New encyclopedia of Texas, volume 1, Part 4

Author: Davis, Ellis A.
Publication date: 1926
Publisher: Dallas, Tex. : Texas development bureau, [1926?]
Number of Pages: 1416

USA > Texas > New encyclopedia of Texas, volume 1 > Part 4

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

The Supreme Court Library, established in 1854, is under the direct control of the Supreme Court; the deputy marshal of the court acts as librarian. As stated above, it divides its quarters with the State Library. It is strictly a reference library, its books not circulated outside the Capitol building.

It contains approximately 21,000 volumes; its spe- cial strength lies in its collection of Federal and State reports. Its appropriation for the current biennium total $3,400 for the first year, $3,000 for the second.

The libraries of the Courts of Appeals have for the current biennium appropriations ranging from $100 to $750 each year of the biennium, the total for the ten being $5,150 for each year. The latest available statistics indicate that their size ranges from approximately 1,200 to 6,000 volumes. Each is under the care of the clerk of the court.

Of the state supported group, of all the libraries of the state, in fact, the main library of the Uni- versity is the largest, and for scholarly use the most important. When it was opened in 1883, it was housed in a single room in the main building, and the librarian devoted only a part of his time to its care; the first full-time librarian was appointed only

in July, 1897. From this small beginning it has grown into a library of approximately 136,000 vol- umes and 36,000 pamphlets, with a building of its own, with seven departmental branches, with a li- brarian and a staff of twenty-seven assistants.

The rapid yet healthy growth of the University Library in general and special collections is going far toward bringing the University of Texas to the goal set by the fathers-"a University of the first class."

In addition to direct scholarly service rendered to the university community by the main library and its departmental branches, the university is giving important statewide library service. This is rendered to a limited extent through direct loans from the main library to individuals, groups or li- braries; to a far more important extent through the library schools, the Extension Loan Library, and the Library of the School of Government.

A library training class was conducted in 1901- 1902, 1903-1907. In the fall of 1919 a regular library school was installed. The director holds the rank of adjunct professor; the assistant, that of in- structor. Junior standing is required for admission, and courses are counted towards the degree of Bachelor of Arts. The school has begun with only course in catalogueing and classification; others will be added from year to year.

The Extension Loan Library is a package library under the Department of Extension. It lends di- rectly to individuals and groups packages of ma- terial on subjects of timely interest, a typical pack- age containing about twenty clippings and pam- phlets and one or two books. It is especially useful to debaters of the interscholastic league, to high school students, and to adult groups studying ques- tions of current importance. It draws freely upon the resources of the main library but is an independ- ent library.

The Library of the School of Government bears a closer relation to the main library than does the extension loan library. Its collections consist of live books, pamphlets, periodicals and typewritten ma- terials on topics of present interest to students of government. Its statewide service is especially helpful to municipal officials and other persons in- terested in civic affairs. It is intimately connected with the work of the Bureau of Municipal Research and of the League of Texas Municipalities.

The items of the current appropriation specifically designated for the various library activities of the university total $23,550 for each year of the bi- ennium.

Appropriations for the other libraries maintained by the state are as follows: Agricultural and Me- chanical College, $7,500 for each year of the current biennium; College of Industrial Arts, $710; Sam Houston Normal, $720, including textbooks; North Texas Normal, $3,421; Southwest Texas Normal, $8,100, including textboks; East Texas Normal, $5,400; Sul Ross Normal, $1,400; John Tarleton Col- lege, $2,400; Grubbs Vocational College, $2,700; In- stitution for the Blind, $1,125; School for the Deaf, $500; Orphans' Home, $300; Girls' Training School, $300. The Epileptic Colony and the hospitals for the insane have each a fund for literature and amuse- ment ranging from $300 to $1,500 for each year of the biennium.

