History of the city of Columbus, capital of Ohio, Volume II, Part 72

Author: Lee, Alfred Emory, 1838-; W. W. Munsell & Co
Publication date: 1892
Publisher: New York and Chicago : Munsell & Co.
Number of Pages: 1196

USA > Ohio > Franklin County > Columbus > History of the city of Columbus, capital of Ohio, Volume II > Part 72

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543

WATER SUPPLY.

On September 20, 1869, a committee of the council reported a proposition from the Holly Manufacturing Company to furnish two elliptic rotary pumps to . throw simultaneously six oneinch streams 150 feet without interrupting a supply to the city of 4,000,000 gallons daily ; also one gang pump with capacity to throw 2,000,000 gallons daily ; the whole to be delivered, with necessary steam engines, for $55,000 .? On February 14, 1870, an effort was made to enjoin performance of a contraet made by the council with the Holly Company, but without sueeess. Finally, on February 15, 1870, an ordinance was passed which provided :

That a supply of water shall be provided for the city by the construction of waterworks npon the system known as the Holly Waterworks, in accordance with the contract entered into by the city and the Holly Manufacturing Company, as approved by the City Council on the seventh day of February, A. D. 1870, which contract is hereby ratified and confirmed.3

This ordinance further provided that buildings and machinery appropriate for the purpose named should be erected on ground to be purehased near the month of the Whetstone River, and established a board of " trustees of water- works," comprising three members, one of whom should be elected annually for the term of three years : salary $100 per annum. Eight acres of land located as indicated in the ordinance were purchased of W. A. Neil for $8,000; plans and specifications for buildings thereon were submitted to the trustees by N. B. Kelley, and accepted; Mr. Kelley was appointed architeet and superintendent ; engage- ments were made for piping and trenching, and on July 22, 1870, a contraet for the buildings was awarded to P. A. Schlapp.

The laying of waterpipe began September 12; a cavity ealled " a huge well " was sunk into the gravel beds forming the basin of the Whetstone, and on Novem- ber 12 it was announced that the gauge at the waterworks showed a supply of two million gallons per day. In February, 1871, a schedule of rates for domestic consumption was arranged and, on March 6, same year, the water was let into the pipes and the first water rent was paid into the County Treasury by E. B. Arm- strong, Secretary of the Board of Trustees. Up to this time five miles of piping had been laid ; about seventy miles more were put down during the ensuing season. The amount expended on the works up to November, 1871, was stated at $449,700. The number of permits taken out the first year was 736. In 1873 filtering galleries were excavated from the well ; in 1874 the piping was extended to the State Fair grounds, more land was purchased and the equipment was rein- forced with additional machinery. The two engines first put in had a joint capac- ity to pump 7,000,000 gallons per day. In February, 1884, another engine was purchased, with a daily capacity of about 9,000,000 gallons. The cost of the entire water plant of the city as it existed in 1885 was $1,700,000. Up to that time about 7,000 feet of filtering galleries had been driven. These galleries were excavated over twenty feet below the surface of the ground, and extended under the Whetstone and Scioto. Main pipes carrying the water to the new State Fair grounds were laid in 1886.

In 1887 the pumping machinery of the works comprised two Holly quadru- plex condensing engines having a daily capacity of four million gallons each, and one Gaskell horizontal compound condensing engine with a daily capacity of ten mil- lion gallons. In January, 1888, a contract was awarded to the Holly Company for an additional duplex condensing engine costing 873,000, and having a daily capacity of fifteen million gallons. Meanwhile a serious doubt had arisen as to the capac- ity of the waterworks to supply the whole city, and particularly the eastern part of it, in time of drought or any special emergency. Two plans for removing this doubt were considered ; first, that of multiplying the filtering galleries; second, that of establishing a new pumping station near Alum Creek. The latter plan prevailed, and on February 1, 1889, the waterworks trustees, by author-

544

HISTORY OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS.

ity of the City Council, purchased of William B. Hayden, for a pumping station, seven acres of ground situated on the west bank of Alum Creek, near the Balti- more & Ohio Railway. The price paid for the land was $4,000. This action was taken in accordance with a special report by Professor Edward Orton as to the waterbearing qualities of the geological formations in the Alum Creek valley, and also in accordance with the recommendations of Thomas H. Johnson, a civil engineer who had been employed to investigate the subterranean currents of the valley by borings.

