USA > Ohio > Sketches and statistics of Cincinnati in 1859 > Part 33
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The next difficulty to be met was to obtain the services of a chief engineer to the new organization, so as to carry it success- fully into effect. Miles Greenwood, on being applied to, consented to serve in that capacity until the contemplated change should be fully carried out, and all resistance to the reform should cease, de- voting his well known energies to the cause, and not only paid out of his own means an assistant engineer, but generously assigned his salary for his entire term of office, as principal, to the treasury of the Ohio Mechanics' Institute.
Patience, perseverance and firmness finally carried the whole system to an entire success, and the last and perhaps the greatest difficulty, that of adjusting the pecuniary interests of the city and of the respective companies, in the buildings and apparatus of the department, which had been suffered to become greatly complica- ted, was triumphantly overcome. Mr. Walker personally effected a settlement between the city and each company of their respec- tive interests, which in the main and finally proved satisfactory to both parties, and the whole community has now settled down into full acquiescence with and support of the new organization.
It does not comport with the space that can be given in these pages, to enter into the harassing and vexatious details of this sub-
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ject, but the nature and degree of the difficulties, and the arduous labor of removing them may be inferred from the fact that to this day, at Baltimore, Philadelphia, and other places, where a kindred reform has been agitated for a length of years, the pressure in and outside the public authorities has hitherto successfully resisted the desired change. Nothing short of the determination and perse- verance of James H. Walker could have here carried it through, and the city of Cincinnati owes him a debt for moral and pecun- iary benefits which we never can adequately pay or liquidate.
Among the many mechanical and scientific trophies of Cincin- nati, may be fairly reckoned the invention of the steam fire engine, made in this city by Abel Shawk, a well known and ingenious me- chanic here. After devoting years of labor in carrying out this apparatus to its present degree of perfection and efficiency, under discouragements which would have led any ordinary man to its abandonment, he has brought the steam fire engine to the perfec- tion it now exhibits.
I regret to add, that his generous and unsuspicious nature has been so far abused as to deprive him to a great extent of the just pecuniary recompense thus earned; but those who know him best, feel that to him, and him only, belongs the credit of having first and fully brought this important invention into practical service.
THE PROTESTANT UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STAETS.
This institution was incorporated by the Legislature of Ohio, in the year 1845, and is under the management of a competent board of trustees. The following is the second section of its charter, which fixes its location, defines its object, and secures to it the most unlimited academic powers, viz: " The said university shall be located in, or near to, the city of Cincinnati ; and its object and purpose are hereby declared to be the promotion and advancement of education, the cultivation and diffusion of literature, science, and the arts, in all their departments and faculties." It is not Sec- tarian. Thus, in the ninth and eleventh sections, it is expressly " provided that in the rules and regulations governing the admis- sion of students, there shall be no preference on account of reli- gious sects, or any other cause, except good moral character, and the promise of superior scholarship," and "that the corporation
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shall have no power at any time to establish a sectarian religious test, as a condition of enjoying the honors and privileges of the university." But it is Protestant. And this name was given to it, by the Legislature, because of the provision in the eleventh sec- tion of its charter, " that it shall always be conducted in subservi- ency to the true, reformed, protestant Christian religion, as taught in the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments." Its gen- eral corporate powers are correspondingly liberal in their charac- ter. This outline, as it is due to our citizens, will sufficiently ex- plain, for the present, the nature and scope of the institution.
The university has not yet been opened for instruction, but much has been done in preparation for this. The Rev. William Wilson, D.D., L.L.D., is its chancellor. It has recently been endowed, by the munificent bequest of an enlightened, spirited and patriotic protestant of the city of New York. The whole protestant world, as well as the republic of letters and science, are deeply inter- ested in the success of this university. More active steps will soon be taken for bringing it into operation. It is the property, and ought to be the pride, as it shall one day be, of Cincinnati. Our citizens should liberally contribute to its endowment. The Queen City herself, even apart from other resources, is able to establish it upon a permanent foundation.
AMERICAN PATENT COMPANY.