The Agricultural and Mechanical College, the Col- lege of Industrial Arts, Sam Houston, North Texas, and West Texas Normal Colleges have each a li-

NEW ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TEXAS

brarian and assistant librarian; Southwest Texas Normal College has a librarian and two assistants. The other Normal Colleges, John Tarleton, Grubbs and the Institution for the Blind have each a li- brarian only. The other institutions, other colleges and university libraries have no 'specific provision for library service.

Of the colleges and universities not supported by the state, the largest libraries are those of Baylor University, Waco, which has approximately 31,000 volumes; Southwestern University, Georgetown, ap- proximately 16,000; Austin College, Sherman, ap- proximately 10,000. Both Baylor and Southwestern have full time librarians; the Baylor librarian has four staff assistants, and a varying number of stu- dent assistants; the Southwestern librarian has only student assistants. The library of Austin College is administered by student assistants under the direc- tion of one of the faculty.

Subscription Libraries: Of the thirty-six sub- scription libraries of Texas some have their own quarters, while others are kept in stores, banks, school houses, private residences, dental parlors, club houses, Masonic Lodges, city halls or court houses.

They are mostly kept open only a few hours each week, and administered by volunteers; in many cases they are kept up by the efforts of club women. Fees range from 50 cents to three dollars a year.

This group of libraries is doing good in meeting, even though inadequately, a strong felt need for library service; and, judging from past history, they are likely to serve a useful purpose in laying the foundation for free public library service.

Free Public Libraries: The establishment of the free public libraries of Texas in their present form is in the main the work of the last twenty years.

Many of them have back of their present organi- zation a history of years of struggling effort and small things; one, the Houston Lyceum, now merged with the Carnegie Library, dating back to 1848. Some are still leading a more or less hand-to-mouth existence, kept from death only by the persistent efforts of a devoted group of women. Their in- comes range from the amounts that can be secured from contributions by interested individuals, or groups, sometimes with a small appropriation from the municipal government, to $22,000, the sum an- nounced in the press as the appropriation for the Houston Lyceum and Carnegie Library for the pres- ent fiscal year.

Twenty-six library buildings have been donated by the Andrew Carnegie Corporation, to which Mr. Carnegie, in his later years, turned over his work. The conditions of the gift were in each case the furnishing of a site by the city and the promise of a yearly maintenance fund from the public revenues at least equal to ten per cent of the amount granted.

Statistics for 1917, the latest comparative state- ment available, indicate that the incomes of this group range all the way from nothing at all in the way of public support to $19,500, the amount derived from the library tax in Dallas. Incomplete statistics gathered since that time indicate a decided advance, several of the municipalities which had fallen be- low their original library maintenance, having lately come up to, or even beyond the amount stipulated. One city, for instance, has recently placed in its charter a provision for an annual levy of five cents on the hundred dollars valuation.

The cities that have continued the originally stipu-

lated support have, according to these later reports, changed places in the income scale. El Paso, for instance, has in its revised charter a provision for a library tax levy of 37/s mills on the dollar; which tax was levied for the first time in 1919. The in- come for this levy will approximate $21,000 for the current year, practically the same as the estimated income of the Dallas Public Library, which in 1917 has the largest tax-derived income in the state. Houston is now the leader in this respect, the city commission of Houston having voted for 1920 an appropriation of $22,000. Dallas and El Paso con- sequently will drop to second or third place.

The Rosenberg Library, Galveston, the Nicholas P. Sims, Waxahachie, and the Kemp Public Library, Wichita Falls, are the three notable gift libraries of the state. The two first are supported by endow- ments; the third, by city taxation.

Rosenberg Library has the largest income of all the free public library group-approximately $30,000 annually.

Besides the usual service of a public library it has for years maintained a free public lecture course.

Other public libraries, notably San Antonio, have in the past also rendered this service.

