SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY - 225 field frequently, retains the two numbers 99,998 and 99,999, by asking in time for them. The license tax helps to maintain the roads in good condition. While there are many accidents, approximately 9,000 persons having been killed in 1921, it is said that reckless joy-riding is a thing of the past, and while it has been said : "Lock up every motor car in the country and we will have good times," not all the community accept the assertion. Every family that owns a car would object to locking it up, modern society demanding its service. While farmers used to object to walking half way to town in leading their horses past automobiles, the horses are educated now and pass them without difficulty, the farmers themselves owning cars. They were prejudiced against them, but ownership makes the greatest difference in the world, It is said that a greater percentage of farmers use telephones and automobiles than any other class. While the improved roads lead up to more highway robberies, road building goes along uninterrupted ; the highway constabulary installed in many parts of the country was unknown in the days of daring stage robberies. -While thieves once stole horses and escaped with them, they now steal automo biles and are sometimes overtaken by the "strong arm of the law." The rural constabulary is a mighty force in curbing automobile thefts. When thieves used to content themselves with stealing horses, farmers were often sore perplexed in crop times, but the loss of an automobile may be communicated about the country through the use of the telephone, and stolen cars are sometimes located by their owners ; however, changed license numbers render them difficult of identification. Years ago automobile clubs did much to encourage road building all over the country, but the National Road through Clark County always has been an incentive. It brought the emigrants, and it still. brings the tourists, and camping places, along with bungalow trailers, indicate future activities. The National Road has long been an asset to Clark County. The Good Roads Council regulates the weight and speed of trucks. The roads are disintegrated under the burdens they are forced to bear, and the manufacturers of trucks encourage a better foundation in road-building. "The intolerable automobile ruins the roads," but when speeding is regulated, and the law against over-loading is enforced, the roads will be more durable. The Ohio Motorist, June, 1920, carried an article: "Automobiles Help Drained Road," with a sub-title: "System of Drainage Well Worked Out Has Proved Successful in Clark County." It is called the Mellinger Plan, and the article was written by the Clark County Good Roads Council secretary, A. R. Altick. The drift of the article is that what drainage will do for highways has been demonstrated by Clark County Commissioner Harry S. Mellinger, a local exponent of highway drainage, the experiment tried out on the Yellow Spring pike ; by the use of side ditches the water level is below the frost line ; when the improvement started, the water stood in chuck holes and the roads were almost impassable, and the Mellinger idea of drainage has been widely copied. After completing the drain, Mr. Mellinger used ninety yards of gravel to the half mile of road surface, and it was ready for traffic. He drags the road frequently, maintaining an eight-inch crown, and thus the water escapes at the sides, the ditches serving two purposes—draining both the road and the fields along it. When the traffic is heavy, Mr. Mellinger maintains the grade by adding a light coat of coarse sand with plenty of grit, using about one yard to fifty running feet, and he finds the automobiles an Vol. I-15 226 - SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY advantage to the road ; the pneumatic tires iron out and compress the surface into a resisting mass, and one machine following another soon spreads it. While automobile traffic has a tendency to wear down the crown, and scatter the material to the side of the road, a well constructed berm prevents loss, and the material is scraped to the center again. It acts as a cement in binding and uniting all road materials, this worn gravel mixing well with macadam or crushed stone. The state and county share the expense, and the fifty per cent borne by the county is subdivided, twenty-five per cent to the county at large, fifteen per cent to the township through which the road passes, and ten percent to the abutting property owners, the road costing the land owners approximately $3,000 a mile, the entire cost being $30,000, while under the Mellinger plan roads may be built to cost from $400 to $1,000 per mile, the drainage being the economy. The Fairchild road is another example of the Mellinger plan, the surface becoming better every year. Before gravel was used extensively, farmers used to work the roads by scraping from the edge to the middle, and the advantage was the drainage offered at the side by the removal of the dirt, although nothing was said about it. People who have lived fifty years and longer, remember the covered wagons going over the National road with movers from eastern points to Indiana, Illinois and Iowa. In the '70s there were few buggies or carriages in use in Clark County ; when the Cincinnati buggy was on the market it enlarged the neighborhood for many families, and it was enlarged again by the automobile. When the wagon was the only vehicle of travel, the trips were to town and home again, and when carriages were first introduced they were heavy, cumbersome affairs ; the family