AN OIL VENTURE.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXVII, Issue 10, 12 September 1913, Page 5

AN OIL VENTURE.

OUR PIONEER "RIG."

OPERATtONS AT HUIROA.

The pity o't is that "Struck Oil" cannot be placed as the heading of this article. The importance to Stratford and district of the discovery of a payable oilfield within its borders can hardly be estimated. Land that even now ranks high for dairying purposes only would assume an enhanced value from the mere striking of a running well, and if a not improbable event as the discovery of a payahle proposition should occur at the initial venture at Huiroa, one could only guess at the immense possibilities for good which would follow. Almost immediately other companies would be formed, and prospecting would proceed at several points on properties which are just now under the keen observance of some of those interested in the oil industry. The effect on Stratford would be magical, we venture to say, as trade and commerce..would jump with leaps and bounds.* These remarks are prompted by the following copy which a representative of tho "Stratford Evening Post" has turned in after accompanying a party on a tour of the neighborhood this week.

A Flowing Taranaki Trinity.

While, he writes, it is not at all necessary when starting out on a day's exploration of oil country in general and the Huiroa bore in particular that one should know what a '"rig" is, everything points to the fact that the expression will become much more general in the near future—on a day when, as oil-enthusiasts love to dilate, "rigs" will dot the land like dairy factories, and will make |or a flowing faranaki trinity of milk and honey and oil. And the greatest of these is oil- say the oilmen. The unbounded faith of the mew who delve in the. bowels of the earth with drills is something to more than admire, it might lie worshipped, in fact, as one of the few abiding virtues of mankind. Well, as to a "rig," that is the name given to the whole box and dice, as it were in boring operations,- and embraces the building where the actual boring operations are carried on, as well as the boiler-house and blacksmith's shop, which are usually detached, A "rig" is also applied to the derrick, the tall, tapered section of the principal building with a sort .of bird cage apparatus at the top, 70 to. 100 feet up in the air. .

Putting Down a Bore.

The Huiroa bore of the Christchurch Consolidated Co.'s options is a busy place. There is a very serviceable •plant, and nothing seems to have been overlooked in the desire"to unceasingly and successfully penetrate the underlying strata for .the qoveted oil supply. Three shifts are run, the hours of darkness being illumined by electricity generated by an electric dynamo attached to the boiler-house. An experienced driller is in charge of the shift/and directs operations at'the bore, which is a 12-inch hole, and in which steel rods, each 50ft. in length, are screwed one to another, the actual cutting instrument at the bottom of the bore being what is called a So that the point of the "bib" shall not strike in the same place in the bore as it is being driven, ;t i.s systematically turned in the hole. A powerful, balanced beam, acting as a n arm, lifts and drops the rods in the bore. When considered necessary, the bore is cleaned out, i.e., the rods are drawn up and unscrewed one by one until the bit itself is lifted out; then a pump is put down and the water and earthy material brought to the surface. The discharge from the pump into a race leading from the budding to a lagoon is always an interesting operation, as thereby the different strata passed through hundreds of feet below can he inspected and discoursed upon. Here is a fund of instruction to the geologically-in-clined, while as the oil-bearing vein is being closely approached there is much, speculation as to the actual date of an oil flow and the quantity and quality daily expected, etc., etc. For the pi'eservation of the hore, or, in other words, to prevent the sides falling in and filling up the hole, iron casing is always placed inside. Tho method employed is among tho most interesting of the whole process of boring. Sections of-piping (12in in diameter) are screwed together, the whole being held in position, and then lowered as required. After Fifty Days'. Work. At Huiroa, the bore was opened on July 23, and though many initial difficulties were met with and hindered progress, during the past fortnight the work has proceeded merrily, until all hands are in great heart at tho prospects opening up. But it must not bo imagined for a moment that the men always have an easy time. They have hard work to do, and often. Hour after hour the "thump," "thump," "thump" of the bit goes on with tantalising monotony, and perhaps only a few inches are bored through the hard Yock down below. Then, the rods have to bo lifted and the bore cleaned out; those operations and the subsequent one of putting the rods down again necessitate a lot of heavy lifting and careful attention to duty. The driller sits facing tho bore, with his hands and feet working the levers and controlling the machinery. A slip or error of judgment may mean the crushing of a man's hands or limbs or the loss of a finger or two. A Happy-go-Lucky Lot. But for all the risk's, tli-j cri.llors

are a happy-go-lucky lot. They ifre not, of course, dressed in their Sunday best while at work, for soon their clothes are liberally besmirched with clay and oil, but "up at the wharc" there is always something "respectfullike," besides plenty to eat. And what .is more, visitors appear to be welcome to whatever is on the boards. The Huiroa "whare" is a corrugated iron building closely lined and divided into half a dozen bedrooms with bunks, a kitchen, and a big room for dining in- With the men coming Oft and going on shift every eight hours, the'others being in bed, the whare is not a place to''skylark'' in, but there is" an air of solid comfort about it that is in keeping with the other sections of the Company s ..fig. About th« Neighbourhood. , The township of "Huiroa," from which the bore takes its name, is situ--1 about two miles further along from the bore,on the Waiwir Road lr» distant from Stratford rtart 16 miles. The last mile of the road nthe day of the visit was seen *A some days' steady fain, and a splenZ sample of a backblocks lm. But the settlers to the oil to very soon put a dffe en completion on their means of ingiess and egress. w To Messrs T. Nichols and J>- Wat .on of the Christchurch Consolidated Co the writer extends his thanks for the'trip, and wishes them every success in this venture. The. names ot hoth these gentlemen will be jrit argo in the history of the oilfields of tne Dominion as being among the foremost of the promoters and the firmest believers in the future of the industry.