History of the city of Columbus, capital of Ohio, Volume II, Part 74

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

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The eastern wing of the prison, in which are 250 cells, and in every cell a tenant, is fur- nished with 98 gas burners ; which enables the convict, after the labor of the day is com- pleted to spend the day in useful and entertaining reading, the facilities of which have been furnished by the assiduous care of Father Finley, the Chaplain of the Institution. . . . To light the whole establishment-both wings, hospital, guardroom, office, dining room, &c., will require about 190 burners, and will consume about 400 lbs. of grease per week. This grease is saved from meats cooked for the food of the convicts, and converted into gas.

Lockwood & Company desired to undertake the lighting of the city and accord- ingly, on September 15, 1848, an ordinance was passed conferring upon them that privilege under a charter granted by an act of the General Assembly passed Feb- ruary 21, 1846, to the Columbus Gas Light and Coke Company, the original cor- porate members of which were named as Joel Buttles, Samuel Medary, Charles Scott, James S. Abbott. Dwight Stone, John Miller, James D. Osborn, James West- water, S. D. Preston, William Armstrong " and associates." In the ordinance authorizing Lockwood & Company to avail themselves of this company's charter, the rights conferred and restrictions laid upon them were much the same as those embodied in the ordinance of July 30, 1844, above mentioned. The contractors were given exclusive use of the streets and alleys for the distribution of gas for a period of twenty years and were required to supply the street lamps at a price not greater than that charged in Cincinnati provided that price should not exceed twenty dollars per post. Further requirement was made that the contractors should, on or before November 1, 1849, " complete their apparatns for generating gas, and lay down in connection with the same at least 3,500 feet of leading or main pipe for its distribution."

On December 6, 1848, the Columbus Gas & Coke Company met and elected John Miller president, Joseph Ridgway, Junior, secretary, and D. W. Deshler treasurer.15 After this the purposes of the company seem to have languished, for, under date of September 11, 1849, we read :

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STREET LIGHTING.

Cleveland and Dayton will be added to the list of cities lighted with gas before the com ing winter sets in. . . . What is the Columbus Gas Light Company about ?16

But, on March 11, 1850, this :

We are happy to learn that an effort is being made to revive the Gas Company of this city. ... Mr. Lockwood, the energetic contractor, is now here, and is ready to put the thing through, and have our streets and houses lighted with gas in six months. . . . Zanes- ville has just finished and put in operation her gas works. They were built by Mr. Lock- wood.17

This seems to have been a harbinger of practical results. An ordinance vest- ing in the Columbus Gas Light and Coke Company exclusive use of the streets and alleys for gas distribution until February 21, 1866, was passed May 14, 1850, and a few days later a statement was published that Mr. Lockwood's workmen were engaged in laying the foundations of the company's buildings. These build- ings, it was stated, were located " in the northwest part of the city." Their erec- tion and equipment, once begun, must have been pushed with considerable energy, for, under date of October 18, 1850, we read :

The main pipes are laid as far as the Statehouse, and it is designed to "light up " as soon as the first of December. It is now determined, we learn, to light the old Statehouse with gas for the few remaining years of its existence.18

Nevertheless, the council reserved its decision as to adoption of the company's facilities for publie use until November 16, 1850, on which date a resolution was passed declaring : "That we deem it indispensably necessary to light High Street, market space, market house and the engine houses with gas." For the use of private consumers gas was first let into the pipes on December 7. On the fol- lowing Monday (December 9, 1850) the event was thus chronicled :

A portion of the gas burners were supplied with that article on Saturday evening and the agents of the company are extending their connections so as to supply all who have fix- tnres for that purpose forthwith. Stores, business houses, &c., will be supplied, but the lamps on the streets will be few and far between this winter. We have seen arrangements for but two of that kind.

However, the use of gas by private consumers stimulated the council suffi- ciently to impel it to adopt a resolution, December 9, providing for the appointment of a committee to contract for lamp posts and appurtenances, and directing that " the fund arising from wharf rents, after keeping the same [the wharves ?] in repair," and the income from the markethouse, should be annually appropriated to defray the expenses of street lighting. On December 12 proposals for furnishing thirtyone street lamps, together with posts and equipments, were invited, the lamps to be of the same size and material as those then in use in Cin- einnati ; and on January 29, 1855, after a long controversy, a contract with the Gas Company was agreed to. In this contract the company agreed to supply the public lamps at a price not exceeding twothirds of that paid by private consumers, and that these should not be charged more than the average price paid in Cincin- nati, Cleveland and Zanesville. The lamps, posts and meters used in street light- ing were to be furnished by the city.

