A standard history of Allen county, Ohio : an authentic narrative of the past, with particular attention to the modern era in the commercial, industrial, educational, civic and social development, Part 50

Author: Rusler, William, 1851-; American Historical Society (New York)
Publication date: 1921
Publisher: Chicago ; New York : The American Historical Society
Number of Pages: 598


USA > Ohio > Allen County > A standard history of Allen county, Ohio : an authentic narrative of the past, with particular attention to the modern era in the commercial, industrial, educational, civic and social development > Part 50


Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).


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Lima is in District No. 7 of the Ohio Independent Telephone System, embracing: Allen, Auglaize, Hancock, Hardin, Logan, Mercer, Putnam, Paulding, Van Wert and Wyandotte counties; each county is always represented at the meetings which are always held in Lima. Under the 1908 law, the Public Utilities Company of Ohio supervises the rates to be charged by the railroads, telephones, telegraphs, water works- unless municipally owned as in Lima and Delphos; electric lights, gas service, city and interurban lines-all utilities privately owned are regulated by the commission, and when profiteering is discovered, "the way of the transgressor is hard" in Allen County as well as in the rest of the world. Sometimes a subscriber has a quarrel with Central -the connections are slow, but a visit to the exchange would soften the criticism. The Lima office has the automanual equipment, and calls from subscribers are automatically distributed to all operators, thus insuring equally quick service to all. Many visitors have pronounced the Lima system excellent, and under the control of very few operators at simple keyboards, the automatic switches perform all the functions required of the telephone service.


The Automanual system applies the speed and accuracy of the adding machine, linotype and typewriter to the telephone service; connections are established by pressing buttons corresponding to the telephone num- bers desired; ease and simplicity of operation insures the highest quality of service. The welfare of the operators is taken into consideration. The company maintains a rest room for women employes, and each one is relieved for fifteen minutes at stated intervals. In the rest room there are couches, reading tables, music and lavatory advantages; there is a two-cot hospital for emergencies and there is both shower and tub bath; there is every hygienic arrangement, and each girl has a sanitary locker and individual umbrella rack with sewer connection for the drip. The men have similar quarters minus the hospital and entertainment features. There are about 150 operatives-men and women-connected with the Lima telephone exchange. The employes


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have frequent social functions, and a Christmas tree with special decora- tions is an annual feature.


The Lima exchange owns its own property, and there are fewer cross arms with open wire systems than in most towns. Safety first has significance in the Lima system. While there are poles, many lines are through conduits, and expert mechanics are in charge of all the departments. There is some analogy between the telephone and the telegraph system, the telephone suffering more from ice storms than the telegraph. The telegraphic wires are usually along railroad tracks and the timber is cut back, allowing the sweep of the wind and the ice does not form on the wires so heavily. While the telephone is a local convenience, it will never supplant the long distance telegraph; people recognize the advantages of instantaneous communication, and by either telephone or telegraph Allen County citizens are in touch with New York or Chicago in a very few minutes. Messages have been received in Lima from Seattle in less than thirty minutes, with relays in Chicago and Cleveland.


It is the policy to have a sufficient number of operators to insure quick telephone connections. In the most severe ice storms the wires are never all out of commission, there are times in the day when the service is taxed, and there are emergencies. When there is a fire or an aeroplane accident produces some excitement, then all rush to the telephone, and if they must wait for a minute it seems like an age. In the flood visitation of 1913, all the subscribers wanted immediate service at the same time; that's what "overloads" the system. With the automanual the service is much quicker than in the days of the hand switchboards; the subscriber should never attempt to engage Central in a personal conversation ; her time belongs to all patrons; she may give you the time of day. Popular Mechanics reports an incident of a rural line that went on a strike for a sixteen-hour day. In the daylight hours the line worked to perfection; the trouble shooters worked in vain to locate the difficulty; between 9 and 10 o'clock every night the rural line went on a strike, and for eight hours there was no service ; finally, the manager and a lineman started out at night looking for the trouble; when they reached the last house on the line, they were admitted by an aged occupant ; the mystery was solved; his metal- rimmed spectacles were resting in electrical contact across the terminals on the telephone, where it was his habit to leave them every night. The line was on a strike because the circuit was interfered with by the spectacles.


