History of Stearns County, Minnesota, Volume II, Part 128

Author: Mitchell, William Bell, 1843-
Publication date: 1915
Publisher: Chicago : H. S. Cooper
Number of Pages: 1110

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HISTORY OF STEARNS COUNTY

dered to be made, but no definite action was taken until August 10, 1867, when the directors made a proposition to the city council to turn over to it all the rights and franchises of the company, without any charge beyond the refunding of the money already paid, if the city would agree to have the bridge completed within one year from that date; or the company would proceed with the construction of the bridge if the city would give a bonus of $8,000 in bonds payable in five years at ten per cent interest. The latter proposition was at once accepted by the council, which action was unanimously ratified at a public meeting of citizens subsequently held.

The company promptly took up the mat- ter of building the bridge. There was a lively strife among the business interests affected as to the location. St. Germain street offered $6,650, while Chapel street offered $6,000, whereupon the bridge was located at the foot of St. Germain street, where it stands today. The secretary was authorized September 23 to close a con- tract for the construction of the bridge with Chas. A. F. Morris, of St. Paul, and Col. Wm. Crooks was appointed to super- intend the work on the part of the com- pany. Assessments were made from time to time until December 28, by which date the stock subscribed for had been fully paid. The following is a list of the stock- holders, with the amount of stock taken by each: H. C. Waite, $2,500; T. C. McClure, $2,500; H. C. Burbank, $2,000; N. P. Clarke, $2,000; L. A. Evans, $1,600; L. Cram, $1,000; L. Gorton, $1,000; H. T. Welles; J. W. Tenvoorde, N. Lahr, W. B. Mitchell and Sarah N. Tobey, $500 each; John Zapp, B. Vossberg, A. Schroeder and Elizabeth Cram, $200 each; J. G. Smith, $100.

A proposition previously made by E. B. Litchfield of New York, on behalf of the railroad interests he represented, to give $5,000 in case the bridge was constructed, was accepted at a meeting of the directors January 11, 1868. The amount paid the contractor was a fraction over $38,000, which with the work done directly by the company brought the cost of the structure to about $42,000. The bridge was approxi- mately 700 feet long, with two piers, the stone for which was brought by rail from St. Paul.

It was opened for foot passengers April 6, 1868, and for teams April 8. The formal opening took place April 11, when the mayor, the members of the common coun- cil and other officers of the city, preceded by the brass band and escorted by the fire company and artillery company, marched from the courthouse to the west end of the bridge, where the exercises took place. Addresses were made by Mayor Curry, H. C. Waite, the president of the Bridge com- pany, Gen. C. C. Andrews and others, after which the assembled citizens crossed en masse to the east side and after recross- ing dispersed, all being highly gratified that the Father of Waters had been so suc- cessfully spanned. The toll rates were five cents for each foot passenger and twenty-five cents for teams. Jos. E. Wing was the toll keeper. These toll rates were reduced January 1, 1875, to double teams over and back, 25 cents; single teams over and back, 20 cents; foot passengers, 21/2 cents, being a reduction of one-half.

A strong feeling existed that there should be no toll rates whatever, that the river should be spanned by a free bridge, thus enabling the people to pass and re- pass at their pleasure. It was believed that this would be especially beneficial to the business interests of St. Cloud. In re- sponse to this sentiment the directors of the Bridge company at a meeting held February 18, 1874, had offered to sell the bridge to the city for $20,000, but this proposition did not meet with favorable consideration. Nothing further was done for several years, by which time the plank floor had reached a condition which ren- dered traffic unsafe. The Bridge company made a proposition in the early spring of 1878 that the city either purchase the bridge and make it free or contribute a reasonable sum toward its repair. The matter was submitted to a vote of the people in April and the majority being ad- verse, the directors adopted a resolution directing that the bridge be closed, stripped of its plank and the piers offered for sale. For a time the only means of reaching the railroad station on the east side was via the Sauk Rapids bridge. The situation became intolerable, and an offer of $5,000 made by the city for the bridge was ac- cepted June 7, a previous offer of the Bridge company, made May 6, to sell for

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$7,000 in fifteen-year bonds or $6,000 in cash having been declined. Contracts were made in July with D. S. Burns, of Sauk Rapids, for rebuilding the trestle work forming the approach to the east side for $7,024; and with H. E. Horton, of Roch- ester, to remove the superstructure, in- cluding the west approach and two long spans, and rebuild with one span of fifty feet and two spans of 232 feet each, the superstructure to be part iron and part wood and be four feet higher than the old bridge, thus better suiting the grade of St. Germain street, the entire cost to be $17,- 000. The bridge was completed and teams began crossing October 18.

