The Register of Pennsylvania : devoted to the preservation of facts and documents and every other kind of useful information respecting the state of Pennsylvania, Vol. XII, Part 63

Author: Hazard, Samuel, 1784-1870
Publication date: 1828
Publisher: Philadelphia : Printed by W.F. Geddes ;
Number of Pages: 438

USA > Pennsylvania > The Register of Pennsylvania : devoted to the preservation of facts and documents and every other kind of useful information respecting the state of Pennsylvania, Vol. XII > Part 63

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Enacted into an Ordinance in the city of Philadelphia, this 19th day of September, in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-three.

HENRY TROTH, President of Common Council. J. R. INGERSOLL, President of the Select Council. Attest-ROBERT HARE, Jr.

Clerk of the Common Council.

Mr. Massey offered a resolution to allow an indemnity to the Mayor, for salary paid to the clerk of the Mayor's court for extra services during the year. The resolu- tion was adopted.

COMMON COUNCIL.

The President submitted a communication from Bri- tain Cooper, Esq. Treasurer of the Girard Trust, en- closing a statement of the several funds belonging to the Girard estates, up to the present time as follows:

Balance standing to the credit of the Col- lege fund, $24,048 85

Balance standing to the credit of the fund for the improvement of the eastern front of the city, &c, 15,109 57

Balance standing to the credit of the fuel fund, 35 32

Balance standing to the credit of the re- siduary fund,

45,622 10

Total amount,

$84,815 84

Cash in Bank to the credit of the Trea- surer,

9,815 84

Cash loaned (temporary) to the Girard Bank, 75,000 00

Total amount available, $84,815 84

Mr. Gilder, from the Paving Committee, to whom were referred petitions of citizens, praying that inlets may be made in certain public sewers, reported the following resolutions, which were adopted, and concur- red in by Select Council.

Resolved, That the City Commissioners, be and they are hereby instructed, to make two inlets in Locust street, west side of Tenth, under the direction of the Paving Committee, to connect with the Tenth street culvert.

Resolved, That the City Commissioners be instructed to make inlets at the N. E. and N. W. corners of Sixth and Vine streets, under the direction of the Paving Committee,

Mr. Gilder, from the Building Committee on the Gi- rard College, made a report on the subject of the Gi- rard estate, accompanied with a letter from M. Gevelot, the artist, in which he stated his inability to procure the necessary security. The resolution attached to the re- port, authorised the Building Committee to contract with M. Gevelot, for the construction of the statue, for the sum of $9000 to be paid when finished; the faith- fulness of the likeness to be judged by three artists, mutually chosen. Adopted and concurred in by Select Council.

On Motion of Mr. Akin, the item of business from Select Council, relating to the extension of the culvert in Mulberry street, to Schuylkill river, was taken up and enacted.

On motion of Mr. Gilder, the resolutions of Select Council, in relation to Fair Mount Dam, noticed in our last report, were taken up, considered, and adopted.

On motion of Mr. Gilder, the report from Select Council, in relation to improvements of city property on Schuylkill-published in our last report-was read, accepted, and approved.

On motion of Mr. Morris, the following ordinance from Select Councils, relating to taxes on the Girard estate, was taken up and passed.

AN ORDINANCE Relative to the Taxes on the Girard Estates.

Section 1. Be it ordained and enacted by the citizens of Philadelphia, in Select and Common Councils assem- bled, That from and after the passage of this ordinance, it shall be the duty of the city clerk, annually, to make correct accounts of all taxes and water rents which may be levied, or become due and payable to the city, on the estates of the late Stephen Girard, by virtue of an ordinance or resolution now in force, or which may hereafter he passed for levying taxes or water rents.

Section 2. And be it further ordained and enacted by the authority aforesaid, That upon the amount due to the city from the said estates, for taxes and water rents, being duly ascertained, the same shall be paid over to the City Treasurer by the Treasurer of the Girard es- tates, on orders drawn by the Mayor for the amount thereof.

Section 3. And be it further ordained and enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the taxes and water rents aforesaid shall not hereafter be entered in the tax books, nor placed in the hands of collectors of taxes or water rents for collection.

Enacted into an Ordinance in the city of Pliiladelphia, this 19th day of September, in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-three. HENRY TROTH, President of the Common Council. J. R. INGERSOLL, President of the Select Council.

Attest-ROBERT HARE, Jr. Clerk of the Common Council.

