USA > Indiana > Delaware County > A twentieth century history of Delaware County, Indiana, Volume I > Part 24
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1,216.58
4,924,393
Hamilton
15,493
31.55
887,235
l'nion
15,938
23.41
27.36
784,354
Perry.
18,879
23.33
26.46
619,779
Liberty
21,978
26.48
30.32
913,199
Delaware
18,687
24.43
29,20
782,300
Viles
18,903
23.70
26.09
619,815
Totals or Average.
245,456
$ 30.01
$ 34.40
$15,708,485
County's Financial Status.
It is a matter for historical record that the fiscal affairs of Delaware county are now in excellent condition. For many years this was a poor county. It will be remembered that the various townships were hardly able to support decent public schools until after the middle of the last century ; and, as shown in the educational chapter, voted against the proposition for free schools. Then came the Civil war, which entailed great burdens on the county as well as the nation, and the county treasury was drawn upon for large sums to aid those families that had sent soldiers to the front at the sacrifice of their sole means of support. For some years after the war the county was meeting expenses that would now be merely nominal, but were then considered burdensome. It is recalled how strong was the oppo- sition to the purchase of toll roads and how determined a large proportion of the citizens were in resisting the building of the court house. But days of splendid prosperity soon came, and during the past twenty years the county has been wealthy both as a civil government and as regards its individuals.
At the present time Delaware county has $38,000 in outstanding bonds. Should no more be issued in the meantime, the county will be entirely out of debt on October 1, 1913. On April 15. 1908, will be paid the $13.000 still owing on the court house bonds, issued when the court house was built. The court house has cost about $350.000, including interest and subsequent improvements on buildings and grounds, and every year a considerable sum has been drawn from the annual income to pay off the bonds and interest falling due. The $25,000 outstanding in bonds represent amounts expended
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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY
for the building of bridges, at a time when the county was unable to under- take such work with the current income. By 1913 these bonds will be paid, and with all interest-bearing debts canceled the county government will be able to extend the work of public improvement, in the construction of roads and bridges and in drainage and similar undertakings, that are so essential to the general welfare of the county.
Electric Communication and Transportation.
The history of a county like Delaware abounds with proofs that indi- vidualism is yielding to social interdependence; that the world, whether our scope of view be a county, state or nation, is coming to be all of a piece. Once every little community could live by itself, make its own clothes, wagons, tools, and all the articles necessary for its existence. But with the coming of the railroad, telegraph, telephone, etc., closer relations were estab- lished and communities and states became dependent upon each other. There · is "no isolation now," and yet so quickly have the people accommodated themselves to the revolutionized methods of living wrought by modern com- munication and transportation, that the wonder now is "how did people ever get along without such necessities as the telegraph, telephone, railroads, etc .? " But, quoting in answer a recent editorial in the Muncie Star, "It is only a little over half a century since Indianapolis people who wanted to communicate with New York had to do it by mail, and the mail went by stage.
"And yet they congratulated themselves on the advanced stage of civ- ilization they had reached, for their predecessors of little more than a quar- ter of a century had to build their own houses, make their own furniture, make their own clothing and its material, raise their own erops and do prac- tically everything in the way of household economics, from curing pork to making soap. It would be a severe affliction if the telephone service were cut off, and there would be tumult if the street car service should stop. But these are trifles compared with what might be. Suppose that something should shut the bakeries, or close up the dairies, or even cut off the ice sup- ply! Verily, we have reached a stage where a man is not only his brother's keeper, but also is kept by his brother. It is a rash man who says nowadays: 'What's Hecuba to me, or I to Hecuba? Like enough Hecuba is making his shoe polish, or his cigars, or his underclothing, or something else that he considers indispensable. We are getting around to the federation of mankind without regard to governmental forms."
