USA > Pennsylvania > Allegheny County > Pittsburgh > Standard history of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania > Part 117
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Ten years ago the cities had no police telegraph system worth mention- ing. There was no communication with the patrolmen on the beat; no calling of patrol wagons, and no patrol wagons to call. An officer walked or carried or fought a prisoner to the nearest station house. The old dials were succeeded by telephone between station houses, and then came the system of call boxes or booths. The cities have had it to a limited extent during the past nine years, but it is only within the past seven years that it has been perfected. At first the machinery in the boxes or booths was crude and the entire apparatus was very imperfect. At first, too, an iron wire was used, but it did not last long in the sulphurous atmosphere. There were no telephones in the first boxes, and their addition was a great improvement. The register systein was also improved very much within a few years, and improvements were made in the methods of keeping the paper on which the calls were registered, and also the paper itself. At the present time the designers of the system can very well claim that it has been brought to a high degree of perfection. In August, 1897, Pittsburg had 185 police call boxes and 234 telephones. The fire-alarm boxes were increased in a decade from about 100 to 384, and the number of circuits from about 12 to 30. The Municipal Bureau of Electricity, under the superintendency of M. W. Mead, during eleven months in 1896-7 was called upon to inspect 1,339 buildings. This great department has grown up within a decade. Recently the Pittsburg Reduction Company has shown that aluminum wire is an excellent substitute for copper as a conductor of electricity. The four largest dynamos ever constructed were recently placed in the Allegheny County Light Com- pany's plant at Twelfth Street by the Westinghouse Electric Company. Each weighs over 110 tons, is 30 feet long, 24 feet high and 4 feet wide. The arma- tures are 16 feet 8 inches in diameter, and the shafts are 18 inches in diameter.
956
HISTORY OF PITTSBURG.
The four dynamos are capable of producing 2,500 arc lights, or 20,000 incan- descent lights. Each of these dynamos is twice as powerful as the strongest exhibited at the World's Fair, showing the great improvement made in five years. Pittsburg was the first city of any considerable size to adopt the stor- age-battery system for police telegraph and fire-alarm purposes. It was put in operation in May, 1897, under the management of Mr. Mead, superintendent of the bureau.
On July 26, 1874, great destruction of property and loss of life occurred here by the bursting of a water spout. The storm commenced about 8 o'clock p. m. and raged with unprecedented fury for an hour, during which time 124 persons were drowned or otherwise lost their lives, scores of houses were swept away, many bridges torn up, sewers burst and a vast amount of damage done to trees, buildings, etc. In 1863 Pittsburg consisted of nine wards, Allegheny four wards, and there were ten boroughs adjacent.
In 1860 there was spent in Allegheny $386,354.26 for water-works, pipes, etc. That city then contained 4,702 buildings. During 1859 and 1860 there were erected 344 new buildings, of which 311 were dwellings. Its population in 1860 was 31,563; in 1850 was 21,262. The water-pipe extensions in 1860 were 3,070 feet. The total length of water-pipe was nearly 21 miles.
·
Pittsburg has always labored under the disadvantage of a division of her population and commercial and industrial strength. In 1863 this vicinity consisted of twelve distinct municipalities and six villages or settlements so immediately joined together as to be inseparable from every point of view, except actual location. It could scarcely be said where one municipiality ended and another began; but there was a dividing line, and so Pittsburg was then known, and is still known, as a city of only about one-half its actual population. In 1863 there were the cities of Pittsburg and Allegheny, the boroughs of Birmingham, East Birmingham, South Pittsburg, Monongahela, Sligo, West Pittsburg, Tem- peranceville, Manchester, Duquesne and Lawrenceville, and the villages of Minersville, Oakland, Brownstown, Mount Washington, Hatfield and Woodland.
"This unfortunate question of railroad taxation has been the stumbling block in the way of any consolidation of the suburbs with the city. The bor- oughs and Allegheny City are quite satisfied with their share of the county railroad debt, and have no ambition of shouldering part of the Pittsburg railroad debt" (a).
