USA > Ohio > Cuyahoga County > Cleveland > A history of the city of Cleveland: its settlement, rise and progress, 1796-1896 > Part 34
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in its own lines, has rendered great service to the needy and the destitute.
The Cleveland City Hospital commenced its work in 1869, in a small frame building on Willson street. The value of its work was soon recognized, and in 1875 a lease of the Marine Hospital and grounds was secured, from the United States Government, and the hospital was located therein. On May 10, 1876, the hospital managers were incorporated, the officers and incorporators being as follows: President, Joseph Perkins; Clerk, E. C. Rouse; Trustees, M. B. Scott, George B. Stanley, Henry Chisholm, William B. Castle, W. J. Boardman, H. C. Blossom, and G. W. Whitney. In December, 1869, the Cleveland Law Library Association was organized, and incorporated in 1870. Its purpose was the creation of a law library for the use of the county bar, and it long since ranked among the leading associations of its kind. The Kirtland So- ciety of Natural Science also was organized in 1869, under the leadership of Dr. Jared P. Kirtland, in whose honor it was named. In 1870, it became a department of the Cleveland Library Association.
An effort had been made to secure for Cleveland, from the State Board of Agriculture, the Ohio State Fair of 1870-71, but the request was met by a refusal. This de- cision, no doubt, had much to do with Cleveland's deter- mination to have a permanent fair of her own. The ques- tion was agitated, and at a meeting of citizens, it was determined to form the Northern Ohio Fair Association, which was duly incorporated, on February 26, 1870, by the following gentlemen: Amasa Stone, J. H. Wade, J. P. Robison, Worthy S. Streator, S. D. Harris, Azariah Everett, Amos Townsend, William Bingham, Henry Not- tingham, David A. Dangler, William Collins, Oscar A. Childs, Lester L. Hickox, Oliver H. Payne, Alton Pope and Waldo A. Fisher. The capital stock was fixed at $300,000. The purpose of the association was declared, in its charter, to be the promotion of agriculture, horticulture, and the mechanic arts, in the northern sections of Ohio.
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Grounds containing eighty-seven acres were purchased near the lake shore, to the east of the city, and fair build- ings were erected. The first fair was opened on October 4, 1870, and continued for three days. These fairs were continued, from year to year, until finally the enterprise was wound up, in the winter of 1880-81, because the financial results were not such as to justify its further continuance.
As an outgrowth of these gatherings, there grew the Cleveland Horticultural Society, the Northern Ohio Poul- try Association, and the Cleveland Club. The organiza- tion last-named was composed of a portion of the Northern Ohio Fair Association directory, and was formed in 1871, for the purpose of annually holding trotting and racing meetings at the fair grounds.
At the head of the social organizations of Cleveland stands the Union Club, which was organized at a meeting of well-known citizens, on September 25, 1872. It was incorporated, as the charter declared, for "physical train- ing and education." The first permanent officers were: President, William Bingham; First Vice-President, Henry B. Payne; Second Vice-President, W. J. Boardman; Secretary, C. P. Leland; Corresponding Secretary, Waldemar Otis; Treasurer, George E. Armstrong. The club purchased a handsome and commodious building on Euclid avenue, near Erie street, which it has since occupied. It is one of the most important social organizations of the West, and in its membership and measures has fully sustained the high mark set in the beginning.
The Cleveland Bar Association came into being in March, 1873. Its purpose was declared to be the main- tenance of "the honor and dignity of the profession of the law, to cultivate social intercourse and acquaintance among the members of the bar, to increase our usefulness in aiding the administration of justice, and in promoting legal and judicial reform." The association has clearly lived up to this high standard. The first officers were: President, S. J. Andrews; Vice-Presidents, James Mason,
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John W. Heisley and John C. Grannis; Recording Secretary, Virgil P. Kline; Corresponding Secretary, L. R. Critchfield ; Treasurer, G. M. Barber.
The Cuyahoga County Medical Society was formed in 1873, by the amalgamation of two societies, known as the Cleveland Academy of Medicine, and the Pathological So- ciety. Its object, like that of its predecessors, was to increase the knowledge of its members, to bring them into more intimate social relations with each other, and to promote the improvement of the medical art.
