As our society reaches the very significant milestone of its 75th anniversary, an appropriate concern might be to examine our mission and objectives. Have we been pursuing the objectives we set for ourselves? What have we done lately?
Reading the society''s constitution, the founders had a clear idea of why they were creating an association of geologists that has lasted for three-quarters of a century. The tasks to be accomplished were clearly stated in Article I, Section 2:

• to stimulate interest and promote advancement in the geosciences
  
• to disseminate and facilitate discussion of geological information
  
• to enhance professional interaction among geoscientists; and
  
• to aid and encourage academic training in the geosciences.

Preparing for the 76th year of the HGS, I searched our past to see from where we came and to where we might be going. I was trying to understand what is unique about the HGS, and about us as members, so that we might focus on and nurture that quality. And that search provided some thoughts.
As I reviewed our history, I was struck again by how cyclical our industry is. The depth of our last downturn was severe because of the height of the preceding boom. Since its birth, the petroleum industry has had repeated ups-and-downs, as all industries do. We will continue to experience them, in varying intensity.
Through all these ups and downs, the HGS has not only endured but has grown. The last downturn produced the HGS job hotline, two more special interest groups (North American Explorationists and Emerging Technologies), the poster sessions, the Undergraduate Scholarship Foundation, and a more computer-aided office. The previous cycles included the donation of 500,000 driller's logs to the Houston Public Library and the establishment of the Calvert Memorial Scholarship Fund for graduate students.
And all of these developments were member-driven. Members started these new groups, new publications, and new services for fellow members, teachers, and students. We have more than 30 committees, more than 50 technical meetings and courses annually, and more than a dozen other activities involving students and HGS members. All of this is done with less than $500,000 annual cash flow and one full-time and one part-time employee. It is accomplished primarily because of the high volunteer commitment to making these things happen, year after year.
Some members donate only a day per year, perhaps counting ballots. Others donate considerable personal time and effort, in editing the Bulletin or a new publication or in keeping the office computers running. Others contribute by their membership, enabling the society to leverage its size to accomplish goals.
So why do we donate our time and effort so generously? The answer will vary from one person to another, but I see a common thread for all: they benefit technically, professionally, or personally by helping a greater community.
I grew up in the industry, with my father working for Schlumberger in the Texas panhandle. Even as a child, I knew my parents were part of a community. All worked together and played together and accepted each other all as one clan. Although the way we live has changed since then, we still know that sense of belonging. And we still work for each other through our society.
Therefore my vision of our next 25 years includes this volunteerism, this spirit of service. I see that as the focus of the HGS, what makes it unique. The challenge to us as we enter the next 25 years, as we stand at the portal of the 21st century is to enable and to encourage that public-spirited part of ourselves. For that has been and continues to be the cornerstone of the HGS.

The Houston Geological Society is seventy-five years old, and now is a fitting time to pause and reflect back on its history. What a history it is! The HGS has been at the forefront of the science and profession of geology, hence the theme of this special anniversary publication: Leadership, Discovery, and Technology.
Time passes at rates that make us think that our actions are not significant and that no one will ever notice our efforts and accomplishments. I have found just the opposite while preparing this look at the society. The endeavors of our earlier members were important, intriguing, often amusing and there is no reason to suppose that our descendants will find us any less so!
Our society's members are leaders. The charter membership role reads like a Who's Who of Geology that includes the likes of wildcatters to boardroom executives. Wallace Pratt, Sidney Powers, and Alexander Deussen defined the science of petroleum geology while practicing their profession. Everett DeGolyer and Donald Barton paved the way in geophysics. John R. Suman established the field of petroleum engineering. Among our present members we have many luminaries recognized by peers and nonprofessionals alike as leaders in the field of geology, the petroleum industry, and academia. Michel Halbouty, George Mitchell, Merrill Haas, Michael Huffington, Peter Vail, Kevin Burke, the list goes on and on!
This has been a time of discovery. Breakthroughs, findings, and developments in the science of geology over the last 75 years have been prodigious, most notably in the theory of plate tectonics. For the Texas petroleum industry, it all started with the discovery at Spindletop in 1901. Salt diapirs have been a focus of study ever since. Today, attention is focused on the deepwater Gulf of Mexico and international exploration. The HGS is a local society, but because Houston is the oil capital of the world, our members have international influence and responsibilities. Certainly now, more than any time in our past, we operate in a global economy and the worldwide aspects of petroleum exploration are of vital importance.
Technology and geology have kept pace with each other, and the advances have been astounding! The science of geophysics may have been born in Europe, but Schlumberger and others promptly brought it to Houston. HGS members quickly embraced, used, and advanced the technology. Computers have pushed our means of investigation and productivity to levels that our early society members could not possibly have imagined in 1923.
The Houston Geological Society is intrinsically linked to the petroleum industry. It has made for a colorftil past. Most of our members make their living in the oil patch. However, as you will note from Jeff Lund's letter, the objectives of the society do not pigeonhole us to any specialization. Our early members were quite general in their geological studies, concerning themselves with basic mapping, water resources, and even volcanology. The society continues to be open to all professionals in geology.
We record our work in the scientific literature, industry publications, and corporate reports. The history of other parts of our professional lives is just as meaningftil, but not as well documented. The geological profession is competitive, no doubt, but our society's history is full of jocularity! Perhaps it is the geologist's ever-present optimism, but the hard times of the Great Depression, oil gluts, and war are glossed over in the few historical documents we have related to the society. We are fortunate that the society's first vice president, Miss Alva C. Ellisor, wrote a history of the HGS up through 1947 called Rockhounds of Houston . I hope that you will write your autobiography and memoirs like one of our early presidents, J. Brian Eby, did in My Two Roads. Every life has a story that mingles with others-and that is how history is recorded in the close-knit community of geologists.

