USA > Ohio > Hamilton County > Cincinnati > Cincinnati, the Queen City, 1788-1912, Volume II > Part 11
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In 1842 Nicholas Longworth had manifested real public spirit in the interest of the water works which at the time was not appreciated. He declared that a reservoir should be placed upon some higher site and he offered ground on Mount Adams for a reservoir and park at five hundred dollars an acre, claiming that this was far below its value, which was plainly the case.
His proposal was declined, with the assertion that the price was much too high. In 1846 a committee called upon Mr. Longworth, and he proposed to make a rate for the land at one third less than he would sell to a private party. These men declared fourteen hundred dollars an acre "for broken hill land too poor to raise sauer kraut upon entirely too high." They did not even think it worth while to report to council the result of their interview with Mr. Longworth.
Mr. Longworth was naturally displeased at the inference that he was trying to sell his land above value while posing as a public spirited citizen. He wrote the council that the city could enter upon possession of the lots without settling a price or paying interest. He attached to this arrangement the condition that when he might sell the neighboring ground the city would pay within five hun- dred dollars per acre the price he obtained at private sale, less the taxes.
Mr. Longworth asserted that within five years the ground would rise to five times the price he asked for it. He said that in five years he would let council know its value. The rise in value was so rapid that in less than three years the value per acre of what he had offered at $1,400 was ten thousand to fourteen thousand dollars.
Mr. Longworth warned the council that within a few years the people would be asking why sites on the hills had not been purchased when land was low in price, and that then it would be said he had offered the city a bargain which had been rejected by men who did believe in his disinterestedness.
In 1846 Messrs. Yeatman and Shield were authorized to build an engine to take the place of old machinery, as there was not enough pumping power.
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In 1850 another engine was built by Harkness and Son.
A new reservoir was constructed in 1849 by Mr. Scowden. This was con- structed above the ground and made of dressed limestone. It was the only reservoir of the city until 1875.
In 1854 a reserve engine, for use in the emergency of the failure of one or both of the others, was built by Powell and company.
In 1854-55 a large extension of distributing pipes was made and numerous hydrants were added. In 1856 there were sixty three miles of pipes and nine thousand hydrants.
In 1860 Superintendent Phillips estimated the works as worth two millions and a quarter dollars. At that time the reservoir capacity was five million gallons, and the maximum pumpage thirteen million gallons. The water rent receipts were about one hundred and seventy thousand dollars, and the annual expense fifty-three thousand dollars.
In 1860, Mr. George Shield, then the engineer, submitted plans for a single huge engine, and the contract was arranged. It was to be on the Cornish plan and was to cost eighty-seven thousand, seven hundred and odd dollars. It took five years to build it, and the cost was much above the estimate. It was started November 15th, 1865, and served the city for more than twenty years.
In 1852 the authorities had employed a famous chemist, Dr. John Locke, Sr., to analyse samples of water from the Ohio river at various points, and from the two Miamis, from the Whitewater and Mad rivers, and from a spring on Syca- more Street hill, in the neighborhood of Cincinnati. Comparisons were also made with the Croton water of New York city. The tests showed the superiority of the Ohio river water. It was declared 'to contain a trifling fraction of a grain more solid matter to the gallon than the Croton water. The use of the Ohio river water was therefore approved.
A "water supply commission" was appointed by the council in 1864, made up of Mayor Harris, Colonel Gilbert the city civil engineer, the trustees of the waterworks, and four members of the council, and these were authorized to investigate and report concerning a supply of pure water for the city.
In accordance with this arrangement the commission in 1865 had James P. Kirkwood, of New York, a noted hydraulic engineer, examine the rivers, creeks and springs in the neighborhood of Cincinnati, as well as rocks and soil, in their bearings upon the water supply of the city. He reported in favor of the Ohio river water and his report was approved.
Kirkwood recommended and submitted plans for new waterworks, using the Ohio river as a source, the water to be taken from the river at Pendleton. This latter portion of the report was not acceptable to a majority of the committee. The commissioners made a report in favor of the Ohio river water and recom- mended a new reservoir.
This report was adopted by the council. Negotiations were opened with Joseph Longworth, son of Nicholas Longworth, for purchase of the "Garden of Eden," now part of Eden park for the reservoir and for park uses. This was a most desirable location for a reservoir, a natural basin and two hundred and more feet above low water mark of the river and more than sixty feet above the over- flow pipe of the old reservoir.
