the well bored and with instructions to report their conclusions in open Court with as little delay as possible. O. M. Souden accompanied them in the capacity of an expert driller.
A word or two in regard to this original "discovery" well: When it was announced that Judge Ross had ordered a test well to be bored, corresponding in depth and general characteristics with the alleged "discovery" well, it was the first intimation I had of the existence of the latter, so in company with Charles E. Swezy, I undertook to find it. After considerable search we came across a dry hole near the southern boundary of what was known as the "June Bug" claim, upon which Chanslor & Canfield had their lease. Swezy and myself were equipped with a long, heavy cord, and prepared to take soundings of any well we might encounter. The locators of the June Bug claim had declared that at the depth of 118 feet they had struck a strong flow of petroleum oil, which had risen several feet in the hole, so Swezy and I proceeded to make sure about it.
We attached a heavy piece of bar iron to the end of the cord, and let it down into the well. It came up perfectly dry, and we thereupon sat down and wrote out a report of our findings in order to be on the safe side. Just before the Commissioners were expected to arrive, we concluded it would be a wise idea to make another inspection of the well, and much to our surprise, upon sinking the bar of iron down as before, it came up thoroughly saturated with oil, and investigation developed that there was at least 20 feet of petroleum in the well. So hurriedly had the well been "doctored" in fact, that the oil was freshly splashed all over the sides, and when the Commissioners came and saw what had been done, they tested the oil and pronounced it "dead"—that is, oil that had been in a barrel a long time before being poured down the hole. "Live" oil, just from the earth, is readily recognizable on account of its tendency, to bubble when first brought to the surface, and to develop "rainbow" hues.
I represented the "Scrippers" while the test well was being bored, and as only a small hand-rig could be used, and the weather was very cold, all were glad enough of a chance to work at the drill and keep warm. While we were thus engaged, a crowd of drillers who had been in town the night before having a good time, and were pretty much the worse for wear in consequence, drove along the ridge above us, and as the crisp morning atmosphere conveyed every sound, we were greatly amused to hear one of them call out to his companions in contemptuous tones:
"See them damned fools down there trying to strike oil with a hand-rig."
As the distance we had to drill was but 118 feet, and to have installed a Standard rig on the ground would have involved a great deal of extra expense, it is obvious that a hand-rig was the most available contrivance for our purpose. The drilling operations consumed several days, and as the hole progressed to the depth demanded by the order of the Federal Court, I took every precaution to see that there was no repetition of the "doctoring" process. It was even asserted in the Bakersfield papers that I slept over the hole, but my anxiety was not quite that acute, although I sealed the well at night in such a way that if there had been any tampering with it I should have known it at once.
The day following the departure of the Commissioners I took a reporter of the Bakersfield Morning Echo named Merrill out to the well and had him make independent soundings with a view of ascertaining whether there had been any signs of petroleum found in the hole. He attached a soda water bottle to a heavy fish cord and sunk it in the liquid that was encountered at the bottom, and it came up filled with clear water. There was not even the slightest sign of rainbow hues so common to this kind of oil, and Merrill expressed himself as satisfied that there had been no trace of oil found.
"Then are you prepared to say as much in the Echo tomorrow morning?" I inquired.
"No," responded Merrill, "it would be as much as the life of the paper was worth to say anything favorable to the Scrippers, no matter how true it might be!"Page 405
