Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1922-01-18
DRILL FOR OIL
HERE VERY SOON
Decorah Oil and Gas Co. Getting
Ready to Drill. Many People
Are Buying Stock.
DERRICK HAS
BEEN ERECTED
Oil Recently Struck i'm Texas Town
And Town is Feeling Effects
OF the Developments.

The Decorah Oil and Gas Co. is
progressing nicely with its prelimin-
airy work in getting ready to drill
for oil. The big derrick has been
erected, but a few preliminaries are
uncompleted but will soon be COM
plete and actual drilling operations
will commence.
A great many of our people have
purchased stock, but there is still
a small amount of stock to be dis
posed of, and the company will
gladly explain the proposition ,to
any prospective purchaser by call
at their offices in the Winneshiek
hotel block.
What the striking of oil means to
town can readily be seen by the
following from a Texas town where
oil was recently struck:
Overnight a tented city arose.
From an apparently sleepy little
town of 5000 population in October
1921, where old settlers farmed for
a living and eked out a bare exist
ence from their lands; where they
rode COW horses to town" and hitch
ed them to hitching post and where
even the Town Hall bell had not
tolled for years because of the cobb
webs and birds nests--to a bustling
city of 10000 people, and all in a
few months, this is the recent record
of Mexia, an old time Texas town,
which is feeling the effects of one
Of the numerous oil developments in
10 southwest.
The population now consists of an
assortment of oil field followers and
thousands of men and women seek
ing employment. leaving an old
field for the new, coming on trains
from all parts of the United States,
or in wagons, trucks or horseback"
some bringing their assortment of
household goods and camping out
fits and finding from ten to a humid
red men for every job, and no place
available for spending the night.
Consequently because of the ex-
orbitant prices charged for a room,
if one were lucky enough TO secure
one, hundreds of men, favored by
the long continued mild winter are
sleeping on the grass along railroad
tracks, public parking places and
in fact, any where they could. Over
night a bed in a tent marked "A
place to flop" scared from so cents
a night to SO. A night in a crude
plank structure where one didn't
know his bed-follow or the hundreds
of others in the the single room cost
,S5. Prices charged the few who were
lucky enough to get in one of the
few private dwellings vary, but all
were high enough to satisfy the
most fastidious millionaire. But
men are glad to get bed at any
price and many could not find shelf
er except that provided by nature.
Rail traffic jumped hundreds Of
per cent. There are two trunk lines,
the Houston & Texas Central and
the Trinity and Brazos Valley, lead
ing through here and passenger traf-
fic is very heavy while freight trains
are frequently seen running three
abreast, so heavy is the demand for
oil machinery. One road is said to
have spent 100000 in enlarging its
facilities.
The water situation is not alto
gether what could be desired. The
water was procured from a spring a
short distance from town, and al
though good water, it was nearly as
high in price as gasoline. Some oil
man, however, came along and drill
ed an oil well right side by side
with the spring, tapping the water
supply so badly that lately it has
been entirely stopped. Water wagons
have been requisitioned and al
though they are busy all day and
night hauling water to homes, res
taurants and improvised "bunking"
houses, they are not sufficient to
cover the field.
Consequently the town has been
declared Every unsanitary" by citi-
zens in heated arguments at the
meetings of the city council, which
is making every effort to remedy
the situation. Mayor Riddle inform
Continued on page g.