The telegraph was the first practical use of electricity in this county. That came with the first railroad. Many years later, about 1880, the tele- phone was introduced in Muncie, as narrated on other pages, and within a few years the first use of electricity for lighting purposes is recorded. The
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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY
extension of these utilities to all parts of the county, the use of the telephone by rural residents as a feature of modern country life, are made matters of record in other chapters. The application of electricity to transportation has had even more vital bearing on the dvelopment of town and country, and yet it is all so recent that people are only beginning to realize its significance.
In the early history of the county the overland road to Cincinnati was the commercial route over which the larger portion of the surplus products went to market and by which the stores in Muncie and other towns received their supplies. To a much less important degree even the Mississinewa river was used as a transportation route down to the Wabash. Canals were much talked of, but never materialized far enough to affect this county. The rail- road was the next development in transportation. It displaced the long over- land routes, and in many ways effected revolutionary changes in commerce and industry. The gravel roads radiating from the principal railroad cen- ters were important factors along with the railroads in the developments of the second half of the nineteenth century. And last among the transporta- tion agencies is the electric railroad, which has done more than anything else to knit town and country together and abolish the old-time distinctions between urban and rural residents. Competent observers now maintain that electric roads will soon supersede steam roads in the field of local transporta- tien, both freight and passenger, and it is evident that this change is already well under way, especially as regards passenger traffic. It is impossible to estimate the significance of this form of transportation in relation to future progress, and this history will confine itself to a record of the principal facts concerning the growth of electric traction in Muncie and Delaware county.
The nucleus of electric transportation in this county was the Muncie street railway. Street railway talk began in Muncie almost coincident with the discovery of gas. May 26, 1887, the city council passed a street railway ordinance authorizing A. M. Campbell, W. W. Ball, L. W. Robertson and associates, under the name of the Muncie City Railway Co., to construct roads on the streets of the city and operate by horse power, cable or elec- tricity, for a period of twenty-five years; four miles of the road were to be in operation by August 1, 1888; cars to run every thirty minutes or less between 6 a. m. and 10 p. m .; fare 5 cents. Nothing was accomplished by the original promoters on the basis of this ordinance, and they turned over their rights to another company, who in June, 1888, secured an extension of sixty days for their franchise on the proviso that actual construction work begin by August 15. The franchise expired without any action being begun.
A second franchise was passed April 12, 1889, this being an open fran- chise to any company that would accept its terms. A supplementary
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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY
ordinance was passed June 11 of the same year, providing that the track should be three feet wide, and defining the route. The Muncie Street Rail- way Company prepared to build a line in conformity with this ordinance, and during the summer of ISS9 laid rails on Main street as the beginning of the system. On September 26, 1889, two motors and cars arrived and a few days later they made their first trip down Main street. The event occasioned considerable satisfaction among the friends of progress at first, and for some time the newspapers referred with pride to their street car line. But this feeling was of brief duration, and among Muncie citizens in general at the present time there seems a general reticence in referring to the first street cars. Perhaps there was reason for their disappointment. The cars were propelled neither by horse power nor by cable nor by electricity. The "motor" that drew the cars up the narrow track on Main street was a form of pony steam engine, resembling the kind used in mining camps and for railroad construction work. The engineer usually had difficulty in starting his train when loaded, seldom could round a curve except by getting much headway, and had cqual difficulty in bringing his train to a standstill when vehicles, persons and other objects got in the way of the engine at full speed. The inefficiency of the system may be imagined, and yet it was patronized and for a time fulfilled its purpose in providing transportation to the rapidly growing city. In July, 1890, the track was completed to the railroad on South Walnut street, and later was extended to Ohmer avenue and cast to the glass works, making a circuit around the principal divisions of the city.
