USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Lancaster > Lawrence yesterday and today (1845-1918) a concise history of Lawrence Massachusetts - her industries and institutions; municipal statistics and a variety of information concerning the city > Part 13
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Not only is every neighborhood in the city, with the adjoining towns, penetrated by the street railways, but the country for hun- dreds of miles about is traversed by the various lines. Nowhere in the United States is there a section so thoroughly netted with trolley lines as that of eastern Massachusetts, and Lawrence occupies a position where it is an important centre from which lines radiate in all directions and from which one may travel by trolley to prac- tically any point in New England. Furthermore, if one were so disposed, he could go by trolley from Lawrence into New York state or Pennsylvania.
The days of the old stage coach are not so far back but that they are well remembered by many of Lawrence's citizens today. It seems hardly possible that that period of slow and uncomfortable travel is within a lifetime. Yet, notwithstanding the great state of development attained by the street railways, 50 years ago stage coaches were driven between Lawrence, Methuen, Andover and Lowell.
THE BAY STATE
The Bay State road here is the outgrowth of the pioneer street railway in this locality. From a little horse road the Lawrence division of the Boston & Northern Street Railway, formerly the Merrimack Valley Horse Railroad and now known as the Bay State Street Railway, has become a network of 50 miles of track upon which are run over 75 cars. The entire system has about 960 miles of trackage.
The first company to operate a street railway in Lawrence was organized August 13, 1867. The corporation was formed with the
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following officers :- President, William A. Russell ; treasurer, James H. Eaton ; secretary. Charles E. Goss ; board of directors, William A. Russell, A. W. Stearns, George A. Fuller, William R. Spalding, Charles E. Goss ; superintendent, Stephen Dockham. Ground was .
broken for the first line October 21, 1867, work being begun at the woolen mill in Methuen. When, on Christmas Day, 1867, two horse cars were run on Essex street from the depot to the Everett mills, it was made a day of general rejoicing. Everybody turned out and struggled for a chance to ride on those cars with the result that the first day's collection amounted to $130. The following day the first car was run to Methuen.
In the autumn of 1868 the road was extended to the Machine shop, North Andover. In 1876 the tracks were again extended by what was then called the South Lawrence branch, running to the depot. In 1887 the Newbury, East Haverhill and Berkeley streets line was built. The Belt line was constructed the same year, made necessary by the burning of the Union Street bridge and cutting off of North Andover on the old location. The tracks on Water and Law- rence streets were built in 1888. Extension of local lines, one after another, gradually followed until it was deemed wise to experiment in wider fields, so that in 1893 a line was extended to Haverhill, and the next year to Lowell, thus connecting these three great factory cities of the Merrimack valley. Andover was connected before this, in 1891. The Middleton, Danvers & Salem line of the Lawrence division was opened in 1902.
From the early days of the old horse cars there has been a reaching out by the management of this road for improvements. The most marked improvement in equipment came when the radical change from horse to electricity as motive power was made in 1890 and 1891. Attempts have been made several times to secure a franchise locally to carry freight by the operation of a so-called trolley express, but up to the present writing the City Government has deemed it advisable to refuse the petition of the street railway company.
The road was moderately successful until a few years preceding 1918 when the expenses had increased in such proportion and the receipts had declined to such extent that the company went into the hands of a receiver. The decrease in the receipts was largely due to the competition of the so-called "Jitneys", automobiles which gave quicker transportation, whose routes of travel were more mobile, and which could be more readily adapted to the demands of the public. To meet the increased cost of operation and the falling off in revenue, the Public Service Commission approved an increase in fares on the street railway of one cent for every five-cent fare. At this writing the road is still in the hands of a receiver.
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THE MASSACHUSETTS NORTHEASTERN
Although the Massachusetts Northeastern Street Railway, formerly known as the Southern New Hampshire, has a smaller amount of trackage in the city than has the Bay State, the company has extensive lines through the surrounding country. The local terminal of the road is at Hampshire and Essex streets, from which it runs into southern New Hampshire and Haverhill. Its lines run through much open country which, until the heavy rails of this fast growing corporation were laid, was sparsely inhabited.
Between its interurban and transfer points this road courses through largely private land, and the speed attained by the high powered trolley cars is exceeded in few places in the country.