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The negotiations with Joseph Longworth were executed January, 1866. Work was soon afterward begun and was rapidly pushed to completion.
A curious incident occurred in the fall of 1866 which showed that the foul waters of Deer Creek, which were held back at its mouth by the current of the Ohio, were pumped into the reservoir for drinking purposes. A distillery on Deer Creek was burned and large quantities of whiskey mixed with its waters. Shortly afterwards the presence of alcohol was plainly detected in the water from the reservoir. Efforts were at once made to prevent the eddy in Deer Creek by means of sunken barges and a stone wall extending into the river from the upper bank of the creek.
Reservoirs for the supply of the suburbs Walnut Hills and Mount Auburn were planned in 1868. Two tanks of iron were erected on Mount Auburn at Vine street and Auburn avenue. The pumping works were placed in the valley at Hunt and Effluent Pipe street, now Elsinore avenue. Water began to be dis- tributed from the Mount Auburn tank in September 1869.
The construction of the Eden park reservoir was begun January, 1866, the site being a ravine containing thirteen acres bounded on three sides with pre- cipitous hills. At the southwestern end a wall was built and a deep fill made, the wall with eight arches. This wall is forty-eight and one half feet in width at the base, while its height is one hundred and twenty feet. Its least width is eighteen and one half feet; the top is supported by arches and is more than twenty-five feet wide, and designed for a wagon and foot way.
The wall of the reservoir between the chambers is three hundred and seven feet in length, sixty-seven and one half feet in height, thirty feet wide at the base and ten feet wide on the top. In 1872 the upper basin was completed, but as the pumping engines were not ready water was not pumped into it until October of 1874.
In 1875 two Scowden engines and the upper basin were in service. The lower basin was finished in 1878. In 1879 a main was placed from the old reservoir to the Eden park reservoir.
The total expense was about four and a half million dollars.
The middle or Eden Park service was finally ready in November, 1877. The subdivisions were: the low service supplied by the Third Street Reservoir, one hundred and seventy-two feet above low water mark; the middle service supplied by the Eden park reservoir, two hundred and thirty-three feet above low water mark; and the high service supplied by the Mount Auburn tank, four hundred and ninety-two feet above low water mark.
The governor of Ohio, by an act of April, 1896, in June of that year appointed as commissioners of waterworks for Cincinnati, Maurice J. Freiberg, Charles M. Holloway, Leopold Markbreit, Dr. Thomas W. Graydon and August Her- mann. When Dr. Graydon resigned in the latter part of that year, William B. Melish took his place.
This commission was authorized to arrange for a new water supply for the city. They were to prepare plans, make surveys, acquire real and personal property by purchase. They were to build waterworks not to exceed six mil- lion, five hundred thousand dollars in cost.
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WATER TOWER, EDEN PARK
ELSINORE ENTRANCE TO EDEN PARK
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Mr. Hermann was chosen president of the board. Delay was caused by suits to test the validity of the act. The Supreme court sustained the act in February, 1897. Five engineers were appointed, and these advised the placing of a low pumping station at the Markley farm or the California site. They recommended the construction of settling reservoirs, looking into the purification of the Ohio river water, and further details.
Gustave Bouscaren was selected as chief engineer. He brought before the board four problems. It was recommended that the new works should have a daily capacity of eighty to ninety million gallons ; that the pumping station should be placed at California ; that no high level reservoirs be made; and that the high pumping station should be on the west side of the Miami.
A committee composed of a representative from each of the following or- ยท ganizations, the Commercial club, the Optimist club, the Board of Trade, the Chamber of Commerce, the Young Men's Business club and the Manufacturers club, were permitted to meet with the trustees, see their plans and take work in their councils.
George H. Benzenberg of Milwaukee, and Charles Hermany of Louisville, were appointed consulting and advisory engineers, July, 1897.
December, 1897, the board presented plans including a pier in the channel near the Kentucky shore opposite California, a tunnel under the Ohio at that point, a low service pumping station, a double line of force mains, a system of subsiding reservoirs, a system of filtration and a clear-well basin connecting by conduit with the high service pumping station on Eastern avenue; from this last mains were to run to the various distributing points at Eden park.
