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 16
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Lawrence is easily and quickly reached by several lines of electric railways and steam railroad. Like the arteries of the human system these lines stretch out, through every part of the city and to the adjacent towns and nearby cities. Fast running cars bring into close connection with Lawrence the towns of Methuen, North Andover, Andover, Middleton and Salem, N. H., besides the cities of Lowell and Haverhill. Within easy distance of Lawrence's shopping centre are more than 150,000 people.
CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
The city's most remarkable progress has been made during the last twenty-seven years, and probably no organization has been more closely identified with that progress than the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce, or Board of Trade as it was originally known.
The Lawrence Board of Trade was organized February 8, 1888, with James H. Eaton as president, Charles A. DeCourcy as secretary, Arthur W. Dyer as treasurer, and about 75 members, including most of the mill agents and many of the business and professional men of the city. Today, the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce has 500 active members, representative of the industrial, mercantile and professional life of the community.
The old Board of Trade was formed for the three-fold purpose of bringing to public notice the vital needs of the city, stimulating local trade and attracting new industries and business enterprises. This commendable object was successfully adhered to through the 25 years of its existence, and it has been followed by the present Chamber of Commerce since the reorganization on June 1, 1913, only with a greater activity, made possible by the wider scope adopted.
The organization has assisted in attracting new enterprises to the city. In the way of advertising the advantages of Lawrence, an in- estimable amount of good has been done. Statistical matter has been constantly sent abroad, telling of the marvelous growth of the city and the opportunities it offers for investment.
A notable enterprise in this direction was the sending, by the Chamber, of an industrial exhibit to the Panama-Pacific International Exposition at San Francisco in 1915. Many thousands of descriptive pamphlets were distributed in connection with the project, and Law- rence secured thereby invaluable publicity. Another feature of this undertaking was the sending of a special train to the Pacific coast, bearing 106 enthusiastic boomers for Lawrence. It is needless to say that the city was "put on the map" on this occasion, if it were not considered there before. The exhibit was given first prize.
Just prior to the reorganization of the Board of Trade as the Chamber of Commerce the Merchants Association, which had been organized in 1902 for the purpose of regulating the opening and closing hours of the stores, was merged in that body.
The Chamber has commodious quarters on the eighth floor of the Bay State building where there is on file a fund of information pertaining to the city's activities.
THE CENTRAL BRIDGE
No public improvement, undertaken in the history of the city, has been more fraught with difficulties than has the building of the Central bridge. The project has followed a pathway strewn with obstacles, and it has been only with the greatest effort that some of these were surmounted. The construction of the bridge has been merged in bitter controversy at times, and it has been used as a political football with which men have ridden in and out of office.
There have been some who contended that there was no need of so costly a structure ; that more careful deliberation in the matter of construction plans and contracts, and of property damage, would have saved the city many thousands of dollars. However, when the bridge was built it was constructed with an eye to the future, and there is no denying the permanency of its construction, nor its massive beauty. The bridge stands today, one of the finest of its kind in the country.
The cost of the entire Central bridge project can only be con- jectured at this writing, for while the main bridge is completed there are yet the canal bridge approaches to be built, besides the laying out of new highways, leading to the main structure, with further land damages. The cost of the improvement, as it is, may be estimated as a little over $1,000,000, which includes over $500,000 for damages to mill property seized in laying out the site. In this estimate is figured the sum of $100,000 in which the County of Essex is bound to reimburse the city upon the completion of the project, as its share of the expense. The first cost may be further reduced, as it is proposed to lease the electric railway privileges over the bridge and also to rent the wire conduits, but there is no means of knowing, at this time, how much revenue will be derived from these sources. It has been predicted that the cost of the entire project, including the river bridge, canal bridges and improvement of highway approaches, will reach close to $1,5cc,oco, although it is probable that the total expense will fall far short of that figure.
The Central bridge is a reinforced concrete structure, 1,500 feet long by 80 feet wide, spanning the Merrimack River at the foot of Amesbury street, approximately 460 feet south of Essex street, the principal business thoroughfare in Lawrence. With the extensions over the canals, which traverse at right angles at either extremity, the entire structure will measure 1,750 feet.
