USA > Kansas > Illustrated directory of Kansas oil men, 1918 > Part 5
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In April 1916, Barnes, Hickman & Hickman organized with the idea of specializing in drilling. They have an office in Suite No. 302-4 El Dorado National Bank Building and, in normal times, keep five strings of tools working. So far, most of their work has been in the north part of Butler and they have brought in very few dry holes, which may be ac- counted for by the fact that Mr. Barnes has had 35 years experience in this business and perhaps because Mr. Shaeffer of the Theta Company is interested in this concern and has a natural antipathy for failures.
PAGE SEVENTY - THREE
To be able to tell where the oil, which lies from 1500 to 3500 feet under ground, is to be found, seems almost impossible, but to those who make it their profession, it is but a mere process of making a geo- logical survey.
The Universal Petroleum Geologists, of 202 Sedgwick Building, are men experienced in this work. J. A. Pynch, manager and geolo- gist, and Hyrum Schneider, geologist, have been professors of Geology and graduates of Wisconsin and Chicago Universities. They do all kinds of mapping and investigate oil properties, and they work wher- ever petroleum exists. If you want to know whether your lease or property has oil underneath it, ask the Universal Petroleum Geolo- gists. They have had ten years' experience and are dependable.
MR. J.NYP . ACH
THE WARKICK-DYMOCK COMPANY
D. S. Warwick, Fred C. Dymock, C. E. R. Winthrop,-these three men until a short time ago were for many years actively engaged in the grain business. War conditions pre- venting the commission man from handling wheat in the Wichita market in 1917, they natu- rally turned their energies to the oil business as oil is the biggest proposition in and around Wichita today. They buy and sell leases and production and they do it on the same basis on which they used to run their grain business: a fair deal to everybody. This firm spec- ializes in producing properties. Usually one of the members makes a personal inspection of properties they offer and their description will stand the acid test. There's where the advantage of dealing with a reliable firm comes in. And this one at 202 Sedgwick Building is reliable.
PAGE SEVENTY . FOUR
THE COMBINATION OIL & GAS COMPANY
The Combination Oil & Gas Company has its office at 123 South Main, its production in Woodson County, its other acreage in Butler, Elk, and Chautauqua Counties, its stock- holders all over the mid-west and its treasury full of money. How's that for a winning combination.
They bring in wells so fast in Woodson County that A. D. Jennings, Jr., president, and Edw. J. Groth, manager, are always fighting about how many wells the company actu- all has. They're not putting out anything to the public nowadays about their Butler County acreage, for fear that if Uncle Sam finds out how good it really is he'll take over the oil business. And The Combination doesn't need anyone to take it over although lots of peo- ple would like to.
THE KANSAS OIL FIELDS COMPANY
The Kansas Oil Fields Company is one of the new companies that the year has brought forth, and it's a safe bet that before the year is over the company will have to fix a place in its books for pipe line runs.
It has some dandy leases in Elk, Chautauqua and Woodson Counties. G. A. Bying- ton and Edw. J. Groth know how to handle the shallow stuff as their management of The Combination Oil & Gas Company shows. This new company has its office at 123 South Main Street.
THE SUTTON DRILLING COMPANY
Drilling oil wells is the one thing that keeps a company busy, that happens to be in that business. The Sutton Drilling Company happens to be, and the greatest trouble they seem to have is that they are unable to fill aall the contracts that come their way. There are just too many of them and this is true with nearly every drilling company in the fields today.
The Sutton Drilling Company is located at 422 Hoyt Building and has been at work in the Butler, Greenwood and Wilson County fields for the past year. The members of this company came to Wichita from Bartlesville, Oklahoma, and are experienced drillers.
PAGE SEVENTY - FIVE
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IF
The Home of Mr. M. Q. Chase, Prominent Oil Man of Wichita
PAGE SEVENTY - SIX
Mr. H. D. Mollohan
Few professions beside the oil business help in any way to fit a man to become an oil magnate. But, if there is one more than another, it is the one that takes him out in the open prairies where he can really get to know the possibilities of the earth.
So the mere fact that Mr. H. D. Mollohan, now a specialist in oil leases and pro- duction, was formerly a cattle dealer, may in a measure, explain his steady good judg- ment of producing land in Butler and Wood son Counties.
His office in Room 217 Hoyt Building, is the nucleus for his far-reaching terri- tory in Missouri, Kansas, Iowa and Minnesota and is a favorite gathering spot for oil men who have really accomplished something for the industry in this state.
