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 5
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In 1896 Engine 7's house and Engine 6's house were completed. The following year the Wetherbee school was built. In 1898 land was purchased and plans selected for the new: High school on Lawrence street, and on June 17 of the following year the corner stone of the building was laid. The same year land was secured for the erection of the Bruce school. In 1900 Engine 8's house was built. The construction of the present courthouse was started and the new General hospital building dedicated in 1902. The following year the United States government purchased land for the postoffice building in Depot Square. In 1904 the erection of the Bay State block, Lawrence's tallest building, was begun, and work started on the postoffice and Hood school buildings. In 1905 two attempts were made to secure an auxiliary water supply from driven wells, but all borings failed. About the same time an agitation started for the covered filter, located north of the original filter bed. In
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LAWRENCE-YESTERDAY AND TODAY
1906 the high pressure water service for fire protection was installed in the business district.
The year 1905 saw the beginning of the greatest period of building construction since the founding of the city. In the three years that followed, it has been estimated, there was $10,000,000 expended in building operations. The magnificent Wood mills were erected in this period, also the Ayer mills and great additions to several of the other industrial plants. The enormous increase in manufacturing facilities attracted thousands of people to the city, and in providing accommodations for them hundreds of dwellings were erected, besides a number of business blocks. Public improve- ments kept face. In 1907 the erection of the large Central fire station was started, and was completed the following year, when Engine 9's house was also built.
In 1908 began the movement for permanent street pavement, with the paving of Common street. The following year Essex street was repaved, and it is today one of the finest roadways in New England. In 1912 paving operations were taken up on a still larger scale and in the next five years over a half million dollars was spent by the city for street paving. All of the main thorough- fares have been paved with granite blocks, besides many other streets. In 1909 the Tuberculosis hospital was built, and in 1910, Engine 4's house.
In the fall of 1911 the question of a new city charter was taken up by the voters, with the result that the old original charter was abolished and the commission form of government adopted. The same year the Breen school was built.
The year 1912 goes down in history as probably the most eventful since the incorporation of the city,-important because of the radical change in the management of the city under a new charter, but in the main because of the big strike of mill operatives, that through the misrepresentations of itinerant agitators and un- scrupulous writers attracted international notice, and cost the city, county, state and corporations hundreds of thousands of dollars, besides reflecting discredit upon the community.
The strike and subsequent happenings did not give the people much time to look into the workings of the new charter, but it has since proven its worth, though there are some features of it which might be improved upon. A notable event of 1912 was the establish- ment of the supervised playground system, which has met with remarkable success. A deep interest in the city playgrounds followed with the result that the park system has been extended and big improvements have been made on all the grounds.
In 1913 definite steps were taken toward the construction of a central bridge over the Merrimack River. About the same time
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TWENTY-SEVEN YEARS OF PROGRESS
a survey of the Merrimack River was made for a proposed deep waterway. A regrettable event of this year was the disaster which occurred on June 30, when II boys were drowned in the Merrimack River as the result of the collapse of a gang plank at one of the bathhouses. The use of these houses was discontinued in conse- quence, and it is expected that they will be replaced in the near future by a suitable municipal swimming pool.
A notable improvement in 1914 was a revision of the building ordinances, the city council adopting a building code prepared by the planning board. That year work was started on the construction of a new police station. In the year 1915 was experienced a business depression, when the city government was confronted with a difficult problem in providing work for the unemployed. The construction of the Ward One sewer was started, and the building of the new central Oliver grammar school was also begun, on June 2, that year.
The years 1916 and 1917 were the busiest and most prosperous years in the city's history. The great demand for textile products, caused by the European war, kept every mill running to its full capacity, and labor was in great demand. Municipal and general business interests shared in the beneficial results. The value of mill stocks reached such a point that the most unprecedented increases in corporation tax revenue were secured by the city. Big voluntary raises in pay were given the mill operatives. Outside the extra- ordinary activity of the industries, the notable events of these years were two calls to arms by the national government. In June, 1916, the local militia units were called to the Mexican border, when trouble threatened with Mexico. In April, 1917, a more serious summons came when war was declared against Germany.
LAWRENCE TODAY
AREA :- 4,577 acres, about equally divided by the Merrimack River. 2,216 acres in North Lawrence; 2,097 in South Lawrence ; 264, Merrimack River.
