USA > Tennessee > Davidson County > Nashville > History of Nashville, Tenn. > Part 25
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city by adding pipes whenever necessary, and intends during this year to make extensions adequate to the demand from the recently annexed ter- ritory, which extension is estimated at five miles. The capital stock of the company is now $681,000.
The Brush Electric Light and Power Company was chartered Decem- ber 1, 1881, with a capital of $50,000. The name of the company was subsequently changed to the Nashville Lighting and Power Company, and the capital was increased to $100,000. The original incorporators were: S. H. Bell, J. L. Weakley, W. M. Duncan, R. L. Weakley, R. P. Webb, J. N. Nolan, and James L. Gaines. The first officers elected were : R. L. Weakley, President; S. H. Bell, Vice-president: James L. Gaines, Sec- retary and Treasurer; and R. P. Webb, Superintendent. The first plant was located on College Street, near Broad ; but a short time afterward S. H. Bell erected a building for the company on Front Street, near Bridge Street. Lights were first turned on May 1, 1882, and by December 31 of that year the company had a capacity of one hundred and eight arc lights. They had put in a one hundred horse-power Cummer engine and three dynamos of thirty arc lights and one of eighteen. Afterward two Ball engines were put in, and two Erie City boilers, the former of sixty horse- power each and the latter of eighty horse-power each. One sixty arc light machine was also added to the plant-all in 1884. In 1886 another sixty arc light machine was added. In 1887 a new building became a necessity, the old one on the river bank not being adapted to the expansion required by the increasing demand for lights. This new building was erected on Grundy Street, and running back to Porter Street, just back of the Nash- ville and Chattanooga Depot, between Broad Street and Church Street. To this new building were transferred the two Ball engines, and two ad- ditional Westinghouse compound engines were put in; and the Westing- house alternating incandescent system was increased to three thousand lights. The total horse-power of the engines here was four hundred and twenty, while the number of arc lights operated from this station was two hundred and ten. The officers of the company were as follows: Presi- dents, R. L. Weakley, S. H. Bell, W. M. Duncan, and Robert L. Mor- ris; Secretaries, James L. Gaines, R. T. Stannard, George K. Whit- worth, Joseph Wills, and W. D. Fox; Superintendents, R. P. Webb, Thomas P. Keck, R. T. Stannard, E. Fauntleroy, and Joseph Wills ; Electrician, Joseph Wills. At the time of the erection of the new plant on Grundy Street, the members, while recognizing the necessity for the expenditure, were yet unwilling to put up the capital. Robert L. Morris, therefore, who was then President of the company, secured a syndicate of capitalists willing to lease the property and guarantee dividends. This
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syndicate offered to erect the new building and put in the necessary new machinery; but the company declined this offer, and agreed to issue first mortgage bonds to the amount of $40,000, with which to meet the ex- pense to be incurred in building, etc., expecting to be able to market these bonds in the East. When the new station was completed, and the machinery added, it was found to have cost more than was anticipated, and the attempt to market the bonds in the East proved a failure. About that time the City Council invited competition first from the Thom- son-Houston Company, of Boston, which afterward assigned its rights to a local company. At the same time the Council made a demand of the Nashville Lighting and Power Company for a change in its wires from the underwriters' wires, of which they had up a limited amount in com- parison with the total length of their wires- about forty-five miles in all. The result of these movements on the part of the city authorities was to destroy the confidence of the stockholders in the property; and, being unable to sell their bonds in the market and being unwilling to pay for them themselves, they determined to sell the property to the Capital Electric Company, which had then been lately incorporated, at the price of $50,000 in first mortgage bonds and $60,000 in the stock of the Capi- tal Electric Company. Since this time the property has been owned and the lighting of the public buildings conducted by this latter company.