The business of this company is so entirely new in this country, as to render it difficult to classify it. It is, in fact, a combination of almost every civilized business, as will be presently seen. It was incorporated in July, 1858, under the name of the American Patent Company, with a capital of one hundred thousand dollars, and procures patents from the United States and all European coun- tries. It makes models, drawings, etc., for inventions; furnishes engravings of all kinds, on wood or stone ; makes out sale and transfer papers ; buys and sells patents on commission ; conducts patent suits, prosecutes rejected applications for patents ; builds machinery ; males calculations of power ; furnishes designs ; prints circulars, pamphlets and books ; publishes the Scientific Ar- tisan weekly ; buys on commission any and everything needed by the manufacturer ; and, in fact, does everything pertaining to pat-
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ents and mechanical labor. Such an institution is destined to wield a very beneficial influence for the trade and manufacturers of this city, as well as the whole country --- for it is actually a source of protection to both patentees as a class, and to the public. The fol- lowing is a list of the officers and directors in the company": Wm. Resor, President ; R. S. Newton, Vice President ; H. E. Clif -. ton, Secretary ; Geo. H. Hill, Thos. Sherlock, and N. Headington Directors, as are also the officers above named. The company's spacious establishment is represented in one of the pages of this volume.
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RECENT AND PROSPECTIVE CITY IMPROVEMENTS.
Within a few years a new style of building, both public and pri- vate edifices, has been introduced by our principal architects, greatly to the improvement of the public taste. Among these buildings are
The Seventh Presbyterian Church on broadway.
The Central 60 66 corner Mound and Barr sts.
V. Worthington's fine mansion on Pike street.
Robert Burnet's, on Seventh and Vine, and a number of stores, single or in blocks, of which the principal are,
Baker's buildings on Walnut street.
Taylor's block, on Second.
Perin, Gould & Co.'s blocks on Front.
Moore, Wilstach, Keys & Co., and Mitchell & Rammelsberg, on Fourth street, and Messrs. Albert, Day & Matlack, and Stadler's, all on Pearl street, which have been put up under the superinten- dence of Walter & Wilson, or executed under designs and plans fur- nished by them as-architects. They are now engaged upon the Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church, on Ninth street, the Roman Catholic Institute on Vine street, W. K. Nixon's, and Heidelbach & Seasongood's stores on Vine street, the first at the corner of Fourth, and the second at that of Third street ; and the private residences of J. Netter on Eighth, and of Messrs. Dixon and Par-
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ker, on Ninth street. Walter & Wilson's office is at the southeast corner Walnut and Fourth streets.
James W. Mclaughlin, architect, northwest corner Third and Walnut streets. He has furnished designs for, or suporintended the erection of, several fine buildings, among which are the resi -- dences of Edmund Dexter, corner Fourth and Broadway, and Judge Este, on Fourth near Park street, Derby's building, southwest cor- ner Third and Walnut, Jno. Shillito & Co.'s dry goods palace, on Fourth street : the Masonic building, on Third street ; the Fire- men's Insurance Company's block, at the intersection of Main and Front-all business edifices ; and of public buildings, the National Theatre, on Sycamore street, and the Masonic temple, southeast corner of Third and Walnut streets.
Mr. Mclaughlin is now engaged on the new " Commercial " office, at the northeast corner Fourth and Race, two fine five story stores for J. Elsas & Co., on Pearl, near Race street, and three for A. & J. Wolf, on Vine, between Pearl and Second streets. A new R. C. Church on Mt. Adams, and the R. C. Church, St. Francis- cus Seraphicus, at the intersection of Bremen and Liberty street, and has furnished designs which have been accepted by the pub- lic authorities, for a new and spacious City Hall, which will prob- ably be commenced shortly.
Isaiah Rogers, Son & Co., office 168 Vine street. To the taste and skill of this firm, we owe the construction of many important public buildings-among the rest, the Burnet House-the latest of which is the new Lunatic Asylum at Carthage, which is the largest edifice of the kind in the State, having a front of six hundred and twelve feet, by a depth of three hundred feet, and which varies from three to five stories in height. They are about to commence building the new county jail, an edifice of one hundred and fifty fect square, with four tiers of cells. Also two stores on Fourth street, adjoining the Carlisle building, for W. B. Smith, forty feet by eighty-five feet, five stories in height, with Italian fronts.
