SOUTHERN PACIFIC LINES 41 
head of the ship canal serves as harbor and turning basin. Accord- 
ing to the chamber of commerce at Beaumont, the value of exports 
from Beaumont through the canal was $75,000,000 in 1929, and more 
than 600 ocean-going ships, about half of them oil tankers, call annu- 
ally. It is expected that the Intracoastal Waterway will soon be 
completed to connect with the ship canal at Port Arthur (population 
50,902), 20 miles southeast of Beaumont. At Port Arthur is one of 
the largest oil refineries in the world, covering 4,100 acres, with several 
smaller ones and a large asphalt factory. 
Originally Beaumont was developed by its large lumber industry, 
and even before oil was discovered near by it had a population in 
excess of 9,000. Its sawmills utilized the yellow pine from the forests 
to the north; these have been largely cut off, but will in time be in 
part reforested. At present there is a lull in the lumber business in 
this region, but there remain in the adjoining districts of western 
Louisiana and southeastern Texas large amounts of hardwood timber, 
comprising red and black gum, tupelo, and oaks of various kinds, that 
will eventually be utilized. Hardwoods are also imported cheaply 
from the Tropics. Many manufacturing plants have been established 
at Beaumont, notably the Magnolia Petroleum Co.’s plant and the 
Petroleum Iron Works. There are four rice mills and a large package 
rice plant, for Beaumont handles much of the rice of the adjoining 
country, which produces 2,000,000 bushels annually. Much cotton 
is exported, and sulphuric acid and paint are produced. Many rail- 
roads converge at Beaumont. 
The great assemblage of oil tanks about Beaumont indicates that 
its principal interest at present is petroleum. It is stated that these 
tanks have a capacity of 70,000,000 barrels. There are in this vicinity | 
20 pipe lines bringing oil to great refineries that produce about 10 
per cent of the oil products distilled in the United States. Their 
capacity is 266,000 barrels a day. 
The famous Spindletop oil field is at Guffey station, 4 miles south- 
east of Beaumont, and the derricks are visible from the train. This 
field is a monument to the vision and persistence of F. A. Lucas, who 
discovered it and led the way to the discovery of many more fields of 
somewhat similar salt-dome structure, several of which have been 
described on previous pages. Gas and other indications of oil had 
been noted at Spindletop for a long time, and a small supply of gas 
was found in a well drilled in 1893. Early in 1901 Mr. Lucas “brought 
in” the gusher at a depth of 1,139 feet, of which the flow was 75,000 
barrels or more a day, throwing a 6-inch stream of oil 200 feet in the 
air. In 1902 there were 1,200 wells with a production of 17,420,429 
barrels. The yield declined to about 500,000 barrels in 1925; then, — 
152109°—33——4 