with a two-horse carriage attracted unlimited attention. Those who speed through the country in high geared automobiles go faster, but they cannot enjoy themselves better than did the families who were first to have buggies and carriages. In the Albert Reeder booklet dealing with South Charleston, he tells of the fat cattle driven over the Cincinnati-Columbus road and over the mountains to eastern markets, and he says the meat market of those days was on wheels—Armour's in miniature, before the days of the meat trust and refrigerator cars. While every community had its meat peddler with a one-horse wagon, Mr. Reeder says : "Uncle Obie Davisson enjoyed a monopoly on this trade ; he drove Old Jack, a little brown string-halt horse, and many was the pound of meat they delivered. I remember Old Jack distinctly, his color and other peculiarities," but the children of today have no conception of such a thing; the meat peddler travels faster, and they use ice when necessary. The flies used to follow the one-horse wagon meat markets about the country. While there is a road building schedule, and the Good Roads Council looks after extensions, it is the policy of the county commissioners who furnish the funds that roads bearing the heaviest traffic will be apportioned the most money for repairs ; the funds are distributed according to the amount of traffic. Each supervisor is allotted certain roads, and he is responsible to the commissioners. In order to secure the money from the state, County Surveyor W. H. Sieverling, and County Auditor William Mills accompanied the board of commissioners to Columbus, to present the Clark County needs to the state highway commissioner. When a county fails to claim its road money within a prescribed time SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY - 227 limit, it reverts to other counties. The county commissioners make an annual tour of road inspection, and when mistakes are discovered they plan to remedy them ; sometimes they tour other parts of the country for road building suggestions. Floyd Johnson, chairman of the Good Roads Council, after seeing results in other places, agrees with the Mellinger plan—the important thing in road building is drainage ; good roads can be built and maintained economically from gravel and right materials when properly drained. When the crown of a road is too high the traffic is at the edge, and there is a sentiment against the high center ; it was reported that 865 miles of roads were paved in Ohio in 1921, and the state is lifting itself out of the mud in such well planned, practical fashion, that within a few years all sections will be reached by graded, hard-surfaced highways. While foot and horseback travel were the only known methods once upon a time, the wheel age came along and improved roads rendered it a possibility, and the sentiment is : "Let the good work continue until every community is tied to every other community by a road which defies all of the elements." While there were taverns all along the National Road when it was the only line of transportation, the Werden Hotel was the recognized headquarters in Springfield. The arrival and departure of the stage was the event of the day, and there were admiring crowds ,of spectators. The stage-drivers were a "swaggering" set of fellows dressed in fetching clothes, and they swore like pirates ; they would drive up to the hotel in full speed, crack long-lashed whips and yell at the horses ; sometimes there was a bugler on the box with the driver, and all of the boys in Springfield wanted to be stage drivers. They were ready to expatiate upon the points of interest along the way, filling the intervals with a flow of general information, but "Them days is gone forever," because the daily newspaper now supplies the need ; however, as the driver discoursed to those gathered about him, he shifted his quid of tobacco and spat to punctuate his remarks. The National Road was not the only stage coach line into Springfield, the one to Urbana passing down Limestone Street to the ford across Buck Creek, and up the hill past the one-story tavern with its low roof line outlined against the sky ; its one chimney rising above the center, and its quaint door-way inviting the imaginative passerby, and R. C. Woodward tells about going over this line in 1832, when Simon Kenton and his wife were passengers as far as Urbana, the road to New Moorefield marking the same route of travel. In 1844, the old road to Urbana was straightened and made into a turnpike, twenty-five cents toll being charged from Springfield to the county line ; the toll gate was near McCright Avenue and T. R. May was the keeper ; he was a man with a cheery word for all travelers, typical of other toll collectors of the period. Had they kept dairies, they were in position to know the history of development ; they saw the world go by : "Jolting through the valley, Winding up the hill, Splashing through the 'branches,' Rumbling by the mill, Life's a rugged journey, Taken in a stage." CHAPTER XXVII TRANSPORTATION—ITS RELATION TO INDUSTRY If there are two community interests that depend upon each other, they are the carrier system and the factory ; useless each without the other. Why invest capital in manufacturing enterprises, unless there is a market for the finished product ? The common carrier gives the producer an outlet to the markets of the world. Through its Chamber of Commerce every inducement to manufacturers is offered, and since "Springfield is without national boundaries, it has numerous manufacturing sites ; its railroads enter the city from all directions," and thus transportation