STATE GEOLOGIST. 35 
at the rate of 32,000,000 cubic feet per day; and the other, named the 
Mellott, on section 30, yielded at the rate of 27,000,000 cubic feet in the 
same time.! 
The territory in Wood county joined that in Hancock, thus forming 
one field. The general character of the wells in Wood county was similar 
to that in Hancock county, but no such giants were reported. Bloom 
township contained the best territory, more than 40 wells having been 
drilled in it. The largest of these, the Simons, had an initial production 
of 12,000,000 cubic feet per day.” 
As soon as gas was discovered at Findlay the owners of the well began 
preparations to supply the town. A few weeks later the Gas-Light & Coke 
Company completed a well, the second one drilled in the field, and turned 
the fuel into its lines. This precipitated a fight between the two organiza- 
tions, the first effect of which was the laying a second set of pipes through 
the city, and later the absorption of the first-named company by the second 
one. The rates established were reasonable enough, but to the citizens it 
appeared that they had fallen into the clutches of a monopoly, and a 
demand was made that the city should own and ‘operate its own wells. 
Accordingly the legislature passed an act granting the citizens a right 
to vote on a proposition to bond the municipality for $60,000, the money 
to be used in drilling wells, laying pipes, etc. It is scarcely necessary 
to state that the proposition carried by a large majority. A third set of 
pipes were laid through the town and drilling of wells begun. The first 
one was completed in November, 1886; others followed in quick succes- 
sion, so that the municipality soon had an adequate supply of gas.? 
The gas trustees met the popular demand by cutting the existing rates in 
two, but the Gas-Light & Coke Company, not to be outdone, responded by 
dividing in a similar manner the rates of the municipal plant. The trus- 
tees of the latter at once met the rates of the old one, but the latter 
organization preferred that the “merry war” go on, and each company 
made one further reduction. By that time the cost of a fire per month 
had been reduced from one dollar to fifteen cents. The Gas-Light & 
Coke Company was preparing to reduce its rate from fifteen cents to 
five, when it was purchased by the trustees of the municipal plant and 
thus the contest was brought toa close. This done prices again advanced ; 
on November 1, 1888, they became 50 cents for each stove if paid before 
the tenth of the month; on October 1, 18809, rates were practically doubled, 
and later they were still further increased. At present (1902) the rates 
are 30 cents per thousand cubic feet, with a discount of 5 cents if the bills 
are paid before the tenth of the month. : 
Almost as soon as gas was discovered it began to be used in such 
factories as then existed in Findlay. As the wells increased in number 
1Geol. Sur. of Ohio, First Ann. Rept., 1890, p. 125-6. 
2Ibid, p. 185. 3Ibid, Vol. VI, p. 140-1. 
