Singers and Storytellers Page: 84
v, 298 p. ; 24 cm.View a full description of this book.
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SINGERS AND STORYTELLERS
Under the 200 square miles of rolling prairie land controlled by
Mr. King and his associates, there is a vast sea of petroleum. While its
length and breadth have been pretty well established, no plummet has
ever yet sounded its depths.
It lies in its subterranean bed, where it will sleep until the suction
pumps of the big King-Crowther Corporation begin to thud and clank in
the oil-filled caves. As yet, the surface has been barely scratched, as it
were, and seven oil wells have been found. By a fair process of reason,
it may be assumed that in the entire 200 square miles of territory, when
fully developed, there should be at least 8000 oil wells.
The general idea is to pay the investor not less than 20% a year so
that in five years he will receive his original investment, leaving a profit
of from three to five times the original amount.
These estimates are based on Mr. King's knowledge and experience.
As a matter of fact, investments may pay anywhere from three to five
times in excess of the figures quoted.1
A few days after this story appeared, the attorney general
of Texas filed a petition alleging that the King-Crowther
Corporation had obtained its charter through false information.
The court estimated that shareholders had been fleeced out of
two million dollars.
As newspapers grew more wary of publishing free adver-
tising, the trickster, knowing the advantage of the seemingly
impartial news story, began acquiring control of oil journals
by founding, by purchase, or by lending them money. The
World's Work, in an article exposing fraud in the oil industry
(1923),12 listed eleven periodicals as owned or controlled by
oil promoters: Pat Morris Oil News (Fearless and Truthful Oil
News), Independent Oil and Financial Reporter (Fair, Faithful
and Fearless), International Investors Bulletin, Independent
Oil News, Texas Oil World, Texas Oil Ledger, National Oil
Journal, Arkansas Oil and Mineral News, the Banker, Merchant,
and Manufacturer, Mining and the Industrial Age, and Com-
mercial and Financial World. It was charged that one of these
was for a time hostile to Dr. Cook, but was brought to see the
light by a substantial loan.
But not all tricksters could afford an independent oil84
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Singers and Storytellers (Book)
Collection of popular folklore of Texas, including personal anecdotes about storytellers and singers, as well as folk songs, myths, and ghost stories. The index begins on page 295.
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Boatright, Mody C. Singers and Storytellers, book, 1961; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc67655/m1/90/: accessed April 27, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Press.