Petroleum, one of the oldest known of the natural Presources, was first discovered in Asia several thousand years before the Christian Era. Zoroaster, who captured Babylon about 2458 B.C., founded the early Persian religion of fire worship. These ancient Persians probably used the oil springs of Baku in their religious ceremonial fires. As late as the fifteenth century oil was known as "Babylonian pitch '" The word petroleum is derived from Latin "petra," rock, and "oleum," oil, and in the seventeenth century it was called "rockoil'" Until the eighteenth century "rock oil" was valued only for medicinal purposes and was highly recommended for such ailments as gout, rheumatism, indigestion, kidney trouble, palsy, consumption, and even ringworm.
Oil in TexasLong before the white man came to Texas, the Indians there had found oil seeping out of the ground and had used it for medicine, for tanning hides, for waterproofing fabrics, for caulking their boats, and as binder for war paints. However, the first recorded use of petroleum by the white man in America occurs in the log of the DeSoto expedition dated July 25, 1543. The tiny, rudely constructed boats used in this expedition were sailing along the Texas coast to Mexico when a storm hit them. Alvaro Fernandez, who referred to himself as the Gentleman of Elvas (Portugal), wrote an account of the expedition which was published in 1557 in Evora, Portugal. He wrote: "The vessels came together in a creek where lay the two brigantines that preceded them. Finding a scum the sea cast up, called copee, which is like pitch and used instead on shipping where that is not to be had, they payed the bottoms of their vessels with it." According to nautical experts, the spot mentioned was about three and five-tenths miles west of Sabine Pass, Jefferson County, Texas.
The Start of the Petroleum Era in the 1850sThree hundred years later, in 1857, Frederick Law Olmstead, in "A Journey Through Texas," vividly described the sulphur springs and deposits of asphalt at Sour Lake where rude bathing houses were built over the soggy ground and summer visitors were guaranteed a cure for any and all diseases. Early drilling by spring pole produced a few gallons of heavy oil used for medicinal purposes. Although petroleum was used principally for medicinal purposes before the Civil War, Dr. B. E Shumard, State Geologist of Texas, in 1858 reported that at Sour Lake "the earth for some distance was so highly charged with bitumen as to be employed for purposes of illumination and to some extent as fuel."
The year 1859 marks the beginning of a new era in petroleum history-"the lamp and lubricating period." On August 27 the famous Drake well-called Drake's Folly by the skeptical-was brought in near Titusville, Pennsylvania. A well only 69 feet deep and pumping 20 barrels of oil a day changed the course of our civilization. A new industry was born.
Texas Oil Gushes in NacogdochesBut Texas, too, has a claim to being the birthplace of the oil industry. Early in 1859, Jack Graham dug a pit near a tar spring in Angelina County, and an abundant supply of oil came to the surface. Also in 1859, Lynis T. Barrett and his associates leased land and laid plans to drill near Nacogdoches, Texas. However, the Civil War interrupted his plans until 1866 when he drilled his first well, No. 1 Isaac C. Skillern, near Oil Spring, Nacogdoches County. When the auger reached 106 feet, oil, water and gas gushed to the top of the well. This well is believed to be the first "gusher" of not only Texas, but of the United States. And Lynis T. Barrett may well be considered the original pioneer. of the oil industry in Texas since his efforts brought in the first field. The Nacogdoches field has the distinction of being the oldest field in Texas and in 1941 had a produc- tion of eight barrels a day from forty wells. Nevertheless, Corsicana is generally conceded to be the birthplace of the Texas oil industry, for there the Magnolia Petroleum Company opened the first important oil field in Texas, October 15, 1895, with the first test at 1050 feet producing two and one-half barrels of oil per day. In 1896 five wells were already completed with a total yearly production of 1450 barrels of oil. Previously, here on the Gulf Coast, Savage Brothers drilled some shallow wells at Sour Lake in 1893 and in 1895 produced some heavy lubricating oil. In 1898 the first refinery, on the Gulf Coast was opened at Sour Lake for the manufacture of lubricating oil with a daily capacity of 100 barrels.
Back in 1890 when a few shallow wells at Nacogdoches produced in one year only 54 barrels of oil valued at $227, Patillo Higgins of Beaumont, Texas, had an unshaken belief that oil could be found three miles south of Beaumont at Spindletop, a mound rising about fifteen feet above the surrounding area. The origin of the name Spindletop is to be found in the field notes of Surveyor David Brown in January 1835. His record says: "The common corner of the James W. Bullock and the John A. Veatch surveys is situated on the banks of the marsh on the western bank of the River Neches. At the commencement set post and mound at the end of the marsh at the lower edge of the place known as Spindle Tops" This common corner is on the eastern side of Spindletop. Someone with imagination fancied the stumps of dead trees rising from the marsh resembled a spindle. The salt dome was first called Spindle Top.
Higgins, a keen field observer, had studied United States Geological Survey reports and other books on geology. He was convinced that the presence of gas seeps, mineralized waters, and mound-like elevations were of significance as indications of an oil field. So, in 1892 he "convinced George W. Carroll of the soundness of his reasoning," and on August 24 the Gladys City Oil, Gas and Manufacturing Company was organized. This was said to be the "first attempt in Texas to utilize geology in an effort to secure oil production." The first well was drilled in 1893 to 300 feet by W. B. Sharp, a water well contractor of Dallas, who later became organizer and president of the Producers Oil Company. Though showings of gas were encountered, the hole was abandoned. Because of these showings, several citizens of Beaumont became interested in the enterprise; however, the state geologist examined the area and decided there were no oil possibilities. Still Pat@lo Higgin's faith was unshakable.
A Most Important Place in HistoryLate in the 1890s Captain Anthony E Lucas, a mining engineer and geologist, came to Beaumont from Louisiana in search of sulphur and was persuaded by Higgins to drill for oil at Spindletop. Lucas drilled 600 feet and uncovered a quantity of oil, but quicksand in the hole ended his efforts and his cash account. He then sought financial aid in the East. Guffey and Galey of Pittsburgh decided to risk some money in Captain Lucas' second venture. In this second well "on January 10, 1901, the bit reached a depth of 1,100 feet. Without warning, the ground began to tremble. With a terrific roar some 300 feet of pipe weighing many tons hurtled from the hole and over the top of the derrick, to be fol- lowed by a column of black gold that geysered 100 feet into the air. Higgins's dreams, held so firmly for ten long years, had come true."
In his biographical sketch of Anthony F. Lucas in 1921, Alexander Deussen wrote, "This discovery by Lucas gave an enormous impetus to the oil industry and it marked the beginning of its expansion to the present gigantic proportions. It is safe to conclude that the Lucas discovery was second only in importance to the discovery by Drake in Pennsylvania in 1859, and when the history of oil is finally written the name of Lucas will occupy a most important place in this history."
The Texas oil boom was now started in earn

The geologists in Houston, a gregarious lot, sought out those who spoke their language. The old Bender Hotel, now the San Jacinto Hotel, was the meeting place of many of the rockhounds for lunch. According to D'Arcy Cashin, one day early in January 1920 someone suggested they organize into a social group. They did and elected him president. A few months later when Wallace Pratt moved to Houston, he was extended an invitation to meet with this group. In jest, he said he would - provided he was not made president. According to Mr. Cashin, that is exactly what happened - Mr. Pratt was elected president. Cashin also remembers that, as many of the geologists were bachelors, they dined at Mrs. Allen's Cafeteria on Fannin Street.
Evidently this organization which Cashin remembers was short lived. Early in the summer of 1923 at the invitation of Donald C. Barton of the Rycade Oil Corporation, geologists began meeting for luncheon on the first Friday of each month at the University Club, then located over the present Liggett's drug store on Main and Rusk. About this time Alexander Deussen and Wallace E. Pratt, two past presidents of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, thought that the time had come to extend an invitation to the Association to hold its Ninth Annual Convention in Houston. They discussed the idea with Donald Barton, John Suman and others. At the monthly meeting on August 8 at the University Club, this matter was brought up, and it was unanimously decided to extend the invitation. As an organization was necessary to prepare for this meeting, the Houston Geological Society was formally chartered on August 8, 1923, with John R. Suman as president and David Donoghue as secretary-treasurer. At this time there were about 73 geologists in and out of Houston, all of whom were elected charter members of the society.

The official insignia of the society was adopted in 1949. At Phil Martyn's insistence, an emblem contest was started to provide the society with an official insignia. On January 29, 1949 the late Walter J. Osterhoudt was named the winner of the contest. The HGS emblem is best described in his own words.

"The oil derrick is firmly established upon the Gulf Coast plain overlooking Galveston Bay, through which passes much of the oil to the markets of the world. Beyond Galveston Bay is the Gulf of Mexico, a new province, which challenges geologists and geophysicists to almost unlimited new reserves. Under the oil derrick is a cross section of a typical Gulf Coast salt dome. The words 'Houston Geological Society' are arranged upon a circle which is symbolical of the world, because our geologists come from and travel to all places on the earth in search of oil and other minerals. The five points of the design are a pleasant reminder that we, the members of the Society, are privileged to live in Texas. The 1923 is the year in which the Society was organized."

