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SPOUTERS AEE RARE.
But Suckers Arc Plentiful in the
Texas Oil Country.
Uow Gullible Fortune Seeker Are
Robbed by Greedy Adventur
ersThe Illcc Field of
the Gulf Const.
Special Beaumont (Tex.) Letter. 1
A NEWLY discovered oil Held, like
n mining camp, attracts three
classes of people: The capital
ist, the business man and the adven
turer, or shark, who comes without
uy particular object In view, but re
lying upon his natural shrewdness to
tuke advantage of the many who are
seeking opportunities for investments.
Seized with the idea that a fortune
awaits whoever may come, many leave
good positions for an uncertainty.
They may have no capital, but they
have a vague idea that all they have to
do is to come where there is plenty of
money and things are "lively." It is
this class that furnishes the dark side
to a prosperous new oil field or min
ing camp. Nor does the capitalist al
ways fare well. He is game for the
fihark and the adventurer. Even the
most experienced are sometimes de
frauded by them. There are oil ex
perts as well as mining experts, and
there is also a way of "salting" an oil
well, or rather a well where there is
supposed to be oil. Oil may be mixed
with the water in. the drill, and on
GENERAL VIEW OP THE
these "indications" a "duster" may be
sold to the wise capitalist for a
"spouter." A story is told of a shark
who recently "salted" his "duster"
with cotton seed oil. The capitalist
knew nothing about the various kinds
of oil, neither did his expert, whose
knowledge was limited to a few weeks'
work in the fields. The buyer has since
been studying up on the difference
i between cotton seed oil and crude pe
Wtroleum. The shark drills a well mere
' ly to sell, and resorts to tricks similar
to those of the mining fakir. One of
his tricks is to withdraw the drill, cap
the well and maintain a mysterious
silence, but throw out n hint in certain
directions that oil has been encoun
tered. Sometimes he sells his "duster"
on these false pretenses. There are
nlso experts who profess to be able to
tell where oil exists by surface indi
cations, and also to tell how deep it
lies under the surface
None of these experts have, how
ever, taken advantage of their in
sight and sunk a well on their own
ATTRACTED BY THE BOOM.
account. Their theories of tho ex
tent of the field and the depth of the
pool, or lake, are as varied as those
regarding the cause of the existence
of oil, which is no nearer solution
than it was ages ago. Some of the
loenl theorists hold that there are
several strata of oil bearing sands in
the Beaumont field, just as in the
Hussian fields, but as the wells here
have not gone beyond the first strat
um, or oil fiow, their theories are
mere guesses. Only when these wells
lmve become exhausted, and sunk
deeper, can the theory be settled.
There is luck in drilling wells, as
in mining. The driller of the first
well here had gone 120 feet beyond
the oil stratum, and an accident to
the drill is the cause of the discovery
of oil which made his fortune. He with
drew the drill and discovered indica
tions of oil. In explanation it mny be
stated that in drilling the thick earth
ly en formation and water often prevent
tho il from coming to the surface,
and unless one be tin experienced
driller he is likely to pass the oil
stratum and not know It, ns was the
case with the ilrst gusher, which has
made Beaumont famous, and caused
it to develop into the greatest oil field
in the world. It Is a curious fact
that some of the drillers when Hear
ing the distance at which oil may bo
encountered, usually 1,000 feet, has
ten work, or progress slowly, as the
case may be, so as to strike the oil
bearing sand on Friday. They super
stitiously think that Friday will
bring them luck in drilling for oil,
but will not begin drilling a well on
Fridnj'.
Drilling for oil is more hazardous
than sinking shafts for gold or sil
ver. The formation of the earth in
dicates the possible existence of
these metals, and to the miner thcro
arc indications that they exist. But,
with the oil driller, there are no in
dications on the surface of what ex
ists beneath, and he must be guided,
only by his theories of the forma
tion of the country, and lie reasons
from those theories tht oil should
exist there. Accordingly he drills a
well, and after he has g&Uc 100 feet,
the indications arc no mofj ussurlng
than on the surface. Ho is in the
dark until lie strikes oil, or aban
dons the well ns a "duster." Ho
may have just missed the oil stream
by a few feet. The man whom luck
seems to follow persistently sinks a
well near by and strikes it rich. In
mining, ore of nn inferior grail", is
usually found as the shaft progresses,
and some of it at least is "pay ore,"
BEAUMONT OIL FIELD.
and thus the miner is encouraged b
good indications, and frequently by
the finding of good ore that partly
recompenses his great losses. But the
oil driller has no encouragement, and
finds nothing until lie renches a
"gusher," if at nil. Thus many for
tunes are lost, and only a few are
made. Of the 15 gushers in the Beau
mont oil field the reading public hears
a great deal, but nothing is said of
the 100 dusters. They will be heard
of only when they strike oil. Nor
does one hear of the miner who sinks
his fortune in the earth. But the
bonanza Icing is heard of, and thou
sands rush to the mining camp or oil
field under the impression that it is
"so easy" to make a fortune. The oil
or mining fever is ns delusive as a
mirage.
