USA > Ohio > Cuyahoga County > Cleveland > A history of Cuyahoga County and the City of Cleveland, (Vol. 1) > Part 72
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The first theater opened in the city was the Theater Comique, located on Frankfort Street, open the year around and devoted to variety perform- ances. The proprietor was Jacques A. Montpelier, "Monte" as he was familiarly called. The Academy of Music on Bank Street was the first
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so-called legitimate playhouse in the city. It was managed by John A. Ellsler and here Joseph Jefferson played "Rip Van Winkle" and other great actors and actresses performed. It was a leading playhouse in its day. Brainard's Opera House on Superior, later the Globe Theater, was devoted to the use of minstrel and concert troupes, and occasionally dramatic performances were given there. But the drift was eastward and in 1875 the Euclid Avenue Opera House was opened. In its day this was one of the finest and most luxurious places of amusements in the United States. This theater, seating over 1,600, has a history of unusual interest. All the great actors and actresses appeared upon its stage-Booth, Barrett, Keene, Mrs. Drew, John Drew, Jefferson, Julia Marlowe, Irving, Mansfield, Maude Adams, Mary Anderson, Barrymore, Della Fox, Nat Goodwin, Hackett, Hopper, Modjeska, Ellen Terry, Denman Thompson, Lillian Russell and a host of others.
It is interesting to read a description of this playhouse as it appeared in 1876 in view of the fact that it was opened under the management of John A. Ellsler, as lessee, who was a heavy stockholder in the enterprise, that it was owned for many years by Senator Hanna, and for the further fact that because of the many memories clustering around it, a multitude of hearts were saddened when, a year ago, it was torn down to be sup- planted by a commercial building. "The main entrance is on Euclid Avenue through a vestibule forty feet wide, the floor of which is laid with tessellated and mosaic marble. Everything in the house in the way of furniture is of the most luxurious character. The walls and woodwork of the auditorium are finished in light and dark cream, with decorations in gold. The frescoing of the dome and vestibule is of rare beauty. On the inside of the main dome are four groups of figures, representing Music, Comedy, Tragedy and Poetry. Amid the rich ornamentation are portraits of Shakespeare, Byron, Rossini, Mozart, Goethe, Dante, Milton, Schiller, Bryant, Mayerbeer, Wagner, Bellini, and Beethoven. Dependent from the ceiling is the grand prismatic chandelier, the largest prismatic chandelier in the United States. The footlights are so arranged with electric apparatus that they can be changed to produce plain white light, moonlight, twilight or sunsets by a simple manipulation of keys."
Playhouse Square at the junction of Huron and Euclid, a point which was for many years the city limits, is the present center of the dramatic art. The Hanna Building, rising in immense proportions and covering nearly a whole square, contains the Hanna Theater. The Keith Building, one of the highest in the city, contains the Palace Theater, which for equip- ment and grandeur exceeds any other in the city. It will seat 5,000 people. Nearby are the Allen, Ohio and State, which are finely appointed, quite new and make up the quota of Playhouse Square. Reed's Hippodrome on Euclid near East Ninth Street has a large seating capacity and until the building of the Keith's Palace was the largest and finest in the city. The Colonial Theater on Superior, the Empire on Huron and the Star on Euclid, near East Sixth Street, are others that should be noted that were flourishing before Playhouse Square came into being. There are eighty moving picture theaters in the city and some of these, like the Stillman, the Mall and the Miles and many others that could be mentioned, have large seating capacity and give elaborate musical programs. Every important trade center in the city outside of downtown Cleveland has one or more moving picture theaters.
Of the new buildings in the city the Federal Reserve Bank Building, the Union Trust Building, the Cleveland Public Library Building, the Medical Center Building, the Cleveland Museum of Art Building, the Bulkley Building and the Municipal Auditorium have added much in the
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building line to the beauty of Greater Cleveland. We have not spoken before of the Art Building. It has not been until recently that the people of the city have been awake to the educational and cultural advantages of art and art exhibits. It has been said that the beautiful art collection of Charles F. Olney, which was secured by Oberlin College, could have been kept in the city if the people had been sufficiently interested in the matter, but engrossed in business the opportunity was permitted to pass by.
