Centennial history of Cincinnati and representative citizens, Vol. I, Pt. 2, Part 81

Author: Greve, Charles Theodore, b. 1863. cn
Publication date: 1904
Publisher: Chicago : Biographical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1048

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assistants, Lewis Wisbey, Thomas McAvoy and Henry Schildmeyer.

Mr. Megrne at the time of his resignation had been connected with the fire department of the city for more than 25 years. He was a native of the city born here in 1820 and re- ceived his early education in the schools of Cincinnati. At the age of II he went to work in the blacksmith shop of Isaac Treat, where he remained several years. For four years he worked in the machine shop of Jabez Rey- nolds and afterwards for seven years was a cabinet-maker employed by P. Rust & Sons. He became a member of the volunteer fire de- partment before he attained manhood. Upon the reorganization of the department, he be- came assistant engineer on April 1, 1855, which position he retained until appointed chief two years later. During his 20 years service at the head of the department he showed a wonderful capacity for organization, indomitable energy and excellent judgment. His name should be placed with those of Greenwood, Piatt and Walker as among the most important factors in the success of the paid fire department. There is no question that the later years of his service were em- bittered by the introduction of politics into the affairs of the fire department.

The last year of Megrne's administration was saddened as well by a frightful holocaust which took place August 3, 1877, at Eighth and Broadway in a cigar box factory of George Pellstring & Company. In the upper floors of the building there were employed a number of girls and the stairways were of the most inconvenient character. The building burned like tinder and the fire was over in less than 25 minutes but in that short time six persons were burned to death, three of them young girls employed on the second floor.

In 1879 John L. Thompson was succeeded on the board by L. C. Weir. This year had its disaster as well. On June 5, 1879, a fire broke out in the factory of Post & Company on the southwest corner of Pearl and Elm streets. In a short time the entire building which was a five-story brick was in flames. The fire was confined in the end to the fac- tory, which became a total loss. Immediately after it had been extinguished, a meeting of the representatives of the insurance com- panies with their expert builders was held in the building and after an examination the

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conclusion was reached that the walls were in sound condition. The insurance companies therefore concluded that it would be perfectly safe to clean and oil the machinery to save it from complete ruin as a result of the drenching it had received. For this purpose a number of workmen were detailed in various parts of the building. A few hours later at about half-past three the roof fell on the fifth floor which immediately gave way and as a result all the floors of the building fell to the cellar. There were almost 100 people in the building at the time the catastrophe hap- pened. Many jumped from the back windows to the roofs of the adjoining buildings, others descended on the fire escape while still others could be seen at the windows with no means of escape. After the fearful noise of the fall- ing floors subsided there were a few moments of almost absolute stillness which was soon broken by the cries of help from those buried in the ruins. The fire department responded and a search for the dead began. A very large number of people were seriously in- jured and seven killed.

In 1880 George Weber was succeeded on the board by John Mackey, Jr. This year, too, was an unfortunate one from the stand- point of death-dealing fires. One of these was known as the Hey factory fire, which took place in a shoddy factory at Second and Broadway and was attended with a loss of life that seemed entirely unnecessary. After the alarm was given, a number of the younger women employed in the factory left the build- ing, but some of the older ones, not realizing the seriousness of the situation, remained at their work. Within a few moments four or five elderly women were seen at the upper windows calling for help. Bales were placed on the sidewalk and the effort was made to induce them to jump. One jumped and broke her leg and the others frightened at her ex- perience refused to follow her example and before anything could be done five lost their lives. The whole incident did not occupy eight minutes. A little later came the Gay fire at Eighth street and Eggleston avenne. Chief Bunker with a number of his men en- tered the building but they were almost im- mediately met with such a burst of flames and smoke as to see that their position was untenable. Bunker called to his men to fol- low him and led five of them to safety. Five others either misunderstanding his orders or being confused were burned to deatlı.

The Marqua fire on July 7, 1881, for a time threatened to lay waste a large section of the city. This factory was at the southwest cor- ner of Smith and Augusta and was located in the midst of a large manufacturing center. About 30 buildings located on Augusta, Front, Second and Smith streets were de- stroyed by the conflagration. One life was lost, that of a foreman who jumped from the fourth story of the Marqua Building to the pavement.