Special Collections: The most notable special col- lections are in the state supported group of libraries. The State Library has a valuable history collection, including the King collection, the Lamar and Reagan papers, the Diplomatic, Consular and Domestic Cor- respondence of the Republic of Texas, the Spanish and Mexican official records known as the Nacog- doches papers, the original ratification copies of the Foreign Treaties of the Republic of Texas, etc. The University has a large and growing Southern history collection of manuscripts, books, pamphlets, news- papers and periodicals purchased by the Littlefield Fund. The Wrenn collection of rare books, largely Shakespearian and of literary manuscripts, also pre- sented by Major George W. Littlefield; the Palm Library; the Ashbel Smith Library; the John H. Reagan Library, etc.

The public libraries have in most cases made a point of collecting local history material.

The General Situation: A glance at the library map of Texas shows that the great majority of the libraries serving the public are situated to the east of the 100th meridian; that in the whole vast region to the westward are only four free public libraries, two of them only partially supported by their munic- ipalities, and three subscription libraries. It is ob- vious therefore that the Texas public is but meagerly supplied with libraries, and a study of these libraries' workings show that the service rendered by the most of the existing libraries is inadequate to the needs of their communities.

An examination of statistics of the libraries in state institutions, educational, eleemosynary, penal and correctional shows that these have also a long way to go before the people of Texas can be said to have really adequate library service; that is to say, adequate library service within the reach of every man, woman and child in the state.

A strong system of county free libraries, adequate appropriations for the state supported group, espe- cially provision for state library field workers are the desiderata.

Much is hoped for in this connection from the educational work of the American Library Asso- ciation's Enlarged Program.

HISTORY OF THE TEXAS OIL INDUSTRY

By J. EDGAR PEW Former President American Petroleum Institute

N January 10th, 1901, the great Lucas Gush- er commenced to pro- duce oil. This well was drilled about four miles south of Beaumont, Texas, by John J. Guffey and John Galey of Pittsburg, Pa., and ushered in the "Spindle Top" oil field. This was the beginning of a new era in the oil business. Prior to that time but little oil had been produced west of the Mississippi River, and in fact, among the "Oil Fraternity," but little was ex- pected. This new discovery also brought into the oil industry an entirely new set

of men. The "Old Timers," as is the custom among oil men, came to Texas, looked the oil over and ex- amined the oil, but the majority of them went back east to tell the boys, "not to be alarmed, the oil was N. G." and "It cannot be refined" and they also pre- dicted the well would be a "freak and would soon go to water." Some few of them stayed and with their experience in the business, were generally well paid for their judgment.

Of these oil men from the east, previously promi- nent in the business, were W. L. Mellon, of Pitts- burgh, who organized what are now known as the Gulf Companies; J. S. Cullinan, formerly of Wash- ington, Pa., but at that time located at Corsicana, Texas, who, together with Ex-Governor Jas. Hogg, of Texas, Judge Jas. Swayne of Ft. Worth, Texas, and William Campbell, also a Texan, organized what is now the Texas Company; and J. N. Pew of Pittsburgh, Pa., who organized the Sun Company, and a little later, S. G. Bayne, of New York, who organized what is now known as the Magnolia Pe- troleum Company. All of these companies were formed to handle this new grade of oil, and to con- vert it into marketable products. The result of their enterprise and good judgment are too well known to the entire oil world to require further details.

But it is not only to these that credit for this beginning of this great industry in Texas should be given. Beaumont was soon filled up with men from all parts of the country, the great majority of whom prior to that time, had never seen an oil well and many of them had not the remotest idea of how oil was produced. From such, we have today many of the most successful producers in the business. The names of these are too numerous to mention in this brief article.

The discovery of "Spindle Top" or the "Beaumont Field," as it is more properly called, was a "real epoch," a "decisive period" in the oil business. It was the first opportunity of the "Independents" in

ITY HIT TI

The New Magnolia Building, Dallas, the Tallest Office Building in Texas, Completed in 1922

the history of oil. This Beaumont field together with the later discovery of Sour Lake, Batson, Sara- toga, and Humble, and later still at Goose Creek and West Columbia, all have produced a total of more than 250,000,000 barrels of oil, and from an actual producing area for the total of these fields, of probably not to exceed 4,000 acres

But Texas is a large state and all of its oil was not to be confined to its coastal fields. Before the Beaumont discoveries a very profitable pool of oil had been found at Corsicana, Navarro Count;, Texas, but not until the Electra Field in Wichita County was developed was the production in Texas of high grade oils for refining purposes really an important factor in the industry. This was in 1911.