facilities are the boast of the community. In the beginning the natural highways for travel were the Ohio River on the south, and Lake Erie on the north, but through Mad River and the Great Miami the first settlers in Clark County had egress to the Ohio. David Lowry, who located on Mad River in 1796, built the first scow or flat boat "that ever navigated the Great Miami from Dayton down," it being understood that it was built in 1800 along Mad River. While it seems like a f airy tale, a scow built in Clark County finally reached New Orleans by water. Mr. Lowry was assisted in the enterprise by William Ross. Mr. Lowry and his neighbor who came with him to Mad River, Jonathan Donnel, were deer hunters and when Mr. Lowry had accumulated 500 venison hams, he wanted to reach a market ; he had come direct to Mad River with a surveying party from Cincinnati, and he did not shrink from adventure. While the boat was constructed, and the venison hams secured along Mad River—the first shipment of provision from the vicinity of Springfield to the outside world, it was before Springfield had come into existence, and the scow was worked down stream to Dayton where barrels for pickled pork and bacon were waiting them. While the barrels were made in Dayton, owing to the difficulty of navigation on the Miami where there was driftwood, the hogs were driven to Cincinnati ; there they were butchered, and the fresh pork was packed in barrels for shipping to New Orleans. Meat is shipped in refrigerator cars today, and it is easily understood that the consignment of fresh pork was slightly damaged when it reached the southern market. However, Mr. Lowry received $12 a hundred, which was less than he expected in New Orleans. While he lived to be an old man, he did not try water-way shipping again. Since he was the first local man to reach the outside world with a local product, the venison hams—a tablet should perpetuate the story. In 1825, John Jackson, whose wife was Nellie Lowry, covered part of the distance by water, removing from Clark County to Tennessee. While no artificial water-way has ever penetrated Clark County when Governor DeWitt of New York, who was the great water-way man of the age, was en route to Hamilton, Ohio, to throw out the first shovelful of dirt from the Erie canal, a delegation of Springfield business men met him at the Little Miami and escorted him the remainder of the distance. The Ohio Gazetteer of 1841 says : "As yet Clark County - 228 - SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY - 229 has no outlet to market save the common roads of the country," but at that time the National Road was bringing everything to Springfield. The efforts in Congress in the late '30s to substitute a railway for this great highway were a failure ; at that time the cost of a complete train-way exceeded the required appropriations to complete it. In 1825, there was a salt famine widespread in the country, and settlers who "wagoned" to Cincinnati hauled down twelve barrels of flour for which they received $12, and they paid $10 for a barrel of salt to haul back to Springfield. They had $2 for other expenses, but the "back haul of merchandise for Dayton or Springfield helped them to make a profit from the trip." Cincinnati was the great business center, but in 1829, the Miami Canal was finished to Dayton, and the long hauls to Cincinnati were no longer necessary ; the settlers had always gone in groups so that when their wheels would not turn in the mud, they could assist each other. While Dayton grew rapidly of ter the canal was finished connecting the Great Lakes and the Ohio, and was soon a rival of Cincinnati, Springfield had the National Road and even now only Cincinnati and Dayton are larger markets in southwestern Ohio. While goods from the eastern markets were hauled over the mountains to the Ohio, Cincinnati and Dayton both had shipping facilities while Springfield only had the National Road ; however, passenger traffic sustained the same relation to the freight business then as it did later on the steam railway lines ; from the standpoint of revenue, it was a small item. It remained for the heavy wagons to distribute throughout the West the product of mill and factory, and the rich harvests of the fields. This great freight traffic along the National Road created a race of its own ; men strong and daring and the f act that the teamsters of these "mountain ships" had taverns or "wagon houses" of their own where they stopped, tended to separate them into a class by themselves. The automobile with its "bungalow trailer" simply patterns after the moving vans of the long ago. While some of the National Road description distinctively belongs farther east, many of those mountain ships that at night were converted into wagon houses, came as far as Springfield ; they went to Dayton and to Cincinnati. There were many deflecting lines of the stage, and travel was as much diversion as it has been in later years. In the '40s 'the droves of fat steers went through Clark County toward the eastern markets. "They 'hoofed' it, and we boys never failed to ask how many ; the drovers would say 150 to 300," and the next day the same thing happened again ; however, in the '40s the National Road had a rival in Springfield. In that decade two railroads penetrated into Clark County. The different generations have the same human instinct, and a local writer tells about when Paist and Company packed pork in South Charleston. The pork packing industry ceased in 1850, but prior to that time Nat Moss with his big wagon drawn by six horses hauled between Cincinnati and Columbus, and