Upon the expiration of the term of C. J. W. Smith, Chris. Kiechler was appointed fire commissioner in his stead. A noteworthy fire and one that resulted in a great loss to the city was that of the St. Francis Xavier Church on April 7, 1882. The fire started from some decorations which were placed in position for Good Friday, and in a few hours the church was a mass of ruins. The loss ex- ceeded $200,000 on which there was less than $20,000 insurance. Part of the loss could not be measured in money as it included the altar. statuary and a magnificent painting of the crucifixion sent from Rome and said to have been a Murillo. This year was held the Fire Chiefs' Convention at which there were pres- ent the most prominent fire chiefs of the world, including the famous Capt. E. M. Shaw of London. During the convention the 95 visiting chiefs had an opportunity to wit- ness the disastrous fire at the oil establish- ment of Charles E. Coffin at No. 24 East Sec- ond street. An unfortunate feature of the fire was the bursting of much of the hose which materially hampered the department's work. After the fire had been extinguished, an em- ployce who went into the cellar where was a large quantity of oil carelessly ignited it and was burned to death. The defective hose of the department brought to the attention of the public the insufficient appropriations al- lowed to it and as a result a private subscrip- tion was raised which with the appropriations made by the Council was expended for the purchase of new hose.

William Dunn was succeeded in 1882 on the Board of Fire Commissioners by Chris. Kinsinger, while in 1883 George C. Sargent gave way to J. M. Doherty. This was the first flood year and as a result the department was much hampered. An engine was placed on a flat-boat in the bottoms and afforded the necessary protection for that region. As a result of a fire on Walut between Fifth

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and Sixth streets in the rag establishment of Henry Dremen & Company a number of per- sons were seriously injured and nine killed. The department was called upon, as stated elsewhere, at the time of the riots in 1884 but was not permitted to render any service. This year, too, is memorable for the sad death of Chief Bunker as a result of a collision be- tween his buggy and a chemical engine while both were on the way to a fire. The collision took place at Sixth and Vine on September 28th and the chief died the following day.

Joseph Bunker was born in Saratoga, New York, in 1832 and came to the city when but a year old. In carly life he was a teamster and was a volunteer fireman in the old Wash- ington Company. In 1856 he entered the reg- ular service as driver for the company at that time located on Vine near Front. Five years later he was appointed on the Cincinnati po- lice force but shortly afterwards enlisted in the army. Subsequently he returned to the city and rejoined his company then at the corner of Race and Commerce streets. In 1870 he became a councilman but two years later returned to his company and was ap- pointed a captain by Chief Megruc. After a lapse of four years he was made assistant chief and two years later he succeeded Me- grue as chief marshal. At the time of his death at the age of 52 he had served the fire department 30 years and was a most efficient and popular officer.

Bunker was succeeded on November 28, 1884, by Lewis Wishey, who had been acting as chief, since the death of the former. The change in the board this year was the result of the expiration of the term of L. C. Weir, who was succeeded by Abe Furst appointed by Mayor Thomas J. Stephens. Other events of the year were the passage of acts per- mitting the increase of the fire appropriations from $250,000 to $300,000 and the changing of the rules requiring an applicant for mem- bership in the department to pass a medical examination. Dr. L. A. Querner was ap- pointed medical examiner. A notable fire of the year was that of the Masonic Temple on the day before Christmas.

In 1885 John Mackey's term expired and he was succeeded by Edwin Stephens. This was another year of fatalities among the citi- zens. The most serious fire of the year and one of the most disastrons in the history of the city was that in the building occupied by

the Sullivan printing establishment and the Parisian dye house at No. 19 West Sixth street. The building was a five-story brick. On the first floor was the dyeing establish- ment while the printing works were on the upper floors. On the fifth floor 17 girls were employed. The fire is supposed to have started from the explosion of a small can of benzine. The nature of the supplies in the building made it very inflammable and al- most immediately the whole building was in flames and within five minutes after the dis- covery of the fire 14 people had been killed. The engines arrived almost immediately after the alarm and found three dead bodies lying on the pavement. They were those of the inmates who had jumped from the upper stories. The fire was extinguished in a very short time but on the fifth floor the firemen discovered the remains of 11 girls who were half smothered and half burned to death. One of those who lost his life at this time was young John Sullivan who upon the discovery of the danger rushed up the stairs where he assisted several of the girls in escaping from the windows. This aid, however, was ren- dered at the cost of his own life as he was severely burned and also injured by falling as a result of the burning of the rope on which he was descending and which he had used to save the lives of others. A serious obstacle in the handling of this fire and one thought to be responsible for several of the (leathis was the immense network of wires which made it impossible for the hook and ladder department to use its apparatus satis- factorily and also interfered with the use of life-saving apparatus.

