A RECORD GUSHER.

! r^'C^LiP'e^MiNito^-WELi. . •■'■■' '■ -■';<. Zil) -J)\-':. ■ '.;■■; ■■ ..■?.-J-.i» i -,'^V^ '^i'r '...:■ ..In., tie entire 'history of the world's' .' great* 'oil^ iifldi 2 ! h4s r A^Wrvi)^n ; jahpther' sudh-vgiisH.er f k6 lJ- tfie '^■a.^e^ew;' wliieji- Kurieii' 'itsei^upw^viiW i ifield/bf (^ifom^'cm' <^ie' I Maidxls! r Fir<|&';*thg ! d£tf[ it '•M^f^'^d: ' fxoia - its"'- .suTaiteTTaneari* • gtk'i "'. c^k' majors' I until , they j>resei^t . momei^ o1M^ : I in^us^ :'gsg£x§sis'-. 'b.a^jed'";'.'-' eyety ;;e"j>:f£ sCxep^d.tptOQptjiol^, "aQid' -.spo^&4* infb ; ■ the ak 'frcrat : 4o,6o6^itqvloMv'^rr^ { ofe.'toiij,. a" jiay .wnffidiit ■, a/.Sn^ofidimii|L-. j urtion. i Ful^y :'& , j^jllkm;', dpllaxs. \ybiih; . of- the 'precious ,fl<j\y,' ha-s\ : been ■;.'saye|i i i . .tlii^ugh .the j th^owipgi^ vp^^ r . of : " .earth- , dikes,, "while a..- fontuhe in' 'cdiiiirierciaif petipliprn.. has. been, wasted' througiii ; .'into. . 'tliQ; grojiindf a^d^Sn' • spray blipwn atway .by winfe < .:AlJ' idea dtinbing; the: w^ll soy tKat rth^- prpdubt^mdgihit? be; utilised^ in -%^ .ordinary- \tame\vaind; liesuirely .• nj-aj>ner i hast aJbancloned, « T|ie. problem: of ':• the : i&omenit;:is -to; Gorner; : ' ; a^ 'sea^ of -'oil ' hy.;;-objtixiu<bt<wig-' ; Jit ••- into- .• a' " teiripprary i- siOOO,6^d4Ka*fei; ,> reseMir^ ; $whiihj^is ■ ■ '.•■/:. :■"■;■■-■ . : : . ■■;> ■'■■■■■■:■.[ ■■•'-.-; .

which is being scraped in the mesa, with -feverish haste- by the Union _ Oil Gompahy. ■'■' "'^ yi '' :i Ttie Lakeview .is poorly named a •gusher. 'It -is the, ''Oid F.aithful" without the Yellp\y>sitionemaTvel'.s maithemaitioal haibit of iniermittiency of spouting. The Lajkeview is on the job every second." ' : of . the day! The gusher is almost - literally a' leak in the ?i biggest pipe ever ...buried in, the' underground oiL conduit system, and and the plumber -has not been born thai oanplug the leak. - ■■- < :-• The Lak'evie'w was .bored by the Union Oil Company,, together with private individuals gowning interests m the vicinity. Nio*hiin|- r evefit^ul maTfeed the monotonous : progress ' 'of the 'boring until, the. hard steel drill had penetrated to a -depth' of 2,200 feet, and then everyithin^bapp'enlil W-'oh'c'e. A sudden Hiss deep. in" the earth was followed by a fearful roar and the instant rendng of. the superstaruotuxe of the drilling- apparatus: '.'The astonished drillers caugiht one. glimpse of the "crown boxfi" catapulting .' into the blue sky, only to be half drdwned the next instant in black petrolium. •" Men in slicker^ fougtht a way through the viscid:' stuff -to '.•work; with pick and shouvel ' in the construction of a dam across a riaJturaT' r slbug'h which, was becoming a irivtir of:'pet!roleum. Men in' ordinary ' street clothing- sacrificed their raiment to help ihrow up a big- eaoth dike, completely surrounding the gusher in a wide cjrcl-c. F(ii>^h / 'ijr- -.cj'Dwh the' slough another dam was, "thrown" up with feverish h«ste to 1 catch the overflow of the first makc-shifft reservoir."' Fro*n that flay to this the flow has been-di-verted from one pool to an'pthc*' \ixvtil over a million ' ard a half barrels of oil Te said to have _b sen •■ dammed *un; The Union Company's reservoir will hold all the petroleum that can b? spouted forth in the next three mori&hs :n the present rate maintained by the pusher. All the time an average of 20.0U0 a day has been syphoned out of .he vanous pools and marketed. The amount of the oil wasted will never be known. * A fortune in the flow has soaked . into the* ground. i hrough t>he buaisdng- one night of one of the dams 70,000 barrels are estimated to have been wasted in an hour's aiKc. 1 the. loss' through . the -spray due to the enor.iii>ous pressure bahnd -he turxen:, has, even on the calmest days, been large. N On windy days the •country for miles" around has been sprayed, -and the Sunset-Midway field in a/ "certainly be said to boast the world's largest landscape in oil. Greascvvood bushes four miles away look as if they had been dipped in tnr. . The vicinity of the Lakeyie\v is no . place for a lnan with ice-oream clothes. ..'''"■" ,' On. its tMrtty-fiifiih day of action , th?,Lakeview celebrated its successfu] deftaince of restrain, by sendinb up a torrent ■ estimated at ' 55,000 ; l?aTrels ! Tlie latest device - "to check the flow is- a; crib of heavy, planks, weighted and tnchored . doAvn, and • about 20ft high about the' derrick. : This arrangement, it is hoped, will hold the oil in a s ! n '^ ler column and. form -a custion for the ascending s'olumn. . The. goose tihat iadd the golden egg was insigmifioant as a piece of incomeproducing property in comparison with this.: Calafornian oil- gnisier. The gusher spouts daily : ddl worth about 50' cents a barrel just as it leaves the ground, add . totalling- .'in value- 25,000 dollars, or more. - . .; ; There is the same siaddening assom-.p'a,rti-mien.t of speculative and swindling activity in Los Angelos arid' San FTansicso that has marked every : oil ■ and mindng boom in the past. In Los Angeles, notably, the excitement has com -v almost to a small calamity to tjie city. 'Real estate' and other le^itiimrate fields of \ investment have been deprived of ' hundreds' of thousi ahds of dollars, a graet percentage af '.W|hacih mag-hit as well' be thrown into the Pacific for all the good "it 'will ever bnimg those who have paid into fake - oil - concerns^- Money v'; which should. 'have' vb'een'i going' &te the development of, fertile ''agricultural lands is toing paid at^tHe^r^te^ from 1000 dollars, an acre and up f6r desert r areas wMoh will never; -yield ■ a drop of the coveted ..'.oiij, or af least -neyer. produce enough to" pay a' ce'rit of 'dividend "on the outlay for stocks..— ■■-■ *' >i n ?■