This Outstanding Geologist, Petroleum Engineer and Executive Exemplified Leadership
In the early part of this century, the field of petroleum geology was loosely defined. The American Association of Petroleum Geologists wasn't formed until 1917. To be a petroleum geologist in Houston during the 1920s meant that you may have been required to perform other duties as well. Today, the dividing line between the work of geologist, geophysicist, petroleum engineer, and landman is well drawn. Back then, the line was thin-people and conipanies operated with independence. The important thing was to produce oil-and frequently that meant you were involved with all aspects of petroleum exploration and development: searching for it, leasing acreage, arranging financing, finding a driller, and producing oil!
It is little surprise then that John R. Suman, the Houston Geological Society's first president, entered the petroleum industry with a bachelor's degree in mining engineering that he earned in 1912 from the Mining College at the University of California (Berkeley). After working during college as an assistant assayer and surveyor, he came to Houston with Rio Bravo Oil Company (a subsidiary of the Southern Pacific Railroad Company) as an assistant geologist. Here he worked under Dr. Edwin T. Dumble, the great pioneer geologist and former director of the Texas Geological Survey, and William Kennedy, frequently called "Daddy of the Salt Dome Country" from his prime days as a geologist during Spindletop. Dumble urged many geolo- gists to concentrate on petroleum engineering, and Kennedy probably influenced Suman with his knowledge of drilling and other phases of the oil game. After just one year at Rio Bravo, Suman assumed the duties of chief engineer and served in that capacity until 1917. It was this assignment that defined his professional career. His interest in applying engineering and scientific knowledge to the production of petroleum continued throughout his long and colorful life.
Evidently, the abilities and knowledge of the compactly built, dynamic Suman caught the eye of others in the industry. He joined Roxana Petroleum (a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell) and served as technical superintendent of its operations in Texas and Louisiana for two years. He again became associated with Rio Bravo in 1919, serving as assistant to the vice president and general manager. lie was promoted to the higher position in 1925, and held it until he left the company in 1927. During this time with Rio Bravo, he also held the positions of assistantmanager in 1922 and manager in 1923 for the East Coast Oil Company of Mexico, another subsidiary of the Southern Pacific Railway Company. From 1923 to 1926 he was general manager of the Texas operations for the Associated Oil Company of California.
In 1923 he was very active in the petroleum industry in Houston. He, along with Wallace E. Pratt, Alexander Deussen, Donald Barton, David Donoghue and others, was instrumental in forming the Houston Geological Society and guiding it through its first two years as president-our only two-term president.
He was also active in the AAPG, serving as regional director from 1922 to 1924, and nominated for president in 1926. A glimpse into Suman's humor is seen in a letter he wrote for the AAPG's 50th anniversary:
"In my association with AAPG, I became very closely acquainted with Wallace Pratt and Alexander Deussen. It was my impression that they were practically running and dominating the political aspects of the association, particularly in the election of the president. It seems that in the early days anyone they put up for president was practically elected at the time of the nomination. They did make one grievous error in this respect when they nominated me; as I remember I was running against Alex McCoy. Alex McCoy defeated me for the presidency, and I think the power of Messrs. Pratt and Deussen began to fade after this catastrophe."
Suman's first major invention was the Double Pitman Pump for oilfield producing operations, which was patented in 1916. In his long and brilliant career, he played a key role in the development of the modern rotary drilling rig, the unitized drawworks, and in directing corporate engineering and research efforts that led to significant advances in reservoir engineering.
In 1921, his book Petroleum Production Methods was published. It was one of the first contributions to the engineering literature that outlined the technology of the time and discussed the petroleum engineer's role in the industry. The book went through three editions and was a popular college textbook.
Alva Ellisor, in her book Rockhounds of Houston, tells an interesting story of Suman's next career move. Wallace E. Pratt was a neighbor and very close friend of Suman's. One day when Mr. Pratt suggested that he join Humble, Suman said he was satisfied where he was for he had time to play golf. Undaunted-and used to getting what he wanted - Pratt talked to Beatrice Suman and told her that "husband John" was getting into a rut and losing his ambition. So, in 1927 "husband John" became Humble's director of production in the northern division!
In this capacity he added further to a rapidly emerging petroleum production technology and became increasingly active in the area of petroleum conservation. In 1930 he was named chairman of the Yates Pool Advisory Committee, one of the first attempts at unitization in the West Texas oil fields. A year later he published the article "Principles Governing Equitable and Efficient Oil Pool Development." In that article he outlined the principles of oil production and the benefits that could be derived from unit operations or other types of cooperative development. He further asserted that, from a physical or operating standpoint, the conservation principles called "the new conception" could be carried out. Three years later he followed up with an article on the problems of well spacing and how low well density can increase ultimate recovery.
The interests of Suman were by no means exclusively or narrowly technological. He was interested in human as well as petroleum engi- neering and was largely responsible for the expansion of the company's industrial relations program (what we would call today the human relations program). To other operators in production, he was a one-man public relations department; being described as so diplomatic and persuasive that he could cause agreement to emerge out of a meeting originally composed of 26 men with the same number of different opinions.
In 1933, Suman was elected vice president of production for Humble and continued to serve on the board of directors. It was also during this year that Suman made one of his most dramatic and important contributions to the petroleum industry - directional drilling. A blowout occurred in the Conroe field and resulted in a crater and the uncontrolled flow of about 7,000 barrels of oil daily. There were only two options: one, let the offset wells produce an equal amount of oil, which would have resulted in rapid and wasteful depletion of the reservoir energy, with a resulting loss of millions of barrels of oil; or two, in some manner control and shut in the well. Mr. Suman conceived the idea of drilling a directional well into the producing sand and then flooding the sand with water and drilling mud to stop the flow and gain control of the well. After prolonged negotiations with the owners of the cratered well and with the assistance of the Railroad Commission, the Humble Oil & Refining Company assumed responsibility for killing the cratered well. Many in the oil industry were skeptical, but the venture was a success and has provided the industry with one of the most effective ways of controlling wild oil and gas wells!
In 1942 he was awarded an honorary Doctor Engineering degree by the South Da