The first Exposition Society was organized in Pittsburg in 1875, with build- ings fronting on South Avenue, between School Street and Union Bridge approach, Allegheny. It failed after two expositions had been held, and was succeeded by a second association, which continued until fire destroyed its buildings, October 2, 1883. The Western Pennsylvania Exposition Society was chartered October 30, 1885, and erected buildings on Duquesne Way, near the intersection of the Monongahela and Allegheny rivers. The first exposition under its auspices was held from September 4 to October 19, 1889. Attendance in 1889, 561,000.
The following shows the population of the two cities :
Pittsburg. Allegheny.
Pittsburg. Allegheny.
1760
149
1830
12,542
2,801
1770 (est.)
I20
1840
21, 115
10,089
1786 (est.)
230
1850
36,601
21,270
1796
1,395
1860
49,22I
28,702
1800
1,565
1870
86,254
53,180
18IO
4,786
1880
156,389
78,682
1820
7,248
1890
. 238,473
105,237
(a) Commercial, December 3, 1863.
957
HISTORY OF PITTSBURG.
The following are the principal floods which have inundated Pittsburg:
Feet. Inches.
1763 (est.). .
30
O
January 13, 1787 (est.)
28
O
May, 1807.
26
9
November 11, 1810 (Pumpkin Flood).
32
0
February 10, 1832
35
February, 1840 (est.)
28
April 19, 1852
3I
9
April 12, 1860
29
7
September 29, 1861
30
9
January 20, 1862
28
9
1865. . .
3I
6
February 6, 1884.
Allegheny
34
6
1891.
33
O
March, 1898
30
+
The act of June 16, 1836, provided for the admission of other wards to the city from the district lying to the east, which was ordered surveyed and other- wise prepared for habitation. Northern Liberties was the first ward added to the old four and was admitted as the Fifth Ward in 1837. In 1845 and 1846 four more wards were added under the law of 1836, which permitted their admission by a vote of the people, held under the direction of the Court of Quarter Sessions. The present Fifth Ward came in as part of the Third; the present Seventh and Eighth came in as the Sixth; the present Eleventh camc in as the Seventh; the present Sixth came in as the Eighth and the present Twelfth came in as the Ninth. By act of April 6, 1867, many more were added. Upon submission to vote the outlying districts, except the East End, decided against admission. The latter voted "for admission," and accordingly was divided into fourteen additional wards from the Tenth to the Twenty-third, inclusive, and all were added to the city. The old Fifth became the Ninth and Tenth; the Sixth became the Seventh and Eighth; the Eighth became the Sixth; the Ninth became the Twelfth, and the Seventh became the Eleventh. By the act of April 2, 1872, the several boroughs on the South Side, viz., Ormsby (Twenty-fourth Ward), East Birmingham (Twenty-fifth and Twenty-sixth), St. Clair (Twenty-seventh), Birmingham (Twen- ty-eighth and Twenty-ninth), South Pittsburg (Thirtieth), Allentown (Thirty- first), Mount Washington (Thirty-second), Monongahela (Thirty-third), West Pittsburg (Thirty-fourth), Union (Thirty-fifth), and Temperanceville (Thirty-sixth Ward), were also added to the city. In 1897 Brushton was added as the Thirty- seventh Ward.
MAYORS OF PITTSBURG.
. Ebenezer Denny, July 9, 1816, to July 23, 1817.
john Darragh, 1817 to 1825.
John M. Snowden, 1825 to 1827.
Magnus M. Murray, 1828.
Matthew B. Lowrie, 1830.
Magnus M. Murray, 1831.
Samuel Pettigrew, 1832.
(In 1834 the mayor was first elected by the people. Prior thercto hc was appointed annually by the City Coun-
cils and their choice was restricted to the twelve aldermen of the city). Jonas R. McClintock, 1836.
William Little, 1839.
William W. Irwin, 1840.
James Thompson, 1841. Alexander Hay, 1842.
William J. Howard, 1845.
William Kerr, 1846.
Gabriel Adams, 1847.
John Herron, 1849.
-
3
Monongahela
33
958
HISTORY OF PITTSBURG.
Joseph Barker, 1850.
Jared M. Brush, 1869.
John B. Guthrie, 1851.
(Mr. Brush was elected for three years under act of April 1, 1868).
Robert M. Riddle, 1853.
James Blackinore, 1872.
Henry A. Weaver, 1857.
(In January, 1858, the mayor was first elected for the term of two years). George Wilson, 1860.