The design involves 200 feet of retaining wall of the counterfoot
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type, with earth fills, at each end of the bridge. There are six 107 feet three-centered reinforced concrete arch spans of the open spandel type, six 44 feet segmented arch rib spans and one temporary 90 feet concrete arch span. This last mentioned span was built in such a manner that it can readily be replaced with a double leaf bascule draw span, whenever the Merrimack River is open for navigation. In the original design no provision was made for navigation, but legislation subsequent to the signing of the contract necessitated the erection of two large abutment piers to provide for the future installation of a bascule span in the middle of the river channel.
The deepest foundation, that laid for the southerly bascule pier, is sunk 55 feet below water, making the height of this pier 98 feet and 6 inches, which, to give some idea of its immensity, is about as high as the Bay State building, the highest building in Lawrence.
The roadway over the full length of the structure is 56 feet wide between curbs, one foot wider than Essex street. Provision is made for two electric railway tracks. The sidewalks are 12 feet wide, three feet narrower than those on Essex street. A reinforced concrete balustrade of ornamental design extends the full length, intercepted at regular intervals by lamp posts which are also constructed of re- inforced concrete and made high enough to support the span wires carrying the trolley wires. Provision has been made to light the structure by attaching to each of the 26 lamp posts a four-light cluster phosphor bronze fixture. Each lamp is of 200 candle power. As a "white way", the bridge will be unsurpassed by anything of that nature to be seen in this locality. Thirty-six 31/2×312 terra cotta conduits have been provided beneath the easterly sidewalk for carrying wires. The street car rails are 110 pound, nine inch grooved girder rails laid on creosoted ties, flush with the paved highway surface.
Indeed, the Central bridge is modern in every detail, spacious and imposing, and artistic in design. What is most satisfying of all is the fact that it is built for all time, capable of carrying the very heaviest traffic and requiring hardly any expenditures for repairs.
The commission in charge of the construction of the bridge comprised John J. Donovan, chairman ; John O. Battershill, secretary ; Joseph J. Flynn, John A. Brackett and Otto Parthum, with City Solicitor Daniel J. Murphy as counsel. The engineer was Benjamin H. Davis of New York. The commission was appointed by Mayor John T. Cahill on January 23, 1911. The first excavation for the bridge was made on October 1, 1914, and the first concrete was laid on October 20 of that year. The structure was completed on March 20, 1918.
The construction of the bridges over the North and South canals, approaches to the Central bridge, is at this writing going on, under the direction of the City Council, the Central Bridge Commission having completed its duties with the completion of the main bridge.
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THE CENTRAL BRIDGE
Length, 1,500 feet ; width, 80 feet ; deepest foundation of piers, 55 feet below water ; 47,000 barrels of cement, 81,000,000 pounds of stone, 45,000,000 pounds of sand and 1,400,000 pounds of reinforcing steel used in construction; contains 34,600 cubic yards of concrete.
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The Essex Company, according to its charter, being obliged to construct and maintain "sufficient" bridges where new highways are laid out over the canals, and there being a disagreement as to the character of the structures the company should build, a compromise was reached whereby the Essex Company agreed to pay $40,000 toward the cost of the canal bridges upon the condition that the city construct the bridges and that the company be released from the obligation of maintaining them. An agreement was drawn up to that effect, and it was ratified by the State Legislature of 1917.
The plans provide for two concrete structures whose architectural lines shall be in keeping with those of the Central bridge. They were drawn by B. H. Davis, the Central bridge engineer, who is under contract to supervise the construction.
DEEP WATERWAY POSSIBILITIES
A deep waterway to the sea would be a great contributing factor in the future development of Lawrence. Terminal and track facilities have not kept pace with the tremendous industrial expansion of the city in the past 20 years, and the need of improvement in freight transportation, such as would be afforded by river navigation, is keenly felt.
As far back as 1828 the Federal authorities saw the need of dredging the Merrimack River above tidewater, to encourage the build- ing of seaport towns along its shores. From time to time in the years that have followed, it has been "resolved" and "reported" with occasional action that failed to fully produce the desired results.
