USA > Ohio > Hamilton County > Cincinnati > Sketches and statistics of Cincinnati in 1851 > Part 9
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CITY WATER WORKS.
from the Ohio river, and passed through pipes for the use of the citizens, flowed on the 3d day of July, 1821.
In 1824, Mr. Davies purchased the engine and boiler of the steam- boat Vesta ; and Mr. Joseph Dickinson, after having repaired, and fitted the engine up in the frame building south of Front street, attached by means of crank and lever, two lifting-pumps, of 6-inch cylinder, and two force-pumps of 7-inch cylinder and 4-foot stroke. With these the water was lifted from the river into a tank in the same building, and forced, from this tank, up the hill, 400 feet through 5-inch iron pipe, and 350 feet of gum wood pipe, into the reservoir. The trees for these pipes were cut in Deacon Wade's " woods," near the corner of Western Row and Everett streets.
In 1827, Mr. Davies sold his interest in the water works to Messrs. Ware, Foote, Greene and others, when in accordance with the act of incorporation a company organization took place. At this time, there were about 17,000 feet of wooden pipe, five hundred and thirty hydrants, and less than 5,000 dollars income.
In 1828, the engine was repaired, and the entire pumping appa- ratus remodeled by Anthony Harkness. After this, the water was thrown through a 12-inch iron pipe into a new stone reservoir, 100 feet by 50, and 12 feet deep. This reservoir was enlarged, from time to time, until its dimensions equaled 350 feet in length by 50 feet in width, and 12 feet deep, containing 1,200,000 gallons of water. This reservoir, having served its day, has now to give way to make room for a new one enlarged to meet the present demand.
In 1833, Mr. Harkness made and put up a new engine and pump- ing apparatus, which is now in use.
In 1839, the water works were purchased of the Company by the City. They consisted, at that time, of the ground on which the engine house is erected, being 300 feet on Front street, running to the river-176 feet of ground fronting on the north side of Front street, running to Congress street-a piece of ground bounding 500 feet on High street, and 350 feet on Morton street, including the reservoir-1885 feet of 10-inch iron pipe, 7914 feet of 8-inch, 10,634 of 4-inch iron pipe, and 117,421 feet of wooden pipe-with 2639 hydrants, and an income of $31,777.
In 1844, the City Council contracted with Messrs. Yeatman & Shield for new engines and pumps, which were put in operation in 1846.
In 1846, the management of the water works was placed, by an
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CITY WATER WORKS.
act of the Legislature, in charge of three Trustees, to be elected by. the people.
The following account of the pumping power connected with the works, at this time, is from the report of the engineer, Theo. R. Scowden, to the Trustees.
" The engine built by Mr. Anthony Harkness is high pressure, slide valves, and is constructed, in its application of power to the pumps, on the principle of direct action.
" The steam cylinder is 25 inches diameter, and works eight feet stroke of piston ; the pump barrel is 17 inches diameter, working same stroke of piston as the cylinder, and the centres of bores exactly in the direction of plumb line. Although antiquated in appearance, the simple and durable arrangement admirably adapts it to the pumping of water ; operating with much ease and regular- ity of motion, and capable of forcing into the reservoir 1,500,000 gallons of water each 12 hours.
" The steam engine and pump built by Messrs. Yeatman & Shield were constructed from a design by Mr. Shield, and put in operation in March, 1847. The steam engines are connected at right angles by an arrangement in the main cranks. The steam cylinders are 22 inches bore and 10 feet stroke of piston, and form their connection with the main cranks by means of wrought iron pitmans. The pumps are each 14 inches diameter of bore, and 10 feet stroke of piston. Attached to the pumps are two air vessels, 5 feet diameter and 10 feet long ; the pumps throw about 1,800,000 gallons of water into the reservoir each 12 hours."
The engine and pump built by Messrs. A. Harkness & Son, and completed in February, 1851, were from designs furnished by Mr. Scowden, engineer of the water works. "This is a vertical, direct acting, condensing engine, having a cylinder of 45 inches diameter and 8 feet stroke of piston, with double acting vertical forcing-pump, the barrel 18 inches diameter, and 8 feet of stroke of piston ; the air vessel attached is 10 feet long and 4 feet diameter.
