Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1886-01-21
County Commissioners Report.

ionefe- Ine report Is IN detail anu gives
pretty fair exposition of the bnsiness trans
acted by the Commissioners for the year, to-
gether with financial showing of the differ.
ent funds. This report was compiled by Au-
ditor Evers, as clerk of the board. and no
doubt is one of the most comprehensive state
ments ever published in the. county. The re-
port of the examining committee is also
given,
There is no question but that Findlay has
found a tremendous supply of natural gas,
the value Of which cannot yet be estimated
to that community. But the success of
of other towns to write articles for newspa-
pers urging the incorporation of companies
to bore for gas as an experiment. Many
thousands of dollars have been sunk in such
places as Toledo, Fremont, Sandusky,
Elmore, Bowling Green, Fostoria, and else
where by enthusiastic persons in seeking to
procure gas for those places, but there is
absolutely no evidence yet that it will amount
to anything more than mere experiment.
Utmost every case it has proven new way
to fool away money. Here in Napoleon we
have commenced experimenting, and the
company organized for that purpose no
doubt will expend many thousands of dollars
: in an effort to secure us natural gas in suf-
fcient quantities to be of benefit to the COM
munity. 1t is the wish of all that their efforts
may be crowned with success, hut the chances
are that much money will be expended with
out securing the object sought after. John
M. Lemon, a well-known lawyer of Clyde,
writes to the paper of his place in the follow
ing sensible strain:
In Fremont the whole thing is a failure
practically; and, indeed, it is not a success in
one place out of five where wells have been
lures is not only idle, but borders pretty
closely on being wicked. The truth is, that
there are in this country to-day great many
more manufacturing establishments of all
kinds than can be made profitable, or even to
live. There is no branch of industry, so far
as manufacturing goes, that is not overdone.
The people of Clyde have had very severe
lesson with their Organ Factory; the people
of Fremont have had their Harvester Works;
the people of Bellevue have had their Power
Hall; the people of Sandusky their Steel
Works. All of these, and many more that !
might name and not go twenty miles away,
have been total failures, have wrecked many
men who were in comfortable circumstances,
and in many ways caused great loss and suf-
fering. The sober truth may as we'll be
spoken; that is, that all small communities
can not be great towns, cannot be manufac-
turing centers, nor more than simply decently
comfortable and small business places, If q
man has capitaland chooses to go into bust
ness on his own hook, other people may well
hold their peace; but what object to, is the
effort made by those who have not capital to
dictate or advise to others what they shall do,
So far as cheap fuel is concerned, take
Fremont as guide and it would take twenty
such wells as they have there to furnish gas
enough to keep the people of q village like
Clyde warm during fall and spring weather
and about five hundred for cold winter wealth.
er, at a cost of $4,000 each.