Casper Daily Tribune Newspaper, February 25, 1922, Page 6

eSSBGR8° RO FEe aod ST ee wo snaksakea sity sity tice not ver nig Qo F , Ea the we Th BO PAGE SIX $30,000,000 1N RICHES GIVEN UP BY MEXIA FIELD IN TWO YEARS Daily Production Mark Near 200,000 Barrels and Still Growing as Result of Development; Colone! Humphreys Starts It All Mexia, Texas—“How do you pronounce it?” That's the first question the visitor to this 30,000 popula- tion town—the golden nugget in the heart of the barren Lone Star state—asks. The answer, the first banker, or “roughneck” or “field scout” you meet on the oil-soaked main street will tell you is DREAMED Ol, MAY GET RICH Little Girl’s Expectations of Holt Farm Have Come True in Part. MEXIA, Tex—Do you believe in Whether you do or not, you must admit that he visions that sometime come to the subconscious mind of a sleeping person have a great degree of reality. For instance: Q. E. Williams lives on a farm south- east of Mexia. His farm included land purchased from a man named Holt ana known as the “olf Holt place.” Mr. Williams has a daughter, Ina Wary. Ten years ago when Mise Williams ‘was 12 years old, there was no oil ex: iterment at Mexia or, in fact, any- where in North Texc.. About midnight one night ten years ago, Ina Mary was heard laughing et aA SE AS MISS INA MARY WILLIAMS ‘while asleep. Her father went to her room ‘and awakened hor. She said: , I Just dreamed we had well on the ‘old Holt place,’ was coming over the top of of the great Mexia field and Mr. Williams tought more and more seriously about his [ttle daugter {t.. One aay some men came to lease tig land. They were Dr. M. W. Hoover of Corsicana nad Charlie An- derson, a driller, trustees of the Mexia Extension Of] Syndicate. They se ured a lease on Mr. Williams’ farm, bat he never mentioned a word dur syndicate had lease and one day Dr. Hoov- Mr. Williams and tald to him: “Well, Mr. Williams, we have made @ location for a weil.” “Where aid you make it? Mr. Wil- Hams asked. “On the ‘old Holt place,’ about half way between that big oak tree and Williams told Dr. “Ma-hayah.” “The X being silent lke the cue in billiards,” he will ex- plain. And then, he'll say, “where's your well™ For most everybody tn this little Texas town, trom the genial Col, Al- bert BE. Humphreys, with his millions and millions taken from the black sand of the Mexia field, on down to the town's messenger boy, has an tn- terest in one or more of the pools of liquid gold, belching forth the never etding shower of golden dollars— 196,000 barrels of the fingst “crude” ever turned out in a day. Mexia is off mad. Andé well Mexia should be. For here centers the world’s won- @er off field. Here history is being made—history which pales the stories of Cripple Creek gold, and Alaskan bullion, and Cuilfornia “slush” into in- significance. Here millionaires are being — pro- duced over night, from the field with the gushers roaring; the wells like trees tn a mighty forest. Here Jules Verne might dream again and the tales of the Arabian Nights be told in a modern setting. ‘This 1922 fairy tale—a story come true—opens two years ago. Mexia was a spot on the map of Texas then; a little town on the Texas plains, un- known and uncared for. A train whistled past the tiny wood- en shack the town called a depot. Now and then a tourist stopped at the village garage, And then— A 200-barrel-a-day of] well came in. ‘That well belonged to Colonel Hum: phreys of Denver. ‘With the vision and foresight which has already made him a man of wealth, Colonel Humphreys, with his equally independent partners, Lyman B. Brown, Carl C. Schuyier and C. F, Clay, had ‘put their own money. into the field. Oil was not a stock proposition with Colone! Humphreys. He believed in Mexia—he knew ‘his stuff” in the language of those who followed him. ‘That day Mexia was placed on the oil map of the nation. By airplane Colonel Humphreys flew trom Denver to see his dream— the little 200-barrel well. “My faith has been justified—ofl ts here," the colonel said, “And so op- erations were increased. Wells, on a Jarger scale than ever before attempt- ed in the Mexia strata were sunk. Today theso welle—60 of them are already completed into gigantic ers—are giving out 190,000 barrels of ofl a day. Colonel Humphreys did not trust to subordinates. He stayed on the job himself. Mexia was being buflt over night in those days. Rough pine board shacks housed miflionatre and tramp who worked tn the’ ever increasing pools of ofl 20 hours of every calen- dar day. Colonel Humphreys was a victtm' of the “flu.” Scores and: seores of others tn the Tittle ofl town were also stricken. On hts bed, in the hastily constructed hospital Colonel Humphreys uttered a& prayer. “Oh, spare me,” hespleaded. “If I Itve—if my friends and co-workers are