size. It has air compres- sion plants for use in flowing the oil. When the compressed air is run thru tubing into the wells, it serves as pressure to force the oil out and wells that would make 1000 bar- rels on the pump, will, when put on the air, increase to five or six thousand barrels a day. There are about one hundred dwelling houses on the lease for the employes, and all the property is served with electricity from its own plant. Guards are stationed at the gates and the public is not permitted to enter without a pass. At night, the immense search- light in the center of the lease, helps to guardthe holdings of the syndicate.
PAGE TWENTY -TWO
Production first came in thru number one on July 15, 1917 and flowed at the rate of 5000 barrels per day. The property is not one year old and is nearing completion as far as deep oil is concerned, having brought in twenty-eight deep producing wells, with eight more drilling. They have drilled into the deep sand from four to forty feet, getting results at this depth, and have stopped drilling, altho the sand on the lease is proven to be 80 feet in depth. By drilling no deeper, the wells maintain their initial pro- duction for a longer time. There is a shallow production at 1670 feet with two wells on it that flowed when they were drilled in, and the indications seem to warrant double or twin sand wells. This sand produces about 200 bbls. to the well-flush. There were seven gas wells completed that furnished fuel for operation for quite a while and are still a prominent factor in drilling.
The products of the Shumway wells are transported by means of six-inch pipes for the large wells from the pumps to flow tanks and thence into the storage tanks and pipe lines. The Gulf Pipe Line Company of Oklahoma, affiliated with the Gypsy, has laid lines from the property to Port Arthur, Texas, where they have one of the largest refineries in the world. Many other items of an epoch-making nature could be cited but the most provable statement of their eminence, is the tendency of the entire oil public to describe all their holdings with the Shumway as a gauge.
PAGE TWENTY -THREE
THE SWORD OF DAMASCUS
OIL
PRO
THE OIL INDUSTRY WILL NOT BE TAKEN OVER BY THE GOVERNMENT SO LONGIAS PRODUCTION IS SATISFACTORY
REQUA
HAMMOND
Courtesy The Wichita Eagle and Mr. B. F. Hammond
Mr. W. M. Jamieson
In writing up Mr. W. M. Jamieson, secretary of The Otter Creek Oil and Gas Com- pany, it is unnecessary to resort to flowery epigrams and dig up camouflage sensations. The facts will speak for themselves.
He came to Kansas in 1883 but in 1887 was sent to New Mexico as drill runner for The San Pedro Coal & Coke Co. His former experience as a miner aptly fitted him for this office. The May and Jekyl Construction Co., of New York availed themselves of his services as superintendent of live stock in building the railway from Port au Prince to Santa Clara, Cuba in 1901 and two years after he served as superintendent of excava- tion and tracks in building the great filtration plant for the city of Washington, D. C. Then he was installed as superintendent of construction for the railroad from Nipa Bay to Punta Baca, Cuba and, at its completion, was engaged by Pierson & Son of London, England to superintend the construction of Tunnels "A" and "B" in the great tunnel sys- tem under the East River connecting New York and Long Island. In 1910, he again be- came associated with May & Yekyl as superintendent of construction on the Madeira and Mamore Railway, South America-a task that took him down into the swamps of the Amazon with a working crew of French-speaking negroes, Cubans, and hundreds of im- ported Germans,-all fighting the common enemy fever and swamp laziness.
That is almost enough for one man to accomplish with one life but there are local citizens who still love to talk about the big real estate deals he has consummated herc before going in for oil leases and royalties. The facts that Mr. Jamieson drilled oil wells in South America 10 years ago; that he got some of the choice acreage in Green- wood two years ago; and that he always attempts such big things and, somehow has a knack of putting them thru-all contribute to the conviction that his association with The Otter Creek Oil and Gas Co., is enough to insure its success.
PAGE TWENTY -FIVE
The American Petroleum Investment Company
124-126 EAST FIRST, WICHITA
In the history of every big industry, there have been those admirable organiza- tions, who sacrificed various small personal opportunities for the ethics and advance- ment of the profession, itself. Such a one in the annals of the Kansas Oil Development is The American Petroleum Investment Company. It is a veritable clearance house for reliable royalties and deals in nothing but proven propositions because it believes that every poor oil investment does unlimited harm to all petroleum activities. So, when you go to them for stock in any oil venture you are sure to get an expert's best opinion of your contemplated transaction, if you ask for it. And, as they have nothing of their own to sell, you can be reasonably sure that it is an unbiased judgment, based upon the best obtainable information.
