Temple Daily Telegram (Temple, Tex.), Vol. 12, No. 90, Ed. 1 Monday, February 17, 1919 Page: 3 of 8
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>NDAY MORNING,
FART 17, IMS.
PAGE THRKE.
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ANNOUNCING THE ORGANIZATION OF
Capital Stock
$100,000
Home Office:
Belton, Texas
• «.
In announcing the organization of The Bell County Oil Company, we desire to set forth very clearly the purpose and aims for which
the organization is formed, as well as our prospects for an ultimate'realization of those puposes and aims.
We are not unmindful of the fact that, upon first announcement, there will be those who will question the practicability of our
undertaking; there will be those who will criticise, and even "knock" tha proposition.
But we feel sure that as our real plans, our real prospects and our real motives are clearly set forth, as they will be from day to
day through the medium of the press, this prejudice will disappear, the Tstic will subside and the knocker will become a booster.
OUR PLANS AND PURPOSES
The sole purpose of this organization is to conduct a thorough
and adequate test of the flattering oil prospects of Bell county.
It is for this, and no other purpose that this organization has
been formed, and it is for this purpose that we solicit the
financial aid and moral co-operatiou of our fellow citizens, who
are as vitally interested in the development of the latent wealth
of Bell county as is any member of the Initial organization. If
there exists the wealth of oil and gas beneath the surface of Bell
county which the geologists' reports and other well defined indica-
tions presage, the bringing forth of that wealth is indeed a
laudable And praiseworthy effort and should have the unstinted
co-operation and help of every citizen of the county who is able
to help, because it will mean added wealth and prosperity to
practically every citizen of our county. Our Bell county bankers,
merchants, professional men and farmers of means, large or
small, owe it to themselves and their county to make this one
thorough test, a test which is amply justified by what is already
known of the existence of oil here, and still further strengthened
by recent geological investigations and by the fact that the great
old streams of north and west Texas are being daily traced fight
in our direction and nearer and nearer to our county.
A newspaper writer, thoroughly familiar with the history of
oil development in Texas since 1888 had the following to say re-
garding the Bell county situation, after he had made a,two-days
tour of the field and had looked into all the indications and the
history of the shallow oil traces here:
"In the first place, there is no doubt about the presence of
oil in that section of Bell county where the tests are to be made.
The knowledge of the presence of this oil has existed for a genera-
tion. Farmers in that section have for twenty years been
bothered with oil in their water wells, and, years ago, before the
wealth possibilities of oil were known to them, looked upon the
existence of oil there as a sort of a "pest" or menace, since it was
water that they wanted when they drilled a well. There are a
dozen or more shallow wells, ranging around three hundred feet,
in that part of Bell county known as "Dog Ridge," from which oil
may be drawn in varying quantities at any time, and this fact is
familiar to the general public. So the only gamble in the matter
of going after oil in that section is on the question of whether or
not oil exists there in commercial, or paying quantities. And
while this chance, of course exists, still the gamble is reduced to
a minimum by the fact now conceded by geologists and oil men
in general, that a shallow trace of oil, no matter how slight, is in-
variably indicative of a real oil strain or pool in the near vicinity.
This fact has been thoroughly established wherever oil has been
found. In other words, there is no such thing as "local" or "in-
dependent" shallow oil. Such oil can be nothing else but a siep-
age from the real oil source or pool, and, as stated above, where
ever such oil is found a thorough search for the real oil is amply
justified. It is stated by the geologists that this source may be
near or even immediately under the shallow oil, or it may be
miles away, but in any event it is near enough to pay to look for
it. So much for the shallow oil traces which, as stated, are well
defined in western Bell county.
OIL KTKl tTl ItKS.
WHAT WE GUARANTEE.
We guarantee an honest administration of the affairs of the Bell County Oil Company, and
this guarantee is amply backed up by the integrity and a standing of the men forming the
original organization.
We guarantee that every dollar invested will be used for the purpose ONLY of drilling, by
professional oil drillers, with standard oil well equipment, of a series of deep well tests, which
will settle, once for all, the existence or non-existence of oii and gas in commercial quantities
in Bell county, at least in that most promising portion of the county where ve have already se-
cured approximately five thousand acres of leases.
And since this is not entirely a "Wild Cat" proposition, being what oil men term a "semi-
proven field," we GUARANTEE TO PRODUCE OIL, the only gamble being on the quantity,
or whether or not it is to be found in paying quantities.
Operating, as we will, under a charter from the state of Texas, and conforming as we must
to all rules specified in said charter and governing all business organizations so chartered, we
guarantee an equitable division of all profits accruing from the development of oil production.
