USA > Iowa > Polk County > Des Moines > Des Moines, the pioneer of municipal progress and reform of the middle West, together with the history of Polk County, Iowa, the largest, most populous and most prosperous county in the state of Iowa; Volume I > Part 49
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5 Ralph Hale, Archie Hale, Grant Jordan and W. P. Guiberson constituted the quartet.
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1897-YEAR OF WATERWORKS REORGANIZATION AGITATION.
January 7, 1897, was a day of sadness to the surviving pioneers of Des Moines, for on that day died Col. Isaac W. Griffith.6 He was 77 years of age, and had been in feeble health for sometime. He was a sergeant in the Mexican War, and in the Battle of Cherubusco was so severely wounded as to lose his right arm. He was representative from Lee county in the Second General Assembly. In 1858, President Buchanan appointed him Register of the Land Office, in Des Moines, which office he held until President Lincoln appointed his successor. In '61 he was elected sheriff of Polk county. He held the position two terms, when he was appointed deputy marshal of the western district of Tennessee. In '68 he returned to Des Moines. He afterwards held several posi- tions of trust in Polk county, and served on the staff of Governors Merrill, Kirk- wood and Newbold, respectively. The Colonel was accorded the honor of a mili- tary funeral. In the procession that followed his remains to the grave were Com- pany H, I. N. G. ; members of the Grand Army, the Odd Fellows, the Tippecanoe Club and the Early Settlers' Association. On his casket his comrade of the Mexican War, Judge Given, placed a piece of the flag he had followed in the battle of Cherubusco.
An impeachment resolution introduced in the city council January II, by Alderman Miller was the surprise of the day, the object of the unusual proceed- ings being Judge Frank Phillips, accused of withholding moneys belonging to the city. An expert examination of the books afterward resulted in the with- drawal of the charge and the exoneration of the accused.
The National Association of Cooperative Mutual Insurance Companies was the next national body to find Des Moines. It was in session February 2-3. One of the features of the convention was the presence of Hon. James Wilson, then as now Secretary of Agriculture. Mr. Wilson spoke of the growth of cooperative insurance and its excellent effects. Governor Drake also addressed the associa- tion.
The failure of the firm of Redhead, Norton & Lathrop, wholesale and re- tail dealers in books, stationery and wall-paper, was the depressing news with which the local business world entered upon the year 1892. Later, came a re- organization of the business under the firm name of Lathrop & Rhoads, but under conditions which were not easy to meet, with the result that on the second of January, 1896, the Lathrop-Rhoads Company that had bravely struggled to handle the large business solely on borrowed capital was compelled to make an assignment. In May, '96, the stock of the company was sold to the highest bidder, W. H. McCain, for $2,900. Two days later the Lathrop-Rhoads-McCain company began business, and for a time it looked as though the former prestige of the house was soon to be restored ; but the end came February 15, 1897, when a disastrous fire destroyed the entire stock and with it the four-story brick- building owned by Judge Byron Rice, which stood next to the new Equitable building on Locust street.
The Commercial Exchange in February became interested in two measures aimed to facilitate municipal reform, one of which was introduced by Senator Cheshire in April, '96, and passed the senate but was killed in the House on the last day of the session; the other, the so-called MacVicar bill giving the mayor power over and imposing upon him responsibility for the three civil service commissioners to be created. At a meeting of the Exchange February 15, '97, that body contented itself with a request that the Polk county delegation in the Gen- eral Assembly, Messrs. Cheshire, Dowell and Doubleday, use their influence "to obtain for Des Moines a measure whereby the merit rather than the spoils system shall prevail in the appointment of municipal officers and employes," and recommending that the appointees to the proposed civil service commission be approved by the judges of the district court.
6 Distinguished by the title "Old Cherubusco" from Capt. Harry Griffiths and Col. J. M. Griffiths.
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David Norris, known everywhere as "Uncle Davy" died February 20, at his home in East Des Moines, at the advanced age of 95 years, 6 months and 17 days. Mr. Norris located a claim in Saylor Grove in 1845, by special permis- sion of Captain Allen of Fort Des Moines. The land he entered is now the Poor Farm of Polk county. His nearest neighbor then was "Tom" Mitchell, on Camp creek. In 1855, he removed to the county seat and built a double- brick house at the corner of Eighth and Grand. He later removed to Bloom- field township; but after sixteen years' absence returned to the city where he had resided ever since. "Uncle Davy" had a career which extended back to the War of 1812. The funeral, from the home of Thomas Nagle, was a sad reunion of many early settlers of Polk county.