A number of improvements have been made from time to time since, and the structure is now of a most substantial character.

Tenth Street Bridge .- A bill passed the legislature in 1889 authorizing the issuing of $80,000 in bonds for the purpose of building a bridge across the Mississippi river at Tenth street south, subject to a vote of the people. The question was sub- mitted at the annual charter election April 1, 1889, and was carried by a vote of 1,004 to 374. On the thirteenth of the following November a contract was made by the city council with the St. Cloud Bridge company, composed of D. T. Cal- houn, C. F. Macdonald, P. R. Griebler, A. F. Robertson and Frank Tolman, for the construction of the bridge for the sum of $81,876, to be completed by June 1, 1890. This company in turn made a contract, January 9, 1890, with Foley Bros. & Guth- rie to build the bridge complete for $50,- 500, exclusive of the grading, to be ready for crossing by July 1, 1890. The cost of the bridge when fully completed, includ- ing the grading, was $53,600. The final payment to the bridge company by the city council was made July 9, 1890, the total of the payments being $81,876. The bridge is iron, of the Pratt type, four spans, each 201 feet 6 inches long, resting on solid granite piers and abutments; roadway, 20 feet wide ..

It was understood by everybody when the bond issue was voted that there would be a considerable margin to be used in providing bonuses for manufacturing in- dustries. Of this margin $10,000 was promptly given to the Anderson sawmill.

which was struck by lightning and burned soon after it was built. It was rebult in 1892, but was afterwards destroyed by fire, and the site abandoned. As is the general history of municipal bonuses, St. Cloud derived very little benefit from its investments along this line.

Telephone Exchange .- The first tele- phone service in St. Cloud began in July, 1883, a charter having been granted the Northwestern Telephone company by the city council for a term of ten years. Con- nections had been made with St. Paul and Minneapolis the previous October. The exchange started off with 38 instruments in place, the rates being $4.00 per month for business houses and $3.50 for resi- dences. The toll rates were 25 cents to subscribers and 35 cents to non-subscrib- ers for a ten-minute talk with either St. Paul or Minneapolis. The exchange was in the rear of Thos. Jones's blacksmith shop and Chas. Jones was superintendent. The results were mutually unsatisfactory, and December 12, 1884, the instruments were taken out and the exchange closed.

In the summer of 1887 the Erie Tele- phone company renewed the line between St. Cloud, Minneapolis and St. Paul, bring- ing this city within speaking distance of the Twin Cities. The toll office was in Montgomery's bookstore.

A year later, in the fall of 1888, C. P. Wainman, general superintendent of the Telephone company, was in the city and renewed the promise made the year before to put in a local exchange. But it was not until December 5, 1889-five years almost to a day after the first lot of instruments had been taken out-that the new ex- change was opened, with 44 subscribers; Owen Hines acting as superintendent, with Miss Shields operator. In October, 1896, B. G. Fahnestock succeeded as superin- tendent.

The exchange, which had been in the McClure block, was transferred January 1, 1904, to the First National bank build- ing, the system at the same time being greatly improved and brought up to date. The ringing of bells was done away with, the "common battery" or "relay" system being installed, a tiny electrically lighted lamp in front of the operator indicating the number of the caller who had taken down his receiver.

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In January, 1906, negotiations were com- pleted whereby the Northwestern Tele- phone company secured control of the Min- nesota Central Telephone company, with offices at Willmar. It had been organized in 1897 with a capital of $50,000 and cov- ering an area of about 200 miles, which had increased until the territory covered was 2,000 miles and the capital almost a million dollars. The Sauk Centre and con- necting rural telephone lines were pur- chased in June of the same year.

A district office of the Northwestern Telephone company was established in St. Cloud, in August, 1906, covering at the present time 22 counties, representing 7,793 of its own instruments and connect- ing with 3,900 more. Forty-six rural lines run out from the St. Cloud office, and in the district are 300, with 135 country ex- changes, in all representing 65,000 tele- phones.

In the year 1914 the company erected a modern fireproof building on Sixth avenue, between St. Germain street and First street north. It is 51 by 56 feet, two stories and finished basement, brick with stone trimmings, costing with the lot $31,- 000. In all its appointments it is fully modern, and is capable of extension, as the business may demand, to the full depth of the lot. There are now 2,151 instruments on the switchboard of which 1,642 are in the city. In 1910 the number of city in- struments was 896, the increase during the past five years having been 896.

There are sixty persons connected with the company who are permanent residents of St. Cloud, handling the business here, and an average of 100 more are worked in crews, during the entire year, from the St. Cloud office. The investment in this city is $225,000.

