The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1902-11-25
Am sterda m Grows from
Sleepy Village to
Busting Place.
OIL HAS also been STRUCK
IN the same NEICHBORHO0D
Bank Has Been Orsanized and
New Business Places Open
ed--Property In Hands
Of Railroad.
By MILES r. Upton.

BY MILES r. Upton.
THE history Of boom towns has ol
late years been confined to To-
calities of the far west and at this
time boom towns in the east are ratnel
scarce. There is, however, secuon
of country in the western part OF Jei-
ferson county, Ohio, that is certainly
entitled to some notice on account ol
certain changes and developments
which have taken place there within
the past six months.
The country in question is very hlliy
and before capitalists turned their al
tention to the territory 1t was remote
from any shipping point or raliroaa
Ohio and Pennsylvania capitalists, al
ter investigating the the territory, con-
cluded to drill for coal and their tests
warranted them splendid returns on
their investments. They were not
long in buying and leasing all the
territory in Springfield, Salem, wayne
and Smithfield townships in Jeherson
county.
Their net consideration was the Sc
curing of an outlet for their coal and
the result of their work has been the
establishing and building of new
railroad from Bergholz to Piney Fork
in Jefferson county, and by January
1. 1903, the line will be completed to
Dillonvale, a small mining town on
the Wheeling and Lake Erie railway.
This new line is southern extension
of the Lake Erie, Alliance and South
ern branch line, which extends from
Minerva through the northern part OF
Carroll county to Bergholz. The new
line is known as the Lake Erie, ALI
ance and Wheeling railroad, and is
practically owned and controlled by
what is known as the Lake Erie, AL
lance and Wheeling coal company.
When the new line is completed to
Dillonvale it's trackage will aggregate
155 miles and it will cross seven
trunk lines--the Lake Shore, Nickel
Plate, Erie, B. and O., Pennsylvania,
W. and l.. E., and the proposed new
Wabash line. The Lake Erie, Alliance
and Wheeling coal company owns o.
600 acres of coal land along the line
Of the new railway and 1000 acres OF
this have been leased by the Jeffer-
son Coal company and the two larger
companies have leased parcels of the
territory to different companies, thus
aside from the holdings of the above
mentioned companies the Ohio and
Pennsylvania Coal company and the
Eastern Ohio Coal company control
territory which will aggregate 5000
acres. According to estimates based
upon investigations made by reliable
parties 1t will take 1000 years to ex-
haust this coal field by taking out 50
carloads day. In fact it is practical
ly inexhaustible and the people who
sneeringly called the railroad "the
two streaks of rust" will see it develop
into one of the best paying railroads in
Ohio.
While the larger coal companies
were looking after and developing this
territory the smaller fry capitalists
were busy, gathering in all the terri
tory possible by lease in order to be
able to scalp their leases to the large
corporations for handsome bonuses.
Capitalists Of all kinds and even min
listers OF the gospel were engaged in
the scalping business and some of
them are now wiser men, even If they
are not richer by their speculations.
Some capitalists have small holdings
In the territory which they would ba
glad to part with at any time for q
nominal sum In order to escape the
responsibility of paying rental on their
territory, but the probabilities are
that they will either have to operate
their own territory or give 1t into the
hands of more reliable and energetic
persons
One man who had 1000 acres Of ter
ritory in the vicinity of Amsterdam
was successful in scalping his leases
for IS per acre, which netted him the
tidy sum OF $4,000. The gentleman In
question is l.. d. Allen, OF Amster-
dam, and aside from the money re-
ceived on his leases he received S3.-
500 from the railway company as com
pensation for the right of way through
his land. This is only one of the MANY
persons who have become compare
lively wealthy through the advent of
the coal operators.
Amsterdam is also the center of a
very good oil pool and at present
there are ten producing wells in the
vicinity OF Amsterdam and two more
are being drilled in different parts OF
the territory. "Hi' Snyder, the IA
nous oil smeller," has located sew
eral Of the wells and his success in
that line has caused people to think
him wonder" He was instrumental
In the discovery of the Scio oil field
ana scores OF citizens In the little col,
.ese town In Harrison county owe
M. Snyder.
II might be Of interest to mention
some Of the peculiarities and possi-
biltties Of Amsterdam since IL now
bias far to become enc OF tbs Largest