The Big Walnut Oil & Gas Company
This resume of the Kansas Oil Industry would be far from complete without a brief mention of The Big Walnut Oil & Gas Company, and it is with a great degree of satisfaction that we admit the really substantial accomplishments of this organization under the leadership of Mr. T. C. Johnson. president, and J. B. Gardiner, treasurer.
Incorporated in June, 1916, under the severe laws of Kansas, they now control valuable holdings in the 'S. E. 19-28-4 and have oil and gas production on the aere- age. Some large operations now under consideration will doubtless place this company still nearer the top of the list of real producers, and we believe that you will hear a great deal more about them in the very near future.
PAGE SEVENTY - SEVEN
LEATHERMAN, MENEFEE & DUVALL
When J. J. Leatherman, A. C. Menefee and J. S. Duvall made their "positively fare- well tour" last fall, they assembled a long list of "don'ts" together with a vast amount of advice from old trade-friends out on the "Territory." It is a far cry from the life of a "Gadder" as our B. L. T. calls the Knights of the Grip, to that of oil and gas magnates, but these partners must have had business pretty well lined up before entering the field or the good wishes of their old boosters must have sprung from fourteen-carat sincerity. For the fact remains that ever since the opening of their office at 605 Caldwell-Murdock Build- ing, in January 1918, their deals in the Kansas oil fields have been most successful, and have reassured both friends and investors that their prosperity is certain.
CHAS. A. DOUD
A Specialist in Greenwood County Oil Investments
Somehow, it always sounds so much more convincing when a business man classifies himself as a specialist in some locality. You just know that, in order to be a permanent fixture, he has to base his patronage upon sound business ethics and cannot afford to re- sort to the tactics of the transient.
So, when Mr. Chas. A. Doud resigned as Superintendent of the International Corre- spondence School to take up oil investments in 1916, he drew an imaginary circle around himself and its circumference did not reach outside of Greenwood County. He reminds us of the fellow who said "That's my story and I'll stick to it" because he has never wavered in his decision, and we venture to say that there isn't a man in Greenwood who is better informed as to acreage and production in that county.
Mr. Doud is a firm believer in cooperation and has been actively associated with various organizations since receiving his degree at Central College, Sedalia, Mo. He was a big factor in the morale of this publication. The whole-hearted response with which he greeted the publisher's request for cooperation was inspiring and their aim has been to make it worthy of his interest as expressed in the following statement: "I believe your Directory of Kansas Oil Men is a step in the right direction in getting the oil fraternity closer together and if I can assist you in any way, will be glad to do so."
PAGE SEVENTY :- EIGHT
JAMES M. FAST
James M. Fast, who has his office at 405 Winne Building, has dealt an oil leases a great many years and has probably the widest territory of any one man handling oil leases. Kansas, Oklahoma, Wyoming and Colorado all go to make up the territory in which he buys and sells leases.
Men as well as women do not care to have their age exposed, but we will have to go as far as to say this, that with thirty-two years experience in this business, Mr. Fast's knowledge of good leases is far superior to that of the average person, and having made this his principal business, he has made a study of all his territory. In 1886 he started as roustabout for Rockefeller's interests in Ohio, and was general manager for different com- panies, therefore when he tells you what you are getting you can bet he knows what he's talking about.
THE KANSAS FUEL SUPPLY CO. Coffeyville, Kan.
Here is a firm with no mushroom indications. They were incorporated under the stringent laws of Kansas in 1915 for the purpose of putting into further practice what twenty years in the oil business had taught them. They chose Chautauqua and Montgomery Coun- ties for the scenes of their activities and, with M. B. Shufflin as President and R. K. Long as General Manager, we predict that their oil and gas production will soon equal their mining accomplishments.
W. W. OREBAUGH
W. W. Orebaugh, 313 Beacon Building, has had considerable experience in the oil business and because of his expert knowledge of the business he has been very successful in his dealings for himself and for the other fellow concerned.
He buys and sells oil leases and makes a specialty of high grade royalties and is also interested in lead and zinc mining and real estate, with territory covering Kansas and Oklahoma.
Mr. Orebaugh was formerly in the fire insurance business as state agent and adjuster, and was graduated from the Iowa State University Law School. He likes the oil business and has donc much toward the development of the Kansas and Oklahoma fields.