The present district officers of the com- pany are: M. L. Lane, commercial super- intendent; Fred Speechly, district com- mercial manager; J. A. Schroeder, local commercial manager; I. A. Hyde is dis- trict plant chief; H. W. Ricker, district traffic chief.

At an election held September 17, 1912, an ordinance was adopted admitting the Tri-State Telephone company and giving it a franchise to erect poles through the streets and alleys of the city for long dis- tance service, but without a local exchange.

The Public Library .- Probably the hand- somest public building of Stearns county is the library in St. Cloud, erected with funds donated by Andrew Carnegie, Esq. It is built on a site presented by the La- dies' Reading Room Society, and sustained by a perpetual tax amounting to a mini- mum of $2,500 per annum, supplemented by occasional generous gifts from the La- dies' Reading Room Society. The first re- corded library of St. Cloud was formed in 1857, the nucleus being a collection of books presented by Edward Everett to the schoolhouse bearing his name and sent by him in recognition of the honor. The first Public Library association was formed June 8, 1865, at a meeting beld at the resi- dence of Z. H. Morse for this specific pur- pose. An organization was effected by the election of Mrs. C. Bridgman, president; Mrs. L. Cramb, vice-president; Miss Min- nie Morse, secretary, and Mrs. J. N. Mason, treasurer. It was resolved to hold regu- lar meetings every alternate Thursday evening of each month. Invoices of books for circulating purposes were received from New York from time to time and at the regular annual meeting held June 13, 1867. Mrs. C. Bridgman was again elected president; Mrs. H. C. Waite, vice-presi- dent; Miss Minnie Morse, secretary, and Mrs. H. P. Bennett, treasurer. The so- ciety was reported to be in a flourishing condition and a large number of new books were intransit from New York to Dr. Silas Marlatt as custodian, whose drug store was used as a library.

The following year Mrs. Bridgman was re-elected president; Mrs. N. F. Barnes, vice-president; Mrs. N. P. Clarke, secre- tary; Mrs. H. P. Bennett, treasurer. The library (called the Union library) received an addition of 128 volumes of new books, and was removed from Marlatt's drug store to P. Russell's residence and for several years thereafter was housed in pri- vate dwellings, being open on Friday and Saturday afternoon of each week from two to nine o'clock. Books were contributed from time to time by the members to be added to the library. At the annual meet- ing of the Ladies' Library association held June 10, 1869, the following named officers were elected for the ensuing year: Mrs. H. C. Waite, president; Mrs. Charles Tay- lor, vice-president; Mrs. N. P. Clarke, sec-

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HISTORY OF STEARNS COUNTY

retary; Mrs. J. H. Owen, treasurer. Resolutions were adopted providing that each lady entertaining the society became entitled to full membership for the year; those not entertaining could obtain mem- bership by paying $5.00; book rentals, 15 cents per week.

The war between two factions of the Library association, which had been waged during the past year, resulted in each side electing its own set of officers in June, 1872-one headed by Mrs. J. H. Owen, with N. F. Barnes, librarian, and the other with Mrs. J. E. West, president, and Mrs. N. W. Allen librarian, the library being in the custody of the latter. At these meet- ings a committee of three was appointed from each to bring about an amicable settlement of the existing differences. At a meeting of these committees, held July 2, it was decided to incorporate the Library association, with a board of nine directors, four from each side, the ninth to be selected by these eight.

The St. Cloud Library association was duly incorporated December 2, with Mrs. Mary Tobey, Mrs. A. West, Mrs. D. M. Sprague, C. Bridgman, L. W. Collins, T. C. Alden, J. H. Owen and T. C. McClure, trustees. The library was removed to E. Tobey's bookstore and kept open every day.

Trustees were elected from time to time until October, 1878, when the library, which had been in Hall's bookstore, was temporarily closed for the reason that the receipts were not sufficient to pay ex- penses. It was re-opened at the beginning of the following year in a room adjoining that occupied by the city council, with N. F. Barnes librarian. The next year the quarters were shifted to the telegraph office over L. Clarke's store, "with Master Willie Wakefield in charge." This shuttlecock- like existence of the library continued until March 31, 1883, when the city council ac- cepted the tender of the books by the Library association, making it, under the provisions of the law of 1879, a public library, to be known as "The St. Cloud City Library." L. W. Collins, G. S. Spencer, B. Reinhard, J. E. West, Frank Tolman, Theo. Bruener, N. F. Barnes, P. B. Gorman and H. J. Rosenberger were appointed by Mayor Macdonald, April 28, 1883, the first board of directors of the St. Cloud City

Library. The board organized May 11 by electing J. E. West, president; Geo. S. Spencer, vice-president; N. F. Barnes, secretary and treasurer.

