Our County and Its People: A Descriptive Work on Erie County, New York (Volume 1), Part 49

Author: Truman C. White
Publication date: 1898
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1017

USA > New York > Erie County > Our County and Its People: A Descriptive Work on Erie County, New York (Volume 1) > Part 49

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1893. A shore Map of arm to this BUFFALO HARBOR.N.Y. breakwater was built in 1874-75. Theinne Extensione In 1886 plans er u. BREAKWATER AND SAND-CATCH PIER were approved My- TW Byen, comp . ingen, usa for replacing the superstruc- ture, as fast as it became decayed, with concrete; nearly 4,000 feet have been thus replaced up to the present time. In 1895 a new and very important harbor improvement was projected. This, in brief, consists of the

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abandonment of the shore arm before mentioned, and the extension of the breakwater from its present southern end to Stony Point. The estimated cost of this work is about $4,200,000, the appropriation for which has been made by the Federal government and the work is under way. The accompanying map shows the harbor as it will appear after the new breakwater is completed. The total sum expended by the United States in improvements in the harbor up to July 1, 1897, is $2,722,733.15.

It will be correctly inferred that renewed activity in real estate and building operations accompanied the revival of material growth and prosperity in other directions just described. In fact, in almost no other respect were indications of the beginning of a new era in the industrial life of Buffalo more clearly apparent. Prices of real estate advanced and property in many sections of the city was sold and im- proved. Especially was this true in respect to outlying districts where many large tracts were bought by enterprising men or companies, laid out in lots and streets, and covered with high class residences, which found ready buyers at greatly advanced prices. Business blocks of great cost were erected with surprising frequency and filled with the multiplying stores and offices. Previous to the period under considera- tion modern architecture in the city was little understood and found few builders who were ready to adopt it; but within the past fifteen years a striking change has taken place in this respect, both in dwellings and business buildings. In evidence of this change, attention need be called only to such splendid structures as the Erie County Savings Bank building, the Guaranty building, Ellicott Square, the Real Estate Exchange, the Merchants' Exchange, the Mooney-Brisbane building, the building of the German Insurance Company, the Buffalo Library building, the D. S. Morgan building, the Iroquois Hotel, the new building of the Evening News, and others of less note.

The outcome of this abnormal activity in real estate operations was, however, disastrous. A speculative project was inaugurated and energetically pursued during the period from about 1888 to 1893, not alone in Buffalo, but in many other large cities, the unfortunate con- sequences of which were similar in almost every instance. Under the spur of ambitious enterprise a fever of speculation in real estate was induced, prices were forced far beyond actual values, and the city of Buffalo is still suffering from the inevitable reaction. It should not be inferred that this class of speculation was confined to the city of

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Buffalo, or to Erie county, or to any other limited region. It grew upon the proceeds of its own operation and it was a foregone conclu- sion that it would spread, as it certainly did, throughout the north, east and west, and involved not alone suburban property, but farm lands of all kinds.

The general plan of these operations under which the existing con- dition in the real estate market was reached may be briefly outlined. A speculative purchaser would buy a suburban farm, or other large tract of land, without intention of materially improving it, but wholly for speculative purposes. If he paid say $100 an acre for the land he would, through the medium of extravagant and frequently insincere advertising and personal argument, set forth the various desirable features of his property-its elgible situation for homes, or for manu- facturing purposes, its healthfulness, etc .- and thus find a purchaser, or purchasers, at, perhaps, $200 an acre. These new buyers would, by similar and still more energetic methods, extol and magnify the prospective value of the property before the public, until another syn- dicate could be found who would take over the purchase at another large advance. In many instances such tracts of land were surveyed into lots and streets and the beginning of improvements made; these lots could be offered singly at apparently very low prices and yet at such figures that the gross sum received for an acre would be, perhaps, ten times the amount of the original purchase price. Many of these tracts and lots were sold to people who were lacking in business experi- ence, and who were as a rule without means to make improvements; the inducements to such people to buy were long-time payments, sometimes without interest on the balance unpaid, and eloquent repre- sentations that they could thus soon own homes of their own. The result of such transactions could be foreseen by prudent men.

