Feb., 1901] Bownocker — The Corning Fields. 5S 



The Buckeye Pipe Line Company— Macksburg Division. 



Oil City, Pennsylvania, October 25th, 1900, 



J. A. Bownocker, Esq., Columbus, Ohio: 



Dear Sir — Your favor of October 18th to Superintendent N. Moore, 

 asking for the total production by years of the Corning Field, has been 

 referred to me. Below please find the figures of oil received by The 

 Buckeye Pipe Line Company from the Corning Field from August, 

 1893, to September, 1900: 



Part of Year 1893 1 28,91 8.03 Bbls. 



Year 1894 822,313.71 '' 



Year 1895 428,385.03 " 



Year 1896 469,258.78 '' 



Y^ear 1897 328,188.11 '' 



Year 1898 196,417.75 '^ 



Year 1899 211,060.22 " 



January 1st to July 31st, 1900.. 143,314.96 " 



August, 1900 26,929.66 " 



September, 1900 22,517.67 " 



Total 2,277,803.90 Bbls. 



July 31st, 1900, completes the first seven years production and 

 thinking you might prefer to use the even years, I have given you 

 the figures for the year 1900 to July 31st in one lump and the oil 

 taken from that field for the months of August and September sepa- 

 rately. 



Trusting this will answer your purposes, I remain 



Yours truly, 



J. R. Campbell,, Treasurer. 



Leases. — At first the operators paid no bonuses, but gave a 

 royalty of one-eighth of the oil to the land owners — a rate of com- 

 pensation that has been usually maintained. To this there is one 

 exception wortliy of note. When the round-house well sliowed the 

 existence of oil, and operators began leasing the surrounding 

 territory, Fredrick Weaver, a thrifty German farmer residing a 

 short distance east from the round-house, quietly visited the oil. 

 fields of Washington, Pennsylvania, and investigated the methods- 

 of leasing oil territory in that field. When he returned liome he 

 demanded a royalty of one-fourtli tlie oil and a bonus of $200 for each 

 of the eight wells which it was proposed should be drilled on his. 

 farm of eighty acres, and since his territory was regarded as very 

 promising, these rather severe terms were granted. However, after 

 drilling six wells, and the territory not meeting expectations, the^ 

 contractors complained and Mr. Weaver generously reduced the 

 bonus. More recently a royalty of one-sixth the oil has been re- 

 ceived by holders of lands that were deemed especially promising. 