South Charleston merchants depended on him for everything. He would take away pork and bring back merchandise. He had great pride in his outfit, and everything was kept in spick and span condition. The horses were equipped with bells over the hames, and they gave a cheerful warning that Nat Moss was approaching the town. The boys flocked to the street to see the handsome team and the big wagon ; to them the hubs in the wheels SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY - 231 were as big as flour barrels, and the items of merchandise : New Orleans molasses, brown sugar, with staple groceries and dry goods, but human nature is unchanged ; let a medicine vender with an ox team, or a bungalow trailer of a different pattern appear, and every man and boy in Springfield sees the novelty. In the old coaching days the passenger and mail coaches were operated very much like the railways of today ; a vast network covered the land and competition extended into every phase ; fast horses, comfortable coaches—every appeal for patronage. Some of the stage lines were operated in sections, the different sections having different proprietors, and they were all inclined to speculation. Neil, Moore & Company of Columbus operated hundreds of stages, the Neil fortune coming from that source; there were trusts in the "good old days" of stage coaches, and graft still manifests itself in utility operations. About 1850, portions of the National Road were leased, and in 1854 the stage line from Springfield to the Ohio River was leased for a term of ten years, $6,105 being the annual rental, but the competition of the railroads was being felt, and a new order of things was apparent. Clark County is not far from the center of population in the United States, and today Ohio is traversed by all of the transcontinental railways ; the trunk lines go through the state, and where people intermingle trade results from it. Transportation is fundamental in community building; it was necessary to the settler, and the evolution of the trail—the path through the wilderness ; the corduroy bridge over a swamp, to the hard surface road and the railroad—it all reflects the spirit of transportation and the National Road is only an incident along the highway of progress. Today the busy man in Springfield has an important engagement in some other city ; he inquires when a train leaves, and in all human probability he arrives on time at his destination ; he is guaranteed exact regularity of performance, but such efficiency of service is not an over night development. One time transportation depended on the weather, the wind and the tide—antiquity remote, and then no passenger trains stopped in Springfield. CHANGED CONDITION But the dawning of a new era in transportation had already been heralded in the national hall of legislation ; in 1832, the House Committee on Railroads and Canals had discussed in their report the question of the relative cost of various means of intercommunication, including railways. Each report of the committee for the next five years mentioned the same subject, until in 1836, the matter of substituting a railway for the National Road between Columbus and the Mississippi was very seriously considered. In 1836, the first railroad west of New York State—the Erie and Kalamazoo, operated with horsepower—was opened between Toledo and Adrian, Michigan, and in July, 1837, a locomotive was installed upon it. The next railroad in Ohio was the Mad River and Lake Erie ; it was incorporated in 1832, with a prospective route from Dayton via Springfield to Sandusky, but the Little Miami was ahead of it in Clark County, entering Springfield in 1846, while the Mad River and Lake Erie road was two years later. In 1846, the Little Miami built a warehouse and an enginehouse in Springfield preparatory to completing the line, and on August 6, the 232 - SPRINGFIELD AND. CLARK COUNTY locomotive Ohio arrived, drawing two flat cars from Xenia. When the train stopped west of Center Street that summer afternoon, the engineer blew the whistle and everybody came out to see it. When the engineer blew the whistle again, there was a stampede among the spectators ; they were afraid of an explosion. It was five days after the locomotive arrived and Springfield people heard the first whistle until on August 11 the first train came from Cincinnati to Springfield. When the first locomotive drawing two flat cars was leaving, Springfield boys followed it along Factory now Wittenberg Avenue through the deep cut, warning each other of the danger of suction ; it was backing out on a badly ballasted track, and there was not enough speed to create aerial commotion. No one was swallowed up by it, and finally boys were less cautious ; they ride out of town on freights without thought of danger. Finally, when the first passenger train arrived it was met by visitors from every direction ; there was great. gusto. Talk about frontier hospitality ; the citizens of Springfield gave a dinner in the warehouse, and the guests were welcomed by Gen. Charles Anthony, one of the most distinguished townsmen of his day. It was the beginning of the end of the stage coach, although for a few years there were both stage and railway time tables posted in Springfield. The first agent of the company was Zimmerman and the second was Wright, but not much data has been left by any of them. The first locomotive on the Little Miami to reach South Charleston was called the Brooks ; they were all wood burners, and farmers hauled wood to the railroad while clearing their land ; free rides were given stockholders, and some of them almost froze on the