And now we are proud of Cleveland as an art center. The Cleveland Museum of Art opened its doors in 1916 and in a little over three years 1,050,000 people had visited it. This building, costing $1,000,000 and with its contents worth or soon to be worth $1,000,00 more, was made possible by two men, John Huntington and Horace Kelley, but many others have been large contributing factors. By the provisions of his will, John
THE CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF ART IN WADE PARK
Huntington established an Art and Polytechnic Trust and by the provisions of the will of Horace Kelley the Horace Kelley Art Foundation, a cor- poration, was formed under the name of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Neither of these men knew of the designs of the other and the provisions of these trusts in the hands of different trustees presented obstacles in the way of getting together. But good lawyers found a way and both finally came together in a joint corporation called the Cleveland Museum of Art.
Judge William B. Sanders, president of the joint corporation, at the close of an interesting address on the opening day in presiding at the dedi- cation announced that gifts of art valued at $800,000 had already been received. Work was started on the building in 1913. The park that sur- rounds the building was given to the city by Jeptha H. Wade (Wade Park) and the building stands on land given by J. Homer Wade. Dr. Dudley P. Allen by will left $150,000 to the Museum. Mrs. Liberty E. Holden donated a collection of paintings. Mrs. Mary Warden Harkness gave a valuable collection of china and $100,000 in money. Fifty thousand dollars has been received from a man who wishes his name to be withheld. These are some of the contributions but not all that have added to the original fund.
The building is 300 by 130 feet, beautiful and classic. It faces the
IN LAKE VIEW CEMETERY, SHOWING THE GARFIELD MEMORIAL
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lake in Wade Park, and north on an eminence rises the beautiful statues of Goethe and Schiller ; on the west is seen the statue of Thadeusz Kosciuszko with these inscriptions: "1746-1817." "Erected by the Polish people of Cleveland." "I come to fight as a volunteer for American independence, Kosciuszko. What can you do ? asks Washington. Try me was the reply." On the east is the statue of Harvey Rice-"1800-1891"-"Educator, Legislator, Historian"-"Father of the Common School System of Ohio" -"Erected by a Memorial Committee." Across the lake on University Circle may be seen the statue of Marcus Alonzo Hanna-"Erected by Friends and Fellow Citizens commemorative of his efforts for peace between capital and labor, his useful citizenship and distinguished public service." "Born 1837-Died 1904"; and the statue of Kossuth-"1802- 1894." "In commemoration of his visit to the United States, 1851-1852." "Erected by the Magyar American Citizens-1902." "His Life was devoted to the Cause of Liberty." Northwest of the art museum on a winding driveway stands a monument to Gen. Milan R. Stefanik, which was dedicated in July, 1924. It was erected by the Cleveland Slovaks in memory of their national hero, who was killed in an aeroplane accident in the World war.
In this connection the Garfield monument comes to mind, which overlooks Lakeview Cemetery, the Commodore Perry monument at Gordon Park, looking out upon the lake, the Soldiers and Sailors monument on the Public Square, the monument to Mayor Tom L. Johnson on another part, and the Richard Wagner statue at Edgewater Park, erected in 1911 by the Goethe-Schiller Society of Cleveland. This has the distinction of being the only monument on the West Side.
Two large private amusement parks add to the amusement and recrea- tion facilties of the city, Euclid Beach Park, on the lake, managed for many years by the Humphries, and Luna Park, largely owned by M. F. Bramley, and managed for the last decade by Gen. Charles X. Zimmerman, who only stopped off to engage in the World war.
Like all the American cities there were many stirring events in Cleve- land connected with the great struggle overseas, the campaigns for the sale of Liberty bonds and War stamps in which the city exceeded its quota, the enlistments during which time Gen. J. R. McQuigg and others were speaking almost daily on the Public Square, and then the draft, the gather- ings in the Armory and instructions to the boys going to camp. The Armistice was signed and the streets of Cleveland were filled with crowds in a wild jollification that it would hardly be possible to describe. Peace dawned and then came the reception to the "Blue Devils" of France, to the commanding general of the allied victorious armies, General Foch of France, and later, in 1923, to Lloyd George of England, who was prime minister of England during that great struggle, not to forget the reception and parade when Cardinal Mercier of Belgium visited the city.
In closing, we will refer briefly to the holding of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland in 1924, with meetings in the Municipal Auditorium, which was brought about by citizens of both parties, the nomi- nation of Calvin Coolidge and Gen. Charles G. Dawes for president and vice president, respectively, a feature of the convention being the keynote address by a citizen of Cleveland, Senator Theodore E. Burton, who was temporary chairman of the convention, and later, in the same auditorium, the meeting of another national convention that placed in nomination for the presidency, Robert M. La Follette. These two meetings recall to mind that only once before in the history of Cleveland has a national convention been held in the city and that was in 1864, when a wing of the republican party nominated Gen. John C. Fremont for the presidency in opposition to Abraham Lincoln.