Geologists entered the modern era after the second World War. Technology brought vast improvements in the speed, accuracy, and volume of geologic data. Everette DeGolyer summarized it best during the dedication of the AAPG headquarters in 1954:
"I should like to take a moment to point out a tremendous change which has taken place in geological work during the life of the Association. Field work has been the basis for geological study since long before geology emerged as a science. 'Go my sons, buy stout shoes, climb the mountains, search the valleys, the deserts, the seashore, and the deep recesses of the earth' is the injunction with which a German mineralogist of the late 1700s dismissed his students. It would be regarded as good advice doubtless to the general geologist of today. It is no longer good advice to the petroleum geologist. His has become largely a job of interpretation - an office job - and he is dependent generally upon specialists for the data which he interprets. He works with the results of geophysical surveys, with electric logs, with micro-paleo calls, with core analyses, and with other data most of which he is not competent to go into the field and take. Even in areas where he requires surface mapping, it can be done more rapidly, more accurately and more cheaply by airplane photography and geo-photo interpretation. This is a far cry from the work of the 1917 mid-continent geologist who dragged a rod through the blackjacks establishing points to be recorded by his instrument man. Boots are no longer essential equipment for the petroleum geologist."
A,F, Childers, Jr.HGS President, 1948'Chili' Childers was HGS president in 1948. He recalls HGS as being composed of very hard workers. "In those days, everybody helped everybody else, "he said.
In 1953, the HGS hosted the AAPG Annual Convention and Chili was involved with raising $50,000 for the Society from convention exhibits. And $50,000 was real good money in those days! He specifically remembers that the booth space for the exhibitors was reserved by small companies which, naturally, had small booths. Tobin came in after space was reserved and wanted a big space up front, and Chili had to tell them that, no-space had been reserved and assigned. Tobin sicced a Gulf VP on him but he stood firm and Tobin ended up in the back corner. He's not sure, but one of those events was the likely reason for his receiving Honorary Life Membership in the HGS!
Ralph CantrellHGS President, 1951Ralph was president in 1951. He remembers that "everyone was so busy in those days! The VP really earned his way back then. Talks were given every two weeks, and he'd have a speaker all lined up and the speaker would call and cancel two days before the meeting! The VP would have to hunt up another speaker and then get in front of the crowd and explain why the speaker they came to see wasn@t there!"
Papers and talks of field histories were popular-you could see what the other fellow was doing. The HGS had also started to slide towards the GCAGS, and Ralph helped hold the line with AAPG. Membership reached 820 during his term, with about 795 active members. One of the things he really enjoyed in those days was taking the "special trains," which were trips that were organized to places like Denver and California for annual AAPG conventions.
Ray C, LewisHGS President, 1952Ray was president in 1952. "I don't recall anything world-startling that we did," he started off. He remembers the AAPG convention in 1953 and how they were worried about how much money they had. "But, everything turned out OK!" "There is one thing I think we did do that was a contribution. I had been AAPG District Representative, which is what it was called then. When I was president I recall they (the representatives) weren't well organized. I got them all together and got them to have periodic meetings.' He went on to say that he doesn't keep up with the younger generation in the society, but enjoys coming to the HGS Past Presidents Luncheons and meeting the younger presidents.
Jack 0, ColleHGS President, 1954Jack was president in 1954. He remembers that money was a lot tighter than it is today. The first evening meetings were held during his term. Previously there had been two luncheon meetings each month. There was increased attendance at the evening meeting, partly because the program chairman found various organizations to sponsor happy hour!
"One of the first things that happened to me on the opening meeting, we had about 250 people there, and we had a lawyer from Vinson & Elkins talking. It was about the time the Natural Gas Act, or something like that, came into effect. It was very important to the oil and gas industry, maybe not from the standpoint of being good for it. Big crowd. And I was naturally nervous, anyways. One of the members, it might have been a past president, brought up something that happened the year before. And I had read all the minutes from the year before, but it never occurred to me that it might come up again. He brought it up, and there were some arguments on both sides, and I had to get Colonel Olin Bell at that time to act as parliamentarian. He had to rule on some parliamentarian deals and it was getting to where we weren't getting very far. Somebody in the back held up his hand and called out 'Question!' So I read off the question and called for a vote! We settled the problem right then, but found out later he wanted to ask a question! So I got of a jam right there.'
The GCAGS convention was held in Houston that year, and he remembers Robert Rieke did an exceptional job as general chairman. The society also started a student loan program in 1956 with W.A. Gorman as committee chair- man. Geology graduate students could borrow up to $500 with no interest expense. "It worked out to be a nice thing,' he said. Both of us wondered what happened to that program since it doesn't seem to be in existence anymore.
There was about 1,100 members then, and the HGS claimed title to the largest local geological society in the world. "Of course, the society gained members every year after that, so the title has continued on."
As for social events, it wasn't during his term but he remembers a bunch of geologists started the "Terra Club." The first meeting had a lot of people there because "they felt like they were down too low on the totem pole with the majors, and smaller companies were not sponsoring memberships to the Petroleum Club or anything like that. It functioned well and we had a lot of good social events, but it kind of died on the vine after several years,"
He remembers another big event. 'In '51 they had a special train to Beaumont to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Spindletop discovery. That was when Ralph Cantrell was president and I was first vice-president.' More than 250 people went on that trip. Hard to believe that we might be celebrating the 100th anniversary in three short years!
Walter W. McMahan, Jr.HGS President, 1956Walter was HGS president in 1956. He now lives in Denver, but fondly remembers his term in office. 'I was almost amazed that I was elected president: " he said. "It happened just eight years after I came to work in Houston. I was only, what, 34 years old?! That was pretty young back then since there were many older and willing members. But, I had served the society several years in different capacities" and the presidency was the next step.
One thing Walter remembers that did raise quite a bit of concern with the membership was an increase in dues. The society was losing money on dances and picnics. Dues were $3.00, and there was a push to raise them to $6.00. There was a lot of bickering by the member

The history of the Houston Geological Society is the history of a new science-petroleum geology. Applied geophysics is an important technique of this new science. A surface elevation was the evidence for drilling Spindletop in 1901; gas and oil seepages were the evidences for drilling Sour Lake in 1901; paraffin dirt, the evidence for drilling Goose Creek in 1907. By 1920 the Gulf Coast had been combed for all such direct indications of oil fields, so new exploratory techniques had to be developed.
Doodle-bug Imported from EuropeNot to be overlooked was the wigglestick (divining rod). Many wells were drilled by two "wigglestick authorities" - Mr. Griffith of Houston and Mr. Drummett of Pierce Junction. They pursued their technique well into the twenties; their dry holes contributed much subsurface data. During the twenties, geologists began to search for sulphur water wells, as such water was considered an indication of a salt dome. Many a bright, shiny quarter was dropped into a jug of sulphur smelling water. Also, many a jar of gas was analyzed with the hopes of discovering a gas that would indicate an oil field.
E. DeGolyer, while in London in the summer of 1914, became interested in the applied use of geophysics in prospecting for oil, and in a conversation with P. C. A. Stewart he learned of the torsion balance that had been invented by Baron Roland von E6tv6s. DeGolver began to investigate the surveys that had been made in the great Hungarian Plain, and for the next six years he watched the progress of geophysical experiments in Europe. In 1920 he decided to experiment for himself as he had learned that instruments could be purchased. As president and general manager of the Amerada and vice-president and general manager of the Mexican Eagle of Mexico, he arranged for a joint field research program between the two companies. Construction was started on two instruments in August 1921, and in May 1922 DeGolyer sent [Donald C.] Barton to Budapest to receive the finished instruments and to study the method of their use.
Barton brought one instrument back to Houston and housed it in the basement of the Humble building. The oil fraternity was all agog with curiosity over this 'doodle-bug" as it was called by the skeptical. Barton, however, kept his "doodle-bug" well guarded and surrounded with mystery.
Nash Dome-First Successful Geophysical ProspectAccording to DeGolyer, the first survey made with this instrument was on Spindletop dome in December 1922, the first, or one of the first surveys made by geophysical methods in the United States. Several other known domes were surveyed and various prospects were analyzed with indefinite results. DeGolyer said: "These early surveys were entirely inadequate, both as to area and interpretation, to test the method and we were about to abandon it as too expensive and inexact when a survey of the Nash Ranch in Fort Bend County, Texas, gave a gravity maximum as definite and exact as that of Spindletop. Drilling proved a salt dome in November 1924, and oil was discovered on the flank of this dome on January 3, 1926. This was the first successful geophysical prospect to be proved in the United States and was probably the first oil pool to be discovered by geophysical methods in the entire world." The torsion balance had its ups and downs until 1938 when it was displaced by the gravimeter.
E. DeGolyer, in his Early History of Geophysics, said that as early as 1905-06, L. P. Garrett "had conceived the idea of using seismic refraction surveys as a tool to prospect for salt domes ... and, together with Mr. Robert Welch of Houston, had made inquiries as to instruments and methods. Instruments were expensive and not really adapted to work on the scale required and so the matter was dropped."
In 1920, before the Association (AAPG) at its annual convention in Dallas, Dr. J. A. Udden presented his paper "A New Method of Making Underground Observations" - in which he suggested that some such instrument as the seismograph could be used to record reflections of earth waves started on the surface by an explosion. Speaking specifically, he said: "A record of the emerged reflection of this wave from the upper surface of the Ellenburger limestone might be registered on an instrument placed at some distance from the point of explosion. The record would, of course, be a component of the direct and the reflected waves." Present day reflection shooting is based on this data of Udden's.
Four years later, in March 1924, Alexander Deussen introduced the seismograph to the Gulf Coast when he brought Dr. L. Mintrop of the Seismos Company from Oklahoma to Houston. According to Deussen, the first survey was a refraction type on the Wadsworth ranch. Work was done under Mr. Deussen's direction for the Marland, with John Weinzierl representing the company in the field.
Refraction Seismic Used to Discover Orchard Dome in Fort Bend CountyAnother Mintrop party commenced work on the Gulf Coast five or six months later under the direction of L. P. Garrett. Before the end of the year, this crew discovered Orchard dome in Fort Bend County, Texas, the first seismic discovery for the United States and possibly the first in the world. This refraction technique, in spite of its brilliant success, had a short life span-introduced in 1924, it was extensively used by 1926; after reaching its peak in March 1929, it declined rapidly, and it was later replaced by the reflection method as outlined by Dr. Udden.
With geophysical exploration for petroleum firmly established on the Gulf Coast, Donald C. Barton, in July 1929, wrote to a number of leading geologists and geophysicists relative to the feasibility of forming a geophysical society. Encouraged by replies to his letter, Dr. Barton suggested a luncheon meeting at the University Club on January 30, 1930. A committee consisting of John F. Weinzierl, J. Brian Eby and G. H. Westby was appointed to investigate the matter of affiliating with the AAPG. This committee made its report at a second meeting held March 7, 1930, but the Society of Economic Geophysicists, as it was first called, was not definitely organized until March 11, 1930. Donald C. Barton was elected President; E. E. Rosaire, Vice-President; John F. Weinzierl, Secretary- Treasurer. On May 20, 1930, the Constitution and by-laws were adopted and the name was changed to Society of Petroleum Geophysicists. In 1932 the Society became affiliated with the AAPG. On January 1, 1937, the name was officially changed to the Society of Exploration Geophysicists. As the SEG was organized in Houston by members of the Houston Geological Society, most of its officers have been from the membership of our society.
DeGolyer Helped Bring Geophysics to HGS MembersEverette DeGolyer, called "The Father of Geophysical Research," was awarded the Anthony E Lucas gold medal in 1940 by the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers "for initiating applied geophysics, directing the early practical seismic explorations and fostering applied science in financing, developing, and producing oil." While president of both the Amerada Petroleum Corporation and the Rycade Oil Company, he had division offices in Houston where he maintained large geologic staffs. As a charter member of the Houston Geological Society, he continued his membership until about 1940, although he was not always an active member.
E. DeGolyer, affectionately called "De" by his associates and friends, was a man of diverse talents. He was a member of a long list of scientific societies and served as president or director of most of them. As a geologist he wrote many technical papers. As a scientific leader he served as president of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists in 1925-26 and in 1945 was prese

