The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 75, July 1971 - April, 1972 Page: 403

Book Reviews

of the world's petroleum. The Mexican Central Railway indeed ran
through the North District fields of Ebano-PAnuco-Topila. El Aguila
was not the richest oil enterprise in the world between 1914 and
1919, nor did Lord Cowdray ever approach bankruptcy prior to the
oil discoveries. Fire destroyed the Pearson refinery not in Tampico
but at Minatitlin. The automobile did not provide the mainstay
of Mexican oil consumption. Edward Doheny could not have pro-
duced a million barrels from La Pez #1 in 1904; even by 1910o he
could not fill contracts for 5,000 barrels to the National Railways of
Mexico.
Nevertheless, Tinkle introduces Mr. De for the first time to the
reading public as a person of historical significance. In Part I, the
author traces Mr. De's association with the United States Geological
Survey and the Weetman Pearson interests in Mexico. Part II deals
primarily with his role with the Amerada Petroleum and the Geo-
physical Research Corporations. Part III focuses on his contributions
to conservation (proration), service on New Deal agencies, and the
petroleum consultation business of the DeGolyer and MacNaughton
Corporation. Lastly, Part IV relates Mr. De's contributions to national
security during World War II (secret missions to Mexico and the
Middle East) and his service on congressional and military committees
in the postwar period.
A great deal more will be written about E. L. DeGolyer utilizing
national and state archives, public and private manuscripts, as well
as making continued use of material belonging to the DeGolyer
Foundation. Mr. De awaits a biographer who, as an authority on the
petroleum industry, will research, document, evaluate, and place him
in proper historical perspective. History may well prove Mr. De to
have been the prime mover in the international petroleum industry
for nearly half a century.
University of Nebraska, Lincoln FRANCIS J. MUNCH
Book Notes
From Alamo Plaza to Jack Harris's Saloon: O. Henry and the Southwest
He Knew. By Joseph Gallegly. (The Hague & Paris: Mouton, 1970o.
Pp. 2x3. Illustrations, footnotes, appendix, bibliography, index. 25
Dutch Guilders.)
This book is an attempt to evoke the San Antonio that "O. Henry"
knew and often used in his stories. The author researched the local news-

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