The first underground conduits were installed in Lima in 1900, and there are almost ten miles of trench and thirty-five miles of single duct included in the underground system today; there are seventeen miles of underground cable, and more than fifty miles of the aerial system connecting the citizens of Lima and the outside world when they carry on a telephone conversation. The company probably operates the largest switchboard in the country, since all the long distance lines are connected with it. Davis J. Cable has served as president of the Lima Telephone & Telegraph Company since its organization. Mr. Meth- eany has been its secretary from the beginning; a visit to the exchange would be of interest to any patron. It would show that Central is a busy woman.


THE WATER SUPPLY-It is frequently said that water and fire are at once the best of friends and the worst enemies of man; a study has been made of both because of their relation to the history of Allen County. There are municipally owned water systems in Lima and


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Delphos. Every town plans to have its water supply against fire emer- gencies ; in Spencerville water power is still utilized in the grist mill there ; when Mayor Jacob Sunderland was explaining the locks of the canal, he was also a guide through the grist mill and when the miller opened the flood gate, the machinery was in motion immediately. No power is more satisfactory than water. While Delphos has a self-sustaining municipal water system, in order to make it so the rates have been raised at times. As operating expenses have increased the rates have been advanced to meet them. There are drilled wells with standpipe pressure, and the water is chemically pure. Since 1872, Delphos has had water works; that was the year of the disastrous fire there. At the time of the fire they only had canal water with which to fight it. The canal water comes from the reservoir connecting St. Marys and Celina.


The Fire Fighters' Bucket Brigade needs no introduction to any community. There was a time when Lima fire protection depended upon water stored in public cisterns, the bucket brigade and volunteer fire-fighters. There are always deep water wells, and it is current report that the well in the J. C. Thompson door yard, Market and McDonel streets is the oldest well in Lima; it is excellent water. A few years ago when the owner thought to repair the well and save it as a relic of the past, it was found to be walled with boulders and in a per- fect state of preservation. It dates back to the early '30s, when James McDonel located there. James Isaac McDonel, a son of the man who dug the well fell into it, and the father dropped feet foremost after him. The boulder wall is rugged enough so that he climbed out with his boy in his arms without waiting for assistance from others. It was the McDonel farm and the children were watering the cows when the boy fell into the well. "First aid" was not an economic term that long ago, but the father did the heroic thing.


In the study of wells, there was a time when "damps" was the arch enemy of well diggers. When the peach tree switch had located a water vein, the limb with which he did it never indicated the presence of the poison gas, and the well diggers took chances themselves. James Wright was perhaps the first victim of the "damps" in Lima; when being low- ered in a bucket, he struck the "damps" and fell to the bottom, and it was with difficulty the body was recovered; such conditions were fre- quently encountered while digging wells in the early history of Allen County. While the public drinking fountain and the common communion cup are under the ban in polite society, all Spencerville drinks from a street corner well with a vent in the pump spout from which a minia- ture geyser issues when the thirst-driven visitor places his hand over the bottom, and the question of sanitation does not deter him.


There is a public well in Westminster that has served the community for many years. Until recently the pump was a hollowed out log with the small end down for the stock, and it was always an unfailing source of excellent water. This "trunk of a tree" pump was the pride of Westminster at the time it was thinking about annexing the Allen County courthouse. The man who digs a well or plants a tree is a public benefactor; while wells are going out of fashion, there has as yet been no substitute for trees. It is a stock story about the settler who was digging a well with a blind horse grazing near it; his wife had gone to the cabin of another settler for fire, and she remained to gossip; he had never known her to stay so long anywhere; the blind horse wore a bell so the settler could find him, even though the animal lost its way; a waggish neighbor knew of the absence of the well-digger's


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wife and played a trick on him; the man in the well was also in trouble; the waggish neighbor had removed the bell from the neck of the horse and slowly approached the well, the sound of the bell indicating that the blind horse was grazing; nearer and nearer came the sound.


