USA > Ohio > Franklin County > Columbus > Columbus, Ohio: its history, resources, and progress : with numerous illustrations > Part 24
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RARE AMERICAN CURIOSITIES .- There are deposited in the library one hundred and five articles of rare American curiosi- ties, purchased by Governor Hayes with his contingent fund. They are arranged in the catalogue under the following heads : Calumets, or large ceremonial pipes ; mound pipes, proper ; im- plements and ornaments; and various curious articles from Mexico and Peru.
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LIBRARIES.
PUBLIC LIBRARY.
The city council, in January, 1872, passed an ordinance for the establishment of a public library and reading-room. It is to be under the control and management of seven trustees, who are to serve without compensation, and appoint their own presi- dent, secretary, and treasurer and such other officers and assistants as they may deem necessary, and fix their compensation. They are also authorized to establish such by-laws and regulations for the government of the library and the preservation of its books and other property as may be necessary and proper.
The mayor, the president of the city council, and the presi- dent of the board of education, are ex-officio members of the board of trustees. The other four are elected by the council, who, on the 12th of February, 1872, elected Otto Dresel and W. B. Hayden to serve for one year, and John W. Andrews and A. S. Glenn to serve for two years.
Here it is proper to make a digression to notice an associa- tion known as the Columbus Atheneum, formed for the purpose of maintaining a library and reading-room. At the first meet- ing, held at the mayor's office, January 10, 1853, the following officers were elected : John W. Andrews, president ; N. M. Gaylord, vice-president ; Wm. M. Irish, corresponding secretary ; Milton M. Powers, recording secretary ; Thomas Sparrow, treas- urer. The board of directors consisted of Aaron F. Perry, president ; W. L. McMillan, secretary ; John Field and Thomas V. Hyde.
The last list of officers of which there is any record embraces those chosen February 9, 1858. They were : Allen G. Thur- man, president ; D. A. Randall, vice-president ; Henry C. Noble, corresponding secretary ; Milton M. Powers, recording secretary ; James C. McCoy, treasurer. Board of directors-Joseph Hutche- son, W. E. Ide, S. E. Wright, J. J. Janney, A. B. Buttles.
At the first meeting, sixty-seven members subscribed the consti- tution, and $134 were raised to forward the objects of the organi- zation. Gradually funds were acquired, principally by contri- butions ; books were purchased, and a library and reading-room was opened in the State Journal building, and afterward re- moved to Deshler's building, on the southeast corner of High
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and Town streets. The institution, however, failed to receive that popular support which was necessary to keep it alive and flourishing. The directors strove to raise the needed funds by means of lectures and appeals to the public. In one of these appeals, now lying before us, for patronage to a course of lec- tures, dated February 21, 1855, the directors said that it was for the citizens to determine whether the reading-room and library should continue or be finally closed. It was closed, at length, after ineffectual struggles to keep it open, and the books and other property boxed up and stored away. The number of books is about fifteen hundred. The annexed document shows the generous offer that has been made as to the disposition of these volumes, many of which are rare and valuable :
FLORENCE, March 26, 1872.
P. W. Huntington, Esq.
DEAR SIR : I have just received your favor of the 1st inst., in- closing a note from Jno. W. Andrews, Esq., stating that a room has been assigned by the city council, in the new city hall, in which is to be established a free public library for the city of Columbus, and that it is desirable that the books belonging to the Columbus Atheneum shall be turned over to the new library. Those books, I suppose, are technically under the control of the three surviving directors, viz : Mr. J. J. Janney, Dr. W. E. Ide, and myself. I suppose there will be no difficulty in obtaining the consent of these gentlemen to the transfer. And for myself I have to say, that it has always been my wish to have these books preserved and disposed of in the manner here contem- plated, that the original object, for which many of them were donated, should be faithfully carried out. It so happened that during the last year that the Atheneum was kept open, its in- come was insufficient to defray its expenses, and some debts cre- ated before were unpaid. My advances from time to time to meet these obligations, in the hope of keeping the in- stitution alive, would at this time, adding interest, amount to over sixteen hundred dollars. Trusting that the new library is organized upon a basis that will insure its permanence and suc- cess, I will donate to it my claim upon the Atheneum, and give my consent to the transfer of the books belonging to it. Any formal transfer that may be deemed necessary to carry out the object may be made, I do not doubt, by Mr. Janney and Dr. Ide, and their action shall have my approval. With my best re-
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spects to Mr. Andrews, and heartily wishing for the best results, I am truly yours,
Jos. HUTCHESON.