SITUATED :- Within easy reach of seaboard. Twenty-six miles from Boston, on lines of Boston & Maine Railroad, with 150 passenger trains daily ; also centre of street railway system, carrying 9,000,000 passengers yearly. Excellent water power. Merrimack River which flows through city turns more spindles than any other stream on earth.
POPULATION :- Over 100,000, including 47 nationalities. 'Three suburban towns adjoining depend almost entirely upon city's industries and mercantile enterprises. Combined population of Lawrence and contiguous towns, over 130,000.
INDUSTRIES :- New England's greatest textile centre. Largest woolen textile manufacturing centre in the United States (aside from Philadelphia carpets). Third city in Massachusetts in value of general products, Boston and Worcester only exceeding it. Has largest print works and worsted mills in the world. Mills cover nearly 300 acres. Over 30,000 employed in the textile plants alone. Annual payroll of over $32,000,000; annual production of over $150,000,000; invested capital of over $127,000,000. Wide diversification of industries, manufactures including :- Worsteds, woolens, cotton cloth, print goods, paper, paper mill machinery, shoes, shoe machinery, braids, rugs, carriages, wheels, bobbins, fibre board, boilers, chemicals, soap, loom.harnesses, mill supplies, besides various products of foundries, machine and woodworking shops, granite works, etc.
PUBLIC HEALTH :- According to mortuary statistics for July, 1917, Lawrence leads the cities of the country in health con- ditions, notwithstanding the mixed nature of population. City has excellent water supply system. First successful municipal fil- tration plant installed here. Reservoir, pumping station and 103.5 miles of water mains. 90 miles of sewers. 17 parks and play- steads, comprising 164.67 acres. General, municipal and tuberculosis hospitals. Medical inspection and dental clinics in connection with
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LAWRENCE TODAY
schools. Sanitary arrangements in the factories of the very best. Strict enforcement of health regulations.
PUBLIC SAFETY :- Well equipped police and fire depart- ments. Police station, district court and nine engine houses. High pressure water service in fire hazard district. State armory and three units of state militia. Well lighted thoroughfares. 108 miles of streets. 70 miles of accepted streets. 18.8 miles paved with granite with cement grouted joints.
EDUCATIONAL :- In educational advantages compares .favor- ably with any other city of its size in the country. 32 public schools, including evening courses, elementary, grammar and high grades. Eight parochial schools. Well equipped industrial school. Two commercial schools. Public library with 70,000 volumes. Free lecture courses. 43 churches, all denominations, besides a large number of other organizations active in the interest of the moral and physical development of the community. Over 200 fraternal and charitable societies. Four enterprising daily newspapers. Live Chamber of Commerce.
GOVERNMENT :- Commission form, including the initiative, referendum and recall. Concentration of responsibility and a close relationship to the electorate are prominent features of plan. Number of voters, 13,000, including 380 women who are privileged to vote for members of the school board. 19 voting precincts, included in six wards. 21,000 male polls. One of the lowest tax rates in the state,-$18.80 per thousand. Assessed property valuation (1917), $84,077,651.
MERCANTILE :- Centre for several surrounding towns. Shop- ping district lined with finely appointed, well equipped stores, several of which are metropolitan in proportions.
BANKS :- One national bank, three trust companies, three sav- ings and three co-operative banks, besides a Morris plan bank for handling small loans. Over $30,000,000 of saving deposits in banks of Lawrence.
REMARKS :- A shire town of Essex County, with courthouse and registry of deeds. Post Office of the first class. A city with a most cosmopolitan population, industrious, thrifty, law-abiding people, living in harmony. Comparatively free from labor troubles. A city of homes, remarkable for the number of workers who own their homes. A progressive city, ever ready to welcome enterprise and encourage it.
FIRST DISASTER IN LAWRENCE
The first disaster or accident of unusual seriousness to occur in Lawrence was recorded on October 12, 1847. It was in connec- tion with the building of the Merrimack River dam. Two men were killed, two seriously injured and three slightly hurt.
At the time of this accident about 300 feet of the dam on the south side and Ico feet on the north side of the river was completed, the water meanwhile running through the unfinished space of 500 feet. It became necessary during the progress of the work to shut off the water from this by a coffer dam. The timbers were all in position and supposed to be securely boarded, and workmen were engaged in putting down flashboards. Without warning that portion of the dam upon which they were engaged rose up on the surface of the water and 15 men were carried amid broken timbers by the rush of the flood upon the rocks 25 feet below.