The man at the bottom of the well was frantic; he had worked along until he was so far from the top in throwing out dirt that he could not scale the walls alone; his wife had operated the windlass and she was gone after fire; why did she not hurry? In order to avoid what seemed like certain catastrophe, the man in the well had shouted at Dobbyn ; he might "gee" or he might "haw," anything to get him away from this aperture through which he might blunder onto the well-digger; the blind horse was peacefully fighting flies under some nearby trees, oblivious of the impending danger; the man still halloed at Dobbyn, and the woman still gossiped with the neighbor woman; when the wag had punished his friend to his heart's content, he replaced the bell on the neck of the blind horse in the distance, and casually called down to the man at the bottom of the well. He was innocent of having caused him a particle of anxiety.


The rapid growth of Lima in the '70s caused enterprising citizens to agitate the question of a public water system. On March 25, 1882, the Ohio Legislature authorized the city and county to issue bonds for $200,000, and it required $125,000 more to complete the system, and further bonded indebtedness amounting to $156,000 was incurred before Lima had a completed water system. There was water in the mains, February 1, 1887. There are always little discrepancies ; another account says January instead of February. The Lima Progress Club function- ing at that time, was back of the water works proposition. Water has always been taken from the Ottawa River. Some student of the economic situation once said: "Because the Ottawa River does not furnish suffi- cient water, Lima may never be a great city ; it will always be a desirable residence city if it cannot furnish water for the wheels of industry."


Since in 1920 there were 1,678,753,000 gallons of water pumped by the Lima water works pumps, and this aqua pura was sold to Lima consumers for $212,000, it would seem like water is the staff of life- that man does not live by bread alone. Fitzgerald, Richmond, Merri- gold-these names have always been connected with Lima water works history. Fitzgerald and Richmond were members of the water works board, and Merrigold was brought from Columbus as construction superintendent. Thomas Fitzgerald, Richard Stone and Samuel Berry- all have been connected with the development of the system. Mr. Berry, who has passed the fourscore mark, and who works every day is the oldest continuous employe; he was working before the water was being pumped, when Ed King was the chief engineer at the new pumping station. Until January 1, 1887, Lima had private wells and public cisterns, now it has 8,000 water consumers, the supply being taken from the Ottawa River. The oil development in 1885 started expansion along different lines in the community.


As public service director, Elmer McClain is thoroughly acquainted with the Lima water works question; the two Holly engines near the front door at the station are the first pumps installed: they are junk but are retained as relics; they had a capacity of 6,000,000 gallons a day. When the next two pumps were installed their combined capacity was 12,000,000 gallons per day; one was a Snow and the other a De Laval. While the latest pump is a small one, it renders satisfactory service; when the whole pumping system is in action it throws an immense volume of water. When the Lima consumer turns a spigot and


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draws a glass of water, he does not comprehend all the labor involved to enable him to enjoy it. A visit to the source of supply would fill him with admiration and respect for the system. The water from the Ottawa River is held in Lima Lake, opposite the County Home, until a sediment settles from it. The original supply is pumped from the Ottawa into the lake.


Lima Lake is a broad expanse of water and here it undergoes chemical action from the rays of the sun; by the force of gravity the water leaves Lima Lake and passes into Lost Creek Lake-the billion gallon reservoir, where it undergoes further chemical action from the rays of the sun, and there is further deposit of sediment; this new storage reservoir has been completed except ripraping the upper course at the sides, and here is a system of gauging the water. The cement "stair-steps" gauge has the capacity in gallons marked on each ledge, and the men doing the work were vigilant in order that no mischievous person bent on seeing his name written in the green cement had an opportunity. When water reaches the topmost gauge, there will be 880,000,000 gallons in the new "Billion Gallon Reservoir." The Lima water system shows some engineering feats that are only understood by seeing them.


