USA > Ohio > Cuyahoga County > Cleveland > A history of Cuyahoga County and the City of Cleveland, (Vol. 1) > Part 51
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The celebration lasted from July 19th to September 10th, and included the following events : Special services in the churches and mass meetings in Central Armory and Music Hall, opening of Ohio National Guard and United States Regulars' Encampment, opening of the log cabin. Foun- der's Day, New England Day, Wheelmen's Day, Bicycle Races, Women's Day, Early Settlers' Day, Western Reserve Day, Yacht Regatta, Floral Festival, Knights of Pythias Encampment opening, Historical Confer- ence, and Perry's Victory Day. Multitudes of committees were appointed and serving, a grand ball, banquets, parades, athletics, and spectacular entertainments requiring in their successful accomplishment a great amount of labor. The historical conference lasted three days. The total expenses of the celebration was nearly $75,000. At its close the Women's Depart- ment prepared a box or casket, which was lined with asbestos paper and filled with newspapers, mementos, and historical matter pertaining to the celebration and the city. This was hermetically sealed and deposited with the Western Reserve Historical Society, not to be opened until 1996 and then by a lineal descendant of their executive board. During the filling of the casket this sentiment was expressed: "May these annals of Cleve- land's first one hundred years be an inspiration to the generations of 1996 for continuity of worthy effort." Western Reserve Day was participated in by the entire reserve, committees being appointed from every county. At this time, as featured by the addresses, Cleveland had a population of 330,000, with 2,065 manufacturing establishments, employing 53,349 hands, and paying a total annual wage of $30,500,000.
Mayor McKisson was succeeded in office by John H. Farley, who was for a second time elected as the city's chief magistrate. Mr. Farley's
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THE CITY OF CLEVELAND
administration was not spectacular but characterized by economy and steady attention to needed public improvements. He was partisan in his appointments, believing that this was the best method to secure harmony in the official fold. The story was often related of him that when asked to retain in some minor position a man of the former administration, who was of the opposite political party but had had the misfortune to lose a leg, the mayor replied that if he could not find a good one-legged democrat to fill the place he would cut off a leg. This administration was sandwiched in between the aggressive one that preceded him and the still more aggres- sive and brilliant one that was to follow.
The administration of Tom L. Johnson, which followed that of Mr. Farley and continued for ten years, was one, like that of Mayor Pingree, of Detroit, that kept before the people actively the municipal government and its relation to the people's interests. Mr. Johnson was born in Ken- tucky and had risen from a newsboy to a man of wealth. When he came to Cleveland to become its candidate for mayor he came from New York, but he had previously been a resident here, and been a successful street railway owner and operator in Cleveland, had served in Congress from this district, and was known as a man of wealth and remarkable ability. He had been popular as a street railway operator, his property had been accumulated in the street railway business, but he immediately, as a candi- date, began an assault upon special privilege and specifically advocated 3 cent fare. This change from a franchise getter to a people's advo- cate was heralded and his meetings were crowded. The feeling prevailed that in his advocacy of 3 cent fare so specifically put forth he must know from his experience as a railroad man that it was possible and due the people. He held large meetings and continued them, usually in tents, in all his campaigns. He delighted in a fight and was at his best when engaged in argument and often invited his political enemies to speak at his meetings. As illustrating the character of this remarkable man it is related that when engaged with a Mr. Moxham in negotiations involving a large deal with the Cambria Iron Company of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, and when the matter was reaching its climax he was discovered playing checkers with the bootblack at the club where the officials were in confer- ence. He was berated and charged with having disgraced his associates when he came forward with this defense: "But, Arthur, you don't know what a hell of a good game of checkers this boy plays !"
Elected and reelected he became the political leader of his party and soon there was hardly an officer in the city or county government that was not selected by him. The story of his street railway activities, the build- ing and operating of a 3 cent fare line in Cleveland, and, as the fran- chises were expiring, the final operation under the Taylor grant, is too long to be told in this chapter. His administration as mayor was charac- terized by great ability on his part and while serving in that capacity he made a campaign for governor of Ohio but was defeated, due largely to his advocacy of "single tax," to which doctrine he was converted by Henry George. He was defeated in his sixth campaign for mayor by Herman Baehr. The establishing of the Warrensville farm for a workhouse and city infirmary where hundreds of acres are cultivated, providing outdoor labor for the inmates, stands as one of the achievements of his administra- tion. Newton D. Baker was his director of law during the whole of his time as mayor and was later an occupant of the mayor's chair. To show the prominence given Cleveland by the Johnson administration it may be said that at one time he was prominently mentioned as a candidate for President of the United States. Shortly after his death a monument was erected to his memory on the Public Square.
