USA > Pennsylvania > Philadelphia County > Philadelphia > Warwick's Keystone commonwealth; a review of the history of the great state of Pennsylvania, and a brief record of the growth of its chief city, Philadelphia > Part 28
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The slavery question, too, was beginning to agitate the country. Aboli- tion societies were formed for the purpose of advocating the liberation of the blacks and nowhere did the movement have more carnest supporters than in this city among the Quakers. In fact, it was not long before Philadelphia was known' as the main station of the underground railroad.
During this time, the city was introducing many municipal improvements. Gas was being universally used, and iron pipes were being laid in every direction for its distribution. When it was first suggested that a plant should be con- structed at Chestnut street on the Schuylkill, remonstrances poured in from every direction of the city denouncing the project ; many claiming that it was
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of a most offensive and dangerous nature, and that the explosion of gas which was bound to occur would entail great loss of life and destruction of property, and one of the reports stated that gas is an "article as ignitible as gun powder and nearly as fatal in its effects"; that the atmosphere in the neighborhood of the works would be offensive and unwholesome; that the refuse pouring into the river would destroy all fish life, and would render the water unfit for drink- ing or household purposes in those localities which took their supply of water from the Schuylkill River below the dam. In spite of this opposition, however, which was bitter and most insistent, Councils passed an ordinance on March twenty-first, 1835, providing for the construction of a plant. Applications to connect with the works were very few, for some time even after its comple- tion, but the convenience in the use of gas was soon discovered and the predic- tions of the old fogies as to explosions and destruction of property were found to be so greatly exaggerated that the opposition gradually subsided. The city in dispensing with the whale oil lamps, by the introduction. of gas lamps, had proved to the citizens how useful a household article illuminating gas would be and at last so great was the demand that the original plant had to be gradu- ally enlarged to meet the requirements and demands of the day.
The opposition which met the first attempts to introduce the manufacture of gas for illumination in the city seems strange to us of this day who know gas as a factor in civilized life hardly less momentous than the water we get through the mains. But Philadelphians of that day were conservative, often skeptical, and, although illuminating gas was known in Europe in the eigh- teenth century and a company had been formed inf London in 1812, it was not until 1836 that the Quaker folk began to enjoy the commodity.
The City Councils had repeatedly rejected offers to construct plants, but finally became converted to the idea, and in 1834 sent Samuel Vaughn Merrick, an engineer, to Europe to investigate methods in vogue there. Following his report, March 31, 1835, Councils passed an ordinance for the construction and management of the Philadelphia Gas Works. One thousand shares of stock, at $100 a share, were offered for general subscription ; but the company was required to operate under the control of twelve trustees appointed by Councils. the right being reserved by the city to redeem the private stock at any time. This in fact was done in 1841, when the works became actually municipal.
First to hold the office of President of the company was B. W. Richards, who resigned in twenty days and was succeeded by Dr. R. N. Huston. The first secretary was Benjamin Matthias, and S. V. Merrick was engineer.
February 10, 1836, gas, made from bituminous coal, was turned into the mains, and the residents of the little city-it was then less than a square mile in area-turned out to see the "inflammable air" which burned in 46 public street lamps and 19 burners in private residences. They looked, criticized, hesitated. Eloquently do the Company's first ledger accounts bespeak the sentiment of the day, for they show that from February to to April i the gross receipts were but $829.48. But the next two months' receipts were $1.724; the next quarter, $3,112.42, and the following quarter, $8,061.23. Now the plant was on a promising basis : there were 2,800 private burners and 165 public lamps, and the daily consumption was 42,000 cubic feet.
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Yet what better commentary on Philadelphia's growth than to contrast those figures with the figures for the year 1913, when the Philadelphia Gas Works supplies 9,500,000,000 cubic feet of gas a year to alnost 305,000 meters!