As one of the directors of the Columbus Atheneum, I fully con- cur in the transfer of the books belonging to that institution, as proposed by Mr. Hutcheson in the foregoing note.
J. J. JANNEY.
I concur in the above.
W. E. IDE.
The board of directors of the Public Library, established by city ordinance, met and organized February 19, 1872, by the election of John W. Andrews, president; Otto Dresel, secretary ; and Alexander S. Glenn, treasurer. By-laws were adopted for the government of the board and the regulation of the library and reading-room. By the rules, any resident of the city has access to the library and reading-room, free of charge, and resi- dents over fifteen years of age can take out books. The library and reading-room is to be open daily, except Sundays, from 9 A. M. to 10 P. M., and on Sundays, from 1} to 10 P. M., for reference and reading only.
The books formerly belonging to the Atheneum Association, were then placed in one of the small rooms of the City Hall building, in charge of Rev. J. L. Grover, librarian pro tem.
Through the personal exertions of one of our most public- spirited citizens, Luther Donaldson, about three thousand dollars was raised by subscription, for the purpose of fitting up the library-room in the City Hall. To carry out this object, the architect, P. Schlapp, submitted a plan which was accepted. The cost of carrying into effect Mr. Schlapp's plan was about nine hundred dollars. The balance of the sum raised by sub- scription was devoted to other necessary improvements.
The room on the first floor, on the east side of the City Hall, is divided into two apartments, the rear division being designed for the book-room or library proper, and the front room, eighty by twenty-seven feet, for the reading-room. The post of the librarian is at a desk in the library-room, near the parti- tion, through which visitors call for books. The books are arranged in cases without doors, around the walls of the
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library-room, which will not be open to visitors. As the ceiling of this room is sufficiently high, a gallery is extended round the south and west sides, to be reached by a neat stairway starting from the center of the room. This brings all the available space into use for shelving. Tables, chairs, reading-desks, and stools are provided for the reading-room, where all the lead- ing newspapers and periodicals of this country, and many of those of foreign countries, are on file for the perusal of vis- itors.
All the books now in the library were donated-twelve hun- dred volumes from the Atheneum Library ; three hundred and fifty-eight volumes from the High School Library; and thirty- three volumes from the Horticultural Society ; total, one thou- sand five hundred and ninety-one volumes. There is ample shelf- room for as many more. The library, as it now is, comprises history, biography, theology, poetry, voyages and travels, phil- osophic and scientific works, novels, etc.
By authority given in the municipal code, the council has caused a library tax to be levied upon the taxable property of the corporation, which will yield about two thousand dollars. This amount will doubtless be increased as the needs of the library may require.
Arrangements have been made for the regular receipt of the following named newspapers, periodicals, and magazines, and & majority of them have already made their appearance on the tables and reading-desks :
" NEWSPAPERS .- Daily Alta, American Agriculturist, Bos- ton Advertiser, Cleveland Tri-weekly Herald, Chicago Daily Tribune, Cincinnati Daily Commercial, Louisville Courier- Journal, Denver Daily News, The Nation, Dublin Nation, Daily Dispatch, Every Saturday, Cincinnati Gazette, Toronto Globe, Independence Belge, Kolnische Zeitung, London Evening Mail, London Punch, Ohio State Journal, Richmond Daily Whig, Springfield Republican, St. Louis Democrat, Baltimore Sun, Sunday Morning News, Toronto Globe, Chicago Daily Tribune, Der Wochenblatt, New York World, Westbote (tri-weekly), Sunday Statesman, Engineering and Mining Journal.
"ILLUSTRATED PERIODICALS .- The Birds of North America, Aldine, American Journal of Science and Art, American
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Manufacturer, Appleton's Journal, Dalerin, Die Gartenlaub, Leslie, Littell's Living Age, London Illustrated News, Pictur- esque America, Spirit of the Times, Uber Land and Meer.
" MAGAZINES .- Atlantic, British Quarterly, Odd-Fellows' Com- panion, Edinburgh Review, Galaxy, Harper's Magazine, London Quarterly, North American Review, Scribner's Monthly, West- minster Review, Westerman's Monthly."
THE COLUMBUS CIRCULATING LIBRARY.
