This rig had always used 1-inch manila rope — sometimes called hemp. In the years after World War II, this rope and many things were hard to get in both quantity and quality. People tried a lot of new ideas to make up for shortages, some good and some not so good. My father found it increasingly difficult to buy serviceable manila rope. After two purchases that gave less than expected service, he complained to the hardware store where he bought it. They told him it was the best they could buy. He decided it was time to go to wire rope — or steel cable — as a drill line.
This month’s column deals with an improved rig that my dad and I first put into service in 1953. In the picture of the rig with this column, my uncle Arthur Schmitt — who from time to time served as my dad’s helper — is on the left, my dad J.P. (Phil) Schmitt in the middle and I, at age 18 or 19, am on the right. You will notice none of us is wearing hard hats, an unheard of practice today but quite common in that era.