All stockholders will be on an equal footing, the men identified with the original organization of
this company buying and paying for their stock the same as others who may invest later.
The Bell County Oil Company
Home Office, Denny Bank Building
TRUSTEES:
W. R. Whitis, Jake D. Nelson, James A. Ferguson.
BELTON, TEXAS
ATTORNEYS:
G. M. Felts, A. L. Curtis.
COUPON.
BELL C'OCNTY OIL CO.
HELTON, TEXAS.
Find enclosed for $ share*
of Block In the Bell County 011 Co. It la understood that the money represented
hy thin check la to remain In the (my hank) until the
company Is duly chartered under (he laws of Texas and my certificates of stock
duly Issued and delivered to me, after which It may be cheeked out by your duly
elected secretary ami president (to bo elected by U9 stock liolders) for actual
drilling and development purposes only.
Mease acknowledge and mull stock receipt, signed by your trustees.
Signed . •.« . .,».»,~,,».............,.i....,.i...........,iii
Address
"The presence of "big oil" is indicated by what geologists call
"oil structures." These structures are indicated on the surface
by "anti-clines," or other indications of upheavels, caused, in ages
past, by tremendous underground gas or heat, pressure. These
structures are as unmistakably shown in this county as they are
in Ranger, Comanche, Eastland, Brownwood, or at any of the
other numerous proven rich fields of Texas. Furthermore the
same strata formations are shown here as those found in the rich
fields mentioned, at least down as far as a well lias ever been
sunk in this section.
"And while the presence of shallow oil has been known for
years, and even the presence of the "oil structures" and other in-
dications mentioned above has been familiar to a few men for
some time past, the fact that a real test well in this section will
cost from $30,000 to $50,000 has stood in the way of development
here in the past. But, stimulated by the many rich finds being
made in almost every section of Texas, and further by the fact
that the oil streams are constantly being traced nearer and nearer
to Bell county, down the Leon river and the Cowhouse and the
Lampasas, it seems now that the development of Bell county's
rich oil prospects is to be a realization of the very near future,
and that the vast wealth which in all probability lies beneath the
rugged surface of the southwest portion of our county may be
brought forth to enrich her citizenship."
QUICK ACTION.
Attracted by the flattering showing of oil in Bell county, Mr. W. R. Whitis of Lam-
pasas, who owns extensive oil lands in Lampasas, Brown and other west Texas counties,
recently made a survey of the situation here with the results that he and associates (Bell
county men) secured leases on approximately five thousand acres along what is known as "Dog
Ridge," which, according to their geologist, is the cream, or pick of the Bell county oil prospect.
As is known to practically every citizen of this county, there have been shallow oil wells (or
at least shallow wells which produce oil in carying quantities) in this section of Bell county for
many years These leases form the nucleus of the Bell County Oil Company, Mr. Whitis and
his associates putting their leases into the company, accepting in payment a small amount of the
stock of the said company, WITH THE EXPLICIT UNDERSTANDING THAT THE TEST
WELLS ARE TO BE DRILLED AND THE PROPERTY DEVELOPED WITHOUT
DELAY.
STOCK GOING FAST.
During the preliminaries incident to the formation of the company, news of the matter got
out, and as a result a considerable percentage of the remaining stock has already been spoken
for. In fact so brisk has been the indicated demand for stock that the trustees have already be-
gun negotiations for machinery and professional drillers, and it is the confidential belief of the
business men forming the initial organization that the stock will all be sold and actual drilling
commenced within a few weeks.
The Companyls office is now open for business in the Denny Bank building, Belton, Texas, where the trustees of the organization w ill receive orders and
receipt for stock subscriptions.
Stock certificates will be issued in denominations of .$100, par value, and pending the securing of the charter, regularly authorized receipt*?, or stock certificate
orders, will be issued by the trustees for all subscriptions received.
Applicants should use the coupon printed below, and make all checks payable to "The Bell County Oil Co." Such checks will be re-deposited to the credit of
the said company in the banks upon which thev are drawn, thus vour monev will remain in vour own bank until the stock is sold and until finally checked out
bv the dulv chartered Companv FOR THE ONE AM) ONLY PURPOSE OF ACTUALLY DRILLING TEST WELIjS AND OTHERWISE DEVELOPING THE
PROPERTY IN WHICH YOU, AS A STOCK HOI,DEB, are a part owner.
hTi'itfiftfiffiiiri
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Williams, E. K. Temple Daily Telegram (Temple, Tex.), Vol. 12, No. 90, Ed. 1 Monday, February 17, 1919, newspaper, February 17, 1919; Temple, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth469844/m1/3/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Abilene Library Consortium.