Along in the carly nineties the dissatisfaction with this method of transportation developed into active opposition to the operating company and to agitation for a modern electric car system. The Daily News led in this agitation, and its columns were often spiced with such recitals of occurrences and mishaps on the car line as the following, which appeared in April, 1892: "Great excitement was created on our streets Saturday evening by the appearance of the new ( ?) Mogul brought out by the Muncie Street Railway Company. As it made its first trip up East Main street the people fled in all directions. Many of our oldest citizens thought the court house was coming up the street on wheels. As it puffed down Walnut street crowd after crowd hooted as it passed. It is large enough to be used as a switch engine on our belt railroad. The engineer had much trouble with it yesterday, as it would jump the track at almost every turn." Fifty- three minutes, so it was claimed, were consumed in making the trip around the circuit.
In April, 1892, the Muncie Electric Street Railway Company was incorporated, its first set of directors being David Cammack, John M. Kirby, D. C. Mitchell, R. C. Griffith and William L. Little. They filed a petition with the council in the following May that right of way be granted
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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY
them over the streets for the construction of an electric line under the pro- visions of the general ordinance of 1889. A new franchise was given the company in December, 1892, and the following spring work was actively begun in the construction of the electric line, which was formally opened on May 13, 1893. The details concerning the opening and the gradual extension of the lines to the suburbs will be found in the chapter of "Chronology" for 1893 and succeeding years.
Interurban Lines.
In a few years the electric car lines of Muncie had increased to six, reaching out to all the suburbs, and forming a traction system of no little magnitude. Now followed the next important development in electric transportation. Many other cities in the gas belt had similar local systems of street railways. Why not link them together by interurban electric lines, thus benefiting not only the larger cities but the intermediate country as well? The enterprising men who made practical answer to this question no doubt had in mind more important results than a mere extension of street car service to the country, and probably foresaw that by this means country and city would be knitted together and that local and suburban transporta- tion business would in a few years pass from the steam railroad to the trolley line. Anyhow, in the results as they can now be understood, the interurban traction line shares with the telephone and rural free delivery the responsibility for the remarkable changes that have occurred in rural life during the last ten or fifteen years.
The interurban movement began in Indiana, with Indianapolis as its focal point, less than ten years ago. And among the first companies organ. ized to promote the movement was the Union Traction Company of Indiana, with its head offices at Anderson. Its first officers were Phillip Mater, of Marion, president ; C. L. Henry, of Anderson, secretary and general man- ager, and George F. McCulloch, of Muncie, treasurer. The capital stock was $5,000,000. July 1, 1899, the Muncie street railway lines became the property of this company.
In October, 1900, the interurban line between Anderson and Muncie was put in operation and soon afterward cars were run through from this city to Indianapolis. Hardly had the first line been opened when the mer- chants in the small towns along the road began complaining that their trade was falling off and that the large stores of Muncie, Anderson and Indian- apolis were getting a class of customers who had previously spent all their money in the home village. There can be little question that this condition is one of the most important results of electric transportation. The con- venience and speed of the electric car have built up the large centers and decreased the importance of the small towns. It is now as casy for the
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resident of the farthest corner of the county to reach a department store in Muncie as it was twenty years ago to go to the general store in the nearest village, perhaps a mile away. As a result some very great changes have been taking place in the county during the present century. While improved transportation service increases communication between the city and coun- try, making cach more accessible to the other and increasing the desirability of the country for residence, at the same time it tends to concentration of industries and business that thrive best where population is greatest. Whereas the city store once supplied a trade within a radius of three or four miles, modern transportation has lengthened that radius to twenty or thirty miles. It is very plain, with only the results of these few years before us. that the era of many small commercial centers is being succeeded by a period when one central city will be the point of supply for an entire county.
