History of Cook County, Illinois From the Earliest Period to the Present Time, Part 94

Author: Andreas, A. T. (Alfred Theodore), 1839-1900
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Chicago : A.T. Andreas
Number of Pages: 875

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During the first four months water was supplied but nine hours per day, and none on Sunday except in case of fire; after that the supply was continued regularly throughout the twenty-four hours. At this time there were but few water-takers, and having no reservoir, the water was allowed to run to waste through the fire-hy- drats, in order to keep the small engine running. In the early part of 1854 the twelve-inch river pipe at State Street was broken b an anchor dragging from a vewell. This accident required the supply for the West Division to be forced through an eight-inch pipe across the river " For many of the lattu in regard Ic the Chu squ City Hydrau 1 che see the us! reports of De Was C Cooper, present superintendent . De pent et Public Works.

377

HISTORY OF CHICAGO.

at Kinzie; and thence by a twelve-inch pipe across the river at Adams Street for the South Division. As a temporary resort a large rubber pipe manufactured at Boston was procured. On its arrival its strength was found inadequate to the pressure, A new wrought iron pipe, thirty inches in diameter, was subsequently put down at State Street and was in use in 1869. This new main was manufactured by Charles Ressig, of Chicago, at a cost of $3,561, and was laid by S. S. Durfee, at an additional cost of $2,000. The connecting main was completed October 1, 1854. Thirty and one-half miles of pipe were laid to December 31, 1854. The total cost of the works at that date was $393.034.32. During the first year much trouble was experienced from sand

water was immediately drawn off, and the various meth- ods of patching up the job, which had already cost $60,000, were canvassed. Various plans were laid be- fore the Council and a committee was appointed to ex- amine them. This committee could not agree upon one thing, viz .: that it was necessary to construct sub- stantially a new building. The water commissioners, therefore, strengthened the cracked walls as best they could with rods and braces, so that the tank could be partially filled with water and thus do some service dur- ing the winter. Pending the repairs of this reservoir the engines were run day and night. A portion of the thirty-inch inlet-pipe from the lake to the well was found to be defective, and a new one, three by four feet square,

FIRST CHICAGO WATER WORKS

being driven from the inlet pipe into the pump-well. The mouth of the pipe being only a few inches under water, near the shore, was exposed to the heavy waves of the lake. On one occasion the water was entirely stopped by a vast number of insects accumulating on the strainer. To protect the inlet-pipe from those obstacles, a break-water or basin was constructed in 1855. This being dredged to a considerable depth fully answered its purpose, and was in use until the completion of the first lake tunnel. In June, 1852, the water commission- ers purchased from P. F. W. Peck a piece of land upon which to erect the South Side reservoir. The lots had a frontage of 21736 feet upon Adams Street, and cost the city $8.750. The reservoir was completed in No. vember, 1854. It was filled within ten feet of the top. or twenty-eight feet deep, on November 22, and the next morning it was found that the immense weight of water had caused the masonry to settle so that fissures were discernible on every side of the building. The

made of nak plank. was put in at a greater depth. Con- siderable difficulty was experienced in laying this pipe. involving the removal of the east wall of the engine house. Upon completion of the lake tunnel this arrange. ment was also abandoned and served subsequently as a waste pipe for the water from the air pumps of the sev- eral engines.

In June, 1855, the reservoir was strengthened after the accident of the preceding fall, until it would hold eighteen feet of water, which, with other charges for repairs and general expenses, brought up the construc- tion account to $380,070.73. A large fracture was found in the main pipe near the standing column of the works, on December 22, 1855. Notice was immediately given that the water would be cut off at Monday noon. Care was taken to have the reservoir full, and a man was kept stationed there with orders to turn on the water instant- ly in case of fire. The pipe was repaired within a few days, and but little inconvenience was felt by the people.

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HISTORY OF COOK COUNTY.

