The Rice belt journal., January 09, 1903, Image 1

About The Rice belt journal. (Welsh, Calcasieu Parish, La.) 1900-19??

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SEbe nL{UE eli0U tenad.
.IN S, AOFJNNIN0S,
VOL. III. WELSH, CALCASIEU PARISH. LA., R! Ki) A).:Y. JANUA RY 9, 190:. NO. 83.
Elegant Line of . . .
Millinery and Dress Hats
Just Received from Chicago
Line of.g Dress Goods and Trimmings ,i.
Call and see some of the latest patterns.
PAUL W. DANIELS,
Welsh, La. The Leader in Low Prices.
The First National Bank,
Welsh, La.,
Wishes You and Yours
A Happy and Prosperous New Year,
and solicits your banking business for 1903.
"The Racket"
Now?
Why we are offering our en
tire stock of
Ladies Coats and Capes
AT 30 PER CENT OFF.
Our coldest weather is yet to
come, so now is the time to buy.
WATCH OUR NEXT WEEK'S AD.
Yours to please,
THE RACKET,
WELSH, - LOUISIANA.
Speaks Favorably of Welsh.
Jos. Espalla, Jr., who is largely
interested in the Welsh oil field, gave
oiut the followeng statement to the
Times-Democrat while in New Orleans
last Friday:
" We expect to bring in a gusher at
Welsh during next week, and will re
turn there in time to witness its start,"
said Joseph E. Espalla, Jr., of Mobile
Friday. Mr. Espalla had arrived from
Welsh during the morning and was
on his way to Mobile, where he will
take part in the campaign being con
ducted by John Craft for the Mayor
alty. Mr. Espalla was accompanied
by M. A. Quina of Pensacola, presi
dent of the Southwestern Oil Company.
The Southwestern is the company
that expects the gusher: "We have
been looking for this gusher for the
past week, but matters were delayed
softe, and have only at last reached a
really definite stage. Work on the re
finery, which we will erect at Wels.,
will begin shortly, and within a few
weeks will be well advanced. Its com
pletion will be expedited as much as
possible.
"We are preparing to begin the
work of sinking a well in the Jennings
field. Although we have had holdings
there for a long time, we have not
made any effort to drive the well, but
this we have at last decided upon. The
indications of oil or! our Jennings
tract are the best in e entire field,
and I am positive we ill be successful
in our venture there.'
i.I
Value of an Oil Well.
The value of an oil well is supposed
to be about three times its net earning'
power in one year. The earning pow
er of a well is about two barrels less
than its output, the value of the oil to
be measured on the ground. Thus the
earning power of a 40-barrel well, pro
ducing 3i60 days in a year and with the
product selling at $1 per barrel would
be $13,680, making the well worth $41,
0)40. On the general basis of one well
to the acre, the producing value of
1(60 acres of similar territory would
rise to the enormous sum of $6,5i(i6,400.
But enormous though it be it is not a
fanciful exaggeration. In May, 1899,
section 30, 28-28, in the Kern river
field, was located under the placer
mining law, at a cost not exceeding 10
cents per acre, or $64 for 640 acres.
The sum of $4,500,000 is a more recent
valuation of the same property. The
original cost of the locations con
trolled by the Reed Crude Oil Corn
pany in the same field did not exceed
$150. The present value of these
lands, including the improvements, is
said to be fully $2,500,000.-Pacific Oil
Reporter.
J. S. Bennett, C. C. Nordyke, H. B.
Walling, Robt. Hoag and J. F. Well
ington were among those from Jen
nings who were transacting business
in Welsh Monday.
Louisiana the Coming Oil Field.
'Louisiana contains the permanent
oil fields of this country," said Cap
tain J. <i. Bacon, of Beaumont, in
the St. Charles Hotel Saturday even
ing, to a Picayune reporter. " I don't
mean to say anything against Bean
imont, and I would not like to say any
thing against Beanmont, but my
honest opinion is that" in Louisiana
d re the coming oil fields of this coun
try. Jennings, Belle Isle, Anse-la
Butte, Welsh are all good producers,
far. better than Beaumont. and they
will be producing oil in big quanti
ties when Beaumont has run dry.