CHAPTER XXXVIII
CLEVELAND IN THE WORLD WAR
This chapter might be designated Cuyahoga County in the World war, for the townships and municipalities outside of the city were proportion- ately active and patriotic, but the great growth of the city, its immense wealth and great predominance of man power, made it preeminently the center of war activities, and hence it is the historical center of the war story.
From the invasion of Belgium by the German army, the struggle was watched by many citizens with conflicting emotions, for Cleveland has a large German population, amounting at one time to 40 per cent, and to them it held a singular relationship; while loyal to America there was still that natural affection for the fatherland. They discounted the stories of atrocities as they were published from time to time, and an attitude of suspicion by the non-German citizens was aroused, but be it said that in their efforts to save the German name the German-born were acting only as we now see was most natural, but in the supreme test the German cit- izens of the city were loyal with but a few exceptions.
On February 1, 1917, the eyes of all Europe were focused on Wash- ington. Could America keep out of the great struggle? The notice that Germany and Austria, beginning at 6 o'clock of that day, would torpedo neutral ships without notice, had been promulgated. It will be remembered that the Lusitania, a vessel of the Cunard line, had been sunk by a German submarine off the coast of Ireland nearly two years before, when 1,150 persons were drowned, including 114 citizens of the United States, and prominent among these were Alfred G. Vanderbilt, Elbert Hubbard, Charles Frohman, and Justus Miles Forman.
When the notice referred to was announced, the French papers said : "Will President Wilson give way before this challenge?" On February 3d the order was modified so as to allow one ship a week to cross the Atlantic. On that day the President told his cabinet and the American people that the United States must stand firmly by its rights.
On the day that President Wilson made this announcement the Ameri- can freight steamer Housatonic was torpedoed and sunk by a German sub- marine, and the severing of diplomatic relations with Germany followed. Ambassador Gerard was withdrawn by official order.
On February 5, 1917, the first war steps were taken in Cleveland. The U. S. S. Dorothea company received orders to pack guns for immediate shipment. The Cleveland Red Cross Chapter called an executive session at the Chamber of Commerce Building, on orders from Washington. Lakeside Red Cross Hospital Base Unit prepared for an expected order to move. War had not been actually declared, but the late Ben Allen wrote to his paper, the Cleveland Plain Dealer, that "America would soon be plunged into the great war."
A Cleveland man, Newton D. Baker, was secretary of war, and by him Frank A. Scott, vice president of the Warner & Swasey Company, and already associate member of the Naval Consulting Board, was called to
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Washington to confer with the authorities on the assistance that Cleveland manufacturers would be able to give in the event of war with Germany. The American Multigraph Company, the Hydraulic Pressed Steel Com- pany, the Cuyahoga Stamping & Machine Company, and the Morgan Lith- ographic Company offered to turn their plants over to the Government for munition manufacture in the event of war. Mr. Scott was called to Washington on February 8th, and on the following day Mrs. Stella M. Jacobi sent out a call for volunteers at the Red Cross headquarters, asking for 100 women a day. The call was sent out to women's clubs or to the Federation of Women's Clubs. The Research Club, Mrs. George D. McLeod, president, was the first to respond. Commodore Perry Chapter, United States Daughters of 1812, Mrs. G. Louisa Meade at the head; the Twentieth Century Club, Mrs. Arthur C. Curtis at its head; the Equal
CENTRAL ARMORY
Franchise Club, Mrs. Eugene D. C. Bayne, and the Lakewood Book and Thimble Club, followed next in quick succession.
As an incident of this exciting period, on February 14, 1917, Donehey of the Cleveland Plain Dealer published a cartoon showing Bryan, LaFol- lette and others on the front of the stage, singing the song of "Peace at Any Price," with the German kaiser down before the footlights as director.
