USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > Waterbury > The town and city of Waterbury, Connecticut, from the aboriginal period to the year eighteen hundred and ninety-five. Volume II > Part 15
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I4I
THE RECORD OF HEALTH AND GOOD ORDER.
four, the increase in the second five years over the first would have been only nine. One is curious to know how this abnormal increase of criminal cases in 1891 can be accounted for, but no sufficient explanation presents itself. It appears, however, that during 1890 the arrests for drunkenness numbered 686, and for assault and breach of the peace 288, making a total of 974, and that in 1891 the arrests for drunkenness were 844 and for assault and breach of the peace 345-a total of 1189. The increase in 1891 was 361, and of this total 215 were cases of intoxication and the kind of crimes naturally connected therewith. When we ask what condi- tion of things existed in 1891, in the field of reformatory effort or elsewhere, which might explain this outbreak of intemperance and its resultant evils, we discover no answer. But as regards the main drift of things during the last decade as revealed in such statistics as these, we have reason for congratulation. The inference seems inevitable that the morality of the people-at any rate of the class most exposed to arrest-has been gradually improving; and when it is added that the arrests in 1892 were fewer by seventy-five than in 1891, the arrests in 1893 fewer by seventy-three than in 1892, and the arrests for the first six months of 1894 fewer in proportion than for 1893, we may feel quite certain that improvement rather than deterioration is going on. No one who is familiar with the work- ings of the police department, and aware of its increasing efficiency, can attribute the relative diminution in the number of arrests to negligence on the part of its servants; neither can it be explained by what we have called the caprices of prosecuting attorneys. We point, rather, to the fact that Waterbury is a very busy city, that the drinking saloons are not as largely as in some places centres of dissipation, and that the schools and churches which come closest to the classes from which the largest proportion of arrests is made, have a decided preventative and salutary influence upon them.
WILLIAM LAIRD.
William Laird was born at Paisley, Scotland, January 13, 1820. His parents removed to Canada when he was an infant, and settled in Quebec. He lived in Quebec until he was ten years of age, then removed to Clinton, N. J. After a few years spent in different places, he came to Waterbury, February 10, 1845. He was a weaver by trade, but afterward became a burnisher.
He entered upon police service August 2, 1864. He was at that time the only policeman in the city, but was not the first, Fredus Ladd having preceded him. He used to go on duty at six o'clock
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HISTORY OF WATERBURY.
in the evening and remain until midnight. He was a member of the police force for about twenty years, but not consecutively. In 1874 he was elected to the office of chief engineer of the fire depart- ment, and remained in that position until 1876, when he resigned it to become chief of police.
On March 24, 1844, he married Mary Kitrage Taylor, of Norwich, and had two children, Mary Josephine and William Henry Claudius. She died June 7, 1863, and on January 3, 1864, he married Maria Louisa Peck, of Waterbury, whose children are Cora and Charles Carlton.
GEORGE M. EGAN.
George M. Egan was born in Ireland, October 28, 1842. He emigrated with his parents to America in 1853, and settled in Branford, where he attended the "Paved street" district school. He came to Waterbury in 1860 as an apprentice to A. B. Simons, but removed in the autumn to Fair Haven. In May following, he enlisted among the three-months men in the Third Connecticut infantry, Company C, and was present in the first battle of Bull Run. On his nineteenth birthday he enlisted again, this time in the First battalion (afterward the First regiment) of Connecticut cavalry, and served for three years and nine months. After the war he resumed the trade of carpenter, and worked in Meriden, New York and Bridgeport. In June, 1869, he came to Waterbury and entered the employ of John Dutton and afterward of Tracy & Eldridge. He was appointed a patrolman on the police force on April 8, 1876, and was elected chief of police on February 19, 1884.
On October 28, 1868, he married Mary Garde, of Cheshire, by whom he has four children.
CHAPTER X.