spared I pledge that I will give 75 tie ch Acta cate ied be tbat be det Hoover about the dream which had come true in part, and which may come true in whole, when the well of the Mexia-Extension Syndicate, ‘wich ts now down 1,800 fest, is com- pleted to pay depth. But that’s not the whole story. In December, 1922, Miss Williams had another dream and in that dream she saw thirty-stx derricks in the yi- cinity of the Williams home. At present there are six derricks up in this vicinity and many locations have been announced by some of the largest companies in the fleld, so it seems probable that within the next few Weeks this second dream of Ina Mary's will be fulfilled. WORLD AS SHOWN BY HIS WONDERFUL SUCCESS Eastland Region Tumed Ivio Boom Dis- trict by Strike Back fn 1911, a tiny villege slum- bered on the banks of a sluggish little creck in Texas The village had its pole, giving a touch of color to the dull tones of the main street, indicted that location of the only barber shop the town boasted. ‘This ttle village was in Eastland County, Texas. It was called Hog Town. The creek that ran near it was called Hog Creek. Thosn were lean years for the farmers there- abouts. During the long months of drought they drove their cattle and hogs for miles to water them in this murky little creek, which seldom ren Gry. Thus it was that the creek came to be known as “Hog Crock.” Those were not poetic names, but they sufficed, because the people there with one exception, were not dream- ers of dreams or builders of air cas- tles. They could see no future for thetr town and so they were content to let it be known as Hog Town. The Man With a Vision. ‘There was a man in Hog Town who stood apart from his fellow townsmen. He pursued the humble calling of presiding ‘over the destiny of the tiny barber shop that stood behind the gaudily-painted sign on the main street. His mame was Carruth, J. W. Carruth, and he was a barber. J. W. Carruth was not a barber from choice, but from : While his hands were busy with the razor and scissors, his mind was far from the environment of that little shop., For J. W. Carruth was a man with a vision, he was a dreamer of dreams, he was a builder of air cas- tes. ‘Years before Carruth was attacked by that violent disease known as “ofl fever.” He had studied the oil basiness every possiblo moment. Hoe had talk- ed eagerly to every ofl man he could find. He had visited ofl fields as often as he could. He had become a stu- dent ef the ofl business. Folks in Hog Town helleved that Carruth was. jrst a little bit crazy. If you remember they have said the same,thing about Thomas Edison, and abent Henry Ford, and about oth- ers who were guided by a vision. J. W. Carruth, as we have said, was a barber by necessity—en ofl man by choice... His, heart and his soul were in the off business. However, in the barber trade, he was a skilled worker and his ntmble hands made few slips as they carried the glittering razors around the chins of Hog Town citi- zens, although his mind was far away. Qarruth Studies Hor Town was an off field. It was a shal- low field in the vicinity of Strawn, Texas. ‘The wells at Strawn did not produce much oil, but it was ofl, and they were real oft wells. That was a sufficient magnet to draw Carruth away from his shop many, many days. His business was frequently neg- lected, and many = Saturday night when the worthy burgers of Hog Town wanted their weekly shave they found the door of the barber shop locked and the interior dark. Carruth ‘would be miles away going home after a day or several days spent just rid- ing around the Strawn field, convers- ing with the off men there and look- ing over’ the territory between Hog ‘Town and Strawn. Many a morning saw Carruth drtving is old gray horse ——$—$—$—$——$— per cent of every cent I take this field to the poor,” Colonel Humphreys’ recovery was nothing short of a miracle. Within a week he was again about his duties in the Mexia field. Tho deadly influ- enza passed from Mexia within a month. Since then Colonel Humph- reys is said to have taken approxi- mately $30,000,000 from the wells of his field. % He has lived up to the promise made on that hospital cot—he ts dis- tributing almost every penny he takes from the field among the poor. Three weeks ago the colonel said: “I began like a poor man. I am going to die the same way. I am go- ing to give every dollar of my wealth to the poor before I die.” : Colonel Humphreys ts but one of the many who have made millions in the Mexia field. His ts the story of romance tn the ofl fields. Othera tell their tale in the cold language of figures. HOGG CREEK’ CARRUTH MAN OF VISION IN OIL down the road to Strawn just as the[ mined to co after it by whatever sun was coming up over the eastern | means he could. hills. Ho was