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Herman Baehr, who defeated Mr. Johnson for mayor after five others had failed, entered upon his duties January 1, 1910. He was not a good press agent. He had served as county recorder and was known as a faith- ful and efficient official. His defeat of the man, who had been thought invincible, brought upon him the enmity of that portion of the press that had been particularly favorable to Mr. Johnson in all of his campaigns. The representatives of one paper were forbidden to enter his office. Thus the acts of his administration were not heralded to the public, particularly the accomplishments that deserved favorable notice, as were those of his predecessor. He offended his political friends considerably by taking some of the appointments out of the expected channel. Believing that the health department, so important to the well being of the city, should not be used in any sense to reward political friends, he turned the matter of appointments in that department over to the Cleveland Academy of Medi- cine. He saw that the expenditures of the city were kept within its in- come. During his administration for the first time in the city car riders
THE OLD WORKHOUSE
had actual 3 cent fare. Previous to that time 1 cent had been charged for transfers, making the fare 4 cents in many instances. The free transfer system was adopted under his administration with his commis- sioner of the street railways installed in the department. During his administration the largest paving and street repair programme was car- ried out that had been accomplished in any of the ten years preceding. He laid the cornerstone of the tuberculosis hospital at Warrensville, and the cornerstone of the present city hall. He championed the elimination of grade crossings in the city and a proposed bond issue for that purpose was voted up. He built a new branch waterworks tunnel supplying the west side, and agitated the project of a filtration plant. He transformed the Central Viaduct from a drawbridge into a high level bridge after a loaded car had fallen through the draw killing seventeen people. This accident occurred in 1895, five years before he was installed in office. He enlarged and paved University Circle and established additional play- grounds for the children. He might have been dubbed the father of the little park system. When he went out of office (he was not a candidate for a second term) he left money in the city treasury for the Kingsbury Run Improvement and a new bath house at Edgewater Park. He orig- inated the municipal park concerts and with them, Rose Day and Spring Day. He renewed the franchise with the East Ohio Gas Company at the
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same rate established in the original franchise secured by Mayor Johnson, but at a time when by reason of advanced wages it was extremely favorable to the gas users of the city. These are some of the accomplishments of the two years of Mayor Baehr. He took office when Cleveland had a population, according to the official census of that year, of 560,663. In Mr. Baehr's administration occurred the celebration of the one hundredth anniversary of the organization of the county, at Cleveland.
The Cuyahoga County centennial celebration was an event of great interest. In the week's programme there occurred the dedication of the Denison-Harvard and the Rocky River bridges and the new courthouse. The newspapers of the city gave much space, printed and pictorial, to the programme of the week. On Monday morning of October 10th there
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Courtesy of the Cleveland Leader
THE WINSLOW AND CUSHING HOMES ON THE PUBLIC SQUARE, CLEVE- LAND, NOW THE SITE OF THE MAY COMPANY DEPARTMENT STORE
appeared in the Cleveland Plain Dealer a cartoon by Donahey, "The Fruit- age of a Century," which for suggestive beauty has rarely been equalled. The celebration was held under the direction of a commission of which William H. Hunt was president; J. Arthur House, treasurer, and R. H. McLaughlan, secretary. It included a military and historic pageant, a night carnival, display of historic exhibits, various dedications mentioned, and an elaborate industrial parade, all showing the growth and present greatness of Cuyahoga County. Harry L. Vail was chairman of the enter- tainment committee ; Charles E. Adams, of the finance ; Wallace H. Cath- gart, publicity, and Vincent A. Sincere, decorations. 1810 and 1910 oc- curred in every unit of the decorations. The Sunday before gala week was devoted to special services in the churches. Monday, Early Settlers' Day, was ushered in with a salute of a hundred guns, one for each year, fired from the United States steamer Dorothea. The exercises were presided over by O. J. Hodge, president of the Early Settlers' Association. The meeting was held on the Public Square and Hon. Paul Howland, Samuel D. Dodge, and Hon. William Gordon delivered addresses. At the dedi- cation of the Denison-Harvard bridge, John G. Fischer presided and Capt. C. E. Benham, W. F. Eirich, Rev. Arthur C. Ludlow, and Dr. Dan F. Bradley spoke. In the evening a second mass meeting was held in the
A CELEBRATION TURNED TO MOURNING
Public Square, Cleveland, decorated in honor of the Grand Army of the Republic, draped in mourning on the death of President McKinley, in September, 1901.