At first gas was used for but one purpose-illumination. A rate of $3.50 per thousand cubic feet was charged for private burners, and $1.75 for public street lamps. The price to the private consumer was reduced to $3 in 1845; to $2.80 and later to $2.50 in 1846; and consistent reductions subsequently have brought the price down to $t, of which the city at the present time receives 20 per cent and will eventually, under the terms of the lease, receive 25 per cent.
As the city grew, vicinity gas plants sprang up in the outlying districts. In 1858 an ordinance of Councils authorized the purchase of the Richmond,
GAS HÖLDER ERECTED IN 1853 CAPACITY 1800 000 FEET
ONE OF THE EARLIEST GAS HOLDERS ERECTED.
Germantown and Southwark works; in May, 1859, the Manayunk works, and in October, 1859, the Kensington works. This left only the Northern Liberties Company, which continues to this day to supply a small territory.
At the time the coalition was effected gas was generally recognized as a most desirable illuminant, and the only impediment to the local industry's advancement was the red tape of municipal ownership, which halted needed expansion of plant and equipment and prevented the use of gas on the part of many who desired it.
There were several attempts to abolish the Trustees-the first, when the City was consolidated, in 1854: again, in 1858, and still another attempt in 1868; but it was not until April 1, 1887. that control of the gas works passed into the hands of the Department of Public Works, then established under the newly enacted Bullitt Bill. As a business organization the new department did not bring the expected results, for the system and executive ability necessary in such a large enterprise were not in evidence and throughout the city there was developing a sentiment in favor of private management.
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After more than ten years of experience with a gas plant managed by a mmicipal bureau, the city, through its Councils, became convinced of the desir- ability of private management, and, December 1, 1897, The United Gas Im- provement Company took charge, under a lease which was highly favorable to the city. This lease provided for the return of the works to the city at the ex- piration of 30 years, and besides, through the co-operative clause, has made available for the city treasury annually a sum of money which, beginning in 1908 with $268,459.16, reached in 1912 the sum of $1, 369,966.12. Since the transfer of the lease The United Gas Improvement Company has expended for permanent improvements $17,500,000, all of which revert to the city with the gas works provided that the lease runs the full term of 30 years. Besides this, the company furnishes gas free to the public lamps and cleans, lights and ex- tinguishes them. The value of this free service in 1898 was upwards of $500,- 000, and the sum increases in ratio as 300 new lamps each year are added. The quality and candlepower of the gas have been greatly improved, and the gen- eral service rendered has been of such a nature that Philadelphians. as a rule look upon the transfer of the works to private management as a blessing.
A comparison of present and past conditions may be pertinent. The Gas Works under city management were a heavy drain on the city and were being operated at an ever increasing loss. The service was inadequate. The plant was a physical wreck. Advancement in the use of gas to increase comfort in the home and efficiency in the industries with attendant economy was not helped or encouraged. Today the plant is being operated, not only at a great profit to the lessees but at a great financial gain to the municipality. The ser- vice is equal to all requirements. The plant and equipment are in the finest con- dition that modern methods make possible. The householder in his home, the business man in his store, the manufacturer in his factory are being helped in every way to better living and working conditions and save money by using gas.
The word "Improvement" in the corporate name of the United Gas Im- provement Company has been made a living gospel in all branches of the service. Every complaint from a consumer is received and adjusted in a spirit of patience and fairness. The most expensive experiments and equipment are maintained to secure the very best quality of gas and to deliver it at proper pressure to the burner. High salaried experts in every branch of the business are maintained; most thorough tests of appliances are made under scientific conditions, to the end that the consumer shall have appliances of utmost effici- ency which will operate with the greatest economy. Offices have been estab- lished in every section of the city-nine in all-to facilitate the transaction of business with consumers. Instructors are engaged to go to the home and help the housewife in her use of gas. In a word, the policy of helpfulness has been pursued-not in a philanthropical sense, to be sure, but on the principle that it is good modern business policy.
From the one use which was foreseen for gas in the beginning, there are today more than a thousand uses. Most of these are in connection with manu- facturing processes. But the greatest use of all is in ranges and water heaters in the homes. Today there are very few homes in the city in which the meals
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i.