undoubtedly “crazy” the} 4 townspeople thought, Beaause he stay- ed away from his shop so much of the time and lost so much trade “chasing these wild rainbows.” tell the people of Hog believed. He believed at Hog Town. Most of them heartily at the idea of of in ‘Town but’ gradually, by the constant propounding of his theories, Carruth convinced a number of the local ctti- zens of the logic of his ideas. In all these years, Hog Town hed been growing a little until ft had amassed a population of several hun- dred. The banker and the doctor own- ed automobiles, and one well-to-do cit zen tad water pipes through . his house. The town was very decidedly vecoming modern, and it was agreed by all that it would not do for such & modern place to continue with the somewhat common name of Hog Town. So a committee was formed to select a name for Hog Town that would be both dignified and beauti- ful Desdemona Pierce’ was the village belle, and the most popular girl in all the country around. Her first name, the village school master said, was a Greek word, and meant something beantiful and dignified, although he couldn’t say just what the exact meaning of the word waa. The word sounded good; it rolled around one’s mounth. They decided to change the name of Hog Town to Desdemona. Carruth Amazes People. Shortly after this “Hog Creek” Car- ruth told the people of Desdemona a thing tho surpassed «ll understand: ing. He told them that In his trips over the countryside from Strawn to Desdemona, he had traced the struc: ture at Strawn clear down to Desde- mona, and that he knew beyond a doubt that under Desfemona would be found oil. Furthermore, he be- Meved it would be found in far larger quantities than that brought forth at Strawn. Here was an amazing thing, If true. There were many doubters, skeptics and non-believers, but there were a few who accepted the barber of! man's theory as true. These few realized that this barber was rot just a barber; that he knew whereof he spoke. ~ Carruth needed little encourage- ment. He was determined to find out whether or not there was oil at Des- demona. He could not do this him/ self, however, because he had not the means. He had neglected his forced occupation of barber through the work for <*hich his heart told him he was best fitted, and he was far from being a rich man. He had heard of of] compcues in which stock was sold, and he deter mined to form such a company. So the Desdemona Home Oil company canie into existence, All the capital was raised locally and largely by Carruth’s own efforts. No one knew just exactly what was going to be done with the monoy; and most of them felt perhaps that they were going to lose it, but the courage of J. W. Carruth, and his unquench- able enthusiasm beat down all bar- riers, until at last the treasury of the Desdemona Home Oil company boast- ed several thousand dollars, which was sufficient to warrant the start- ing of the first well. Twenty years before this time the Spindletop ofl field had been opened near Beaumont, Texas It had a brief career, and then died down forever. There was not a single deep oil field in West Texas and they did not know how to go about the finding of off past the 1,500-foot level. In fact, no one knew that there was any off below that depth at that time. However, Carruth knew in his own mind that the oil was there, and he was deter- WORTHAM, Tex., Feb. 25,—Strong showings of ofl and gag were report- ed today from the well of the J. W- Carruth Oi! company on ita 1,005-ncre lease six miles south and east of here at 8,035 feet. The drill encountered Bang! ‘The clay-bird was shattered into a hundred pieces and dropped like Diack hail out in front of the traps. ‘The gun club of Wichita, Kans., Was at play. ernoon in the 3917. Squad after squad took its place atthe traps during the waning hours of the day and the reverbera- tion of the guns could be heard for miles across the hills and dales. “Next,” shouted the head scorer, as Squad No. 3 left the traps to make room for No. 4, members of which had been lolling on the benches at the rear. Among the members of Squad No, 4 was Bugene A. Reilly, one of the best trapshooters of the state of Kansas and a native of Wichita. On this particular afternoon Reil- early summer of ly hung up a straight 50—the goal of all devotees of the gun and clay- bird, It was Saturday aft- | But that was not all E. A. Reilly @id that afternoon. Not only was he deqdly with his repeating Park- er, but also with bis remarkable mind. While the members of the club disported themselves at their favorite pastime, this man, though joining them in play, laid the cor nerstone of one of the greatest for- tune-building industrial known to all history. “Reilly, how can we make some money with you {n oil?" ‘The ques) tion came