Returning again to 1868, and the general record, two events of marine importance present themselves. In the launch of the little steamer "J. K. White," in this year, the people of Cleveland saw the first iron ship built with- in their borders, suggestive of much that was to follow. The second event was the tragic loss of the steamer "Morning Star," the companion of the "R. N. Rice," on the Cleveland and Detroit line. She left Cleveland on the night of June 20th, and when off Black River, some thirty miles out, collided in the dark and storm with the bark "Cortland." She began to sink immediately. Some of the passengers and crew saved themselves by clinging to floating pieces of wreckage, and were picked up by the " Rice," which came along two hours later. Captain Viger, and thirteen others, floated off on a portion of the upper cabin and were saved, but over a score of lives were lost. The sad news was received with wild excitement and grave apprehensions in Cleveland, as a number of her citizens were among the passengers on the ill-fated boat.
Work upon the new and needed water works tunnel was commenced in 1869. Complaint had been heard, from time to time, ever since the construction of the water works, of the quality of the water, because of shore wash- ings, sewage, and the river outflow, and the authorities of the department decided to draw the supply from a point farther out in the lake. Surveys for a new tunnel were made in 1867, and in 1869 work was commenced by sinking a shaft on the shore, near the pumping station,
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to the depth of 671/2 feet below the surface of the lake, and a tunnel five feet in diameter commenced from its bottom outward. In the meantime, a crib, having a diameter of 8712 feet, was built, and on August 5, 1870, towed to a point 6,600 feet from the shore, and sunk in thirty-six feet of water. It was then loaded down with thousands of tons of stone. A lake shaft was then sunk beneath the center of the crib, to a depth of ninety feet below the sur- face of the water, and a tunnel started shoreward to meet the one coming from the other direction. Many difficul- ties in the way of quicksands, etc., were encountered, but on March 2, 1874, the work was completed, and water let in on the following day. The total cost was $320,- 351.72. The crib was fitted up as a lighthouse and a house for its keeper. The quality of the city water was very greatly improved.
The rapid growth of Cleveland, however, before long, demonstrated that new extensions and improvements of the water works were a MAYOR C. A. OTIS. matter of necessity. A sec- ond tunnel, connecting the crib with the shore, was successfully commenced, and com- pleted in 1890, giving two direct connections between the intake at the crib and the pumping station, the old one being five feet in diameter, and the new one seven feet.
Still another step, in the direction of an improved serv- ice, was taken in the building of the new Fairmount res- ervoir, which was completed in 1885. The object sought was to obtain greater storage capacity, and better pressure for the larger part of the city. The old Kentucky street reservoir had a capacity of six million gallons, and main- tained a head of 158 feet above the lake, but this head was decreased somewhat in overcoming the friction in the
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supply pipes, leading from the reservoir to the different parts of the city. The greatest length of the Fairmount reservoir is about 1,500 feet, and the greatest width 700 feet. It is divided into two basins, by an embankment, one having a capacity of 47 million gallons, and the other of 33 million gallons.
The site of this reservoir, on Fairmount street, in the extreme eastern portion of the city, was chosen as being the most suitable of all considered; far from the city dirt and smoke, having the needed materials near at hand, and lying on a railroad line. When the works were originally built, all the water for the city was pumped directly into the Kentucky street reservoir, and from thence distributed to the consumer. As the demand increased, and addition- al pumps and mains became necessary, the water supply system was changed, the new pumps pumping directly into the mains, while the old ones still supplied the res- ervoir. All the mains connected at different points, and the pressure was regulated by the head of the water up on Kentucky street. When the new reservoir was being built, and a high service system established, to take water from the reservoir to supply the higher part of the city (pumping to an elevation of 325 feet), the Cornish engines were removed from the Division street pumping station to this high service station, and direct-acting pumps put in their places. The system of water supply at present is to pump directly into the mains supplying the city, and force the surplus only into the Fairmount reservoir. The Kentucky street reservoir, therefore, became useless, and was abandoned.
Other improvements of an important character, in con- nection with the city's water works system, are now under consideration, involving an extension of the present main tunnel several miles into the lake; the building of a new pumping station toward the east, and the digging of a new tunnel, a great intercepting sewer, and a thorough and scientific flushing of the Cuyahoga River.