On motion of Mr. Gilder, Common Council proceed- ed to the consideration of the ordinance from Select Council, relating to the government of the Will's Hos- pital, for the Lame and Blind. The ordinance was adopted with sundry amendments, and returned to the Select Council for their concurrence.

Adjourned until next Thursday evening.

GAS LIGHTS.

The following letter from Professor Hare, on the sub- ject of Gas Lights, was presented to the last meeting of Councils, by Mr. Massey:

Dear Sir,-Having been called upon repeatedly to sign petitions against the expediency of having the city lighted with Gas, which I did not sign because I con-

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PROCEEDINGS OF COUNCILS.

1833.]

ceived them not to be in all respects correct, and having did not recommend the prosecution of gas lighting by been under these circumstances requested by you to communicate my opinions respecting the project in question, I conceive myself warranted in yielding to the request.

In a country copiously and cheaply supplied with bi- tuminous coal, of a kind suitable for evolving carburet- ted hydrogen of a good quality, and where there is a large consumption of coke, there may be great economy in saving, by means of the gas-making process for the purposes of illumination, the carburetted hydrogen otherwise wasted in coaking; but I question if it be ex- pedient, or economical, in places where such coal is neither so cheaply, nor so copiously supplied, as to ren- der it profitable to coak it to a large extent. In such cases, carburretted hydrogen for gas lighting, must be made from oil, or the resinous products of the pine. I know of no other substances which have been, or could be employed advantageously, and which are at the same time, to be procured in sufficient quantity.

Since oil can be burned in lamps, I have never be- lieved that it could be economical to erect gas works to obtain light from it. Pitch, tar, and rosin are obtained by the destruction of forests which are not in the way of being renovated or replaced. If the consumption should increase, the price of these articles might be much enhanced.

I am strongly under the impression from all that I know of gas lighting, that it would be inexpedient for the corporation of a city to assume the business directly, and upon the whole, for one, I would rather be without gas, than endure the inconveniences attending its intro. duction.

Were the business of lighting the city with gas con- ceded to a company, it must be evident that there must arise a monopoly, since two companies cannot well be allowed to compete in the same district. Yet the em- ployment of the gas could hardly be optional with per- sons in trade. If A opens his shop at night, and lights it expensively, B, C, and D, his neighbors, in the same business, must follow suite, however unwillingly. Mean- while, if the affairs of the company are badly managed, an extravagant price, comparatively with oil, may be necessary to produce to the stockholders a reasonable profit.

It is not true, as alleged in one of the petitions, that the gas is as ignitible as gunpowder. Per se it cannot be ignited so as to burn or explode, but when mixed with atmospheric air, in a proportion no greater, I be- lieve, than the 30th of the mass, it is in one sense more ignitible than gunpowder. With care, a candle might be safely burned for any length of time in a room strew- ed with gunpowder; but could not without destructive consequences, be introduced for an instant into a room containing a 30th of its volume of the gas in question. By pure carburetted hydrogen, the maximum of ex- plosive effect would be produced when present in the ratio of one-sixteenth, but an injurious inflammation might be excited in a mixture containing much less of this inflammable matter.

During our hot weather, the purity of air and water is of more than usual importance. At such times the ef- fluvia of extensive gas works, must contaminate the air of the neighborhood to a sensible extent, and in a lesser degree may widely diminish its salubrity, although its presence may not be perceptible.

In a yard, at the distance of about half a square from the gas light establishment at the Masonic Lodge, the well water, while perfectly clear and colorless, was per- ceptibly imbued with the well known odour of the pro- ducts evolved during the generation of gas.

I am not surprised that younger men should be sanguine in their views of this question; I was an advocate for gas lighting at one time myself, but my imagination received a lesson from experience. After an experiment made with my assistance by the liberal corporation in the city of New York, I could not conscientiously, and consequently,

them, and as a company seemed disposed to undertake it, I willingly relinquished the ground, from a conviction that it could not prove more economical to employ gas than oil. At that time, cheapness was the only basis upon which the project could receive patronage. I am under the impression that the profit which has accrued to the company in New York. has arisen upon a basis totally different from that of economy. Fashion, osten- tatious rivalry, and convenience, have induced consum- ers to resort to the gas lights, even at a much greater expense than that of an equivalent number of lamps. I have been told that there has been much gain in the sale of the fixtures by the company; respecting these facts, I may be incorrectly informed, and possibly more accurate information may be in possession of our Coun- cils. If not, the truth may be, and no doubt will be reached, before any final decision is made. I should recommend to have it ascertained how far an accumula- tion of condensed moisture in the form of ice, especially, has been an obstruction occasionally to gas pipes.