Incorporated on May 2, 1918, for $100,000, the following officers were appointed to carry out the firm's policy of integrity and dependability: C. M. Van Pelt, President, a man with twenty-five years of practical oil experience; A. V. Bourque, Vice-Presi- dent, for fourteen years special oil writer and statistician for the Mid-Continent field; Paul Bossemeyer, Treasurer, formerly in charge of Bossemeyer Brothers Grain Com- pany's Wichita Office, and T. M. Thomas, Secretary, an experienced stock man for- merly in charge of the local office of Orthwein Matchette Company, Stocks and Bonds. Mr. J. F. Marion, one of the directors, was for many years traveling buyer for the Ernst- Davis Grain Co., a Kansas City Commission House.
It is the aim of The American Petroleum Investment Company to specialize in exclusive listings of high grade oil securities but they conduct a service for various
PAGE TWENTY -SIX
companies wno prefer to distribute their selling chances, and can get anything for you that is on the market. However, if you would save embarrassment, don't try to enlist their aid to unload some blue sky proposition that you may be willing to part with. They have a way of sorting out the good bets from bad ones and, remember, they are establishing a reputation for worth-while royalties only and it is to their interest to pro- tect their clients.
One of the most philanthropic services in the history of the oil industry is being rendered by their department for indexed information on eleven hundred Kansas Com- panies. There is to be a small fee for the reports obtained from this source but it will be authentic and might save you many times its cost. The Oklahoma lists are being compiled and the entire system will be under the jurisdiction of Mr. A. V. Bourque, who is peculiarly fitted for the position from his extensive publicity experience as oil reporter for the Tulsa Democrat and Times, Oil and Gas Journal, Oil City Derrick, Mid-Continent reporter for the Gulf Coast Oil News, Ft. Worth Star-Telegram, Oil Staff Correspondent for the Kansas City Star, American Oil Journal, and National Petrole um News.
THE AMERICAN PETROLEUM COMPANY
This company was organized and incorporated on December 14, 1917, for fifty thousand dollars and is a closed corporation whose stockholders are the officers of The American Petroleum Investment Company. They take leases, buy producing property, market refined products, and have 18,000 acres leased in Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas. They are a producing company and finance all their own undertakings, being the produc- tion department of The American Petroleumm Investment Co. They do not need, nor will they accept outside capital. This attitude only further substantiates their principle to handle all stock in their listings at an equal advantage.
PAGE TWENTY - SEVEN
The Inter-Sea Service Corporation
Well of The Inter-Sea Service Corporation in Butler County
The Inter-Sea Service Corporation was organized under the laws of the State of New York in 1917. It was primarily intended as an importing and exporting concern. A representative was selected to tour South America. But necessity turned its activities another way.
When the United States became a participant in the great European war the Board of Directors discussed the manner of greatest service to the nation and thus came about
PAGE TWENTY -EIGHT
the decision to become producers of petroleum and thus if possible render a real service to mankind.
The Vice-President of the company was chosen to secure acreage in the celebrated oil fields of Kansas and in a short time valu able leaseholds were obtained in Butler, Barber and Comanche counties, about 17,000 acres in all.
It was expected by the directors that the stock of the company would all speedily be sold in New York. The capitalization was authorized only to the amount of $250,000 and under ordinary conditions would have quickly been placed.
War changes every aspect of life and business as usual is all right to talk about but impossible to realize. And with war conditions New York was the first place to keenly suffer. Hence their development work has been retarded and of necessity.
However, the first year of the company's existence has been successful. Only $100,000 of stock has been issued yet the holdings of the company have increased in value and production will be had soon.
About 6,000 acres of their holdings were sub-leased to The Guaranty Development Company, a Million Dollar Company, and several wells are being drilled by that concern. The Inter-Sea Service Corporation retained a one-eighth royalty in all lands subleased and received as further compensation one-fourth of the common stock of The Guaranty Development Company.
The remainder of the stock of the company is being sold in the middle west and they will soon be drilling on their holdings in Comanche and Barber counties. The well which they started in Butler county last year will soon be completed.