In the matter of entertainment, honorary life member Howard Kiatta relishes telling about the time that professionals of the southwest Louisiana area, where he worked for Texaco for many years, would get together for seafood parties.
 These oil industry events became famous in southern Louisiana. They were known as the FSLG & ES, or Fine Southwest Louisiana Geologists and Epicurean Society. In 1959 it was re-formed and carried on in Houston's "sin alley" as an annual event. In 1964 the name was changed to the FSLG&CES, or Fine Southern Louisiana Geologists and Crawfish Eating Society. The group renamed itself in 1967, appropriately, to reflect the larger membership and wider geographic area now involved, the FSWG & ES, or Fine Southwest Geologists and Epicurean Society.
 With time members grew a bit tired of the routine nature of the event. With some creative and really big thinking they came up with their Big Pot Recipe. This made its debut on May 10, 1969, when the group returned to Louisiana, and in the city park of New Iberia treated somewhere between 700 (plus) and 3000 members and friends (both figures have since been reported, the latter perhaps in a moment of wild exaggeration) to 325 gallons of that special gourmet gumbo, which was cooked in a huge eighteenth century sugar kettle.
 On February 20, 1971, the group celebrated their gala Decennial at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Houston around the world's largest (and perhaps hottest) pot of gumbo. Quite an auspicious beginning for what has become the annual fall Shrimp Peel of the Houston Geological Society.

One colorful geologist who left an impact in Houston, and the rest of the country, was our 1930 president, J. Brian Eby. His autobiography titled My Two Roads , published in 1974, is one adventure after another. It's well worth reading, if you can find it (the Houston Public Library had the only copy I could find in its storage stacks). Eby came to Houston in 1925 with Roxana (Royal Dutch Shell) after working a few years with the USGS. From Houston, his travels took him all over the world for both business and the search of petroleum. Ellen Sue Blakey retells this story in her book To the Waters and the Wild.
Every postgraduate student had one eye on employment with the U.S. Geological Survey in Washington in the early years of the century, even after World War I. James Brian Eby was one of them. To qualify, each person had to pass the geologic aide examination before they submitted an application. The director of the USGS in 1920 was George Otis Smith, a Johns Hopkins doctor of philosophy in geology.
Although Eby's exam score was low, he managed to get in because of his ability to write and his former training as a newspaper reporter. He was sent to Virginia. "After I arrived at Big Stone Gap early in the summer and checked into the local hotel, [Chester K.] Wentworth casually asked me if I ever mapped an outcrop by plane table. Truthfully, I said no. Taking me to a second floor hotel window he pointed to a large fenced field that was perfectly flat, except for a huge sandstone rock near the center. The line where the sofl of the field meets the edge of the rock is a geologic outcrop. Tomorrow morning, he said, I would map it and if it took more than ten minutes I would crack up that boulder with a sledge hammer for a week. Recalling my planetable and transit experience in the ROTC and the Army, my outcrop lesson was done in nothing flat."
After the first few weeks, Wentworth and Eby paired up to work alone or with a native guide. Plane table work was impractical in the area, so they used a Brunton compass, a chisel-edge hammer and aneroid barometer. With that they carried notebook cases, a canteen and lunch. If coal sampling, they handled a 30- pound sampling outfit. They used a Ford car when and where roads existed.
Eby managed well with the native mountain people and even found the mountain moonshiners hos- pitable - to a point. "Mr. Horsley, the Big Stone Gap postmaster, suggested that on my mountain treks it would be prudent to hire a 'reliable' guide for a few trips to get myself acquainted with the mountain brethren" Eby wrote. "This I did. Newspaper accounts told me that one county, state or national lawman had been murdered every month for the past four months in the county. My khaki clothes, big hat and leather goods made me look 'powerfully suspicious.' How the news got through the mountains I'll never know, but when I wandered into one still in full bloom I was not only welcomed but offered a mug of 'mountain dew.' I settled for undiluted and unpolluted spring water. I kept their friendship but sure lost their esteem."
Moonshiners were not the only danger in the mountains. Eby was walking along the edge of the river in the five-mile Guest River Gorge in central Wise County, Virginia, on a ledge about 15 feet above the water. "Suddenly I stepped into a concealed crevice in the sandstone floor and I fell about eight feet untfl the crevice narrowed to about 20 inches, pinning me between the walls, wedged in place by the knapsack strapped to my back. I had no cuts or bruises, so I used the principle of the inchworm, fists and elbows for top leverage-and my hobnailed boots as bottom leverage. Once I reached the top, I spotted my wide-briinmed Stetson stfll care- fully draped over the point of my entry. My only loss was my chisel-edged hammer and professional dignity. Recovering the latter, I thanked the good Lord for the pardon and went on my way."

