In 17th District Court, Los Angeles, California
Case No. 4437
R. S. Baker et al vs. The California Star Oil Works Company

Deposition of C. A. Mentry:

I was now and have been since June 1876 supt. and in charge of the wells mentioned in this complaint. I first became acquainted with the premises mentioned in the complaint in September 1875. At this time no wells had been drilled on the same, but a few shallow or surface excavations and a little other work had been done for the purpose of catching the oil that seeped from the Pico Oil Springs. At that time I went upon the premises with one D.C. Scott and J. C. Baker (not the plaintiffs in this case) for the purpose of drilling wells therein under as I understood at the time a verbal arrangement or lease with R. S. Baker, Sanford Lyon and others who owned interests in said premises under the mining location that had been made by Baker (R.S.) and others years before I was to have an interest with said Scott and J. C. Baker and others in the production of oil and we were to render to the owners a certain proportion of the oil produced as royalty, such royalty to be 1/8th of such production.

We commenced drilling wells with spring poles and such tools which I manufactured with the limited means at our command. We drilled one well about 120 feet, another 85 feet, and one 65 feet, and got some oil in each of them. About this time we became greatly embarrassed for want of funds and one Reuben Denton had assisted us to some extent and finding we would be compelled to discontinue operation for want of funds one Denton obtained the agreement set forth in the complaint in this action. The interest of Denton in said agreement was subsequently within a short period assigned to Defendant Corporation herein and it entered actively into the prosecution of the development of the property. Said corporation procured steam machine being the proper machinery for the work and employed workman, erects buildings, and did all things necessary for the successful prosecution of the enterprise. They deepened the first named well to 370 feet, the second named well to 300 feet, and the third to 170 feet, and also started a new well known as well 4 which they drilled 560 feet deep. Said last named well is the flowing well more particularly hereinafter described. From and before the time these wells were commenced up to their completion, I was the person in charge of the drilling and working of the same and they were each and all drilled under my supervision and direction.

Since the said corporation commenced operations, I have been its managing supt. at the said oil wells and all the work they have done and the operation of said wells has been conducted under my personal supervision and according to my best judgment as I have given my entire time and attention to the business. I first had connection with the oil business in January 1864 previous to which time I had learned the trade of blacksmith and machinist and had been working at the same. In said month I was employed to assist in drilling a well on the Clapp farm, Oil Creek Pennsylvania and from that time until the latter part of 1873 when I came to the state of California.

I was actively engaged in locating, drilling, and operating oil wells and handling oil and oil machinery. I contracted for and drilled a large number of wells and also operated a large number both for myself and others. Said wells having been drilled in my personal supervision and direction I being either foreman or contractor for the same. I worked in this way during said time in about 8 different localities in Pa. and also in West Virginia and have actually drilled or assisted in the drilling of about 100 wells. These wells were of all kinds, some producing as high as 500 bbls per day and in this way I obtained both intimate knowledge and great practical experience in the drilling and operating of all kinds of oil wells.

In November 1873 I left the oil regions of Pa. and came to Cal. and had nothing more to do with oil wells until I went to the Pico claim in 1875 as aforesaid. Shortly after said corporation came into possession of the Pico claim I made out an extensive list of articles and machinery needed in which I supposed would be needed for the proper drilling, working, and operating of the four wells mentioned in the Denton agreement, and the corporation dispatched one of the directors Mr. D. G. Scofield to the Eastern states to procure the same, and all of said machinery and articles were thereupon furnished for use in said wells. And I have used the same in the prosecution of the work as required. The said company have at all times since they took charge of said premises furnished me with all necessary machinery and appliances for the proper and scientific working, drilling, and operating of said wells and such wells have been drilled and have at all times been operated and used properly and in a workmanlike manner and with special reference to prevent injury to the wells, and to enhance and preserve the value of the property.

I have lived in said premises since Sept. 1875, my house being within 400 feet of all the wells. From said date up to Christmas of 1877, I was on the property night and day almost constantly. Then I was absent one week on business and since then, with the exception of four days spent in Los Angeles on legal business, I have been almost constantly at the wells and I state positively that during all said time said wells and each of them have been operated and used in a workmanlike and proper manner, and that the product of said wells has not by my failure to operate said wells in said manner, been lessened or impaired that there is not any danger that by reason of the workings of the same as aforesaid, or any damage or injury, or that the interest and property of the plaintiff herein in said oil or said wells will be lost. One of said wells is an intermittent flowing well that does not require pumping and all that is required to properly use the same is occasionally to sand pump the well and this has always been done at the proper time. The other three wells are pumping wells and are pumped by heads or at intervals which experience and experiment has demonstrated is the proper method of operating such wells. The experience obtained in Pa. proved the facts that wells of this character would produce more and at the same time would be better preserved by pumping by heads or in other at intervals then where the pumping was continual. I experimented upon one of the wells about one month and ascertained that I could obtain more oil and better results in pumping by heads then in continual pumping. The fact that with oil wells of limited production, as is the case with those in question, it is better to pump by heads than constantly is now generally admitted and is neither generally adapted in Pa. and is explained upon the theory that when the well is kept dry by continual pumping that a hard substance is found in the crevice of the rock having the tendency to impede the exudation of oil in the well and in several well known cases has had the effect to totally stop the production of the well. I state positively that the flow of oil from none of the wells on the said Pico claim has been checked or suppressed in any way but on the contrary the flow of oil has been increased and preserved.