B. C. Sawyer, 1862.
Henry I. Gourley, 1890.
James Lowry, 1864.
W. C. McCarthy, 1866.
James Blackmore, 1868.
ALLEGHENY.
General William Robinson, Jr., 1840.
A. C. Alexander, 1863. John Morrison, 1865.
Thomas Sample, 1841.
William B. Foster, 1842.
Simon Drum, 1868.
Hezekiah Nixon, 1844.
Alexander P. Callow, 1870.
R. S. Cassatt, 1846.
David Neillie, 1874 (33 days).
Henry Campbell, 1847.
H. S. Fleming, 1874.
Jonathan Rush, 1849.
Ormsby Phillips, 1875.
H. S. Fleming, 1850.
R. W. Park, 1853.
Thomas Megraw, 1878. Lewis Peterson, Jr., 1881.
William Adams, 1854.
James G. Wyman, 1884.
Herman Dehaven, 1857.
Richard T. Pearson, 1887
John Stuckrath, 1858.
James G. Wyman, 1889.
John Morrison, 1859. Simon Drum, 1861.
William M. Kennedy, 1891. Charles W. Gerwig, 1896.
The great debt of the city was incurred mainly in opening and paving streets, buying bridges and building water-works. It is under control, as the city regularly pays the interest, and often refunds portions at a lower rate of interest.
The city of Pittsburg paid more than $2,500,000 taxes for the fiscal year 1896 in excess of the amount paid by all the balance of the county, including Allegheny, Mckeesport and all the boroughs and townships.
Of $10,791,830 of taxes collected up to the Ist of June, the city of Pittsburg paid $6,678,523. The city of Allegheny paid $1,932,382. The two cities com- bined, therefore, paid four-fifths of all the taxes collected in the county. This proportion was greater than it had ever been. Heretofore it was generally reck- oned that the two cities paid three-fourths of the taxes.
These figures were brought out in a report completed by the county com- missioners to the Secretary of Internal Affairs, showing the tax collections in the county for the year ending May 1, 1896. The division of the total collected was as follows: Pittsburg, $6,678,523.06; Allegheny, $1,932,382.01; McKeesport, $362,319.55; boroughs, $1, 164,084.50; townships, $654,521.26. The amount of taxes collected for the support of the poor was as follows: Pitts- burg, $155,000; Allegheny, $57,384.50; Mckeesport, $6,855.15; boroughs, $29,469.29; townships, $33,500.10; total, $282,209. The amount collected for the construction and repairs of streets, roads and bridges was as follows: Pitts- burg, $911,651.16; Allegheny, $135,000; Mckeesport, $55,568.32; boroughs, $156,209.48; townshps, $206,908.66; total, $1,465,337.62. The taxes collected for schools and school purposes, not including State appropriations, amounted as follows: Pittsburg, $386,850; Allegheny, $290,391.44; Mckeesport, $81,-
1
Ferdinand E. Volz, 1854. William Bingham, 1856.
William C. McCarthy, 1875. Robert Liddell, 1878. Robert W. Lyon, 1881.
Andrew Fulton, 1884.
William McCallin, 1887.
B. McKenna, 1893. H. P. Ford, 1896.
MAYORS OF
959
HISTORY OF PITTSBURG.
843.25; boroughs, $369,474.46; townships, $246,952.27; total, $1,375,511.42. The amount collected for all other purposes, whether State, county or local taxes, was as follows: Pittsburg, $5,225,021.90; Allegheny, $1,449,606.07; Mc- Keesport, $218,052.87; boroughs, $608,931.27; townships, $167,160.23; total, $7,668,772.34.
A second division of the statement showed the subjects upon which the taxes were collected. They were as follows: On personal property-Pittsburg, $175,249.42; Allegheny, $67,751.62; Mckeesport, $4,043.72; boroughs, $25,- 536.62; townships, $30,868.16; total, $303,449.54. On occupations-Pittsburg, $43,433-37; Allegheny, $18,273.42; Mckeesport, $2,307.72; boroughs, $13,176.99; townships, $11, 132.42; total, $88,323.92. On licenses, including liquor licenses -- Pittsburg, $732,938; Allegheny, $222,700; Mckeesport, $36,142.50; boroughs, $37,458.15; townships, $10,239; total, $1,039,477.65. On real estate of railway corporations-Pittsburg, $35,816.18; .