Rice culture is another industry that
contains a large element of chance,
but not so much as mining or drilling
oil wells, nor Is there as much chance
to swindle the planter. However, his
plantation may be "salted," and is, fre
quently. This proves detrimental to
his crop. The fiat, marshy lands of thu
gulf coast are specially adapted to
rice culture, and being so near the
gulf is the cause of danger to the
growing crops. Bice must hove water,
and plenty of it, and the trouble Is that
the brackish or salt waters of the gulf
back up into the fresh water streams
from which the rice plantations are
irrigated. This prevents the rice from
ripening, or kills It. Within the past
few years about 10,000 farmers have
come to this section of country, main
ly from Illinois and Missouri, and are
engaged in rice culture and truck
farming. Their experience has accom
plished wonders in the development
of the prairie lands of this section.
They have put in large pumping plnnts,
run hundreds of miles of irrigating
cannls, and introduced the latest nnd
most Improved harvesting machinery.
This immigration has added millions
of dollars of taxable property to the
states of Louisiana and Texas, and,
in consequence, there are many vil
lages and thrifty towns scattered over
the country where a few years ago
cattle ranged and the land was consid
ered almost worthless. When the salt
water runs Into the bayous, the planter
must dig wells from which to irrigate
his rice fields, and ns this is almost a
yearly occurrence it will be seen that
rice culture is attended with more
chances for failure than perhaps any
othor crop. The rice farmer cannot
replant, for the water Is too high, and
long remains so. Lands in the rice
belt that sold for 15 and 25 cents an
acre ten years ago, when the Illinois
and Missouri farmers began coming,
are now helling at $20 and $25 an acre.
J. M. SCANLAND.
IteiiHon for Fill I ii re,
Ncbb How does it come Suappcm,
the photographer, failed in his profes
sion? Nobb Because his pictures looked
like the subjects. Ohio State Journal.
SCIENCE OF EATING-.
It 13 Being Studied by the Depart
ment of Agriculture.
(election of Food with Reference
to Human Ileiinlreinentn Slow
CookliiK In the llcat of All
CooUlutf.
Special Washington Letter.
nr
EMPEUANCE lectures are bo-
I ing prepared in the department
of agriculture; lectures which
teach temperance in all things, such
as entlng, drinking, tilling, planting,
hoeing, mowing, reaping. Every
branch and division of tho great de
partment of agriculture is working
on common sense practical lines.
In one of the divisions to-day it was
was ascertained thnt the people of
this country do not know how to
choose the foods they eat or how to
cook them afterward. This burden
of Ignorance falls most heavily upon
the wage-workers who, taking an av
erage among them, use one-half of
their money to buy food, this esti
mate not including the cost of cook
ing. The poor man wastes in pur
chasing provender; his wife wastes
in preparing it for the table. When
an intelligent person buys a coat he
has a pretty fair idea as to whether
it fits him and how it will wear. But
when he invests in meat and pota
toes ho has little information us to
how much nutriment they contain
or whether it is of a kind suited to
his bodily requirements.
These men of science say that
when a man buj's coal or wood for
the winter he knows exactly how
many tons or cords he will need;
but that the average man has no
idea of the amount or kind of fuel he
needs for his body for food is fuel
to keep the human physical ma
chinery going.
It is of interest nnd value to know
that the average human being, lead
ing a moderately active life, requires
59 ounces of food per diem. Ho con
sumes 37 ounces of water and ab
sorbs in breathing 30 ounces of oxy
gen from tho air. His total bodily in
come, therefore, is about eight
pounds daily. What, he needs for his
support each day is four and one-fifth
ounces of flesh-forming albumen;
two ounces of fat enough to make
a fair-sized candle 171. ounces of
sugnr and starch; four-fifths of an
ounce of mineral matters, such as
common salt, potassium, etc.; two
quarts of water, and 150 gallons of
oxygen. So much water is contained
in solid foods that we may be said
to cat as much water as we drink.
In order to supply the substances
above mentioned a man should eat
daily 20 ounces of bread, eight
ounces of beefsteak, 30 ounces of po
tatoes and one ounce of butter, with
one quart of water or the equivalent.
A human being is composed mostly
of water. The bodj' of a man weigh
ing 15 1 pounds contains 06 pounds or
4G quarts of water. To complete his
make-up must be added 13 pounds of
albumen, ten pounds of gelatine, 23
pounds of fat, 8y2 pounds of phos
phate of lime, one pound of carbon
ate of lime, three ounces of sugar
and starch, seven ounces of fluoride
of calcium, six ounces of phosphate
of magnesia, a trifle of chloride of
potassium and a little ordinary table
salt.