July 1, 1909, the board of trustees, commissioners of waterworks, turned over the new pumping works and filtration plant to the board of public service. The distribution department reported in 1910, that the number of gallons of water for which the department had assessed and collected the rates was fifteen billion, four hundred and eighty-nine million, nine hundred and two thousand, nine hundred and fifty, or forty-two million, four hundred and thirty-eight thousand and ninety gallons per day. This represented about two-fifths of the capacity of the pumping department.
The department has two settling plants, reservoirs and a filtration plant. In the filtration works more than sixteen billion gallons of water are annually treated, with more thon two thousand tons of sulphate of iron and more than nine hundred tons of lime.
Cincinnati now congratulates itself on having magnificent waterworks of the most approved and modern kind. Not only is the filtration method used, but sterilization is being applied.
During the three years of the operation of the new eleven million dollar waterworks system, it is shown that typhoid fever has been reduced to a mini- mum; Cincinnati's death rate from typhoid fever in 1910 was only 5.7 per cent per 100,000 people. The twenty-one deaths in the city from typhoid fever in 1910 are set against 239 deaths in 1906, the last year of the operation of the old waterworks. There has also been a falling off of deaths from other intestinal diseases.
CHAPTER IX.
THE RIVER.
LA BELLE RIVIERE MAINLY USED BY THE EARLY IMMIGRANTS-FIRST PACKET BOATS MADE REGULAR TRIPS BETWEEN CINCINNATI AND PITTSBURGH EVERY FOUR WEEKS-BARGEMEN AND FLATBOATMEN-PERILS OF THE RIVER AND "LINGO" OF THE BOATMEN -- THE "MUSKINGUM" CLEARS FROM CINCINNATI FOR LIVERPOOL IN 1844-TRAFFIC ON THE RIVER IN 1869 AMOUNTED TO $160,000,000-NINE- FOOT LEVEL AND FERNBANK DAM.
La Salle is credited with the discovery of the Ohio. The first description we have of this river is in the journals of Celeron and Father Bonnecamps, now in the archives of the Department of the Marine in Paris.
June 15, 1749, Monsieur Celeron de Bienville, with a company of Frenchmen and Indians, including Father Bonnecamps, set out on the St. Lawrence in twenty-three canoes at La Chine, near Montreal. Passing into the lakes, they arrived at the Chautauqua portage, July 16th. Next day they began the ascent of Chautauqua creek and on July 24th they entered Chautauqua lake. Passing down the lake they entered Conewango creek.
Thence they went to the Ohio. Celeron stated : "On the 29th at noon I entered 'La Belle Riviere.' I buried a plate of lead at the foot of a red oak on the south bank of the river Oyo and of the Chauougon, not far from the village of Kanaouagon, in latitude 42 deg., 5 min., 23 sec."
The burying of the lead plates was, according to an old French custom, in- dicating a claim of the king to the lands drained by the streams. Celeron on this voyage buried six lead plates. In addition, at the same time, he fastened to the nearest tree a plate stamped with the king's arms.
The expedition passed down, tarrying now and then at Indian villages, plant- ing a plate here and there, placing the fourth one at the mouth of the Muskin- gum river, in Ohio, where Marietta now stands.
On the 15th of August the fifth lead plate was "buried, at the foot of a tree, on the southern shore of the Ohio and the eastern shore of Chiniondaista." This was at Point Pleasant, West Virginia. This plate was found in 1846 and is preserved by the Virginia Historical society.
August 26th they reached "Riviere la Blanche," probably the Little Miami. They remained at this point two days, waiting for their scout to bring in a band of Miamis who were to meet Celeron. "Finally, on the morning of the 31st, they appeared, followed by their women, their children and their dogs. All embarked, and about 4 o'clock in the afternoon we entered Riviere a la Roche, after having buried the sixth and last leaden plate on the western bank of that
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river, and to the north of the Ohio. I have buried on the point formed by the right shore of the Ohio and the left of the Riviere a la Roche, a plate of lead, and attached to a tree the arms of the king." This river was the Great Miami.
On September Ist the canoes started to ascend the Great Miami on the way to Quebec by way of Lake Erie.
About the end of the eighteenth century began immigration by water into the Northwestern Territory, which includes Ohio. For more than a decade immi- grants came thick and fast, from Pennsylvania, Virginia and Connecticut chiefly, but some came from nearly all the states. Apart from the relatively few speculators in land, most of these were home-seekers, with little means.