$25,104.80; Mckeesport, $2,142.36; boroughs, $4,472.15; townships, $2,565.12; total, $71,100.61. On real estate of other corporations, including that of limited partnerships-Pitts- burg, $288,932.49; Allegheny, $67,118.39; Mckeesport, $16,960.01; boroughs, $87,572.65; townships, $105,506.69; total, $566,090.23.
The estimates of Director E. M. Bigelow of city expenses for the years 1896 and 1897 are as follows:
General office.
1897. 1896. $ 11,500.00 $ 11,400.00
Bureau of-
Engineering and surveys.
58,000.00
68,475.00
Highways and sewers.
321,500.00
325,717.00
City property .
45,925.00
78,853.20
Water supply and distribution.
250,000.00
409,955.00
Water assessments
12,000.00
12,000.00
Public light.
242,000.00
248,436.92
Viewers
17,000.00
15,040.00
Bureau of parks
81,000.00
104,152.92
Street repaving, etc.
205,000.00
214,950.00
Bureau of bridges
153,013.50
Property purchases
47,000.00
Totals $1,243,925.00 $1,688,993.60
DEBT OF PITTSBURG.
Total amount of bonded indebtedness outstanding January 31, 1897
$14,928,201.87
Cash in sinking funds.
$ 860,058.00
Investments in sinking funds.
3,276.971 . 57
4,137.029.57
Indebtedness over available means, city ledger .... $10,791,172.30 Deduct par value of city loans held by the commis-
sioners of the compromise. railroad sinking
funds, applicable only to the extinguishment of the railroad compromise loan. 570,339. 99
Net debt January 31, 1897 $10,220,832.31
Water loan 7s paid during 1897. 43,500.00
Net debt January, 1898.
$10,177.332.31
960
HISTORY OF PITTSBURG.
All the remaining seven per cent. water bonds of the city, amounting to $2,398,000, are to be paid off on April 1, 1898.
DEBT OF ALLEGHENY CITY.
Gross bonded debt February 27, 1897. $5,655,295.17
Bonds issued during 1897 (street improvements) 334,000.00
Total. $5,989,295.17
Less bonds paid during 1897 $ 40,000.00
Less amount in sinking funds. 862,146.23
902,146.23
Net debt November 1, 1897. $5,087,148.94
DEBT OF MC KEESPORT.
Railroad compromise bonds $104,600
Water-works bonds. . 75,000
Water extension and improvement bonds 27,000
Refunding bonds. 42,000
Total bonded debt April 1, 1897 $248,600
Less amount in sinking funds. 41,000
Net debt November 1, 1897 $207,600
DEBT OF ALLEGHENY COUNTY.
Total bonded debt January 1, 1897 $3.307,876.67
Outstanding warrants and scrip. 284.00
$3,308,160.67
Amount in sinking fund December 1, 1897 50,987.87
Net debt December 1, 1897 $3,257,172.80
'In 1866 the old custom of calling the hour of the night by the watchmen was abandoned. In 1863 the Market-house was built in Allegheny and the stalls sold for $5,580, but brought a bonus of $15,970. The City Hall in Allegheny was built in 1866. The Pittsburg City Hall was begun in 1868 and completed in 1872. New water-works for Pittsburg were built in 1871-4 at Brilliant Station, on the Allegheny River. The water is forced to the large Highland reservoirs, and thence directly to consumers in the lower sections of the city, and to Herron Hill Reservoir for the elevated sections of the city. The South Side is sup- plied by a private corporation. It was estimated in 1896 that the new reservoir site for Pittsburg would cost $100,000, but the greed of property owners will more than multiply that sum by three. The Highland reservoirs stand 372 feet above the pumps which supply them. Water is forced up that perpendicular distance through a fifty-inch pipe, 3,840 feet in length, and the reservoirs have a capacity of 217,600,000 gallons. The engines are capable of supplying 55,000,000 gallons per day. The new water-works of Allegheny are a credit to that city. They are located at Montrose, and were first operated in 1897. The cost of the building and intake cribs aggregated $292,000. Provision was made for six engines, having a pumping capacity of 36,000,000 gallons per day. The cost of this whole improvement will be over $2,000,000.