I am sir, with consideration, your ob't servant,

ROBERT HARE.

SELECT COUNCIL. Thursday evening, Sept. 26, 1833.

· The following communication from the Indigent Wi- dow's Society, was received, and referred to the Paving Committee.

To the Select and Common Councils of the City of Philadelphia.

The memorial of the Managers of the Indigent Wi- dow and Single Women's Society of the city of Phila- delphia, respectfully sheweth,

That in the year eighteen hundred and nineteen, your memorialists erected at great expense a house for the reception and accommodation of the objects of the charity for which this Society was instituted, on the north side of Cherry street, between Schuylkill Fifth and Sixth streets, in the city of Philadelphia. That at the time of the erection of the said building, the said Cherry street had been surveyed and the level thereof in front of the site of the said house ascertained and fixed by the proper city authorities, and the building was erected in conformity with the regulations prescrib- ed by them, and so continued unaltered until the'present year. That in the course of the present year a new re- gulation of the said Cherry street has been made, under the authority of your Honorable bodies, in consequence whereof the level of the street in front of the said build- ing has been sunk about three feet, and it has been ne- cessary only to repave the street (which your memori- alists have received notice to do) but also to remove the marble steps at the front door, and make considerable alterations in the house, to accommodate it to the pre- sent regulations of the street -which cannot be done without considerable expense.

Your memorialists further represent that the said So- ciety is a benevolent institution-depending for its sup- port entirely upon the voluntary contributions of the charitable, and that its funds are so small as to be barely sufficient to defray the necessary current expenses of the institution, and that they have no means whatever to pay for the above mentioned alterations-unless by an appeal to the liberality of the public or of charitable individuals.

They therefore respectfully request your Honorable bodies to take their case into consideration, and grant them relief by defraying the expense thus necessarily incurred in consequence of this unforeseen alteration of the street, without any default on the part of your me- morialists. By order of the Board.

CATHERINE CHEW, 1st Directress. E. KEPPELE, Secretary.

On motion of Mr. Groves, the report of the committee

216

MAUCH CHUNK.

[OCTOBER

relative to making the Schuylkill Permanent Bridge a free bridge, was referred to the early consideration of the next Councils; the same motion was made by Mr. Lippincott, with respect to lighting the city with gas, and by Mr. Groves in relation to the Rail Road along Market street.

A message was received from Common Council stat- ing their concurrence in the ordinance relative to Wills' Hospital, which, with amendments, finally passed both Councils. [See page 221.] A message was also sent from Common Council, that the body concurred in the resolution allowing $500 to the Mayor for clerk hire.

Mr. Massey presented the following report of the committee on the Delaware Avenue, which was laid on the table.

The Committee on Delaware Avenue, beg leave to re- port: That they have spent much time in examining and deliberating, upon the important subject of laying out a passage or street, along the Eastern front of the City, in accordance with the will and intention of the late Stephen Girard, and when they reported the ordi- nance, now before. Councils for consideration, with a plan of the whole city front, made under the direction of the committee, by Samuel Hains, City Surveyor, lay- ing out the Delaware Avenue twenty-six feet wide, it was considered the least possible width that it could be laid out to answer the purpose; as twenty-one feet were intended for a cartway, and five feet for a footway, which they consider indispensable, the object of fixing the cartway twenty-one feet, was, that two vehicles might pass each other, when another was loading or un- loading, which is very important, in such a great tho- roughfare as the Delaware front is. As there has been a memorial recently presented to Councils, signed by a number of owners and occupiers of wharf property, objecting to, and remonstrating against the passage of the ordinance as aforesaid, with a letter also from Paul Beck, jr. who did not think proper to sign the memo- rial, (although by far the largest wharf holder in the city,) for reasons which he has not stated, the com- mittee have thought proper, under existing circumstan- ces, not to act upon the present ordinance, so late in the season.

The committee were actuated by motives entirely for public good, that was their paramount object, and the plan they adopted was considered by them as laid out with as little inconvenience to individuals who own wharf property, as the nature of the case would admit of; for the improvement must be viewed and consider- ed for the public good, as designed by the testator, who required by his will that it should be laid out not less than twenty-one feet wide -- they, therefore, recommend to the early attention of the next Councils, this impor- tant subject, and exceedingly regret, that any thing has occurred to postpone the present ordinance and plan from being carried into execution, which they have ev- ery reason to believe, would be found to give as much satisfaction, as any other that could be adopted.