Twenty-eight hundred acres were added to their holdings recently and they have now about 13.500 acres besides the royalty in the above described 6,000 acres.
The officers and directors of The Inter-Sea Service Corporation are: Gordon L. Stephens, of Brooklyn, New York, president and treasurer; George Alfred Platts, of El Dorado, Kansas, vice-president; Joseph F. Coppinger, of Brooklyn, New York, secretary; J. O. Evertson, of El Dorado, Kansas, director, and Arthur D. Shaw, of Medicine Lodge, Kansas, director.
PAGE TWENTY - NINE
The Union Oil Company of Wichita
The Union Oil Company of Wichita located at 511 Beacon Building, is one of the largest of the local companies. Capital $1,500,000. Leases total about 34,000 acres; 6,000 of which are in Butler County. The others are scattered through various Counties in the oil territory such as Wilson, Montgomery, Chautauqua, Greenwood, etc.
Producing Leases are Denny or Manley Lease in 12-26-4. Hill Lease in 34-25-5, Sar- gent Lease in 24-26-4, Butler County. On all of these leases further development work is being pushed.
A Scene on The Union Oil Company's Property in Butler County
They also have a number of other leases now within one-half mile of production on which development will soon be necessary.
Officers: Geo. E. Ricker, President; Jos. C. Jordan, Vice-President and Treas- urer; M. T. Pearce, Secretary. Directors: Geo. E. Ricker, Jos. C. Jordan, M. T. Pearce, J. M. Mollendick, Wm. C. Ritchey.
PAGE THIRTY
The Commercial Refining Company
The little stone church that gave the famous "Church Yard" Lease its name had no spire. Now the spires of this Butler County "Spindle Top" are as thick as the sunflowers used to be.
This lease alone establishes The Commercial Refining Company, but the company's holdings near Broken Arrow are just as valu able if not so spectacular. With fifteen years" experience back of their enterprise, it is small wonder that their trade territory covers the earth.
The Churchyard Lease
George E. Ricker, a Kansas City business man, is president. O. J. Watson, whose success in selling Overland ears has been phenomenal, is Vice-President, and R. W. Black, a well-known operator in Oklahoma and Chautauqua fields, is Secretary and Treasurer.
With these holdings and these men to manage them, it is easy to see why the stock- holders think Christmas is a quarterly event.
PAGE THIRTY - ONE
El Dorado Refining Company
You have heard that if you aim at a star you will, at lease, hit a tree top; but how many times have you noticed any organization aiming at a tree top and hitting a star? That has been the experience of The El Dorado Refining Company. When they incorporated January 10, 1917 for $150,000, it seemed all sufficient for handling their business of the present or future. They bought ten acres one mile west of El Dorado and got busy.
"Busy" is the word. Within one short year, they had outgrown both their original quarters and capital, until they appropriated another $150,000 and doubled their acreage. They are spending most of this upon equipment to handle the immense volume of business they have developed and have 136 privately owned tank cars, 4 new stills, a new 26,000-bbl. tank and a reservoir covering one acre. From 3,000 to 4,000 barrels of petroleum are refined by them every day.
MR. J. J. TAXMAN
Mr. J. J. Taxman, the man who turned the Illinois Oil Company from a jobbing concern to a big successful refinery, is the president of this organization and gives it his personal attention. Mr. R. H. Hazlett, the prominent El Dorado banker, is Vice-Presi- dent with Ben Taxman as Secretary and M. Taxinan, Treasurer.
PAGE THIRTY TWO
The Guaranty Development Company of Des Moines, Iowa
It is easily imagined the difficulty encountered in telling the same story in a couple of hundred different ways. So when a company with an entirely new system of organiza- tion appears upon the scene, it is the editor's real delight to write them up. We believe you will be much interested, as we were, to learn of the policy of The Guaranty Development Company of Des Moines, Iowa, who now have charge of operations on more than 10,000 acres of valuable Kansas oil lands, and which policy is original with this Company and unique in its character.