·
HISTORY OF PITTSBURG.
961
The following table for 1895 will show the joint forces of this vicinity at that date.
Pittsburg. Allegheny.
Total.
Square miles.
29
7를
36₺
Wards. . .
37
14
5I
Schools-public
66
24
90
High schools.
I
I
2
Miles of paved streets
I82
II3
295
Miles of sewerage.
149
57
206
Miles of water-pipe.
245
II5
360
City light-arc electric.
1,600
875
2,475
City light-gas, etc.
2,416
500
2,916
No. of men in Fire Department.
264
104
368
No. of engines and hook and ladder companies .
20
14
43
No. of men in Police Department
338
150
488
Patrol wagons
IO
3
13
Detectives.
IO
6
I6
At Davis Island Dam is the second largest navigation lock in the world. This point on the Ohio River is six feet lower than at Smithfield Street bridge. The stonework is twelve feet high, giving a depth of seven feet of water. The dam is 1,223 feet long, composed of wickets or gates so arranged that they can be lowered or raised at will. On the eastern (Bellevue) shore is the lock, 600 feet long and I10 feet wide. The gates are controlled by specially arranged machinery, and so complete are all the arrangements made that the filling and emptying of the immense lock is but the work of a few minutes. The dam was completed in the summer of 1885, and opened October 7, 1885, with cere- monies under the auspices of the Pittsburg Chamber of Commerce.
The total number of taxables shown by the assessors' reports for 1897 was 78,583, and the basis of representation was secured by dividing the total by 40, which makes the basis of representation 1,964. It will be fixed at 1,950. Every ward having 1,950 taxables, or any fraction thereof, is entitled to one member of Common Council, and one additional member for three-fifths in excess of that number. A ward having double the number required for one member and three-fifths in addition, is entitled to three representatives in Common Council. Brushton, now the Thirty-seventh Ward, had not been admitted when the last apportionment was made, but now has 791 taxables, as shown by the assessors' reports.
The last apportionment was made in 1893, and the number of taxables then and in 1897 is shown as follows:
1893.
1897.
First Ward.
917
902
Second Ward.
847
573
Third Ward
5II
430
Fourth Ward
906
769
Fifth Ward.
1,20I
846
Sixth Ward.
2,981
2,894
Seventh Ward.
1,668
1,598
Eighth Ward.
1,946
2,353
Ninth Ward
955
837
Tenth Ward. .
955
673
Eleventh Ward.
3,377
3.519
Twelfth Ward.
2,907
2,77 I
52
962
HISTORY OF PITTSBURG.
1893.
1897.
Thirteenth Ward.
3,253
3,868
Fourteenth Ward
5,OII
5,484
Fifteenth Ward.
1,378
1,615
Sixteenth Ward .
3,42I
3,470
Seventeenth Ward.
3,330
3,712
Eighteenth Ward.
2,256
2,553
Nineteenth Ward.
3,394
4,175
Twentieth Ward.
4,05I
5,926
Twenty-first Ward.
3,800
4,938
Twenty-second Ward
870
1,245
Twenty-third Ward.
2,819
3,448
Twenty-fourth Ward.
1,88I
1,420
Twenty-fifth Ward.
2,349
2,07I
Twenty-sixth Ward.
2,002
2,342
Twenty-seventh Ward
2,785
2,837
Twenty-eighth Ward
1,736
1,482
Twenty-ninth Ward.
1,342
1,408
Thirtieth Ward.
755
840
Thirty-first Ward.
1,419
1,495
Thirty-second Ward.
2,185
2,437
Thirty-third Ward.
287
255
Thirty-fourth Ward.
892
627
Thirty-fifth Ward.
985
1,190
Thirty-sixth Ward.
860
779
Thirty-seventh Ward.
...
791
Total.