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U. G. I. BUILDING, BROAD AND ARCH STREETS.
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are not cooked with gas, and in consequence the coal range is being rapidly eliminated.
In the factory gas has had a revolutionary effect, and this particularly in Philadelphia, which is above all a manufacturing city. This clean, reliable, quick source of heat and power, going into the gas engine, the gas furnace, or any one of the thousand appliances in use, entailing little space and no fuel or ashes storage room or troubles, has made for a better quality of product, more sanitary conditions and withal economy.
For 15 years after the lease, the affairs of the Company received the direct supervision of Thomas Dolan as President. In March, 1912, Mr. Dolan re- signed his office and was succeeded by Samuel T. Bodine. Mr. Dolan, how- ever, retained the position of Chairman of the Board of Directors. Other offi- cers of the Company are: First Vice-President, Randal Morgan ; Second Vice- President, Walton Clark; Third Vice-President, Lewis Lillie; Fourth Vice- President, W. F. Douthirt; Fifth Vice-President, Paul Thompson ; Treasurer, Lewis Lillie; Secretary, George W. Curran.
Employing more than 3,000 persons, and actively interested in all civic and industrial betterments, The United Gas Improvement Company, lessees of the Philadelphia Gas Works, is one of the vital agents in the city's life and pro- gress.
Omnibus lines were introduced and the stages were soon running in every direction through the city, and even to outlying sections, although the riding was made uncomfortable by the cobble stones which presented a very uneven surface. The omnibus differed from the old stage coach in that it was longer and the seats instead of running transversely extended the length of the vehicle on both sides; thus the passengers sat facing each other. It could ac- commodate about twelve to fourteen riders. The door was in the rear, and the passenger, after entering, handed his fare through a hole in the roof to the driver. When an occupant of the vehicle desired to alight, he pulled a strap attached to the driver's leg, which strap extended through loops in the roof to the door. The driver loosened the strap, and the passenger pushing against the door, opened it and went down two or three steps to the street.
Cab stands were authorized by Councils to be located in different sections of the city at well known localities, and the rate of hire was fixed at twenty- five cents for short distances and a dollar an hour. An additional charge was made for the conveyance of baggage. Long lines of these cabs were stationed at the corners of certain streets in the business sections of the city, generally in close proximity to the railroad stations and hotels. Summer and winter, in all kinds of weather, clear and foul, by day and far into the night, the drivers and horses could be found at their posts. The horses with drooping heads, their check reins loosened while they were at rest, would seemingly doze most of the time. Many of them were fed their noon-day meal without going to the stables, and the locality frequently emitted a very unpleasant odor. The driv- ers, a class by themselves, called "Jehus," wearing high hats that were out of date, stood in groups on the sidewalk with whip in hand and discussed the questions of the day until a customer appeared, when they would suddenly rush
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in his direction, pushing each other, often roughly, aside, to secure him as a passenger.
The market houses which had lost many of their picturesque features of earlier days had so gradually and so extensively encroached upon the highways as to occupy the middle of Market street from Front to Eighth street, and on the same street from Fifteenth to Seventeenth street. On Callowhill street long sheds stretched out from Fourth to Seventh street, and on Spring Garden street from its beginning at Sixth street to Twelfth street. They were also constructed on South Second street from Pine to South, and on North Second from Coates to Poplar, on Girard avenue north and on Shippen street south. There had also been sheds erected in Southwark, Kensington and Moyamen- sing .. The early market houses had been a feature of the city life, and no visi- for ever came to Philadelphia that he did not make a personal inspection of them. The butchers in their immaculate aprons, the farmers with their pro- duce of every kind, the vegetable and fruit stalls were commented upon favor- ably by all strangers; but the city's traffic had grown to, such an extent that the market houses blocked the streets and interfered with travel. They were not as neat and tidy as they had been and were infested with rats, and there was now made a determined effort to remove them and to erect in their stead market houses fronting the streets but not occupying the center of them. It was sometime, however, before the movement was actually set on foot and many years before most of the principal sheds were removed, some, in a few localities, still lingering as a simple reminder of what they once had been.