While the line was being built to Muncie from the west, franchise was being sought for one between Muncie and Fort Wayne. The Muncie Inter- urban Co. was the company that first promoted the line north to Hartford City, but the franchises were afterward transferred to the Muncie, Hartford and Fort Wayne Co. The Muncie and Dayton line was also being promoted, construction work being pushed from Dayton toward the west. Another line that was being planned during the first two or three years of this cen- tury was the Muncie and Portland. Of these the Muncie and Hartford City line was the first to be put in operation. The power house was con- pleted at Eaton in 1902, and in February of 1903 the first car ran into Muncie. The construction of the Dayton and Muncie road was continued from the Ohio line, the road being completed to Selma carly in 1905, and in August of that year regular service was begun between Muncie and the east. While this line was nearing completion the road to Portland was begun, and in the early summer of 1906 was opened to traffic.
At the present time, therefore, electric lines parallel the steam road in four directions from Muncie. The Indiana Union Traction Co. is the con- trolling corporation of three of these lines. All points along the Big Four Railroad, both cast and west, and along the Lake Erie lines to the north and northeast, including the principal villages of the county, are linked to Muncie by steam and electric transportation. Another line will probably be opened in a year or so between Muncie and Alexandria, and for several years a company has been negotiating for rights of way to construct a line between Muncie and Newcastle.
Recent Steam Roads.
The voting of subsidies, granting of franchises, and other events in the construction of the several lines of railroad that in recent years have entered Delaware county, have been recorded in the preceding chronologies.
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Union Station, Muncie.
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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY
Perhaps nothing more than what is there mentioned need be said concerning the road running southwest from Muncie, known as the Chicago and South- eastern, or the Midland, a part of the Central Indiana lines. Few railroads bad such difficulties during the period of financing and building. The con- struction was begun before the crisis of 1893, and during the following ten years made hardly any progress at all because of lack of funds, suits, strikes and other troubles too numerous to mention. Finally the track was com- pleted to Muncie, though it did not gain entrance into the city for some time after. The road at last was sold, it was understood at the time, to the Big Four, and has since been operated by other lines. The latest information on the subject is given in an official report from the Pennsylvania Railroad Co., which says: "The Pennsylvania system now has an entrance to Muncie from the southwest on the Central Indiana Railroad, which taps the Vandalia and the Indianapolis and Richmond branches of the Panhandle. The Central Indiana, however, is only jointly owned by the Pennsylvania company."
The Chicago, Indiana & Eastern Railroad, which was completed to Muncie from the north in December, 1900, has recently been purchased by the Pennsylvania, with which it already had traffic agreements. The first section of this road. between Matthews and Fairmount, had been built in 1895, was extended to Swayze in 1898, and to Converse in 1899 (a total length of twenty-eight miles). The following statement from the purchas- ing railroad gives the history and status of this road:
"After clearing up the indebtedness of the Chicago, Indiana and East- ern Railroad, which has been operated for some time by a receiver, the Pennsylvania company secured all the stocks and bonds of the road and has made it a part of the Logansport division of the Pittsburg, Cincinnati, Chi- cago and St. Louis Railroad (The Panhandle), thereby providing for the Pennsylvania system a second entrance into Muncie, Ind., an important ship- ping center.
"The Chicago, Indiana and Eastern is a short line, forty-three miles long, running from Converse on the P., C., C. and St. L. to Muncie. It taps many small towns, and because of its little equipment, which totaled only nine engines and twenty-eight cars, was unable to handle the business of the district.
"For about two years negotiations have been under way between the stock and bondholders of the road and the Pennsylvania company, to have . the latter take over the road. The transfer has just been completed and an agreement entered into between the Pennsylvania company and the P., C., C. and St. L. whereby the latter road will operate the line, beginning this month (August)."
With regard to the Chicago, Cincinnati and Louisville (originally t'es
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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY
Cincinnati, Richmond and Muncie), the chronological statements may be completed by saying that in the spring of 1907 the road was formally opened as the "Chicago Short Line," and a through schedule of trains between Cin- cinnati and Chicago adopted. This road, for the building of which the original company was incorporated in February, 1900, was built in sections and under various corporate names, but all were merged together as the C., C. & L. on July 1, 1903. However, the desired entrance at Chicago was not secured and the road put into operation as a through route until the present year.