" For quantity and quality of material, faithful workmanship, and high finish, it is eminently superior, possessing every essential of excellence to give it a high rank as a specimen of American mechanism ; likely to give satisfactory results, when thorough trial and experience shall have fully established its practical usefulness."
This machinery is capable of throwing 1,750,000 gallons of water into the reservoir each 12 hours.
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CINCINNATI GAS WORKS.
The efficient pumping power of the works at this time, is equal to 5,000,000 gallons of water each 12 hours. The average daily con- sumption of water in the city, is about 2,300,000 gallons, equal to a consumption of coal, daily, of 185 bushels.
The walls of the new reservoir now in progress of construction are of common limestone. The entire length will be 368 feet, width 135 feet, and depth 23 feet ; calculated to retain water to the height of 20 feet, and holding 5,000,000 gallons of water.
The water was let into the east division of the new reservoir, last December, and since that time the city has been supplied from that source.
At this time there are connected with the works, rather more than 45 miles of pipe, and 5700 hydrants, producing an income, for the year ending 15th December, 1850, of $72,500.
The cost of the water works, including the sum of $300,000 paid to the old water company, amounts to $796,000. The city bonds have been issued, at different times, to the amount of $680,000 ; the balance, $116,000, has been furnished from the surplus income, after paying the interest on the loans, repairs, and all other ordinary expenses of conducting the works.
CINCINNATI GAS WORKS.
THIS, which is now a joint-stock company, was originally the private enterprise of J. F. Conover and J. H. Caldwell, to whom the City Council, by ordinance, dated 16th June, 1841, gave the exclu- sive privilege of supplying the citizens and lighting the city with gas for 25 years, when the city has the right to purchase the works at an equitable valuation, made by disinterested persons, mutually chosen. These individuals subsequently obtained a charter, granted by the Legislature, under the name and style of " The Cincinnati Gas Light and Coke Company," with a capital of $100,000; to which company they subsequently transferred their interest, retain- ing a large majority of the stock, under the sanction and approval of the City Council.
The Works are on Front, between Smith and Park streets, and inclose about one and a third acre of ground. There are between eighteen and twenty miles of pipe laid, and 500 lamps erected throughout the city. Nearly three miles of pipe are annually added to the existing improvements. W. S. CALDWELL, President.
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OBSERVATORY.
VIII. SCIENCE AND LITERATURE.
OBSERVATORY.
THE site on which the Cincinnati Observatory is erected is one of great beauty. The building crowns a hill which rises some 500 feet above the low water of the Ohio river, and commands a view of wonderful variety. On the east are seen in the distance the hills of Kentucky, the river coming in from the north-east; the towns of Fulton and Jamestown, with their manufactories and ship-yards ;- toward the north and north east, extends the same range of high grounds, on the most southern spur of which the observatory is erected. The nearest of these are now highly cultivated, and are covered with luxuriant vineyards, and orchards of choice fruit. The village of Mount Auburn presents an elegant appearance, especially when lighted by the first rays of the morning sun. Look- ing west from the summit of the Observatory, the entire city of Cincinnati is spread out before the beholder, as upon a map. There is scarcely a building in the whole city which may not be distin- guished from this elevated position. The river is followed by the eye toward the south-west, its continuity occasionally broken by the interposition of high hills ;- on the south and south-west, are seen the Kentucky cities of Newport and Covington, separated by the Licking river, whose rich valley indents the country for more than twenty miles.
Such is the character of the position selected for the erection of the first great Astronomical Observatory ever erected by the people. Four acres were presented on the summit of this hill, to the Astro- nomical Society, by N. Longworth ; this lot of ground to be forever exclusively devoted to the uses of the Astronomical Observatory. From so elevated a position, there is, of course, an uninterrupted horizon ; so that the moment an object ascends above that line, it may be brought within the sweep of the telescope. The height of the observatory above the river and above the plane on which the city is built, frees the observers from the annoyance of smoke, heated atmosphere, and fogs, which would be most serious obstacles on a lower level.
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OBSERVATORY.
The Observatory building is constructed in such manner as to accommodate the family of the Director, as well as for scientific uses, and for the instruments. The main building, erected of stone, quarried from the hill, presents a front of 80 feet, and rises two stories and a half high on the wings, and three in the centre. The front is ornamented by a Grecian Doric portico, from whose roof there is a beautiful look out on the surrounding country. This portico, in connection with the main building and the transit building, in the rear or on the east side, constitutes a structure whose ground- plan is in the shape of a cross : when viewed from any point north or south, from which the parts of the entire structure may be taken in, the edifice presents an appearance of massiveness and solidity which harmonizes admirably with the known uses to which it is applied.