An interesting event of 1886 was the cele- bration of the tournament of the volunteer firemen who had formed an association as early as 1860 composed of persons who had held active membership in the old volunteer fire department. For three days the old vol- unteers were the heroes of the city. This year, too, was organized the salvage corps with Herman F. Newman, a former fireman, at the head of it. The expiration of the term of Chris. Kiechler resulted in the appointment of Charles Fleischmann as a fire commis- sioner.

The fire fiend added his share to the cele- bration of Independence Day in 1887. As a result of carelessness in handling fireworks, the malt house of the George Weber Brewing

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Company at 12th and Clay streets burst into flames and was entirely consumed with a loss of two lives. Three weeks later on July 29th a children's bonfire resulted in the sweeping away of six acres of tenements on State avenue between Gest and Depot streets. An- other serious fire of this year was that of the Strobridge Lithographing Company at Canal and Race streets.

In 1887 Chris. Kinsinger was succeeded as fire commissioner by Joseph R. Megrue and the following year J. M. Doherty gave way to John Goetz, Jr.

The Strobel fire of December 22, 1888, at the corner of Canal and Elm was another terrible disaster. In this fire Captain Bray lost his life and another person died several days later as a result of injuries received. Almost a dozen firemen were seriously injured, many being buried under falling walls.

In 1889 Abe Furst was succeeded by Abe Steinau and Edwin Stephens ( resigned) by John Mackey, Jr. Many new buildings were erected for the use of the department during this year.

In 1890 Lewis Wisbey resigned as chief and on March Ist W. H. Hughes was appointed to succeed him. The changes in the board were the appointments of Thomas G. Smith to sue- ceed Charles Fleischmann (resigned) and Robert M. Archibald, to succeed Thomas G. Smith (resigned). A serious fire of this year and one involving great loss resulted in the complete destruction of the Nevada Building at the south- cast corner of Fifth and Sycamore on January 5, 1890. In this fire the Henderson Achert Lith- ographing Company was a loser to the extent of $100,000. The total loss was almost $300,- 000. Another and great fire was that of Stern, Mayer & Company, at the northeast corner of Third and Vine, on March Itth, with a loss of over a third of a million dollars.

Under the charter of 1801 the Board of Fire Commissioners ceased to exist and was succeed- ed by a Board of Fire Trustees appointed by Mayor John B. Mosby. Abe Furst, R. M. Arch- ibald, James J. Faran, Jr., and John Goetz, Jr., were the first appointees. The principal fire of the year resulting in a loss of more than a million dollars was that known as the Burkhardt fire, which occurred July 8, 1801. As the night watchman was decending to the sub-cellar of the building about 9:30 in the evening, he heard the tolling of the fire bells. The alarm had been sent in by the automatic fire indicator in the cellar. When the firemen arrived no fire was to

be seen and some difficulty was met with in burst- ing into the building, which was a very sub- stantial one and firmly locked with iron doors. Finally after 15 minutes had elapsed it was noticed that the sidewalk was getting very hot and a hole was broken through to permit firemen to introduce the hose into the sub-cellar. Al- most immediately a puff of hot air was followed by a crash of glass and the curtains in the show windows on Fourth street floated out showing the burning caldron within. At Io o'clock came a muffled explosion, which was followed by a tremendous burst of flames which enveloped the entire upper part of the building and crossed both Fourth and Elm streets. In this fire too the telegraph wires interfered with the use of the ladders and almost resulted in the loss of the lives of several of the salvage corps men.

At the Onken fire this same year there were three deaths, two of which, those of firemen, were caused by the breaking of a ladder.

On March 31, 1892, the steamer "Golden Rule," which had just started for New Orleans burned to the water's edge with the loss of four lives.