The Capital Electric Company was organized in January, 1889, and chartered in February, with a capital of $50,000, which has since been increased to $200,000. The officers of the company at first were: Dr. T. A. Atchison, President; J. H. Ambrose, Vice-president; A. Dahlgren, Secretary and Treasurer. These, together with W. L. Danley and Dr. William Morrow, were the first Directors. The Directors and officers still remain the same. A contract was made with the city of Nashville to light the streets and public buildings with the Thomson-Houston arc lights, which were to take the place of the Brush arc lights used thereto- fore. The plant of this company was located on Front Street, at the head of Whiteside Street, where a brick building was erected in which was placed steam power to the extent of three hundred and fifty horse-power, and the company began lighting the streets September 1, 1889, with about two hundred arc lights, and the buildings with about nine hundred incan- descent lights, which numbers have since been increased to three hundred and twenty arcs and thirty-five hundred incandescents. This company purchased the property and rights of the Nashville Lighting and Power Company January 1, 1890; and took possession February 1, 1890. This purchase brought all the electric lighting and power under its control. They have since then added new machinery, so as to increase their ca-
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pacity to the extent of being able to run five hundred and eighty arc lights, seven thousand incandescents, and electric motors aggregating one hun- dred and fifty horse-power. Contracts have already been made for sev- eral electric motors, which may be used from one-eighth of one horse- power to one hundred horse-power. The company is also agent for the United States Electric Light Company's dynamos for isolated plants. At its new plant it has recently set up two compound condensing Corliss en- gines, aggregating fifteen hundred horse-power. The office of the com- pany is at No. 308 North Summer Street.
Previous to 1879 brick were made in Nashville by hand only. At that date W. G. Bush & Son put in a Sword machine, invented by P. L. Sword, of Adrian, Mich. This machine proved a success-so much so that all the yards in Nashville have since adopted it. All the brick made in Nashville are made on this machine, except what are made by W. G. Bush & Co. on their hydraulic machine, which was set to work by them in June, 1889. This machine is put up by the Hydraulic Pressed Brick Company, of St. Louis, Mo., and is the best machine made for the manufacture of fine pressed brick. With this machine W. G. Bush & Son are now making twenty-five thousand pressed brick per day. They have two brick-yards-one on Burns Avenue near Taylor Street, and the other in North Edgefield between First Street and the Cumber- land River. Their hydraulic machine is at the former yard, where they also have in operation four Sword machines; and they have three of the latter machines at the North Edgefield yard. The increase in their ca- pacity to manufacture brick has been about as follows: In 1870 they made one million, and the increase since then has been about one million per year. In 1889 they made twenty-three million brick, and are now mak- ing one hundred thousand per day on the Sword machines and twenty- five thousand on the hydraulic machine. The firm is composed of W. G. Bush, T. L. Herbert, and W. C. Bush, son-in-law, and son of W. G. Bush. This company also has been carrying on the building business ever since its organization, Mr. Bush having been a builder from before the war. They erect the brick portions of buildings on contract, and in 1889 did about one hundred thousand dollars' worth of this kind of work. A few of the large buildings erected recently by them are the Connell- Hall-McLester building, on Summer Street, near Church; the Nashville, Chattanooga, and St. Louis car-shops, the Enterprise Soap Works, the Duncan Hotel, and the Vanderbilt Dental building.
The other brick manufacturers in Nashville are the Fulcher & Dyas Brick Company and E. C. Lesueur & Son, who made in 1889 in the ag- gregate about fifteen million brick.
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The Publishing House of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, was established in Nashville by the General Conference of 1854. There had been steps taken, however, previously which led to this establishment here. The Convention which organized this branch of the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1845 at Louisville was in favor of the establishment of a Book Concern, and appointed two Book Agents to receive proposals for its location, and money and other contributions for building up the same. These Book Agents were Revs. John Early and J. B. McFerrin, and they were required to report to the General Conference to be held at Petersburg in May, 1846. This Conference appointed Rev. John Early as Agent, to provide for the publication of books by contract, and depositories were established at Louisville, Charleston, and Richmond. According to the "Plan of Separation," there was to be an equitable di- vision of the common property, but the General Conference of the Meth- odist Episcopal Church decided this " Plan " null and void, and refused to be governed by the settlement of 1844. Upon this decision, the Meth- odist Episcopal Church, South, took the case