L. M. Wright, superintendent of the wood-work, and Captain Charles H. Bigelow, the engineer in charge, were in a scow at the time, and barely escaped with their lives, the latter being badly in- jured.
It was intended to raise the water to a level required to supply the Bay State Mills, then nearing completion.
THE FALL OF THE PEMBERTON MILL
"No cyclone or whirlwind had swept the plain: no torrent had undermined ; no lightning stroke had rent; no explosion had shattered the fair structure. Some inherent and fatal defect invited and caused collapse so complete that it came without warning and overcame every element of strength and solidity."-The late Hon. R. H. Tewksbury in his history of the calamity.
We of this generation have had our trials, but they are as nothing compared to those of the early residents of Lawrence who experienced the shock of the most dire calamity that has ever befallen the city,-the Fall of the Pemberton Mill. Coming in all its appalling magnitude just as the city was recovering from the stag- nation following the crisis of 1857, it fell upon the community with terrible and crushing force.
To fully understand the gloom into which Lawrence was plunged, those living in the flush times of today must remember that the three years, 1857, '58 and '59, immediately preceding this calamity. had been years of financial depression. Lawrence had suffered in common with, but more than other localities.
The Bay State Mills, then the largest woolen industry in the country, had failed and ceased operations. The great stone Machine Shop building (now part of the Everett Mills ) was silent and deserted. The Pacific Mills were in the experimental stage, struggling to survive ; there were rumors of failure or stoppage of all work at the Atlantic Cotton Mills, and actual closing at the Pemberton Mill. Building had almost entirely ceased ; the population had decreased fifteen percent and valuation had shrunk from former figures; real estate was for sale at ruinous prices. Only when the great demand for manufactured goods, growing out of the war of the Rebellion, came, with the prosperous years that followed, did the city fully recover lost ground and start upon a progressive course that has had no serious setback.
The Pemberton Mill was built in 1853 by the Essex Company for a manufacturing corporation of which John Pickering Putnam was the managing director. It was constructed in accordance with plans made by Capt. Charles H. Bigelow, the architect and engineer, and the work was superintended by him and his assistants. It was one of the lightest, most attractive, and apparently most substantial
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LAWRENCE-YESTERDAY AND TODAY
structures in the city. It had been in continuous operation, except during the financial depression of 1857-'59, and early in 1859 had been purchased by David Nevins of Methuen and George Howe of Boston, who paid $325,000 for the plant which had originally cost about $840,000.
Under their management the mill had again been put in operation and there were signs of prosperity, when on the 10th of January, 1860, shortly before 5 o'clock in the afternoon, while the machinery was in motion, without a moment's warning, the whole structure trembled, tottered and fell, burying beneath its shapeless, broken ruins the mass of humanity, teeming within its walls. There went down amid that pile of brick, mortar, timbers and broken machinery, 670 men, women and children.
The tidings flew like wild fire throughout the city and immediate- ly a sturdy corps of volunteer mechanics and workers of every occu- pation covered the ruins, clearing away debris and rescuing the trapped operatives.
Had no further calamity occurred the loss of life by this down- fall would have been greatly lessened, but, about 10 o'clock, just as the rescuers were reaching many of the victims, there was a cry of alarm that appalled the stoutest hearts. A lantern in the hands of a workman was broken by a chance blow from a pickax, wielded by another rescuer, and the ignited fluid fell among inflammable cotton and oily waste that burst into flames, unquenchable by means at hand. Fed by saturated cotton, shattered timber and crude waste, tongues of flame darted like serpents from openings in the huge smoking ruin.
Firemen labored incessantly to reach and subdue the flames, but so completely were the layers of broken machinery covered by the bent and twisted floors that it was well-nigh impossible to effectively reach the spaces where many living employes were pinned among broken fragments of machinery, shafting and material in process of manufacture. Between these layers of flooring there was a draught that fanned relentless flames creeping through every aperture and space and destroying all hope of escape for imprisoned sufferers.
The scene, lighted by bon-fires and the flames from the burning mass, in the smoke that hung about it, was weird, awe-inspiring and indescribable. All about the streets, from every available outlook, an excited, hushed crowd gathered from the homes of the city and from the country about, looking on filled with fear and foreboding.