After a long and successful career in petroleum exploration, Tom Barber is semi-retired but still very much in the business of working up drilling prospects for the industry. A couple of old-timers, we talked and got acquainted as we sat and looked east out of the window of his 10th floor office at an absolutely beautiful view of a small green park in the GaUeria area, in the middle of which is a dark blue-green lake with resident ducks and geese basking in the sun (only the 610 Freeway traffic behind office buildings to the east contrasted with the scene). A display of another kind covered the wall of Tom''s office: geological and geophysical maps, the makings of a wildcat drilling prospect he is currently working up. Tom graduated from Texas Christian University with a B.A. (1940) and an M.S. (1942) in geology and geochemistry. He served in the U.S. Navy (1944-45), saw action in the Philippines, Okinawa, and China, and, as the war ended, found himself commanding an amphibious landing ship, the LSM-96.
Barber''s Early Career Began at StanolindHe began his geological career in Houston in 1945, accepting a position with Stanolind Oil and Gas Co. (now Amoco) and joining the HGS right away. In 1949 Tom was transferred to Stanolind''s offices at Corpus Christi, where he worked until being transferred back to Houston in 1953. He was district exploration superintendent, division geologist and later assistant division exploration superintendent but turned down an opportunity to head up the Company''s Geological Research Division in Tulsa because, he says, "I was afraid it would remove me from the excitement and fun of handson oil and gas exploration.'') In 1959 he joined Michel T. Halbouty as exploration manager and ended up president of Michel T. Halbouty Energy Company. In 1987 he formed Barber & Associates, Inc. and continues working up drilling prospects.
Tom''s experience as an active member of HGS has been professionally rewarding, broadening his contacts, adding to his knowledge in many areas, and providing almost the ideal medium for networking. Professional, industry, and academic contacts have developed into lifelong friendships. He remarked that "the HGS attracts people who enjoy their profession and each other."
Performed Hilarious Skits on Guest NightFor the Houston Geological Societys 1955 Guest Night, Tom wrote a play which has now been performed three times by HGA and HGS members, twice under its original title "Two Heads Are Better Than One" and more recently as "Decisions, Decisions!" In addition to his professional activates in petroleum exploration, Tom has also written a book entitled "The Gospel According to the Serpent" (as yet unpublished).
Barber''s Philosophy of the Geological ProfessionLike some other veteran explorers, Tom feels that the industry has somewhat passed him by. The impressive technology now available for today''s routine exploration studies can be daunting to one long accustomed to the traditional exploration methods. "Finding and producing the reserves necessary for the 21st century''s energy needs will depend on developing and routinely applying tech- nologies partially or even totally unknown to older generations of geoscientists. Geology is still geology, however," he says, ''and the successful concepts of the past provide a stable platform on which tomorrow''s geoscientists can apply their knowledge and new technology with facility." Vision, dedication to the task of exploration, and a lot of hard work were required in the past and will be no less important in realizing success in the future, according to Tom.
He spells it out in a graphic way in an address given to the GCAGS convention hosted by HGS in 1991: "A wind- mill grinds corn, pumps water or generates electricity but not until a wind provides the force to turn its vanes. The energy to turn the windmills of this nation''s (oil) industry is provided by explorationists. The success of the entire enterprise depends on our performance. Nothing happens down the creek until something first happens up the creek. Up the creek is where we geologists are and, in short, we are the wind. So how and where do we blow effectively? Be assured geologists do not come to this assignment ill-pre- pared. Some of the biggest winds I know are geologists. Moreover, we are endowed with an abundance of arrogance, or if you prefer, aggressive optimism. Let''s stand up, let the wind of imagination swirl around in our minds, take a deep breath, fill our lungs with a fresh supply of aggressive optimism and GET BLOWING!"

In discussing his tenure of office (1936-37), Phil Martyn with a twinkle in his eye said, "Miss Ellisor, don't forget to mention the stag parties in the History." The first of three stag parties was a dinner given February II, 1937, in the Grill Room of the Houston Club honoring the past officers of the Society. Olin G. Bell was chairman of the steering committee. "Some" party was planned. John Suman was to be the speaker of the evening, and a good time was assured for all. Cards were sent to all members of the Society urging them to attend.
 Early in the afternoon, the day of the dinner, Phil Martyn, looking over the list of past officers, discovered there were two feminine past vice-presidents: Alva Ellisor in 1924-25 and 1930-31, and Elisabeth Stfles in 1925-27. Concerned for fear they would come, he immediately called Olin Bell for advice. Olin Bell told him that he, as president, would have to handle that situation. Quite embarrassed, Phil called these two ladies who, of course, had no intention of attending the party-and said he was very sorry they had been overlooked as past officers, but he felt sure they would not care for the party. A peace offer- ing-a lovely basket of flowers-was sent as a surprise to each of them. With the flowers was a card inscribed- "While the stag members of the Houston Geological Society are enjoying their stag dinner, we hope you will enjoy this expression of the appreciation of the Society for the non-stag members."-Signed, Phil Martyn. Phil has never forgotten his dilemma-and now, never will.
 The second stag party was a dinner given at the River Oaks Country Club February 23, 1940, during Wallace Thompson's presidency George Buchanan, Sam Dunham, E. I. Thompson, and Bill Clark constituted the committee responsible for the success of this party.
 For entertainment Frank Carothers gave one of his long orations. There was a report - "Lockjaw's Oil Retort"-a parody on C. D. Lockwood's Oil Report. Just as the celebrities were to be introduced the police came barging in on the trail of Wayne Bowman for some misdemeanor, but he was finally rescued by his friends. "They" say Wayne was quite embarrassed. "They" also say that George Sawtelle was very proud of his "fur-lined trophy." Wallace Thompson reports this party really "went over big." Again flowers were sent to the non-stag members of the society. Doris Malkin, then a member, took a picture of her basket of flowers for her memory book.
 In 1944, W. B. Moore, secretary of the society, mailed the following notice to all members: "Stag party-Free beer and lunch, Rice Hotel, January 28, 1944, Friday night, 7 p.m. Make the proper home arrangements."
In discussing this third stag party, a member who does not want to be quoted said: "It was a flop. All were disappointed because the beer gave out, all were disappointed because the sandwiches gave out, all were disappointed because of the home-made entertainment, and all were disappointed because they had to go home before nine o'clock. Some disappointments!" Thus ends the tale of the stag parties.

Jim 0. LewisHGS President, 1968-69Reprinted from the HGS Bulletin, VoL 11, 1969, No. 10, p.3
The question arises more frequently, 'What is the limit of authority of the "Geologist?" "What is the limit of authority of the Geophysicist?" Todays "GEOLOGIST" is a specialist in many particular aspects of geology. Many of these, because of the nature of the geological problem, are studying the physical characteristics of the "ROCKS" of the earth.
A "GEOLOGIST" using an electric log, or suite of electric logs, is using information that is a result of measuring the physical properties of a formation through its response to electricity. A "GEOLOGIST" using a velocity log is study- ing the physical properties of a "rock" with respect to sound impulses. A "GEOLOGIST" using a core analysis is studying the physical properties of a core. A "GEOLOGIST" making a complete Mineralogic report is studying the physical properties of a particular mineral. This list could continue for many pages. The point to be made is that Geologists study physical properties of the Earth. Any of the above are certainly within the limit of authority of a "GEOLOGIST."
In a recent article entitled "What's New in Geophysics," the following were listed among the innovations now used by the "GEOPHYSICIST":
"Systems used at well site which give readings of effective porosity, quantitative lithology, permeability index, hydro- carbon identification, mineral-deposit location and evalua- tion, quantitative definition of oil and gas in place, and productivity of oil and gas." The "Bore-Hole Televiewer" is also listed as an innovation in geophysics to show bedding planes, cracks and fractures. Even "Photogeoloe' utilizing new photographic emulsions is now a new geophysical tool.
Has "GEOLOGY" become "GEOPHYSICS" or has "GEOPHYSICS" discovered "GEOLOGY"?
The publication of the American Geological Institute, "GeoTimes," has many advertisements of instruments available for measuring the physical properties of rocks.
By definition "GEOLOGY" is the study of the earth. There are no limits as to the methods used to gather the information required for this study.
We have many societies that are recognized as being representative of a "Specialized Group of Geologists. ' These groups consider themselves geologists with a specialty.
Today's "GEOLOGIST" should realize that there are no limits imposed on the "authority of the Geologist in the study of the Earth." The only limits are those imposed by the "area of specialization of the individual geologists)
I am proud to bear the Professional Title of "GEOLO- GIST." By necessity I have my specialization, but first, last, and always "I am a GEOLOGIST."
Fred Schall, Jr,HGS President, 1969-70What I remember best from my term as HGS president is organizing a flight to attend the joint meeting of the AAPG and British Geological Society in Brighton, England. We chartered a World Airways plane, which was filled with geologists from Texas and Louisiana. All but five seats were taken! The plane landed in Amsterdam, from which the passengers were responsible for finding transportation to cross the Channel to England, and returned to Houston from London.
Also, Michel T. Halbouty was made an honorary member of the society.
Robert L, (Bob) MusslewhiteHGS President, 1970-71Other than routine duties, most of the officers' efforts during my term as HGS president were devoted to preparation for the annual AAPG convention in Houston. The subcommittee for the convention was chaired by J. 0. Lewis. Many members contributed to this endeavor. The convention was headquartered at the Shamrock Hotel and was both well attended and a financial success because of the HGS membership.
Macinnes S. NewbyHGS President, 1971-72During my term as president there were no great issues or problems that I can recall. I have two recollections though that give a little perspective to how far we have come-beneficiahy I believe.
At the time of my election it was said that I was the youngest president to serve the Society-and I was 42 years old at the time. Since then, there have been many elected far younger than that who have served with distinction. Another indication of maturity I feel is the inclusion of so many women in our society and their contribution to our society and profession. We, of course, had a few "lady geologists" and I refused to refer to them as "token members." To mention a few, I remember women such as Alva Ellisor, Martha Lou Broussard and Evelyn Moody that have been great contributors to the society. Today, we have many.
I remember an incident that might give a little perspective. More often than not we had no women members present at our monthly evening meeting that was held downtown at the Houston Club. I had just heard a good story, which looking back now, was definitely sexist. At that time I did not even know what the word meant. During the cocktail hour that preceded the dinner and talk, I looked around and saw no women present. After the meal as I was making the announcements I told the story. As I finished it, behold, I saw in the audience a solitary woman whom I had not seen before. I was very embarrassed. To this unknown lady I offer a belated apology.
Today we have a vibrant Society with a broad spectrum of membership. We have both young and senior, male and female, and a broad ethnic base. We have come along way on our seventy-fifth birthday and have a Society of which we can be proud.
Ben SorrellHGS President, 1973-74Highlights of my term as president of the Houston Geological Society include the forming of our first environmental committee headed by Jim Stone. Our committee joined the Environment Coalition of the City of Houston in order to have geological input on decisions being made by this group.
Interest was high on the potential of the offshore Atlantic states and a paper was presented to HGS. However, subsequent drilling has been very disappointing. There was interest in Florida, also, but drilling has been banned. HGS published a "Position Paper" concerning the need for leasing on the Outer Continental Shelf at a hearing on January 30, 1974.
Dr. M. King Hubbert, eminent world geologist, gave a talk on World Oil Reserves. He was famous for his bell curvet pertaining to oil reserves and by implication the life of oil companies. His prognostication was that 80% of world oil would be used up by 2023 - how does that sound now?
The highly successful independent George Mitchell talked on "The Nation's Need for the Independent Explorationist" As he was also in the real estate development at that time and owned 67,000 acres within a 50 mile radius of Houston, do you think he may have made a good investment?
This was a critical year in which Energy Bill S-2589 proposed a rollback of crude oil prices. A letter which I sent to members of congress objecting to this bill was approved by our executive committee. Subsequently, this bfll was vetoed by the president.
Al Raasch headed the Academic Liaison Committee and had a very successful year with geologists visiting the Houston area schools.
The HGS budget was $16,490 and membership was about 2000. The GCAGS had a successful meeting at the Shamrock Hilton in 1973. Registration was $22.00.The fall Shrimp Peel and beer was $4.50.
Finally, concluding my term we had the famous playwright, Tom Barber, author of "The Geology of Dimwit County" favored us with the one-act play "Two Heads are Better Than One." All critics acclaimed this with great hilarity