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THE CITY OF CLEVELAND
Chamber of Commerce auditorium, presided over by William J. Hunt, at which Charles E. Adams, George W. Kinney, Rabbi Moses J. Gries, Dr. Paul F. Sutpen, and Prof. Mattoon M. Curtis were the speakers.
Tuesday was West Side Day. Its leading features were an immense automobile parade and the dedication of the Rocky River bridge. At the dedication Hon. Thomas P. Schmidt, Harry L. Vail, and E. J. Hobday were the speakers. Wednesday was Columbus Day and the parade of the Italian societies, a meeting at which Mayor Herman C. Baehr, Dr. S. Barricella, and S. Tamburella spoke and an evening devoted to fireworks provided by the Italian societies and to music provided by Robertson's band were the principal features.
Thursday was Cleveland Day and a great meeting presided over by R. W. Taylor was the principal event. Gen. James Barnett was designated as honorary chairman. Mayor Baehr spoke on "Our City." Mrs. Sarah E. Hyre on "Woman's Part in the Development of Cleveland"; John Carrere, of the Group Plan Commission, on "The City Beautiful"; New- ton D. Baker, law director, on "Citizen Ideals," and James F. Jackson, superintendent of charities, on "The Humanitarian Phase of the City Government." Friday was County Day when came the dedication of the new courthouse at which Judge F. A. Henry, Judge Harvey Keeler, and United States Attorney William L. Day were the speakers.
It will be remembered that at the celebration in 1896 of the anniversary of the settlement of Cleveland, a great feature was the bicycle parade, and at this one came the automobile parade, but the historic sequence was car- ried still further, for, during the week, Glenn Curtiss with his airplane made frequent flights out over the lake as far as the waterworks crib to the astonishment of the spectators. To make the setting more realistic a com- pany of Indians camped on the Public Square during the week, among them a Chippewa and a Shawnee chief.
Mayor Baehr was succeeded in office by Newton D. Baker, who came to Cleveland from West Virginia in 1899 and engaged in the practice of law. In the language of Carl Lorenz, a biographer of Mayor Johnson, "he was a polite and thorough gentleman and ever considerate. There was something soothing in the tone of his voice, which praised him. Even the coarse and illiterate were charmed by his language." He espoused the cause of Mr. Johnson and was law director during the whole time of Mr. Johnson's administration. His admiration for the mayor was un- dimmed. He took no stock in the charge that his chief was violating busi- ness ethics in assaulting those to whom he had sold his railroad properties, or in the suggestion that he was denouncing special privilege after he had acquired a competence as its beneficiary. He was fighting for the people's interest and that was enough. Probably no mayor since the city was organ- ized has performed the official and semi-official duties of the office with so little personal friction as did Mr. Baker. Although firm in his views and relentless in carrying out his policies he was not of a type to beget personal antagonisms. A history of his four years as mayor, the activities and achievements of that period would cover, if recited in full, much space. Taking office January 1, 1912, he called about him a cabinet consisting of John N. Stockwell, director of law; Thomas L. Sidlo, public service ; Harris R. Cooley, welfare; Alfred A. Benesch, safety; Thomas Coughlin, finance; Charles W. Stage, public utilities, and Peter Witt, street railway commissioner. His secretary was Milton L. Young.