* " While Beaumont is now prepared
to produce more oil than at any other
time since the opening of the field, the
p)roduction is really less. After the
) gushers played out there was natural
0 ly a falling off in the production.
Then came the third great period in
the history of the field, the period in
which pumps were installed. Machin
) ery firms at first were unable to fully
p supply the demand. But now nearly
all demands are met. While nearly
every well now h'as a pump, the pro
duction of the field is considerably
less than it was before. While the
pumps are working all right, they are
not pumping oil; they are pumping
water. It is said- that 75 per cent of
the product of the wells is salt water.
I would not like to say that the per
centage of water is quite that high but
it is somewhere around there."
Mr. Howard R. Hughes, of Beau
mont, says that at no time since the
opening up of the Beaumont oil field
has there been such opportunities for
the small producer as the present time
The condition of affairs in the field,
as they are at present, puts the big
man and the little man on the same
ground. Nearly always the bie inves
tor has the advantage, but just now
the small investor has equally as
good a show, for which reason this is
the time for the small men to get to
work. -Picayune. *
Young Wife Died of Grief.
Mrs. Lastie Augustine, wife of the
young man who was killed by J. B.
Marcantel at a wedding twelve miles
north of Welsh on December 16, died
Sunday of grief. It is said the young
wife fell in a swoon on the prostrate
form of her husband soon after the
murder was committed, and upon
learning that there was no hope for
his recovery, begged that she, too,
might meet a similar fate. Since that
time her grief has been most pathetic
and Sunday, after repeated convul
sions, lapsed into unconsciousness
and died.
A Black Brute.
Constable Judson Harris of the
Tenth ward reached the city last night
with a prisoner, one Harry Zeno, a
negro, who is lodged in jail, charged
with attempting the life of his wife
with a club. From accounts received
the poor woman has but lately risen
from child bed and having in some
manner incurred the anger of her hus
band he chastised her with a stick till
she fell and then stamped her with his
feet. There is a finish in sight for
him if the above facts are proven.--L.
C. Press.
WELSH IH('E MILL BURNED.
Entire Plant and (oontents ('Consumed
Early Staturday Morning.
I:alt-kr Saturday morning the citizens
of WVelsh were ,arotused frotn their
slululers by the blowing of whistles
and ringing of hells and upon investi
gation it was found that the plant of
the Welsh Ni ice Mlilling" ('omnpany, Ltd..
was on llire. Th'le liames had gained
such heladway ;whea discovered that
the fire wa.is Ierond control when as
sistance arrived and the mill and its
c'ontetst- were entirely destroyed, en
tailing a loss of between $45,000 :and
Just how the fire otrignated remains
a nmystery, but from what can be
glleaneld flromi the nightwateh man and
those who were first to arrive at the
scene of the lire, it seems to have hbeen
the work of an incindiaitry. Watch
mnan Dutfee had just made his regular
round at 4 o'clock and was in the
boiler room getting up steam pr-npara
tory to begitrining the d(ty's run. when
the odor of burnilng rice sacks and oil
attracted his attention townl'rd te
office. Hle found the twarlehouse ad
joining the otlice a mass of lamies and i
in a very short time the fire had spread 1
to other parts of tie bIuidting.