Yes, the Lima water supply is taken from the Ottawa River, but above the city sewage and putrid sea portion of the stream; after it goes through the various processes the Lima consumer pronounces it splendid water. E. E. Smith of the Lima filtration plant reports: "The Lima filtration plant is now producing water of the highest sanitary quality, with marked improvement in appearance and taste over the former unfiltered supply; after it becomes possible to use water from the new Lost Creek reservoir- the billion gallon storage, a reduction in hardness may be expected. On December 20, 1919, the Ohio State Department of Health certified the Lima public water supply for use on common carriers in interstate commerce," and that means pure water. Railway trains obtain their water supply while passing through the city. While the Solar Refinery obtains its water supply from its own artesian wells 300 feet in the earth, all other Lima industries use city water.


From Lima Lake the water passes into Lost Creek Lake, and by its own weight it reaches the Twin Lakes adjoining the pumping sta- tion where the sunshine still purifies it, and it is from there pumped into the filtration plant where liquid chlorine, copper sulphate and sul- phate of aluminum complete the chemical process. Three or four farms lying east of Lima are now utilized as reservoirs-water storage-and before this water is turned into the city mains it undergoes the refining process already mentioned. When the raw water passes the chemical action of the filtration plant, its purity is guaranteed-they wash the water-and the valves marked affluent and effluent, mean water of different stages in purification; the sanitary engineer performs labora- tory duties there. The water in bottles illustrates the different stages of sanitary perfection. Seemingly everything is taken from the water; the different aquariums are stocked with fish that come into the station through the pumps; all the varieties known to the Ottawa River are found in these aquariums. The fishery at the water works always interests visitors.


The billion gallon storage reservoir enables the department to operate the pumps when the Ottawa River is flush, and to have an immense amount of water in storage against dry weather. There are barricades in the river, and the water is pumped from behind them. In times of


F


LIMA FIRE DEPARTMENT-No. 1 STATION


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continued drouth no water is pumped, and only the fresh water finds its way into the reservoirs. Lima Lake, which lies farthest out, occupies a tract of seventy-two acres that was purchased July 19, 1904, from the county infirmary directors. Think of 12,000,000 gallons of water being pumped into it in twenty-four hours, and think of a billion gallons of water stored in Lost Creek Lake, and the force of gravity impelling it into Twin Lakes from whence it is pumped into the station where it undergoes necessary processes, and then think of the wonderful pressure when your bath tubs are in service. The hydrant pressure in Lima is forty-five to sixty pounds to the square inch, and it is seldom there is complaint from consumers. The Lima water is one of the best resources of the community.


ALLEN COUNTY FIREFIGHTERS-As early as 1865 there was a volun- teer fire department in Lima, and every town has had its fire squad almost from the beginning of its history. A scrap book made by Ezekiel Owen carries the names of David S. Fisher, T. C. P. Terrell, William Timberlake, Joseph G. Davis, John B. Lipsell, William Havil and Tim- othy Shroyer as members of the original volunteer department, and in an interview the late J. T. Black said he had been a member the follow- ing year. On July 4, 1866, he went with the department to Bucyrus. There was a tournament in Bucyrus, and the Lima department won in a water throwing contest. The first apparatus was Pacific Engine No. 1, and it was used for several years in Lima, it had been obtained second- hand from the fire department in Dayton. It was finally sold to Spen- cerville ; years later it was again shown in Lima.


When a blaze was discovered in ancient Lima all shouted fire, and all armed themselves with buckets, dishpans-anything that would hold water. Lines were formed and buckets of water were passed while some pitched the furniture out of upper windows, and carefully carried the feather beds down the narrow stairways; mirrors landed in the street while cushions and pillows were gently carried to places of safety. It is said that with such meager protection fires were seldom put out and the unfortunate families rendered homeless were always sheltered by friends until they could make different arrangements. For a long time a fire was the subject of conversation, and the fellow who managed to become the wettest was the greatest hero. The first move toward an organized fire department was when the village council ordered William Andres, a local blacksmith, to put a fire clapper in the courthouse bell. This clapper cost the town $1.871/2, and when it sounded, the citizens rushed to the courthouse for information. Central was not yet on the job ready for such emergencies. In the Lima small-town days there were frequent fights as to who should sound the fire alarm.