On April 4th Congress voted for war, and immediately Mayor Harry L. Davis appointed a war board as follows :
Myron T. Herrick M. F. Fisher S. M. Gross
Dr. C. C. Hamann
Robert E. Lewis
Ben P. Bole
Bishop John P. Farrelly Eugene Grasselli E. H. Baker
Theodore Kundtz F. H. Goff Charles E. Adams
Andrew Squire Dr. George W. Crile Charles L. Gebauer
Rev. A. B. Meldrum F. W. Steffen Karl Bernreiter
M. P. Mooney A. C. Klumph Miss Belle Sherwin Herman Fellinger Fred H. Caley
Mrs. E. S. Burke
F. Philip Dorn
Sherman C. Kingsley
Edward Bushnell George Schneider W. J. Raddatz
James P. Walsh Ed S. Griffith V. Campanelli
Mrs. Georgie L. Norton
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Charles A. Otis
W. P. Leach
W. P. Palmer
S. H. Holding
Mrs. C. E. Brooks Otto Miller
Paul Howland
P. J. Darling
August F. Leopold Harry L. Vail
Capt. H. P. Shupe
W. G. Mather
Solon Hart
Mrs. C. B. Tozier
Rabbi Louis Wolsey
Frank Harmon
This board was afterwards increased to 100 and continued its activities until the close of the war. It organized on April 7th, selecting Hon. Myron T. Herrick, the present ambassador to France, as its chairman. At the organization meeting Chairman Herrick said: "We should subordinate our business to our country, we should from now to the finish dedicate our whole service to the cause.
This board worked in harmony. Its only internal disturbance grew out of utterances said to have been made by Hon. Herman Fellinger, who was president of the German-American Alliance. At a meeting of the board on April 14th there was hot discussion in regard to the alleged utterances of Mr. Fellinger and a demand for his removal from the organization, but the diplomacy of the chairman smoothed the matter out and no action was taken.
On April 4th a mass meeting was held in the Engineers' Hall, under the auspices of the Cleveland Committee on War Finance. Among the speakers were John D. Fackler, who was chairman; A. B. DuPont, Rev. Minot O. Simons, Bascom Little, Hon. R. J. Bulkley, and Rev. M. H. Lichliter. Mrs. Harrison Ewing, with a flag draped around her, sang the "Marseillaise."
Recruiting had been in progress for some time in the city in anticipa- tion of the war, and at first only two points were provided, one under the direction of Maj. Henry Stamford at the Army Station, and one under Lieut. S. J. Logan, retired, of the Marine Corps.
On April 6, 1917, the Lower House of Congress passed the war enact- ment, and we were at war. Soon the Red Cross headquarters at 2525 Euclid Avenue was a whirl of activity. The men called to the colors must leave their work, and work must be done. Cleveland women began offering their services in all lines as well as in Red Cross work. One said, "I can drive a truck," all agreeing to take a man's place. These offers were made to Miss Kate Davis, who was appointed by Secretary of Labor Davis to serve on the emergency board for women's war work. Among those who registered with Miss Davis was Miss Florence E. Allen, who sent in her name for any work for which she might be needed. Miss Allen, after serving most efficiently as Common Pleas judge, is now judge of the Supreme Court of Ohio.
The first military unit to leave civilian life for active service in the war was the ship's company of the U. S. S. Dorothea, Ohio's naval militia. They went away under the command of Capt. E. J. Kelly.
"Proudly the ship's company of the U. S. S. Dorothea marched between lines of applauding thousands through downtown Cleveland, and entrained 200 strong."
As in other parts of the country, at the beginning of the war, that is at the beginning of America's part in the war, there was a strict watch in Cleveland for traitors in our midst. The White Company furnished the city with trucks for carrying armed troops to various points about town for guarding manufacturing plants, public buildings, bridges, etc. At one time three men were arrested having in their homes large quantities of guns and ammunition. These were confiscated but on the plea that they were collectors of firearms the men were released.
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On the theory that victory in the war depended on the crops, much unused land was cultivated in the city. Lawns were plowed up and planted but it is doubtful if the food supply of the country was greatly increased by this well meaning and patriotic effort.
Many Cleveland men were called to Washington on war work. Frank A. Scott, whom we have mentioned, was called upon by President Wilson to head the munitions board and associated with him were Hon. Chester C. Bolton, Harry Bingham, George H. Kelly, Benedict Crowell and Ben. P. Bole.
By the middle of April recruiting was active in the city, the question of a volunteer or selected army had not been decided. There were nine recruiting stations. United States Army at 54 Public Square, in charge of Major H. W. Stamford, United States Navy at the Federal Building with Lieut. J. P. Miller in charge, United States Marines at the Federal Building with Lieut. S. J. Logan in charge, National Guard Cavalry at Troop A's Armory with Major Dudley J. Hard in charge, Ohio Engineers at the Williamson Building with Col. J. R. McQuigg in charge, National Guard Infantry at Central Armory with Lieut. F. W. Marcolin in charge, Officers Reserve Corps at the Public Square under the direction of Major H. W. Stamford, and Engineers Reserve Corps at the Federal Building in charge of P. S. Bond. Several other stations were added later.