The laying of the foundations of a most beneficent or-
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ganization must be noted among the events of 1873. On March 18th of that year, O. J. Hodge offered a resolution in the City Council, inviting all persons interested in the formation of a humane society to meet in the council chamber on the following Friday evening. This was adopted, and on the evening named there assembled about a dozen gentlemen. Mr. Hodge called the meeting to order, and explained the purposes for which it had been called, and then asked Earl Bill to occupy the chair. A committee on permanent organization was then appointed, consisting of O. J. Hodge, J. W. Fitch, and H. F. Bray- ton. The following names were subsequently added to the list: W. J. McKinnie, W. P. Fogg, C. B. Pettingill, H. C. Brockway, and Dr. E. Sterling. On the evening of March 27th, a constitution was reported, and on April 4th, the following officers of this newly-formed Cleveland Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals were duly elected : President, General J. W. Fitch; Vice-Presi- dents, James M. Hoyt, William Bingham, O. J. Hodge, John Tod, Earl Bill; Secretary, H. F. Brayton.
The work of this great society has been continuous, and of incalculable benefit to two defenseless classes-dumb brutes and helpless children. Some ten or a dozen years. ago, its scope was widened, so that helpless mothers and children could be brought under its protective influences. The name was then changed to the Humane Society. The good work of the organization still goes on.21 At the
21 Two years previous to the taking of the step above described, looking to the formation of this society, Mr. Hodge had introduced in the City Council an ordinance to prevent and punish cruelty to dumb animals. This. was passed on April 11, 1871, and was the first step taken by the Cleveland law-makers in that direction. As but little attention was paid to the law, the mayor embodied it in a proclamation, which was posted throughout the city. Being a member of the State Legislature about this time, Mr. Hodge introduced three bills, each intended for the better protection of children and dumb animals, all of which became laws. On March 10, 1874, he also called a meeting of prominent men, from various parts of the State, to be held at the Neil House in Columbus, and at that gather- ing, a State society was organized, with Gen. J. W. Fitch, of Cleveland, as. president.
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twenty-third annual meeting, held on the evening of April 1, 1896, it was shown that 638 complaints in be- half of children had been reported during the year, and that in most cases relief had been secured ; while the cases of six thousand and more in the animal department, had been attended to. The receipts were $4,670.98, and the disbursements about the same.
CHAPTER XVI.
AN ERA OF MANY IMPROVEMENTS.
The importance of creating and maintaining proper har- bor facilities, was recognized in Cleveland at an early date, and the steps taken for the opening of a river channel, and protection of the lake front, in previous years, have already been recorded. The unprotected condition of the harbor, was always regarded as a source of danger, em- phasized by the narrowness of the river opening, and the difficulty of making port in a time of storm. No move- ment toward the construction of an artificial harbor of ref- uge, however, was made until 1870, when the City Coun- cil adopted resolutions in favor of the construction of such work by the general government, while a petition to that effect was circulated among the citizens. An appro- priation of three thousand dollars for a preliminary survey was made; and the engineers reported the cost at three million dollars-a figure so large that the committee on commerce reported adversely upon the measure.
The matter was not dropped there, however, as R. T. Lyon, on January 16, 1873, offered resolutions in the Board of Trade, urging upon Congress the importance and neces- sity of such refuge, for the protection of vessels navigating the uncertain waters of Lake Erie. They were adopted, and a committee appointed to confer with the City Council and secure its co-operation. Hon. R. C. Parsons,22 then
22 Richard C. Parsons, whose public labors have been mentioned often in the foregoing pages, was born in New London, Conn., on October 10, 1826. He became a member of the Cleveland bar in 1851 ; has served as a mem- ber of the City Council, and State Legislature; was consul at Rio Janeiro; collector of internal revenue at Cleveland; and marshal of the United States Supreme Court. He was elected to Congress from the Cuyahoga district in 1872. The Cleveland breakwater is, in no small degree, a monu- ment to his zeal and energy. He became chief owner and editor of the
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the national representative from this district, by strenuous efforts, and good management, persuaded the government to another survey, which work was performed in 1874 by Colonel Blount, of the United States Engineering Corps. He reported two plans -one for an anchorage of thirty acres, at a cost of five hundred thousand dollars, and the other for ninety acres, at a cost of twelve hundred thou- sand dollars.