From the Hampshire street terminus cars run to Haverhill direct and via Point A in Salem, N. H., also to Lowell and Pelham, Nashua, Hudson and Goffs Falls, N. H., where connections can be made for Manchester, N. H.
Canobie Lake Park, one of the most beautiful inland pleasure resorts in this section of the country, and which is owned by the Massachusetts Northeastern, is in the radius of these lines. It was opened to the public in 1903.
The first franchise granted this road in Lawrence was in 1899, when on December 26th of that year the Municipal Council gave the Lawrence & Methuen Street Railway Company the privilege of laying a track on Hampshire and Centre streets. The Lawrence & Methuen road was later absorbed by the Southern New Hampshire.
The power station from which the various lines of the Massachu- setts Northeastern are operated is located at Portsmouth, N. H. The main offices of the company are in Haverhill. David A. Belden of Haverhill is the president of the road and Franklin Woodman of Haverhill, its general manager.
Practically all streets in Lawrence, traversed by trolley cars, are paved with granite blocks, and as these thoroughfares are kept well cleaned and sprinkled in the open season there is little annoyance from dust. Both street railways have franchises granted by the municipal government for an indefinite period.
Besides the street railway transportation facilities, there is the steam railroad, Lawrence being on the main line of the Portland division of the Boston & Maine system. There are 150 passenger trains coming into and leaving the city daily. The demand for freighting facilities can be imagined from the fact that Lawrence is the third city in Massachusetts in value of general manufactured products.
CITY'S LIGHTING SYSTEM
The lighting system of Lawrence will compare favorably with that of any other city of its size in the country. Plenty of lights of the arc variety and the incandescent are so well distributed on all the thoroughfares that on the darkest night there is no trouble in finding one's way in the most remote neighborhoods, while on the principal thoroughfares, where the most powerful arcs are used, there is hardly a stretch that the luminating rays of the street lamps do not penetrate.
The public of today is so accustomed to good lighting facilities, that there is little reflection on the vast improvement in the system during the last 50 years. It is only when a bad storm puts a circuit out of commission and a section is plunged into darkness that one realizes what conditions must have been in the early days.
Before the introduction of electricity and its general adoption by the public, in conjunction with gas, the gas lighting companies had a keen competitor in kerosene as an illuminant. At that time the city was lighted by both oil and gas lamps, and the service was feeble as compared to the modern lighting system of today. The lamps were few and, consequently, the distribution was such as to make the lights appear as widely separated dots in the blanket of darkness. In time the oil lamps lost their popularity, and gas was used almost universally.
The street department had charge of the street lighting in those days, and a force of lamp lighters was employed to light the lamps and keep the globes clean, while police officers were always provided with matches for the purpose of igniting lamps that had gone out or been overlooked by the lamp lighters. The policemen had also the duty of turning off the lights, and at II o'clock all lights, except those on the principal streets, were extinguished. The latter burned all night. When the moon shone brightly the lights were not lit, a bit of economy that is not practiced in these days of modern lighting methods. Prowlers, after II o'clock, were always in danger of arrest.
In 1880 the first electric lights were installed in the city, large arcs being placed on the common. The Lawrence Electric Light Com- pany had begun to manufacture electricity in the old fish line mill
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building of the Essex Company, now a part of the Farwell Bleachery plant, and provided service chiefly for street lighting. This was the beginning of the present extensive system, Lawrence's streets being now lighted by electricity exclusively.
Today the city spends over $61,000 a year for street lighting, an amount that is constantly growing as the service is extended. There are distributed over the numerous thoroughfares 1240 lights, of which 642 are incandescent, and 598 of the arc variety. The lamps are well divided, being placed to the best advantage. On the principal streets high powered arc lights are used, while on the residential thoroughfares there are both arc and the less luminous incandescent.
As soon as electricity became a serviceable medium and the in- ventions made for its perfection became of commercial value, the majority of the old-line gas companies combined their gas business with that of the new discovery. In this movement the Lawrence Gas Company was among the first, having at once seen the advantage of such a departure. The concern from the start has aimed to improve its service, and it has been ever ready to adopt innovations tending to that end. A vast amount of capital invested in this line of com- mercial activity stands out nowhere with greater prominence than in Lawrence, where since 1848 this company has given a service which has worked for public and private good.