first trip over the Little Miami to Xenia. While construction was begun on the Mad River and Lake Erie in 1835, it was not until 1848 that it reached Springfield. The Ohio Gazetteer of 1841, says : "The Mad River and Lake Erie Railroad, the speedy completion of which there is now no doubt, will enter Clark County on the north about midway from east to west, and thence pursue a southerly course to Springfield, thence taking a southwest direction will follow the general course of Mad River to Dayton," and speaking further of the National Road and the railroads—"When these great works or internal improvement shall have been completed, Clark County will possess advantages equal to any other inland county of the state, and for the extent. of her territory, will probably be the richest ; its exports embody every variety of agricultural products : cattle, horses, hogs and sheep," and while water power was being utilized and factory wheels were turning, no mention was made of manufactured articles for export. As yet there was no outlet only the common roads, but much of the land was under a high state of cultivation. The Mad River and Lake Erie—the father of Western railways, reached Springfield September 2, 1848 ; the first engineer was Peter Thomas and Seneca was the name of the engine ; it was from the Great Lakes, and it was another glad day in Springfield ; the lakes and the Ohio were connected, and it gave an impetus to the growth of the town. The first local agent was A. Cheesebrough, and he was f ollowed by J. B. Norris. In 1848, Springfield had two railroad trains and two stage coaches daily, but the stage coach is a thing of the past, although "the chariot of fire" arrives whenever one out of every fourteen citizens is returning to town. In connection with the arrival of the Mad River and Lake Erie, the Springfield Tri-Weekly Republic carried the headline : SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY - 233 "Arrival Extraordinary. Mad River Railroad Finished," with the information: "This morning at half past ten an engine with several cars attached came into town, and was received with shouts of joy by large crowds of citizens. We could scarcely believe our ears when we heard the strange sound of the whistle in the northwest, nor our eyes when we saw the engine coming ; yet it is a reality. The Mad River Railroad is completed to Springfield, and the river and the lakes have shaken hands," and a few days later the same paper announced a letter from officials of the road, saying that the line between Springfield and Dayton will be put under contract without delay, eastern stockholders having concurred in the necessary arrangements. When there were but two roads they used the same station, but since then there has been no Union Railway Station in Springfield. Hiram W. Williams of Springfield who since March, 1921, has been pensioned by the Big Four Railway Company, has investigated things for himself and he reports that the Mad River and Lake Erie became known as Cincinnati, Sandusky and Cleveland line before it was finally absorbed by the Big Four; for fifty-one years Mr. Williams was a locomotive engineer, and for forty-six years he ran trains out of Springfield. Theodore Good is another pensioned engineer, and John C. Penders is pensioned by the Pennsylvania line as a baggage master, having held different positions in his term of service. In describing the development of the Mad River and Lake Erie line, Mr. Williams has the idea that construction was begun at Dayton, and met the improvement from the other way at Bowlusville near the north line of Clark County. Captain Bowlus had a store at the point of intersection, and that was the beginning of Bowlusville. The junction was along Mad River in excellent farming country, and for a time Bowlusville was an important business center ; both the soil and the railroad attracted settlers, and when the iron bands came together the settlers planned a barbecue; the governors of Ohio and Indiana were there,: and notables from many points along the way. The 234 - SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY ends came together in Clark County, and from that on it made rapid progress ; the Erie Canal carried much freight to Dayton, and this railway opened up an eastern market. The country was now connected with the outside world in each direction. In 1852 an emigrant train brought the cholera to Springfield. Mr. Williams says that the stretch of Big Four Railroad from Springfield to London was built by popular subscription, Clark County taking the initiative in the '50s ; it wanted a direct line to Columbus. At London it connected with the Miami now the Pennsylvania, continuing to the capital city ; however, the road was a failure and did not pay the taxes till 1872, when it was sold to the company controlling the Sandusky road, the purchase price of $1 making it within the law. When the line was finally extended to Columbus it proved an excellent investment. It was operated in connection with the Sandusky road until both were absorbed by the Big Four. George .H. Knight who has known the railroad situation in Springfield since 1876, and who in 1882 became local agent of the Big Four—the C. C. C. & I., known as the Bee Line, was with the road when it absorbed some other local lines, first being the Cincinnati, Sandusky & Cleveland, then the Bee Line and finally the I. B. & W. all accomplished within three years and merged into the Big Four. Mr. Knight regrets that he did not make written note of much that happened then, now only available in the files of local newspapers. What used to be regarded as three