The students of food do not ex
pect all men and women to know all
NEW ENGLAND CLAM BAKE.
of these facts by their own experi
ence, but they expect ultimately to
be able to teach people the science
and art of eating so that life may be
greatly prolonged. They have gone
so far as to Invent and construct an
apparatus for measuring the physic
al Income and outgo of human be
ings. It is a metal box, inside of which
a man Is placed. He stays there for
several days, during which he is
fed on curcfully weighed quantities
of certain foods. A current of air is
drawn through the box by a ma
chine pump. Not only is all the
waste irom tho man's body analyzed
and weighed, but tho air is subjected
to analysis before it goes in and
after it comes out of the box. By
the latter analysis It Is discovered
just what elements and how much
of them have been given off from the
lungB of tho man in breathing.
Everything that goes Into tho body
of the subject being known, as well
as the outgo, It Is easily ascertained
what has been used to build up the
tissues, to make blood, etc. Tho
man In tho box, which has glass win
dows, may spend his tlmo In idleness
or he mny bo occupied actively for
several hours of the day. In this
way comparisons arc obtained as to
food consumed nnd results accom
plished under vnrying conditions.
What they learn about the man In
the box they will apply to other
men. So it will not bo necessary
for all of us to spend even n, small
part of our time In boxes. By these
prnetlcal experiments they dispose
of many queer popular notions about
food. It is generally imagined and
frequently said that an egg contains
ns much nutriment ns u pound of
lean beefsteak. As a matter of fact,
It has 40 per cent, less of nutriment,
pound for pound. Beef sirloin is
only 75 per cent, as nutritious as
i a i if
THE OOSPEL OF MATRIMONY.
beans and peas. Chicken and turkey
are ahead of beans and peas in this
respect, being tho most nutritious
food known. Shad and mackerel aro
as nutritious as sirloin stenk. Lean
beef is nearly three-fourths water.
Prof. Atwater lias invented a new
contrivnnco for measuring tho ener
gy produced by various foods. The
food selected for trial a definite
quantity of it Is burned in a vessel
surrounded by water. A thermom
eter of extraordinary delicncy reg
isters the rise in the temperature of
the water, the quantity of which is
known. Then un equal amount of
the same food is burned in the hu
man body. Of course, all food di
gested undergoes a process of chem
ical combustion.
Sir Henry Thompson, a celebrated
English physician, Is quoted as having
snid: "More mischief In the form of
diseuse and shortened life is caused by
bad habits of preparing and eat'ing
food than by bad habits in the use of
alcohol." Although people might re
gard thnt as an extreme statement
in fact, an exaggeration the men of
science say that it is only nn ascer
tained truth which ought to be widely
disseminated. The same authority as-scrtsthntfullyone-half
of the prevalent
dyspepsin is due to semi-starvation,
because the victims cannot digest bad
ly prepared food. He believes that
any shrewd snloon keeper might ob
tain considerable profit by selling prop
erly made strong beef soup from the
heads, palates and well-cleaned hoofs
of beef cattle, or lentil broth from
lentils. It would cost him less than
his whisky and beer cost, and If put
on tap alongside of either would sell
freely in place of the liquor, because
more than half of the craving for stim
ulants is due to want of well cooked
food. The great secret of good cook
ing is slow cooking. The New England
clam bake furnishes an example. It
represents a method adopted by the
Indians for centuries before Columbus
landed, when tribes from the interior
visited the const for periodical fes
tivals. Tho whiles have simply imi
tnted the process.
Temperance in enting is taught by
the department, it being held that peo
ple eat too much; eat for the pleasure
of eating, rather than for renewing
physical energies. Too much coal
and wood are used in cooking. The
kitchen range will be abolished when
science prevails on all of the people.
Cooking must be done with oil or with
gas. The department has a list of
dietaries, showing how people cun live
on from 14 to 28 cents each per day,
If one spends 28 cents per day, that
will Include all luxuries. Just think
how cheap banquets will become when
science takes charge of the kitchen,
and when science goes to market with
a basket on its arm and a little bit
of a pocketbook in its hand.
The parish priest in New York who
is preaching matrimony and urging
his young people to marry might help
along his gospel by adding science to
it, as applied by the department of
agriculture. The young wives will
hear no more nbout "the pies that
mother used to make;" and, with
wages saved by science, we. will hear
no more of the conundrum: "is mar
riage u failure?" SMITH D. FRY.
A vanilla bean kept In the sugar
box imparts a delicious ilnvor to tho
sugar.
A FAWN'S SWIMMING LESSON.
I'ntlciiep nnd Wntelifulnenn of the
Mother IIurltiR the Intcreatliifr
Performance,
Mr. W. 11. Boardmnn, the author of .