to the courts, and secured a decision in its favor. The decree was rendered April 25, 1854. The proceeds of the suits were as follows: Cash, $293,334.50; notes and ac- counts, $50,575.02; book stock, $20,000; accounts against Richmond Christian Advocate and Nashville Christian Advocate, $9,500; presses at Richmond, Charleston, and Nashville, $20,000; and from the chartered fund, $17,712; aggregate, $414,141.62. The total amount realized from these various sums was $386,153.63. The General Conference favored a Book Concern for the South, and accordingly the committee brought in a plan for an establishment at Nashville for the purpose of manufact- uring books. The location of this house at Nashville was secured large- ly, if not mainly, through the efforts of Rev. A. L. P. Green. The name of this establishment was and is "The Publishing House of the Method- ist Episcopal Church, South." It was to be under the control of the two Agents and a Book Committee of three. In August, 1854, the Agents purchased in Nashville a lot on the public square, sixty-eight feet front, and extending back to the Cumberland River, three hundred feet. Upon this lot buildings were erected, from three to four stories high, and cost- ing $37,282.52. In 1858 the General Conference reduced the number of Agents to one, but determined to have a Financial Secretary. The Book Agent is elected quadrennially, and has charge of the general con- duct of the House. Those who have served as Book Agents have been as follows: Rev. John Early, D.D., Rev. E. Stevenson, D.D., and Rev. James E. Evans, D.D., who were elected jointly by the General Confer- ence of 1854. Dr. Evans resigned, and Rev. F. A. Owen was chosen to
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fill the unexpired term. Rev. J. B. McFerrin, D.D., was elected in 1858, and served until the war. At the General Conference of 1866 (the first held after 1858) Rev. A. H. Redford, D.D., was elected to the position. He was twice re-elected, and in 1878 Rev. J. B. McFerrin was again chosen. He was twice re-elected, and died while in office. The present incumbent, Rev. J. D. Barbee, D.D., was chosen as his successor. The Book Committee of thirteen is also elected by the General Confer- ence; and this committee, in connection with the Book Agent, exercises supervision over the publishing interests of the Church. The original build- ing was three stories high in front, and four in the rear. This building was partially destroyed by fire in 1872, and the one now in use was erect- ed in 1874. It is well located on the north-east corner of the public square, and is an imposing structure, four stories in front and seven in the rear. It is one hundred feet wide in front, and has a depth of two hundred and twenty-four feet. The first floor (that opening on the pub- lic square) includes four large store-rooms, two of which are used for sales-rooms, business office, Agent's office, and the wholesale department ; while the other two are rented to wholesale firms, who occupy only a por- tion of the floors above and below. All the floors, from the first to the seventh, are easily reached by means of a steam elevator, with automatic doors, electric bells, etc. The present organization of the House is as follows: Book Agent, Rev. J. D. Barbee, D.D .; Manager, D. M. Smith ; Book Committee, Judge E. H. East, Chairman; Dr. W. H. Morgan, Secretary; T. D. Fite, Rev. R. A. Young, D.D., George A. Dazey, J. H. Fall, N. Baxter, Jr., S. J. Keith, and Dr. William Morrow, all of Nashville; Rev. T. S. Wade, of West Virginia; Rev. T. M. Cobb, of Missouri; Rev. A. S. Andrews, D.D., of Alabama; and John A. Carter, of Louisville; Book Editor, Rev. W. P. Harrison, D.D .; Editor Chris- tian Advocate, Rev. O. P. Fitzgerald, D.D .; Sunday-school Editor, Rev. W. G. E. Cunnyngham, D.D. The sales department is entered di- rectly from the street. Here are to be found the books published by the House and the best standard religious and theological works, Bibles in various styles, a well-selected assortment of miscellaneous works, Sun- day-school libraries, Webster's and Worcester's Unabridged Dictionaries, etc. The editorial rooms are on the second floor; the composing-room is on the third floor, as is also the job printing department; the electro- typing and stereotyping department is on the fourth floor; the press- room occupies two floors below the level of the street, and the bindery is one floor above the press-room. Following are the names of the various periodicals published by this House, with their average circu- lation : Christian Advocate, 27,000; Quarterly Review, 1,500; Sunday-
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school Magazine, 27,000; Senior Quarterly, 205,000; Intermediate Quarterly, 201,000; Illustrated Lesson Paper (weekly), 130,753; Our Little People (weekly), 208,128; Weekly Sunday-school Visitor, 30,- 500; Semi-monthly Sunday-school Visitor, 17,000; Monthly Sunday- school Visitor, 16,200. Total circulation, 1, 188,853. The engine-room is in the basement, where an Erie City engine of seventy-five horse-power drives all the machinery of the House except that in the electrotyping de- partment. The Publishing House uses about nine hundred thousand pounds of paper per year, and pays somewhat over $12,000 per year in postage. In addition to the Book Agent and editors elected by the Gen- eral Conference, there are about one hundred and fifty employees in the House.