Up to December 31, 1855, there had been expended upon the construction and extension of the water-works system $496,849.64. The whole amount of bonds issued by the water commissioners had been $650,000. Over forty-one miles of pipe had been laid, and 4,251 buildings were supplied with water.

During the early part of 1856 the quantity of water used was nearly equal to the maximum capacity of the high pressure engine. Therefore it was necessary to replace it with a much larger one. A contract was made with the Morgan Iron Works for the construction of the south engine, which was set up and put in oper- ation July, 1857. This engine was similar in construc- tion to the condensing engine previously referred to, with a steam cylinder of sixty-inch diameter, stroke of ten feet, two single acting pumps, each forty-inch diam- eter, six and one-fourth feet stroke. Much difficulty was experienced in preparing a foundation for this en- gine, as a portion of the only pump-well then built, rom which the city supply was pumped, as well as the site of the old high-pressure engine, was to be occupied. However, the high-pressure engine was moved to a tem- porary site, where it might be used until the new works were ready. The labor of setting the stone was carried on during the night only. While constructing the foun- dation, no water could be admitted to the well, which seriously retarded progress The daily supply of water was uninterrupted, and the reservoir in the South Divis- ion kept full, so that in case of fire the water therefrom might be admitted to the mains. In the summer of 1857 a twenty-four inch main was laid from the pump- ing works to the West Division, crossing the river at Chicago Avenue, by means of a wrought-iron pipe. Soon after it was completed, the river portion was ren- dered useless by a pile twelve inches in diameter being accidently driven through it, permitting the water to flow into the river. From this accident the engine narrowly escaped injury by the sudden reduction of load. The damaged pipe was taken up, repaired and placed in its original position.

Up to 1857 two engines had been built by the North Side pumping-works, The first one, that of 1853, was put in operation December 16. It had a capacity of seven and one-half million gallons every twenty-four hours; steam cylinder, forty-four inches in diameter, nine feet stroke; length of working beam, thirty feet; weight, nine tons ; diameter of fly-wheel, twenty-four feet; cost of engine and boiler, $24,500. The engine of 1857 was put in operation in July; capacity, thirteen million gallons every twenty-four hours; steam cylin der, sixty inches in diameter, ten feet stroke; working- beam, thirty feet; weight, sixteen tons; diameter of fly- wheel, twenty-four feet ; cost of engine and two boil- ers, $59,000. Some parts of the engine were made. to conform to the conditions of the building. Owing to the position of the tower, tlie valve-gear or customary front of the engine was placed on the side, as it was deemed imprudent to cut the corner of the tower to ad- mit locating the front in the usual place. In Decem- ber, 1853, water was first pumped into the pipes to test them, and the first hydrant was opened on North Clark Street, near the bridge. The first permits to take water from the distribution pipes were granted February 12, 1854, to residents of the North and West divisions. Pipes were tapped February 15, and water introduced into the buildings of the city for the first time.

On May 1, 1857, the water works supplied seven thousand and fifty-three buildings with water, at a cost of 885,012 per annum. On May 6, 1861, the Board of Public Works was instituted. The cost of the

water-works up to May 6, 1861, when the Board of Public Works assumed charge, was $1,020,160.21,

On March 17, 1864, ground was first broken for a tunnel to be excavated out into the lake to obtain a sup- ply of water that would be undefiled by the impurities from the city. The tunnel was made two miles out, at right angles with the shore, and the first brick was laid at the crib.end of the tunnel on December 22, 1865. On December 6, 1866, the last brick-which was a stone, as Elias Colbert remarks-was laid by Mayor J. B. Rice, but the water was not let on to flow through the mains and pipes of the city until March 25, 1867, when the new system of water-works was formally inaugurated by the ceremony of laying the corner-stone of the new water-tower. This was one hundred and thirty feet high by twenty-four feet square at the base. In 1872 the sec- ond lake tunnel was commenced and run from the crib to Ashland Avenue and Twenty-second Street, where additional water-works were constructed. The combined capacity of these tunnels will average one hundred and fifty million gallons of water every twenty-four hours. The following table exhibits the expenditures made on the water-works since the year :861:

Cost of water-pipe laid .. $5.397.750.84

North Pumping Works. 718.749-44

West Pumping Works ..

