584 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



ful for success are now pretty well known, and where these are 

 found the most extensive works may spring up without any 

 previous history. So we find in the enumeration of an establish- 

 ment, now in course of construction, one item of one hundred 

 and twenty-five two-story houses, while the plant itself is to be 

 one of the most perfect and extensive in this country. These 

 sudden growths will become more and more possible with the 

 progress of industrial analysis. 



In the neighboring State of Ohio the industry gained small 

 footing until within recent years. There were two glass-houses 

 in operation in 1817, and others were subsequently started, but 

 they do not appear to have succeeded, for none were reported in 

 the census returns of 1840. Ten years later there were six in 

 operation, but in 1860 the number had decreased to four. In 1870 

 the total establishments numbered nine, and at the time of the 

 tenth census had increased to a score. With the discovery of 

 natural gas, however, the industry experienced a sudden expan- 

 sion, and the State is now one of our most active glass-producing 

 centers. Gas was known as early as 1836, but it was not until 

 1884 that it was regularly sought for and utilized. In the fall of 

 that year a successful well was drilled in the now famous Findlay 

 district. This was followed by other wells in 1885, and in 1886 by 

 the Karg well, one of the most prolific in the entire country. A 

 few months later the Van Buren well yielded even larger returns, 

 and firmly established the reputation of western Ohio as assured 

 gas-producing territory. Bowling Green, twenty-four miles to 

 the north of Findlay, became a second important gas center. Both 

 towns are underlaid by Trenton limestone, and draw their supplies 

 of gas from the same geological horizon. Other gas rock has been 

 discovered, but this remains by far the most productive. 



The history of these and other districts in the gas country reads 

 quite like an industrial fairy story. Quiet country towns have 

 expanded in a surprisingly short space of time into manufactur- 

 ing centers of national importance. In this development glass- 

 making has been the foremost industry. By 1888 there were a 

 dozen different establishments at Findlay alone, making bottles, 

 window glass, and flint ware of fine quality, while the popula- 

 tion had increased from six thousand to thirty in about eighteen 

 months. At the same time Bowling Green had five glass-houses, 

 and Fostoria five more. Numerous other establishments are found 

 scattered over the entire State. 



The development of glass-making in Ohio, in addition to the 

 mushroom rapidity with which the industry has sprung up, pre- 

 sents a number of unique and interesting economic features. It 

 has been practically a race between the different localities as 

 to which should secure the greatest number of establishments 