Through the centre of the main building, and founded on the natural rock, rises a pier of grouted masonry eight feet square, entirely insulated from the floors through which it passes, to furnish a permanent and immovable basis for the great equatorial telescope, the chief instrument of the Observatory. This magnificent telescope, one of the largest and most perfect in the world, was made at the Frauenhofer Institute, Munich, by Messrs. Mertz & Mahler, so dis- tinguished for the perfection of their optical instruments.
The focal length is about 173 feet ; the diameter of the object glass, twelve inches ; bearing magnifying powers varying from 100 times up to 1400 times. Clock-work is attached to the pon- derous mass of the telescope and all its machinery and circles, by which its mass, weighing some 2500 lbs., is moved with such admirable accuracy, that an object under examination may be fol- lowed by the telescope at the will of the observer. This stupendous instrument, mounted on a stone pedestal of great strength and graceful figure, rises, when directed to the zenith, some 20 feet above the floor of the room in which it is located.
This room is surmounted by a roof of peculiar structure, and so arranged that a portion of the vertical wall and the roof, strongly framed together and mounted on wheels on a railway track, may, by a single person, be rolled either north or south, when the entire heavens falls within the sweep of the telescope. It is truly won- derful to behold the admirable manner in which this huge instru- ment is balanced and counterpoised, until the astronomer handles it with as much facility as if it were divested of gravity or were afloat on some liquid surface.
4
yours truly
Our Hatchet
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OBSERVATORY.
One story lower, and in the transit-room, is mounted the transit telescope, the property of the U. S. Coast Survey, and furnished to the Observatory by the present Superintendent, Dr. A. D. Bache. Connected with this instrument, is an admirable sidereal clock, by Molyneux, of London, and presented to the Observatory by Wilson McGrew of our city. Here also is found the new machinery invented and constructed by the present Director of the Observatory, Professor O. M. Mitchel : it consists of two instruments of entirely different construction, the one intended to record the observations of right ascension ; the other, observations of difference in declination or of N. P. Distance.
It would be quite impossible, in the compass of this notice, to give any just idea of this wonderfully delicate apparatus. By means of the electro-magnet, the clock is made to record its own beats, with surprising beauty, on a disc revolving with uniform velocity on a vertical axis. This disc, covered with paper or metal, receives a minute dot, struck into it by a stylus, driven by a magnet, whose operating electric circuit is closed at each alternate beat, by a deli- cate vibrating wire attached to the pendulum of the clock by an actual spider's web ; thus, at each alternate vibration of the pen- dulum, the circuit is closed, and the second is entered, magnetically, on the revolving disc. At the close of each revolution, the disc moves itself forward about the tenth of an inch, without check or interference with the uniformity of its angular motion, and a new circumference of time dots, commences to be recorded. On the time scale thus perpetually forming, the observer can enter, magnet- ically, by the touch of a key, the observed instant of transit of any star or other object across the meridian wires of his telescope.
These entries are subsequently read from the disc, even down to the thousandth of one second of time.
This apparatus has now been in use for nearly two years, and has furnished observations of accuracy never before reached by any previous instruments. The rapidity, facility, and accuracy attain- able by these observations are truly admirable. Results have made it manifest, that the errors, from all sources, were only to be found among the hundredths of one second of time. The inventor hopes to banish the errors from this region even, and drive them to the thousandth of a second.
The declination apparatus is also entirely new, and seems to pos- sess astonishing power. It releases the observer from the necessity
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CINCINNATI HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY.
of reading any circles or other means of identifying his instrumental positions, and enables him, at a single transit, to record as many as ten observations for declination-even among the swiftly moving bodies of the equator. This gives an advantage, all other things being equal, of ten to one over the old methods of observing. This instru- ment has been in use about a year, and is yet incomplete in some of its refined details, but has produced remarkable results, and gives the highest promise, when mechanically complete in all its parts.
Such are the appliances for work in the Cincinnati Observatory. There is no endowment, and the present director has no salary or other compensation, and no assistance out of his own immediate family. The great telescope has been principally employed in the measure of the newly discovered and previously discovered double and multiple stars, and in figuring remarkable clusters and nebulæ.