623 469.19

" First Lake Water Tunnel. 464 566.05

" Second Lake Water Tunnel. 415.709.36

Land Water Tunnel ..

542.912.63

Lake Crib for Water Tunnels.

70,253 31

Lake Shore Aqueduct.

42.871.17

Water Works Shops.

25.551-73

Water Works Stock.

29.318 00

West Reservoir Fence

1.702 87

Total £9.353-314.80

The revenue from water rates up to December 314 1882, was $13,186,657.58, while the total operating expenses and maintenance up to the same date, includ- ing interest on the bonded debt and the canceled bonds, were $10,601,471.50, thus manifesting a surplus rer- enuc of $2,585, 186.08." The bonded debt of the water- works is $3,490,000. The total quantity of water sup- plied during the year 1882 was 24,150,943,884 gallons, or an average of 66,166,969 gallons per diem. The total number of miles of sewers completed to January 1, 1883. was 380,924.

MUNICIPAL SUMMARY .- The various assistants to civic government can be briefly adverted to as compris- ing the police, fire and educational departments. The first police constable appears to have been elected August 5, 1835, and his name was O. Morrison. Ben- jamin Jones was the first fire warden, appointed Novem- ber 6, 1833; and the first tutor was Robert A. Forsyth, who imparted instruction in the winter of 1810-11. This triumvirate can be regarded as the pioneers of the respective systems whose votaries, by their preservation of law and order and life and property, and by their in- struction of youth, have so materially and indispensably assisted in the social, material and intellectual prosperity of Chicago. But a brief resume can be given of the material aspect of each department. The police depart- ment, in 1857, comprised about one hundred men; in 1868 there were about two hundred and forty men, ex- clusive of twelve detectives, on the force, while in 1871 the force comprised four hundred and fifty men. The government of the police was vested in the City Marshal in 1842, and in 1861 in a Board of Police Commis- sioners.

The first Board of School Inspectors under the in- *Report of Board of Public Works for year ending 1882. DeWitt C. Cregis, Commissioner.

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379

HISTORY OF CHICAGO.

ception of the present school system was organized in 1840, consisting of William Jones, president; J. Young Scammon, Isaac N. Arnold, Nathan 11. Bolles, John Gray, J. H. Scott and Hiram Hugunin; and the school teachers were A. G. Rumsey, H. B. Perkins, A. D. Sturtevant and A. C. Dunbar, and their salaries $400 per annum. In 1850 the Common Council passed an order establishing a Teachers' Institute, and in 1855 the same body instituted the Chicago High School. The value of school property, as given by Elias Colbert, in February, 1860, was $353,898, of which $124,300 was for land, $211,400 for buildings, and $18,198 for fur- niture. The number of pupils enrolled, at the close of 1859, was 14,199, against 400 in November, 1837. In 1868 there were twenty-eight public schools belonging to the city, with 29,954 pupils enrolled, and with an average daily attendance of 17,658.1 pupils. The first evening school was opened in the fall of 1856, in the hall over the West Market, with sixty pupils and D. S. Wentworth as instructor. The original school section was sold, all but five blocks and twelve lots, in October, 1833, and realized 838,365; the value of the unsold por- tion was, in 1868, 8557,486,67, and are now worth al out $3,000,000, The value of the scholastic birth- rig it sold in 1833 for $38,365, is now about $70,000,000.