The real estate operations in and around Buffalo, of which the fore- going presents an unprejudiced example, were numerous-far too numerous for the public welfare. While the forced inflation of prices continued in any particular case, the speculators themselves reaped profits, but they were the only persons who did; the disastrous conclu- sion was inevitable and the final buyers found themselves, when the the bubble burst, just where their predecessors were in 1836-37. When the tide turned people began to awaken to the fact that they had acquired lands at prices far above actual value, everybody directly interested attempted to sell out, with the natural consequence that

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prices went down with far greater rapidity than they had risen; buyers were frightened and the entire business came to a standstill.

While real estate centrally located in the city, and improved with residence or business buildings, was not to a very great extent involved in these mushroom transactions, it was unavoidable that the downfall, when it came in 1893, should reflect to some degree upon all other real estate of whatever stable value, as well as upon many other lines of business. Recovery from these depressing conditions may be said to have begun, but such recovery will necessarily be slow and there will be ample time in which men may study the lessons taught by such un- warranted operations, and learn that the steady, conservative progress which Buffalo has made during by far the greater part of its municipal existence, is the only safe, permanent and, in the end, profitable one.

In this connection may properly be noticed the organization of the Buffalo Real Estate Exchange on January 23, 1885, as the Real Estate and Brokers' Board, limited, and was incorporated January 18, 1887. It was reincorporated April 12, 1892, with its present title and with Henry Hill, president; Walter G. Hopkins, vice-president; George H. Sickels, secretary; Timothy J. Mahoney, treasurer. The splendid building occupied by the Exchange and by hundreds of offices, on Pear street, was erected in 1895-96, at a cost of about $460,000. The Ex- change is accomplishing much good in the real estate business of the city.

The immigration into the city and county necessary to create the great increase in population to which reference has been made in pre- vious pages, has been of a widely diverse character. While at the present time a majority of the inhabitants are, of course, of English nationality, the reader has already learned that, mingled with this ma- jority is a very large German element of citizenship, which enters prominently into all business activities and exerts a marked influence in the political field and the municipal government. Another con- spicuous element of the community is the Polish.

The advent in Buffalo of people of this nationality began shortly be- fore 1870, and by the year 1874 there were about 150 families in the city. Constant employment and good wages, compared to what they had received in their native land, induced them to stay and to send for their relatives and friends, and by 1885 a conspicuous colony had firmly engrafted itself on the east side. This colony now numbers about 55, - 000 persons. Unlike their brethren in other cities in the United States,

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the Poles of Buffalo have kept largely together, forming a settlement of their own, with churches, schools, and other institutions conducive to their welfare and preservative of their national characteristics. So thorough have they been in this respect that they are almost distinct- ively a people by themselves, having little in common, except in busi- ness connections, with the vast interests of the city at large.

This Polish element came from the Polands in Prussia and Russia and from Austria, and in their new home cling tenaciously to the religion, habits, and mode of life which prevail in the old country They are mainly laborers; few of them have engaged in business, ex- cept as the demands of their own people have created the oppor- tunity. They are fairly industrious, law abiding, and charitable; many of them own property, especially their own homes, which are generally modest in character and largely built in one style. Nearly all business in their settlement is carried on by them; their merchants (kupiecs), dealers, etc., are enterprising, and some of them have valu- able properties. Most of the Polish population are immigrants, and a large number of them can speak nothing but their native language, in which their religious services, school exercises, and dealings with one another are chiefly conducted. In religion they are principally Roman Catholics.

It is important to note that in point of Polish population Buffalo is second among the cities of this country, Chicago coming first, Detroit third, Milwaukee fourth, Cleveland fifth, and Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York next. Among the prominent early Poles in Buffalo were Michael Szanichrowicz and John Odojewski, two of the organizers of the first Polish society, St. Stanislaus; Theodore Berent, one of the first appointed to read the gospel in Polish in St. Michael's chapel; and Jacob Johnson, the first teacher of English in their schools.