separate roads are now under one management, and it is proving an economical arrangement. While the Big Four and I. B. & W. roads used the Arcade as an office, the Cincinnati, Sandusky & Cleveland line used the old station until of ter the consolidation, and after the fire in the Arcade in 1893, the office was removed to the old station across the track where it remained until the present passenger station was built at the foot of Spring Street. When the roads were ,merged, Mr. Knight was fortunate in being with the road taking over the others ; he continued his job, while many lost their positions. While the Cincinnati, Sandusky and Cleveland road was secured through a tax voted in the '40s, Clark County subscribing $20,000 toward it, many counties sold out at a sacrifice, thereby losing their stock, but Clark County was `more fortunate ; it finally realized on the investment made by its pioneer citizens who had a vision of the future. While the Big Four is the only through train service east and west, a spur line connects Springfield with the Pennsylvania at Xenia, and a lateral line also connects with the Pennsylvania at Urbana, and, thus a passenger may go to bed in Springfield aboard a sleeper and waken in Chicago or New York." It was expensive building railroads through the limestone bluffs about Springfield, and early construction entailed a great deal of engineering to enter Springfield without the expense of tunneling. In 1855, when the Erie came along it missed the town to avoid the limestone hills. It was known as the Great Western, and while its objective point was Cincinnati, it anticipated that Springfield would build in that direction ; the station is Durbin, and it is reached from Springfield by interurban cars. When the D. T. & I. road was built by the Whitelys in the `80s, it was a narrow gauge and used as a coal route from Ironton ; when in the '90s it became standard gauge, passenger service was installed and now that it is the property of Henry Ford, it is a good freight and SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY - 235 passenger line. While there is no belt road, the Erie uses the D. T. & I. tracks in reaching local shippers. Springfield never expanded greatly in the direction of the Erie station at Durbin. Through its system of spurs and siding, Springfield shippers easily reach the markets of the world. "Springfield is without natural boundaries," and through its steam and electric roads and its "chariots of fire," when an order is secured the shipping is a matter of choice with manufacturers. It is said that the automobile with its counterpart of truck has given to the individual an advantage equivalent to owning a private railroad with a train ready to start in any direction at any time. A local writer says : "With the establishment of motor truck lines, and their increasing use as common carriers, we shall see a revival of traffic on our public highways which will result in a virtual revolution in transportation in a short time. Indeed, there are many students of the transportation problem who think that is the way out of our perplexity ; the entire highway proposition is a rising one in this country ; the person who allies himself with the good roads idea is in harmony with the progress of events, and is in the vanguard of modern civilization." Since the days of war time freight shortage automobiles are again shipped by railroad ; for several months they were driven from the factories, even women driving new cars when labor was the problem in the days of the war. Convoys of new automobiles were frequently seen .along the National road and through Springfield. SEE AMERICA FIRST In this age of steam, electricity, gasoline and air transportation, the sons and grandsons have enlarged neighborhood limitations ; the third, fourth, fifth and sixth generations in Clark County are living under changed conditions. They frequently whirl through space in adjacent counties, aye, through neighboring states and spend the evening at home again, while the generations before them seldom left the bounds of the county. While it is said the railroads speeded up the nineteenth century and the automobile has done the same for the twentieth century, the airplane in the infancy of its development surpasses both of them, and as the telegraph service is allied with manufacturing and transportation, along comes the wireless system with possibilities unlimited and unquestioned. The community owes everything to steam, electricity, the automobile, the :airplane and to wireless ; they have revolutionized conditions since the days of the pioneers. With the methods of travel now in vogue, the world is becoming so small that isolation which was the bugbear of the pioneer is wholly eliminated ; the Creator isolated the United States of America by placing it between two oceans, and away from "the haunts of man, but now he flies over it and sails through it, and while the word isolation is still in the dictionary, it no longer describes conditions in Clark County. The Springfield Engineering Club is on record as favoring a budget from. the U. S. Congress for the extension of aviation, the newest form of transportation. It is a step in advance of conditions reported in 1838, at Lancaster, Ohio, when a board. of education refused the use of the school .house to a group of young men who wished to discuss the feasibility of the railroad and telegraph. A clipping from a newspaper including the refusal of the board of education reads "You are welcome to the use of the school house to 236 - SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY debate all proper