The primal conflagration of the town of Chicago occurred in October, 1834, and is thus described in the Democrat of the twelfth of that month:

"On Saturday last, about to o'clock. A M., a building on the corner of Lake and 1.a Salle streels, and the one attached, were discovered 10 be in flames. Our citizens repaired 10 the scene of conflagration with a promptitude worthy of commendation and suc- ceeded in arresting its progress, after destroying Iwo other buildings adjoining. The wind being high at the time, threatened the destruction of a number of the surrounding houses, but, by the ex. ertions of our citizens, were saved from the devastation. The loss of the sufferers will be severely fell, as some of them lost their all, A building on the corner, occupied as a dwelling, 10-s $300. There was in the house $220 in money, $125 being in Jackson money, was found in the ruins. The remainder, the rag currency. was destroyed, A building owned and occupied as a cabinel shop. and another building as a grocery by H. Rhines, together with dwell. ing. furniture and tools, loss $1.200. A building owned and occu- pied as a dwelling by James Spence, loss $500. The fire com- menced by a coal from a shuvel in carrying from one building 10 the other, The want of suitable officers lo lake charge and oversee in cases of fire is much felt, and we understand the Trustees have suitable regulations in respect 10 i1."

The first organized fire department resulted from the action of the Board of Trustees when, on September 19, 1835, they directed that two engines and one thou- sand feet of hose be ordered for the use of the corpora- tion, and William B. Ogden was authorized to make the purchase. On October 7, a further purchase of axes, hand-saws, ladders, chains and ropes, etc., was decreed at an expenditure of $29.63, and on the same day P. F. W. l'eck, Joseph L. Hanson, Silas B. Cobb, James A. Smith, Jabez K. Botsford, Joseph Meeker and J. McCord signed their names as members of the " Pioneer Hook and Ladder Company." Shortly thereafter John I .. Wilson, E. C. Brackett, John Holbrook, T. Jenkins, T. F. Spalding, Isaac Cook, J. J. Garland, George Smith, J. K. Palmer, Thomas S. Ells, John R. Livings- ton, Henry G. Hubbard, George W. Snow, Thomas J. King, N. F. L. Monroe, George W, Merrill, Samuel S. Lathrop and Thomas S. Hyde affiliated with the com- pany. On November 4, 1835, an ordinance was passed that created the first regular fire department of Chicago, and on December 12, under this ordinance, the " Fire Kings " (No. 1), were organized with H. G. Loomis, H. H. Magie, J. Morrison, W. H. Clark, John Calhoun, Alvin Calhoun, W. H. Stow, C. Beers, Peter L. Updike, A. Gilbert and J. C. Walters. The first officials sub-

sequent to the organization of the department were : Hiram Hugunin, chief engineer : William Jones, first assistant, and Peter L. Updike, second assistant of the Hook and Ladder Company, and S. G. Trowbridge, foreman ; H. G. Loomis, treasurer ; A. C. Hamilton, clerk; Ira Kimberly, steward; William Worthington, S. Lincoln, William Forsythe and W. A. Norton, fire war- dens of the Fire King, and the motto of the company was decreed to be " Pro bono Publico." In 1855, the first steam fire-engine was brought from Cincinnati on trial, but did not give satisfaction. The first steam fire-engine which came to Chicago to stay was the " Long John," introduced during Mayor Wentworth's first term of office as chief magistrate of the city. In 1859, the paid departmental system was introduced and the Fire Alarm and Police Telegraph, commenced in in 1864, was formally transferred to the city in June, 1865, and then comprised one hundred and twenty-six miles of wire and one hundred and sixteen fire-boxes and stations, and cost $70,000. A list of the chiefs of the department comprises : Hiram Hugunin, 1835; George W. Snow, 1836; John M. Turner, 1837; Alex- ander Loyd, 1838; Alvin Calhoun, 1839; Luther Nichols, 1840; A. S. Sherman, 1841-43; Stephen F. Gale, 1844- 45-46-47; Charles E. Peck, 1847-48; Ashley Gilbert, 1849; Cyrus P. Bradley, 1850-51; U. P. Harris, 1852- 53: James M. Donnelly, 1854; Silas McBride, 1855-56- 57; Dennis J. Swenie, 1858-59; U. P. Harris, 1859-68; R. A. Williams, 1868-73; Matt Benner, 1873-79; D. J. Swenie, the present incumbent, since 1879.