W. T. Perkins succeeded R. M. Archibald as fire trustee in 1803. The new board selected J. A. Archibald to succeed W. H. Hughes as chief. A notable fire of this year was that of the American Book Company on Walnut street and Baker alley. A terrible disaster came on Febru- ary 9, 1893, when Heider's restaurant and. Thay- er's shoe store on West Fifth street burned with the loss of four lives. One of those who lost his life was a waiter named Albert Grau who heroically rushed about the building warning the sleeping inmates of their danger. After sav- ing many lives he himself was overcome by the smoke and heat and smothered to death. An ex- plosion on the steamboat "Bellevue" lying at the foot of Ludlow street resulted in the loss of life. Another serious loss of life took place at the Front street fire which started on July 17, 1895, in the feed store of J. H. Hermesch, at No. 13 Walnut street. As a result of this fire practically the whole block bounded by Water, Walnut and the approach to the Suspension Bridge was destroyed and two firemen, one Cap- tam Healy, lost their lives by the falling of a wall; the other fireman was Thomas Wisbey, a son of the former fire chief. About 20 firemen were seriously injured in this fire.

As the terms of Messrs. Faran, Goetz and Perkins expired they were succeeded in 1898. 1899 and 1901, respectively, by William Ricker,

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Joseph M. Rice and John Mackey, Jr., while Mr. Furst was reappointed in 1900. Mr. Rice was replaced in 1902 by Mr. Faran, so that until the time the department passed under the control of the Board of Public Safety, as a result of the code of 1902, the last Board of Fire Trustees was made up of Messrs. Ricker, Mackey, Faran and Furst. The two latter, with Messrs. Cush- ing and Burgheim from the Board of Police Commissioners, constitute the Board of Public Safety, described under the police department ..

On October 3, 1895, was held a grand parade of the fire and police departments followed by a review by Governor McKinley and Mayor Cald- well. The honorary grand marshal for the fire department was Gen. Andrew Hicklenlooper and for the police department, Col. Leopold Mark- breit. This parade in which were the regular soldiers from Fort Thomas as well as the First Regiment of the Ohio National Guard was one of the most imposing of its kind ever seen in the city.

A terrible disaster of the year 1896, which called out the fire department although there was no serious fire, was what was known as the Drach explosion, which occurred on the west side of Walnut street between Fourth and Fifth streets as a result of cscaping fumes of gasoline. A number of persons were killed and several buildings collapsed entirely as a result of this disaster. A celebrated fire was that of the Grand Opera House on January 22, 1901. Mr. Sothern was at the time giving a performance of "Ham- let" and had just uttered the words "Oh! that this too solid flesh would melt," when it be- camc apparent that the theatre was on fire. De- spite the fact that the house was packed and that within a half hour the entire interior of the structure was practically destroyed from base- ment to roof by the flames, the entire audience escaped without a single serious injury. This result was largely due to the presence of mind and courage of Mr. Sothern himself, who rc- mained upon the stage assisting auditors to es- cape through the back part of the house and directing the spectators until all had reached places of safety. The slightest excitement on the part of Mr. Sothern would have probably rc- sulted in a great loss of life and although as has been suggested much eredit is due to the audience itself for its self possession in the presence of so great a disaster, Mr. Sothern's conduct on this occasion was such as to entitle him to the everlasting gratitude of Cincinnatians. In the light of subsequent theatre disasters it is

possible to realize the magnitude of the debt owed to him.

Another great fire occurred on February 25. 1903, at which time the Pike Opera House build- ing and several adjoining buildings were com- pletely consumed by a conflagration probably unsurpassed in fierceness and splendor in the history of the city.

In connection with the fire department must be mentioned the Firemen's Protective Associa- tion of Cincinnati organized for the relief of members and their widows and orphans and the Firemen's Pension Fund, which provides pensions to disabled firemen and to the widows and orphancd children of firemen.

An interesting feature of the fire department is the relie room of the old volunteer firemen which is kept in the Gifts' Engine House on Sixth street near Vinc.

The following is the first entry in the records of the fire alarm telegraph corps of the city :

"February 7, 1866, the Tower watchmen were withdrawn from their posts of duty at six o'clock this evening at which time the 'Fire Alarm Tele- graph' was accepted and went into service. Be- tween eight and nine o'clock the same evening a test alarmi was turned in and sounded upon the bells from Box Six (6) which proved satis- factory to all concerned. The first alarm of fire under the Telegraph system was given from Box Twelve ( 12) February 9, at eight o'clock P. M." This call came from a vinegar factory on Front strect between Main and Walnut.

THE WATER WORKS.

