Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutZurich Herald, 1955-06-09, Page 2Watch uor OilOil Scouts The district scouts report daily and weekly to the scouting of- fice and they, in return, receive information that can be used lo - tally. Their first responsibility,' However, is to keep the district exploration manager informed on what individual competitors and the industry as a whole are doing. Versatile, fast-moving a n d knowledgeable, the field scout gets to know his district like the back of his hand, "Rather than have an individ- ual concentrate on any one phase asf scouting," says Huffman, "we prefer to have each of the field scouts trained in all espects of scouting." That means seismic, deep -hole and land scouting. To his knowledge and techniques he bas to add personality and ingen- uity if he's to bring back the needed information. One story scouts like to talk about concerns a young 'scout's canny knack of making friends to get results. He found a rig surrounded ,by a barbed wire Bence with a small bridge over a creek as the only entrance. This was guarded and the scout could get nowhere. But he struck up a friendship with a crew mem-' ber one evening and was told to come back to the rig in the morn- ing. When he found the bridge atilt guarded he was about to leave when his new-found friend WOW!—And there it is -52 feet of Marilyn Monroe. Even though it's just a sign, men still gather to stare. It's erected on the front of a New York City theater in Times Square, where "The Seven Year Itch" is being ,premiered. The huge figure shows Marilyn in the skirt - blowing scene from the movie. ,t; �'l "l' �• ++f(" �•::,`Cj:`.` :x5:,'•;54 r,,, avti'F IC N"�tY �4!Si tai iti ;'t�k�'� ANY VOLUNTEERS? — "Sgt. Orvie" shows how he stops a fleeing "suspect" at police dog training kennels. The dogs learn to be vicious or gentle on command, can disarm a criminal suspect, jump into a car and hold the occupants, and even go into a burning building without flinching. They are trained with the aid of four teen -aged boys who are well padded far the job. Like Ray Swett, above. Swett knows how it feels to have a dog's sharp teeth bite into his flesh. That's why finding live "robbers" for dogs to chew on is the hardest part in training dogs for police work, according to trainer Charles Art, who operates the kennels. spotted him. The friend yelled, "Get out of here!" and started heaving rocks at him, much to the amusement of eaghtuandrd the amusement of the guard and drilling crew. What they didn't know was that the rocks were somples of 'core from the hole and these were just what the young scout wanted. In seismic scouting. the scout's personal dictum is "Follow that crew!" He gets to know what company and what crew is do- ing the seismic "shooting" by rioting the small colored flags put up along the roadside to mark shot holes. He may follow the operations of nine or 10 com- panies at a time, plotting on a township grid -map the spacing of the shots. Often a farmer tells him where the bright little rib- bons are, When the widely - spaced shot holes et "reconnais- sance" shooting give way to closely -spaced "detailed" shoot- ing, the scouting gets keener; he records the nole depth, powder used, opearting and contracting firms and other facts to get as clear a picture as possible. Most important, the seismic scout gets to know whether the crew he's follwing has mapped ut any anmalies — undergrund frmatins where 11 may be trap- ped. "We often know of • an anomaly six months before the bits are in,".says Huffman. With some 80 seismic crews working in the area south of Ed- monton alone, it's a big job for a few scouts. They often fly over the district to pin -point operations, then follow up by car on country roads and finally on foot. When the scout turns his at- tention to "deep -hole" drilling he's expected to bring back in- formation on exactly where the rival wildcat rig is drilling, its elevation above sea -level, depth of the hole with geology at that depth and results of drill stem tests. He often gets the depth by standing on a nearby hillside or climbing a tree and counting the drill stem pipes as theyre hoisted up in the derrick. (Drill pipes are 30 feet long and as the hole gets deeper more lengths are added: these must he unscrewed and "racked up" in the derrick every time the drill bit is changed). Some companies drill wells without having large land hold- ings in the immediate area; they wait until a successful test has OPP5"I---This four -ton truck, loaded with 15 tons of sand, tried to cross a 150 -foot bridge over they Sneaky Hill River. It didn't snake it. The bridge fell in. So did the truck.. Here owner- driver Roger Cline, unhurt, surveys the plight of his eight* week-old vehlcioo been run and the well looks like a producer before they lease ad- ditional land. The alert scout who gets test results and reports back to the land department quickly, may beat others to the 'punch in leasing adjoining acre- age. In Saskatchewan, small local- ized land plays usually follow each discovery and a fast, ex- perienced scout there can get im- portant results by clinching in- formation at the deep -hole stage. The third type of scouting in western Canada centres around land and leases. The land scout is a goodwill ambassador who maintains personal contact with farmers and ranchers. He gets information o n competitors° leases and small land plays that may precede drilling or form part of a