On motion of Mr. Lippincott, the Select Council pro- ceeded to the consideration of a resolution appropriat - ing $40,000, from the Girard Estate, for city purposes. The resolution was adopted in the Select, but did not pass the Common Council.

COMMON COUNCIL.

Mr. Gilder presented a petition praying that Oak street, in front of Penn Square, may be curbed and paved. Referred to the Paving Committee.

Mr. Chandler presented a petition from Thomas Mc- Grath, praying Councils to accept a substitute for one of his sureties, for money borrowed from the Franklin Legacy. Referred to the committee on Franklin and Scott's Legacies.

an intolerable nuisance, and praying that the same may be speedily removed. Referred to the committee on Logan and Penn squares.

A communication was received from Matthew Walk- er, inquiring whether the lot of ground belonging to the city,situate on the south side of Vine street,between Schuylkill. Front and Second, is for sale, and at what price-and also inquiring the price of the lot upon which the Dog House is located. Referred to the com- mittee on Logan and Penn squares.

Mr. Chandler offered the following resolution which was adopted, and concurred in by Select Council.

Resolved, that the commissioners of the Girard Es- tate be, and they are hereby directed to take legal mẹa- sures for ascertaining the rights of the city in the intes- tate Estate of the late Stephen Girard.

Mr. Chandler called up for consideration, the report and resolutions of the Select Council, in relation to the fitting up of the old Engine House at Fair Mount, which were agreed to.

Mr. Mai land from the committee to whom was refer- red the petition of M. Wolf, praying for a salary for his services as Messenger to Councils, reported the follow- ing resolution, which was agreed to, and concurred in by Select Council.

Resolved, by the Select and Common Councils, that the Mayor be authorized to draw his warrant on the City Treasurer in favour of Michael Wolf, for One Hundred Dollars, and charge the same to appro- priation No. 21.

Mr. Borie from the Committee of Accounts, to whom was referred Vr. J. B. Sewell's bill, reported a reso- lution in his favour, for the sum of thirty dollars .- Adopted and concurred in by Select Council.

FLAT ROCK BRIDGE .- We are informed that on the 19th Sept. last. as two marble wagons with thirteen horses attached, belonging to Mr. Thomas Morgan, were crossing the Flat Rock Bridge, above Manayunk, on their return from the city, the Bridge, which was short- ly to be taken down for the purpose of the erection of a new one, upon its site, gave way, and carried the whole with it, some twenty or thirty feet into the Schuyl- kill. Five horses were killed on the spot, and another died the next day. Both the drivers were precipitated with the general mass, and were badly injured -- of one of which there is scarcely any hopes of surviving. The loss of Mr. Morgan, by this sad accident, is estimated at from 1000 to 1200 dollars, which we understand will be made up for him, either by the bridge company, or the public, or perhaps both united.

17 Since writing the above, we have been informed, that the carter most injured, died on Sunday .- Germ. Telegraph.

MAUCH CHUNK .- It may not be amiss for us to cor- rect an erroneous impression which may have been con- veyed by our statement last week upon information we had received, that application had been made for the last remaining lot of the Town Plot at present in the market, as we perceive that the entire article is copied into some of the city papers. By the statement referred to, we intended merely the vacant lots offered for sale by the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company, fronting on Market square. There are several second hand lots held by individuals, that may perhaps be purchased at a fair price, on the square, besides a number of the lots with buildings thereon, owned by the company, in the rows on each side of Broadway.

We are also informed that since the arrival of the Board of Managers, several additional lots have been placed in the market, among which are a number of eligible situations for business on Berwick street, be- tween the store of M'Connel, Foster, and Broaderick, and the Mauch Chunk Hotel, besides the remaining lots

Mr. Elliott presented a petition from sundry citizens residing in the neighborhood of Schuylkill Front and Vine street, complaining of the Public Dog House, as | in Market Square and Broadway .- Mauch Chunk !- ,

217

ON THE CONSTRUCTION OF RAIL ROADS.

1833.]

From the Journal of the Franklin Institute. Observations on some points relating to THE CONSTRUCTION OF RAIL ROADS.

BY THE EDITOR.