In a few minutes 211) or 300 persons
were viewing what has proven to be
one of the most disastrous lires VWelsh
has experienced. In almost the short
space of thirty minutes from the time
the alarm was given the mill was in
ruins. consequently nothing could be
do(ne to save it, but all ettort was
d' ected toward saving the plant of h
the \Velsh ilaehine & \Vell WVorks t
colpanly, near by. 1
.ManLty theotries were advanced as to i
the caluse f the tire. SoIome thinkintg e
it started from an oil stove in the i
ofllke. Such was not the case. hotw- la
ever, is oil had noit been used for sev
ertal d ays prior to the fire. tBesides ti
the oilice stove andlltl lanlp were iltact V
after' the fire was discovered. e
'here were about 4,0010 bags of 0
rough rice. 2,()00 la's of cleatl rice. d
and fourl carloads of harvesting ma- It
chinery and agricultural implements Ii
belonging to the Calcasieu Implement
Co., Ltd., stQred in the mill andt all i
were consluned by the flames. The D
losses as nearly as can be estimated 1
are as follows: Clean and rough rice, tc
$15,000 to $20,0Ot0; implements and ma- ti
chinery, $19,000 to $10,000: mill and in
machinery, $20,000: bags, etc., *1,t000. tI
Insurance, $4.,000. mu
This mill was one of the oldest in it
Southwest Louisiana, having been fie
moved to Welsh from Bayou Chene th
in 1891i. It was then the property of thi
Lock & Thompson, now business men IM
in -Lake Charles. In 18)99 it was pur- to
chased by Paul WV. Daniels, H. S. at
Daniels and S. J. Steele, at which re
time new and modern machinery was is
installed and the building remodeled.
Until this year the mill has been run- s
ning to its full capacpity both day and de
night during the seasons and the ma- Ti
chinery was said to be among the best su
for rice milling purposes in the belt. ca
Paul W. Daniels, president of the ar
Welsh Rice Milling Company, Ltd., pe
stated to the JOURNAL that the mill f,
would positively not be rebuilt and at
that the company would liquidate its er
affairs as rapidly as possible. He co
further said that he would make good
all losses to the farmers, who had rice dr
stored in the mill, as quickly as possi- be
ble.
This is a severe loss to Mr. Daniels ca
and his sister, Miss Hattie S. Daniels, ex
who owned seventy shares of the stock. in
Fifty Years a Blacksmith
Saturday, January 3, W. A. Rog
ers, of this city celebrated the fiftieth
anniversary of his career in the black
smith bmsiness. Mr. Rogers began as
an raplprentice in a shop in Sheffield,
England, at the age of 14 years. He
followed the trade in his native coun
try for seven years, and when twenty
one camne to America and landed at
Savannah, G(a. This was at the
breaking out of the war of secession,
and he immediately enlisted in the
Confederate army and for almnost four
years fought under the ]eadership of
(Gen. Longstrteet. He later returned to
his old trade and is now pemmnanently
located in wvhat he thinks is the best
little town in the south. At sixty-four
he is stronger than the niajomity of
persons thirty years his junior, and
bids fait- to Slend seviral milrie years
in the hlacksmith shop,.
Lumber is being hauled for the new
planing mill which is to be built im
mnediately west of the Welsh Itice Mill
site. Mr. Saxon, who will manage ',he
business, is here from Mermenteau
and will rush the work to complet:ion.
F'our lots have Ibeen plurchased fir a
site and the mill \w-ill be ereted on
modern plans and fitted with the latest
improved machinery. One car of
machinery arrived Saturday.
4+*4+++++q++++%+++d++++++++++++++*. 4444 ,
; Your Suit is Ready
+ for You to Crawl Into
+ And we are ra ndy to 'ive it to you at reduced prices. Why? Be
cause we are -losinil out ( io Men's and Boys' C lothin. to make
rIoottm for our spring lines.
+
SAlMERICAN Headquarters
SLADY
+ ai~t - BrawlSahilu-kmAn. y
MARTIN BROS.,
Welsh, - - Louisiana.
a+++o+f4++++++++ +++++ +++++++4+++4++++++4++ + 4 ;
IDOING4S IN THE, OIL FIEL).
Three Wells Nearinrig" Completio and
Two Others Under Headway.
Duringt't'e past week hut very littlV:
has developed in the oil field owing
Io mishaps to the natchinervy and de
lays in the shipment of screens and
othier inecessLary aIeottretlllen ts. Hfiow
ever, activity be'gall aieow \Vednes
day and since that time the town has
been rapidly filling up with pritnineout
then who arte wsatihing the rogrest's Of
the work in the Welsh oil lield with a
view to in vesting, and those who have
extensive holdings hete. The future
of the Welsh iel(ld depends larfdely on
developments of the next few days, as
three wells are now nearing cotple
tion.
