USA > Ohio > History of Ohio; the rise and progress of an American state, Volume Four > Part 24
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There was of course great devastation in Cincinnati. On Race, Vine, Walnut, Main, and Sycamore streets the flood came above Pearl street. "The Mill Creek bottom was so covered that the largest steamboats could have passed over Eighth street and advanced up the valley to Cumminsville." The gas supply was shut off, and the militia had to be called out, remain- ing on duty eleven nights. The houses inundated were estimated at 4,930, and the persons driven from their homes, 21,856. A soup house on Sixth street supplied
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food to 65,000 people during the thirteen days that it was in operation. Covington and the other communi- ties on the Kentucky side were badly deluged, and great distress prevailed. This was, of course, the case in the Kentucky river towns generally, as well as in West Virginia and Indiana.
Probably the most unfortunate sufferers were those in the smaller places, having from a few hundred to two or three thousand inhabitants. Deprived of the association and substantial assistance of a numerous body of fellow-citizens, as well as of the facility of refuge in public structures not reached by the water, their lot was indeed pitiable. Mr. John L. Vance published in 1884 a detailed and graphic narrative of the flood ("The Great Flood of 1884 in the Ohio Val- ley"), in which no particulars are of greater interest than those for the minor localities. At Cochransville, Monroe county, Ohio, out of forty-two houses only two were left. In Powhatan, West Virginia, a village of five hundred people, not a single inhabitant escaped loss and inconven- ience. Middleport, Ohio, according to the local paper, showed a record of loss to almost every citizen, ninety- nine out of every hundred homes being under water. And so the list runs. Says Mr. Vance: "If the roll could be called of all those who, on the first day of Febru- ary, 1884, were worth from five hundred to twenty-five hundred dollars, and who had been made penniless by this flood, it would be a terrible disaster alone. With water, loss is loss-there is no insurance to come in and help men to start in business again."
The State of Ohio appropriated $200,000 for relief, the fund being in charge of a commission headed by
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C. W. Constantine, of Springfield. There were also liberal State appropriations by Indiana and Kentucky, and the Federal Government gave a half million dol- lars. Generous contributions of money, as well as do- nations of supplies, came from many cities, not only of the afflicted states but throughout the country at large. The city of Cincinnati raised nearly a hundred thousand dollars for the aid of its own people, and a like amount came to its relief committee from outside-the latter sum being generously applied by the committee for the benefit of flood sufferers in other places. The people of Gallipolis, where, as noticed, no local damage was done, took an exceptionally active part in extend- ing relief to the distressed up and down the river.
Hard upon this extensive calamity followed the dreadful riots in Cincinnati, March 28-30, 1884. These were the outgrowth of strictly local conditions, most uncommon and peculiar. No circumstances of political excitement, labor troubles, race antipathy, division of interest on a public question or economic situation were involved. There was no responsible or indeed discoverable organization, and history does not pre- serve the name of a single man, in all the thousands of frenzied participants, who can be said to have been a fomenting promoter or a recognized leader. Yet it was the most formidable popular convulsion of purely spontaneous local character in the history of Ohio, calling to arms the entire military force of the State and resulting in casualties of dead and wounded which have been conservatively estimated at three hundred, as well as the wanton destruction of the Hamilton county courthouse with its invaluable records of a century.
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The provoking cause was, however, patent and prom- inent enough-discontent with the administration of criminal justice. For some time, in the opinion of the people, the courts of Cincinnati-and this refers equally to judges and jurors-had been dealing very ineffi- ciently and leniently with serious offenders. "Twenty- three persons accused of murder or at least homicide," says Charles Theodore Greve, the historian of Cincin- nati, "occupied the county jail at the time preceding the outbreak. Some of them had been in jail many months; some had been tried several times and their guilt was still undecided. The public had grown im- patient at the continued violation of the law and the failure of the courts to deal expeditiously with persons charged with crime. The courts were regarded as lazy and inefficient, and juries as well as judges and at- torneys were thought to have become indifferent to crimes of all character." A particularly exasperating affair was a so-called "burking" at Avondale, two body- snatchers being accused of murdering a whole family to secure subjects for the dissecting table. The im- mediate occasion of the riots was the famous Berner case. William Berner (white) and Joseph Palmer (colored) had beaten the life out of their employer, William Kirk, a stable man, for the proceeds from the sale of a horse, after planning the crime for weeks. Berner was the first to be tried, on a separate indict- ment ingeniously devised by his lawyer so that possible prejudice because of the race of his codefendant might not militate against him. The murder was shown to have been absolutely without provocation and most brutal in every circumstance; and indeed the facts
GEORGE HOADLY
From a painting by E. F. Andrews in the Capitol in Columbus.