I had the honor of being HGS president for the 50th lanniversary. The society was vigorous and serving the members well. However, the petroleum industry was in the doldrums, with no indication whatsoever of the great boom which was to come some five years later. As a result, HGS membership was virtually stagnant; totals plotted like a dead man's curve, with little movement from one year to the next. To celebrate our 50th anniversary, we decided to get the society growing again by conducting a membership campaign to reach an all-time high of 2,000 members, a couple of hundred more than we had ever had before. A very determined enrollment program paid off, and by the end of the term we were about ten members over our goal. HGS has con- tinued this upward trend over the years, with few set-backs, and has continued its preeminent position as the largest, local geological society in the world.
To culminate our 50th anniversary, we decided make a special evening out of our annual June guest night meeting. Plans were to have a separate room for a cocktail reception hour preceding the normal part of the meeting. We were to have an open-bar cocktail hour with hors d'oeuvres instead of the regular, run-of-the-mill, no-host cocktail hour that normally precedes meetings. Careful plans were made, and arrangements were formalized with the Royal Coach Inn (since demolished) on U.S. 59, near the Sharpstown Shopping Center, to cater the reception and the banquet.
HGS was supposed to have a separate room for the reception and hors d'oeuvres, with the main room reserved for the dinner meeting. We were all looking forward to a memorable and pleasant evening, with a nice reception, a good dinner, and the presentation. However, our great plans turned out to be much different than the event.
Houston Flooded!In the late afternoon of the day of the meeting, Houston was drowned by a thirteen inch rain which brought the whole city to a flooded stand-still. The heaviest rain had ceased by the time of the meeting, but, nevertheless, it took considerable driving skill, and a lot of luck, to reach the hotel at all. Many of the streets were flooded and stranded vehicles were everywhere. Getting to the hotel gave the successful ones a sense of high accomplishment.
On showing up at the hotel, we found that the room we were supposed to have for the reception was filled with rolled up carpet. The area the hotel set up for the reception consisted of a couple of tables against the wall and about six feet of space in front of them for people to stand between the hors d'oeuvres tables and the dinner tables. The hotel made no attempt to meet our orders.
There wasn't much we could do at this late time, so I told the waiters to move the dinner tables closer together and closer to the head table to give us more room. They refused and, when I told them I would do it myself, tried to intervene. When threatened with broken heads, the waiters backed off and said they were calling the manager. I encouraged them to do just that, because I really wanted to have it out with the big boss who had caused all this trouble. He never showed. A number of us moved the tables to make more room for the reception and, in the end, it turned out all right, even though things were a little cozy.
Treasurer Arrives After Wading Through WaterOur treasurer, Anthony Reso, did not show up at the check-in desk as early as usual, causing some confusion with checking in. The general stress of the evening, with the flood and the arrangement foul-up, made me a little impatient with "Tony." My annoyance turned to admiration when he showed up moments later. He baby-stepped into the room with his pants rolled up over his knees, holding his shoes and socks in his hands. He only could make it to within a couple of blocks of the hotel; the rest of the way he waded barefoot. From then on check-in went well. A few people called the hotel to say they were blocked by flooded streets and couldn't make it. However, we made our reservation number with about two hundred attendees. To further celebrate the anniversary Amoco drafted a very nice three feet square poster of the HGS logo to go in front of the podium. With the exception of about a dozen years when it was lost, I have archived the logo, and it is still proudly displayed on my office wall. If I can be sure that it will be saved, I will gladly turn it over to official HGS custody.
The meal was terrible with some sort of ersatz meat loaf, instead of the roast beef we had ordered. But, in spite of all the messed up arrangements, the evening went very nicely. All the adversity and the open bar had loosened everyone up, and it had resulted in a light-hearted, relaxed, enjoyable time. The water had subsided by the time we finished, so getting home was no problem.
The hotel called me about a week later to solicit more business, a situation that gave are a great deal of perverse pleasure. We never went back.
Although the anniversary celebration was not as good as it could have been, it did represent a turning point. The Houston Geological Society has been growing and getting stronger and more influential ever since.

1997 Member Remembrances

Bartling, "Ted" C.
July 5, 1997

Davis, Morgan Jefferson, Jr.
November 5, 1997

Farren, Paul L.
September 20, 1997

Harrison, Edward Vernon
November 20, 1997

Hern, John L.
October 6, 1997

McDowell, Alfred N. "Mac"
July 24, 1997

Marmaduke, Richard C.
July 29, 1997

Meyers, Percy A. "Dutch"
December 20, 1997

Morrow, Earnest Harlan
July 18, 1997

Oalline, Judd Hamner
May 23, 1997

Phillips, Nestor Donovan
July 23, 1997

Romberg, Marvin "Duke"
December 20, 1997

Stewart, Robert William
May 22, 1997

Verrall, Peter
October 21, 1997

Wilson, James M.
December 28, 1997

Wood, Owen "B"
August 12, 1997 

James M. Wilson died December 28,1997, at the age of 66. Mr. Wilson graduated in 1952, from Texas Christian University, with a B.A. in Petroleum Geology. After serving in the Air Force, he worked for Texaco and Richfield. Mr. Wilson was a consulting geologist in New Orleans and Gulfport for over 32 years. A donation will be made to the Trinity United Methodist Church in Gulfport, MS.  