In 1869, two private book-clubs were organized in this city, the first by the following named ladies : Mrs. G. M. Robinson, Mrs. Dr. S. Loving, Mrs. R. Nevins, Mrs. G. W. Manypenny, Mrs. Joseph Hutcheson, Mrs. A. L. Buttles, Mrs. James Wilcox, Mrs. Henry C. Noble, Mrs. A. N. Whiting, Mrs. Alfred Thomas, Mrs. William Savage, Mrs. Henry Wood, Mrs. E. A. Fitch, Mrs. B. N. Huntington, Mrs. Dr. Carter, Mrs. J. G. Mitchell, Mrs. Robert Smith, Mrs. E. L. Taylor, Mrs. Charles Osborn, Mrs. Y. Anderson, Mrs. S. N. Field, Mrs. R. E. Ferguson, Mrs. A. Sollace, Miss Ann Robinson, Miss Mary Sullivant, and Miss Minnie Abbott ; the second, by Mrs. Dr. Wormley, Mrs. Jas. McKee, Mrs. George Phillips, Mrs. F. D. Clark, Mrs. R. D. Harrison, Mrs. Joseph H. Parsons, Mrs. Jos. Sullivant, Mrs. J. Wm. Baldwin, Mrs. B. D. Hills, Mrs. George B. Wright, Mrs. James Kilbourn, Mrs. S. L. Kelton, Mrs. C. N. Olds, Mrs. L. C. Bailey, Mrs. W. E. Ide, Mrs. Sarah Pollard, Mrs. W. T. Coggeshall, Mrs. H. C. Farmer, Mrs. Henry Neil, Mrs. C. G. Freudenberg, and Miss Carrie Hamilton.
At the end of one year the two clubs were in possession of one hundred and eighty-nine volumes. These were made the nucleus of a circulating library, and a committee of two mem- bers from each club was appointed, viz., Mrs. Dr. Loving and Mrs. B. N. Huntington, Mrs. L. C. Bailey, and Mrs. B. D. Hills, to take the management for one year. There being no other circulating library in the city at the time, a good patronage was secured, and, notwithstanding the small beginning, the experi- ment proved successful.
At the first annual meeting, May 7, 1871, the clubs were dissolved, and a library association was organized. A constitution
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and by-laws were adopted, and the following officers and executive committee were elected, viz: Mrs. James Wilcox, president ; Mrs. Dr. Loving, vice-president ; Mrs. B. N. Hunt- ington, secretary and treasurer.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE .- Mrs. L. C. Bailey, Mrs. A. N. Whiting, Mrs. B. D. Hills, Mrs. James McKee. This committee appointed Miss F. P. Sollace, librarian.
The library was opened at McAdow's music store, at No. 2 Neil House block, May 7, 1870, and remained there till March 30, 1872, when it was removed to John Seltzer & Co.'s music store, Nos. 11 and 13 East State street, where it is now open every Saturday.
The library is liberally patronized, is self-sustaining, and contains about 900 volumes of choice literary and scientific works. The officers and executive committee for the present year are : Mrs. James A. Wilcox, president ; Mrs. James McKee, vice-president ; Mrs. B. N. Huntington, secretary and treasurer.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE .- Miss L. M. Smith, librarian; Mrs. L. C. Bailey, Mrs. A. N. Whiting, Mrs. A. K. Pearce, Mrs. H. Lanman.
THE TYNDALL ASSOCIATION.
Organized in February, 1870, when its first meeting was held, George H. Twiss acting as president.
General object, to investigate and develop all departments of natural science.
The following statement of subjects discussed before the association, either in writing or orally, during the first two or three months of its existence, will show more fully its general purpose and practical operations: The spectroscope and spec- trum analysis, ocean currents, sensitive and singing flames, climate and its changes in the past, homeopathy and its prin- ciples, the Darwinian theory, decrease of the number and in- tensity of thunder storms by the increase of the number and extent of railroads, cause of the southern projection of continents, cause of the explosion of steam-boilers, etc.
One of the interesting features of the society meetings is the impromptu discussion of points in papers, generally following their presentation.
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The members of the association are distributed into three classes :
First. Active members, who pay an initiation fee of one dollar, and twenty-five cents quarterly. These members furnish papers of a scientific character.
Second. Contributing members, residents of Columbus, who pay an annual installment of five dollars.
Third. Corresponding members, consisting of eminent scientific men throughout the country, who contribute original articles, written and published by themselves.
The association arranges, during each lecture season, for a course or courses of popular lectures by prominent scientists, a ticket to a course of four lectures being furnished for one dollar. Lectures are also given, under the auspices of the society, by talented citizens, to the public, gratis.