There were 918 persons employed by the corporation but of these nearly one-third were at work in outbuildings or in the yard and were therefore out of danger. Of the 670 persons in the mill when it fell, 307 escaped unhurt, 88 were killed, 116 badly injured and 159 slightly injured. It seemed almost miraculous that such a iarge percentage of employes escaped with their lives.
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THE FALL OF THE PEMBERTON MILL
The City Hall was transformed into a hospital and morgue for the wounded and dead by order of Hon. Daniel Saunders, Jr., who was mayor at the time, and the physicians of the city, as well as those of neighboring towns, volunteered their services and labored untiringly for the relief of the sufferers. The scene at the City Hall was one long to be remembered. Here the wounded were cared for during the night and the dead were carried for identification. At one time there were 54 wounded patients in the hall, and the services rendered by many women, not only there but in the homes of the sufferers, were invaluable. The heart-rending pathos witnessed in the identification of the dead can be left to the imagination.
The calamity stirred the charitable impulses and awakened the sympathy of an entire country. A relief committee was organized, of which Mayor Saunders was chairman and Hon. Charles S. Storrow was treasurer, and by every mail came such a flood of unsolicited contributions that it was soon deemed advisable by official notifica- tion to stay the generosity of the givers who were anxious to assist in alleviating the suffering caused by the disaster.
All movements for the relief of the injured, the care of and wise and just distribution of money and supplies contributed by the charitable were carried out with surprising promptitude. Scarcely had the first shock subsided when the machinery for rendering all possible relief was fully in operation. In the work of bringing order out of the chaos Hon. Daniel Saunders, Jr., the mayor, was a most competent leader. The committee of relief comprised Hon. Daniel Saunders, Jr., Charles S. Storrow, Henry K. Oliver, William C. Chapin and John C. Hoadley. The district inspectors were Sylvester A. Furbush, J. Q. A. Batchelder, Edward P. Poor, William D. Joplin, Henry Withington, Elbridge Weston and Daniel Saunders, Sr. They constantly conferred with the committee, giving assistance and con- fining aid to deserving and proper cases.
The total amount of the contributions received was $65,834.67 and of this sum $51,834.67 was disbursed in aid of the sufferers and for funeral, medical and other expenses and the $14,000 remain- ing was invested for annuities in trust in the Massachusetts Hospital Life Insurance Company. The larger part of this trust fund has been expended for the relief of more cases needing continuous aid. The trustees employed Pardon Armington, afterwards mayor of the city, as clerk of this relief committee and he made accurate and complete records of the receipts, disbursements and doings of the faithful trustees.
Four days after the catastrophe Mayor Saunders issued a proclamation appointing a day for fasting and prayer and calling upon the people to abstain from labor and to hold religious services in the various churches. The propriety of the call was acknowl-
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LAWRENCE-YESTERDAY AND TODAY
edged by the people and never was a fast day so universally observed in the city.
A jury was summoned by Dr. William D. Lamb who was then the coroner, and after hearing the evidence of eye-witnesses and experts found that the cast iron pillars used for supporting the several floors of the building were weak on account of defective casting, and it was agreed that this was the cause of the terrible disaster.
It was the recollection of eye-witnesses that the roof of the mill first sank at the southerly end and the whole roof, freeing itself from wall supports, came crashing down upon the floor below. The great weight and force of the falling roof carried down the upper floor with all the load of machinery and nothing could withstand the descending mass from this point, through all the stories, until the solid earth was reached. Every timber acted as a lever to tilt and crush the walls. The collapse of the main building was utterly complete and can be conceived of only by those who saw the ruin as it lay. The wall of the northerly end was thrown outward, a portion falling upon the ice that covered the canal. The upper floors, as they lay in ruin, overhung the lower at the north end toward the canal. Measuring from outside, the building had been 284 feet in length and 84 feet in width.
The wing building at the northerly end (60x37 feet dimension), of the same height as the main mill, five stories, did not fall with the main structure. In this wing were the counting room, cloth room and offices. There were also several low, detached buildings, as the dye house, picker house, cotton house, etc. The chimney at the south end remained standing with some crumbling walls attached. Only the main building fell.
Of the dead bodies removed from the ruins 13 were mutilated beyond recognition, and the remains were buried in a lot in Bellevue cemetery, over which was erected a plain granite monument, with the inscription :- "In memory of the unrecognized dead who were killed by the fall of the Pemberton Mill, January 10, 1860."