As building up the civic spirit of the city, celebrations came to be much in vogue and in Mayor Baker's administration occurred the celebration of the one hundredth anniversary of the Battle of Lake Erie, or Perry's vic- tory, as it is more commonly styled. This began September 14th. The
NEWTON D. BAKER
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THE CITY OF CLEVELAND
old Niagara was tied to the dock and thousands visited this relic of a hun- dred years before. Each child was given an American flag as a souvenir of his visit. There was Niagara Day, Perry Day, Children's and Women's Day, and the last day included a motor boat race and a grand parade in the streets. The street parade was under the direction of Maj. Charles R. Miller, marshal, with Felix Rosenberg as his chief of staff. Like other celebrations it closed with fireworks on the lake front. The completion and occupancy of the new city hall, the building and opening of the new art gallery in Wade Park, and the completion of the Superior Street high level bridge were interesting events in this administration. The most important. however, was the change in the city government by the adoption of a new city charter. A home rule charter, strongly advocated by Mr. Baker, was
NORTHWEST CORNER SUPERIOR AND SENECA STREETS
approved by the voters of the city in July, 1913. The provisions of this are set forth in a history of the city by Mr. Avery, published shortly after its adoption. Mayor Baker declined a nomination as mayor for a third term and entered the cabinet of President Wilson as Secretary of War, which trying post he filled during the World war, when, at the close of President Wilson's administration, he resumed the practice of law in Cleve- land. On his return to private life he was elected president of the Cham- ber of Commerce of Cleveland and distinguished himself in that capacity in a series of published letters debating with President Gompers, of the labor world, phases of that important subject, the relationship between capital and labor.
At the close of Mr. Baker's administration the city founded by Moses Cleveland and battled for in its primal infancy by Lorenzo Carter, was the sixth city in population in the United States, the fifth in manufactures, and, some historian has said, the first in civic attainment. It had nearly 1,000,000 population and land in its corporate limits that sold in Lorenzo Carter's time for a dollar an acre had multiplied in value two million times.
The administration of Mayor Harry L. Davis, which followed that of Mr. Baker, began in 1916. The city had gone through several changes in form of government and another was to follow. The first change was to the Federal plan, so called, because adopted from its similarity to the Fed-
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eral Government. John M. Wilcox, Judge E. J. Blandin and others had been advocating a change in the form of the city government and while this was under consideration, a daughter of Mr. Wilcox suggested the Federal plan to her father. This plan in brief embraced the appointment of a cabinet by the mayor, each member to have charge of a department of the city government as the cabinet of the President of the republic operates at Washington. This plan was presented to a group of citizens by Mr. Wilcox and adopted and the necessary legislation secured. Miss Winnie Wilcox, now Mrs. Seymour Paine, and for years on the staff of the Cleveland Press, writing under the pseudonym of Mrs. Maxwell, was the originator of the Federal plan of city government, which in its general form has not been changed. In 1912 a new state constitution was adopted providing for home rule for cities and following this the new city charter came into being, as previously stated, making the second change in the city government. Mr. Davis assumed the duties of mayor during the stress of the World war and was reelected by a large majority. Of Welsh descent he began life in the old eighteenth, the Newburgh ward of Cleve- land. He had worked in the rolling mills there, and, inclined to political life, had risen to be city treasurer, when that office was elective. This gave him a large acquaintance. He ran for mayor against Mr. Baker and was defeated, but again a candidate with a less formidable opponent he won.
His chief adviser in the cabinet, or board of control, was the law direc- tor, William S. FitzGerald. When President Wilson came to Cleveland to speak there was no hall suitable for the meeting and public interest was aroused looking to the erection of a public auditorium. Mayor Davis im- mediately began an active campaign for the building. He was supported by the newspapers of the city and a bond issue was voted by the people. Then began the acquiring of a suitable site. In this work Mr. FitzGerald as law director was quite successful. The site selected was held by over fifty different owners and the land was secured by the city for less than the appraised value. When the proposition for a railroad depot on the lake front was under consideration, Mr. FitzGerald went to Washington and secured the necessary legislation for the sale of the Marine Hospital, which became necessary in connection with the proposed depot. The change to a subway depot at the Public Square made the acquiring of the Marine Hospital site unnecessary but the work of getting the legisla- tion through Congress had been accomplished. Among other things Mr. FitzGerald, in the Davis administration, drafted and secured the pass- age of a bill in the Legislature declaring the "made land" on the lake front vested in the city. This had long been in controversy. The building of the breakwater had brought new problems to the city and the question of the ownership of land created by the extension of the shore northward from land owned by the railroads and individuals, was prominent in many administrations. Under the McKisson administration director of law, Miner G. Norton, battled for the lake front and the city increased by many acres the "made land," which was designated unofficially as "McKis- son Park." The activities of the Davis administration during the World war were in keeping with those everywhere over the land. Mayor Davis appointed a war board, whose duties were many and who were in active service until the armistice was signed. Probably in no other period of the history of the city were so many public demonstrations of such magnitude held as in the administration of Mayor Davis. It is a part of the history of our country in the war. Mr. Davis began the new auditorium, spoke in public gatherings for the bond issue, which carried, and had the build- ing under way, when, after being reelected, he resigned as mayor to make a
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THE CITY OF CLEVELAND
successful campaign for governor of the state. Thus in quite recent years two of Cleveland's mayors have been advanced to higher positions, Mr. Baker to serve as Secretary of War in the cabinet of President Wilson, and Mr. Davis to serve as governor of Ohio.