Born in New Haven, Connecticut, July 31, 1826; came with his parents to Cleveland, Ohio; graduated from Western Reserve College, 1844, and admitted to the bar; elected by the Legislature Judge of the Superior Court of Cincinnati, 1851; elected City Solicitor of Cincinnati, 1855; elected by the people Judge of the Superior Court of Cin- cinnati, 1859 and 1864; twice declined appointment to the Ohio Supreme bench; counsel for Samuel J. Tilden before the electoral commission of 1877; Governor, 1884- 86; removed to New York, 1887; died in Watkins, New York, August 27, 1902.
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The provoking cause was, however, patent and pron inent enough-discontent with the administration fi lofigsO ont mi awoibnA .H .H vd gnitnisq s moTH criminal justice. For some time, in the gummiceo of th
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wolf anidtsW ai beib : 881 TOY wall of hovomoi ;08 months, somfe had been' tried several .SOPIAS JangNAS Ady the guilt was still undecided. The public had grown in patient at the continued violation of the law and tl failure of the courts to deal expeditiously with perso charged with crime. The courts were regarded lazy and inefficient, and juries as well as judges and a torneys were thought to have become indifferent crimes of all character." A particularly exasperati affair was a so-called "burking" at Avondale, two bod snatchers being accused of murdering a whole fam to secure subjects for the dissecting table. The i raediate occasion of the riots was the famous Ber Case. William Berner (white) and Joseph Paln (colored) had beaten the life out of their employ William Kirk, a stable man, for the proceeds from ! sale of a horse, after planning the crime for we Berner was the first to be tried, on a separate ind. ment ingeniously devised by his lawyer so that poss prejudice because of the race of his codefendant m not militate against him. The murder was shown have been absolutely without provocation and n brutal in every circumstance; and indeed the 1
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were fully confessed. But the jury brought in a verdict, March 24th, of manslaughter. This was criticized in severe terms by the presiding judge, Samuel R. Mat- thews, but, having no recourse, he passed sentence agreeably to the verdict, March 28th, imposing the maximum penalty of twenty years in the penitentiary.
In the four days following the verdict there were strong expressions of resentment, especially in the press, but no proceedings of a representative or agitatory nature until the evening of Friday, March 28th, when a tremendous meeting assembled by call in Music Hall. "It was made up mostly," says Adjutant General E. B. Finley ("Report of Adjutant General," 1885), "of solid men of the city, with a large sprinkling of spectacled and gray-haired men," and was "character- ized as being remarkable for its respectability." There were speeches by Dr. Kemper, Judge A. J. W. Carter, General Andrew J. Hickenlooper, and others, in which, as well as in the resolutions, nothing more decisive was advocated than reform of existing evils by legal methods. The spirit of many of the auditors was, however, manifestly violent. This was well appre- ciated by the gentlemen in charge, and notwithstanding demands for more speeches, adjournment was taken at the early hour of 9.30. As the multitude (said to have been eight to ten thousand) filed into the street, cries were raised, "To the jail!" "Hang Berner!" and while it is probable the majority dispersed sedately to their homes, an immense number swung into the march. The route crossed the "Over-the-Rhine" dis-
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trict, at that period much more frequented than now, and when the jail on Sycamore street was reached the throng had been greatly augmented.