From Colonial days it had been the custom on Sundays, during the hours of worship, to block off by chains all streets running past the churches. This custom had been retained up to this time, and it caused, necessarily, great an- noyance and inconvenience to those who were required to use the highways. Sometimes a long detour had to be made, and drivers had to go out of their way many blocks to avoid the chains. Even the mail coaches were delayed in their progress. Before the custom was done away with, however, an appeal had to be made to the Legislature, and, strange to say, the clergy and church- going people entered a strong protest against the repeal of the law. The Leg- islature, however, deaf to this protestation, passed an Act doing away with this relic of medievalism.
Many changes were made in the appearance of the public squares, the old wooden fences that had surrounded some of them were removed and iron rail- ings erected in place of the same. Centre Square, at Broad and Market streets, was intersected by Market street running east and west, and by Broad street running north and south, and instead of remaining one large common, the iand was transformed into four squares, and these were surrounded by tall iron rail- ings until the ground was covered by the Public Buildings.
CHAPTER XXII.
PHILADELPHIA, A LITERARY CENTRE. PERIODICALS. NEWSPAPERS. THE THEATRES.
P HILADELPHIA still retained her reputation as the literary centre of the country. It was a day when magazines or periodicals were all the rage. The first publication of this character in this city was the Saturday Evening Post, in 1821. It had among its editors, Thomas Cottrell Clarke, Charles J. Peterson, Henry Peterson, Rufus W. Griswold, Morton McMichael, and others of little less distinction. It made a boast of its circulation, which was about seven thousand copies a week, a mere bagatelle as compared with its circulation to-day under the direction of its enterprising owner, Mr. Cyrus H. K. Curtis. Then there were magazines published as "The Album," "The Lady's Gazette," "The Casket, or Flowers of Literature, Wit and Sentiment," and "The Lady's Garland," the names indicating the character of the publications.
Louis A. Godey came upon the scene in 1830, and built up successfully his "Lady's Book." Articles from the pens of the leading writers of the day ap- peared in its pages. It made so great a reputation, obtained so large a circu- lation, and paid authors so liberally, as compared with the meagre sums they had heretofore received that even such men as Washington Irving, Nathaniel Hawthorne and N. P. Willis were from time to time regular contributors, and afterwards Edgar Allen Poe, Bayard Taylor, T. Buchanan Read and Charles Godfrey Leland frequently published their articles within the covers of this popular magazine. Peterson's "Lady's Book" also for a time made a stir in the literary world. Then came "Graham's Magazine," perhaps the best edited of all the periodicals of that day so far as real literary worth was concerned.
William E. Burton, the comedian, in 1837. ventured upon the publication of a periodical, which he called "The Gentleman's Magazine." He associated with him Edgar Allen Poe, but their connection unfortunately did not last long. There was friction between the editors and the undertaking was found to be unprofitable, and in time the magazine was sold to George R. Graham, who combined it with "The Casket."
Poe's genius was not recognized at this time as it should have been. He had not the faculty of advertising himself or his works. Being of a nervous, sensitive, irritable and retiring disposition, he somehow or other failed to im- press himself as strongly upon his age as he should have done. Ile did not know how to make friends and to keep them. He was in this particular, much like a distinguished artist of a later date who possessed the gentle 'art of mak- ing enemies. Hle was continually in debt, and at times reduced to absolute want. Ile sold to the publishers his greatest works for a mere pittance, and for his criticisms, which were always incisive, ponetrative and written in the highest literary form, he was paid only four dollars a page.
One of the houses in which Poe lived while in this city still stands to this
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day, and is located in what was known as the District of Spring Garden. It is the back building of a house numbered 530, at the corner of Seventh and Brandywine streets. It must have been a comfortable home, rather an attrac- tive one, for it is described in those times as a cottage surrounded by a garden in which flowers were set. The owner of the house was not exacting, but the unpaid rent had grown to so large an amount that Poe was compelled to move, and to pay a portion of the rent on account, he gave to the landlord a large sofa, some carpets, chairs and other pieces of household furniture, it being the best settlement and the only one he could make under the circumstances.
