c Newton's invention did not long survive life's
rude vicissitudes.

Men were crowding into the oil country, lured by the tales of enormous
fortunes and rich finds. No one could say what you might discover by
digging down into the ground. One man claimed to have struck a vein of
oyster-soup. And anyway he sold oyster-soup over his counter at a dollar
a dish. Gas-gushers were lighted and burned without compunction as to
waste. Gamblers were working overtime.

The first railroad into the oil country came from Pittsburgh, and was
met with fight and defiance by the Amalgamated Brotherhood of Teamsters,
who saw their business fading away. The farmers, too, opposed the
railroad, as they figured that it meant an end to horse-flesh, except as
an edible. But the opposition wore itself out, and the railroads
replaced its ripped-up rails, and did business on its grass-grown right
of way and streaks of rust.

The second railroad came from Cleveland, which city was a natural
distributing-point to the vast consuming territory lying along the Great
Lakes.

John D. Rockefeller, a clerk in a Cleveland commission-house, became
interested in the oil business in Eighteen Hundred Sixty-two. He was
then twenty-three years old, and had five hundred dollars in the bank
saved from his wages. He put this money into a refining-still at
Titusville, with several partners, all workingmen. John peddled the
product and became expert on "pure white" and "straw color." He also saw
that a part of the so-called refuse could be re-treated and made into a
product that was valuable for lubricating purposes.

Other men about the same time made a like discovery. It was soon found
that refined oil could not be shipped with profit; the barrels often had
to be left in the sunshine or exposed to the weather, and transportation
facilities were very uncertain. The still was then torn out and removed
to Cleveland.

The oil business was a most hazardous one. Crude oil had dropped from
twenty dollars a barrel to fifty cents a barrel. No one knew the value
of oil, for no one knew the extent of the supply. An empty barrel was
worth two dollars, and the crude oil to fill it could be bought for less
than half that.

* * * * *

At twenty-one, two voices were calling to Henry Rogers: love of country
and business ambition. The war was coming and New England patriotism
burned deep in the Rogers heart. But this young man knew that he had