In the spring of 1875, Congress appropriated fifty thou- sand dollars for the commencement of the work, and re- ferred the question of size and other specifications to a corps of government engineers, who reported in favor of a harbor of two hundred acres, at a cost of eighteen hun- dred thousand dollars. This was adopted, and when Hon. H. B. Payne was in Congress, he secured fifty thou- sand dollars for a continuation of the work, and Hon. Amos Townsend had that increased by one hundred thousand.
Work upon the west wing of the breakwater was com- menced in the fall of 1875, and completed in 1883. The structure commences at a point seven hundred feet west of the upper end of the old river bed, and runs about due north for 3, 130 feet, to a depth of 28 feet. It then turns an angle and runs nearly parallel to the shore for 4,030 feet, with a spur one hundred feet long on the north side of the lake arm, and two hundred feet from its eastern end.
Experience showed that still greater precautionary measures were necessary, and it was decided that the har- bor to the eastward, would be sufficiently protected by ex- tending the east pier at the mouth of the river some four- teen hundred feet. The engineer in charge, however, recommended, in May, 1884, that this plan be changed, and that an arm of the breakwater be built to the east- ward, leaving an opening opposite the piers. This was
"Cleveland Herald " in 1876, and after retirement from that position served for a time as a national bank examiner. Mr. Parsons has made his mark as an orator and writer, and for several years past, has served as the efficient president of the Early Settlers' Association.
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approved by the department at Washington, and on August 5, 1886, Congress passed an act making the nec- essary appropriations for this improvement. The original plan contemplated an extension of about 3,600 feet alto- gether, but it was soon found that this would be insuffi- cient, and so the plan was enlarged, and additional appro- priations secured from Congress. The breakwater, under the latest plan, begins at a point on the prolongation of the lake arm of the western breakwater, and five hundred feet from it; extends eastward upon this line about 3,500 feet, then inclines toward the shore and extends 2,000 feet, in a depth of 26 feet of water, and having between its eastern end, and the curve of 14 feet depth of water, an entrance 2,300 feet wide. About 2,500 feet of this break- water had been completed up to the early summer of 1896.
It may be added, in this connection, that it is only with- in a few years that Cleveland has awakened to the com- mercial importance of its lake front. Boats grew larger under the imperative demands of trade, but there was no corresponding increase in the city's dockage, and accord- ingly many large interests - the iron ore trade of the Lake Superior region, for instance - were largely diverted to other lower-lake ports. The ill effects of such desertion were plainly manifest, and steps were taken to check it. In March, 1895, the Cuddy-Mullen Company began the construction of a dock of adequate size, just east of the river, in the outer harbor, inside the breakwater. It was finished April 1, 1896. It is 623 feet long, and 210 feet wide. Adjoining it, is the dock of the Pennsylvania Com- pany, of the same dimensions, which has just been finished. On this will be erected a passenger station and freight houses.
The city has also started in to do its share toward de- veloping the lake front. Since December, 1894, it has been extending Erie street to the water's edge, and build- ing piers out into the lake. Already about five hundred feet have been constructed, and it is the city's intention to make thereby large and convenient dockage for excursion -
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steamers, and thus put the pleasures of lake travel within easy reach of the people. Ultimately, similar extensions and piers will be made, at all the down-town cross streets.
A number of municipal measures of great impor- tance occupied the attention of the city authorities and the public, during the first half of the decade from 1870 to 1880. On January 1, 1871, the penal and corrective de- partments of the city were divorced from the infirmary, and established in a large and well-appointed structure of their own, on Woodland avenue. The Cleveland Work- house and House of Correction was the official title of this new institution. The building was erected at a cost of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. The first board of directors consisted of Harvey Rice, J. H. Wade, George H. Burt, S. C. Brooks, and William Edwards.
The Board of Park Commissioners also came into exist- ence in 1871, by an ordinance passed by the City Council in August, and the following gentlemen were constituted the members thereof : A. Everett, O. A. Childs, and J. H. Sargent. Previous to this time, the work that properly belonged to such department, had been performed by the street commissioner, and the creation of the board was the first real effort to give the city a system of public parks. Bonds to the amount of $35,000 were issued in 1872, and the first step toward the object in view was the beautify- ing of the Public Square. In 1874, the construction of Lake View Park was commenced, and work was soon after begun on Franklin Circle, and on the old and long- forgotten Clinton Park.