On May 26, 1852, the observation was made that the company was extending its pipes " to all parts of the city," and that illuminating gas was being used in " a large number of private residences." In August, 1852, the pipes were being laid south ward " along High Street, over the Mound," and eastward on Town Street. On April 15, 1854, the company's plant and equipment were thus described :

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HISTORY OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS.

The buildings occupy the whole space between Water Street and Bank Alley. fronting on Long Street. They compose a retort house, purifying house, meter house, coke house, coal shed and fitting shop and office. [The] retort house, 80 x 29, contains eight benches or furnaces with twentyfour retorts. . . . Fifteen retorts are kept in constant operation. . .. The gas holder weighing fourteen tons, made of sheet iron, is eighteen feet in height, fifty in diameter and will hold 30,000 cubic feet of gas. Fortysix thousand bushels of coal are con- sumed annually. Last year 9,500,000 cubic feet of gas were consumed. The city govern- ment owns 114 laraps and posts. The cost to the city is for each lamp about $20 annually. The citizens pay at the rate of three dollars per thousand feet. There are at present about three thousand burners in the city. In manufacturing the gas the best Youghiogheny coal. is used; cost per bushel, seventeen cents, delivered. The coke is extensively used by our foundries and factories and highly prized. The coal tar is used for composition roofing, and is sold at two dollars per barrel. The employés, fourteen in number, are paid $1.50 per day. . . . About seven miles of street pipes have been laid.

No lamps had up to this time been placed on Broad Street. In 1854 illumi- nating gas was first supplied to the Institution for the Deaf and Dumb. In 1858 the city possessed 150 lamps, the cost of which had been $25 each. On March 11, 1861, the gas committee of the eouneil reported upon the prices paid for gas as follows: In Cincinnati, down to November 1. 1860, $17.50 per annum for street lamps (not lighted on moonlight nights), and $2.50 per 1,000 feet to private con- sumers, a discount of five per cent. being allowed for payment within five days from the end of each month ; in Zanesville, $15 for public lamps and $3.50 per 1,000 for private consumption ; in Cleveland, after 1855, 817.50 for each publie lamp and $2.50 per 1,000 for private consumption. Averaging these rates, as pro- vided for in the ordinance of May 14, 1850, the council reduced the Columbus price from $3.00 to 82.83.

The capacity of a new tank which the company placed in position in 1861 was 60,000 cubic feet. In 1862 a revenue tax of ten cents per thousand was levied on gas, and was paid, it was maintained, by the consumers. About eleven miles of pipe had up to that time been laid in the streets and alleys of the city. The pro- duction of the works averaged about 90,000 cubic feet in twentyfour hours. In 1868 the company added a new gasholder to its equipment, which was also in other respects considerably improved and enlarged It began with twelve retorts ; in this year it had 151. Gas works at the Penitentiary for the supply of the State buildings and institutions were completed in 1873. In May, 1878, the price of gas was reduced by the company from 82.25 to $2.00 per 1 000 feet. The city had by this time become so largely in arrears in its bills for streetlighting that the council ordered the use of onethird of the lamps to be discontinued. Some hundreds of consumers petitioned for an additional reduction of price, but the company declined to aeeede to the request. On December 1, 1878, the council authorized a contraet with the Mt Vernon Lantern Company for 1,000 naphtha lamps for the streets. About 1,000 of these lamps were brought into use in January, 1879. The contract price for this service, for the term of one year, was $13.95, the Lan- tern Company to clean and fill the lamps, and keep them in serviceable condition. On May 7, 1883, an ordinance was passed so amending that of May 14, 1850 (as amended February 22, 1864), as to extend the Gas Company's grant of street privileges until February 21, 1893, and requiring, in consideration thereof, that the company should furnish the gas required for city lamps at $1.15, and that for private use at $1.25 per thousand cubic feet. At the present time (September, 1892) the company is supplying private consumers at the rate of $1.00 per thou- sand cubic feet, less a discount for payment before the fifteenth of each month. The company's supply is limited mostly to private consumption.

On September 17, 1884, the Ohio Gas Light Association was organized by representatives of prominent gas companies, at a meeting held at the Park Hotel.