72,24I 78,583
Pittsburg has been the scene of several strikes of such magnitude and importance as to demand mention by historical writers. The strike of 1877 was one of the most notable in the annals of the city. For several years previous to the month of July, 1877, there had grown up a hostile feeling against railroads and other large corporations, which, continuing, became the occasion of the outbreak. Public sentiment was suspicious and sensitive, and corporations were exacting, independent and secret. Companies had not yet come to consider seriously that they were bound to yield any material point to employes. On the other hand, the latter had engendered and cultivated the opinion that the laboring classes should have much to say concerning the amount of wages paid them and the hours they were required to serve. Cor- porations would not seriously consider these claims. For some time discrimina- tions and favoritism in railroad circles had been the subject of discussion and denunciation in labor assemblages. The conditions, therefore, were favorable for an outbreak should the interests of the one conflict with those of the other. Some of the newspapers favored the companies, and some the employes. For several months preceding the riots disturbances had occurred over reductions in wages and over the right of the railways to discharge arbitrarily any employe. Crews in charge of trains were subjected to rules they deemed unfair, and in many other particulars a strong antagonism had grown up between the com- panies and their men. This was not only true of Pittsburg, but of many other sections of the United States. Various strikes had been instituted, which had more or less affected the railways centering at Pittsburg. Affairs were brought to a dangerous stage on July 19th, when the conductors and trainmen on some of the freight trains of the Pennsylvania Railway refused to take out their trains or allow other trains to move. This action was caused by a reduction
963
HISTORY OF PITTSBURG.
of ten per cent. in the wages of the men and by an order that thirty-six cars, instead of eighteen, as before, should constitute a train without an increase in the number of the crew, though it was provided that a locomotive at the rear of the train was to serve as a pusher, thus making what was called a double- header. The decrease in pay and the doubling of the work caused the employes to resolve upon a sturdy resistance, and accordingly the strike was inaugurated. At first it was not well organized, but later on gathered strength, and soon a serious outcome was considered. Undoubtedly the one object at first was to oblige the superintendents to rescind the order concerning double-headers. On the morning of the 19th the affair first became serious. Several crews refused to take out their trains, and as fast as others arrived they joined the strikers. As the day advanced the strikers congregated at the roundhouse on Twenty-eighth Street, where they were joined later by a large mob of idlers in no way connected with the railroads. The mob took possession of the tracks and roundhouse and refused to surrender possession to the railroad authorities, whereupon the mayor was asked to send a sufficient force of police to regain possession of the property. Men who undertook to carry out the wishes of the company were assaulted and one of the mob was arrested by the police. Threats of a rescue were freely made, but were not carried into effect. On the evening of the 19th a meeting of the strikers was held and resolutions were passed demanding the restoration of the ten per cent. reduction in wages and the revocation of the order authorizing the running of double-headers. Late at night the mob had increased greatly in numbers and was composed largely of idlers and irresponsible persons who pos- sessed little or no regard for law. So threatening became the indications that the railroad authorities at midnight called for assistance from the sheriff, where- upon that official went to Twenty-eighth Street and read the "riot act," and was answered with hoots and jeers from the mob. The posse which he had hastily summoned became alarmed and deserted him before the grounds were reached. At 3 o'clock in the morning General Pierson was requested to order out the Eighteenth and Nineteenth regiments of the National Guard; at the same time the sheriff wired to the Governor, asking for an order for the militia to take the field. On the morning of the 20th General Pierson marched with his forces to the Union Depot and placed them in position in the yard and along the railroad tracks. About this time the Governor ordered General Brinton's division of troops from Philadelphia to Pittsburg. The calling out of the local militia and the ordering of Eastern troops here greatly infuriated the mob and the strikers. They became sullen and defiant and the feeling spread to the working- inen in the factories and to all idlers in the city. The mob was entertained and still further encouraged by demagogical speeches upholding the action of the strikers, supporting the arguments generally used by communists, and particu- larly denouncing the Pennsylvania Railroad for refusing to yield to the demands of the men, and the authorities for ordering out the soldiers. The result might have been expected. The hundreds of men from the factories joined the mob, and many good citizens took the part of the strikers. Several newspapers urged that perhaps this was the commencement in this country of the anticipated civil war between labor and capital. In fact, some of the newspapers did more to inflame the passions of the mob than any other cause. More than one newspaper actually encouraged the mob to resist the troops and the laws of the country. Some of the articles published were of the most inflammatory character. The troops from Philadelphia reached the Union Depot on Saturday afternoon. They werc immediately moved out along the tracks to the roundhouse, where the mob was concentrated. In clearing the tracks they were compelled to use some force, whereupon they were pelted with stones. Some officer gave an order to fire, and a volley was poured into the mob, killing several persons and wounding
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