Magee, Snake, was a legendary oil-well driller from West Virginia. Cable-tool drillers there were called “snakes” because they drilled formations only a snake could get through. The story of “Snake Magee and the Rotary Boiler” described how a boiler blew up and hurled Magee 16 miles (26 kilometers). His tool-dresser said, “You were blown back so fast you arrived before you started. You can’t sue for injuries because you ain’t been to work yet this morning.”