The interest in Electra has subsided, the "wise ones" who had finally come to Texas when this real oil was discovered, had returned to Oklahoma and

A Wilderness of Oil Derricks in the Goose Creek Oil Fields Southern Texas

NEW ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TEXAS

the east, and it was the faith of Edgar L. Marston, of New York City, President of the Texas-Pacific Coal Company, and W. K. Gordon, his able manager in Texas, who called them back, when in the month of October 1917, they drilled to the "Farmer's" sand and developed the McClesky well, near the then small town of Ranger, Eastland County, Texas. The developments following this discovery have opened the eyes of the world to the possibilities of Texas, as the Great Reservoir, from which the greatest production of oil for many years to come, will be obtained. As a result of this new discovery, "wild catting" (the name for drilling in new territory be- fore the discovery of oil in the vicinity) was stim- ulated, and has resulted in a greatly enlarged pro- ducing area around Ranger at Caddo and Brecken- ridge in Stephens County, and at Desdemona in Co- manche County, and also the development of the new and spectacular Burkburnett field in Wichita County These discoveries promise to extend not only over these counties but into the adjoining counties of Young, Wilbarger and Archer, also Palo Pinto. In each of these counties light oil in small quantities has already been discovered. How much further this development will be extended within the counties named, and with what results, or whether oil will be developed in paying quantities in additional coun- ties in North Texas, is beyond the knowledge of man. More recently the Mexia field in Limestone County, had been developed by Col. A. E. Humphreys one of the most spectacularly successful "wild cat- ters" in the business. This new development opens up again possibilities for Texas to become the great producing state of the Union.

Great sums of money are being, and will yet be, spent in practically every county of Central, North and Northwest Texas, and while geology is being followed very largely in these efforts, it is only the drill that will produce results.

An average well in the Comanche, Eastland, and Stephens County fields, is from 3,000 to 3,400 feet deep, to where the oil is found in what is known as the "Black Lime" formation. These wells will vary in size from 25 barrels to 12,000 barrels in their initial production, and cost from $32,000 to $50,000 each to drill and equip. Such wells cannot be prof- itably drilled at present high cost of labor, material, etc., if they produce less than 100 barrels or more per day, and wells of this minimum size must prove consistent producers for a long period in order to pay out. The fields have not been producing for a sufficiently long period to determine this.

Shallow oil is also being developed in these areas at from 1,800 to 2,150 feet in depth and this oil, on account of the greater amount of sand, and the lesser cost of drilling, may yet prove of greater value than the deep production.

In the Burkburnett field, the oil is found at from 1,500 to 1,750 feet, and the cost of a well is much less, probably now about $20,000; the amount of producing sand is greater in this field, also, than in the "Black Lime" district, further south, and within the confines of the pool the average initial production of the wells is greater. This field has been the "Eldorado" of the small producer, and where the operations have been carried on with good judgment, and the financing honest and reasonably conservative, will probably make for the operators

and their stockholders, more money on the average than any of the Texas fields, so far developed.

The oil of North and North Central Texas, is of a gravity varying 34 degrees B, to 44 degrees B. It gives a yield of Gasoline of from 12 to 40% and much of it has good lubricating values. It is prob- ably the equal in value of the average Oklahoma oil, excepting that cf the Healdton field, which is much inferior, much of it is better than the Kansas oil, and is better than that produced in Ohio, Illi -. nois and Indiana, but not the equal of the oils pro. duced in Pennsylvania and West Virginia, on account of the superior lubricating values of these latter oils.