LIGHTING THE CITY-FIRST GAS PIPES-THE WATERBURY GASLIGHT COMPANY-WORKS RECONSTRUCTED IN 1883-WATER GAS-LEASE OF 1884-GAS FOR FUEL-MODERN MANAGEMENT-ELECTRIC LIGHT- ING IN 1885-A STATION BUILT-RAPID GROWTH-LIGHTS IN 1894 -THE WATERBURY HORSE RAILROAD COMPANY-HORSE CARS FROM 1886 TO 1894-THE WATERBURY TRACTION COMPANY-ELECTRIC CARS, JULY, 1894-THE MESSENGER SERVICE-NIGHT WATCH SYSTEM -TELEPHONES IN 1877-TELEPHONES FOR BUSINESS, 1878-CHANGES IN CONTROLLING ORGANIZATIONS-BIOGRAPHIES.
I N the introductory chapter of this second volume we called attention to a twofold development of organizations, which can be traced in the life of Waterbury, as in the life of other modern municipalities : first, the development of organized depart- ments in the city government itself; secondly, the establishment of corporations independent of the government for meeting the common wants of the people. These private corporations, it was said, are of two kinds,-those that are strictly local in their scope, and those that provide communication by rail or express or post or telegraph between Waterbury and the rest of the world. We take up first the work of those corporations which belong to the former class-leaving banks and insurance companies for a chapter by themselves-and afterward pass on to those whose field is larger, bringing us into connection with the world without. The present chapter is accordingly devoted to the history (1) of artificial illumi- nation, (2) of the horse railway and the electric railway which has succeeded it, (3) of the messenger service, and (4) of the telephone.
THE LIGHTING OF THE CITY.
It has been already mentioned, in the history of the borough (see page 21), that in February, 1852, a special borough meeting was held to consider "the propriety of granting to Thomas G. Baxter, of New York," who was a representative of Charles Illius, " the exclusive privilege of laying gas pipes through the streets, for supplying the inhabitants with gas light." Permission was granted, and a committee "of five respectable persons" was appointed to make a contract with Mr. Baxter as to "the manner
144
HISTORY OF WATERBURY.
and condition for laying gas pipes through the streets." The manufacture of illuminating gas was begun by Illius the same year, and a small factory was built near the Naugatuck railroad, on ground now occupied by the establishment of Randolph & Clowes. The works were seriously damaged by a freshet which occurred a year or two later.
In 1854 a charter for a gas company was applied for and secured, with the following persons as corporators: Abram Ives, William Brown, Green Kendrick, Henry F. Fish, Julius Hotchkiss, Norton J. Buel, Charles Benedict, Henry Cartwright, Samuel G. Blackman. These men, under the name of the Waterbury Gaslight company, were authorized to manufacture and sell gas for illuminating and other purposes. The company thus formed succeeded to the busi- ness already started, and built on the site of the present gas works a retort house, a purifying house, a gas holder, etc .- buildings which answered the purposes for which they were intended for nearly twenty years.
The organization of the Gaslight company took place within a year after the incorporation of the city ; so that the city was from the first one of its regular patrons. The relations between the two were always friendly, but from time to time definite contracts were made, embracing various details and covering definite periods. By the contract made, for example, in December, 1879, the com- pany agreed to furnish gas for the city lamps already erected and those to be erected hereafter ; to keep ten of these lamps burning through the night at such points as should be designated by the chief of police ; to keep them in good condition, to light and extin- guish them, and to furnish gas for the lighting of public buildings. The city in return agreed to employ this company exclusively during the space of three years.
About the time just referred to a rival candidate for the public patronage presented itself in a new concern known as the Citizens' Gaslight company, organized with reference to producing gas from oil and air. It established its works on land lying west of Benedict street and near to the Naugatuck railroad, and secured permission to lay pipes through the streets. In April 1884 this new concern was bought out by the Waterbury Gaslight company, for a considerable sum of money; but in the meantime the works of the older company had been entirely reconstructed and the Lowe water-gas process introduced-a process by which gas of a superior quality is produced at the same cost as coal gas.
This work of reconstruction was carried on by a new organ- ization, whose headquarters were in the city of Philadelphia,
I45
MEANS OF INTERCOMMUNICATION.
known as the United Gas Improvement company. This company was organized in 1882 to "buy, build and lease " gas works in all parts of the country. Having remodeled the Waterbury works and introduced the water-gas apparatus, the " United " organization made proposals to the Waterbury company to lease their works for a term of years. The lease, which was to run ten years, dated from April 1, 1884.