A sensation "on the hill" on the 25th of February, was the appearance before a senate committee of a delegation of prominent ladies of Des Moines, their object being to petition that body against reporting out a bill granting the suffrage to their sex. Mrs. H. A. Foster was the chief spokeswoman, maintaining that a large majority of the women did not want the suffrage and sustaining her contention by showing how little interest women had shown in the suffrage on questions on which they already had the right to vote.
The death of P. B. Durley, long the business manager of the Daily News, occurred February 26. In his death Des Moines lost a good citizen and a high- minded man. His widow, until recently a citizen of Des Moines,7 continued to serve on the editorial pages of the News, and was long at the head of literary and humanitarian movements in the city.
William K. Bird who, in 1847, came to Fort Des Moines with his parents, Rev. and Mrs. Thompson Bird, died March II, aged 50.
The spring of '97 was marked by much agitation over the location of a union depot. Several owners of near-by property protested, while the public insisted.
March was an "off" month in waterworks agitation. The city's offer to buy at $800,000 and the company's offer to sell at $985,000 were both withdrawn.
On March 25, the Des Moines Union Railway company began building its machine shops from plans made by Architect Hallett.
The burning of the extensive wholesale millinery house of Riegelman & Company occurred early one morning in March. The stock carried by the firm was about $150,000, about three-fourths of which was a loss. The company carried about $80,000 insurance. This old established house had occupied the building on Walnut street for twenty-seven years. The house reopened on Court avenue near the postoffice.
Des Moines was the first, and for years the only, city in the United States to have government mail-boxes attached to its street cars. After two years, Postmaster Hunter finally, in April, '97, succeeded in obtaining the consent of the Department to making the system permanent. It is still in successful oper- ation.
Easter morning, April 18, was saddened by the announcement of the death of "Grandma" Ankeny, the venerable mother of Gen. R. V. Ankeny, Miss Harriet L. Ankeny, and Mrs. Susan Barcroft, of this city, and of other chil- dred residing elsewhere.8 Her death was the result of an accident. Harriet Susannah Ankeny had been a widow since 1876. She lived to see her ninety- sixth birthday and died loved and venerated by all.
Electric lighting was the next movement in the evolution of the village into the city. An enormous mass meeting was held May 13 to crystallize public sentiment in favor of more and better light. Other meetings followed, indicat- ing the general interest.
A special election was held May 17, to pass upon the proposition of the
7 Now a resident of Los Angeles, Calif.
8 The history of the Ankeny family prominent in Des Moines and Polk county is told in the Biographical Volume of this work.
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McCaskey & Holcomb Company to construct an electric light plant and to supply the city with light. The proposition involved a six-year franchise to the com- pany and the ultimate purchase of the plant by the city. Both propositions car- ried by over twenty-five hundred majority.
The widow of the late George G. Wright died in Sioux City, June 27, at the age of 77. Mrs. Wright was in advance of her age, her career anticipating, by at least a score of years, the thought and purposes of the club woman of today. She was a charter member of the Des Moines Women's Club, was long the president of the Christian Woman's Home, and a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Women, and of other societies of an al- truistic nature.
In June, Sam Jones held a two weeks' revival in a tent in North Des Moines, dividing the good people of the city into two camps: those who believed in the evangelist's sensational methods and those who feared they would do more harm than good. Several hundred converts "went forward."
The enlargement of the Savery in the summer of '97, was an evidence of the growing demands of the traveling public.
The death of Col. C. H. Gatch, July I, removed one of the most public- spirited, useful and highly esteemed citizens of Des Moines. Colonel Gatch came to the Capital city thoroughly equipped for service. He had practiced law in Kenton, Ohio, had seen service in the Ohio senate, and had risen from captain to colonel in an Ohio regiment. He had passed the fortieth milestone when, in 1866, he became a citizen of Des Moines. His worth was soon recognized and he was made district attorney, and in 1885 he was elected senator. During his eight years in the Senate, he was recognized as a leader, and some of the best laws of that period-notably the library laws of the State and the creation of the State Historical Department-bear the impress of his constructive mind. His public spirit brought him to the front in movements for the purification and elevation of municipal politics,-movements which, though not directly success- ful, made an impression upon younger minds and brought results in later years.