When the Texas-Pacific Coal & Oil Company made the discovery in the McClesky well at Ranger, Texas was producing not over 30,000 barrels of light oils in all of its then developed fields; it is now produc- ing about 200.000 barrels, or a production on Nov. 1, 1921, not much less than that of Kansas and Okla-

Oil Gusher at Currie, which Opened Up a New Field Four- teen Miles North of Mexia

homa combined. South Texas is producing about 110,000 barrels. What Texas will produce in the future is anyone's guess, but my prediction is that this production will gradually grow, and that for the next twenty years, Texas will be leader in the pro- duction of the light and high grade oil of the world.

In conclusion, this means prosperity for all con- cerned, for the farmer, for the merchant, for the banker, for the workmen in the field, and for the oil operator. The cities of Dallas, Ft. Worth and Wichita Falls have greatly prospered, and in the future will still greatly prosper by these develop- ments and from the general good times resulting from this new discovery in their midst.

OIL PRODUCTION OF TEXAS BY FIELDS FROM 1895 TO JANUARY 1, 1922

Year

Corsicana

Powell

Petrolia

Spindle Top

Sour Lake

Batson

Saratoga

Humble

Goose Creek

1895

1896

1,450

1897

65,975

1898

544,620

1899

668,483

1900

829,560

5.479

3,593,113

44,338

4.518

739,239

1905

312,595

131,051

101.651

1,600,379

3,369,012

3,790,629

2,922,215

18,066,428

1906

336,387

675,842

111,072

1,075,755

2,156,010

2,388,238

2.289,057

3,570,845

1907

276,311

596,897

83,260

1,613,513

2,354,997

2,166,554

2,198,585

2,930,842

1908

211,117

398.649

113,485

1,747,537

1,595,060

1,593,570

1,634,786

3,778,521

1909

180,764

383,137

113,485

1,388,170

1,703,798

1,206,214

1.183,559

3,237,060

1910

137,331

450,188

126,531

1,182,436

1,518,723

1,113,767

1,024,348

2,495,511

1911

128,526

373,055

168,965

965.939

1,364,880

1,023,493

925.777

2,426,220

43.808

1913

283,476

344,868

716,374

1,348,053

741,350

937,720

1,504,880

249,641

1914

133,811

282.279

550,585

580,130

5,209,208

775,804

889.743

2,799,458

134.748

1915

143,275

237,410

349,857

388,266

4,114,622

703,686

864.266

11,061,802

119,336

1916

135,263

215,729

302,145

34),441

4,923,332

744,915

781,128

10,925,805

397.291

1917

131,828

196,855

282,420

308,039

4,763,004

692,417

682,797

7,389,831

7.300.279

1918

*361,980

297,320

502,265

3,115,033

654,950

797.740

5.645,104

9,419,132

1919

*150,000

212,624

458,680

2,740,142

502,200

616,110

3,270,617

7,288.716

1920

530,000

135,385

323,995

2,073,485

484,035

913,735

3,692,115

5,566,390

1921

305,335

132,295

321,080

1,749,625

516,225

936,695

3,098,500

5,647,020

Totals

8,087,361

4,794,692

3,657,978

47,384,644

60,608,946

30,851,865

22,447,155

87,723,462

36,266,261

*Inclu des Powell.