559

STREET LIGHTING.

In March, 1881, a company was incorporated having for its object the intro- duction of the Brush system of electric lighting in Columbus. The capital stock of this company was $100,000 in $100 shares. On the twentieth of June, next ensuing, the council passed a resolution authorizing a contract with this company for the lighting of certain streets, as an experiment, but owing to conditions imposed by the patentees of the Brush light, forming the principal company, at Cleveland, the Columbus company was unable to place its stock. On February 9, 1882, the Edison system of electric light was placed on exhibition at the office of the Ohio State Journal. On February 9, next ensuing, that establishment put the light to a practical test in its offices and composing rooms, and declared the result to be satisfactory. This was the first useful application of an electric sys- tem of lighting made in the city. The system, after some delay, couquered its way to additional favor. On May 14, 1887, the present Columbus Electric Light Company was incorporated by Will C. Turner, W. D. Brickell, H. Lindenberg, J. W. Collins, W. S. Ide and Luke G. Byrne. The company organized by elect- ing C. H. Lindenberg as president, J. F. Martin vice president, W. C. Turner secretary and E. Kieswetter as treasurer. The company's plant, at the corner of Third and Gay streets, was erected and equipped in 1887-8. It now supplies power for private and business use and incandescent light for the Capitol, the National Government building and the theatres. Present officers and directors : Adolf Theobald, president; John Siebert, vice president ; Emil Kieswetter, treas- urer ; Charles H. Lindenberg, Louis Siebert, Jacob Bleile, C T Pfaff, Joseph F. Martin, F. E. Drake. The secretary and manager is A. W. Fields; capital stock $200,000. The privilege of laying " pipes, mains, conductors, and service pipes " in the streets, avenues and alleys of the city was conferred upon this company by ordinance of March 28, 1887.

On February 18, 1884, the Columbus Electric Light and Power Company was authorized by the council to erect and maintain its poles and wires in the streets and alleys. This company was incorporated on August 1, 1883. Its plant is situated at the west end of the Broad Street bridge. Its present officers are : President, William Monypeny; vice president, A. D. Rodgers; its secretary and manager is J. G. McGuier ; capital stock, $500,000. This company has a fiveyears contract to light the streets of the city. It now supplies about 800 street lamps, for which it receives $75 each per annum. It also supplies about 450 lamps in commercial use. It produces the arc light, and furnishes power for elevators and all other purposes. The Penitentiary and the Central Asylum for the Insane have, at the present time, small electric light plants of their own.

FUEL GAS.

A company having for its object to provide the city with natural fuel gas was organized in January, 1886, and in March of that year began boring for gas near the Sewer Pipe Company's works, on the east bank of the Whetstone. This experiment was not successful. A little oil was found, but no gas. The well was sunk to the depth of about 2,000 feet, at an expense of about $4,000. The Trenton limestone was struck at a depth of 1,910 feet. On April 11, 1887, the council passed an ordinance granting to the Columbus Natural Gas Company the priv- ilege of laying its pipes in the streets, alleys and public grounds of the city, In May, 1888, natural gas in considerable quantity was discovered in the Clinton limestone at Thurston, Fairfield County, twentyfive miles southeast of Columbus. The supply of this well was stated at 250,000 cubic feet per day. To work this

560

HISTORY OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS.

field, a company was organized under the name of Clinton Natural Gas and Fuel Company. On December 17, 1888, the council enacted a schedule of priees of natural gas for a term of ten years, the rate for manufacturing purposes to be seventyfive per cent. of the cost of coal. An ordinance of February 4, 1889, granted street privileges to the Columbus Natural Gas and Fuel Company, which had acquired options on a large amount of gas territory lying between Newark and Lancaster, and had begun sinking a well near Hadley Junction, twentyfour miles east of Columbus. In March this boring emitted gas at an esti- mated rate of ten million cubic feet per day.

The Columbus Natural Gas and Fuel Company, which had been organized chiefly for prospecting purposes, transferred all its rights and franchises to the Central Ohio Natural Gas and Fuel Company, which was incorporated July 24, 1889. This company made additional borings, conducted its pipes from its wells to and through the city, and on December 31, 1889, turned on the first natural gas burned in Columbus.19 The company now has fifteen wells, and is continually drilling new ones in its field. During the fiscal year ended May 1, 1892, its sup- ply to the city amounted to 600,000,000 cubie feet ; its supply for the current fiscal year is estimated at one billion cubie feet. Its authorized capital stock is 83,000, 000, of which sum shares to the amount of $1,787,000 have been issued. The pres- ent officers and directors of the company are: John G. Deshler president, H. D. Turney vice president, J. H. Hibbard secretary, George W. Sinks treasurer; C. D. Firestone, M. H. Neil, Walter W. Brown and G. C. Hoover. J. O. Johnston is the company's superintendent.