Since its organization the association has purchased, with the proceeds of lectures, a set of meteorological instruments, which are now placed in proper positions in the society rooms. These instruments cost $160 in New York city. The association has placed itself in communication with the weather-signal office, at the Smithsonian Institution, in Washington city, for the purpose of giving a daily statement of the state of the weather at this point. The society has a handsome binocular micro- scope, imported from London, and costing $250.
By a resolution of the city council, two rooms on the fourth floor of the City Hall building, in the rear of the large hall, were appropriated to the use of the association, free of charge, the city to be put to no expense for fitting up and furnishing the rooms. They have been, by the society, very tastefully and appropriately fitted up and arranged for the purposes contem- plated.
PRESENT OFFICERS .- T. C. Mendenhall, president ; J. J. Janney, vice-president ; Leo Mees, secretary; Martin Hensell, treasurer; A. G. Farr, observer. Trustees: Wm. B. Hayden, George H. Twiss, and T. C. Mendenhall.
The association holds regular meetings on every alternate Saturday evening. The meetings are open to the public.
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CHAPTER XIII.
AGRICULTURAL, COAL, AND IRON RESOURCES.
AGRICULTURAL RESOURCES.
PERHAPS no equal extent of territory in the West is, by na- ture, adapted to the growth of a greater variety of plants use- ful to mankind than the region of country around and in the immediate vicinity of Columbus. We have the greatest variety of soils, in the aggregate, adapted to the growth of any vege- table production that grows in our climate. No county is bet- ter watered or has richer valleys than Franklin.
Of all the valleys in the world, none surpass, and but few equal, the Scioto valley in richness of soil, ease of culture, and adaptability to the cultivation of the agricultural products most needed in civilized life. In richness of soil it surpasses the long-famed valley of the Nile, and is only equaled by the Miamis, the Wabash, the Maumee, and other Western valleys. It is here, in a fair season and with good culture, we raise from ninety to one hundred bushels of shelled corn per acre.
We have also the valleys of the Big and Little Darby, the Olentangy, Alum creek, Big and Little Walnut, Blacklick, and some smaller ones besides. The amount of tillage crops these val- leys could be made to produce would be enormous. They were originally timbered with black and white walnut, hickory, hackberry, buckeye, white and blue ash, and hard and soft maple in abundance, with white and burr oak, white and red elm, and a lower growth of boxwood, papaw, redbud, and many other kinds. The weeds of native growth are horse-weed; wild pea-vine, Spanish needle, wild cucumber, cockle-burr, and some others, all indicating rich land. These valleys are pecu- liarly fitted for the growing of Indian corn, broom-corn, pota- toes, and, in fact, all tillage crops.
It is here that the labor of the husbandman is most abun- dantly repaid. Along the edges of these valleys we have our
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table-lands, or second bottom-lands. These consist of a loamy soil, between a sandy soil and a clay loam, about twelve or fifteen inches deep; then from three to five feet of a reddish clay, compact enough to hold manure or the native richness of the soil, yet porous enough to allow the surplus water to leach through, all being underlaid by a bed of sand or gravel, evi- dently a drift, which makes the most perfect drainage. We seldom see water standing on this soil, and never long at a time, except when the ground is deeply frozen.
This is the land peculiarly suited to the growth of the small grains, such as wheat, oats, rye, and barley, and the fruits gen- erally. On these second bottoms the peach tree lives and flourishes for twenty-five years or more. The grape, too, suc- ceeds well ; while the apple, the pear, and quince produce their finest specimens. The soil being naturally underdrained and capable of being brought to the highest state of fertility by ma- nuring, is admirably adapted to the growth of garden vege- tables and small fruits generally. Here they are never drowned out or become water-clogged. They are free alike from stagnant water and the overflow of streams. The gravel with which the ground is underlaid being moist, it takes a long drouth to injure the crop. We have, too, enough such land surrounding Colum- bus to produce all the vegetables and fruits that a city of half a million of inhabitants can consume, and of the very finest quality, as has been proven by the annual exhibitions of the Franklin County Agricultural Society.
Between the streams, or rather back of these second bottom- lands, we have what is familiarly called clay-lands. These are interspersed with swirls and ponds, which, when drained, are almost equal to our best valley lands. On these clay and swale lands the grasses grow and flourish most luxuriously. From these we get the most of our hay, milk, butter, and some of our finest fruits, especially apples and pears.