The story of the development of the city's lighting system is in reality the history of the growth of the Lawrence Gas Company which concern serves the adjacent towns of Methuen, Andover and North Andover, as well as Lawrence. The company is a Massachu- setts corporation with a capital of $2,500,000. Bonds to the extent of $300,000 have been issued.
The gas works on Marston street were established in 1848 by the Essex Company, the Bay State Mills and the Atlantic Mills, for the purpose of supplying light to those corporations. In 1849 a number of Boston capitalists bought the works and incorporated the business under the name, Lawrence Gas Company. Henry G. Webber who was its first manager served in that capacity until 1853, when George D. Cabot was made manager. In 1884, after 31 years of service, Mr. Cabot resigned, and C. J. R. Humphreys, the present efficient head of the concern, succeeded him.
The company has had a steady growth almost from the beginning. It started with works, capable of making and supplying to its cus- tomers about 20,000 cubic feet of gas per day. Today, with its im- mense, modern plant and tremendous gas holders it is able to distribute 2,500,000 cubic feet of gas each day. In 1905 about 275,000,000 cubic feet of gas was consumed in Lawrence and vicinity. In 1917 over 576,000,000 cubic feet was supplied.
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In 1887 the Lawrence Gas Company bought out the Lawrence Electric Light Company. In 1890 it acquired the plant of the Edison Electric Illuminating Company, located on Common street. Under the energetic management of the Gas Company, in educating the people to the use of electricity for various purposes, the old plants soon became inadequate, and the equipment was enlarged and im- proved.
In 1900 the demand for electricity for commercial and manufac- turing purposes had grown to such an extent that a new plant was built and equipped on the south side of the river, the company still maintaining and operating the Common street station as it does to this day, chiefly as a distributing station. The plant was built of sufficient size to take care of increasing business for years to come, and has been of special service to a great many manufacturing plants locating here, many of which depend wholly upon electricity for power to operate their machinery equipments. This plant is equipped with water power machinery of about 2500 horse power, and with steam turbines of 8,200 horse power.
In the beginning, when gas (then of inferior quality ) was used commercially, the price per 1000 cubic feet was $4.00. Today, with a modern plant and appliances strictly first class, gas is supplied to the people at the price of 85 cents per 1000 cubic feet. At first gas was used exclusively for lighting ; now it is used for a number of useful purposes, principally for lighting, cooking and power, many gas engines being operated by its application. It also supplies heat. Of late years, however, gas has come to be regarded as an indis- pensable adjunct to the household, for cooking purposes. In 1892 less than 40 gas ranges were in use in Lawrence. Today, there are few families without one. During the more recent years gas has come into general use for heating water in houses, so doing away with the water front of the coal range, a great convenience, espe- cially in hot weather. So rapidly has the Lawrence Gas Company kept pace with the great growth of the city that there is no part of the community that is not served by the company's service pipes and lines.
A large portion of the office floor of the company's building on Essex street is used as a show room for gas stoves and gas and electrical appliances. Several years ago the company acquired the old property of the Young Men's Christian Association on Appleton street, which is occupied by its appliance department.
The officers of the company are :- President, N. H. Emmons ; vice president, C. J. R. Humphreys ; treasurer, R. W. Emmons, 2nd ; clerk, H. R. Peverly ; directors, Walter Coulson, Franklin Butler, C. J. R. Humphreys, Nathaniel H. Emmons, R. W. Emmons, 2nd, Frank Brewster and Alfred Bowditch.
LAWRENCE'S INDUSTRIES
AMERICAN WOOLEN COMPANY
The American Woolen Company which employs more people than any other industrial unit in New England, and which is the largest manufacturer in the world of carded woolen and worsted cloths (men's wear), had its beginning in Lawrence where are locat- ed its largest plants, including the mammoth Wood Mills. This great corporation was conceived by William M. Wood, the present head, who has become a striking character in modern industry.
Soon after the late Frederick Ayer had, on September 12, 1885, acquired the Washington Mills, Mr. Wood became connected with the plant, as a road salesman for worsted fabrics. In recognition of his ability and enterprise he was later given the management of these mills which he directed so well that a heavy indebtedness was discharged, and the concern was established as one of the most prosperous woolen organizations in the country.
