One resident is reported to have kept his heating stoves on full blast all summer long, all doors and windows wide open just because he "was paying for it and might just as well use it."

The boom that was to follow the discovery of oil in the Saint Marys field gave both short term and long term benefits. Immediate good results were bestowed on many who had been struggling to make a decent living from their small farms. Typical was a poor widow lady, a Mrs. MacMahan who went overnight from extreme poverty to fancy silks, a brass trimmed carriage and only the very best for her children who only a month before had little to eat but cornmeal mush. Charlie McIntire was another fortunate one, while Sam Scott recorded an income of $100 per day but was considered a "poor devil"' by Mr. Knopf who was collecting around $5,000 every month. Bob Gordon, who had "a few options" did well enough to carry him financially through a panic in the grain market and an embezzlement by a bonded friend.

In the long run, however, Saint Marys took its prosperity in stride. The oil boom brought many new people to town, but as additional oil fields were opened up in Indiana, Illinois, Oklahoma and Texas, many moved on in hopes of someday striking it rich for themselves. Many others stayed on in Saint Marys —their names are far too numerous to list here—because they found here a good place to work, live and raise a family. In Saint Marys they found Home.

The oil fields required many things. One was a special kind of engine, powered by natural gas to pump the wells. This need was supplied by the Buehler Machine Shops, The Boos Engine co. (J. D. Anderson, Supt.), Saint Marys Machine Company. Today this industry survives as the Saint Marys Foundry Company. The need for tools, supplies and equipment for the oil fields lead to the Jaspersen Supply Co., which still serves the community.

Another direct result of the oil and gas discovery was the growth of industry using these fuels. The Western Straw Board co. Iocated a huge paper mill using the plentiful supply of gas, water and in those days a constant source of good quality wheat straw from which they made their product.

The Saint Marys Woolen Mills, although founded quite a few years earlier, changed from water power to steam. Under the leadership of the Althausen and Herzing families, this mill became the world's largest producer of high quality blankets. Unfortunately, progress has a way of changing old reliable products. Better heating of homes in America cut heavily into the demand for woolen blankets. The invention of the electric blanket further reduced the need. The famous Saint Marys Woolen Mills yielded to the times only a few years ago. The name and the trade mark are still represented on the market by the Fielderest Company.

Along the same lines of progress creating change is the fate of the Spoke Works. At one time this local industry was the largest wood wheel makers in the world. With the growth of the automobile, it seemed that America would be on wheels, and Saint Marys would supply those wheels. The development of steel wheels for cars was just too much. By the late '20's this largest employer was looking for new products.

As the Oil Boom created industry, industry in turn created skills. From the early beginnings of blacksmithing and carriage shops came the engine companies and foundry. In turn, then, the presence of a labor force skilled in metalworking, brought a succession of plants in that field. The Heisler Company and the Quick-Work Company became the antecedents of todays Parker-Hannifin Plant manufacturing a variety of metal equipment. The Cigar Factory and the Woolen Mill both relied heavily on women employees. Although neither is on today's scene, they each endowed the city with a female work force that represents one of the community's strongest assets.