This corporation, capitalized at $1,000,000 and backed by unlimited resources, op- crates under a South Dakota charter, with the following officers in executive charge:
Parley Sheldon, the President, is a millionaire, and President of the Story County Bank of Ames, Iowa; William Moran of the American Trust and Savings Bank of Des Moines, is Vice-President; Messrs. A. E. Hollingsworth, prominent coal operator and Albert G. Maish, wholesaler, are respectively Secretary and Treasurer of the Company, and the Directorate and list of prominent stockholders contain the names of such well known and conservative business men as Hon. John L. Bleakley, ex-State Auditor Daniel O'Don- nell, Geo. B. Hippee and D. H. McKee, respectively President and Vice-President of the Iowa Loan and Trust Co., men who in all other lines of business have never known what it was to fail.
They have so much faith in their own proposition that they are willing to guarantee all the stock sold by them, with the world's best currency-land. This company has entered into a Trust Agreement with the Iowa Loan and Trust Company of Des Moines and have deposited with them deeds for 18,800 acres of Brevard County, Florida lands, which after May 1, 1920 is the property of the stockholder on a basis of $40 an acre provided he is not satisfied with his investment. Brevard County lands are the cream of Florida and in the famous grape fruit district, selling now for from $50 to $200 an acre. The Company is thereby giving you two runs for your money, oil or land. With carefully selected leases and $500,000 in the treasury, you have one guess as to how much Florida land you will get.
PAGE THIRTY - THREE
MR. DEERING J. MARSHALL
Deering J. Marshall Independent Operator
The largest chapter of the "I-knew-him-when" Club in Kansas is the Deering J. Mar- shall contingent. Even the writer cannot remember the time when she did not know Deering J. and, likewise cannot remember the time when he was in any way different from the man he is today. He has proven himself a big man by the way he has accepted his marvelous good fortune. It is a crucial test for one of "our boys" who has been reared in the average Kansas small-town way to become suddenly prosperous and successful beyond his wildest dreams; to be known and loved by a small circle of friends one day-and cast head-long into the lime light of the world the next; to read newspapers filled with articles about prominent financiers one moment-and to fill those same papers the next with one's own achievements. Very few could have stood it and come thru as cosmopolitan and democratic as Deering J. Marshall has done.
There is a little old stone church over near Augusta which, until oil was discovered, was about as famous as Deering Marshall under the same circumstances. Both were fill- ing their individual nooks very satisfactorily but neither had any brilliant aspirations. The little church did not even have a spire. But there came a time when the names of both were on every tongue- and both for the same reason. Oil had been discovered on the Churchyard Lease-owned by Deering J. Marshall! It was the beginning. Bought for a mere trifle, this property yielded Mr. Marshall $65,000 worth of oil before he sold it for $125,000 and, to use his own words, put him on the map in the oil world. Since then, he has accomplished things that make this transaction pale into insignificance but the modest lit- tle edifice always draws a warm thrill of gratitude and tribute from Mr. Marshall at every opportunity.
Pursuing his policy of buying leases early at a nominal sum and spudding in for actual production while awaiting a propitious time to sell, Mr. Marshall bought the Har- mon quarter section for $16,000 and sold it to S. T. Jocelyn and associates for a quarter of a million dollars. Then there was the Dillenbeck Deal. As a pioneer on the west portion
PAGE THIRTY -FIVE
of the El Dorado Pool, Mr. Marshall drilled in No. 1 on this lease-then four miles from production-and brought in a gas well. At this time he sold 320 acres to The Tuloma Oil Co. and this concern went down 2450 feet and brought back an oiler. The rest of the Dil- lenbeck was owned by Harry Heimple, a prominent Wichita oil man, and Deering J. Mar- shall and they sold one-half of their interests to the Tidal Oil Company for $656,000 with the understanding that Mr. Marshall was to take full charge of the operating.
At the present time, this remarkable exponent of the oil industry is carrying on an extensive drilling campaign in the eastern part of Butler County, western part of Green- wood-near the Hull well, and in Cowley County. He has already produced as many bar- rels of oil as any individual producer in the state and has more wildcat tests to his credit than any other man and than most of the operating companies in Kansas. It was doubtless this spirit of continued activity and advancement that caused the officials of the organiza- tion to place him upon The Advisory Board of the Petroleum War Service Committee. Deering J., himself, wondered why the chairman appointed so young a man as himself on so important a department of government service and asked that executive why they did not select an older man with more brains, and received this reply: "Well, it is usually conceded that an oil man doesn't have to have brains-it's all luck anyhow-so why con- sider that qualification on this committee?"
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