There had been no expectation of serious trouble, and the sheriff at the jail was quite unprepared for resist- ance. Both outer and inner doors were promptly battered down, and the mob soon swarmed through the building. It was at once learned that the object in view could not be realized, as Berner had been removed and started on the way to the penitentiary at Columbus. Palmer, his negro associate in the crime, was still in the jail, but escaped identification by the lightness of his color. It appears that no prisoner was molested, and so far as the purpose of the rioters was to wreak vengeance on the men primarily responsible for the evil state of things, it was totally without exercise. This fact was pithily remarked upon by Murat Halstead in a telegram to Governor Hoadly. "The wrong men are killed, " said he.
A squad of police presently arrived in the jail through the underground passage from the courthouse, followed by as many as could be mustered of the First Regiment of the National Guard of Ohio, under command of their colonel, C. B. Hunt. Efforts to restore order, and threats that firing would be resorted to, proved unavail- ing, and indeed continual overt manifestations were made by the mob, missiles being hurled and pistol shots discharged. Force became necessary, and there was firing by the police and soldiers, both at their assailants in the jail and the more active demonstrators on the outside, some of whom scaled the walls and be- gan a fusillade of stones and bullets, also throwing burn-
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ing planks through the windows. On both sides blood was shed, though the most serious loss of life did not occur this first night. Finally ejecting the intruders from the jail, the police and military directed their energies against the rioters in the street, who after some hours dispersed.
During the forenoon of March 29th, Mortimer L. Hawkins, sheriff of Hamilton county, telegraphed to Governor Hoadly: "Great danger apprehended to-night. Send regiment by special train." The Gov- ernor issued immediate orders for the assembling of the Fourteenth Regiment in Columbus (Colonel George D. Freeman) and the Fourth Regiment in Dayton (Colonel Frank B. Mott). Meantime he dis- patched telegrams to several representative citizens of Cincinnati, including his Chief of Staff, General Michael Ryan, inquiring whether they thought the troops would be needed. It is of singular interest that these gentlemen replied unanimously in the negative. Not satisfied, the Governor asked them to confer with the sheriff and Colonel Hunt, and after doing so they wired their approval of the application. As soon as the regiments could be made ready they were forwarded to the scene of trouble. They were needed, indeed. Well would it have been could they have arrived some hours earlier.
Throughout the daytime of the 29th, the mob was quiescent, though still sufficiently in evidence. The sheriff and those cooperating with him erected barri- cades, surrounding the jail, but unfortunately affording no adequate protection for the neighboring courthouse. Soon after the fall of night active and persistent offen-
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sive offers were made, without effect on the barricaded jail defenders. Up to that time the local First Regi- ment was the only military body on the ground. Failing in their attacks against the jail, the rioters turned their attention to the courthouse, broke in the doors, and kindled fires in different offices. The whole structure was quickly aflame. It was practically destroy- ed and had to be rebuilt. But the jail, which was fire- proof, stood uninjured. The soldiery fired with deadly effect on some of those engaged in the destructive work. During these proceedings Captain John J. Desmond, of Company B, was killed by a revolver shot from the crowd. His murderer was mortally wounded the same night and confessed while in his death agony.
The first arriving regiment sent by the Governor was the Fourth, of Dayton. As its conduct was a material incident of the tragical occurrences, passing allusion cannot be omitted.
We quote without comment from Adjutant General Finley: "About 9.45 Colonel Mott, with his command, arrived within three squares of Colonel Hunt's lines, when the command was halted and remained for some time, the mob mingling with the soldiers and assaulting them with violent epithets, if not with missiles. After enduring this treatment for some time, the command marched back to the railroad depot whence it came. Had the regiment moved promptly to the assistance of Colonel Hunt, I believe that the courthouse might have been saved. It is proper to state that Colonel Mott, with 116 of his command-officers and men,- reported for duty the next day (Sunday) between 2 and 3 o'clock P. M., at the jail."
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Toward eleven o'clock Saturday night, Colonel George D. Freeman, with his command, embracing the Fourteenth Regiment of Columbus, and two other companies, reached Cincinnati. Marching to the jail in perfect order and with the greatest promptness, Colonel Freeman there divided his troops to clear the neighboring streets at the point of the bayonet. Savage resistance being encountered, he and his officers warned the mob again and again; but not until six of his men had fallen under the assaults was the order given to fire. It was then effective and quick business, and the whole situation was soon under control. Some renewed attacks were made at various points, and there was more shooting, killing, and wounding. After two o'clock on Sunday morning comparative quiet was established.