After the United Gas Improvement company took charge of the business, the gas works erected by the Citizens' Gaslight com- pany were discontinued, and have ceased to exist. The works of the older company, however, have been much enlarged and the bus- iness extended in various directions. New districts have been supplied with gas as the city has grown. Many of the old main pipes have been replaced by new mains of larger capacity. Prev- ious to 1892 the works included two gas holders, the joint capacity of which was 100,000 cubic feet, but in that year a gas holder was put in, the capacity of which is 300,000 cubic feet. By these exten- sions and improvements the United Gas Improvement company has been enabled to meet the steadily increasing demand for gas light and at the same time the new demand developed in recent years for gas for household cooking and heating.
Notwithstanding the introduction of electric lighting, and its adoption, not only in the streets of the city but in most of the fac- tories and in many stores and dwelling houses, the consumption of gas has steadily increased from year to year. About 1888 the United Gas Improvement company began to sell gas stoves for heating and cooking purposes. The increased consumption is due in part, but not largely, to these new uses to which gas is now being applied .*
Although the entire management of the business is in the hands of the United Gas Improvement company, the Waterbury Gas- light company still owns the property and continues its organized existence. At the annual meeting in 1893 George E. Terry was elected to succeed J. S. Pierson as president, and F. B. Field was re-elected secretary and treasurer. The president (in 1894) of the United Gas Improvement company is Thomas Dolan; the general manager, Samuel T. Bodine; the secretary and treasurer, Edward C. Lee. The Waterbury agent of the company and the superin- tendent of the entire local business is Edwin H. Williams, who was sent here in 1883, at the time of the reconstruction of the gas works. Mr. Williams was born at East Orange, N. J., January 31,
*At this date, 1894, a few street lamps are still kept burning, including four at the soldiers' monument.
10
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HISTORY OF WATERBURY.
1859, but spent most of his early life in Paterson. He became connected with the Paterson Gas company in 1874, and continued in that relation until transferred to Waterbury. H. F. McRey- nolds, cashier of the United Gas Improvement company, has been connected with the business since April, 1884.
ELECTRIC LIGHTS.
The use of electricity for lighting was introduced in Waterbury in 1884, by a company organized on November 26 of the previous year for this purpose. The organization was named at first "The Con- necticut District Telegraph and Electric company," but it never had a district telegraph in Waterbury, and the name was changed by act of the legislature to "Connecticut Electric company." Its first officers were D. S. Plume, president; A. M. Young, secretary; E. T. Turner, treasurer, and A. O. Shepardson, manager. After Mr. Turner's death, J. Richard Smith was made treasurer. The corporation was chartered to furnish electric lighting and electric power in the town of Waterbury.
The first plant of the company was a frame building on Bank street, afterward used as a pattern shop by the Farrel Foundry company. The first lighting of the streets of the city by electricity took place in June, 1885, at which time thirty lamps were set up. In 1890 an electric station was erected-a substantial brick build- ing, measuring 250 feet by 50, equipped with four compound con- densing engines, with a total steam power of 1300 horse. This com- pany was the first in Connecticut to adopt condensing engines of slow speed for electric purposes. The result of the experiment was to demonstrate that they were superior to engines of high speed not only as regards economy, but in safety, reliability and evenness of service, and thus other electric companies throughout the state were led to adopt them.
In 1893, about two hundred miles of wire had been placed in and about the city, and the lines were being rapidly extended. In an account published that year, it was said:
The Thomson-Houston and the Edison system are both used, and the plant has a capacity of 400 arc lights and 5000 incandescent lights. In the matter of electric lighting and electric power, few cities are as well provided as Waterbury is. The electric station of the Connecticut Electric company is said to be the finest in New England.
The number of lamps used in lighting the city streets at the pres- ent time (1894) is 175. The company has in addition about 175 arc lights in stores and mills, and about 7000 incandescent lights in stores and dwelling houses.
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MEANS OF INTERCOMMUNICATION.
In 1893 the legislature at its January session amended the charter of the Waterbury Horse Railroad company and changed its name to the Waterbury Traction company. The Traction com- pany immediately bought out the stockholders of the Connecticut Electric company, which thus passed out of existence, and from that time the electric lighting of the city and town has been man- aged by the new organization.
THE CITY RAILWAY.