Anderson & Hannaford, office 12 Manchester building. This is a recent establishment, which has been principally engaged on buildings outside of the city. They have furnished designs, plans or drawings for R. A. Whetstone's private mansion at Clifton, one of the largest in the place ; for two stores, five stories high, with stone fronts, on Main street, for George H. Brown ; two stores, with stone fronts, and five stories, on Main street, for A. H. An-
HAMILTON & M'LAUGHLIN, ARCHITECTS
EHRGOTT A FORBRIGER , LITE JNO
NEW MASONIC TEMPLE, CINCINNATI, O. From a Palavraest by Saus
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drews, of the firm of Miner & Andrews, and Thomas D. Carneal; a block of warehouses for John Hall, on Second street, and for residences to Chas. E. Matthews, east Walnut Hills, and Lewis Mehner, on Eighth near Freeman street, and J. F. Mills, of the firm of Mills & Kline, on Richmond, near Freeman street.
GRAPE CULTURE IN VINEYARDS.
This branch of agriculture has, within the last few years, been rapidly advancing in the United States, especially in the west and southwest. The grape is now cultivated in vineyards, for making wine, in twenty-one States of our Union. In Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, and in North and South Carolina, the increase in this cul- tivation has been rapid and extensive. For the last three or four years past, the sales of grape roots and cuttings in Cincinnati, for the south and southwest, have averaged about two hundred thou- sand roots and four hundred thousand cuttings, annually, and prin- cipally of the catawba grape. The yield of wine to the acre, in these regions, thus far, exceeds that in the Ohio valley, which would appear to indicate a better climate for wine than ours.
The accounts of vineyard products in California are so very sur- prising as to appear like exaggerations, were we not already con- vinced of the existence of other remarkable productions in that new and wonderful country. If half we hear be true, it must be the most favorable wine region in the world. With the attention now given to wine farming, in so many of the States of our Union, it cannot longer be doubted that we shall ere long produce a great portion of the wine for home consumption, and probably some for export.
In the Ohio valley, for the last three or four years, the grape crop has been much injured by mildew and rot, diseases incident to bad seasons, or sudden atmospheric changes. Many remedies have been tried, but none has yet been found effectual in these cases. It is difficult, by any mode of vineyard cultivation, pruning or train- ing, to conquer disease arising from atmospheric causes. The sulphur remedy, so efficient in France, in the last two years, has failed here, perhaps from imperfect application.
But with all these drawbacks, the wine planters are not discour-
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aged ; the crop thus far has been more reliable than any other fruit crop, and quite as remunerative. The best evidence of this is in the rapid increase of the cultivation of the grape, and the nu- merous efforts made to find varieties to suit every portion of this fertile valley.
The number of acres in vineyard culture within twenty miles around Cincinnati, is now estimated at two thousand. An average yield for a series of years, is supposed to be two hundred gallons to the acre, which is about the average for France and Germany. From this data may be formed an estimate of the value of this crop when prepared for market - the wine being worth at the press, one dollar to one dollar and twenty-five cents per gallon, but from the cellars of the vintners, twenty-five to fifty per cent. more.
SALT.
This is an article which has undergone more changes in this market, in price, quality, and source of supply, than perhaps any other that can be named. The early settlers had to pay six and even eight dollars per bushel for a vastly inferior article than can now be bought here for twenty-five cents. Even as late as 1815, the wholesale price here was three and a half to four dollars per bushel-seven to eight cents per lb. Until within a short period, the Kanawha salines were our principal sources of supply, but the best quality and largest quantity are now derived from our own State-salt being extensively made in and adjacent to Pomeroy, Meigs county. At this point is the head quarters and theatre of operations of the Ohio Salt Company, which owns eight salt fur- naces, many of which are of recent construction and great capa- city, with all the latest improvements.
Two millions of bushels-all first quality of salt-are annually made here, comprising every variety, from the finest table salt to the coarse alum or crystal salt employed in pork packing. Scien- tific analysis has shown that there is no purer article of salt manu- factured anywhere than now supplies our market.
The office of this company is at No. 27 west Front street, Cin- cinnati. Luther F. Potter, sole agent.
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SEWING MACHINE.