On the grounds thus tested and purchased a well was sunk, a brick building erected and two large Holly engines placed in position. These engines were first put in motion on May 6, 1891. Their capacity is 7,500,000 gallons per day. Water is furnished from this station to the eastern portion of the city as far west as Grant Avenne. Its summer temperature is about fiftytwo degrees; its quality, as shown by analysis, excellent. Additional particulars as to the quality and geological conditions of the water supply of the city will be found in Chapter XXXIII of Volume I.

FIRE PROTECTION.

The need of apparatus for quenehing fire in the borough of Columbus was felt as early as 1819, and the legislature was requested to provide it. As the forest trees were cut away, the little village on the " high bank opposite Franklinton " became more and more exposed to the winds which, should a fire break out, might make swift work with the State buildings, to say nothing of the wooden cabins of the settlers. Nevertheless the people of the borough seem to have gotten along without any serious disasters of this kind until 1822, in which year the writer4 of a private letter which has come under the author's inspection stated, under date of March 15: " The first fire of any consequence that ever took place in this town happened a few weeks since. Eight buildings were consumed. They were all small shops, except one dwelling house."" Probably it was this event which impelled the council to pass, on February 21, 1822, "an ordinance to prevent destruction by fire in the borough of Columbus," the first section of which enacted :

That there shall be formed, by enrollment at the Mayor's office in said borough, the foi- lowing companies, to wit: One Hook and Axe Company consisting of fifteen men ; one Lad- der Company consisting of twelve men, and one company consisting of twelve men, as a guard to property.

The ordinance proceeded to state how these companies should be organized ; authorized the mayor and council to fill them up by drafting, if necessary ; pro- vided that a residue of citizens, between 15 and 50 years of age, should serve as " bucket men ; " required the appointment of " one Supreme Director at all fires," with authority to command all present; and made it the duty of the town mar- shal, " upon the first alarm of fire" to " ring or cause to be rung the bell." The ordinance further directed that the borough should be inspected with reference to protection against fire four times a year; commanded the mayor to procure, at public expense, " two long ladders, four axes, four short ladders, [and] two hooks," for the use of the fire companies ; and required each owner or occupant of a dwelling, store or shop to " furnish as many water buckets of good jacked leather, each to contain ten quarts," as the " committee of safety " should direct. On

AG. Dugh,

PHOTOGRAPHED BY BAKER

Residence of Thomas E. Powell, 518 East Broad Street, built in 1853.

PHOTOGRAPHED BY BAKER.

Residence of A. G. Pugh, 875 Franklin Ave., built in 1891.

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FIRE PROTECTION.

March 7 the marshal was directed to notify the occupants of tenements as to the number of buckets they would be obliged to keep. On December 22, 1822, the General Assembly was again asked to make " an appropriation for the purpose of procuring a fire engine," and at the next meeting of the council the Mayor and Recorder were appointed a committee on that subject. On July 14, 1823, the Gov- ernor reported that an engine was engaged in Philadelphia.

On January 29, 1824, permission was sought, from the General Assembly, to erect an enginehouse on the Public Square, cast of the Statehouse, and on March 12, 1825, a list of householders (112) and the number of firebuckets required (247) was reported. In November of the same year the committee of safety was renewed An ordinance of 1826 makes the owners and possessors of firebuckets responsible for their preservation in a state of readiness for use, under penalty of a fine. An old citizen informs the writer that a fire in the Penitentiary, in 1830, was quenched by forming two rows of men, one of which passed buckets of water up from the river while the other passed the buckets back again. The water was poured from the buckets into a hand engine consisting of a forcepump worked by levers moving up and down, and called " The Tub."6 An ordinance of December 14, 1831, provided :

That there shall be paid out of the Treasury of the Corporation, to any member of the Fire company who shall be first at the engine house in case of alarm, when any building in said Borough may be found on fire, the sum of five dollars; and there shall be paid to the member which shall be second at the engine house as aforesaid, four dollars ; and to the member who shall be third as aforesaid, three dollars; when more than one arrive at the same time, they shall decide who is first by lot ; the money shall be paid on certificate of the Captain to the Mayor, who shall draw an order on the Treasurer for the amount ; Provided always that nothing shall be paid in cases of false alarm.