The Cumberland Presbyterian Board of Publication was organized in 1845 as a Central Committee of Publication. The members of the Com- mittee lived in different States, widely separated from each other; and though a joint stock company was suggested, they were unable to accom- plish any thing. In 1847 the General Assembly appointed a Publishing Committee, whose members lived near Louisville, Ky., which was instruct- ed to secure a charter and to appoint financial agents to solicit donations, to avoid debt, and to make no sales on credit. For several years this committee issued Confessions of Faith and Hymn-books, published un- der contract by Morton & Griswold, the leading publishers south of the Ohio River. In 1848 the General Assembly, which convened at Hunts- ville, Ala., appointed a special Committee of Publication, consisting of Richard Beard, M. B. Feemster, H. B. Warren, R. L. Caruthers, A. J. Baird, Milton Bird, and Isaac Shook. In accordance with the recom- mendations of this committee, a permanent Committee of Publication was provided for, to consist of three practical business men, which com- mittee was to appoint a General Agent, who should be paid a sufficient salary to enable him to devote the necessary amount of his time to the business of the Board. The committee thus provided for was composed of Elder Andrew Allison, Rev. W. E. Ward, and Rev. Wiley M. Reed. Rev. W. S. Langdon was appointed General Agent. The committee was located at Nashville, and Rev. Mr. Reed was made its Chairman. The assets removed to Nashville amounted to $641 in plates of the Cate- chism and books, and notes and accounts to the sum of $900. In 1850 the Board was chartered by the Legislature of Tennessee. One thousand dollars was borrowed to publish the Hymn-book, which had been revised by a committee consisting of Rev. A. J. Baird, Rev. J. C. Provine, and Elder N. Green, Jr. The money was borrowed of Hon. R. L. Caruth- ers, Judge N. Green, Sr., Hon. Horace H. Harrison, Rev. Carson P.
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Reed, and others; and most of it was afterward donated to the Board. The publishing work of the Church was suspended by the war until 1863, when it was transferred to Pittsburg, Pa. Of the Publishing Committee there, Joseph Pennock was made Chairman; and Rev. S. T. Stewart, Publishing Agent. The assets removed to Pittsburg amounted to $3,637. 56. In 1865 a new committee was appointed, consisting of Rev. I. N. Cary, Rev. S. T. Stewart, and Alexander Postley. In 1867 the work was again transferred to Nashville, and A. J. Baird, Rev. L. C. Ran- som, and Ruling Elder D. C. Love appointed members of the Board. The General Assembly appropriated to the publishing work $2,460, which, added to the assets removed from Pittsburg, made the total re- sources $5,271.74. Rev. J. C. Provine, D.D., became Book Editor and Publishing Agent. During 1869 the receipts from sales amounted to $6,- 971.24. This year the General Assembly resolved to raise $50,000, with which to place the enterprise on a broader and firmer basis; and the same year Dr. Provine resigned as Publishing Agent, and was succeeded by W. E. Dunaway. A store was opened January 1, 1871, for the pur- chase and sale of religious books in connection with the sale of the pub- lications of the Church. Rev. T. C. Blake was employed in 1871 to raise the $50,000 above mentioned, and, exclusive of his expenses and compensation, he raised $7,107.47. This amount, with accrued interest, was used for the purpose of publication, except that portion of it which by agreement when the subscription was made was to be appropriated to the building or purchase of a publishing house, when a sufficient amount should be secured for the purpose. In August, 1872, Rev. M. B. De- Witt, D.D., was made Soliciting Agent and Book Editor, and became editor of the Sunday-school periodicals and of the "Theological Me- dium," resigning in 1879. The office of Agent was filled during the dec- ade beginning 1880 by T. M. Hurst, and subsequently by Mr. J. D. Wil- son. In 1889 the office of Agent was abolished, the new position of General Manager created, and Rev. W. J. Darby, D.D., of Evansville, Ind., was called to this position.
For a number of years the question of locating the publishing work of the Church at St. Louis, or some other western point was advocated in the General Assembly, and other Church judicatures, by a portion of the western element in the Church. The General Assembly at Kansas City in 1889 threw the question open to the country, and appointed a commit- tee of seven men, representing all sections of the Church, from Pennsyl- vania to Texas, to advise with the Board concerning any bids for perma- nent location that might be received. In October of that year, a general meeting of this committee and the Board was held at Nashville. Various
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propositions from other localities were considered during a session of three days, and finally a unanimous decision was reached to locate the Board permanently in Nashville. Immediately after this decision, the Board proposed to purchase a piece of property known as the "K. J. Morris homestead," on Cherry Street, near Church Street. On this lot, one hundred by one hundred and seventy-five feet, the Board is now erecting a splendid publishing house for the accommodation of its largely increased business. From a very insignificant beginning, this institution has thus grown to such proportions as to make it one of the foremost publishing concerns in the city.