In June, 1848, the steamer "Lawrence" came up from Newbury- port with a delegation from that place and adjoining towns. Since that time sundry efforts have been made to navigate the river, but with little success. General Butler's effort in 1877 met with some success,. and in 1879 E. M. Boynton made a marked advance in the project. " Many obstructions were removed, boats built for transporting coal, lands leased of the Essex Company for a landing place and coal yard, and 22,000 tons of coal were delivered in Lawrence direct from New- buryport before winter set in that year. However, the channel at Mitchell's Falls proved to be neither deep enough nor wide enough to guarantee safe transportation, and interest waned.
The greatest stride in the various attempts to carry out this long cherished idea has been made in the last few years, and the progress attained was due to a large extent to the persistent, intelligent effort of Andrew B. Sutherland of Lawrence, who has been called the "father of the waterway" because of his activity in behalf of the project. With the able assistance of Judge Charles C. Paine of Hyannis, and Lewis R. Hovey of Haverhill, the other two members of the Merri- mack Valley Waterway Board, he succeeded in 1917 in bringing the proposition to a point where the preliminary work for actual construc. tion might have been started.
The approval of the project by the Board of Engineers of the United States Army had been secured, with the recommendation to Congress that the Federal government participate in the expense on a 50 percent. basis with the state of Massachusetts. The estimated cost at the time was $7,076,6co, the cities and towns to be benefited to take care of all land damages, terminals, docks, etc. The State
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Legislature voted to co-operate in a financial way, but the bill was vetoed by Governor McCall on the ground that it was inexpedient at this time, notwithstanding the fact that it was pointed out that provision could be made whereby the legislation need not become effective until after the war.
The project proposes a navigable channel, 18 feet deep and 200 feet wide, from the sea to Lowell, a distance of 36 miles. There are on the banks of the river, in this short distance, four large cities and 12 towns, with a population of over 350,000, nearly 900 manufacturing establishments and about $250,000,000 of capital invested. The valley cities turn out annually manufactured products at a value of $350,000,000. Raw materials are imported at a value of $200,000,000.
The idea is not impracticable, and the undertaking does not seem so difficult when one considers the length of inland waterways else- where. New York is 20 miles by river to the sea, Mobile 40 miles, New Orleans 100, Baltimore 150, Philadelphia 100, London, Eng., 35, Liverpool, Eng., 20, and Manchester, Eng., 56 miles by river to the sea. The great Kiel Canal, completed in 1914, is 61 miles long and cost more than $65,000,000.
The Merrimack Valley has an annual commerce (not including lumber and merchandise) of $550,000,000. The valley's trade exceeds the foreign commerce of Boston. It exceeds the foreign commerce of any American seaport except New York, and that of any seaport in the western hemisphere except New York and Buenos Ayres. It is greater by $37,000,000 than the foreign trade of Manchester, England (where $100,000,000 has been spent in constructing a canal 36 miles long with an extensive system of docks). It exceeds by $66,000,000 the foreign trade of Glasgow, Scotland ( where $55,000,000 has been spent in dredging and dock construction). It represents trade of almost two million dollars a day for every working day in the year.
America's keenest competitors in Europe are vastly extending their inland waterway systems, in order that after the war their commerce may be moved to and from shipsides at the lowest possible cost. There has been sufficient evidence of the inadequacy of the railroad accommodations hereabouts to make it apparent that there is a great need of a deep waterway for the cities and towns of Merrimack Valley, and it is to be hoped that the efforts of those who have worked so hard to bring about a fulfillment of the project will yet be crowned with complete success.
JOURNALISM IN LAWRENCE
A newspaper man was on the spot when the foundation of Law- rence was being laid, and newspaper enterprise has ever since been prominently identified with the development of the city. There have been many ventures in the local field of journalism, and most of them have been short lived. Newspapers are not made; they grow, and only the fittest survive.
The first newspaper in Lawrence was issued in October, 1846, under the name of The Merrimack Courier, by J. F. C. Hayes who' came here early in that year and set up a printing press in a partially completed building on Broadway. This paper, a weekly, was con- tinued under the editorial management of Mr. Hayes, John A. Good- win, Homer A. Cooke, Rev. Henry F. Harrington and Nathaniel Ambrose, a portion of the time as a tri-weekly, until soon after Lincoln's election in November, 1860, when the publication collapsed.