This ordinance made it the duty of " the Committee of Safety to go round and see that all chimneys, stovepipes, smith shops and other places where fire is issued are secure and safe," and imposed upon all users of chimneys and flues the duty of keeping them clean and making their fireplaces safe under penalty of a fine. In May, 1833, the first volunteer fire company - William A. Gill, engineer - met at the office of W. A. Gill & Co. to elect officers. A letter by Joseph Ridg- way, Junior, read at a firemen's supper in 1849, made the following statements :

By reference to the proceedings of the City Council on the eighth of December, 1834, [it appears that] a petition was presented on behalf of the Fire Companies by Matthew J. Gilbert, a gentleman long associated with the Department, ... intended to call the atten- tion of the Council to the importance of a more thorough organization of the Department, and a committee consisting of Messrs. McCoy, Heyl, Stewart and Ridgway, was appointed to consider its expediency, which committee, through Mr. McCoy, their chairman, reported favorably on the twentyninth of December, 1834. At a subsequent meeting, on the twenty- eighth of February, 1835, the committee was instructed to procure two good engines, with the necessary hose, and on the eleventh of May following William Heyl, from that com- mittee, reported a contract with Messrs. Chase & Seymour of Cincinnati.

The ordinance which, with slight modifications, still continues in force, was reported on the eighth and passed by the Council on the eleventh of June. On the thirteenth of July a committee was appointed to furnish a plan for the Engine House, which house was completed so that the engines were received from Cincinnati and placed in it on the thirtieth day of November, 1835. Since that time the fire companies have been constantly organized, and although, during the former part of the time, not under the most perfect discipline, yet, when duty called, they were ever ready, so far as lay in them, to protect the property of their neighbors. During the latter part of the time which has intervened since the first formation of this department it is due to the companies to say that their discipline, in gen- era), has been very complete.

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546

HISTORY OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS.

On July 25, 1835, a contract was made for the erection of an enginehouse at a cost of $1,000, and on the same date it was ordered that four new wells be dug near the points designated for public cisterns, " to be supplied with a good pump in each . . . in order to supply the public cisterns with water instead of bringing the water from a spring in pipes, as formerly contemplated." . On August 10, same year, fire cisterns, each costing $130 and having a capacity of 6,000 gallons, were contracted for, and a fire warden for each ward was appointed. The cisterns were to be situated at the intersections of High Street with Broad, State, Town, Rich and Friend.

The ordinance of June 11, 1835, referred to in Mr. Ridgway's letter, established a company of fire wardens, one of fire guards, a protection society, a hook and ladder company and an engine and hose company, each of these organizations to be composed of volunteer members, exempt from military duty, and holding their appointments at the pleasure of the council. To the protection society, numbering not over fifty members, was assigned the duty of removal and protection of prop- erty during fires. The fire guards were expected, on the outbreak of a fire, to form a line of sentinels surrounding the same, and permit none to pass except members of the protection society and fire companies. Each fire engine was to be manned by not over fifty men ; the hook and ladder company numbered forty men.

Participation in the organizations provided for by this ordinance was quite active at first, but after a time lost its novelty and became languid. In 1837 the fire engine companies had become so indifferent to their meetings and practice that their dissolution was seriously proposed. When a fire broke out scarcely men enough appeared to " man the brakes." During the latter part of 1837 efforts were made to revive interest in the fire service, but without success. Fire inspec- tion, however, was continued, the apparatus was said to be in good condition, and in 1838 we read of meetings of the hook and ladder company, the protection society and the fire guards.

On August 29, 1839, William Neil's steam sawmill, near the Penitentiary, was burned, together with 40,000 feet of lumber. This fire was supposed to be of incendiary origin. On April 17, 1841, a fire broke out "in the frame buildings between the National Hotel and the Eagle Coffeehouse." The buildings were destroyed, and the inmates, many of whom were needy, were assisted by private donations. These mishaps seem to have imparted a fresh stimulus to the organ- ization of fire service, for in the Ohio Statesman of November 29, 1842, we read :

We are pleased to see that our City Council has resolved to encourage our Fire com- panies.7. They are now most efficiently organized, and exceedingly prompt. .. . Our fire companies deserve the praise and gratitude of every citizen for the energy and perseverance they have shown in perfecting their organization and discipline.

The Statesman of later date makes the following references to the earlier fire organizations :

The Niagara and Constitution were the pioneers, afterwards contemporary with the Frank- lin and Scioto and followed by the Fame. At the same time the Neptune Hose Company flourished under command of Billy Flintham, an old sailor and a character too conspicuous in fire annals to be left unnoticed. . . . The "boys, " as they were familiarly called, were divided into two brigades, the Northern and Southern. The engines belonging to the former were located in the Statehouse square, and those of the latter near the corner of High and Mound. There was the most energetic rivalry between the brigades, which always took active shape at the election of Chief Engineer. Messrs. John Miller, Alexander McCoy, William McCoy, William Westwater, G. M. Swan, John Weaver and other prominent citizens served at different times in this capacity, and had command of as efficient a force of volunteer firemen as ever operated on the continent.