The projectors of the Waterbury Horse railroad, Edward T. Turner and Charles R. Baldwin, first became interested in the sub- ject in 1881. In 1882, upon application to the legislature, a charter was granted to form a Horse Railroad company, with the following incorporators : Charles R. Baldwin, Augustus S. Chase, David B. Hamilton, Edward C. Lewis, Guernsey S. Parsons, David S Plume, J. Richard Smith, George E. Terry and Edward T. Turner. At the meeting for organization, D. S. Plume was elected president, C. R. Baldwin secretary, and E. T. Turner treasurer.
The charter of the company was amended in February, 1884, but work was not begun until nearly two years later. On May 4, 1886, rails were laid on Bank street for the first horse railroad in Water- bury, and on November 3, 1886, the Waterbury Horse railroad was thrown open to the public. Six miles of track were laid, and sta- bles were established on West Main street. On February 7, 1887, the cars began running on Sundays. From November, 1886, to July, 1894-a period of nearly eight years-horse cars were regu- larly run, except when interrupted by heavy snow storms, and dur- ing that time only one fatal accident occurred, and for this the com- pany was not in any way responsible.
It has already been mentioned that the legislature at its Janu- ary session, 1893, amended the charter of the Waterbury Horse Railroad company, changing the name to Waterbury Traction com- pany, authorizing it to use electricity or any other motive power except steam, to extend its tracks in various directions, to manu- facture and sell electricity for any lawful purpose within the towns of Waterbury and Naugatuck, and to increase its capital stock to one million dollars. This action prepared the way not only for the absorption of the Connecticut Electric company and the control of the electric lighting of the city, but for the adoption of electricity as a motive power for the city railway instead of horses.
The Traction company proposed to introduce the trolley system in the propulsion of its cars, and applied to the Common Council
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HISTORY OF WATERBURY.
for permission to use it. A marked difference of opinion on this subject revealed itself, and an earnest discussion was carried on in the newspapers and elsewhere; but at length the petition of the company was granted, on February 20, 1893, in the following terms :
Voted, That the Waterbury Horse Railroad company be and hereby is permit- ted to propel its cars by electricity, using the device known as the single trolley system, upon the following conditions :
First, That the rate of fare for all school children of the town of Waterbury riding to and from the schools which they attend, shall be, for one continuous ride on any part of its lines, three cents.
Second, That on and after January 1, 1900, the said Waterbury Horse Railroad company shall pay to the city of Waterbury two per cent of its gross receipts per year.
The power house of the Waterbury Traction company was built on Bank street, as an extension of the old electric station. Work was commenced on the machinery and foundation of the building, March 1, 1894. The power plant, which occupies about 65 by 180 feet on the south side of the station, consists of two cross compound condensing engines, each having a high pressure cylinder sixteen inches in diameter, and a thirty inch low pressure cylinder, and a common stroke of forty-eight inches. The speed is eighty revolu- tions per minute, and the boiler pressure about 125 pounds, or 400 horse power each. The street railway generators generate currents for the railroad only, being connected with no other line.
Electric cars began running in Waterbury on July 28, 1894. Five cars were run that day at intervals of fifteen minutes, from Centre square to Naugatuck. The West Main street route was furnished with electricity on August 3, East Main street on August 22, and North Main street on September I.
The officers of the Waterbury Traction company elected in 1894 are as follows: President, D. S. Plume; treasurer, J. Richard Smith; secretary, A. M. Young. These, with George E. Terry, constitute the board of directors.
THE MESSENGER SERVICE.
The Waterbury District Telegraph company was organized on July 6, 1883, with G. S. Parsons as president, E. T. Turner vice-pres- ident, F. J. Brown secretary and treasurer, and W. A. Sawyer super- intendent. The capital stock was $50,000, which was reduced on September 30, 1884, to $5000. This company was established to con- duct a telegraph office, a district messenger service, a night-watch system and burglar alarms. The night-watch and messenger ser- vices have from the first constituted the principal business, the
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MEANS OF INTERCOMMUNICATION.
night-watch system being used by three-fourths of the manufac- turers of Waterbury. This system, as established in any factory, consists of ordinary messenger boxes placed in different parts of the factory, all of which are connected with the office of the Dis- trict Telegraph company, and each of which the night-watchman in making his rounds is expected to pull. A memorandum is kept at the office of the time at which each box should be pulled, and if a watchman is late a messenger is immediately sent to discover the trouble. A report of the time at which each box was rung dur- ing the night is sent to the office of the factory every morning.