The other apparatus and transit instrument are employed in re- determining the places of the N. A. standard stars, and other kin- dred observations.
It is only to be regretted that an enterprise, so nobly conceived, and so well carried out, could not now be permanently endowed, that its instruments might be worked day and night to their utmost capacity.
THE CINCINNATI HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY.
THIS flourishing and useful society was formed in 1843, as the following extracts from its publications will show :
The first meeting with reference to the formation of tlie Cincin- nati Horticultural Society, was held at the house of Robert Buchanan, on the evening of the 17th February, 1843. The fol- lowing persons were present :- Robert Buchanan, A. H. Ernst, M. Flagg, S. C. Parkhurst, J. B. Russell, H. Probasco, V. C. Mar- shall, John Locke, George Graham and Thomas Winter. A. H. Ernst was called to the chair, and J. B. Russell appointed Secre- tary.
On motion, J. B. Russell, M. Flagg, and R. Buchanan, were ap- pointed a committee to prepare a constitution and by-laws of the Society. At a subsequent meeting, they made a report, which was accepted ; and the following persons were elected officers for that year :
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CINCINNATI HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY.
Robert Buchanan, President; Melzer Flagg, 1st Vice-President; Andrew H. Ernst, 2d Vice-President; L. G. Bingham, 3d Vice- President ; S. C. Parkhurst, Treasurer; John B. Russell, Corres- ponding Secretary ; J. G. Anthony, Recording Secretary.
Elisha Brigham, George Graham, George W. Neff, Jacob Hoffner, Thomas Winter, William Smith, John Sayers,-Council.
STANDING COMMITTEES.
On the characters of Fruits and their Synonyms .- A. H. Ernst, M. Flagg, Wm. Smith, John Sayers, Stephen Mosher.
On Flowers .- R. Buchanan, John Sayers, Jacob Hoffner, Gabriel Sleath, S. S. Jackson.
On Vegetables .- G. W. Neff, J. B. Russell, E. B. Reeder, Chas. W. Elliot, John Frazer.
On Entomology, as connected with insect depredations on Fruit and Shade Trees .- John P. Foote, J. A. Warder, R. Buchanan, Charles Cheney, Charles W. Elliot, E. J. Hooper, M. Flagg, Daniel Gano, William Price, John G. Anthony, George Graham, James H. Perkins, Dr. N. B. Shaler.
During the spring, summer and autumn of 1843, the society held meetings nearly every Saturday, in the lower room, on Third Street, between Walnut and Vine, formerly occupied as the Post Office. The number of its members increased very fast, and a great interest in its objects was created. A correspondence was opened with dis- tinguished horticulturists in different parts of the Union ; new fruits were thus brought to light, and seeds and scions of superior varieties were exchanged and disseminated. The exhibitions of flowers in the spring, and of fruits, vegetables, and American wine in the autumn, were crowded with visitors, and a great impulse thus given to the culture of fruits and flowers.
From this humble beginning, it has prospered beyond the fondest anticipations of its most ardent friends, and now, in the eighth year, numbers near seven hundred members. Its receipts for the past year were over $1900, and expenditures near $1800; about $1200 being paid out in premiums for fruits and flowers, and horticultural designs and decorations.
That the society has been productive of much good, there can be no doubt; the great improvement in our fruit and flower market, which we notice every year, is the strongest evidence of its utility, while the growing taste for the beautiful and innocent pursuits of
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CINCINNATI HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY.
horticulture, gives pleasing occupation and a delightful hobby, to the leisure hours of many an amateur in our city and vicinity, afford- ing at the same time, an extensive and liberal market for the nur- seryman and florist.
The semi-annual exhibitions of this society, particularly the au- tumnal, have been rich and varied, and highly creditable to our infant western institutions. Gentlemen from the cast have acknow- ledged that our exhibitions compare favorably with the best of those across the mountains, and in many fruits, even excel them.
Strong efforts are now being made to erect a horticultural hall, upon an enlarged scale, and in a style which shall be a credit to the society and an ornament to the city ; and from the liberal encourage- ment already met with, the object will, no doubt, be accomplished. Long may our citizens continue to cultivate a taste for these useful and ennobling pursuits, so eminently calculated to mend the manners and improve the heart.