Year

Orange County

Matagorda County

Dayton

Blue Ridge and Other Pools

Marian County

Wichita and Wilbarger Counties

Moran

Thrall Miscellaneous

1904

151,936

1905

46,470

60,294

1906

8,000

192,460

120,036

31,185

1909

29,103

17,647

87,039

251,717

899,579

1912

300,000

12,151

1,044

362,870

4,227,104

1913

17,706

294,553

13,329

1,620

262,392

8,131,624

1914

43,208

164,192

18,791

1,780

180,584

8,227,951

68,191

12,900

1915

21,697

137,481

10,378

47,254

123,464

5,833,386

109,116

613,182

4.061

1916

17,758

158,336

8,571

43,921

64,971

7,837,386

135,608

432,695

32,140

1917

7.023

128,011

9.995

159,245

57,952

9,541,636

68,118

176,887

111,220

1918

3.425

99,540

7.442

40,000

12,159,032

54,900

12,000

130,000

1919

4,400

53,260

1,000

24,910

30,279,108

32,500

8,200

235,075

1920

4,000

75,775

1.000

*173,085

32,895,485

48,575

8.000

25,000

1921

704,870

89,405

30,410

*461,035

24,184,955

50,455

73,280

24,000

Totals

824,087

2,821,029

557,331

1,204,415

1,981,639

144,217,246

567,463

1,324,244

601,646

** Figures not obtainable.

*Blue Ridge only.

e-Estimated

Year

Strawn

Coleman County

Eastland County

Stephens County

Desdemona

Brown County

Damon Mound

Hull

1915

50,498

1916

175,147

1917

340,950

93,053

36,219

6,040

1918

185,520

31,253

3,107,120

790,243

451,002

486,640

330,300

1919

101,300

46,590

22,379,665

10,514,216

7,375,825

213,256

434,700

1.476,405

1920

512,260

83,785

10,141,385

23,852,050

5,097,745

114,665

1,259,375

4.468.615

1921

262,055

66,190

5,887,420

31,037,710

2,467,115

122,475

1,353,960

8,717.970

Totals

1,627,730

227,819

41,608,643

66,230,438

14,940,685

907,438

3,534,675

14.993,290

'Year

Mexia

Young County

Nacogdoches Holliday-Archer

County

Pierce Junction

Barber's Hill

West Columbia

San Antonio District and Somerset

1918

20,000

136,350

58.400

1919

169,415

8,128,809

94,100

1920

134,895

75,000

49,850

136,375

10,563.150

:45,135

1921

4,716,805

2,820,080

103,035

422,205

1,403,940

49,885

12,573,450

482,340

Totals

4,716,805

2,954,975

178,035

472,055

1.403,940

375,675

31.401.759

879.975

1889

1894

1899

669 013

1904

22 241 413

1909

9 534 467

1914

20 068 184

1919 85 312 000

1890

1895

1900

836 039

1905

28 136 189

1910

8 899 266

1915

24 942 701

1920

96 000 000

1891

1896

1 450

1901

4 393 658

1906

12 567 897

1911

9 526 474

1916

27,644,605

1921 111,969,575

1892

1897

65,975

1902

18,083,659

1907

12,322,696

1912

11,735,057

1917

32,413,287

1893

1898

546,070

1903

17 955 572

1908

11,206,464

1913

15,009,478

1918

38,50,031

620,831,580

TOTAL AMOUNT OF OIL PRODUCED IN EACH STATE IN 1921-ALSO AMOUNT PRODUCED FROM 1859 TO JAN 1, 1922

Total 1921

1859 to 1922

Total 1921

1359 to 1922

Total 1921

1859 to 192 1

Pa. and N. Y.

8,410,000

814,415,053

Colorado

108,200

11,779,250

Missouri

86.977

Ohio.

7,314,000

486,336,978

Indiana

1,165,000

109,132,364

Oklahoma

111,256,160

1,149,429,517

West Virginia

7,945 000

319,625,398

Illinois

10.085,000

331,518,380

Wyo. & Mont.

20,473,800

91.242.693

California.

114,267,000

1,431,383,360

Kansas.

24,312,586

256,303,984

Louisiana.

27.814,380

230,483,291

Ky. & Tenn

9,092,300

41,015,992

Texas

111,969,575

620 831,580

United States

474,858,216

5,904 550,935

1903

401,817

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New encyclopedia of Texas, volume 1, Part 4

Author: Davis, Ellis A. Publication date: 1926 Publisher: Dallas, Tex. : Texas development bureau, [1926?] Number of Pages: 1416

Author: Davis, Ellis A.
Publication date: 1926
Publisher: Dallas, Tex. : Texas development bureau, [1926?]
Number of Pages: 1416