Explore "Tom Swift and His Great Oil Gusher" by Victor Appleton on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
EVERY MAN stood tense, eyes riveted on the valve.
Attached to the lower part of the capping mechanism was a pressure gauge. As the valve closed, the needle of the gauge began creeping steadily around the dial. When the valve was completely closed, the pressure mounted steadily. Five hundred-six-seven hundred pounds to the square inch, and still the needle moved around the dial. When it finally came to rest, it indicated a confined or "rock" pressure in the well of nine hundred and fifty pounds per square inch!