The Chautauqua Assembly held its second annual meeting in Des Moines, July 5 to 22. T. Dewitt Talmage was the principal drawing attraction. One of the unknowns of that year's program was Prof. Charles F. Aked, of Liver- pool, who years afterwards became famous as a preacher of Christian dem- ocracy, to a congregation of millionaires in New York city. Bishop Fowler's lec- ture on Abraham Lincoln created a profound impression.
Waterworks Complications.
A complete reorganization of the Waterworks Company was effected July 2I. John A. Cole of Chicago, was elected president, J. G. Rounds, treasurer. Directors : John A. Cole, George E. Bird, Frederick Robie, William M. Bradley, William G. Davis, George H. Richardson. The organization was effected by Mr. Bird, a Portland, Me., capitalist. Messrs. F. M. and F. C. Hubbell, Den- man, Thompson, A. B. Cummins, Huttenlocher, Carroll Wright, Jewett and O. H. Perkins previously tendered their resignations. From this time forth the relations of the council with the company were not affected by local consid- erations.
A conference speedily followed, in which President Cole urged a settlement of the waterworks question, and the council appointed Aldermen Wilkins, Garver and Tone to confer with the company's officials.
The Register of July 24 came to its readers with the reassuring heading "It is Settled at Last." An agreement was announced, by which all further litiga- tion would cease; the company's claim against the city for service amounting to $31,000 was to be settled for $15,000, and the water ordinance was to be amended "to suit purchasers."
The water contract was at once attacked in court, on substantially the same grounds as those on which the original injunction proceedings were brought.
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The location of a site for the proposed municipal electric light plant, on Des Moines and Shepard streets, east of the river dam, was thought to be a step of progress in the summer of '97. The injunction prohibiting the council from entering into a contract for the construction of the plant having been denied, the mayor and council felt warranted in taking measures for establishing a plant to be owned and operated by the city. It was estimated that the power- house and machinery would cost $105,000, which sum it was proposed to raise by annual appropriation supplemented by the $55,000 which the city was then pay- ing the electric light and gas companies for lighting the city. It was estimated that the city would save $30,000 a year by the operation of its own plant.
August 3, the city entered into a contract with the McCaskey & Holcomb Company to establish the electric plant. The terms were so worded as to enable the city to become the owner of the plant in two years; the company to receive $60,000 on acceptance of the plant, $25,200 one year later, $24,000 two years later "and annually for each of said two years the sum of $32,500. The con- tract resulted in long and costly litigation. A private corporation still supplies the city with electric light!
On the evening of August 25, Des Moines republicans enthusiastically rat- ified the nomination of Leslie M. Shaw for Governor. The large auditorium was filled. Judge Prouty, Senator Cheshire, Editor Young, Representative Carr, Citizens Odell and Cummins, Congressman Hull and Senator Gear were ratifiers-in-chief.
The pressure of many believers in "the City Beautiful" and of many more who had regard for the utilities, compelled the city council to rescind its order to pave Sixth avenue hill as it then was. A new resolution was passed, early in September, directing that the hill be cut down six feet, thus greatly adding to the beauty and utility of that central thoroughfare.
The memorable river spectacle late in the summer of 1897, the vivid fire- works exhibition of the taking of Vicksburg, with other brilliant spectacular features, drew thousands to the banks and bluffs of the Des Moines.
The railway surgeons of Iowa held a two-days' state convention in Des Moines October 13-14, with President Fairchild in the chair. The association was addressed by A. B. Cummins. In the course of the address the experiences of an old railroad lawyer were made to point several morals.
It was eminently fitting that one of the public schools of Des Moines should bear the name of the first public school teacher in Fort Des Moines. Byron Rice came to Fort Des Moines in 1849, and, forty-eight years later, found his last resting place in the city he had helped found. His death occurred October 14, 1897. His early experiences as a teacher have already been recounted in these pages. He had been admitted to the bar before coming to Des Moines, and in 1850 he became a law partner of J. E. Jewett. When the code of '51 created the office of county judge, Byron Rice was prosecuting attorney for Polk county. On the death of County Judge Burbridge, he was appointed to fill the vacancy. He was afterward elected to succeed himself. His administrative ability well fitted him for the position. On retiring, in '54, he became the junior and resident member of the banking house of Greene, Weare & Rice. Later, he became a member of the law firm of Finch, Rice & Clark, in which he gave evidence of much legal acumen. During his last years his activities were greatly limited by ill-health; but his interest in public affairs continued till the last.