St. Stanislaus church (Polish Roman Catholic) was incorporated in June, 1873, with about fifty members, and the same year a frame edifice was built on the corner of Peckham and Townsend streets. The first pastor was Rev. John Pitass,' who is still in charge; the leading lay members were John Hordich and Joseph I. Kaujwski. On May 27,

1 Very Rev. John Pitass is the dean of the Polish colony in Buffalo, and the leader of his peo- ple in Western New York. For more than a quarter of a century he has labored with untiring zeal to advance the moral and spiritual welfare of not only his own congregation, but of his race, and no man is regarded by his followers with more veneration. He stands pre-eminently at the head of a distinctive element in the city's population, and represents all that is noble among his people in matters of religion and education.

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1883, the corner stone of the present stone church was laid on an ad- joining lot on Peckham street; the structure was completed in 1886. The old wooden church was converted into a parochial school, and later another large school house was built of brick on Peckham street. This is the largest Polish church in the city, having over 6,000 com- municants, and about 2,000 scholars in its parochial school. St. Adel- bert's church (Polish Roman Catholic) comes next in date of organiza- tion and in size, having about 525 parochial scholars and between 600 and 700 families. Its first edifice was a wooden building; later a brick church was built; that burned, and in 1890 the present structure on the corner of Stanislaus street and Rother avenue was erected. Each of these churches has a cemetery at Pine Hill. The other Polish Roman Catholic churches in Buffalo are St. Casimir's, at the corner of Clinton and Beer streets; the Church of the Assumption, at Black Rock; St. John Kanty's church, at Broadway and Swinburne street, built about 1892; and Church of the Transfiguration, built of brick in 1896-97. Each of these churches maintains a parochial school. There is also the Holy Mother of Rosary church, an independent body, on Sobieski street, near Sycamore, which has a cemetery on Walden avenue.

The first Polish newspaper in Buffalo was the Ojezyznay (My Coun- try), which was started by a stock company, of which George Bork was president; Stanislaus Slisz was the editor. In 1886 it became a semi- weekly with the title, Polak w Ameryce, which it still retains. Rev. John Pitass conducted it for several years, and on April 6, 1895, made it a daily. In June, 1897, Stanislaus Slisz became proprietor and chief editor. The Polak w Ameryce is the only Polish daily newspaper in the Eastern and Central States; it is printed entirely in Polish, is a large four page folio, and has an extensive circulation. The Echo, a weekly, was started by M. J. Sadowski, now secretary of the Polish National Alliance; the present proprietor is Vincent Wagonis and the editor is Thomas Lobarzewski. The Slonce (Sun) was established by . Jerzy Mirski, the present editor and proprietor. The independent Poles are represented by the Reforma, a weekly, of which Apolinary Karwowski is the founder and editor; while the socialistic element has a recently established journal, The Sila (Strength). The Polish Li- brary Association was organized in 1889, and has about 200 members. The library, located in a hall on Broadway and Sweet avenue, has more than 1,500 volumes of Polish, English, German, French, Lithuanian

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and Russian authors, and connected with it is a Literary and Dramatic Circle of about forty members.

There is also a large representation of the Jewish nationality in Buf- falo, though it does not attain the relative proportions found in many other Northern cities. The first Israelite to become a resident of the city, as far as now known, was a Mr. Flersheim, an instructor in Ger- man, who came from Frankfort-on the Main. He was in the city as early as 1835. Barnard Lichtenstein, the second Jew to arrive, was here from 1838 to 1870. By the year 1850 the number of resident Israelites in the city had greatly increased. Their first public worship was held in the Townsend block, and the Jacobsohn Society was organ- ized October 3, 1847, with eleven charter members. This society bought and consecrated for burial purposes a lot on what is now Fill- more avenue; this was abandoned in 1861 for a lot on Pine Hill. The old congregation of Beth Zion was organized by the German Israelites in 1850. In September, 1863, in obedience to a desire to conform their mode of worship more with the spirit of modern times and new asso- ciations, a number of members of Beth Zion requested Rev. Dr. Wise, of Cincinnati, to send them a minister to preach for them at the high feasts of New Year's day and the day of Atonement. Kremlin Hall was leased for the ceremonies. This was the beginning of the reform movement in the mode of worship. Soon afterward a fusion of these members with old Beth Zion was effected and the new society named Temple Beth Zion. The society at once purchased the old Methodist church on Niagara street and fitted it for their place of worship.' Since the beginning there have been formed the Beth El Synagogue, in June, 1848; Brith Sholem, about 1865; Beth Jacob, in October, 1881; and Brith Israel, Akavas Sholem, Ahavath Achim, the Hickory Street Synagogue, and Anshe Lebawiz. Various Jewish benevolent institu- tions have also been founded. An orphan asylum was opened in De- cember, 1877, which is connected with the Jewish Orphan Asylum Association of Western New York. The Hebrew Benevolent Society was organized in 1862.