PAGE SEVENTY - NINE
THE WESTERN REFINING COMPANY
The Western Refining Company has its office at 504 Sedgwick Building and its plant at 21st and Washington. It is one of the younger refining companies of Wichita, being organized in 1917, but has come to the front with a boom, and is doing good busi- ness in the city of Wichita and vicinity.
Some people wonder when they hear the name of S. P. Wallingford, who is general manager for this company, if it can be the "get-rich-quick" Wallingford they read so much about. If he hasn't got rich himself, he has helped The Western Refining Company to make money and has done a lot to make it the growing concern that it is.
PAGE EIGHTY
THE IROQUOIS OIL & GAS COMPANY
The Iroquois Oil & Gas Company, 402-3 Fourth National Bank Bldg., has been estab- lished since the 30th of September, 1916. The company owns acreage in Butler, Cowley, Chautauqua, Greenwood, Sedgwick and Ottawa Counties, Kansas.
The Iroquois and Deering J. Marshall have arranged to drill a well jointly in the Northeast corner of the south half of the Northwest Quarter of Section 29, Township 26, Range 9, Greenwood County, and are at this time moving in material and rigging up.
H. A. (Dick) Richards, President and Manager of The Iroquois, says this is sure to be a producer, as they have already drilled their share of dry holes, and besides have owned offset acreage to a number of dry ones drilled by other companies.
Dick, the Optimist, careful business deals and efficient managenient have perhaps been the principal factors in holding this company together, as most other local stock com- panies after drilling one or two dry holes have given up the ghost.
The Iroquois has put forth an unusual amount of effort and deserves success.
WM. H. HARNEY Suite No. 8, Eris Theatre Building, El Dorado, Kansas
Very few men who were fortunate enough to get into the Kansas Oil Industry at its earliest stages gave any thought to the welfare of the project itself or invested any effort except what would directly enrich their individual interests. Not so with Wm. H. Harney of El Dorado, a former successful specialist in lands and titles, who for ten years has pro- cured and managed leases, royalties, and production in Butler, Chase, Greenwood, Wilson, and Woodson Counties, but who has taken time and thought from his own activities to draw up a very valuable map of structure and surface indications of the oil fields and has given out same for free publication. His only reward is that it has been proven correct so far.
PAGE EIGHTY-ONE
THE GREAT PLAINS PETROLEUM COMPANY
The Oil Industry has nearly as many facets as a finely cut diamond and each one requires just about as much brilliancy. Therefore, in the assembling of officers for an oil and gas company, it is advantageous to have specialists in several other lines as well as men experienced in leases, royalties, and actual production.
When The Great Plains Petroleum Company was incorporated, in November, 1917, for $5,000,000.00, it selected as its executive board the following:
Mr. Walter Hennig, President, who was born in the shadow of the derricks in the Bradford Field of Pennsylvania, and has a lifetime's experience in oil to his credit. Not only is he a practical petroleum producer, but he has built and managed various refineries during his active oil carcer. As the organizer and president of The Manufacturers Oil & Gas Company, he is one of the pioneers of the Augusta Field. He has since assembled a large group of holdings under the heading of this article. The large acreage of The Great Plains Petroleum Company, well selected in some of the best fields of the country, together with the efficient management of Mr. Hennig and his associates, place this organization au- tomatically among the big factors in the oil world.
Mr. A. L. Derby, First Vice-President, is already famous from his spectacular suc- cesses in the Kansas and Oklahoma Fields, and needs' no introduction to the Mid-Conti- nent readers. He is one of the high lights in the history of the Butler County developments.
The Second Vice-President is Mr. Charles D. Darrigrand, who specializes in big in- dustrial achievements and has, among other items, the credit for twenty years management of the Jacob Dold Packing Company's interests in Wichita-a service which culminated in making this branch one of the most important packing units of the West. He resigned this office to become general manager of the Mid-Continent Tire Mfg. Co.
Mr. R. S. Meeker, the Treasurer, has been identified with the oil industry for many years and was associated with Mr. Hennig in the Manufacturers' Oil & Gas Co. They ac- quired a franchise from the City of Wichita to furnish ten-cent gas for manufacturing pur- poses, and while building the pipe line for it, brought in oil on the company's holdings north of Augusta, and sold their interests for more than a million dollars. Later, Mr.
PAGE EIGHTY - TWO
Meeker was associated with The Whitewater Oil & Gas Company, which was absorbed by The Great Plains Petroleum Company.