In January, 1847, The Weekly Messenger, published by Brown & Becket, was transferred to Lawrence from Exeter, N. H. It lasted about two years. Some time in the winter of 1847 or 1848, one or two copies of a paper were issued from the Messenger office, under the title of The Engine, by E. R. Wilkins. In the spring of 1848, a paper, called The Herald, by Amos H. Sampson, appeared, gave a few gasps and passed away. Immediately following The Herald came The Vanguard, by Fabyan & Douglass. The Vanguard was Dem- ocratic, and it was regarded as an able publication. The office was a joint stock concern, in which the publishers were very little interested, and subsequently the name was changed to The Sentinel. Under this title it had been edited by Harrison Douglass, B. F. Watson, George A. Gordon, Benjamin Bordman, John Ryan, John K. Tarbox, Abiel Morrison, and Jeremiah T., and Edward F. O'Sullivan. Only very recently this, the city's oldest weekly publication, gave up the ghost.
In 1856, a weekly paper, under the title of The Home Review, was issued here by J. F. C. Hayes. It was continued until the Courier came back into his hands, when it was merged in that paper. In 1855, the publication of The Lawrence American, by George W. Sargent and A. S. Bunker, began. The office, like that of The Vanguard, was a joint stock affair. It was owned by the members of the "Know Nothing" party. Mr. Bunker sold his right to the paper to Mr. Sargent for $25, a few weeks after its commencement, and the latter conducted it alone for a time. Later George S. Merrill became
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associated with him, and finally succeeded him as sole editor. The American flourished as a "Know Nothing" organ during the brief existence of the "Know Nothing" party. When Mr. Merrill got control the policy was changed and, under his capable editorship, The American was a widely quoted Republican paper. In June, 1892, William S. Jewett purchased the plant, and on August 1, 1893, he started The Sun, a morning daily, and later The Sunday Sun, a Sunday edition of both the daily American and the Sun, from the same office. The Sunday Sun attained a large circulation. The present management, a stock concern, took over the plant in 1914. The daily Sun has since been discontinued, and the name of the American, the evening edition, changed to the Sun-American. The publications are now independent Democratic in political policy.
On December 1, 1860, the first daily paper in this city, The Daily Journal, was issued by Dockham & Place. It was continued for about · two years as a daily, then became a tri-weekly, and in 1863 it was merged in The American. In the spring of 1867, The Essex Eagle, by Merrill & Wadsworth (Charles G. Merrill and Horace A. Wads- worth), was started, and was published weekly. Mr. Merrill soon retired and Mr. Wadsworth managed the paper alone, starting the Daily Eagle from the same office, July 20, 1868. The Daily Eagle, which in 1868 absorbed The Essex Eagle, is the oldest daily in the city, the daily American being issued for the first time the next evening. With the Eagle there is now published daily The Evening Tribune, which was established in 1890, the first penny paper here. Their political policy is Democratic, and the Tribune has a large and influential circulation. In 1898, F. H. Hildreth and A. H. Rogers, under the firm name of Hildreth & Rogers, purchased the Eagle and Tribune. Upon the death of Mr. Hildreth in 1909, a stock company was formed, with Mr. Rogers as treasurer and general manager, and it took over the plant.
The Lawrence Journal, weekly, was started by Robert Bower, as a labor organ, in 1871, and was sold to Patrick Sweeney in 1877. It later became the Sunday Register which, after passing through several hands, suspended publication in 1913. There has been a number of later day publications which have gone out of existence, including The Sunday Telegram, The Star, and The Daily News.
The Sunday Telegram was established in 1884 by Winfield G. Merrill. Later George Goldsmith joined Mr. Merrill in the venture, and then became sole editor. With Harry Nice, Goldsmith began issuing The Lawrence Telegram daily on March 4, 1895, this publica- tion taking the place of the Sunday Telegram. In 1896 it was rescued by John N. Cole, and under his supervision the paper was firmly established. In 1906, Kimball G. Colby purchased the controlling interest in the publication, further improving the plant and increasing the prestige of the paper. Today, The Telegram is one of the city's
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largest and most influential publications. Its political policy is Republican. All three daily newspaper plants are stock concerns. They are modernly equipped, and not only is the local field thoroughly covered, but the news of the world is daily chronicled by the aid of wire services.