I have read the allegations of the complaint herein with respect to the wells drilled by other parties in the vicinity of said wells and the facts with respect to the same are as follows. There is no well other than those on the Pico claim within several miles of the claim except the McPherson well so called and this is distant about one half a mile on the opposite slope of the mountain. No regular production of oil has ever been obtained from this well but at any rate there is no means of ascertaining whether or not it will ever tap any of the oil deposits that have any connection with those on the Pico claim, and there is no case on record as I verily believe where wells distant as far from each other as the McPherson and Pico wells are have ever in any way interfered with each other. Such theory of interference is rendered absurd by the fact in this case in point that these are fine wells in the Pico claim drilled all within five hundred feet of each other and of different depths and yet they have never shown any sign of interference or connection to the effect the statements of the complaint that defendant corporation has been checking and suppressing the flow of oil in the Pico wells and that the said oil is and will be forced to find an outlet elevation and that the flow of oil is and will be greatly diminished are all and each wholly untrue and absurd. At one time by reason of flow the roads to the wells were destroyed and impassable for about one week and after the tanks connected with the wells filled with oil, I was forced to let the oil from the flowing well flow into the creek during a portion of such week. I also during such time pumped the water from the other well so as to prevent them from being damaged and the only complaint I have ever heard previous to the institution of the suit about my management of these wells on part of Mr. R.S. Baker or any other of parties interested was that I had wasted this oil by allowing it to escape.

It is not true that the Pico wells or any of them have been used or operated in a negligent, ruinous, or un-workman like manner or that the property has been damaged in any way by work and operation of the wells. The said company have apparently full confidence in my judgment and have always supplied me with all necessary apparatus and machinery and no one has ever suggested or intimidated that I should check or suppress the flow of oil or do any that which would injure or lessen the value of the property and I have endeavored at all time to faithfully discharge my duties and in every way secure the largest flow of oil from the wells as they stand and preserve and protect and give value to the property. During the dry season, or about one half of the year, we have to pump water which supplies the steam boilers on the premises one and a half miles, the steady water supply being off the premises and there only being water on the premises during the wet season.

My supervision in oil matters enables me to speak understandingly in regard to the tankage and preservation of oil. I am satisfied it would be dangerous to undertake to check the flow of the oil from the flowing well for any length of time, and that the pumping of the other wells should be continued at intervals. For these reasons if a receiver is appointed the production of the wells will have to be continued and some disposition made of the crude oil. If this cannot be sold the most commercial and only practical mode of disposing of it is by stowing it in tanks in such convenient place as it can be conveyed from the wells in pipes. This tankage would cost even if made of the cheapest material from seventy cents to one dollar per barrel. This estimate has been made from actual experiences in erecting tanks on and near these premises. The oil when placed in tanks rapidly deteriorates in value which deterioration is caused by the evaporation of the volatile portions of the oil and the oil in question is particularly liable to such deterioration and in the hot and dry climate at the Pico wells the evaporation is very great and my estimate of the deterioration as based from actual experience is much greater than it would have been if based solely upon my experience in Pa. and West Virginia. As a rule from 24 to 48 hours is consumed in getting the oil from the wells to the refinery eight miles distant and with all the care possible the loss in quantity is fully three degrees or eight per cent of the whole. I believe that this oil is tanked as above stated will shrink in value fully 25 per cent the first thirty days and that at the end of six months it would be totally unprofitable for refining for ultimate illuminating purposes.

It would also be almost worthless for gas making purposes and could only be used for making lubricating oil for which the market is extremely limited. I believe this oil after being tanked six months would not be worth ten per cent of what it was worth when it came from the wells. I would not undertake to furnish tanks for such oil and keep it tanked in that climate for four months if the oil was given to me free of all costs. I am not limited to mere theory in this matter, for within the last six months and even during the winter months some oil was tanked for about two months near the wells and it became unfit for refining by reason of the evaporation of the volatile portions and was used on the refinery for fuel.

The present production of the four wells mentioned in the complaint is about 40 barrels per day. The tanks if constructed for the purpose of holding this oil by a reservoir would be practicably worthless when the oil was removed as any large amount of additional tankage is not necessary, as no one understanding the business would undertake to store oil for any length of time in that vicinity in those tanks. In addition to the four wells above mentioned there is also a well on the Pico claim about 200 feet deep known as the Sanford Lyon well and from which a small daily production is obtained.

C. A. Mentry

June 11, 1878