The following extract from the annual report of the Merchants' Ex- change for 1889 is appropriate in this connection :
"The most signal evidence of the firm foundation of the growth of Nashville, and the firmest assurance for its future, is found in the fact that it has steadily developed both its commerce and its industries. Each branch has prospered. The energies of her people find full and free ex- ercise. Facts given in detail would show that the volume of business done by the wholesalers and jobbers of Nashville exceeds that of any city in the South, with the possible exception of New Orleans. Goods from Nashville are sold, without doubt, in a wider territory than is tributary to any city south of the Ohio River. Her traffic has stood the test of com- petition from every quarter, and the result is shown in a larger business for 1889 than in any previous year of her history.
" Her manufactures are on an equally stable basis. Carefully com- puted statistics show that $10,000,000 is invested in manufactures here, giving employment to ten thousand operatives; that the number of indi- viduals, .firms, and corporations engaged in manufacturing is two hun- dred and seventy-five, and that there are sixty-eight different kinds of manufactures in existence.
"To give an idea of the variety of these industries, following are the number of firms in the leading branches: Agricultural implements, I ; bag manufacturers, I; bakers, candy, and crackers, 23; barrel and coopers, 8; blank books, 7; brewers, I; boiler-makers, 2; boots and shoes, I ; baskets, 3; brick, 4 ; brooms and brushes, 8; builders' material, 3; carriages and wagons, 17; chewing gum, 3; cigars, 12; clothing, 3; car shops, 2; cornice, copper, stoves, and tinware, 9; cotton, 3; dis- tillers, 3; elevators, 3; engines and machinery, 16; electric lights, I; fertilizers, 5; flour mills, 4; foundries, I; furniture and show-cases, 7 : gun-makers, 3; harness, 16; ice, 2; iron, I; leather and tannery, 3; lumber and planing mills, 9; marble and granite, 11 ; mattresses and up- holstering, 12; patent medicines, 8; pork-packers, I; pottery, 2; pow-
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der, I; scales, I; shirts, 3; snuff, 3; soap, 3; spokes and handles, I; spice, I; tobacco, 2; trunks and valises, 2; wire works and screen doors, 4; wooden ware, I; woolen mill, I; cotton seed oil mill, I."
It is clear from the above statement or summary of the manufacturing establishments located here that this city has scarcely its proportion of such enterprises. There is doubtless some risk in attempting to account for this undesirable state of affairs, and yet the general opinion of the most intelligent of the citizens is to the effect that there are but two main causes which are worthy of enumeration. These two causes are, first, that legislation in Tennessee is unfriendly to manufactures; and second, that the two railroads here are virtually but one, and thus that competi- tive freight rates are out of the question. As to whether this latter is a real or imaginary cause there is a variety of opinion and statement, but even if it be assumed that the merchants and manufacturers of Nashville have no cause for complaint against their railroads, and assuming also that it can be shown to manufacturers desirous of locating in Nashville that freight schedules are fair and reasonable, it is still impossible to prove to them that these fair and reasonable rates will continue, and the result is that other locations are chosen where there is at least a possibil- ity of securing competitive rates, even if not lower rates.
With regard to the other objection to Nashville as a location for manu- facturing enterprises, there is less difference of opinion. It is a diffi- culty quite keenly felt by all incorporated companies. In March, 1887, the Legislature passed an assessment law which was construed to mean that not only the actual property, real and personal, of incorporated com- panies, should be assessed and taxed in the same manner as the property of persons and companies not incorporated, but that in addition to this the shares of stock of incorporated companies should be taxed at their full value, thus in fact requiring these companies to pay more than double the amount of tax that non-incorporated companies were required to pay. An agreed case was taken to the Circuit Court of Davidson County, which on appeal was carried to the Supreme Court of the State, the de- cision of this court being that such was the meaning of the law, and that the law was constitutional. This decision created a great sensation throughout the State, as it was apparent that the spirit of the Legislature which passed the law was inimical to manufacturing industries, otherwise it would not have discriminated against them. The Legislature of 1889 passed another law on this subject in order to relieve that of 1887 of its harshest features. The law of 1889 made it the duty of the assessor to ascertain the value of the stock and bonds of such a company, and make the aggregate thus found the basis for assessing the property of the cor-
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