Marvin "Duke" Romberg died December 20, 1997. Mr. Romberg graduated with a geology degree from the University of Texas in 1933 with advanced degrees received from Texas and Stanford. Mr. Romberg was retired from Exxon and was a member of the HGS and GSH. A donation will be made to a geophysics scholarship fund at the University of Texas.    

PERCY A. "DUTCH" MEYERS, 99, died December 20, 1997. Mr. Meyers graduated from the University of Kansas in 1923 with a degree in geology. He was an Emeritus member of the HGS and a 72-year member of the AAPG. The HGS has made a donation in his name to the Undergraduate Scholarship Fund of the Houston Geological Society.    

EDWARD VERNON HARRISON, 78, died November 20, 1997. Mr. Harrison graduated from Colgate University with a B.S. and the University of Oklahoma with a M.S. in Geology. Mr. Harrison was an Emeritus member of the HGS and the AAPG. A donation has been made by the HGS to the Episcopal Church of the Ascension.    

Morgan Jefferson Davis, Jr. died November 5, 1997 at the age of 69. Mr. Davis graduated from Harvard in 1951 and from the University of Texas in 1953 with a Masters in Geology. He started his career with the International Petroleum Company, an affiliate of Exxon. Mr. Davis was an active member of the HGS and AAPG and a long time board trustee of the Houston Museum of Natural Science. A donation will be made to the Houston Museum of Natural Science.    

DR. PETER VERRALL died October 21, 1997 at his home in San Francisco. He had an incredible career. He worked for Chevron for 37 years as a structural geologist, having been involved with the initial structural interpretation and understanding of thrust belts. After retirement, Verrall became a consultant for Subsurface Consultants & Associates, LLC, of Lafayette, LA and Houston. We are all sorry that he did not get to see the results of his biggest project with SCA. He and Dr. Richard Bischke generated a compressional duplex play in Venezuela with an estimated reserve of 1.3 billion barrels of oil and 9 TCF of gas. The exploration well will is to spud in February 1998.
SCA is collecting donations to present to the heart association in memory of Peter. If you are interested in making a donation, please call Edith Hebert at 318/234-8557.
Peter is survived by his wife Shahla and his four children, John Adrian, Daniel James, Aicha Nystrom, and Adina Nystrom. He lived in many parts of the world. Born in Loughton, Essex, England, he lived in Guildford, Surry, England. He was well travelled and lived in Nova Scotia, Canada; Port of Spain, Trinidad; Calgary, Alberta, Canada; Tehran, Iran; and Madrid, Spain.
His most recent occupation was as a consulting geologist with various clients. He worked at the China Survey at the Department of Mines, Nova Scotia, Canada; field geologist for the Mindus Corporation (mapping copper and lead deposits), Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, and was party chief, gravity survey, southwest New England.
His favorite vacation was hiking and climbing in Britain, Europe, and western Canada. Despite his incredible ability as a structural geologist, he was a very humble person. He always had a smile and a kind word for everyone he met. He could tell a joke like nobody else and nobody could match wits with him. Only last year, he and his wife Shahla, both of whom loved to travel, took a tour of the Amazon. It was no surprise to me to find him full of stories abo

PC Workstation Technologyand Its Impact on the Independent/Consultant
by Deborah Sacrey, HGS Treasurer and Independent Consultant, DKS ExplorationNovember, 1997
Blessings of the Boom
Many in the oil patch today are experiencing increased activity. Some optimists would label this past year as the beginning of a "boom". This increased activity level is not price-driven like last boom in the late seventies and early eighties. This one is technology-driven. Price stability plays a large part in increased drilling/exploration budgets, but new technology has allowed the bottom line to be an ever increasing number.
Advanced technology has come in the form of 1) 3-D seismic, 2) horizontal drilling techniques, 3) logging/evaluation tools, 4) computer hardware and software and, 5) geophysical processing (including coherence and prestack depth migration). The biggest advance in technology arrived from the computer industry. Without the massive "super computers," 3-D seismic acquisition, processing and interpretation would not have happened!

How PC Workstations Affect Consultants
The biggest change for the independent and consultant has been the "PC Revolution." Personal computers are now becoming competitive in price and speed with the high-end UNIX computers. Costs have come down drastically in the last few years, while speed and efficiency have increased almost exponentially. In 1992, a 1-gigabyte hard drive cost $1600.00. Today a 9-gigabyte hard drive costs just $1100.00. In 1992, a state-of-the-art PC was a 486/ 33MHz running Windows 3.1. Now there are chips available up to 500 MHz, running 686 machines with Windows NT 4.0! This has only been a span of five years. Imagine what may happen in the next five years!
PC application software is usually much less expensive than comparable UNIX versions, so the yearly maintenance fees are also much lower. For the cost of maintaining a Landmark workstation for one year, one can literally purchase a PC workstation, including software and a plotter!
With the advance in hardware, a corresponding advance occured in PC application software, much of which is geared to the exploration industry. Table 1 is a spreadsheet compiled a few months ago, listing many of the software programs now in use. This list covers seismic interpretation, geophysical tools, modeling , mapping, geostatistical, GIS, petrophysical, engineering and other types of packages available for use on a PC.

Changing Role of the Consultant
How has the PC revolution changed the role of the independent and consultant? It has allowed the creation of the PC workstation capable of doing 90% of the work being done on a UNIX workstation, at one-fifth the cost. This has allowed small to medium independents (for example, Amerada Hess) to put a workstation on every geologist''s and geophysicist''s desk! Not only does it allow maximum use and performance of available personnel, but because of the relative ease in support/ maintenance of the systems compared to UNIX systems. The overall need for computer support and systems management personnel is much less.
With a workstation on every geoscientist''s desk, a company can participate in more deals. The number of 3-D seismic surveys being shot seems to be growing exponentially, and there are increasing occurrences of joint ventures and partnerships between companies. Every partner sees the need for their own interpretation, which has led to outsourcing to consultants, because of lack of staff. The PC revolution has changed the role of the consultant drastically. The lower cost of a typical PC workstation and associated software has allowed the interpretive consultant to have all of the tools at his/her fingertips without going deeply into debt! The consultant is now competitive with the big companies and can be available for the overflow of interpretive work. Consultants can produce a quality product at a much reduced price.

Technology Transfer Among Consultants
This increased visibility is leading to increased workloads for many consultants. Therefore it is important to belong to a very close networking organization, such as HGS or SIPES. Members have a tendency to refer or use other members for consulting. Because consultants have a tendency to embrace new technology, they are called upon by the developers of the PC software applications to be directly involved in beta-testing, development and training. This not only helps the software companies develop functionality, but further enables members to stay on the leading edge of technology.

Table 1PC Seismic SoftwareCost/LicenseMaintenanceLeasing Hardware
Available?Requirements
SMT 2D/3D Pak$10,00014% per yearyesTop PC System
SeisVision (Geographix)$950015% per yearnoTop PC system
GMA 2D/3D Interpret.$9900 for all 17% per yearyesTop PC system
Vest 3D Seis$6000$40 per monthyesPC system

Mapping Software
GES (Geographix)$5500 min.15% per yearnoPC System
Leasemap (Geographix)$5000 min.15% per yearnoPC System
GeoCAD (DigiRule)$220012% per yearnoPC System
Terrastation II$25,00018% per yearyesPC or UNIX

Software costs and maintenance for independents and consultants to purchase seismic interpretation software.The cost figures may be dated, please check with the individual manufacturers for price quotes.
Contacts: SMT, Bill Vance 713-464-6188: SeisVision, Jim Pentico, 713-268-1119; GMA, Rob Meyers, 281-589-6898; Vest, Robert Vest, 915-682-7317; Terrascience, Jim Engstrom, 713-690-0101; Digirule, Butch Butler, 1-800-344-4785.