ENGINEERING IN THE WORLD’S OIL FIELDS. 331
a special implement costing
in some cases hundreds of
pounds. So great are the
difficulties of taking hold of
a lost bit at the bottom of
a deep well, that months are
not infrequently spent on the
task in some circumstances.
Matters are rendered doubly
serious when the fishing tools
themselves break in the well,
and have in their turn to
be fished for, or when sand
rushes up the well and cov-
ers the tools.
Gas under pressure, though
a good servant for raising
oil without cost, is an ex-
AT THE FOOT OF A DERRICK—BALING OIL INTO TANK.
a
tremely bad master. In certain fields the penetration of the bed is followed by
A DERRICK WRECKED BY A VERY VIOLENT “ SPOUTER,” WHICH HAS CREATED A LARGE LAKE
OF OIL AND WATER.