Other Transportation.
It would not be proper to leave the subject of transportation without some reference to a class of facilities that have undoubtedly been an influential factor in modern life, in such general use by individuals that the convenience and transaction of the affairs of business and daily life have been increased. It was less than ten years ago that the first automobile was seen in Muncie. At the present time there are probably 200 in the city and county. They represent an investment of many thousands of dollars, and with the improvement of the machines themselves with each succeeding year and the increase of good streets and highways, the automobile is becoming a large factor in transportation. The history of the automobile in its rela- tions to the welfare of the county cannot yet be written, but it cannot be overlooked in a summary of modern conditions.
It may be said that the bicycle was the predecessor of the automobile. The bicycle is now so familiar that it is difficult to recall the exact impres- sions they created when they first came into use. That they were regarded as a distinct innovation may be inferred from the following editorial taken from the Muncie Daily News of June 10, 1882:
The bieyele is rapidly gaining ground and becoming popular, not only in cities where it is encouraged, through large clubs, backed by big capital, but in smaller inland towns. Its convenience and rapidity of transfer, case of management, graceful appear- ance and docifity as a rider has made it deservedly popular, and the only thing which is an obstacle to its general use for travel in short distances is its cost.
There are at present fifteen machines at use in this city, distributed among tho following named persons: Carl Sample, Hugh Cowing, Rolla Marsh, Bob Meeks, Chester Foster, George Jones, Sherman Hathaway, Charley West, Geo. H. Andrews. Bent Meeker, Luther l'urdue, Willie Kirby, Frank Nickey. Kirby Heinsohn and Clifford Andrews, with two more parties to hear from. The money invested in these machines foots up to twelve hundred dollars.
Public Roads.
The results of the turnpike building that was carried on so extensively in the county during the sixties and seventies are still seen in the county. The toll-road system was the foundation on which the best public roads of to-day rest. According to a recent report, there are 800 miles of public highway in Delaware county, and 600 miles are improved with gravel. All
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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY
of these improved roads are township or abandoned toll roads. It is esti- mated that the total original cost of these roads was $600.000.
Oil Production in Delaware County.
It is said that during the oil boom of 1904 everyone invested his ready money in oil stock and that a year later the investor still had his stock, but it was in most cases worthless. Hundreds lost money in the speculation, and with few exceptions the companies that were quickly formed to develop the oil territory, lacking the necessary experience and sufficient capital, were soon bankrupt and their property was being operated by a receiver. Those who were most successful were the experienced oil operators from the cast- ern fields, who had large capital backing their enterprise and could prosecute their development to the point of profit.
Some phases of the oil boom have already been noted, especially in the field of which Smithfield and Selma were the center .. It is remarkable how quickly Delaware county took its place among the foremost oil-producing counties of Indiana. Up to 1903 most of the wells were shallow, but in that year some were pushed down to the "deep pay sand" and were found to be very productive. As a result the county was the center of the oil excitement during the next year. In 1903 Delaware county had but 74 pro- ducing wells; in 1904 it had 831 producing wells. The total bores in 1903 were 122; in 1904 they had risen to 952. For the entire Indiana oil field the increase of production for 1904 over 1903 was 72,152 barrels, of which more than 50 per cent was furnished by Delaware county. In this county the wells bored in 1903 gave an average initial production of 20.07 barrels, while those bored in 1904 had an average initial production of 44.4. Both figures are much higher than for the oil field as a whole, the average initial production in the oil district in 1903 being 14.2, and in 1904, 18.6.
In 1905 the bottom dropped out of the oil business, the principal causes assigned for it being the low price of oil, the fact that companies were unable to operate or invest enough money, and that production was falling off. It is a striking comment on the decline, that in 1904 there were forty- nine oil and gas companies and promoters of oil properties advertised in the Muncie directory. By October, 1905, but thirteen of these were in existence.
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