The number of rail roads which are being construct- ed, and the still greater uumber which it is proposed to construct in our country, render it specially important that all the information which our short acquaintance with this mode of conveyance has afforded, should be as extensively diffused as possible. The question of the utility of rail roads for the general conveyance of mer- chandise and of passengers, may now be considered as settled; but we have much to learn as respects the best mode of constructing them so as to insure their durabili- ty, whilst the necessary attention is paid to economy in the first instance. There are but few situations in which rail roads can be carried to any great extent, without a very large outlay for grading, and for building bridges and culverts, their utility is necessarily so dependent upon their near approach to a level, that but little diminution of their cost is to be anticipated so far as these points are concerned. Not so, however, as regards the kind of rails which it is best to employ, the sort of foundation upon which they should be laid, and the best mode of fastening them so as to insure their permanence. Th present notice will be principally confined to one or two points connected with the latter part of the subject.

On the Baltimore and Ohio rail road, the plate rail has been exclusively used, and the same has been most generally adopted in other places. These iron plates, which are usually about two inches and a quarter wide, and five-eighths thick, were at first laid upon rails of wood, to which they were securely fastened by nails; it was generally believed, however, that a foundation consisting of sills of granite, or other hard stone, in place of the wooden rail, would, by its permanence, more than repay the extra cost of it in all situations where it could be readily procured; on the road first named it was therefore adopted, after carrying the wooden rails to the quarries where such stone could be obtained. It is believed that not the slightest doubt existed on the minds either of the engineers or the. directors, of the superior utility of stone in every respect; and, in confor. mity with this opinion, many miles have been laid with it, and the iron rails carefully secured thereto. In riding over this road, the moment of passing from the wooden to the stone rails can be at once both heard and felt by the passengers in the car. Upon the wood the sound is less harsh, and the vibration less rapid than upon the unyielding stone, the elasticity of the wonden rail ren- dering it the most pleasant to ride upon; a mere differ. ence of this kind, however, was not to be considered as presenting any valid objection to the use of a material so permanent as the stone. On a recent visit to Balti- more, where we had an opportunity of conversing with individuals whose talents and interest in the road give value to their opinions, we learned with much regret that the result of the experience which they have had, has led them to a conviction that the stone sills must be abandoned, and string pieces of woud resorted to throughout the route, in consequence of the gradual, but inevitable loosening of the iron rails. This has not arisen from any defect in the method by which the rails were secured to the stone, but from causes which can- not be obviated by any skill or care on the part of the workmen, as it is the result, principally, of the vihra- tion produced by the passage of locomotives and cars upon the rails. However carefully such rails may be laid, the points of contact between them and the stones will be but few, and as these are abraded by the vibra- tion, the rails will have a small degree of play; this evil will necessarily go on increasing, and the heads of the nails will eventually be worn off by it, as has actually happened.

material, between the iron rail and the stone; this would no doubt lessen it, but to what extent, must be left to the result of experiment. The loosening of the rail up- on the stone is, no doubt, in part due to the expansion and contraction of the former, whilst upon a wooden rail bnt little sensible effect is produced from this cause, the yielding nature of this material serving to prevent it; the degree in which this expansion and contraction operate in lossening the rail woukl, however, be but slightly diminished by a thin strip of wood, although it appears to be calculated to remove much of the greater evil, the abrasion.

The portions of a rail road which pass over the origi- nal surface of the soil, are very small; excavation or embankment, to a greater or lesser extent, is necessary almost every where. The laying of stone sills on these embankments, when recently made, has been another source of much difficulty in the construction of rail roads, as in such places the earth must necessarily con- tinne to settle for a considerable period of time, not only displacing the sills at their junctures, but likewise ef- fecting the grading, and all the calculations founded thereon. It may not excite surprise that the loosening of the rails upon the stone sills was not foreseen in all its extent; but it is certainly remarkable that the capital error of using stone sills on new made ground, should have been any where committed; yet such has been the case to a considerable extent. To raise these sunken sills, with the rails upon them, is a work of great labor, and one, which in high embankments, it may be neces- sary to repeat several times. This settling of the earth must take place, whatever be the kind of rail used, but. the derangement is much less when the plates are laid on wooden string pieces, and the labour of readjustment may be performed with much greater ease.

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The Register of Pennsylvania : devoted to the preservation of facts and documents and every other kind of useful information respecting the state of Pennsylvania, Vol. XII, Part 63

Author: Hazard, Samuel, 1784-1870 Publication date: 1828 Publisher: Philadelphia : Printed by W.F. Geddes ; Number of Pages: 438

Author: Hazard, Samuel, 1784-1870
Publication date: 1828
Publisher: Philadelphia : Printed by W.F. Geddes ;
Number of Pages: 438