questions in, but such things as railroads and telegraphs are impossibilities and rank infidelity. There is no work of God about them ; if God had designed that his intelligent creatures should travel at the frightful speed of fifteen miles an hour by steam, He would clearly have foretold it through His holy prophets ; it is a device of Satan to lead immortal souls down to hell." The flying machine would have distressed the board of education so many years ago. SPRINGFIELD FACTS In the booklet, Springfield Facts, is the information that the Big Four has the following divisions : Cincinnati, Peoria, Sandusky and Delaware ; the Pennsylvania lines ; Erie Railway and the Detroit, Toledo and Ironton. There are ten steam roads leading into Springfield, with thirty-two passenger trains in and out every day ; there are 985 freight cars in and 1,016 freight cars out of Springfield, showing the immense amount of shipping, thirty-one freights being loaded and added to the passing trains, the booklet issued before the recent slump in industrial conditions. There is no gainsaying the statement that modern life with its manifold social and industrial activities is dependent upon the efficiency of its transportation. SPRINGFIELD STREET RAILWAY It was in the '80s, that P. P. Mast and George Spence installed the first mule cars in Springfield ; they operated on High Street west from Limestone and past the splendid Mast residence now owned by the Knights of Pythias, but the electric age was approaching and mule power was not used many years. In the course of time, Warder, Bushnell and Mitchell acquired the Mast-Spence holdings, and the system was extended to other streets in Springfield. They sold it to W. B. McKinley—later Senator McKinley, of Champaign, Illinois, who operated the system for a time, finally disposing of it to the American .Railways Company of Philadelphia. In 1892, Asa S. Bushnell and I. Ward Frey built the first electric railway operated in Springfield ; it was a cross town line using Center instead of Limestone on the south but making the same Wittenberg loop, and in time it was acquired by the American Railways Company. In the modern city street cars are the roads ; without them it would not be a city ; it would be a small town. As the city grows its transportation increases, and with increased distance comes increased rate of speed ; today Springfield would not be satisfied with the horse or mule drawn car ; the people want to reach the center in a hurry. With the electric service reaching all sections, downtown Springfield will always have the advantage over neighborhood business centers. The public transfer corner at Limestone and High streets presents a busy scene at the hours of heaviest traffic, and while there is no station, passengers never wait long for a car in any direction. The system operates over about forty miles of track, with about forty cars in the service. INTERURBAN ELECTRIC SERVICE The electric lines operating between Springfield and other cities are : Ohio Electric Railway Company, connecting with Dayton, Lima and SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY - 237 Columbus ; the Springfield and Xenia line, and in the past the Springfield, Troy and Piqua and the Springfield and South Charleston roads. New Carlisle is connected by a spur with the Dayton line, although its citizens must go a mile from town to obtain the service ; the cars once ran into New Carlisle, but when the trestle bridge across Honey Creek was condemned in 1912, the cars stopped at the New Carlisle cemetery. Some of these limes have been operated at a loss, and the companies seek to discontinue the service. They are operated by receivers, and deficit rather than surplus indicates the loss in operation, even the Springfield Railway Company filing such report with the city manager. The Springfield, Troy and Piqua line has been inactive with $85,000 preferred claims and receiver's bills against it, and the South Charleston line operating one car threatens to discontinue the service. It is owned by the heirs of G. W. Baker who bought it as a receiver's sale in 1908, and when he died in 1914 it was operated by the widow ; it has fifteen miles of track, and while there are two cars only one has been in operation making five round trips with a two-hour service. The D. T. & I. road runs one train between Springfield and South Charleston, and with the traction service discontinued South Charleston and Pitchin are practically isolated from Springfield. The traction line carries freight from Springfield to both towns. While the property is listed on the tax duplicate at $60,000, for several years it has been operated at a loss. "It will be scrapped unless it can be sold, or some other means devised of operating it." The Chamber of Commerce had become interested in the situation, although no action had been taken. There are about 125 electric cars arrive and leave Springfield every twenty-four hours, and about twenty freights are operated over the lines ; with the steam and electric freight lines, and the trucks carrying a great deal of traffic, Springfield has shipping facilities. With the loss of interurban service, Springfield loses much valuable territory that divides its patronage among other towns ; taxes and street assessments are paid by the railway companies, and the jitney bus is sharing the patronage. While the busses offer cheap transportation, it is because of competition ; eventually their routes and fares will be regulated, and they will be held to same accounting as the street railway. The bus operators are asking for zones, and they will secure