general seismic activity. Here the genial personality of the scout comes to the fore as he usually succeeds in getting the frmer to show him competi- tor's lese which includes expiry dte, bonus sums, renew] options and various committments and acreage prices. In .return the scout can help the farmer by ex- plaining certain clauses in the lease for him. While the field scouts are the dramatic figures of a company's intelligence service, the job of scouting is. by no means ended when seismic, deep -hole and land reports arrive in the scouting department office. At this point the material is still in a fairly raw state. The task of organizing it at Imperial falls to division scout Jack Huffman, his assist- ant Wes Hewitt, office scouts Joe Pitzel and Bill Allen, and a staff of 20 working in three sections: current activity, statistical and coding. The current activity staffers gather up the eld reports, add material they originate them- selves and process it for the sta- tistical section. Here it is sorted and summarized in reports for other departments to pick out new trends, policy changes by competitors or by the industry as a whole. The reports include the latest information on land- holdings, survey parties or crews available, drilling activity is analyzedas to types of wells completed, numbers of rigs work- ing or ready to rill, discoveries, reserves and other material. What finally emerges from the huge jumble of fact, rumor and gossip gathered in the far cor- ners of the western oil territory is aspicture of the activity of all companies, by province, by dis- tricts and even by areas within districts. "This is very useful, and, in fact, almost essential to management when the time comes to plan the wheres and how -much of Imperial's pro- gram," Huffman explains. It helps Imperial's top men to keep in focus the rapidly changing oil picture of western Canada, where competition for new fields is keen -- even fierce. As the pace of drilling stepped up in the post-war years and new wells came in rapidly, the information flowing in to the. statistical department bulked to staggering proportions. "It grew like a dionsaur in the office," one scout said. They got control of the brute two years ago by the use of business -machine tech- nology, c -i- 2233SHR'DL Here company scouts joined hands with accountants to work out a machine card system. Now the immense volume of data, mainly geological, is recorded that way. Adding steadily to the grow- ing record, the scouts are still busy following the seismic crews, searching out wildcat rigs and peering at leases, always search- ing for that little bit of informa- tion that could be the tip-off to another ]big vlay. •»- From The Imperial nil kteview. Musical Abuse Recently published. in New York is a two -volume "scientif- ic" work devoted entirely to the varying forms of abuse which music critics have heaped on the heads of famous composers. The collection of invective has been edited by Nicholas Sloni- minski, a composer and music critic of Ruesian origin, now living in the U.S.A. Thus we find, for instance, that Beethoven was in his day called: "a breeder of disson- ances," "slave of depravity," "muddle - head," "tear - dripping hyena," "weeping chimpanzee," and other uncomplimentary things. The composer Ravel has been called "a cold-blooded reptile," while the names that Chopin, Schumann, Debussy and others have been called are also listed in this curious encyclopedia. Sloniminski's collection of in- sults that have been offered to some of the world's most fam- ous music - makers, may well become a best-seller. *Drive ith Care not ground, with enough salad i. /// L TM- "S a ► . .gas, Sandwiches, whether for pic- nics or lunch boxes, are apt to become rather tiresome if we stick to the same old fillings, So here are some combinations which you might like to try. a a Pineapple -Shrimp: Two-thirds cooked, chopped shrimp to one- third well -drained pineapple bits, with sufficient mayonnaise or salad dressing to spread. * Frankfurter -Egg: Combine / cup chopped, cooked frank- furters, 1 chopped hard -cooked egg, 1 tablespoon minced onion, 1 tablespoon chili sauce, IA tea- spoon salt, Y4 teaspoon prepared mustard, and 'Y8 teaspoon pep- per. Makes 1 cup of filling. * k * Cream Cheese -Fruit: Combine 1 three -ounce package cream cheese, 3 finely cut, pitted, dried prunes, 114 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 ,teaspoon sugar, and 1 table- spoon finely chopped nuts. Add sufficient top milk or thin cream for spreading consistency. Makes about 1 cup of filling. • * Peanut -Apple Butter: Com- bine 3/4 cup peanut butter, 115 cup apple butter, 1/3 cup grated, cheddar cheese and 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice. Makes 1 cup filling. * W n Liver -Pickle: Combine 2 cup chopped, cooked liver with 2 tablespoons pickle relish and 1 teaspoon minced onion. Use salad dressing to moisten. Makes 1 cup filling. Vegetable: Combine IA cup each grated raw carrot, grated cabbage and finely chopped cel- ery, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 2 tea- spoons chili sauce and 2 tea- spoons mayonnaise. Makes about 1 cup filling. * * # Peanut Butter -Date: Cut 14 seeded dates into small bits; add 112 cup peanut butter, 1/3 cup table syrup, 114 teaspoon cinna- mon, and 1/2 cup warm water. Cream all together until well blended. Peanut butter some- times varies in its consistency, so it may be necessary to add a little more water