The flowing or gushing wells are always re garded as lucky strikes among oilmen, partly be cause they usually mean exceptionally large quan tities of oil, and partly because there is no cost of operating the well, as long as the oil issues from the ground of its own accord. Striking, indeed, are the scenes connected with the opening of one of these wells. The monotonous clank of the drill one minute is replaced the next by a sudden rush upward, the tools are hurled high in the air, and a stream of oil rises far above the derrick, like a gigantic geyser, deluging everything about as it falls back to earth.
Most of the important oil fields have at some time or other afforded the interesting spectacle of flowing wells, the most famous in this country be ing the memorable gushers of the Texas fields, which helped swell the oil boom in that state a few years ago. The Baku region, however, stands un rivaled in the number and enormous size of its fountains, some of which have burst forth with such uncontrollable violence that they have been a source of loss rather than of profit to their own ers. The famous Droojba fountain, struck in 1883, spouted a mixture of oil and sand to a height of more than 200 feet, buildings near by were buried under the deluge of sand, while a broad stream of oil flowed away toward the Caspian Sea. Since then, many other still greater spouters have been developed there, shooting columns of oil to heights of 300 or 400 feet, soaking with oil every thing within a mile or more of the well, and belch ing forth as much as 6,000,000 gallons of oil daily. With such enormous quantities of oil poured out so suddenly, the greatest difficulty is often experi enced in controlling the flow, and the anxious operators have often found themselves absolutely powerless until millions of gallons, worth thousands of dollars, have been lost.
When the natural flow of petroleum ceases, as a result of relieved gas pressure, and commonly in completed wells which do not flow, the practice known as "shooting" is resorted to in the hope of increasing the yield.
The early erroneous belief that petroleum oc curred in fissures is supposed to have prompted the use of the "torpedo," the idea being to break up the strata around the bottom of the well, and se cure the yield from as many fissures as possible. The scheme was first suggested by a Colonel Roberts, in 1862, but, for fear of the effect on the well, it was not given a trial until two or three years later, when, in a single trial, its success was immediately demonstrated. The process consists simply of dis charging some powerful explosive, usually nitro glycerin, at the bottom of the well, a single charge sometimes ranging as high as 200 quarts. Shooting wells is one of the few spectacular features con nected with the petroleum industry, but to the op erators it is purely a matter-of-fact business propo sition. The nitroglycerin, which needs but the slightest jar to explode it, is transported over the roughest mountain roads, in padded wagons to be sure, but still in a way to appall the stoutest heart of any but the shooters themselves. Sooner or later, it is said, the majority of shooters meet violent deaths at this precarious trade. From the spectac ular standpoint, the operation of shooting stands nearly on a par with the striking of a gusher. The
heavy shock of the explosion shakes the earth, as in an earthquake, then the dull muffled report is fol lowed by a jet of oil, water, and fragments of rocks, leaping a hundred feet in the air, and falling back to the earth like the outburst from some monster fountain. Shooting a well, if successful, gives an increased production for a time, though not neces sarily a greater total yield. In extreme cases, par ticularly in wells yielding very high-grade oil, shooting may be tried three or four times, but, as a rule, with poorer success each time.
Soft strata, such as are found in some of the Cal ifornia fields, and about Baku, make the torpedo practically useless, hence in these fields and some other districts shooting is never employed.
From the glory of the most gigantic spouter, a gradual declining yield of the well is inevitable and, whether "shot" or not, it rapidly descends to the humdrum life of a well which must be pumped in order to produce oil. Few wells flow for more than a short time, and then pumping by some method or other must be employed as long as the total yield warrants it.
Pumping in the old days was done with a cen tral boiler using coal for fuel, and connected by a network of steam pipes, with an engine at each well. Now a single engine serves for dozens of wells, scattered all over a large area, and makes possible a very material saving in power. The pump itself is the perfection of simplicity ; below ground a tube runs almost to the bottom of the well, with a valve near its lower end ; a pump rod working up and down in the tube completes the apparatus in the well. On the surface a simple combination of two levers, called the "jack," mounted on a framework transforms the horizon tal pull on the rod or cable from the engine into a vertical pull on the pump rod. The economy of power is carried still further by pairing the wells, so that the upstroke in one coincides with the downstroke in another. In this way a hundred wells may be pumped by a single gas engine so cheaply that a well producing half a barrel a day can be operated profitably.
This business of getting the crude oil out of the ground is undoubtedly attended by more risks and uncertainties than any other phase of the entire industry. In the first place, when drilling is be gun there is no certainty that it will be successful. Even when a productive well is struck, there is no possible way of knowing the extent of the supply. The story of Pithole City, and of other boom places, tells how suddenly and unexpectedly a region may "go dry." Still more vital, however, is the fact that the oil cannot be kept in storage underground, as any other mineral may be left in the mine, and be removed as it is wanted. All the wells in a locality usually draw their oil from a common source, and if any well owner stops pro ducing, the neighboring wells will get more than their share. This condition of things explains the eagerness of each operator to drill faster and pump faster than his rivals. Whatever the price of the oil, therefore, production practically never ceases until the well is exhausted.