The Washington Mills weathered the difficulties of the Gorman- Wilson tariff of 1894-97, which proved disastrous for many textile manufacturing concerns. About this time Mr. Wood who had gained much prestige as a captain of industry, and won the confidence of capital, was besought to interest himself in other undertakings. He and his associates acquired, one by one, a group of woolen mills, nearly all of which had suffered from tariff adversity. With the Washington Mills as a nucleus, the American Woolen Company was incorporated March 29, 1899, Mr. Ayer becoming president and Mr. Wood, treasurer. The directorate included men who had distin- guished themselves in the industrial and mercantile lines, and who in the early days gave solidity and prestige to the corporation. Later Mr. Ayer resigned the presidency, and Mr. Wood succeeded him. William H. Dwelly is now treasurer.
The American Woolen Company is, in the location of its plants, almost exclusively a New England creation, for only two of these plants, the Fulton Mills, at Fulton, N. Y., and the Bradford Mills, at Louisville, Ky., are outside of New England's boundaries. The other mills range across New England from Maine to Connecticut, the greatest of them, as stated, being located in Lawrence which has become, next to Philadelphia, the largest woolen manufacturing com-
PACIFIC PRINT WORKS
WOOD WORSTED MILLS
LARGEST PLANTS OF THEIR KIND IN THE WORLD
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munity in the United States. Besides the 50 or more mills which the corporation has purchased, it built the Wood Worsted Mills and. the Ayer Mills in Lawrence. The two latter plants, with the Wash- ington Mills and the Prospect Mill, comprise the factories of the concern here. Most of the old mills acquired have been enlarged, and the equipment of all has been improved. Its Assabet Mills at Maynard are the largest carded woolen, as the Wood Mills are the largest worsted plant in existence.
It has been stated that the company each year turns out enough cloth to belt the earth and in addition to festoon the United States from New York to San Francisco. It has a product not only great in bulk but remarkably diversified. It makes a specialty of uniform cloth for the United States Army and Navy, and has introduced some of the most durable and useful fabrics worn by the soldiers and sailors of the government. The production for general wear includes kerseys, friezes, meltons, thibets, wool and worsted, plain and fancy overcoatings, covert cloth, broadcloths, mercerized cloths, venetians, granites and vicunas, piece-dye and mixed-dye clay diagonals, unfinished worsteds, fancy weave piece dyes and mixtures, serges, wool and worsted cheviots, all grades of worsted and wool fancy trouserings and suitings, wool and worsted cross-dye and resist-dye fabrics, and rain cloths, plain and fancy. Yarns for practically all purposes are also manufactured.
The corporation has introduced a number of commendable ideas for the convenience and comfort of its operatives. It has constructed villages of modern dwellings for them in Lawrence and Maynard. Housing accommodations have been provided in nearly every city and town in which its mills are located. The houses in this city are attractive, and are rented at moderate prices. They occupy pleasant and wholesome sites near the south bank of the Merrimack River, opposite the city proper, and yet close to the great mills whence the people draw their livelihood. Opposite the Wood Mills stands a large restaurant where good food is served at cost, and in the large mill building, 1.500 feet in length, there are escalators to convey the workers quickly and easily to or from the various floors.
The American Woolen Company is an admirable example of the large, modern industrial organization. It represents, perhaps, about one-eighth of the total productive woolen machinery of the country. It has about 30,000 employes in all of its plants, and has 13,000 stockholders, many of whom are employes as well. The capital of the corporation is $60,000,000. It has paid without inter- ruption a dividend of 7 percent. on its preferred stock. The assessed valuation of the property in Lawrence for 1917 was $9,039,400.
In disposing of its product the concern follows the policy of selling direct from the mills, instead of through commission houses.
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LAWRENCE'S INDUSTRIES
THE PACIFIC MILLS
The Pacific Mills, the main plant of which is located in Law- rence, are famed the world over for their fabrics. They have an unrivaled output of printed, dyed and bleached cotton goods, and
PACIFIC MILLS-COTTON DEPT.
are also the largest manufacturers of cotton-warp and all-wool dress goods. So widely are the products of these mills known and used that the trade mark "Pacific Mills" is not unfamiliar in Japan, China and other far-off Asiatic countries. The extent of the mills, in Lawrence, their marvelous equipment, the magnitude of their opera- tions, and the perfection of their work excite the admiration and astonishment of all visitors.
