STATE GEOLOGIST. 235 
were soon drilled on them, the owners vying with each other in their 
anxiety to have their property tested. Before tracing further the develop- 
ment of the territory let us consider the changes which the discovery of 
oil made in the village. 
Before the discovery of oil Scio had a population of about 900, com- 
posed largely of retired farmers and others in well to do circumstances. 
It had long been a favored place for retired Methodist ministers who 
moved there because of the advantages which the college offered their 
children, as well as for the healthfulness of the location, the moral tone of 
the community, and the pleasant social conditions. The village had no 
manufactories, but derived its support from the students and the farmers 
of the surrounding country. Once only in 18 years was there a saloon in 
the town, and that one was soon driven out by the angry citizens. Billiard 
halls and bowling alleys were conspicuously absent, while card parties and 
dances were in bad repute. The discovery of oil worked the most sudden 
revolution ever seen in an Ohio town. The population of goo in 1898 
increased with amazing rapidity, and it is estimated by Prof. J. H. Beale, 
of Scio college, that in the following January and February it had risen 
to 12,000, though other well informed persons put the figure considerably 
lower. | 
The people came principally from the oil fields of Pennsylvania, West 
Virginia and Northwestern Ohio, and consisted of operators, drillers and 
teamsters; with them came those who supplied the necessities of life, 
boarding-house keepers, hotel men, butchers, etc. But with those neces- 
sary to develop the territory came a large number who maintained them- 
selves by preying on the weaknesses of men,—the fakir, gambler, saloon 
keeper and dissolute woman were conspicuously present. There were II 
saloons in the town and an unknown number of “speak-easies.” Three 
or four variety theaters were started, and the nights were made hideous 
by the barkers of all kinds. These features so horrified the staid citizens 
that they sold or rented their property and moved away. The village was 
unable to care properly for one-tenth of the people who had so suddenly 
gathered there. They lived in tents, shanties, reconstructed stables, boiler 
houses, or wherever they could find shelter. Many slept in chairs. Hun- 
dreds unable to find lodging left on evening trains for near by towns, re- 
turning the following morning. Finally the Pennsylvania railroad put on 
an extra train to accommodate the crowds. It ran between Pittsburg 
and Dennison, and was popularly known as: the “greaser,” because its 
patronage consisted largely of oil men. Rooms which previous to the ex- 
citement rented for 60 cents per week commanded from five to ten dollars 
for the same period. 
The macadamized streets of the village were soon cut through by 
the heavy loads of oil supplies, and converted into mere mud canals, in 
many places so deep that the axles of an ordinary wagon would drag. It 