A considerable proportion of these immigrants from the East floated or rowed down the Ohio to their chosen homes along its banks, or made their way up the several tributary rivers, seeking a location.
It was comparatively a simple matter to come down the Ohio, but it was a task to ascend the smaller rivers, and indeed to return to Pittsburgh, or to any other far away point on the big river, was one of much difficulty and time.
With the boats of the immigrants, laden with their scanty supplies, began the commerce of the Ohio.
The Ohio river was the great road into the west. It played a vast part in the opening and development of the western country. The trails of Indians and buffalo led to the river and so did the main roads of the western country. River travel became a chief form of traffic and one full of interest and romance.
Two hundred and fourteen thousand square miles are drained by the Ohio river. The annual rainfall in the whole Ohio river region is twenty and a half trillion cubic feet. The Ohio river is about one thousand miles in length from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to the mouth in the Mississippi. The cities and towns on the banks of the Ohio and its chief tributaries now contain a population of more than two millions. Yearly shipments down the Ohio by steamer average more than 7,000,000 tons, not counting coal.
The Ohio river, in its relations to the settlement and development of the middle west is comparable to any of the famous rivers of history. For ages the river had had upon its bosom the canoes of the Indians. When the War of the Revolution was over, the settlement of the valley of the Ohio began. Then the merchant fitted out boats, which were large and fortified. His craft was suitable for a cargo of merchandise and for passengers as well. Passengers were per- mitted to work their way and were expected to help in case of attacks from Indians.
June 1787, James Wilkinson loaded a flatboat with tobacco and went down the Ohio and Mississippi to New Orleans, where he sold his stuff at a profit. In New Orleans he procured a license from the Spanish governor: "This is to certify that James Wilkinson is granted permission to import on his own ac- count to New Orleans, free of duty, all the productions of Kentucky. He is to furnish tobacco to the king of Spain at $9.50 cwt. (Signed) Miro, Gov. of Span- ish Provinces." This is the first recorded shipment of Kentucky goods.
In that early day, the Ohio and Mississippi rivers were already infested with dangerous characters. Some of these men had been honest boatmen but had been degenerated by their wild life. In the unsettled country between Louisville
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and the mouth of the Ohio these ruffians preyed upon passing boats. Cave-in- Rock and Cash river were two of their worst haunts.
When immigration began toward the close of the 18th century these would- be settlers in general followed the roads that led to Pittsburgh and its neighbor- ing towns. From Pittsburgh or Brownsville or Wheeling the settlers made their start by water for the westward homes.
Traders were to be found at the several chief starting points on the upper Ohio, Pittsburgh, Old Fort Redstone, Wheeling, ready to sell the departing set- tlers supplies and boats. At these settlements, there were boat yards, where were constructed the flatboats, keelboats, arks and barges of the kind used at that time. A boat of thirty or forty feet in length could be obtained at about one dollar a foot. These boats were boarded on the sides and partially roofed. A pump, rope and fireplace cost from ten to fifteen dollars additional.
In addition to the boats purchased or made by immigrants to convey them- selves and families to their destinations there were a few plying back and forth carrying freight, bringing in flour, bar iron and castings, tin and copperware, glass, millstones, nails, brandy, and such articles as the settlers needed or desired, and taking up the Ohio cotton, furs, tobacco, and the like.
There were several firms of Cincinnatians with barges running between this place and New Orleans. These carried into this region sugar, coffee, cotton, rice, dry goods and the like, and took to the southern markets whatever the Cincinnati region produced and had for sale.
The Centinel of the Northwest Territory, January II, 1794 carried the first advertisement in regard to river traffic between Cincinnati and Pittsburgh.
"OHIO PACKET BOATS.
"Two boats, for the present, will start from Cincinnati to Pittsburgh, and return to Cincinnati, in the following manner, viz .:
"First boat will leave Cincinnati this morning at eight o'clock, and return to Cincinnati, so as to be ready to sail again in four weeks from this date.
"Second boat will leave Cincinnati on Saturday, the 30th instant, and return to Cincinnati as above.
"And so, regularly, each boat performing the voyage to and from Cincinnati and Pittsburgh, once in every four weeks.
"Two boats, in addition to the above, will shortly be completed in such a manner that one boat of the line will set out weekly from Cincinnati to Pitts- burgh, and return to Cincinnati in like manner.