Mr. A. S. Buzzi, former city attorney for the city of Wichita at the time when the Commission form of government was adopted, is Secretary of the company. We can add nothing to his eminence in the practice of law. That record speaks for itself and is its own best press agent. But there will be some who do not know that he was also secretary of The Manufacturers Oil & Gas Company, and is still secretary of the Central States Fire Insurance Company of Wichita.
Mr. Buzzi's assistant, Mr. J. R. Atchison, is an expert accountant, having served as business manager for The Wichita Beacon and as credit man for The Standard Oil Com- pany. These qualifications mean something in a sphere where a zero or so could cause a panic.
Mr. C. M. Weekley, director, has been associated with the largest oil operators of the Appalachian Fields of West Virginia, and in Illinois, but for the last seven years has been associated with Mr. Hennig in the producing, transportation, and refining business in the central west states.
The Kansas operations of The Great Plains Petroleum Company have been in But- ler and Wilson Counties where production was secured in a number of wells in the Sluss and Smock Pools, also in the shallow fields in Wilson County. The company holds other valuable acreage in Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Texas, Kentucky and Louisiana on which development work is being done, notably in the new Caddo field of Louisiana, known as the Pine Island extension of the old Caddo Pool, where they have upwards of 1000 barrels daily production. They have opened up a new section of Jack County, Texas, northeast of Ranger, where a large block of acreage is held.
This company is already a large factor in the petroleum industry and with their splendid holdings and their slogan "Drill where the oil is and then get all we can," cou- pled with the efficient management, you will doubtless come to the same conclusion as we have, that the corporation is booked for a most brilliant future.
PAGE EIGHTY - THREE
THE GOLDEN RULE REFINING COMPANY
It is one thing to bet money that there is oil in a certain spot and another thing to wait until the wager is won and then buy the product from the winner. There is no doubt as to which is the safer investment, and The Golden Rule Oil Company after carefully es- timating the ratio of chances, chose the latter. And it doesn't require much more than a glance at the reports of their twenty tank stations for selling gasoline, kerosene, and Lub- ricating oils thruont southwestern Kansas, to prove that they, at least, were justified in their choice.
Incorporated in 1917, with Elbert S. Rule as President, A. R. Trotter Vice-President, and C. P. Hale Secretary-Treasurer, they now maintain an office in Suite 1017 Beacon Building and a warehouse at 219 W. First St. They are wholesale distributors for Gar- goyle Mobiloils "A", "B", "E" and Arctic, and deal strictly independently in Wholesale Petroleum Products, Blue Ribbon Gasoline and Kerosene, as well as Groco Brands Lub- ricating Oils and Greases. From this local office they govern their trade territory in south central and southwestern Kansas and northern Oklahoma.
The Golden Rule Refining Company must have some "golden rule." Anyway, the refinery in North Wichita with its thousand-barrels-a-day capacity is a veritable gold mine and, with the "Missouri Pacific" Hale (Mr. C. P.) looking after the office end, it is a safe bet that the "do unto others" policy will be maintained. Energy, ability, honesty, and oil- a combination like that will beat the Klondike.
PAGE EIGHTY - FOUR
The Page-Lewis Oil Company
El Dorado, Kansas
If these pages were to be read by oil specialists alone, our brief resumé of The Page- Lewis Oil Co. would be superfluous. But there will doubtless be those among the readers who invest in oil only at the service station and then, by the gallon. Therefore, when their ambitions begin to soar they will want someone to tell them in plain, everyday language about a few of the more reliable firms.
In this connection, we "present for your approval" The Page-Lewis organization, in- corporated under the laws of Delaware on September 29, 1917 with the following officers : W. R. Page of Olean, New York, President; Will Dusenberry of the First National Bank of Olean, Vice-President; Wm. A. Marcy of Buffalo, New York, Secretary, and B. D. Nobles of Olean, Treasurer.
Their Kansas branch is in charge of Mr. H. E. Webb, a director in the company with an office in the Caldwell-Murdock Bldg., Wichita. This department deals in leases, roy- alties and production in the Butler County fields and controls the Dr. Koobler lands. Re- cently, The Magnolia Company bought out a half interest in this but the remaining portion is not on the market. They do not consider offers on it and the fact that Mr. Page has a life-time's experience in oil to his credit makes us think that he expects something unusual from this acreage. At any rate the Magnolia Company seem pleased over the deal.
