Evening Star Newspaper, September 22, 1929, Page 8

~ ACCURATE METHOD OF DRLLINESOUCHT Deviations Cause of Heavy Losses and Litigations in Oil Industry. BY H. H. SHELDON, Professor of Physics, N. ¥. U. Can you bore a straight hole? You may think you can, but have you ever tried to bore an oil well? It's not done with & brace and bit. And if you can bore one that is straight you are one in a million. The oil industry would doubtless be willing te hand over s paltry few millions and place your name | as & memorial on all the period gas/ stations. - Perheps you can see no reason to worry as to whether an oil well is a straight hole or a crooked one. Sug- gest that to an old oil man and note the interesting reaction. Some of his money may be included in the $165,- 799,000 that was sunk in dry holes last year. Land Formation a Guide. Before starting an oil well we must have some reason to believe that we are likely to find oil when we have drilled. If a geologist undertakes to steer us in the proper direction, he will base his judgment largely on land form- ation and sofl outcroppings. A dome- shaped land formation in an ol region is a pretty safe guess. The oll has a tendency to collect under the rock dome. In a typical formation there will be found first gas, then oil and below this water. If the formation is one in which the earth strata is on an incline, out- croppings of oil-bearing shale may be found. Preliminary drilling usually gives all the additional information re- quired to plan the development of the project. Nowadays we have additional safe- ards to capital in the recently de- veloped geophysical methods. ‘These are of varlous types. In one method the rate of travel of sound through the earth is measured. In another method a sensitive balance is used which meas- ures the attractive force of gravity. This instrument is so sensitive that it is shielded in a tent and is not ap- roached until its photographic record complete. Cost of Drilling High. When everything has been done to determine the possibility of an oil strike, the next thing is to drill. In many re- spects this may at present be con- sidered the weakest link and the most $150,000. A few weeks may be required to drill & 1,500-foot well, and a year or more for a 5000-foot well. In the largest producing wells depths of 5,000 to 8,000 feet are common. In California wells 9,00 feet in depth have been drilled. These cost enormous sums. year 903 wells were drilled in California at an average cost of $90,000, & total of $81.270,000. ‘Most oil drilling is done by contract, The contractor agrees to drill & well of a given depth. When he has drilled that well, his work is done. His con- ‘tract has been fulfilled. Naturally, it is to his interest to drill to the specl- fied distance as cheaply as possible. In the past it has not worried him greatly if the hole strayed from the straight and narrow. The result has been that ofl wells have wandered along a path that might do credit to a lazy, absent- minded cow out for a stroll. Protection for Investors. There was a time wr}tmn this n:ld ngt matter greatly. Property was not overs dfl'elupgé. If the first hole did not strike ol & second would. They were not deep, did not cost much to drill and were in the best possible oil country. Recently, _however, eonditions have changed. We are after the last drop in even the poorest oil sections. If the oil is missed by the drill it is a serious matter for the investors. Investigation has proved that some holes were off by as much as 46 degrees. There has been frequent litigation over one com- pan: taoping a well that was rightly the prop- '~ of a neighboring concern. In one case two wells, begun 600 feet apart, ran together at & depth of 3,000 feet, Liquid Used in Survey. Because of this condition interest became centered on a Temedy. A method of surveying the holes was de- Veloped. It is done by lowering a bottle of acid into the hole. The amount of tip is indicated by a mark on the bottle where the acid has eaten off dissolvable material. As a result of these surveys it has been decided to accept as straight any hole which does not deviate more than 5 degrees. IMany methods were tried to keep within these limits. In spite of the greater cost drilling at slower speeds and less pressure was tried. Even with the greater care holes still deviated as much as 19 degrees. Recently there have been reports of the use of & drill which emits the mud librieant axially and thus prevents or at least does not aggravate this side slip. Holes drilled with this new device are said to fall well within the limits set for straight holes. It is the inven- tion of Charles E. Reed, long known as a designer of oil drilling equipment, but until recently practically retired. MUTE TELLS FISH TALES INVENTING HIS LANGUAGE Makes Reputation Despite Lack of Knowledge of Sign Alphabet. VERMILION, 8. Dak. ().—Jim Tomilson has not spoken a word for 56 years. He is one of the few mutes who cannot use the sign alphabet. Neither can he hear, read or write. But Jim is a fisherman of repute and he has his own way of telling about the fish “that got away.” Using his own system of picturesque gestures, Jim's friends declare that he can tejl the biggest fish stcry of any man on the Missouri River! . HEADS DOMINICANS. French Provincial Is Appointed General of Catholic Order. ROME, September 21 (#).—Father Martin Gillet, present provincial of the Dominican Friars of France, has been appointed general of the Dominican or- der, replacing Father Buenoventura Parades, resigned. The appointment, made by the gen-, eral council of the Dominicans, put to an end a report that the post might ' be filled by an American archbishop. . COOLIES RESELL STAMPS. Earn More by Washing Used Pos- tage Than by Labor. CANTON (#).—Of the diverse occu- E:tlnnl emanating from the fertile ain of the Chinese coolle who finds himself temporarily without the com- mon necessities of life, there is perhaps none so remunerative as the sale of washed, used postage ltlm‘;s. The practice is to collect lightly can- celled stamps from waste baskets and to obliterate the cancellation ink by a thorough washing. ~The stamps .are ‘then re-gummed and the Chinese ‘coolie sells them openly along the main thor- oughfare for half’their face value. He cften makes more money by thess illicit sales than he would at hard labor. o A lifeguard on the Grow Stone Beach, Westcliffe, England, recently brought his total of lives saved to 330 THE ¥ Our Greatest i COLLECTION of NATIONALLY ADVERTISED JEWELRY At Standard Prices Cash or Credit A YEAR TO PAY Illincis-Sterling, Hamilton, Elgin, Bulova and Laco W atches 1847 Rogers Bros., Wm. Rogers & Son and. 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