In 1860 plans for a twenty-four million gallon pumping engine were submitted by George Shield and finally a contract was let for building the same. This was the great Shield engine, which was finally started on November 15, 1865. and for over 20 years gave invaluable service to the department. In 1864 a water supply com- mission was appointed by the Council, which included the mayor, the city civil engineer, the Trustees of the Water Works and various mem- bers of the Council who were to report concern- ing a pure supply of water to the city. In 1865 J. P. Kirkwood made a thorough search and in- vestigation of the various sources for a new water supply and adopted in his plan a pumping sys- tem using the Ohio River as a source. The plan involved the purchase of a new site at Pen- dleton, which feature was not accepted by the water supply commissioners. The necessity for new reservoirs was apparent and on the 6th of

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January, 1866, the Garden of Eden was pur- chased for reservoir and park purposes. On the lith of April, 1867, a curious accident demon- strated the effect of the Miami Canal eddy upon the water supply. On this day the Henry Clay distillery, located at the corner of Kilgour and Pearl streets, was burned and the wasted whiskey found its way into the canal and from the canal into the river. The eddy carried it into the pump wells and for several days the people of the city enjoyed their water diluted with whiskey. Steps were taken at once to remedy this by sinking barges and extending the stone aqueduct farther in the river so as to prevent the eddy.

111 1868 steps were taken for the building of reservoirs to supply the suburban regions of Mount Auburn and Walnut Hills. Two boiler-iron tanks were constructed at the inter- section of Auburn avenue and Vine street on Mount Auburn and pumping works located in the valley below at the corner of Hunt street and Effluent Pipe street, now Elsinore ave- nne. The Mount Auburn service commenced September 1, 1869. Work had been begun upon the Eden Park Reservoir in January, 1866. The site selected was a deep and rapidly descending ravine, bounded on three sides by steep hills and embracing about 13 acres. A large retaining wall was built and a fill of 84 feet in depth was made at the southwestern end. The wall itself is a splendid structure with eight elliptical arches and Dayton stone trimmings and presents a bold and imposing appearance. It is 48' feet thick at the base and 120 feet high; its least width is 18%% feet. At the top, which is designed for a foot and wagon way, its width is 25 8-10 feet, the increased breadth being supported by the eight arches. The division wall of the reservoir between the influent and effluent chambers was built 30 feet wide at the base, 10 feet wide on top, 671/2 feet high and 307 feet in length. The upper basin was completed in 1872, but water was not put into it, owing to the non-completion of the pumping engines, until October, 1874, in which year on October 19th the new Scowden engine No. 7 pumped water into it. In the following year the two Scowden engines Nos. 7 and 8 and the upper basin were put into active service. In 1878 the lower basin was completed and during the following year a 46-inch main was laid from the old to the Eden Park Reservoir. In No- vember, 1877, a middle or Eden Park service was permanently established. At that time the subdivisions were,-the low service supplied by the Third Street Reservoir 172 feet above low

water mark, the middle service supplied by the Eden Park Reservoir 233 feet above low water mark and the high service supplied by the Mount Auburn Tank, 492 feet above low water mark.

According to the report of the water works department for the year 1902 the property occu- pied by it included the Front street station, Hunt street station, the Price Hill station, Cum- minsville station, Linwood station and the West- wood station and, in addition to the Eden Park Reservoir, the Third Street Reservior, and the Mount Auburn Tank, the Price Hill Tank and Linwood Reservoir Tank. There is also in- cluded the Charles street and George street stables and George street storage lot, as well as Markley farm and various rights of way. The actual pumpage of water for the year 1902 was 15,707,056,326 gallons, making a daily average consumption of 43,033,031 gallons. The largest daily average consumption, that for August, 1902, was 57,803,676 gallons and the per capita daily consumption was 124.71 gallons. The total mileage of pipe in use in the city on December 31, 1902, was 440.389. The total reservoir ca- pacity was 110,000,000 gallons and maximum pumpage, 89,600,000. The total number of dwell- ings supplied was 34,811 in which resided 62,878 families. The total water works receipts for the year were $853,384.84 and the total disburse- ments, $879,002.82.

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Centennial history of Cincinnati and representative citizens, Vol. I, Pt. 2, Part 81

Author: Greve, Charles Theodore, b. 1863. cn Publication date: 1904 Publisher: Chicago : Biographical Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 1048

Author: Greve, Charles Theodore, b. 1863. cn
Publication date: 1904
Publisher: Chicago : Biographical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1048