"The proprietors of these boats having maturely considered the many incon- veniences and dangers incident to the common method hitherto adopted of nav- igating the Ohio, and being influenced by a love of philanthrophy and a desire of being serviceable to the public, has taken great pains to render the accommoda- tions on board the boats as agreeable and convenient as they could possibly be made.
"No danger need be apprehended from the enemy, as every person on board will be under cover, made proof to rifle or musket balls, and convenient port holes for firing out. Each of the boats is armed with six pieces, carrying a pound
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ball; also a good number of muskets and amply supplied with plenty of am- munition, strongly manned with choice hands, and the master of approved knowl- edge.
"A separate cabin from that designed for the men is partitioned off in each boat for accommodating ladies on their passage. Conveniences are constructed on board each boat so as to render landing unnecessary, as it might, at times, be attended with danger.
"Rules and regulations for maintaining order on board, and for the good management of the boats, and tables accurately calculated for the rates of freight- age for passengers and carriage of letters to and from Cincinnati to Pittsburgh; also a table of the arrival and departure to and from the different places on the Ohio, between Cincinnati and Pittsburgh, may be seen on board each boat, and at the printing office in Cincinnati.
"Passengers will be supplied with provisions and liquors of all kinds, of the first quality, at the most reasonable rates possible. Persons desirous of work- ing their passage will be admitted, on finding themselves subject, however, to the same order and direction, from the master of the boats, as the rest of the work- ing hands of the boat's crew.
"An office of insurance will be kept at Cincinnati, Limestone, and Pittsburgh, where persons desirous of having their property insured may apply. The rates of insurance will be moderate."
There was published in Pittsburgh at the opening of the nineteenth century, a booklet called "The Navigator," "the trader's useful guide in navigating the Monongahela, Allegheny, Ohio and Mississippi rivers," which furnished needed information. The editor gave advice as to the purchase of boats and the best kind to be procured. "Flat and keelboats may be procured at New Geneva, Brownsville, Williamsport, Elizabethtown, M'Keesport, on the Monongahela, and perhaps several places on the Youghiougheny ; at Pittsburgh, Beaver, Charles- town, and Wheelen (sic.), Marietta, Limestone, Cincinnati, the Falls, &c., and at most of the above places vessels of considerable burden are built and freighted to the Islands, and to different ports in Europe, their principal cargoes consisting of flour, staves, cordage, cotton, hemp, &c."
Spring and fall were the best seasons for navigation on the Ohio.
The Navigator stated: "When provided with a good boat and a strong cable of at least forty feet long there is little danger in descending the river in high freshes, when proper care is taken, unless at such times as when there is much floating ice in it. Much exertion with the oars is, at such times, generally speak- ing of no manner of use; indeed it is rather detrimental than otherwise, as such exertion frequently throws you out of the current which you ought to continue in, as it will carry you along with more rapidity, and at the same time always take you right. By trusting to the current there is no danger to be feared in passing the islands as it will carry you past them in safety. On the other hand, if you row, and by so doing happen to be in the middle of the river on approaching an island, there is great danger of being thrown on the upper point of it before you are aware, or have time to regain the current. In case you get aground in such a situation, become entangled among the aquatic timber, which is generally abun- dant, or are driven by force of the water among the tops or trunks of other trees,
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you may consider yourself in imminent danger; nothing but the presence of mind and great exertion can extricate you from this dilemma.
"As frequent landing is attended with considerable loss of time and some hazard, you should contrive to land as seldom as possible; you need not even lie by at night, provided you trust to the current, and keep a good look-out. When you bring to, the strength of your cable is a great safe-guard. A quantity of fuel and other necessaries, should be laid in at once, and every boat ought to have a canoe along side, to send on shore when necessary.
"Though the labor of navigating this river in times of freshet is very incon- siderable to what it is during low water, when continual rowing is necessary, it is always best to keep a good look-out, and be strong handed. The wind will sometimes drive you too near the points of the islands, or on projecting parts of the main shore, when considerable extra exertion is necessary to surmount the difficulty. You will frequently meet with head winds, as the river is so very crooked that what is in your favor one hour will probably be directly against you the next, and when contrary winds contend with a strong current, it is attended with considerable inconvenience and requires careful and circumspect manage- ment, or you may be driven on shore in spite of all your efforts. One favorable circumstance is, that the wind commonly abates about sunset, particularly in summer.
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