The great Modjeska, as "Lady Macbeth," at Foster's, October 25, with Joseph Haworth as "Macbeth," revived traditions of the elder days when trag- edy would draw and when Shakespeare had its place in a liberal education. The tragedienne was greeted with a "capacity audience."
November 10, the revised offer of Messrs. Slimmer and Callanan in con- nection with the Home for the Aged was made public. The two agreed to give the Home for the Aged $25,000 in cash, or its equivalent, if the people of Des Moines would raise $35,000. About $17,000 had already been raised toward
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that sum. The terms were bravely accepted by several charitably disposed young men of Des Moines, and the canvass was renewed.
The Commercial Exchange had long been running behind, and on the 18th of November its members assembled to hear the report of a committee on reor- ganization. Money was raised to run the Exchange another year. The resigna- tion of Secretary O. L. F. Browne was accepted. The consensus of opinion was that the Exchange should more closely confine itself to things having to do with the commercial interests of the city,-matters upon which there could be no reasonable difference of opinions.
The Woman Suffragists in Des Moines.
The National Suffrage Association finally discovered Des Moines on the map, and during the last week in 1897 that body was in convention in the Capital city. It was a historic body, uniting under one roof the brave, strong women who had made a name and place for the womanhood suffrage movement in every state in the Union. All the officers of the association were hospitably entertained at Inglebrae, the suburban home of Mrs. Callanan, that staunch pioneer advocate of the reform. The officers were Susan B. Anthony, president; Anna H. Shaw, vice president; Rachel Foster Avery, corresponding secretary; Alice Stone Black- weil, recording secretary ; Harriet Taylor Upton, treasurer ; Laura Clay, auditor. Among the other notable women in attendance was Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt, present head of the world-movement for womanhood suffrage. Mrs. Catt was the guest of Mrs. A. B. Cummins. Other notable women present were Charlotte Perkins Stetson, Lillie Devereaux Blake, Mary C. Bradford and Clara Berwick Colby.
The association was cordially welcomed by Governor Drake, Mayor Mac- Vicar, Dr. Breeden, Mrs. Mattie Locke Macomber and Mrs. Adelaide Ballard. The social event of the week was the reception given the city's guests at Terrace Hill,-the gracious hospitality of Mr. and Mrs. F. M. Hubbell affording towns- people and visitors opportunity to mingle.
The Central Christian church was thronged at every session. The venerable president, Miss Anthony, was preëminent in popularity. In her opening address to a standing-room audience, Miss Anthony became reminiscent, remarking that this was a very different audience from the one she had faced twenty-eight years before on the occasion of her first visit to Des Moines. The small audience she then had, she said, was "a real good audience," composed of the very best people of Des Moines, a large number of whom were present after all the intervening years. Then, she added, with a genial smile lighting up her stern strong face, "You'd better not join the suffrage society if you want to die young !"
The voluntary assignment of the Central Loan and Trust Company was one of the business events of the year. The company was organized in 1884 with $160,000 capital stock, about half of which was held in Des Moines. Its deben- ture bonds were about $80,000. At the date of the assignment not a single depositor remained with the company, it having been the policy of the manage- ment for a year and a half to pay off the depositors and wind up the company's affairs.
During the year of 1897, 150,000 square yards of paving were laid, 15,435 feet of sewerage was constructed, 25,850 feet of curbing was put in. The paving represented an expenditure of $188,064; grading, $45,000; sewerage, $26,828, and curbing, $8,000. The cost of grading exceeded the levy of 214 mills.
The annual report of the Commercial Exchange for 1897 showed increased business during the year, with an increase of two million in the bank clearings. whereas many cities had a falling off. The brick plants of the city turned out forty million brick. The coal mines turned out 764,000 tons of coal. Public
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improvements aggregated $315,920. Private improvements footed up a half- million. The postal receipts were larger than those of any other three cities in the state. The outlook was so encouraging that much was said about the possi- bility of 100,000 population in 1900! A "100,000 society" was talked of, for the attainment of that end. Manufactures were growing too fast for their capital and measures were taken in a number of instances to increase their working capital.
