HOW WE WRECKED THE OIL WELLS.

Hokitika Guardian, 31 March 1917, Page 4

HOW WE WRECKED THE OIL WELLS.

Uol. Norton Griffiths, M P , and His Hammer. (By Hamilton Pyfe, Daily Mail Special Correspondent in Rumania.) Jassy, Dec 12 During tbe last weok I have been in bed only twice, so if these pictures and impressions are a little disjointed I think I may reasonably asi: to be forgiven. As I look back, those seven days seem like a nightmare born of the huge flares of burning petrol, lakes of pe'i’ol, rivers of petrol, set on fire of set purpose in order to prevent the enemy from getting lubricatum oil. I fancy it is the destruction of tbo petrol industry of Rumania which will leave the deepesi imprint on my imagination. I have been with armies in retreat before. It is always a hateful experience. This retreat was hastier than the others I have seen, but in essentials not different. The attack on the oilfields was something entirely new. I had tried lo picture it to myself beforehand, but without any success. The reality was such as no man’s mind could have conceived in advance. Even to convey any idea of it is difficult after it has happened. The whole business appears to me now so fantastic that I catch myself doubting if it really did happen. That it could be possible to wipe out so completely the slowly built-up result of years upon years of thought and labour, of highly trained intelligence and highly skilled labour, had never occurred to me. When I beard the talk first of wbat could be done to prevent the oil falling into the enemy's possession I bad a vision of tacks set alight, of derricks at the well-heads

demolished. VIGOKOOS DESTRUCTION. Destruction of that wbieh has been created by man’s energy for the satisfaction of the world’s needs, of that which provides profit and wage for hundreds of thousands of people and so enab'es them to live, must be a hideous, saddening epeotaole, That the wrecking was beyond all question necessary made the case no better. It added to it a horrid irony. We were forced to defend ourselves against barbarians by barbarous means. To leave the oil wells untouched would have been a crime. The Germans and their dupes need lubricants very badly. These were the only oilfields from which they could get them in any quantity- They would have benefited by the products of the Rumanian wells for as long as they occupied the cil region. Then they would have destroyed the industry themselves so as to prevent the Allies from making use of it. If. was therefore an urgent matter, when the enemy flood came pouring over the Rumanian plain sweeping the Rumanian Army before it to set about destruction with vigour. Fortunately a very vigorous man was sent out from Ragland to direct it. Colonel Norton Griffiths surprised not only tbe Rumanians by his energetic methods : he surprised the Americans as well. To see him wielding a big hammer, swinging it round his head, and smashing up machinery with if, just to show how

the work ought to be doo9, made one poetical mine-manager describe him as being ‘'in love with rain.” Neither weariness nor danger could daunt him. When the petrol. in basinß would not light quickly, he took bundles of straw, thrust them into it and set them alight e caping just in time. Hia helpers were worthy of their chief. The task of destruciion was worse for them, since they were wrecking what they had themselves helped to build ; but they went at it with a fury of determination to leave notbrng of what they had built to aid the enemy. “It was pretty hard,” one of them eaid, on the morning after the finish of the wrecking process at Moreny, the most productive of the oil districts; it was pretty hard to break up one’s home, furniture, books, grand piano, everything, tint we aid it thoroughly, by Jove! Millions of pounds’ worth of property destroyed in a few days. Oii burnt, wells blocked, machinery demolished, refineries put out of action. Some wreck, believe me.” All over the country round about the smoke of the bonfires turned day into night. At Targovistea, 20 miles distant, there rolled over the town, at four in the

afternoon, a dense black fog which hid the sky. In Bucarest the population could scarce believe the tale that came from Ploesti, the oil town. They had heard for the first time the day before the murmur of cannon, still far off. While they were trying to keep their spirits up they had the accounts of the wrecking. They knew now there was little hope of saving the capital. A little before this a train had gone through the station filled with soldiers and refugees. Whenever I used the railway in these pitiful days I found crowds of refugees at every station. Rich and poor, old and young, women with tiny children, babies a few weeks old even, huddled together on the platforms and in the trains, cold and hungry, cramped and sore. There was nothing whatever to eat at the railway stations I saw a kindly American oil engineer sharing a loaf with a Rumanian colonel aud cutting off chunks of the bread for two boys who had been ordered, as all men between 18 and 46 were ordered, to leave a district that was in danger of occupation. -The prices that well-to-do people paid for vehicles to take them into safety, even before there was any immediate danger, were enormous. For a motor-car to go from Bucarest to Ploesti £B2O was paid. Aud, after all,

Ploesti fell before Bucarest. For cabs many paid £6O, £7O, and £BO. An Englishman and hia wife drove in a cab from Bncarest to GaLtz. They were eight days on the way. Another British couple, with a baby two weeks old, fought their way into a train. UOAD CONFUSION. How long a train will take to reach its destination cmnot' be guessed. One day I waited at Gala‘z Station from two o'clock till eight, the stationmaster assuring me every hour that a

train would come soon. It came at eight, started at ten, and made fairly good progress. At s'X in the morning we were within fifty miles of the town I was making for. But we did not get there until six in the evening. On the roads there was more freedom of movement, but one was liable at any moment to : gat mixed up in a jam of ox-wagons, motor transports, hay-carts, driven oatile, and retreating troops. On the highway that leads northward from Bazau, a few days before tbs enemy came to th:B region, four trar sport columns were struggling aloog at ouce. Among them, in an inex ! ricable me.-s, were ref oyew* in »*H kinds o* vehicles, from small open states to lumbering wagoca drawn by waste oxen with magnificent horns. 1 had been during the day at the village whare the Staff lived and worked. Towards evening I moto-ed into Ploesti to get eome food. Vain hope! At the railway station restaurant, where one could generally count upon a meal there was nothing. Fortunately a companion and I had provided ourselves with an emergency ration. We pulled out half a cold turkey, ordered glasses of tea and fell to- While we were eating, the restaurant was invaded by the Headquarters Staff. Their special trains, which had been waiting for days with steam up ready to start at any moment had just come in. We shared our turkey with acquaintances and were invited to join the train. After a run of three hours we came to the little town where the Staff were to atay. At midnight it was too late to search for billets*, so wa slept in the trait.. Unfortunately it was not heated. Tbe cold k6pt one awake. Next day everybody was sneezing and coughing and complain-

ing of rheumatic pains. In a trench one can keep warm, or in a loft with some straw to lie upon, even in the open on the ground if one is sheltered from the wind. A railway carriage on a bitter night is Arotio.