The Irish element in Buffalo also is large, though not proportion- ately more so, probably, than in most other American cities; as most of them, as well as very many of the Germans and Poles, profess the

1 The new Temple Beth Zion, on Delaware avenue, was dedicated September 12, 1890. It is one of the finest specimens of Jewish architecture in the State. Rev. Israel Aaron, D. D., is the rabbi.

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Roman Catholic faith, it follows that this sect is numerously repre- sented in the city in the schools, the churches, and the charitable institutions. In recent years the character of the city population has been further diversified by the advent of a large Italian element, which is gradually becoming identified with some lines of business and labor. These representative elements of varied nationalities, with others of less number and importance, give to the population of Buffalo a cosmopolitan character more distinctive and marked than that of any other similar city in the country. This fact has been a subject of public comment on many occasions. As to its general influence upon the welfare of the community, opinions differ, as they always do upon kindred subjects.

This large and varied foreign population, and the fact that Buffalo is a great railroad center undoubtedly contributed to swell the magni- tude of the great strike among railroad men in 1877. Although this memorable labor movement did not originate here, it found one of its most active centers in this city, where there was extensive destruction of property, riot and bloodshed. It is, however, due to the laboring class of Buffalo, outside of railroad employees, to state that they did not sympathize with nor take part in that demonstration. The troubles at that time had their inception at Martinsburg, West Va., where, on July 17 of the year named, a large number of employees of the Balti- more & Ohio Railroad struck against reduction of their pay. The movement spread to the West and before night of the 19th every employee in Chicago had quit work. In Pittsburg a mob took posses. sion of railroad property and there and in Baltimore men were shot down in the streets. On the 20th the strike reached Hornellsville on the Erie road and destruction of property began.

The first indication of trouble in Buffalo was a notification from a gang of about seventy-five men to Yardmaster Peck that he must quit work or take the consequences; this was on July 21. The strik- ers began pulling coupling pins, putting out lights and spiking switches, and on the following day the employees of the New York Central and Lake Shore roads joined in the movement, and began similar oper- ations to obstruct traffic. The 74th and 65th Regiments were placed on guard at depots, freight houses and coal trestles. Tramps and vagabonds flocked to the city and to them was due very much of the ensuing vandalism. When on the afternoon of the 22d Superintendent Taylor, of the Lake Shore road, called for assistance at the round

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house, General Rogers with a detachment of troops proceeded to that point. As the soldiers left the cars they were greeted with jeers and a shower of stones. The general drew up his men in line and ordered them to take aim, upon which there was a stampede of the mob. The troops then occupied the round house. During that night the strikers put out the lights at East Buffalo and took possession of the tracks. On the 23d the mob made an attack on the Erie road shops at Exchange and Louisiana streets and forced the employees to stop work. Every attempt to move a train was thwarted by uncoupling the engine and cars. On the same evening a Westfield company which had been · ordered to Buffalo had an encounter with the mob a short distance out of the city, in which several men were wounded. Battery A of artil- lery was sent to the relief of this company, but was stopped at the round house.