Here, then, we find the city of Columbus, situated in the midst of a most fertile region, agriculturally considered, capable of producing, in almost unlimited quantities, most of the neces- saries of life. We can grow our own wheat, corn, oats, rye, buckwheat, and potatoes, as well as sorghum and broom-corn,
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and load our own tables with garden vegetables of the finest quality ; with both tree and small fruits in abundance, and with butter, milk, and cheese to our heart's content. We can furnish all the hay and other provender our animals can consume, and from our own products, make all the whisky, beer, and wine we need. In meats, we can furnish our own beef, pork, and mut- ton, while the products of our poultry-yards keep pace with the demand, and can be increased indefinitely.
Our climate is a peculiarly fortunate one ; exempt alike from the rigors of the northern winters and burning sun of the southern summers, we seldom have but a few days at a time of extremely cold or hot weather. From our elevation, we enjoy a very salubrious atmosphere. We have the advantage of a hilly or almost mountainous region, the bed of the Scioto river at this point being 776 feet above tide-water. The State-house site being about 60 feet higher, Columbus stands 836 feet above tide-water, and 624 feet above the waters of Lake Erie. It is situated 101 feet higher than Zanesville, Muskingum county. This is about one-third as high as the highest peaks of the Alleghany mountains.
So we have the advantages of a level country for our agricul- ture, with the salubrious air of the hilly counties of Pennsyl- vania and West Virginia. This region is well adapted to the rearing of domestic animals. Here the horse, cow, sheep, and swine are healthy and vigorous, producing as perfect and hardy animals as any portion of America.
COAL RESOURCES.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF COAL.
" Coal," says Professor Newberry, " is entitled to be considered the mainspring of our civilization. By the power developed in its combustion, all the wheels of industry are kept in motion ;. commerce is carried on with rapidity and certainty over all por- tions of the earth's surface ; the useful metals are brought from the deep caves in which they have hidden themselves, and are purified and wrought to serve the purposes of man. By coal, night is in one sense converted into day, and the life of man, measured by its fruits, is greatly prolonged. Wealth, with all
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the comforts, the luxuries, and the triumphs it brings, is its gift. Though black, sooty, and often repulsive in its aspects, it is the embodiment of a power more potent than that attributed to the genii in oriental tales. Its possession is, therefore, the highest material boon that can be craved by a community or nation. Coal is also not without its poctry. It has been formed under the stimulus of the sunshine of long past ages, and the light and power it holds are nothing else than such sunshine stored in this black casket, to wait the coming and serve the purposes of man. In the processes of formation it composed the tissues of those strange trees that lifted their scaled trunks and waved their feathery foliage over the murky shores of the carboniferous con- tinent, when not only no man was, but gigantic salamanders and mail-clad fishes were the monarchs of the animated world."
COAL-PRODUCING COUNTRIES.
Coal has been aptly termed the real stable wealth of all man- ufacturing and commercial countries. It is the great agent in the reduction of valuable ores to the various forms and condi- tions needed for the uses of civilized life. According to official reports published in England, the following are the proportions of the area covered with coal to the whole area in the countries named : British Island, 1-10; Belgium, 1-32; France, 1-100; United States, 2-9; Prussia, 1-90 ; British North America, 1-20; Bohemia, 1-20; Spain, 1-52. Since the publication of these reports, discoveries have been made, especially in our Western States, proving that more than one-fourth of the whole area of the United States is covered with coal. The total annual pro- duction of coal in the United States is about twenty-five million tons, more than six times that of Austria, twice the amount pro- duced in France, and a third more than the annual product of Prussia. England's annual product is given at one hundred million tons. But she is rapidly using up her mineral treasure, while we have scarcely begun to develop ours.
THE SOURCE OF ENGLAND'S WEALTHI.
Of all the nations of Europe, England is the most powerful, because she is the richest. The source of her wealth has been
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her manufacturing industry, and the mainspring of this indus- try has been her stores of coal. The power developed by the combustion of a pound of coal, is reckoned by engineers as equivalent to 1,500,000 foot pounds. The power exerted by a man of ordinary strength, during a day's labor, is about the same; so that a pound of coal may be regarded as equivalent to a day's labor of a man. Three hundred pounds will thus rep- resent the labor of a man for a year. It is estimated that twenty million tons of the annual coal product of Great Britain are used to develop motive power. This is equivalent to the labor of one hundred and thirty-three millions of men; so that the contri- bution made to the wealth of Great Britain, by her annual coal product, may be safely estimated as equal to the labor of one hundred and thirty-three million skilled operatives.
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