His life was a sad one, and he only added to his troubles by intemperance, but that he was a genius and one of the most original literary characters this country has ever produced is now generally admitted. Ralph Waldo Emerson referred to him as "that jingle man," but notwithstanding the unfair criticism of the New England philosopher, Poe is coming to his own today, and his talent is being recognized in its true light. Just appreciation has been slow on the way and it is remarkable that it has been so long delayed, but his genius, unique and original in its character, is receiving that recognition which it failed to secure during his lifetime, and he stands today in a class by himself, in the front rank of the poets and writers of this country.
In 1830, there came to America from England a young artist named John Sartain. Ile was a protege of Thomas Sully, the painter. As an engraver, he was at that time without an equal in this country, and his work did much to illustrate, embellish and adorn the productions and publications of that period. He was kindly and genial as a companion, and although he lived to a ripe old age-he died only a few years since, 1897-his memory was clear to the last. His reminiscences were most entertaining, for he had intimately known and associated with the authors, actors and artists of the past, and nothing gave him more enjoyment than to recount the incidents and describe the scenes of bygone days.
The publishing house of Matthew Carey had much to do in the way of cre- ating a taste for literature. It was one of the oldest and the most enterprising firms in its line of business in this country. The name of the firm was changed from time to time by the admission of new partners. The first change was to Carey and Lea, and then in 1835 to Lea and Blanchard. Their publications covered the whole field of letters, and authors in the old world as well as the new submitted their productions for review, anxious to have the title sheets of their works bear the name of so enterprising a firm.
There was no international copyright in those days and it was customary for an American publisher to pay to an English author a sum of money to secure the advance sheets of his new book. When the sheets were so pro- cured, compositors were set at work night and day in order that the book might be put upon the market before any other rival publisher could get a copy of the same. Often the vessel carrying the advance sheets would meet with heavy weather and suffer long delays before reaching port, and if a vessel bearing the English production should arrive in this country before the vessel carrying the advanced sheets, the work would be printed and bound and ready for sale by half a dozen firms before the advanced sheets arrived. This
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was sheer piracy, and it was this species of thievery of which Charles Dickens so justly complained.
The Gift Book was another feature of the Literary World published at the time of the Christmas holidays. It was printed in the best style of art, bound in handsome covers and illustrated by well known artists of that day. The frontispiece generally represented a lady with expansive skirts and panta- lettes which reached to the tops of her gaiters, sitting upon a green bank, under a willow or some other overhanging tree, fondling a King Charles spaniel or else feeding either a dove or a lamb. It was sometimes called the "Book of Beauty," "A String of Pearls" or "Wreath of Roses." No one ever thought of reading the contents. It was never intended to find a place among the standard works on the book shelves in the library but was used as an orna- ment on the parlor or sitting room table. It was merely a souvenir or a holi- day gift but it brought a great revenue to the publishers for thousands of then were sold. They gradually fell out of fashion about the time Charles Dickens began writing his Christmas stories.
Philadelphia had quite a group of literary men, among whom could be named Judge Conrad, Joseph R. Chandler, Henry B. Hirst, Edgar Allen Poe, Willis Gaylord Clark and John C. Neal, to which we must add Charles Brock- den Brown, and the sensational melodramatic author, George Lippard. Later Bayard Taylor, Thomas Buchanan Read, George H. Boker, and Charles Godfrey Leland came upon the scene. Boker was a true Philadelphian, having resided here all his life, with the exception of the time he spent abroad on diplomatic missions. He was born in affluent circumstances and devoted himself to litera- ture for the love of it. Some of his minor poems are exquisite pieces of com- position, such, for instance, as "The Ivory Carver," and "I Have a Cottage Where the Sunbeams Lurk." His writings, for some reason or other, are not as familiar to the public as they should be. Perhaps it is because he is a Phila- delphian.
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