NOTES.

1. Ohio State Journal.

2. The committee's report was accompanied by the following detailed estimate : Cost of Machinery, $55,000; Pumping well, $3,046: buildings, $6,405 ; iron piping, delivered, $167,030 ; hydrants and stopvalves, $10,022 ; trenching, joints and back-filling, $34,266; total, $275.769.

3. The contract, as approved, was in substantial accord with the Holly Company's proposals.

4. Mrs. Betsy Green Deshler.

5. On February 10 Messrs. Goodale, McCoy and Osborn were appointed a committee to distribute the donations made by the citizens for the use of " the sufferers by the late fire."

6. The leather bucket used by John Otstot is still preserved.

7. The encouragement here referred to consisted in the passage by the council of the following resolutions :

" That there be paid out of moneys appropriated by the Columbus Insurance Company for the benefit of the Fire Department, the following premium to wit: To the Brigade which shall first throw water on any fire occurring in this city, the sum of nine dollars if the fire occurs within one square of their Engine House ; the sum of twelve dollars, if the fire occurs within two squares; the sum of fifteen dollars if the fire occurs within three squares ; the sum of eighteen dollars if the fire occurs within four squares; the sum of twentyone dollars if within five squares; and one dollar in addition for each additional square that the fire may be from the Engine House ; the square to reckon from street to street, the money thus appro- priated to he equally divided between the three companies forming the brigade which shall be entitled to the premium.

"That if the Hook and Ladder Company shall arrive on the ground at any fire with their apparatus before the arrival of any Engine or Hose Company, they shall be paid out of the above named fund three dollars."

8. The members of the committee to which was entrusted the test of the machine, and which recommended its purchase, were John Miller, John S. Hall, Charles Ambos, William A. Gill and J. W. Osgood.

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STREET LIGHTING.

9. The first test of a steam fire engine in Cleveland was made in November, 1862. Columbus was said to have been the fourth city in the Union to adopt steam service.

10. The destruction of the Central Asylum for the Insane by fire in November, 1868, will be described in the history of that institution.

11. An ordinance of May 8, 1871, amended June 8, 1874, provided for appointment of the Fire Engineer by the mayor, with the approval of the council.

12. The invention of matches took place in 1829.

13. This lamp was patented and manufactured by Fletcher, in Springfield, Ohio.

14. Ohio State Jou nal.

15. Martin's History.

16. Ohio State Journal.

17. Ibid.

18. Ibid.

19. The company's gas was first burned in the house of its president, Mr. John G. Deshler.

State Capitol and Institutions.

CHAPTER XXXV.

- -

THE CAPITOL.

The accommodations for the State government, although ample when first provided by the proprietors of the capital, were speedily outgrown. Early in the thirties the need of larger and better buildings began to be seriously felt. A proposition to erect a new Statehouse was discussed in the General Assembly in 1836, and elicited the remark by one of its sanguine advocates that he expected to see Columbus develop within a few more years into a flourishing city of not less than ten thousand people. During the following year a committee, of which Hon. James Hughes was chairman, reported that the existing State buildings were altogether inadequate to the safe keeping of public papers or the increased requirements of the General Assembly, and recommended the immediate erection of a new capitol on the Public Square in Columbus. Referring to this report the Chillicothe Gazette spoke contemptuously of the superannuated structures which then occupied the Square, and declared them unworthy of a State like Ohio.

Impelled by such expressions of public opinion, and the report of its com- mittee, the General Assembly, on January 26, 1838, passed an act providing :

That there shall be appointed by joint resolution of both houses of the present General Assembly three commissioners under whose direction, or a majority of them, a new State House shall be erected on the Public Square in the city of Columbus, and said com- missioners shall severally take an oath or affirmation faithfully to discharge the duties assigned them, and should any vacancy in the office of either of the commissioners occur by death, removal or otherwise, the Governor shall fill the same by appointment until the next meeting of the General Assembly when an appointment shall be made to fill such vacancy by joint resolution as before herein provided.

