Saint Marys and Auglaize County Welfare Department had been geared to help the "poor people in time of need." Suddenly they found that hundreds of families were in poverty, and only pride was keeping hundreds of others from accepting charity. Older folks were most severely hurt as their life savings dwindled away. Young men roamed the countryside in search of some kind of employment. And again the huge deliquency in taxes cut deeply into the funds available to aid the needy.

The election in 1932 of Franklin D. Roosevelt and his promised "New Deal" proved to be the turning point. Drastic, dramatic emergency action was called for--and it came.

Banking reforms closed many banks, but restored confidence in those remaining. The famous N. R. A. or National Recovery Administration set about to establish fair-trade practices for industry with a minimum wage base that protected the worker from exploitation.

The Agriculture Adjustment Act bought up the glut of farm products from the market place and put vast quantities into storage as an "Ever Normal Granary." To prevent further over production of farm produce, quotas were established with bonuses paid to those who held acres from farming and penalities to those who failed to do so.

The W. P. A. or Works Progress Administration was quickly formed to break the huge unemployment rolls. Vast sums of money were spent to get men off of welfare and into some kind of employment. Projects controlled by city, county and state governments appeared from coast to coast. Through W. P. A., parks were created or restored, streets paved or repaired, bridges were built as were School houses, swimming pools and stadiums. Flood control projects ranged from soil erosion on a small farm to the harnessing of whole river systems for power, navigation and recreation. In Saint Marys, miles of sidewalk and curbing were installed, bridges built, parks restored, school facilities improved, sanitation works extended as this city started its own route to recovery.

Out at the lake, a separate division called the Citizens Conservation Corps or C. C. C. was made up of from 100 to 300 single unemployed men. Military type barracks sheltered this crew as they worked on jobs around the State Parks. Their principal activity was at the State Fish Hatchery where acres and acres of ponds were created to make this facility the largest of its type in the world.

Pay checks from W. P. A. began to pump life blood into the economy as people began to regain confidence in America and in themselves. Now they felt that they could afford not only the necessities of life as food and clothing and home repairs, but now they could see the possibility of an electric icebox, a

wringer washer and the miracle of its day-sliced bread ! No longer were people lined up for surplus foods and the lines for employment changed to factory applications. Human nature, being what it is, housewives were soon complaining about having to pay 24 cents for hamburger !

Toward the end of the decade of the thirties, there were a lot of secret and confidential meetings taking place. Surveys of various sorts were being made, and rumors of all kinds went through the entire community. At long last the news could be held no longer. The story broke! Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company was coming ! A whole new factory was to be built on the McKee farm at the south end of Wayne Street. They would employ as many as 200 people if that many could be found- The surveys that had been conducted had convinced Goodyear that a good stable work force was available here, along with a progressive school system, good sanitation, a plentiful supply of water for use and recreation and not the least of all was transportation. As old Charlie Murray had stated over a hundred years before, "Transportation-you gotta have." Good adequate transportation was one of the key factors in the selection of Saint Marys as a site for their new plant by this fine company.