from a prominent busi- ness man of Wichita while the mem- bers of Squad No. 4 were watching the others at the traps. “I'll tell you,” replied Reilly. ‘1; have just succeeded in landing a lease of 80 acres out near El Dora- do. I believe that under that lease are millions ‘of dollars’ worth of of. I am forming a company for the development of this property | and if you want to make more ‘mon- | ey with me than you ever thought could be made come in right now.” “Tl do it.” . While Reilly was at the traps that day two-thirds of the purchase Price of the lease was subscribed ‘The nucleus of the world-famous ‘Trapshooter Of] company was formed. around him. He was one of their ‘very own—striking out into the fields of adventure with their ‘faith, confidence and love at his back. Completing his organization, Reil- ly donned the rough clothing of the © oil fields and set out for El Dorado to Live out the accomplishment of his dream. ‘The next month was hectic. The @errick was reared for the first well and the tools moved to the ground. Reilly was everywhere et once. His every move was tempered with de- liberate judgment, his execution ewift and accurate, | no one but Carruth remained. He Never Gave Up Hope. Carruth, “the courageous,” aged and fell away entirely. At length never him out at the well working alone— working, working, working. He succeeded in bailing the wate: out of the hole, and in the last baile. of water he found rainbows of gorg eous color that he knew were cause! by drops of ofl. Others who saw them would not. believe that they mean anything, but Carruth was jubilant and kept on, and on, and on. Finally, after considerale study, he ba became convinced that the driller had set the casing a little too deep; that the real flow of ofl was thus being shut off. It then became necessary for him to attempt to raise the casinr in the well. A real job for severa men—e herculean task for one man To do this required large jack crews, which were not obtained at Desdemona. So Carruth again hitch ed up his old gfay mare and drove t: Gorman, Texas, he at last suc- ceeded in barr —ng four of thene jacks. He returned and immediately set himself to the laborious task of raising the casing. He secured two heavy timbers, clamped them at right angles to the top of the casing, and set a jack under each end. He then started jacking up these ends ono at a time a little at a time ‘The work was hard, tho day was hot He labored alone under a blazing Tex- as summer sun. Carruth was very low in spirits. He had worked for many hours and was making little progress, when at Jength he sat down exhausted by the side.of the well, his head in his bands, his courage and his hope almost gone. “Maybe I am a fool,” he thought. up these dreams and this ambition and devote myself entirely to the bar- ber trade, a professior which I de- test?” The Miracle Happens. Sitting there in this frame of mind he was roused from his lethargy by a slight noise and glacing up quickly he noticed that the casing had sud- denly risen about six inches of its own accord. He was electrified! He knew what that meant, he knew that there was but one element in all na ture to cause that casing to sudden- ly rise, and he knew that that ele- ment ‘was nutural gas. There was gas there then, anyway, There might be oil! Securing a long string a bottle was lowered in the hole, clear to the bot- tom. When he hrought it up it was full of clear, green oil! Carruth cast off the despondency, and his enthus- iasm was increased ten-fold. However, had he known it, the hardest part of his task still lay ahead. He carried bottles of this precious green fluid to Desdemona and put them on display in the barber shop. He showed them to his friends, and WORTHAM WELL READY TO BITE INTO SAND, PROSPECTS GOOD te The Tribune.) a hard gray lime rock, a rattail was sent through this rock to 3,065 feet and after the cement hardens they will drill in th well. ‘The J, W, Carruth Ofl company has many shareholders in this vicinity. aL SHOWINGS FOUND IN PURDON TEST LATEST TES SEAS tive Prospects. Attention to ‘Still ottles of his off and he sent them vroadcast to everyone he could think of what might be interested. Two men showed an interest in his propo ‘ition. Those men were B. J. Johnson and T. M. Dees, the former of Cle | curity Producing and Drilling burne, Texar, and the latter of Midlo- thian, Texas. ‘They came to Desdemona, and with . group of local. people headed by Car. uth, went out to the well. Carruth owered bis bottle into the hole and Irew it up filled with clear, green oll. otnson and Dees admitted that it defined in the Mexica Corsicana terri-| been interested in the cory. It los on the east side of the Texas for about 15 saiconies fault between Corsicana noked good. A skeptical town: np @ new producing field in this sec-|the banking business in Idaho, ‘ani ed Tom Dees asite. , tor. before ecoming to was manager “We believe,” he said, “that that! ‘The Corsicana oll field is the oidest of the Shockley Service Sales corpora- -ell was ‘sulted.’ We think Cazruti.! <roducing field in Texas. It has tion at Casper, Wyo. Many of Mr. arrieg the off down here from Strawn nd poured It into the hole."" Decs sat 1othing. ‘Carruth had impressed him Seen producing of! at a shallow depth Duvall’s old Casper friends will there- cor 30 years. The company’s hold- fore be pleased to learn of his success ngs le to the southwest of this pool in the oil business in Texas. 1 (@ mst, who was absolutely square, ana who would not think of “salting” in ofl well. He went up to the well nd, striking ‘® match, held it over che open casing. A .xuve flame shot 1p high over their heads and burned clear and bright. Tom Dees stepped over to Carruth ind held out his hand. “Carruth,” he uild, “I don't know how the oil got ‘nto that hole, but I do know that no Itving man could put the gas in there. I am with you.” Bog Crock Formed. That morning's visit te the well rr sulted in the formation of a company that was to become the most famous 'BIGLITTLE’ DEAL WITH PLENTY. _OF ACTION IN NEW PROMOTION Suture May Be Judged by Past in Texas Oil Work, Says Mexia Extension Syndicate in Bidding’ ofl company in the A com: * “ . Re > cane eiabeitiot for Favor; First Well Already Drilling -- Sod ett Roce fas the. atate. ce Rene. 3 *, 7 company that was to make a ze Soeaee Ty onuation prow into a brist.| MEXIA, Tex., Feb: 25. OM booms | ing physician of Corsicana, ‘Texas, Uke poverty, acquaint men with stranga bedfellows. THe trustees of the Mexia Extension syndicate, Cc. L. Anderson and M. W. . M. D., are recruited from widely dif , and, although the doctor's tion, and ‘ i been filled with his labors in ling off city of 30,000 populat thus turn a desert into a land richer than the Garden of Eden. For that company, conceived in the brain of tile Crisk”” Caren Tarried But. by himself and tia Gaatasaee ‘one of | ferent fields of human endeavor, but yhom, Mfr, Johnson, has since diet.| they find mutual interest in the old discovered the world-renowned Des | business, and each has an ynsullied demona ofl field, and brought in the| record anda long list of accomplish: | syndicate, and his science, ‘blehided first real well in that-cztersul field.| ™onts to: his credit. - with Charley's experience and luck, ‘The capitalization of the company Anderson, Master Driller. | augur well, for the success of the was not much, and the men who head Twenty-three producers out of 24 ed it were not promoters. They knew} jvells,. ts Charley's record. with o nothing about watering stock) and 1°] company on the Gladiolus lease. Ax they had known they would not havr BB pala San bese done it. They sold their stock wher | )inasemen stockholders his company received 700 per cent ever they could and to whomsocve: |. they could. Carruth pola it. to bie] (7 Gividends. Up in the mostmwost friends. ‘Tom Dees sold it to hir| Surk Wargoner fleld Cuatley punch: be en iia devi les brought in i 3 pegs ns cata ene T cpp the} So dozen producers. Tho 600 per | "hm. pirge ras finely ‘on . pent dividends paid the stockholders ‘i t = on Sabet shares Hog Creek Of company} of the Seay-Farris interests were, *: rey oe one oat they to} mace Possible by Charley's almost the’ ie pore ‘well that was uncanny foresight. While with the oa know ie ret tthe tory ot| Saamle Ol, Seperation, heed this: company. The Hog Creek we | ‘hose stock sold on the pines ai came in as a ee susher. It} et’ for as high as eight to one, em- ushered in an of! that was con | 5) Anderson sidered to be the richest one in the rte Deeontinaere ‘a ariiied world. It was the first deep oil field i :wo wells for the Munger- North Texas. It was the first ofl sfeld* interests: that cab eye) to : worthy of the name in all Texrs. It| 400 per cent profits. was one of the greatest oil fields in Doctor Hoover. the world. reece ee se SM STRUCTURES : son, Mr. Hoover, formers the boaril of trustees of the Mexia Extension i Ol1 company did for its sharehohers. After it bronght in jits well, Carruth, Tom Dees and B. J. Johnson sold. the company’s holdings to the Magnolia company at a price that enabled those three men to pay every one of their shareholders a tremendous prof- 't—$10,135,00 in cash for every $100 also coming into the limel'ght on ac- ‘Trapshooter’ */ count of the "8 recent, pur- invested. Efforts‘ Rewarded. ‘Thus the KAUFMAN COUNTY chase of 3,000 acres at Mabank. This MEXIA, Tex.—Colonel A. E. Hum.