The statute further directed that the board of commissioners thus to be appointed should, by advertisement in the newspapers of Ohio and of the cities of New York, Philadelphia and Washington, offer a premium of $500 for the first, $300 for the second and $200 for the third best plan for the proposed Statehouse to be accompanied by estimates and approved by the General Assembly. Imme- diate supervision of the construction was entrusted to a superintendent, with authority to contract for and procure labor and materials, his salary to be not over one thousand dollars, and his term of service to rest with the discretion of the commissioners. The superintendent might also contract for as much of the convict labor of the Penitentiary as it might be judicious to employ. The sum of $10,000 was appropriated for expenditure in such work as might be appropriated to any plan which might be adopted. The necessary expenditures of the com- missioners were to be paid from the State treasury.

[565]

566

HISTORY OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS.

In token of the general gratification of the people of Columbus at the pas- sage of this act, Colonel John Noble, who then kept the National Hotel, on the present site of the Neil House, " had the candles in his front windows so arranged," says Martin, " as to form letters and spell NEW STATE HOUSE." The commissioners appointed by joint resolution, pursuant to the act, were Joseph Ridgway, Junior, of Columbus, William A. Adams, of Muskingum County, and William B. Van Hook, of Butler. These commissioners met during the ensuing April and contracted with William S. Sullivant for the privilege of taking from his quarry on the Scioto, three miles above the city, all the limestone necessary to erect the proposed building.1 The price to be paid for the stone was fifty cents per perch of twentyfive cubic feet. Of the prizes offered for the best three of about sixty plans submitted, the first was awarded to Henry Walter, of Cincin- nati, the second to Martin E. Thompson, of New York City, and the third to Thomas Cole, of Catskill, New York. The commissioners explained that in mak- ing these selections they were governed by the following considerations which they supposed to have promoted the passage of the act under which they were appointed :

First, to construct an edifice which should combine in its interior arrangement perfect security to the archives of the several departments of the public service, and convenience to the several bodies and officers to be accommodated ; and secondly, that in its exterior form and interior disposition of apartments there should be united that beauty and grandeur which the rules of art require, and which comport with the wealth and dignity of the State.

The plan. ultimately adopted was a modification of the three obtaining pre- miums, and was intended to provide apartments not only for the General Assem- bly, but for all the State officers and for " the invaluable library."

Judging by the estimates which accompanied the plans, rating labor at the prices then prevailing, and making allowance for that of convicts, the employ- ment of about two hundred of whom was recommended, the commissioners con - eluded that the building could not be erected for less than $450,000. The deliv- ery of stone for the walls began at once, and before the end of 1838 amounted to 2,062 perches, of which a part were hauled to the Penitentiary to be dressed by convicts. Pursuant to recommendation of the commissioners the General Assembly at its next session appropriated 850,000 for the work, which, with opening of the spring of 1839, began actively. Excavation was made for the foundation, the laying of which proceeded steadily under the supervision of the commissioners and of Mr. Henry Walter, the architect .? A frame building for use as an office and the safekeeping of tools and machinery was erected on the Capitol Square which was surrounded by a very high board fence to prevent escape of the con- viets employed. The water required by the builders was obtained from the grounds. For the ceremony of laying the cornerstone, which was appointed for July 4, 1839, and which the existing legislature and its immediate predecessor were invited to attend, the following "officers of the day," were appointed : President, Colonel James Kilbourn ; vice presidents, Robert W. McCoy, Alfred Kelley, John A. Bryan, Joseph Ridgway, Junior, Noah H. Swayne, Jacob Medary, James Allen, Philo H. Olmstead, John Noble, Christian Heyl, John McElvain, and James Dalzell ; marshals, Joseph Sullivant, James C. Reynolds, Wray Thomas and Nehemiah Gregory. The order of the procession, which was directed to form on the east side of High Street with its right on Broad, was arranged as fol- lows: 1. Marshals on horseback ; 2, martial music; 3, band ; 4, military on foot ; 5, military on horseback ; 6, revolutionary soldiers ; 7, orator of the day and reader of the declaration ; 8, president and vice presidents of the day ; 9, clergy ; 10, committee of arrangements; 11, invited guests ; 12, United States and State officers ; 13, societies ; 14, band ; 15, handierafts ; 16, city band; 17, mayor and

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History of the city of Columbus, capital of Ohio, Volume II, Part 74

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