The weekly payroll of the entire corporation, paid in silver dollars piled one upon another, would be more than twice the height of Washington Monument, or more than I,IIO feet. If its looms were placed end to end, they would make a continuous line over 24 miles in length. Its buildings have 177 acres of floor space. Over 135,000 tons of high-grade coal are burned in its boilers annually. Electricity enough is generated every day to run the entire street lighting of Boston and all the other cities and towns within 10 miles. The normal product of nearly 200,000 acres of cotton (or about 80,000 bales), and the wool from 2,366,383 sheep are woven every year. Over 330 miles of cloth are woven each day, or enough to reach from New York to Washington, D. C. (226 miles), and half way back again. Over 500 miles of cloth are finished and packed ready for shipment each day. The annual output of finished cloths would reach more than 512 times around the world.
The Pacific Mills were incorporated in 1853 with a capital of $I,coc,coc, which was increased in 1855, 1858 and 1862 to $2,500,000. At the. present time the capital of the corporation is $15,000,000,
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including the main plant in Lawrence and the mills at Dover, N. H., and Columbia, S. C. The Pacific goods first appeared on the market in the fall of 1854. At that time, under a low tariff, English printed
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PACIFIC MILLS-WORSTED DEPT.
calicos and delaines came largely in competition with home products, causing a sharp contest for control of the trade, which was eventu- ally won by the New England mills.
The original mills and print works were built under the super- vision of the Essex Company. They were remodelled in 1882, and since then they have been enlarged and added to from time to time, until at present the local plant is one of the largest mill plants in the United States, with 27 brick buildings, and a floor space of 135 acres. The main cotton mill building is 806 feet long by 72 feet wide, and seven stories in height. Weave sheds, yarn mills, dye houses, print works and power plants spread over an immense area. The assessed valuation of the property of the corporation in Law- rence is $10,157,700, a little less than one-eighth of the city's entire valuation.
In 1901 the first dynamos for electric power were installed, water power and steam solely having been used for power before, and in 1907 the electrification of the whole plant was begun, with the erection of a large new power house.
The purchase of the Cocheco Manufacturing Company at Dover, N. H., January 26, 1909, was the first step toward external growth. The Cocheco mills, much older, were printers of cotton goods, and in that field were formidable competitors of the Pacific. They are 110w confined to the production of cotton cloths for printing, dyeing and bleaching.
On June 29, 1911, the Hamilton Print Works at Lowell were purchased, and in 1915 the calico printing plant of the Merrimack Mills at Lowell was acquired, and the business moved to Lawrence.
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Then a big, modern printing plant was constructed on a 17-acre tract on the river bank below the Wood Mills, and there assembled the machinery from the old buildings at Lawrence, Dover and Lowell. It has been in operation since 1913, and is reputed to be the largest print works in the world. It has 48 printing machines, besides a dyehouse and bleachery for dyeing, bleaching and finishing cotton fabrics.
In 1910 there was built a six-story worsted yarn mill with a one-story weave shed, to accommodate the worsted department, more than 1,000 looms, with 16 acres of floor space.
The Hampton Mills department of the Pacific corporation, at Columbia, S. C., with 200,000 spindles and 4,800 looms, was acquired June 26, 1916. This department also makes cotton cloths for print- ing, dyeing and bleaching.
The last addition in Lawrence was the purchase on March 31, 1913, of the Atlantic Cotton Mills, bought at auction. Thus was secured a valuable mill site which would allow further expansion for the main plant. Part of this property, on the approach to the new Central bridge, was seized by the City of Lawrence.
The latest statistics of the Pacific corporation show 561,312 cotton and 92,880 worsted spindles, and 12,204 cotton and 3,435 worsted looms. The raw cotton consumed in a year is over 40,000,000 pounds, and the weekly output is about 5,000,000 yards of cotton cloth and 460,cco yards of worsted cloth. The floor space of all the buildings of the corporation is 177 acres, over a quarter of a square mile, and 6,500 males and 3,800 females are employed. The total annual payroll (in 1918) is over $7,500,000.
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