A public meeting was held on the evening of the 23d, the mayor (Becker) presiding. A committee was appointed to confer with the mayor upon plans for preserving peace and protecting property. A resolution was adopted calling on the Common Council to increase the number of patrolmen to not more than 1,000 for a period of not more than ten days. At police headquarters the committee reported advis- ing the mayor to enroll 2,000 citizens to volunteer for general duty and to hold themselves in readiness to act at a moment's warning. At the same time Co. D of the City Guard tendered its services to the authori- ties. On the 24th the augmented police force was ready for duty and supplied with ammunition. Outside of the body of strikers, who claimed they were not responsible for any of the destruction of property, the mob of vandals visited many of the leading manufactories of the city, which in several instances were closed under compulsion. At the factory of John T. Noye & Son the mob broke in the doors, and when assistance was called Police Superintendent Byrne and thirty men appeared on the scene, charged the vandals and by the free use of their clubs drove them away and substantially ended interference with business places. During the day the strikers signified their willing- ness to let mail trains pass and they were soon running. The rioters had loudly proclaimed their intention of destroying the railroad prop- erty at East Buffalo and toward night of the 24th they gathered in great numbers at that point; but the presence of the militia and a large police force under Capt. Philip Wurtz, was sufficient to prevent exten- sive operations by the mob, although the latter officer and his men

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were called upon to charge the rioters with their clubs with such results that many fell with damaged heads. To the effective action of the police was due in a large measure the early extinction of the strike, which was substantially ended on the 25th.

Another important railroad strike took place in Buffalo in 1892, which may as well be disposed off at this point. In this case the cause was a disagreement over wages and the length of a day's labor. The movement began on the Western New York & Pennsylvania Road on August 13, and during that day eighteen freight cars, two passenger cars and two flagmen's shanties were burned in the Lehigh Valley yards. Ten loaded cars were uncoupled on the Lehigh trestle and sent thundering down the incline to collide with and wreck a locomo- tive and destroy the water tank. The damage thus far amounted to $75,000 in value. On the 14th mob law was in full force and the sheriff was called upon for protection. A large force of deputies were sworn in, while on the 15th the 74th and 65th Regiments was encamped in the vicinity of East Buffalo. The governor was called upon for aid and the arrival of troops from the east began and continued until nearly the whole force of State militia was in Buffalo. H. Walter Webb and other prominent railroad officials were quartered at the Iro- quois Hotel and directed operations against the strikers to such good purpose that it was soon seen that their defeat would not be long post- poned. On the 25th the Switchmen's Union, having been refused co-operation by the trainmen's and firemen's organizations, gave up the fight, and as that body had constituted the head and front of the strike, the whole movement ceased.

As before intimated, it would be unjust to the laboring classes of Buf- falo to charge them with active participation in these outbreaks, or sympathy with them, except so far as they might seem to represent a general desire to resist oppression by corporations and advance the in- terests of workingmen at large. Buffalo is peculiarly liable to be the scene of similar labor movements on the part of railroad employees, but advancing intelligence among the masses and the growing belief that all such important differences between labor and capital can be settled by peaceful methods, lead to the conviction that a repetition of the scenes of 1877 and 1892 is improbable.

The city charter of 1870 was variously amended previous to the adop- tion of the present one, and particularly in the year 1886. The ten-

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dency of all amendments was towards giving high officers broader powers and charging them with more direct responsibility for acts of their appointees. An amendment of February 17 of that year was in this direction, in respect to the mayor, and authorized him to appoint a secretary for his office at a salary of $2,500 annually; another amend- ment of that year gave the Water Commissioners broader powers in respect to the removal of other officers of the department, the fixing of rates, subject to the approval of the Common Council, etc. A similar amendment was made at about the same time, applying to the Fire Department. On May 27, 1886, an amendment was made which, among other things, created a Department of Law, under supervision of a corporation counsel to hold office for a term of three years and giving him two assistants. An amendment of June 8, 1887, provided for the election of five assessors and making their term of office five years. It also enlarged the powers of the police justice.

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Our County and Its People: A Descriptive Work on Erie County, New York (Volume 1), Part 49

Author: Truman C. White Publication date: 1898 Publisher: Number of Pages: 1017

Author: Truman C. White
Publication date: 1898
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1017