Tuesd ay noon, after a delay of a
week or ten days. the screens for the
Det ver-B3eaumitnt well tarrived from
Beaumont. \Vednesday was devoted
to putting down the screen and get
ting everything in readiness for hail
ing. Shortly before noon yesterltday
the bailing process began. The strata
now being developed is the first below
the cap rock, but Driller Bowen con
fidently expects to bring in a well, and
the otpinions of those who were in the
field yesterday coincide with that pf
Mr. Bowen's. LATEFR. Before going
to press news reached town that an
accident had occurred to the screen
rendering it useless. Another screen
is necessary before work can continue.
The Iilpe that became fastene.- in the
Southern Pacific well and caused a
delay of nearly a week, was removed
Tuesday and J. W. Champion re
sumed operations Wednesday. The
cap rock has been reached in this well
and it will require only a few days to
penetrate the oil strata. The screen
f)r this well is already on the ground
and, barring mishaps to the machin
ery, this will in all probability be a
completed well before our next issue.
S. W. Clay,. who has charge of the
drilling of the Southwestern well, has
been shut down several days awaiting
rapairs. Mr. Clay has penetrated the
cap rock and, as he has the screening,
expects to set his six-inch casing with
in a day or two and complete the well.
A number of Mobile parties, members
of the Southwestern Oil company, ar-, -
ri'"ed Wednesday and will probably t
remain until their well is finished.
They are confident of a good oil pi'o
ducer.
The derrick on the Conov " sub.
division that was recently blown down,
was rebuilt Wednesday. Machinery
for this well was shipped from Jen
nings Tuesday' and is now being in
stalled. S. II. K~eoughlan has the ('~ o
tract, but the boring will be in c:barge
of Cy Bell, a suc-essful operator in
both the Beaumont and Jennings fields. :
The Metropolitan Oil company ha
let. the contract' for storage tanks and .
will begin soon on its holdings in the
plroven field.
The large storage reservoir of the -.
Welsh Oil and Land Development
company is yet under headway, but is
being rapidly pushed to completion.
This mammoth reservoir will have a
capacity of 60,000 barrels.
J. C. Walker, of Beaumont, has
been awarded the contract by the
Southwestern and Metropolitan oil ,
companies for the building of two big
storage oil tanks of 30,000 barrel ca
pacity. Work will begin as soon as
the material can be gotten to the field.
Among those from a distance who
were at the field Wednesday and yes
torcday were the following: A. P. Ha
mus, Preston Lea, Wm. Bennasharp,
D. O'Connor, EdgarRector, Ed Heath
er, Geo. Smith, Fred Wallenbtirg,
Beaumont: Frank Petrinarch, Jos.
Grisham, JohnP. Sweeney and Phelan
B. Dorlan, Mobile: S. E. Sminck, H.
C. Alexander. Robt. Reggins and W.
B. Conover, Jenuings: T.. E. Hudson,
Mowequa, Ill.: Geo. L. Thayer, Ga
noa, Ind.; J. W. McMahon, |Call,
Texas: G. H. Howze, Howison, Miss.;
Ed Mitchell, Scranton, Miss.; B. T.
Walshe. New Orleans.
Services were conducted in the
Welsh Baptist church Sunday for the
first time. Although the building is
not completed, owing to a delay in the
shipment of material, but services will 
be conducted regularly on the first and
third Sundays of each month, both
morning and evening. A good au
dience was out to hear Rev. Self
preach the initial sermon in the new
church.
Wm. Krunedy, of Lafayette, was a
business visitor in Welsh Wednesday.
BIG REDUCTION
- IN ALL -
Winter Goods!
In order to make room for our spring stock, we have de
cided to mnake a great reduc~tion in . . .
Clothing and Underwear
and, in farct, in 11ll winter goods.
We are s.oon exlecting large consignments of spring
goolds anid oir )p)resent stock mulst be sold regardleS of
prices Now is a chance to serure rare bartgains.
'Very truly,
KIMBALL & BENOIT,
Welsh, Louisiana.