OIL ACCOUNT: A recent reminiscence about the Bradford oilfields
prompted a response from Darrell Harris of Oswayo. His account, not
just a clarification but an explanation, was quite detailed and
interesting.
We’ll pass it along today and tomorrow.
He writes, “I had the experience of taking part as a tool
dresser in the shooting of a well in 1944. As a tool dresser and
driller, I have no idea how many wells I have witnessed being shot
between 1944 and 1957. During those years, the Prindle Co. and Otto
Torpedo Co. were the shooters.
“The last well I worked on that was shot was in 2006 on Nickel
Run, but that was not shot using nitroglycerin.
“I question Pat Clifford’s account of having dropped the
‘go-devil’ (squib) to set off the shot (as was printed in the Nov.
12 ’Round the Square) due to the following procedure, which was
used during my years of oil field work.
“I will list this procedure step by step as was done by both
Prindle and Otto Torpedo:
“When the day arrived for the well to be shot, the shooter would
deliver the nitro in a four-wheel-drive power Dodge wagon, with a
winch on front.
“Each can of nitro held about 10 quarts. Each can was encased
with heavy rubber called a ‘boot’ to decrease the chance of a
sudden jar, which would explode it. After the truck was lined up
with the well hole and properly set, the first thing the shooter
would do was to place a rubber mat (about 2-foot-square) on the rig
floor, close to the hole.
“On this he would set two cans of nitro. Before pouring the
nitro into the shell, the shooter would pour about 2 quarts of
water into the shell, as a precaution against the nitro hitting the
bottom of the shell too hard. The two cans of nitro were then
poured into the container (shell) in the hole. He would take the
empty cans back to the truck and bring two more cans of nitro into
the rig until all were emptied into the well ‘shell.’
“I never knew of a shooter to permit a tool dresser or driller
to carry the nitro cans into the rig. After the container (shell)
was filled, the shooter would lower them into the well on a wire
line, unhooking them at the bottom of the well.”
More tomorrow.