In 1841, the value of ready-made clothing manufactured here was 81,223,800, and in the lapse of the succeeding ten years these figures advanced only to $1,947,500. In addition to the labor en- gaged in this manufacture, at the first period, of eight hundred and thirteen, and at the second date, of nine hundred and fifty hands employed in the workshops, there were, in 1841, more than four thousand women in this city and in Covington and Newport, who worked at their own homes for these establishments. That num- ber must have increased fifty per cent. from 1841 to 1851, as the latter product shows. At this last date New York sold more ready- made clothing than all the cities in the United States beside.
Just at this period the sewing machine, then recently invented, was introduced into Cincinnati; here, as well as everywhere else, under the violent opposition of thousands, who predicted its advent a death-blow to female industry, it was at once seen that hand la- bor could not contend with machinery, and the conclusion was reached that women, already inadequately paid for the unhealthy and wearisome employment of sewing, would be, as a class, thrown cut of employment. A brief period of time has, however, served to dissipate all prejudices. Sewing machines, each of which re- quires at least five, and may be made to furnish 'employment for eight or ten hands to prepare and finish clothing, are here in ope- ration already te an extent which employs ten thousand females ; and in lieu of the miserable pittance of one dollar and fifty cents to two dollars and fifty cents per week which they were paid here- tofore, they now readily earn from three dollars fifty cents to seven dollars per week. Nor is the social change of less value than the pecuniary. In place of working from twelve to sixteen hours in the day, to the injury of their eyes, ten hours now suffice to earn these enhanced wages, and the work is all performed in daylight. There are not a few whose skill and care enable them to earn from eight to twenty dollars per week, and instances can be pointed out where forty to fifty dollars per week have been realized.
One great evil hitherto was, that not one woman in ten, who was compelled to earn her living by sewing, had properly learned the art, and therefore the greater number were unable to execute prof- itable work. This has been the great cause of suffering hercto-
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fore. Now, the sewing machine divides the labor-as many as seventeen hands being employed upon a single pair of pants. Any one of these, if even a novice in sewing, has so small a portion to execute, that she can readily acquire a due proficiency in her sin- gle department. So of the rest. I rejoice, therefore, that the " song of the shirt " will now only remind us of the past.
The introduction of sewing machines has advanced our clothing manufacture from less than two millions to fifteen millions of dol- lars in value, which our present sales reach, and an extent which renders this the largest market in the United States for the article.
Singer & Co .- This is the original sewing machine, and, under repeated modifications and improvements, now comprehends twen- ty-five varieties of the article, and constitutes the whole range of sewing facilities, from stitching harness leather to the finest em- broidery for millinery purposes ; being equally adapted to the coarsest and strongest work, and to the lighter and delicate textures of the family circle. They will be found in the workshop of the saddler, the harness and carriage maker, the hat and cap manufac- turer, the tailor, the boot and shoe maker, and the mnilliner, as well as where shirts or other fabrics are made by seamstresses and dress makers at their own homes. There are not less than one thousand of these machines in operation in Cincinnati, principally employed in the clothing manufacture.
The machines made under this patent are strong an durable, and, the principle of their construction being very simple, they are not liable to get out of order. They perform either coarse or fine sewing by simply changing the thread and needle. The same ma- chine can stitch a shirt collar with neatness, or a leather harness trace with strength, and with the same degree of accuracy and ease. In any kind of sewing, one of these machines is equal, in capacity, to six persons, and in many kinds to twelve. One of the latest improved machines will complete one thousand stitches in a minute. It can be set so as to make any number of stitches, from two to forty, to the inch, or even more if requisite. Scams of every carve or angle, with cross or parallel lines, and of every combina- tion in figure, can be made by it at pleasure. As these machines draw the thread but a short distance at a time, and make also a stronger pull than when sewing is done by hand, it is obvious that the thread is less worn, while the stitch is tighter, than in the ordi- nary process, even in the hands of expert scamstresses.
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HOTELS.
Among the principal hotels of Cincinnati, are the Burnet, Spen- cer, Gibson, Walnut Street, Southgate, Madison, and Galt houses, and the Broadway Hotel.
BURNET HOUSE .- This is one of the most spacious hotels in the world, and inferior to none in its interior arrangements. It was originally put up by a joint stock company, but is now owned as it has heretofore been occupied by A. B. Coleman, having recently passed, under lease, into the hands of Johnson, Saunders & Co.