During Sunday, the 30th, and the succeeding night, all the remaining regiments of State troops (with one exception), arrived in the city. Despite the presence of this overpowering force, the demonstrations on Sunday evening showed little abatement of either volume or violence. Again bayonet and ball had to be used, with the extra persuasion of a gatling gun at one point. This was the last of the fighting, and in a few days all the soldiers were dismissed to their homes.
The estimate of three hundred killed and wounded in the three days would seem to be under the mark when it is considered that very many of the wounded were naturally unwilling to make their condition public. Greve says: "The exact number of victims can of course never be known. There were said to have been twenty dead bodies lying at one time in the morgue.
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The hospital contained at one time one hundred and fifty wounded and dying. The total number of killed is estimated at more than fifty, while several hundred were wounded. A great many others were wounded, but the injuries were so slight as not to become known."
In April, 1884, a disagreement as to wages arose between the coal mine operators and miners in the valleys of the Hocking and its branches. This cul- minated in June in a general discharge of the workmen and temporary cessation of labor, followed by the em- ployment of imported laborers at lower pay and the customary troubles which attend such situations. The disturbed counties were Hocking, Perry and Athens. Although there was more or less rioting from the begin- ning of the strike, the difficulties did not become acute until the night of August 30th, when an organized attack was made upon the men working the mines at Longstreth and Snake Hollow, in Hocking county, and Straitsville, in Perry county. The telegraph and telephone wires were first cut to prevent communica- tion. Several hundred shots were fired, many of them into a frame house where mine employes were working, a custodian of one of the mines was killed, a number of people were severely beaten, and a hopper was set on fire and burned down.
The sheriff of Hocking county telegraphed the Gov- ernor for troops, and the latter promptly ordered several organizations of the National Guard under arms. But before dispatching any of the soldiers, he made a trip of observation by special train through the Hocking valley, leaving Columbus shortly after one o'clock of the morning of September Ist. His inspection resulted
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in the forwarding of four companies, which were sta- tioned at different points and withdrawn as soon as their continuance was deemed unnecessary. Although the strike was not settled until the spring of 1885 (when the men accepted the terms prescribed by their employ- ers), military aid was not again called for. During the course of the controversy two mine hoppers, a railway tunnel, and three railway bridges were burned and seven mines were set on fire.
Under Hoadly's Administration the provocations and demands for the exercise of the military authority of the State were exceptional. Both in the Cincinnati and Hocking valley affairs the Governor showed a disposition to thoroughly assure himself of the absolute necessity before acting, and in some quarters he was criticized for lack of promptitude and initiative. The whole question of the duty and appropriate spirit of the Executive in such emergencies is of most grave and permanent importance. Governor Hoadly thus ex- pressed his views in his message of 1885: "I could have garrisoned Hocking county, and, while the force remained, quiet would have prevailed in its immediate vicinity. But the employment of military force is itself an evil. Our system of government does not contemplate its use as a permanent or long-continued remedial agency. It is the last resort, and should be sparingly applied, used only when certain to benefit, and withdrawn as soon as the occasion has passed. It has seemed to me better to endeavor to awaken the civil authorities to a sense of the dangers of the situation and their duties, than to supersede them with the mili- tia. "
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From the dismal record of disaster of the year 1884 it is pleasing to turn to an event of remarkable interest and consequence in the material progress of the State.
The commercial use of natural gas in Ohio dates from the famous exploration, or so-called discovery, at Findlay in the latter part of 1884. Strictly speak- ing, the discovery of Ohio gas must be placed seventy years earlier, 1814, when workmen drilling for salt at South Olive, Noble county, were much confounded by a sudden eruption of water mingled with petroleum, under a pressure of gas so forcible that the column mounted over thirty feet high. In other localities of Southeastern Ohio petroleum and gas were liberated from the earth at early periods. The petroleum, then called Seneca oil, was employed in a small way for medicinal, illuminating, and lubricating purposes, but in its crude state gave little satisfaction; while the gas, from its dangerous nature, was thought worse than useless. Both substances, when lucklessly found in the search for salt, were regarded as intolerable nui- sances.