On October 2, 1871, the Fire Insurance Patrol was organized in the interest of the insurance companies, A. C. Ducat and Charles W. Drew being the committee. The original members were: B. B. Bullwinkle, cap- tain; David F. Donnelly, assistant captain; Charles G. Emory, patrolman No. 1; C. C. Donnell; patrolman No, 2; John Cochran, patrolman No. 3; Frederick J. Gabriel, driver, and the auxiliary force was composed of T. T. Woodworth, patrolman No. 4; Thomas Snow- den, patrolman No. 5; William Gough, patrolman No. 6, and William Atkins, patrolman No. 7. The efficacy of the service of the l'atrol in saving property is thoroughly well-established, and the value of the property this saved by them amounts to hundreds of thousands of dollars annually.

The foregoing summarization completes the account of various subjects not topically treated elsewhere. The growth of these various systems or departments was coeval with that of the city, and as the settlement of inhabitants became denser, so new schools, engine- houses and police stations were established. Each de- partment increased and multiplied, and the syllabus of the destruction caused by the great fire of 1871, which is given hereafter, will convey some idea of the amount of the city's possessions that ascended in smoke upon that memorable day.

The Conflugration .- On the night of October 7, 1871, a fire broke out near Lull & Holmes's planing mill, near the corner of Clinton and Van Buren streets, and rapidly spread northward to the corner of Monroe and Canal streets, where it was checked and finally subdued. On the night of October 8, 1871, a fire broke out near the corner of De Koven and Jefferson streets, which spread before the wind until two-thirds of Chicago were laid in ashes. "The old tale of Mrs. O'Leary's cow is pretty generally discredited, but that the fire sprang from a trifling conflagration at the inauguration is also true.

The following letter, published in Blanchard's His- tory of the Northwest and Chicago, is of interest in this connection :

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380

HISTORY OF COOK COUNTY.

" CHICAGO, November 14. 1580.

" MR. RUFUS BLANCHARD,

" Dear Sir : In compliance with your request as in the origin and condition of the great Chicago fire, I would state, that being the first officer at the fire, that I received an alarm from the man in watch-tower of engine company No. 6, one minute in ad- vance of the alarm given by the watchman in city hall tower. On my arrival at the tire, which was in the alley bounded by Jefferson, Clinton, Taylor and De Koven streets, I discovered three or more barns and sheds on fire.

" I connected to the nearest fire plug. located on the corner of Jefferson and De Koven siteels, and went to work. As to which barn the fire originated in, I could not say.

" As to the fire not being checked in its northward progress, I would state in explanation, that previous to the great fire of 1871, watchmen were stationed in the city hall tower to keep a look out for fires; and if a fire was discovered by either of the men, he called the operator on duty in the fire alarm office, located on the third floor below the watch-tower, and instructed him what box 10 strike.

"On the evening of October 8, 1871, the watchman on duty in the city hall tower discovered the fire, and ordered the operator to strike a box located one mile southwest from the fire. which he should have located one mile northeast, and which would have brought the first alarm engines instead of the second, which re- sponded to the alarm given by watchman, the first alarm engines remaining at their respective houses. In conclusion, I would state that the above are facts.

" WILLIAM MUSHAM, " Foreman of Engine Company No. 6."

The fire was fanned into the fiercest fury by the strong wind blowing at the time, which carried huge masses of burning material far in advance of the fire, which created new fires in the path of the mighty and irresistible conflagration. James W. Sheahan and George P. Upton thus describe the appearance of the fire and its inconceivable rapidity of progress: " About one o'clock a cloud of black smoke rose in the south- west, which, colored by the lurid glare of the flames, presented a remarkable picture. Due west annther column of smoke and fire rose, while the north was lighted with the flying cinders and tlestructive hrands. In ten minutes more the whole horizon to the west, as far as could be seen from the windows, was a fire-cloud with flames leaping up along the whole line, just show- ing their heads and suhsiding from view like tongues of snakes, Five minutes more wrought a change. Peal after peal was sounded from the court-house bell. The fire was on LaSalle Street, had swept north, and the Chamber of Commerce began to belch forth smoke and fame from windows and ventilators. The east wing of the Court House was alight; then the west wing; the tower was blazing on the south side, and at two o'clock the whole building was in a sheet of flanc."* *