The bell now resting in front of Memorial Hall is the first Allen County courthouse bell, and therefore it was the first fire bell in Lima. Some one was excited in sounding a fire alarm as there is a crack- an injury to the bell. While people pass it today without second thought about it, there was a time when Lima citizens vied with each other in being first to ring it. Sometimes the house burned down while they were quarreling about it. While there was no accurate fire department record in those days, the volunteer members all having other employ- ment, whenever there was a fire alarm they all dropped their work and hurried to the scene of the conflagration. Mr. Black who related the story, exhibited an exemption certificate from road work and jury service, given him in recognition of his work as a fireman.


When the Pacific fire engine was purchased there were two engines under consideration, and it was understood that the one that had a


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stream of water going over the courthouse quickest would be given the preference ; the result was a tie and there was divided sympathy. The council then asked for bids, and the contract would be given the lowest bidder-the town would buy the cheapest engine. The engine submitted by Clapp and Jones was priced the lower, while most of the citizens favored the other engine; a purse was immediately started, and while the council purchased one engine, the citizens purchased the other. It was charged that the people did not support the council in its effort to save money, and thus there were two steamers in Lima from the begin- ning of its fire department history ; one was purchased by popular sub- scription, and the other by the city fathers. The Pacific and the Citizens Gift were both drawn by hand, or sometimes hitched behind some passing wagon for greater speed in reaching the conflagration.


The fire was always lighted before beginning the run, but the grates would shake out when rapid speed was attained and the fire must be built again. I. H. Cunningham was captain of the coal brigade, and there were boys who always went to the fires drawing a coal cart; only Frank Boone, Lewis Cune, Arthur Smith and Marshall Thompson remain in Lima today of twenty-five boys who were always ready when there was a fire; they pulled the coal cart while the men pulled the Paci- fic and the Citizens Gift. When the streets were muddy, unless they could attach to a passing wagon, the volunteer fire department and the coal supply train always used the sidewalks, thereby gaining valuable time in reaching the conflagration.


There were public cisterns in Lima, those on the public square being filled from the roofs of business houses, while others were filled from filtered gutter water; these tournament displays sometimes reduced the water supply, and sometimes there were displays in order to empty the cisterns; it was desirable to have fresh water in them. The department janitor always cared for the two fire engines; in order to kindle quick fires there were always splinters soaked in oil, and there was always rivalry between those operating the Pacific and the Citizens Gift as to who was first at a fire; there was no lack of attention. The story of the fireman looking for a gas leak with a lighted candle has spent its force in Lima, as well as in other towns. The shortcut of the servant girl for a better country, through kindling a fire with coal oil is a stock story all over the country.


The volunteer fire department always attracted great crowds when throwing water for practice, and Mr. Black exhibited a trumpet-a primitive form of megaphone made of German silver, that was given the department September 28, 1865, by the Allen County Agricultural Association for an exhibition of throwing water at the county fair grounds; it was a thing of beauty in its day, and Mr. Black, who was the last member of the volunteer department, said he meant to present it to the Allen County Historical and Archeological Society, adding it to the collection of curios in Memorial Hall. Horses were first used in the Lima Fire Department in 1878, and in 1916 they were all dis- carded by the department ; in 1890, when it became an organized depart- ment, all the volunteer firemen dropped out of the service ; it was neces- sary to have men trained in the use of fire-fighting equipment; when the gong was sounded a stream of water must soon be playing on the blaze, and a growing city needed constant protection.


In 1872, the Lima volunteer fire fighters went to Delphos; a confla- gration was sweeping the business district of the town; the Pacific No. 1 hand engine was loaded onto a flat car on the Pennsylvania and hurried to the scene; it was a terrific ride, the firemen holding the


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engine on the flat car with difficulty; they had a hard workout in Del- phos, Mr. Black saying the first steam engine he had ever seen came there that day from Fort Wayne; the Lima department was the first outside help that came to the rescue of Delphos. While the town was almost wiped out by the fire-sixty-eight buildings in the business sec- tion, the women of the town rallied to the situation, and they served meals to all visiting firemen; they all showed their appreciation of the assistance. There are now three paid firemen in Delphos-two always on duty, and one to relieve them. There are twenty-five volunteer fire- men and with a fire truck they render effective service; the same situa- tion prevails in Bluffton and Spencerville.




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