May 1, 1920, by the resignation of Mayor Davis, William S. FitzGerald became mayor of the city by virtue of his position as law director. The council and city government were as follows: Councilmen, Alva R. Dit- trick, John A. Braschwitz, Samuel B. Michell, Frank J. Faulhaber, John P. Becker, Clayton C. Townes, Jerry R. Zmunt, Michael J. Gallagher, James J. McGinty, John W. Reynolds, Thomas W. Fleming, Herman H. Finkle, Charles H. Kadlacek, Bernard E. Orlikowski, W. E. McNaugh- ton, John F. Curry, Jacob Stacel, L. R. Canfield, Perry D. Caldwell, S. D. Noragon, John M. Sulzmann, Harry L. Bronstrup, A. J. Damm, Walter
LUMBER DISTRICT ALONG CUYAHOGA RIVER
E. Cook, J. R. Hinchliffe, and William Potter, Mayor William S. Fitz- Gerald, president of the council; Clayton C. Townes, director of law ; William B. Woods, director of public service; Alexander Bernstein, director of public welfare; Dudley S. Blossom, director of public safety ; Anton B. Sprosty, director of finance; Clarence S. Metcalf, public utili- ties ; Thomas S. Farrell, parks and public property; Fred W. Thomas, street railroad commissioner ; Fielder Sanders, clerk of the city council ; C. J. Benkoski, assistants, Herbert C. Wood, Charles E. Cowell, and Charles V. Dickerson ; sergeant-at-arms of the council, Herman H. Ham- lin, and page, E. F. Manning.
Mayor FitzGerald was succeeded in office by Fred Kohler, who stepped from a county office, that of county commissioner, to a successful candi- dacy for mayor. Mr. Kohler was opposed in the race by Mr. FitzGerald, who had the support of the republican organization, Councilman James R. Hinchliffe, who had strong newspaper support, of the same party, and was himself a republican. He made a personal campaign and won with no political debts to pay and no political strings to tie him down to any course
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of action. Elected at the same time was a larger council than had ever before assembled in the city. The growth of the city involving a new division of its territory into wards had added seven more councilmen to that body. The council elected with Mr. Kohler included seventeen of the former councilmen and Liston G. Schooley, Michael L. Sammon, P. F. Rieder, John J. Moore, A. J. Mitchel, Thomas E. Walsh, William F. Thompson, John D. Marshall, Wellington J. Smith, James R. Oswald, R. C. Wheeler, Albert H. Roberts, Louis Petrash, Edward J. Sklenicka, R. S. Force, and Charles C. Hahn, a total of thirty-three. Clayton C. Townes was reelected president of the council and the executive depart- ment of the city was as follows: Mayor, Fred Kohler ; director of law, J. Paul Lamb ; public service, J. F. Maline ; public welfare, Ralph Perkins ; public safety, T. C. Martinec ; finance, G. A. Gesell ; public utilities, E. L.
MUNICIPAL BATH HOUSE
Myers ; parks and public property, G. A. Reutenik; street railroad com- missioner, James W. Holcomb. The clerk of the council was Fred W. Thomas, and his assistants the same as in the former council, including Charles E. Cowell, who has served in that capacity for seventeen years.
Mr. Kohler began his administration by a reduction of salaries and a reduction of the force employed in many departments. He clashed with the council on many important matters, clashed with his official family on many occasions, but throughout his two years as mayor held to his original programme of retrenchment and according to his report filed at the close of his term had saved to the city $2,800,000 and had left in the city treasury a cash balance of $1,800,000. His report for 1923 indicates in some measure the magnitude of the city's business. Forty-three miles of new pavement were laid, 20,000 street opening permits were issued, nearly 23,000,000 pounds of garbage were collected, about 200.000 yards of mud were dredged out of the river channel, and nearly 200,000,000 gallons of water pumped into the mains to supply the city. In Mayor Kohler's administration the new auditorium was finished and opened to the public and the new city hospital. A report by the Builders' Exchange recites that in the year of 1923 more than $100.000,000 had been put into new construction.
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