* "The scene presented when the fire was at its height in the South Division, is well nigh indescribable. The huge stone and brick structures melted before the fierce- ness of the flames as a snowflake melts and disappears in water-and almost as quickly. Six-story buildings would take fire and disappear forever from sight in five minutes by the watch. In nearly every street the flames would enter at the rears of buildings, and appear sim- ultaneously at the fronts. For an instant the windows would redden, then great billows of fire would belch out, and meeting cach other, shoot up into the air a vivid, quivering column of flame, and after poising it -. self in awful majesty, hurl itself bodily several hundred feet and kindle new buildings." Hon. William B. Og- den also said, in describing the fire: " How it could be that buildings, men or anything could not encounter and withstand the torrent of fire without utter destruc- tion is explained by the fact that the fire was accompa- nied by the fiercest tornado of wind ever known to blow here, and it acted like a perfect blow-pipe, driving the

*Hna. Juhn Wentworth staten that the court house appeared to rise up in the air to ineet the flames, by which it was enveloped the succeeding instant After this upparanue,

brilliant blaze hundreds of feet with so perfect a com- bustion that it consumed the smoke, and its heat was so great that fire-proof (so-called; buildings sunk before it almost as readily as wood, Nothing but earth could withstand it." The devastated tract was embraced within the following limits:

: On the West Side: Commencing at the corner of DeKoven and Jefferson streets, thence north alung Jef- ferson Street to near the corner of Harrison Street, thence north-casterly to near the corner of Clinton and Van Buren streets, thence cast to Canal Street, thence north to Adams Street, thence east to the river, thence southerly along the river to Taylor Street, thence west to the corner of Taylor and Clinton Streets, thence south to DeKoven Street, thence west to Jefferson Street.

On the South Side: Commencing at Taylor Street and the Chicago River, thence east to Sherman Street, thence north to Harrison Street, thence east to Wabash Avenue, thence north to Congress Street, thence east to the lake, thence northerly along the lake shore to the mouth of the Chicago River, thence westerly and thence southerly along said river to Taylor Street and the river hank. Within this district an elevator near the mouth of the river, the Lind Block between Market, Randolph and Lake streets, and a Methodist church at the corner of Harrison Street and Wabash Avenue, escaped destruction. This church was subsequently used for the post-office of the city.

On the North Side: Commencing near the mouth of the Chicago River, thence westerly along the river to Market Street, thence north to Michigan Street, thence west to the river, thence northwesterly along said river to near Division Street, thence northeasterly to near the corner of Division and Wesson streets, thence west to the corner of Division Street and Haw- thorn Avenue, thence casterly to Clybourn Avenue, thence easterly to Orchard Street, thence northeasterly to Vine Street, thence north to Center Street, thence east to Hurlbut Street, thence north to Belden Avenue, thence northeasterly to Franklin Street, thence south on Franklin Street, by Lincoln Park to Clark Street, thence southerly to Wisconsin Street, thence cast to the lake, thence southerly along the lake shore to the place of beginning. The residence of Mahlon D. Ogden, a frame huilding occupying the center of the block bound- ed by State, Whitney, Dearborn and Oak stree's, was left untouched by the fire.

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History of Cook County, Illinois From the Earliest Period to the Present Time, Part 94

Author: Andreas, A. T. (Alfred Theodore), 1839-1900 Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Chicago : A.T. Andreas Number of Pages: 875

Author: Andreas, A. T. (Alfred Theodore), 1839-1900
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Chicago : A.T. Andreas
Number of Pages: 875