In Findlay and vicinity gas was known and dis- cussed long before its practical value was realized. It was frequently found in digging water wells and sewers. As far back as 1836 a flow was released at a depth of some ten feet, the gas was ignited, and the flame was maintained for three months. Professor John Adams Bownocker is authority for the statement that from a stronger flow, which began in 1838, the gas was col- lected in rude fashion, put to use in one of the resi- dences of Findlay, and was still being burnt in the same residence at the time of the great awakening in
T
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1884. ("Geological Survey of Ohio," Fourth Series, Bulletin No. I, p. 32.) In 1864 Dr. Charles Oesterlin, a citizen of Findlay, proposed the building of reservoirs to store the natural gas, preparatory to using it for domestic purposes. But the various early indications of the presence of the gas were the results of accidental escapes, and there was no attempt to test the under- lying rocks until the opening of the gas fields in Penn- sylvania attracted general attention to the new fuel.
In the year of 1884 Dr. Oesterlin succeeded in organ- izing a company to bore for natural gas in Findlay. An experienced driller was secured from Bradford, Pennsylvania, and on October 20 work was begun. At 1,092 feet a flow was obtained sufficient to produce a flame from twenty to thirty feet. This result created great interest and excitement. The second successful well was drilled by the Findlay Gas Light Company, and in December the gas was turned into the mains and the local consumption began. Well No. 4 had an initial flow of 1,250,000 cubic feet in twenty-four hours, and Well No. 7, 3,335,000 cubic feet. But these were of small importance compared with the great Karg well, No. 13, which was drilled in December, 1885. At 1,144 feet the flow became so enormous that the tools were powerless to advance. "The escaping gas seemed to make the earth tremble, and the roar could be heard several miles. When lighted the flame could be seen forty miles away. The flow of gas was measured by Professor Robinson and found to be (2,000,000 cubic feet in twenty-four hours."
The Findlay discoveries were rapidly followed by exploitations of the surrounding country, with varying
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results. The Tippecanoe well, two miles north of the courthouse, produced, on the first three days of its flow, 32,000,000, 24,000,000, and 19,000,000 cubic feet, respectively. This property was offered for sale to the Findlay municipal natural gas plant, but the trustees declined it, and, acquiring adjacent land, drilled at a distance of sixty feet from the Tippecanoe. The result was total failure, showing the extreme un- certainty of the industry even in fields supposed to be the most productive. Seven townships of Hancock county and six of Wood proved to be the richest in that section of the State.
There were successful operations at Bowling Green, North Baltimore, Fostoria, St. Mary's, and other localities in Northwest Ohio. In Central Ohio large reservoirs were tapped at a number of places-notably Lancaster, Newark, Thurston, and Sugar Grove. The drill has since traveled to every county of the State.
A voluminous work could be written on the history of Ohio natural gas. So extensive has been its use that in all parts of the State our citizens are familiar with it, and in scores of communities the householders have for many years known no other fuel. It is still piped, in billions of cubic feet, annually, to the principal cities. The industries of Ohio have greatly profited from this economical fuel, and the phenomenal develop- ment of manufacturing, and also of urban growth, are largely traceable to its employment.
On the economic side an unpleasant phase of the subject requires to be noticed-that of the systematic and tremendous waste. In recent years, with the continuous exhaustion of the fields, a spirit of conser-
BELLAMY STORER
Born in Portland, Maine, March 26, 1796; attended Bowdoin College, and was admitted to the bar in Boston in 1817; removed soon afterward to Cincinnati, where he became a leading citizen and prominent member of the bar; in 1824 edited the Crisis, in which was advocated the election of John Quincy Adams to the presidency; member of the twenty-fourth Congress; active and effi- cient supporter of General William Henry Harrison for President; presidential elector in 1844; elected Judge of the Superior Court of Cincinnati in 1854, and so continued by subsequent reëlections until 1872, when he resigned; many years identified with the Cincinnati Law School; died in Cincinnati, June 1, 1875.
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