| ‘istrict was pessed on by Mr. Reilly's ., |Dheeys was host recently. to over 200| Se0logists before the purchase aregm of “Hog Creek” | citizens of Terrell, who came to Mexia |™2d¢. .This 3,000-acre block belongs was Carruth came true, and thus his vis-|on a special train to invite the Colonel |t© Trapshooter Development company, lone! fon was realized. He saw a veritable forest of hun-| wonderful ol) dreds of towering ofl derricks spring | county. up like magic for miles all about the to visit Terrell and help develop the f Which Mr. Reflly ts a A possibilities of Gates (ce Well wilhbe started fast ao quickly In his address of welcome Colomel| block. mear the center of tho village and even clustered in amongst| Humphreys made sta‘enents that 1 Se, the little buildings tuat comprised the sista Mo par gdlicey . Two townsite. Several, that reared their] ally those of East Texas: college were actually located within the back |man county.’ : i Sard of the tiny barber’ shop in which | reps, “aad wate PN Aitaa. tf wee he presided for so many. years—he,|in that count $1,000,000, Without the plucky Carruth—oil man-barber—| boasting we have the money’to do it. whose practical knowledge of the ol!| And we are not afraid to do it. When business. whose superhuman stick-to-}we go to Kaufman county {ft will (Continued on Page Eleven) be to drill on and drill on and drill on,” "The El Dodaro pool located in Butler county, Kansas, was of smal dimension at this time. A few good wells had been brought in to the ‘westward, and it had attracted some attention. The great Cushing pool of Oklahoma was the cynosure of all eyes in the ofl world, Reilly end his crew worked Mke beavers and drove the bit to a depth , of about 1,500 feet. Then he suspended drilling for just three days. “Boys,” he said, “let us take a rest for a few days. I must run over to Kansas City. I’m going to prove to my stockholders that I can make money for them even be- fore this well is completed.” The next day found Reflly in Kansas City, Within two hours att- er he stepped from the train he was paid $50,000 in cash for a half interest. in the properties -of the ‘Trapshooter Oil eompany. Hight at this point the Wichlia majority of company heads do, of his transaction and declared it tho intention of the company to “keep tho money in the, treasury for the further development of proper- ties." Here is what he did After de positing the money in a Kansas City bank *he ‘seated himself at a desk in the Baltimore hotel and mailed checks. co the whole $50,600 to his through- out Kansas! ‘This, one. act. of FE, A. Reitly stamped him as an industrial prince in. the minds of all who knew him or heard of him, throughout the middle western states. But more than this, it established more firm- ly than ever his main characterts- tics of honesty and fair-dealing. But Reilly got far more for his stockholders in this deal than $50,- 000. In fact, this sum was Iaten swallowed up in the gigantic prof- its that came. ‘The consideration for the sale of a one-half interest in the properties of the Trapshoot- er Oil company was $50,000 in cash, $100,000 out. of the first oil to be run from the wells; and three ad- ditional wells to be drilled on the lease by the purchasers without cost to the ‘Trapshooter Oil com- pany. . A few weeks later the first Trap shooter well came in with a flush production of about 1,000 barrels per day. The second® well com- pleted on the lease gauged 17,000 barrels per day; the third, 8,000 bar- “rels, and the fourth, 22/000 barrels per day. CPS ~At one time the.Trapshooter Jease was producing a total of 32,000 bar- rels of oil per day—or three-fourths of. the. entire . production .of. the state of Kansas! o ‘The profits which atcrued to ‘Reil- ly’s stockholders from this enter- prise have scarcely equalied in the industrial annals of the world. B.'A. Reilly became the hero of ofl not only throughout the states of Kansas, Missouri and Okla homa, but throughout the world. ‘Trapshooter Reilly rested for six months, But retirement from ac. tive effort.is not in the lexicon of the man. In. 1919 he came to Texas and be- gan a development program ‘in Pecos county. After accumulating 215.000 acres he: drilled a wildcat ‘Well with funds principally his own. ‘The well was one of the driest dusters in the history of petroleum, With a laugh, Trapshooter Roilly zips his hat to the derrick and four days later was in Stephens county, Texas. Mee A few months later it was Trap shooter Reilly who made the loca- tion of the Vick well drilled near Ivan be the Kentucky company. ‘The. Vick came in at the rate of beea || ‘pshooter Reilly ‘The deeds of this man have been heralded through Europe, South America and the Orient. A host of ™men have spent their life’s enersY attempting to equal his and shave failed. He is one of the ‘great national characters of the United States, but. withal, a humble citizen, a ¢on- scientious worker, a wholesome man,