547

FIRE PROTECTION.

The Statesman proceeds to narrate the particulars of a drenching given to a notorious nest on West State Street, between Clinton Bank and the Tontine Coffee- house under pretense of putting out a fire, and continues :

About the year 1842 [actually 1843] there was a startling succession of fires, generally trifling in their results, for several months, evidently the work of incendiaries. Citizens were detailed secretly to patrol the streets, but still the fires continued in the destruction of Taylor's tannery on Gay Street, one very eold night. So cold was it that the water in the hose and suction pipes froze up, and the work of thawing them ont was a heavy one. . . . It was subsequently ascertained that the succession of fires was the work of a party of boys belonging to respectable families, who took this method of amusing themselves.

Of two new engines manufactured for Columbus by John Agnew, of Philadel- phia in 1842, one was named the Franklin, the other the Scioto. New public cis- terns, ordered in 1841, were dug at the following street intersections : Third with State, Town and Friend; High and Gay ; Mound and High ; and Front Street with Broad, State and Rich. Apropos of the burning of Taylor's tannery, above referred to, the following card, characteristic of the fire service of the period, was published :

The members of the Neptune Hose No. 1 tender their thanks for refreshments so liber- ally furnished by Mrs. Backus, Col. Samuel Medary, Messrs. Taylors, and all others who con- tributed to their comfort on the night of the fifteenth instant. S. B. Fay, Secretary.

Thanks for like courtesies received during the tannery fire were tendered by the Niagara Company Number One, the Franklin Engine Company, and the Con- stitution Fire Association. During the evening of March 12, 1844, the members of the Columbus Fire Department, 400 strong, held a torchlight parade, after which they sat down to supper, the Niagara Engine Company and Captain Sheffield's Hook and Ladder Company at the American House, the Spartan Hook and Lad- der Company at the Franklin House, and the Franklin Engine Company at the Neil House. At the Franklin Company's festivities the following song was sung with great glee :

Hark, comrades, hark, that tolling bell ! And see yon smoky column swell! A fire! a fire! list how they shout ; And we must haste to put it out. O get along fast, ye Franklin hoys Nor own your strength declining ; O get along fast, ye Franklin boys To where yon light is shining.

The Constitution, bold and strong, With rushing speed now comes along, But all in vain their strength and will The Franklin will be foremost still. O get along fast, etc.

And hark, those sounds of " clear the way," And give the swift Seioto play ; Yes, give her room, and pull each man The Franklin still will lead the van. O get along fast, etc.

And hark ! what shouts are those we hear, Of distant and of feeble cheer ? It is Niagara's friendly crew

548

HISTORY OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS.

With will, bat not the might to do. O get along fast, etc.

And here we are, first of the throng ; Come, hosemen, string the hose along,

And soon the water we will throw And make those swelling flames look low.

Then work away, ye Franklin boys, Though others are returning ;

We'll work away, my Franklin boys,

While a spark of fire is burning.

And see, the fire has ceased to burn ;

Comrades, we will now return ; And as we course our way along, We'll blithely chant our fav'rite song. O get along home, ye Franklin boys, Nor own your strength declining ; O get along home, ye Franklin boys, For the light no more is shining.

A fire occurred in the Hoster brewery September 28, and one in Pinney's dry- house in the Penitentiary December 16, 1845. On December 28, same year, a building belonging to Bela Latham was destroyed ; owing to searcity of water, the firemen could only save the neighboring property. Some frame buildings between the City and Exchange banks, on High Street, were partially burned November 15, 1846. A fire in William Neil's block, a short distance south of the Neil House, on February 10, 1847, destroyed the two upper stories, and obliged various business establishments on the ground floor to vacate. A long ordinance, of twentysix seetions, to provide for the prevention and extinction of fires and the regulation of fire companies, was passed February 25, 1848. It was substantially a reenactment, with amendments and supplements, of the previons ordinances on the same subjects. Firemen were exempted by it from military and jury service, and were entitled to certificates of membership from the City Recorder; each company was authorized to enact its own rules, and each was permitted to enroll volunteers, but subject to the acceptance and control of the council, which might displace individuals or whole companies for misconduet. All fire company officers were vested with police powers during the fire; the protection society, fire war- dens and fire guards were retained. The Old Zack Engine Company, the Salamander Hook and Ladder Company and the Relief and Phenix Hose Com- panies flourished in 1848. All through the forties and fifties various social festivi- ties and holiday celebrations by the fire companies of the city are spoken of. On April 18, 1849, the Columbus Engine Company was organized, and its advent was made the occasion for a general afternoon parade of the department, followed, in the evening, by a banquet at the Odeon. The organizations which took part in the parade were the Old Zack, Scioto, Columbus and Franklin Engine, the Spartan and Salamander Hook and Ladder and the Phenix, Relief and Neptune Hose. These seem to have been all the fire organizations then existing in the city, though we hear of the Eagle Engine Company during the following year.