The present Pemberton Mills occupy the site of the old plant. Immediately after the calamity a new company, with David Nevins, George Blackburn and Eben Sutton as controlling owners and direc- tors, organized as "The Pemberton Company", and rebuilt the works on the old foundations, commencing operations anew in 1861. Since that time they and their successors have continuously operated the mills at a profit. At the time of the disaster Frederick E. Clarke was the paymaster and cashier for the corporation. John E. Chase was the agent.
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THE FALL OF THE PEMBERTON MILL
LIST OF DEAD
The killed and fatally injured (death resulting very soon) were as follows :
Adolph, William
Hollifield, Bernard
Ahern, Ellen
Hurley, Joanna
Ashworth, Augusta
Hughes, Martin
Bailey, Joseph
Hughes, John
Barrett, Mary
Jewett, Mary
Bannan, Mary Ann
Jordan, William
Branch, Lafayette
Kelly, Bridget
Broder, Bridget
Kelleher, Catharine
Brennan, Owen
Kimball, Elizabeth R.
Burke, Mary
Leonard, Dennis
Callahan, Mary
Loughrey, Bridget
Callahan, Peter
Lunney, Richard
Callahan, Hannah
Mahoney, Ellen
Cain, William
Martin, Asenath P.
Clarke, Catherine
McAleer, Margaret
Colbert, Ellen
McCann, Mary
Conner, Ellen
McNabb, John
Conners, Catherine
Metcalf, William
Corcoran, Margaret
Midgeley, Richard
Coleman, Margaret
Molineux, Hannah
Cooney, Catherine
Murphy, Alice
Cronan, Joanna
Murphy, Mary
Crosby, Bridget
Nash, Orin C.
Cullen, Alice
O'Brien, Michael
Culloten, Mary
O'Connor, Patrick
Dearborne, John C.
O'Hearne, Jeremiah
Dineen, Ellen
Orr, Eliza
Donnelly, Margaret
Palmer, Morris E.
Dunn, Elizabeth
Roach, Ellen
Fallon, Margaret
Roberts, Julia
Flint, Lizzie D.
Rolfe, Samuel J.
Foley, Margaret
Ryan, Matthew C.
Gallan, Bridget
Ryan, Bridget
Gilson, Lorinda
Ryan, Mary
Griffin, Mary
Shea, Hannah
Hamilton, Margaret
Smith, Maggie J.
Harty, James
Stevens, Celia A.
Harrigan, Catharine
Sweeney, Catharine
Harold, Dora
Sullivan, Ann
Hannon, Catharine
Sullivan, Margaret
Hickey, Ellen
Thomas, Jane
Hickey, Catharine
Towne, Lizzie
Howard, Mary
Turner, Margaret
Note :- Two employes, Maria Hall and Augusta L. Sampson, were crippled for life and received life annuities.
Crosby, Irene
Nice, Mary
THE LAWRENCE CYCLONE
About 9.15 o'clock on a Saturday morning, July 26, 1890, a whirl- wind swept over the whole length of the southern ward of the city, Ward six or South Lawrence, killing eight persons, injuring 65 and causing damage to property to the amount of approximately $45,000.
The tornado swooped down from the west at a velocity of a mile a minute. The morning had been oppressively hot, and shortly before 9 o'clock a furious rain-storm set in. Just as the rain ceased falling a black funnel-shaped cloud was seen approaching. It was high above Andover street and near West Parish road. It descended straight down on the cricket club grounds, a fenced enclosure of several acres in what is now known as Carletonville. The entire eight-foot tight board fence was levelled and, except for a short distance on the southwest corner, was thrown outward from the centre in every direction.
Farther on the tornado struck two dwellings on Emmet street. One of these was carried easterly and nearly ruined, and the other was completely demolished. Just east of this the Essex Company's "Old Blue Ledge", an abandoned stone quarry close by the present Wetherbee school, deflected the tornado upward over a thickly populated region in the vicinity of Durham and Newton streets and the houses escaped with the loss of shingles and a chimney here and there, but little damage being done until Broadway was reached. A portion of the roof of St. Patrick's church, at the corner of Broad- way and Salem street, was raised from the walls, and the Cutler house nearby was destroyed. The superstructure of the Boston & Maine railroad bridge on Salem street was bent and twisted. Michael Higgins, a switchman of the railroad, was killed here, and little Helen Cutler was blown from the bridge and also killed.
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