The Star, a weekly publication, was established by James E. Donoghue in 1893, and in 1900 the Daily News was started from the same office. Though the Daily News was a bright, newsy sheet, five years later it expired with the Star. There are several weeklies being published in the city today, including The Leader, The Journal, The Critic, The Gazette, Anzeiger und Post (German) and Le Courier (French ). The Leader is devoted almost entirely to comment, very little straight news matter being carried.
LAWRENCE BAR ASSOCIATION
The Lawrence Bar Association represents the law fraternity of the city. Some of the keenest legal minds in the state have been and are still identified with the organization. It has furnished four judges of the Superior Court, Judges Edgar J. Sherman, Charles U. Bell, Charles A. DeCourcy and Louis S. Cox. Judge DeCourcy is now a justice of the Supreme Court of Massachusetts. It has also provided a judge of Probate Court, Judge Harry R. Dow. Members of it have been prominent in municipal, county, state and national affairs, as well as in the courts of law.
Although there has been an organization, of some kind, of local members of the bar since about the beginning of the city, it was not until January 11, 1905, that the present incorporated association was organized. This organization was brought about by a movement for a suitable law library in Lawrence, the need of which was felt by the local fraternity. The association has been instrumental in having established at the county court house one of the finest law libraries in the state, for the upkeep of which the County of Essex contributes a certain sum each year.
The first officers of the incorporated association were :- President, William S. Knox; vice president, William J. Bradley ; treasurer, J. P. Kane ; secretary, John C. Sanborn, Jr. ; executive committee, Newton P. Frye, Harry R. Dow and John J. Donovan. Today it has a mem- bership of 70, including men reputedly well versed in every branch of law. The present officers comprise :- President, Walter Coulson ; vice president, John P. S. Mahoney ; treasurer, Matthew A. Cregg, secretary, Daniel A. Arundel.
Lawrence has always had big men in the law profession. Among the most prominent of the earlier years, and who are still remembered for their accomplishments, were John K. Tarbox who had served as mayor, member of Congress and insurance commissioner ; Elbridge T. Burley who had a state-wide reputation as a lawyer, and especially in the later years of his career as an authority on the law of wills ; William S. Knox, a notable criminal lawyer, who for eight years represented this district in Congress; and then, there was Daniel Saunders who passed away April 19, 1917, at the ripe old age of 96 years. Mr. Saunders at the time of his death was the oldest living alumnus of Harvard Law School. He was a man of wonderful vitality, and his keen mind stayed with him to the last. He was still in harness up to the time of the illness which resulted in his death.
SOCIAL AND FRATERNAL ORGANIZATIONS
Probably no city in the country, of its size, has more social, fraternal and such organizations than Lawrence. There are altogether about 300 of these societies or clubs which are a prominent factor in the life of the city. Many of them hold valuable realty and are established in their own buildings.
The first fraternal organization here was United Brothers Lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, which was instituted May 28, 1847, in the building on the south-east corner of Hampshire and Common streets. It is the parent lodge of Odd Fellows in Lawrence. The members held meetings in that hall for several years, after which they removed to larger quarters on the north side of Essex street about midway between Lawrence and Pemberton streets. Here the lodge was located until the completion of the Odd Fellows building in 1874. The organization has had a steady, healthy growth. Today it is one of the most firmly established of the several branches of the order in the city.
Another early fraternal organization was Grecian Lodge of Masons. It was chartered December 14, 1825, to be held in Methuen. It continued there until 1838, when the charter was surrendered to the grand lodge. After the incorporation of the Town of Lawrence, several of the old members petitioned the grand lodge for a restoration of the charter, which petition was granted December 27, 1847. Its first meetings were held in a hall at the corner of Essex and Amesbury streets. In 1872 it moved, with all the other Masonic bodies, to the Saunders block, its present location.
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