The only diminution noted anywhere was in real estate transfers. These aggregated $5,954,372; whereas a year before they aggregated $6,164,829; two years before, $6,569,142, and three years before, $6,284,047.
The postal receipts of Des Moines in '97 were $207,952, as against $79,996 in Sioux City, $64,995 in Dubuque and $62,494 in Cedar Rapids.
Des Moines at the close of 1897 had fifty-five miles of paving, more than sixty-five miles of sewerage and thirty-seven miles of street railway.
Among the private improvements of the year were the following: The Des Moines Savings Bank building, the Good Block, the Lederer-Strauss store; the Baker estate, Sixth and Grand; the Great Western freight station; the Han- sen building, Fifth and Grand; Schmitt & Henry Manufacturing Company, First and Vine; the Merchants' Transfer and Storage, Ninth and Elm; Iowa Chil- dren's Home, Grand View, and Savery Hotel annex.
The report concludes with a long list of new corporations and business houses.
The city's finances at the close of the year 1897, as presented by Auditor Hanger, show that the city was carrying a debt of $821,575.44. Deducting the cash on hand, $84,857.96, the city's net indebtedness was $736,717.48. Of this sum, $764,000 was in bonds, the remainder in warrants.
1898-THE YEAR OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN.
Few men who have filled the gubernatorial chair have come to that exalted position with so little prestige as that which preceded the advent of Leslie M. Shaw in Des Moines, as the Governor-elect of Iowa. No other governor had that entire freedom from office-holding experience. In fact it was his convincing argument against free silver that made Leslie M. Shaw governor. The inaugura- tion occurred January 13, 1898. The presence of General Drake was notable in that it was the last public function in which the ex-Governor participated.
The municipal campaign of 1898 opened early. On January 16, John Mac- Vicar, the incumbent, and John Sherman, nephew and namesake of Senator Sherman, published their platforms. Both advocated municipal ownership. Mr. MacVicar was renominated, and reelected.
January 22, Milo B. Ward was chosen Secretary of the Commercial Exchange. He filled the office acceptably for several years until failing health compelled his resignation.
An important business change in January, 1898, was the consolidation of the W. J. Pratt Grocery Company and the Warfield, Howell, Watt Company, under the name of the Warfield-Pratt-Howell Company. The capital stock of the new corporation was $500,000. The principals of the company were W. S. Warfield, of Quincy, J. W. Howell and W. J. Pratt. James Watt retired from the busi- ness after a connection of thirty-five years.
The city council having adopted the policy of segregating houses of prostitu- tion, and having apparently acquiesced in the policy of regularly mulcting prosti- tutes and gamblers, on February 7, the Ministerial Association administered a stinging rebuke to the council, repudiating all responsibility for the twin evils. The policy was tried and ultimately abandoned.
After many years of agitation, the city council finally passed an ordinance February 7, vacating Sixth Avenue to the Des Moines Union railway in con- sideration of the erection of a Union depot on Cherry street, between Fifth and Seventh. at a cost of not less than $75,000. The companies certain to use the
Vol. 1-23
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Union depot were the Des Moines, Northern & Western, the Chicago Great Western, the Wabash and the Des Moines Union. The Burlington, the Keokuk & Western and the Milwaukee came in later, leaving only the Rock Island and the Northwestern outside the fold, each with a depot of its own.
Alexander Lederer, of the wholesale house of Lederer & Strauss, died in Mt. Sinai Hospital, New York, on the 19th of February. Besides being the senior partner in a large wholesale millinery house, he was vice-president of the Citizens' National Bank and a director of the Des Moines Insurance Company.
A Cuban Relief mass meeting was held at Central Church Sunday afternoon, February 20, presided over by Dr. Frisbie and addressed by Governor Shaw, Dr. Breeden, Mayor MacVicar and others.
Early in March, 1898, U. S. Marshal Christian removed the marshal's head- quarters from Omaha to Des Moines.
March 8, the directory of the Commercial Exchange accepted plans for an auditorium.
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