The building, including the terrace is two hundred and twelve feet on Third street, and two hundred and ten feet to its rear on Burnet street. Its style of architecture is the bracketed Italian. It is six stories in height, with a dome forty-two feet in diameter, which is one hundred feet above the basement floor. The observ- atory commands a fine view of the city, and more particularly of the river Ohio and the Kentucky scenery beyond, being one hun- dred and forty-two feet above the level of the street on which it fronts. The entire house contains three hundred and forty rooms, all properly lighted and ventilated. The Burnet House is central to the river and canal, and to all traveling public landings and rail- way depots.
GIBSON HOUSE .- Geffroy & Gibson, proprietors. This is located on the west side of Walnut, between Fourth and Fifth streets, and is seventy feet front by two hundred feet deep. It is convenient to the general business region of the city, and is immediately adjacent to the College buildings, which are occupied by the Chan- ber of Commerce, the Merchants' Exchange, and the Young Men's Library Association. The Gibson House comprehends one hun- dred and fifty-nine chambers and parlors, and can seat two hun- dred and fifty guests at the public table. The dining room is ouc hundred, by thirty feet, with an elevation of twenty feet to the ceiling. The house is heated, and the cooking and washing donc entirely by steam. A corridor, extending the entire length of the rear building, affords entrance to each series of chambers, adding also to the light and ventilation of the various rooms. The main staircase is spiral. of great beauty, convenience and safety, a dome and skylight gracefully crowning the entire ascent. The construc- tion of the Gibson House affords peculiar advantage to travelers in
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whose case order and quiet repose are desirable. From the nature of the building, which possesses but one entry on a floor, and with 'staircases to the entire house, of a character which do not rever- brate sound, there need not be, and there is not, more disturbance during sleeping hours than in an ordinary private house.
The Gibson House has been recently refitted and refurnished at fin expense of forty thousand dollars, so as to render it equal to a perfectly now edifice. The day before this volume went to press, four hundred and twenty guests sat down to the dinner table of this establishment.
WALNUT STREET HOUSE .- J. W. Swency, proprietor. This is a very commodious edifice, recently refitted and put in thorough order. It covers thirteen thousand square feet of ground, is five stories high, exclusive of its basement, and comprehends one hundred and eighty-three rooms, all of convenient size and arrange- ment, and many of them spacious and elegant.
The floors of the basement rooms are covered with cast iron plates, and tesselated with marble tiles. The residue of the house is carpeted throughout. The dining room is one of the finest to be seen in Cincinnati, if not anywhere. It is ninety by forty feet, with a height of twenty feet. The entire furniture of this house cost not less than thirty-five thousand dollars.
A magnificent view for miles in all directions is afforded by an observatory at the summit of the building.
OYSTERS.
The oyster trade of Cincinnati is an important interest, which is rapidly increasing. I have made inquiry into the facts and pre- sent them substantially.
The season commences about the first of September, and closes about the first of May, continuing two hundred and forty days. The importations are chiefly from Baltimore, and average one hun- dred cases, or one thousand six hundred cans, and ten barrels shell oysters per diem. This is equivalent to three hundred and eighty- four thousand cans, and two thousand four hundred barrels per an- num. Of the above, the cans are all imported per the Adams' Ex- press Company, and the shell oysters by the other express compa- nies. In addition, however, it is estimated that about twenty thou-
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sand dollars' worth are imported from other points. The quality is governed by the size of the oysters. Of the small kinds, there are twelve or thirteen dozen in a can; of the medium size, about ten dozen, and of the largest, which are retailed at one dollar and fifty cents, there are seven or eight dozen, generally the former num- ber. Each barrel contains fifty dozen, or six hundred oysters in the shell. The shell oysters are all consumed in this market, but a large portion of those brought in cans are reshipped to neigh- boring towns and cities. The sales of this article here reach four hundred thousand dollars. The heaviest importers are H. L. Stiles, Walnut street, and R. Orr, Fifth street, They receive about three fourths of the entire quantity imported, and the remainder are distributed among numerous dealers. In the months of Decem- ber, January and February, when the largest demand for oysters exists, the importations often exceed one hundred and sixty cases, and twenty-five barrels per diem.
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