114 OIL FIELDS OF TEXAS-LOUISIANA COASTAL PLAIN, [bull. 212. 
Practically nothing- was done looking to the development of this 
district until 1803, when the prospecting for oil then in progress at 
Beaumont induced several parties to prospect this field, without, how- 
ever, discovering any commercial deposits of oil. In 1895 the Savage 
Brothers drilled several small wells which gave so much promise that 
in the following year W. B. Sharp put down a well for the Trinity 
Lubricating Company, of Dallas. This company also commenced the 
erection of a small refinery, but the well not producing sufficient oil 
and there being no prospect of purchasing anj^ from other sources, 
the work was abandoned. 
In 1808 a Galveston company, known as the Gulf Coast Refining 
Company, with a capital of $25,000, was formed for the purpose of 
FlG. 5.— Index map showing location of Sour Lake and Saratoga oil pools. 
operating in the Sour Lake district. A refinery having a daily 
capacity of 100 barrels was erected and a contract entered into with 
the Savage Brothers by which they were to supply the crude petro- 
leum at the rate of not less than 100 barrels daily. A 2-inch pipe line 
a half mile in length was laid to connect the wells with the refinery. 
It was the intention of the company to manufacture lubricating oil 
only. After about 500 barrels of crude oil had been produced and 
shipped in that condition, chiefly for experimental work, the Savage 
Brothers defaulted in their contract and the works of the company, 
including a completed refinery, were abandoned. The Savage and 
Sharp wells were drilled only to a depth of about 250 feet, and, 
although they yielded small quantities of petroleum, were not con- 
sidered successful or sufficiently promising to warrant further pros- 