The greatest step taken by Cleveland in the direction of a park system came through the munificent action of an honored and wealthy citizen. J. H. Wade 23 had pur-
28 Jeptha H. Wade was born in Seneca County, New York, on August 11, 18II, and died in Cleveland on August 9, 1890. He began life as a por- trait painter, and with camera and brush made his way in the world until 1847, when lie became interested in the newly-created electric telegraph, and took a contract for the construction of a line from Jackson to Detroit, Michigan. He was of great aid in the development of telegraphy, and was
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chased a great area of land, to the north of Euclid avenue, at the extreme eastern end of the city, and by large expend- itures of money had made a beautiful park, in which the skill of the landscape artist had touched the attractions of nature but to adorn. In 1882, Mr. Wade donated this park to the city, on condi- tion that seventy-five thou- sand dollars should be ex- pended in improvements. The gift was accepted, and Wade Park now stands as a perpetual monument to the foresight and generosi- ty of Jeptha H. Wade.
A second munificent gift, of a like character, was the presentation of WILLIAM J. GORDON. Gordon Park to the city by William J. Gordon,24 who was for years one of the most active and enterprising of Cleveland's business men. In 1865, and at later peri-
one of the prime movers in the creation of the great Western Union Tele- graph Company. He was one of the originators of the first Pacific tele- graph line. He became largely interested in railroads, being officially con- nected with the chief lines touching Cleveland. He was also an active figure in the banking circles of Cleveland, and connected with many other lines of business and manufacture. His generosity was great, and there were few of the beneficent charities of the city that could not count upon his constant and generous aid.
24 William J. Gordon was born on September 30, 1818, in Monmouth County, New Jersey. He began business life at an early age, and although but twenty-one years of age when he came to Cleveland, in 1839, he had already seen several years of mercantile life, and shown admirable busi- ness qualities. It was not long before he was recognized as one of the active business forces of the city, as the head of the wholesale grocery house of W. J. Gordon & Co., and of Gordon, McMillan & Co. He was one of the pioneers in opening the iron ore regions of Lake Superior, owning large interests in the Cleveland Iron Mining Company. He was connected with several manufacturing establishments of Cleveland, and was known all over the country as owner of one of the finest stock farms in the West, and of several horses of a national reputation. He was a traveller, reader, and man of culture. He died at Cleveland, on November 23, 1892.
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ods, Mr. Gordon purchased, on the lake shore, to the east of the city, several large tracts of land, and began the laying out of an extensive park. Landscape gardeners were employed, large forces of men were set at work, and there was no hesitation at any adornment or im- provement because of its cost. The result was the crea- tion of a park of 122 acres, that in attractiveness and completeness of artistic finish finds few equals in the country. On Mr. Gordon's death, it was found that he had left this magnificent monument of himself as a gift to the City of Cleveland, free from burdensome conditions. The main condition was that the park should be forever maintained as such, and at all times be kept open to the public, under the exclusive name of "Gordon Park." The title passed to the city on October 23, 1893.
The possession of two such great breathing places, as. Wade Park and Gordon Park, however, did not fill the demand certain to be made by that Greater Cleveland, which was even then looming up in the near future. In fact, these magnificent donations but stimulated the pub- lic mind, and made the people of Cleveland determined that other and notable additions should be made, that the city's park department might equal her other claims to distinction and recognition.
It was seen that the work of the future must be carried forward on a broader plan, than had been possible in the past. The agitation in favor of a comprehensive system of parks and boulevards, was carried on with commenda- ble spirit. Several meetings of public-spirited citizens were held. A plan was formulated, and the needed leg- islation sought, the result being the passage, on April 5, 1893, of the so-called Park Act. This provided that a board of Park Commissioners should be formed, one of whom should be the mayor of the city, another the presi- dent of the City Council, and three appointed by the Sink- ing Fund trustees. In accordance therewith, the first board came into being on April 26, 1893, and consisted of Robert Blee, mayor of Cleveland; A. J. Michael,
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