This company, which has been prosperous from its organization, was absorbed in July, 1890, by the American District Telegraph and Messenger company, a corporation operating all district tele- graph offices in the state. The home office of the company is at Bridgeport and its present officers are as follows: President, W. C. Humstone; treasurer, C. H. Erwin; assistant treasurer and secre- tary, M. R. Hultz; local manager, W. A. Sawyer.
THE TELEPHONE IN WATERBURY.
The first telephone line in Waterbury was built in 1877. It connected the office of Dr. C. S. Rodman, in the building of the Waterbury National bank, with his residence, which was at that time on Prospect street near Hillside avenue. On Thanksgiving day, 1877, a telephone line was put up which extended from the residence of Leroy S. White on Buckingham street to that of George E. Terry, and thence to that of Homer F. Bassett, on Cooke street. The instruments used were the same as those of the Bell telephone now in use, but were of home manufacture.
The telephone was introduced for business purposes in 1878, by a company which was organized for an entirely different object. This was the Waterbury Automatic Signal Telegraph company, and was organized May 2, 1878,
To build, construct, maintain and work for hire, public and private fire and burglar alarm signal and other telegraphs in Waterbury and adjoining towns, and to use therein the several inventions and improvements secured to William B. Watkins by letters patent of the United States.
The organization was accomplished through the efforts of Gerrit S. Glen, of Rochester, N. Y., whose aim was to introduce the Wat- kins fire alarm system as a private alarm system for factories. The directors of the company were Charles Benedict, F. J. Kingsbury, D. S. Plume, J. S. Elton and Julius Ives, Jr. Mr. Elton was elected
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HISTORY OF WATERBURY.
president, and H. L. Wade secretary and treasurer. On June 3, rooms were leased at 14 North Main street, a contract was made with the Western Union Telegraph company for the use of their telegraph poles, and Alden M. Young was elected superintendent and manager of the business. Six months later Mr. Plume was appointed a committee to confer with the city authorities with refer- ence to the adoption of a fire alarm system by the city, and to lay before them some definite proposal. (See Chapter VIII, page 118.)
In the meantime attention had been turned to the telephone as an invention of practical value. Mr. Glen had heard of experi- ments with the Bell telephone made in Boston, and a pair of tele- phones was purchased by the new company, and a line was run from the rooms on North Main street to the office of the Waterbury Clock company and to the offices of the Benedict & Burnham and Scovill Manufacturing companies. By June, 1878, there was a num- ber of telephones in successful operation. On December 30 of the same year, Messrs. Wade and Young were authorized to make such changes in the rates of rental for telephones as they might deem to be for the best interests of the company, and they reported the following :
In Waterbury, one telephone $6 quarterly, $22 annually. two telephones $8
$30
In Naugatuck,
one telephone $7 66
$25
two telephones $9
$33
In June, 1879, Mr. Plume, who had been elected president, and Mr. Wade, the secretary, were instructed to make a contract with the Bell Telephone company to use and lease Bell telephones in such territory as they should think it best to occupy. At this time the Waterbury company could have secured the right to introduce the telephone over a large territory, had they desired to venture into the work more extensively.
In 1879 the telephone office began to be kept open all night. In 1880 the place of the office was changed to the second floor of the Manufacturers' Bank building, where it remained until 1888. According to a report made by Mr. Young as secretary, April 1, 1881, the number of miles of wire in use at that time for exchange purposes was 117, and for fire alarm purposes twenty-five. The whole number of subscribers was 220, and the whole number of poles in use was 263.
In the summer of 1881 the Waterbury company, which under its original name had developed an entirely new business, was bought out and absorbed by the Connecticut Telephone company, an organ-
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MEANS OF INTERCOMMUNICATION.
ization whose headquarters were in New Haven, and which was aiming at a consolidation of all the local companies of the state. This became afterward the Southern New England Telephone com- pany, which controls the telephone system of Connecticut.
In November, 1888, Mr. Young, who had become specially inter- ested in electric lighting and electric power, resigned the position of manager which he had continued to hold under changing admin- istrations, and was succeeded by Walter N. Sperry of Derby.
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