PAGE EIGHTY -FIVE
THE EVANS-THWING REFINING COMPANY Wichita, Kansas
It really isn't only crude that a responsible refinery purifies. There are so many side lines connected with the oil game that, were it not for a few elements of actual industry like The Evans-Thwing Refining Co., and some others, it would have the three-shell trick backed off the map. Organizations of this sort raise the standard and place the oil busi- ness on a level where a reliable firm or responsible individual can consider it.
One million dollars in money and forty-four acres in land were appropriated and set aside for the use of The Evans-Thwing organization in the organization and establishment of their now famous refinery in North Wichita. They are equipped to handle 3000 barrels daily at the present time, and are increasing that capacity continually as is evidenced by their program to have 300 tank cars in constant use by this fall. Their pipe lines, pump- ing plants, and tanks near Towanda, El Dorado, and Gilliland, as well as gathering sys- tems at various points in the fields is simply further proof of their stability and confi- dence in the Kansas oil industry.
In March 1917, the following officers took executive charge, and have since brought the project to its present eminence: Mr. H. M. Evans, President; Mr. H. F. Thwing, Vice- President and Treasurer; Mr. Ed D. Ellison, Secretary ; Mr. I. E. Ellis, General Manager, and Mr. A. W. Epley Superintendent of the Wichita branch. This last named official is a re- finery operator with twenty years' actual experience to his credit. He became associated with this company after The Ponca City Refining Company, of which he was in charge, was sold to The Empire Gas & Fuel Co.
Only in rare instances do you find any sort of construction so successful that the owner would not alter many details, were it in his power to do so, but The Evans-Thwing Refining Company have built a duplicate of the local refinery in Kansas City, and placed Mr. Frank Cottingham in charge of it as Superintendent. If this branch serves the eastern markets as well as the Wichita department supplies the middle west territory, it will also duplicate the success of the latter's record and together they will form one of the big factors of Mid-Continent petroleum development.
PAGE EIGHTY - SIX
THE COSDEN OIL & GAS COMPANY Augusta, Kansas
Although this organization is usually listed with the Oklahoma firms, their Kansas interests surely make them eligible for a mention in this publication. Their head office is at Tulsa, but a mighty busy branch is located at 5191/2 State Street, Augusta, Kansas which keeps in direct touch with the company's holdings on the Bates Farm, Beck Lease, Ander- son and Suits acreage. The Manufacturers' Gas System is part of their property and they have laid nine miles of four to eight-inch gas line to the leases bought from H. C. Moyles. Actual production consists of four producers on the Smock Pool in Greenwood County; two wells on the Wayham Lease down around the two thousand-foot depth; one well on the D. J. Sullivan with two more drilling on the Rush and there is one well on the Geist. One feature in strong favor of The Cosden Oil & Gas Company is that their employees are all stockholders. That means that anything they can do to increase the value of the firm's property is to their interest to promulgate and insures a much better effort to promote its welfare.
Mr. J. S. Cosden, the President, is a prominent and thoroly experienced oil man and has a natural inclination toward refineries. He has one at Tulsa and another at Bigheart, which his refinery work in Pennsylvania has ably equipped him to handle.
MR. EARL JACKSON 410 Hoyt Bldg.
Mr. Earl Jackson-a young man with exceptional foresight and originality has grasped the profitable idea of representing Chicago and New York Syndicates in their effort to obtain desirable leases in the oil fields of Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas.
He withdrew his interests in a prosperous clothing business during the early stages of the oil development and now has to his credit eleven years of practical experi- ence in the latter profession.
PAGE EIGHTY -SEVEN
THE CARTER OIL COMPANY
Were this publication to extend only over the Mid-Continent field we should devote this page to the one word -- Carter-and the tale would be told. There is nothing we can add to their record that the mid-west publie does not know. But, in view of the fact that this publication is to be distributed by the oil men of Kansas and, realizing the unlimited territory their mailing lists cover, it may not be amiss to here briefly chronicle a few items among The Carter Oil Company's achievements.
Established in 1893, and incorporated under the laws of West Virginia, The Carter Company became associate operators of The Standard Oil Company, with a trade territory covering the entire United States. Their oil Icases comprise valuable acreage over the en- tire state-fully equipped for handling their ten-thousand-barrel-a-day production. When their present operations are completed, it will bring their oilers up to the two hundred mark and the management of all this production is under the direct jurisdiction of Messrs. A. V. Hoenig and A. A. Eberly, who have devoted a life time to the oil industry.
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