to obtain easy spreading. Will spread about 8 large slices of bread. u * * Ham -Olive: Combine 1 cup ground cooked ham, 1/2 cup of chopped, stuffed olives, 3A cup walnut meats, finely chopped but dressing to produce spreading consistency. Makes about 2 cups filling. * * '` Salmon -Nut: Combine 1 cup flaked canned salmon, 3 table- spoons finely chopped nuts, 3 tablespoons minced celery, and add enough salad dressing for spreading consistency. Makes . about VA cups filling. ,, w It is easy to provide variety In sandwich fillings, and also save time, by making up several kinds at once and keeping them in tightly covered glass jars in the refrigerator. NO WONDER — Mara Corday, often called the 'most photo- graphed model in the world," finally' hit.,, "pay dirt." After two years of cheesecake .pos- ting, she is starring in a movie "The Man From Bitter Ridge." TEY ST By Dick Kleiner, NEA Staff Correspondent ED Before a male singing star or chanter starts clicking there is generally a long period of gloom. It is tough for a youth to crack through, beat off the competi- tion, impress the public, make a name and money. It usually takes years of working for pea- nuts and often eating peanuts, too. GUY MITCHELL: On 'an irregular $10, who can afford a bed? a * * .Guy Mitchell had a typical start. He'd come to New York for fame and fortune but had- n't found either. He was living -with another young struggler and they shared a room. Guy would sing "demos" to make a buck. (A "demo" is a demonstration record; songwrit- ers and publishers make records of their new works to show rec- ord companies. The singer gets $10, usually.) That was his in- come. He and his roommate slept on the floor. On an irregular $10 bill who . could afford a bed? "It was a big joke," Guy says now. "We were young and we didn't mind. One day we opened the icebox and the only thing in- side was a jar of mustard," * * ;w After he was discovered, his discoverer, Eddie Joy, paid all of Guy's back debts. They amount- ed to $6,300. He's paid that back by now. He's a star. Guy's ex -roommate isn't sleep - Ing on the floor these days, either, He's: Tony Aequtaviva, u GUG FOR "PE TS„ who quit a good career as ar- ranger and orchestra leader to become Joni James' personal manager. The early days of almost ev- ery chanter are studded with experiences of that sort. About the only exceptions are those lucky enough to have been born into fairly well-off families, like Mery Griffin or those native New Yorkers who could live at home while waiting for their break like Steve Lawrence. Take a look at some of the others: Eddie Fisher won a prize on a children's show in Philadelphia when he was 13. The prize was a cake. Eddie had to give a 10 per cent "slice" to the friend who talked him into trying—his first "Manager." Later on, though, there were times when he didn't even win a cookie. / Once he was trying to get on radio. He did 10 auditions for CBS for various shows within a few weeks. Not one paid off. Another time he was singing on four radio shows in Philadelphia for a total income of $18 a week. Johnnie Ray left his Oregon home in Jan. 1949, to try and crash Hollywood. He couldn't even get an audition at the stu- dios. He would make $7.50 oc- casionally for a night's singing at a cafe. He survived by working as a bellhop, carhop, soda dispenser and other odd jobs. For a while he was a night-club pianist work- ing for tips only. During the entire year of 1949 his income was $5500. fie remembers that mostly he ate coffee and muffins. Friends who believed in him took him in and let him sleep at their place. But after a year of muffins and kindly charity he grew despondent and went back to Oregon and took a job in the town sawmill. After four months he was fired and took another stab at show business. This time he connected—although it took two more years of small night- clubs and theaters before he clicked. Even in the country and west- ern field, where most of the per- formers come from farms, there are tales of today's stars who had their lean years, Eddy Arnol, • "the Tennessee Plowboy," is the king of the country and western field. But in Eddy's old days there was a period when he had to take any job to eke out his singing in- come. And one job he took was driving a hearse and helping out around a funeral parlor. That was when he was singing at Jackson, Tenn. He was still playing the guitar he got from a mail order house—learned to play it by taking four lessons at 75 cents apiece from an itinerant teacher. He got his big break when he went on tour with a group called Pee Wee King and his Golden West Cowboys. That led to a record contract and radio shows and bis present fame. EDDY ARNOLD: The "plowboy"' started driving a hearse. * ., * Scratch the surface of almost arty male star and you'll find somewhere in his past a dark period. Fewer of the girl singers have had such troubles. The rea- son is obvious—a man has more competition, less advantages. His voice is his only saleable com- modity. No reale singer is hired on looks alone. And so the chanters have to scratch and claw while they gain experience and friends and breaks. Those that make it look back on their lean years • with philosophical humor -- "sure it was tough," they'll say, "hut what can you do?" Those who don't make it? They finally quit, go home, take oth- er jobs. And right at .this minute the stars of tomorrow are struggling to get by. It's a tough life but the rewards are great.