The passing of the draft measure caused a stampede to the thirteen recruiting station of the city and May 1st 512 applied for admission to the army and navy and of these 264 were examined and accepted. The rush became so great that a central recruiting station on the Public Square was established. Temporary structures were built, a tent raised, a band was engaged to play daily, speakers were addressing crowds and the noon day meetings were great patriotic assemblages. Groups of young men were constantly seen waiting their turn.
A women's military training school was established at the Young Women's Christian Association building with a thorough organization. Mrs. W. H. Corlett was president, Mrs. Isaac Bloch vice president, Mrs. E. F. Davis recording secretary, Mrs. H. Koons corresponding secretary, Mrs. F. Ingland treasurer and Mrs. Fred J. Harris chairman of the finance committee. Its real mission was to train young women as nurses to take the place of those called to the war.
The possibility of a draft made firms anxious about the question of securing sufficient help. Fielder Sanders, traction commissioner, an- nounced that 652 of the 2,500 employees of the Street Railway Company were subject to military duty and in case of their selection their places must be filled. These problems entered into the many that war brought to the city, but the great, the overpowering problem that confronted all was the question of financing the great war expense.
Cleveland or the Cleveland district subscribed of the great drive for the first sale of bonds of the Liberty Loan $11,130,000 and was fourth among the cities of the land, being exceeded only by New York, Chicago and Philadelphia.
The first military organization to raise the quota of men required by law and offer themselves to the Government in Cleveland was Company H of the Fifth Infantry, which was mustered in by Col. Charles X. Zimmer- man May 8, 1917.
The draft quota for Cleveland was first fixed at 3,800, but changed from time to time.
As indicating the war spirit in the city the flags of the ten allied nations were displayed in the procession at the commencement exercises at Adel- bert College.
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Among the interesting early events may be mentioned the visit to the city of the labor envoys from England, James H. Thomas and Rt. Hon. C. W. Bowerman, who came to assist in securing harmony between capital and labor in the crucial war period, and the visit of Vice President Marshall, who addressed a great mass meeting on the Public Square May 26th.
Patriotic parades and demonstrations were employed both to raise money and to encourage enlistments for although the draft was inevitable the regular army and the national guard must have their ranks filled by volunteers. On Memorial Day, May 30, 1917, the drive for volunteers was nearing its end and a great parade, the greatest Memorial parade in the history of the city, occurred.
June 6th was registration day of young men subject to military duty under the congressional enactment and the registration in the city was 103,000 and in the county outside 10,000. In the first drive for funds for the Red Cross, Secretary of War Newton D. Baker addressed gatherings in the city and the response was indicative of the loyalty and generous spirit of the citizens, for $2,500,000 was the result of the week's drive.
An incident of this period was the arrest of Waldemar Von Nostitz, for years chief editorial writer of the Waechter and Anzeiger, the leading German paper of the city. He was locked in jail as an "alien enemy" to be held until the close of the war.
After the close of the sale of Liberty Bonds on June 15th the papers announced that 75,000 Cleveland people had purchased bonds and that the total was $67,500,000 and that the Cleveland Federal Reserve District had taken a total of $284,000,000, being third in the United States, and exceeded only by the New York and Chicago districts.
On June 18, 1917, a big Red Cross drive was inaugurated. A meeting of leading men and women of Cleveland started the ball rolling at a dinner. Samuel Mather, chairman of the Red Cross War Council, and Charles Adams, team general, were present. At this meeting Samuel Mather made a personal gift of $75,000 and his brother, William G. Mather, $50,000. and their firm of Pickands, Mather & Company gave $200,000, and in one day $2,000,000 was raised. The total amount given to the Red Cross was some $6,000,000 in this drive. This generous outpouring indicated that the citizens of Cleveland were not given to "empty patriotism."
On July 2, 1917. it was announced in the newspapers that the city's share of the forthcoming Liberty Loan would be $54,000,000. The celebra- tion on the Fourth of July following was designated by United States Senator Atlee Pomerene, who addressed a mass meeting at the Hippodrome as "the greatest Fourth of July the world has ever witnessed." Three thousand of the 4,000 present at this meeting were newly naturalized Clevelanders. Other speakers at this meeting were Judge Manuel Levine, DeLo E. Mook, Mayor Harry L. Davis, and Lieut .- Col. J. R. McQuigg. who was later to be found on the battlefields of France, and who by his wonderful success in the encouragement of enlistments in the army was dubbed "Go Get 'Em McQuigg." During the day Gen. Charles X. Zim- merman was in charge of patriotic services at the courthouse. In the parks of the city and in all the municipalities of the county were decorations and assembled thousands.
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