The officers of the society for the present year, are :-
A. H. Ernst, President; William Resor, M. S. Wade, N. B. Shaler, Vice-Presidents ; John A. Warder, Recording Secretary ; George Graham, Corresponding Secretary ; William Resor, Trea- surer.
Executive Council .- John P. Foote, M. McWilliams, Wm. Orange, S. S. Jackson, G. Sleath, Jos. Longworth, and S. Mosher.
STANDING COMMITTEES FOR TIIE YEAR.
Fruits .- M. Mc Williams, M. S. Wade, S. M. Carter, Wm. Orange, John G. Anthony.
Flowers .- N. B. Shaler, James Hall, Robert Neale, Chas. Patton, Thomas Salter.
Vegetables .- John P. Foote, A. Worthington, Robert M. Moore, George Graham, Henry Ives.
Library .- Jolin P. Foote, John A. Warder, John G. Anthony.
MEDICAL COLLEGE OF OHIO.
TIIs Institution was first chartered, and placed in the hands of a Board of Trustees, in 1819, and went fully into operation in 1825.
The State furnished the means by which a spacious edifice was erected. It contains large lecture rooms and an amphitheatre, together with apartments for the library, as well as private rooms
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MEDICAL COLLEGE OF OIIIO.
for the professors, and apartments well fitted up for pursuing, pri- vately, the study of anatomy. The library contains upward of two thousand volumes, of well-selected standard works, purchased by the State, and for the use of the students of the college. The cabi- net belonging to the Anatomical department is supplied with all the materials necessary for acquiring a minute and thorough knowledge of the human frame. These consist of detached bones, of wired and natural skeletons, and of dried preparations, to exhibit the muscles, blood-vessels, nerves, lymphatics, etc., etc. In addition, are very accurate wooden models of the small bones, and represen- tations in wax, of the soft and more delicate structures.
The cabinet of Comparative Anatomy, is supposed to be supplied more extensively, and with rarer specimens, than any other in the Union. Beside perfect skeletons of foreign and American animals, birds, etc., there is an immense number of detached crania, from the elephant and hippopotamus to the minute orders.
The cabinet belonging to the Surgical department has been formed at great expense, by the labor of more than thirty-five years. It contains a large number of very rare specimens, among which are sections of the thigh-bones, that establish as fact, what European surgeons have long denied, viz : the possibility, by proper treatment, of a re-union, after a fracture, of the neck of these bones. There are near five hundred specimens of diseased bones alone.
Of the department of Chemistry, it seems hardly necessary that we should speak. The known industry and extraordinary enthu- siasm, in every department of the physical sciences, of the gentleman who fills the chemical chair, are the strongest guarantees, that for the most full and efficient performance of the peculiar duties allotted to him, nothing that was necessary has been left unprovided. Many of his instruments are the result of his own powers of invention ; but the most important were selected by himself, in Europe, and pur- chased at great cost.
Belonging to the chair of Materia Medica, is a large collection of indigenous plants, their extracts and other medicinal preparations, together with all the foreign articles used in practice ; and the various topics embraced in the department of Obstetrics and diseases of women and children, are elucidated, in part, by numerous and exceedingly interesting wax casts, most of which were obtained in Paris, of some of the best French artists.
The students have the advantage of access to the Commercial
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MEDICAL COLLEGE OF OHIO.
Hospital, where they witness the medical and surgical treatment of the patients by members of the faculty. This is an invaluable pri- vilege, and affords the students great facilities for acquiring a correct knowledge of diseases and their treatment. There are in the hospi- tal, annually, 3000 patients ; and during the two winters usually devoted to attendance upon lectures, as great a variety of diseases is presented to the student, as generally falls under the observation of a physician during a lifetime of practice. But what is of first importance to the western student, is the fact, that through the facilities afforded by the connection spoken of, he can acquire a per- fect knowledge of those diseases which he will be called upon to treat, on his first introduction into practice. A further advantage of this connection, also, is that students have the opportunity of witnessing operations, by one, long and successfully acquainted with the practical use of the knife.
In the prosecution of Practical Anatomy, also, every facility is afforded them that can be obtained at similar institutions of the country.
At no period during its entire history have the prospects of the school been more encouraging. The utmost harmony prevails in the faculty, and the present class is as large as any which has ever attended, with one exception. There are, at present, one hundred and eighty-six students.
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