"Lovers of tho Woods," Is a hunter
who has learned that there is more
pleasure to bo had In letting animals
live than in killing them. His resi
dence of many summers in the Adlron
dacks 1ms shown hli a higher enjoy
ment to bo had among his wnry, but
unoffending, neighbors, be they deer,
bear or trout, than ho ever tlrcnmcdof
in his bloodthirsty, game-killing days.
The following quotation from the
book echoes the author's sympathy:
"John nnd I concluded to fish the
river below again," suld Hardy, "and
to wnlk srome distance down thcbnnlc
before we struck in, so as to get to the
pools below. Tho Jtoli were not biting
well, but, It wns very beautiful, and wo '
got a few before lunch time. John enr
rlcd my camera, and 1 havo got I
hope I havo got some good pictures.
While we were within half n mile of
Cross' pond, though It had no fish in
It, I, of course, wanted to sec it. We'
went there, and I made the worst
break that I have ever made since T
went away from my rod on the edge
of. the burnt ground. I lcftmy camera
nt the river, Instead of taking It with
me. Wo walked part way around tlic
pond nnd sat down, and pretty soon a
doe enme in opposite, perhaps 40 rods.
She- came without a sound1, slowly, not
like a eat, not like anything else but n
deer; just slipped In, a quiet, Bmooth
glide, nnd drank nnd nibbled. Of
course, she looked around, and studied
the whiole pond, but she seemed most)
anxious about the direction sho had
come from. She kept looking back.
" 'Course I knew she hnd n fawn'
back in the woods soon ns I saw her act
In' that way,' said John, "nnd then I
thought about Mr. Hardy's camera, .
for she'd come to stay, and would work
round nearer us. And I'd left tho
dinged thing at the river, though T
might have known we stood to see
deer any time of day at Cross' pond.
Ef I lied to do It ng'in, I wou'd't a' done '
It.'
"Yes, John said that she was prob
ably worrying about a fawn Imckln
the woods, nnd directly the fawn came
scampering In. it stood stiff-legged
and stnred at its mother with Its head
turned comically, so that one of tho
big cars was partly over Mic other one.
Then it twined down the bench, kicked)
up its dainty hind legs, took n few high1
leaps and stopped stiff-legged agab.
It bucked like a broncho, going
straight up Into the air and lighting
squarely with all four feet close to
gether. It was a continuous perform
ance, a little, but not much llko a1
lamb's gambols, for It was graceful. '
The mother wuded breast deep in the '
wnter for grass roots and lily pads, but "
watching the fawn and seeming to
conx it. Several times It put Its toes
into the wnter and quickly sprnng
back. Directly tho doe went into
deeper water, and swam slowly toward
us, often stopping for a tender lily pid
and to look back earnestly nt the little
one. "Suddenly, with a rush, the fawn
sprang into the water, tore In and
made it fly, nnd In doing so fell vpom
its knees nnd wet its pretty Mttlo
nose. It was plainly frightened nto
what it had done, but its mother wns
ahead, so it kept going. It churned nnd
pounded the water with its fore feet,
and soon got too high In front and was
frightened. It bleated, calling for its
mother, and when she swam alongside,
the little rascal immediately climbed
on her back and ducked 1icr. When
she came out from under she cautious
ly kept a short distance away, work
ing toward us, but with her head over
her shoulders watching the fawn.
About the middle of tho pond the fawn,
got in trouble again; got too high In
front, and apparently hnd another
panic. The doe swnm near him, nnd
he therw his fore feet on her back a
second time, but she was wary, and
kept her head above water. Then, for
the first time, sfic made a sound not
a bleat, but a cooing sound, such ns
pigeons mnke, and It seemed to soothe
the excited little fellow. He swam
more steadily, but not at nil smoothly,
for he appeared to get his legs tangled
and lose his stroke. Sometimes his
neck wns high out of water, and some
times his nose wns buried, blithe final
ly came nshore, just 21 feet from
where I wns sitting on a balsam log.
I paced it after he left, but they did
not go for several minutes. The fawn
trembled so it could scarcely stand,
while tho mother licked it and kept
making the cooing, crooning sound. It
wns a very tired, meek-looking fawn
that slowly followed its mother Into
the woods. I have the picture in my
mind. It was not over-exposed or under-developed,
and it will never fndr,
but 1 can't show It to anyone else. I
feel as John does nbout leaving the
eaniera: 'If I had if, to do over again
I Wouldn't 'a' done It.'"
Athlctlo Clergyman Needed.
An illustration of the growing de
mand for athletic clergymen wns re
cently given by a country curate, who
received notice td quit because he was
not a good cricket player. Though
unexceptional in other respects, his
vicar declared that "what this par
ish really needs Is a good, fast bowl
er, with a break from the oif." Lon
don Telegraph.