In June, 1884, through the efforts of N. F. Barnes, the librarian, 93 volumes, all that remained of the original donation by Edward Everett. were obtained from C. Bridgman, in whose custody they had been, and placed in the library.

In 1880, February 12, the Ladies' Read- ing Room Society was formed with the announced intention of purchasing a home for the library and securing the services of a paid librarian. It was not until April, 1886, that a rented location was secured and $300 voted toward the maintenance of a room. Since that date the Ladies' Reading Room Society has given in finan- cial aid or expended for furniture, pic- tures, etc., over $13,000 for direct library aid. The Reading Room Society was in- corporated in March, 1882, so that it might legally become the owner of some real estate with the intention of purchasing a site for the city library, which meanwhile was housed in rented quarters in various parts of the city. February 8, 1901, the West Hotel, in which it was then located, was entirely destroyed by fire. The books and fixtures were saved with the excep- tion of a loss of $1,422.46, which the insur- ance companies paid, and February 9, be- fore the ashes were cold, two of its citizens, without each other's knowledge (one being the late H. C. Ervin, a member of the board of education and by whom a part of this paper was prepared) applied to Andrew Carnegie for aid, and on Feb- ruary 18 he responded with an offer to give $25,000 if the municipality would furnish a site and guarantee the appropria- tion of at least $2,500 annually to main- tain the library. The city council accepted the proposition and passed the necessary legislation. The Ladies' Reading Room Society collected the money needed and purchased and presented the site on which the building now stands ($2,000 of the amount being subscribed by James J. Hill); Patton, Fisher & Miller, of Chicago, being selected as architects. The contract for the building was awarded to Carl Kropp, and on November 1, 1902, the build- ing was occupied, the total cost having been $25,933, of which Andrew Carnegie's

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gift of $25,000 was used and $933 paid from the general fund. Competent build- ers have since asserted that the board had expended the money so wisely that the re- sult showed the handsomest Carnegie Library ever erected for a $25,000 gift. The Ladies' Reading Room Society, in addition to presenting the site, also pre- .sented four beautiful St. Cloud polished granite columns for the auditorium and the handsome oak furniture, tables and chairs necessary. Judge Loren W. Collins presented a handsome brass tablet, manu- factured by the J. & R. Lamb Co., of New York, and reading as follows:

"THIS TABLET IS INSCRIBED TO ANDREW CARNEGIE THROUGH WHOSE GENEROSITY THIS BUILDING HAS BEEN ERECTED UPON A SITE DONATED BY THE LADIES' READING ROOM SOCIETY. 1902."

The Carnegie Library is of classic de- sign, built of Roman brick, with St. Cloud granite basement and terra cotta trim- mings, with St. Cloud granite steps, polished granite columns, exterior and in- terior, and faces 77 feet on Fifth avenue upon a lot 132 feet in width and the same

in depth. At the rear of the building is the stack room, 62 by 32, containing the books in steel stacks. It is lighted by an art glass ceiling with wide side windows and has a capacity of 35,000 volumes. The ceiling is 18 feet high and will permit, should the occasion ever arise, the doubling of the stack capacity by a second story of steel stack shelves. The library at the close of the year, June 1, 1914, contained 12,497 volumes, had a circulation that year of 36,357 books; 576 new ones were added during the year, and was operated during the year at a total expense of $3,042.42 for new books, magazines, salaries, fuel, light, etc. The contribution from the Reading Room Society this year was $350. The present library board consists of C. F. Ladner, president; Mrs. Mary L. Stewart, vice-president; Mrs. E. Everett Clark, sec- retary; Paul Ahles, Dr. P. M. Magnuson, Dr. J. H. Beaty, Mrs. W. B. Mitchell, Mrs. Martin Molitor and Mrs. E. F. Moore. Mrs. Marie Brick is the librarian.

Among those who had previously served as librarians were: Mrs. N. W. Allen, N. F. Barnes, Ellen Davis, Lizzie Beebe, Julia Harte, Ida Biggerstaff, Jennie Owen and G. S. Spencer.

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History of Stearns County, Minnesota, Volume II, Part 128

Author: Mitchell, William Bell, 1843- Publication date: 1915 Publisher: Chicago : H. S. Cooper Number of Pages: 1110

Author: Mitchell, William Bell, 1843-
Publication date: 1915
Publisher: Chicago : H. S. Cooper
Number of Pages: 1110