The frequency of incendiary fires was again complained of in 1849. During a period of drought in the autumn of 1850 the public cisterns were filled by pumping water through the fire hose from the river. The purchase of a stationary engine for this purpose, as a permanent service, was about the same time talked of. On August 2, 1850, a new band engine, costing $1,800, was ordered. On January 7 and 8, 1851, the Fame Engine and Hornet Hose companies held a bene-

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FIRE PROTECTION.

fit fair and ball at the Odeon. These efforts to raise money were so meagerly responded to by the citizens that the companies resolved to disband and signed a rather petulant pledge never to join another fire organization "until better arrangements for the protection and benefit of the firemen " should be made. The residue of funds belonging to the disbanding companies were donated to the Female Benevolent Society. On the thirteenth of the ensning October new com- panies bearing the names of Fame Engine, and Hornet Hose, were accepted by the City Council. On August 11, 1851, three lots were purchased as sites for enginehouses. One of these lots was situated on Third Street, between Sngar Alley and Town ; one on Gay, near High; and one on State between High and Front. The Old Statehouse fell a prey to the flames on February 1, 1852. A firemen's parade on July 4 of that year is thus spoken of by the Ohio Statesman :

The tasteful and becoming uniform and dress and regalia of the men, the beautiful flags and banners, and the elaborate decorations of the engines as the cortege marched through the streets, presented one of the finest spectacles our eyes ever looked upon.

The same paper of August 10, 1852, said :

When we get the alarm bell in operation. our firemen will be saved a great deal of trouble. Heretofore they have been often compelled to run three quarters of a mile before they could by any means discover the location of the fire.

An ordinance of 1853 forbidding the fire companies to run their machines on the sidewalks gave them great offense. On July 13 the South Brigade, compris- ing the Scioto Fire, the Phenix Hose and Spartan Hook and Ladder, adopted reso- lutions declaring they would no longer serve as firemen, and inviting the North Brigade to take similar action. On July 15 the Eagle Fire Company resolved to disband unless the ordinance should be repealed. The North Brigade took simi- lar action July 16. The Fame Engine Company did not disband. At the sugges- tion of the Chief Engineer new companies under the names of the disbanded ones were organized. An ordinance of August 15, 1853, fixed the salary of the Chief Engineer at $100. After this we hear of numerous balls and festivals by the different companies, and everything seems to have gone along smoothly. In June, 1854, the new enginehouse on Gay Street, then nearing completion, was ecstati- cally described.

The troubles with the volunteer firemen probably hastened measures for pro- viding a permanent and paid fire service. At any rate, on May 21, 1855, a con- tract for a steam fire engine was elosed with A. B. & E. Latta. The new engine arrived on November 2 next following, was named Columbus, and was placed in the engine house then recently erected on Third Street. Its eost was $6,000; its advent was celebrated by a " congratulatory supper" at the Neil House. It was described as a " ponderous affair, drawn by three horses and attended by an army of firemen." The volunteer companies regarded it with extreme jealousy, and derisively named it "Bull of the Woods." So intense was the feeling on this subject that the Fame Engine and Niagara Hose companies disbanded, and the handmachines were mutilated and abandoned. A fire in Hyde & Schlapp's sash factory on August 6, 1855, developed the fact that these machines were so poorly manned, and had been purposely so disabled as to be of little use. One of them, the Franklin, was taken back to the engine house while the fire was raging. In short, the anticipation of supersedure by the steam machine threw the volunteer department into a state of complete demoralization.

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History of the city of Columbus, capital of Ohio, Volume II, Part 72

Author: Lee, Alfred Emory, 1838-; W. W. Munsell & Co Publication date: 1892 Publisher: New York and Chicago : Munsell & Co. Number of Pages: 1196

Author: Lee, Alfred Emory, 1838-; W. W. Munsell & Co
Publication date: 1892
Publisher: New York and Chicago : Munsell & Co.
Number of Pages: 1196