Word: gusher
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...which gushed sudden wealth into eastern Texas last winter (TIME, Feb.2), caused horror and tragedy there last week. Near Gladewater, Sinclair Oil Company's No. I Cole well was brought in. Instantly the null gusher went wild. While 14 men were trying to get the well under control, a spark caused by tool friction suddenly turned a plenteous natural blessing into a howling inferno. Some of the workers managed to dodge out of the flames, two jumped for safety into the slush pit where they were boiled alive. The rest were quickly roasted. Fatalities, originally estimated at twelve, then...
...flames, bountifully fed by the gusher, leaped and spiraled 300 ft. in the air, Marvin Cole, 18, whose father owns the farm on which the well was drilled, told his version of the disaster. "The men's clothes," he said, "were saturated with oil that had been gushing over the top of the derrick and when the fire started the men ran back and forth through the woods, yelling and clutching at their flaming clothes. I would have given a million dollars if I hadn't heard those awful screams of the men in that fire. You could...
...about 60,000 bbl. of oil valued at around $125,000. The oil slimed the State Capitol far to the north on West 23rd St., fouled the Canadian River water 30 mi. away. Fire started in a creek near the well, swept toward the gusher, was doused by all the city's firefighting apparatus. There was grave danger. The gas hung in a dense pall over the frightened city...
...realized. The monotonous tamping of an oil-well driller 150 ft. away suddenly ceased and Swuss-shh! high over the top of the derrick rose a column of dirty liquid, filling the air with a fine spray of oil, sand, gas. Gauged at 65,000 bbl. per day, the gusher was pronounced by oilmen the greatest high gravity producer within their recollections. As delighted as its owners were the children who swarmed out to witness the spectacle, for the fire chief ordered the school closed because of fire hazard until other wells could be brought in to relieve the gusher...
Although the gusher was not on school property, a test well will be. Like the University of Texas, Oklahoma City schools benefit from municipally-owned oil lands. There are 27 producing wells in Trosper Park, two more on the pest house grounds, total royalties from which so far have been...