license and establish schedules. Even the elevator is a route of travel, and no one wants to see Springfield return to the level of two-story business buildings ; it would be a waste of time, material, power and wealth, and many elevators are operated in Springfield. The Springfield Traffic Association has inaugurated a campaign for better packing of articles for shipping, "perfect package month," resulting in awakening such an interest ; it is hoped to decrease losses by having better wrapped packages, and all freight in less than car-load lots is inspected ; packages regarded as unsafe are turned back to the shippers for better wrapping ; the railroad and express companies take this method of scalping claims for damages against them. For many years Springfield has been a center for the manufacture of products entering into the construction and maintenance of railways : special track work consisting of crossings, frogs, switches, stands, signals, curves and intricate layouts by which means the rolling stock of steam and electric railways and tramways is directed across intersecting tracks, deflected into passing sidings and around curves or other desired routes, without the 238 - SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY aid, action or effort of the operator in charge of the motive power, in which the rolling stock of steam operated lines differs from all other propelled vehicles of transportation. Locomotives and cars moving at the highest rate of speed are held to the track by wheel flanges averaging only one inch in depth, and special construction made up from rails either automatically or otherwise guide and direct the wheels by these same flanges in deflected movements, and with as much security as when moving along the straignt `rack ; the designing and manufacture of special track work embodies the highest type of civil and mechanical engineering, and the use or special heavy and powerful machinery. The Indianapolis Switch and Frog Company specializes in designs of track specials and tools reducing the maintenance cost, which is one of the principal items of railway operations. Without these devices many railroads would have been unable to withstand the period of depression following the World war, and Springfield is the logical location for this industry. While the settlers had the long, wearisome journeys to Cincinnati and to the eastern markets they were highly favored as a community by being along the National Road, and having many advantages. Transportation contributes much to civilization, and with hard surtace roads, railroads and interurban lines and with elevators in the high buildings and with no obstructions in the air, Clark County seems to nave about all that is vouchsafed to the children of men in any community. While there are no water ways, and the underground railway service has long been a matter of history. When discussing speed, some one said : "We do not travel today—we merely arrive," but "Safety first," "Stop, look, and listen," and almost before the passerby is aware he is in—well, "Springfield is only over night from any place at all." CHAPTER XXVIII SPRINGFIELD: ITS VARIED INDUSTRIES Half a century ago, Dr. John Ludlow, who was a Springfield business man through its formative and reconstruction after-the-Civil-war period, uttered these words : "While generations follow generations like the waves of the sea follow each other the great business of life still goes on, and the age in which we are now living is truly a progressive one ; it seems that the Lord is leading us as His chosen people. Refinement and civilization are rapidly advancing, and the comforts of life are multiplying; it now seems that the genius of the American people has reached its consummation." It was in 1871 that the above sentiment was expressed, and what would be the feeling of the writer were he living today ; since oil has been poured into toil and ease has been supplied in disease, and every appliance is now utilized to make the machinery run smoothly, who is to dip his pen into colors lurid enough to write about it? In reminiscent vein the pioneer Springfield man wrote : "We see the toilsome sickle and the scythe laid aside, and the harvest being gathered like pastime ; the toil and fatigue we used to endure have been turned into the business of recreation and pleasure. We fly in gilded palaces in every direction over our broad land with the swiftness of light ; we are reclining and sleeping on cushioned seats and spring beds ; steam propels our ships on the ocean ; it has brought the distant nations of the earth to our doors. "The heathen are learning to imitate the progress of our civilization ; we have added the use of the wonderful telegraph, and time and space have been annihilated ; we talk with people beyond the seas with tongues of lightning, and with the same ease as we speak face to face," and what would Doctor Ludlow have said about the disarmament conference now in session in Washington, and many other questions that concern the world today? Fifty years ago he said : "It now seems that the genius of the American people has reached its consummation." Twenty years from the time of which he wrote, Springfield was manufacturing products that revolutioned the farming industry. S. S. Miller, another reminiscent writer, says : "About September 10, the farmer threw the grain sack across his shoulder and went forth to sow ; with sturdy steps he strode across the field, scattering the grain with his strong right hand and arm, so aptly portrayed by the great painters and immortalized by the Parable of the Sower," but the drills have long since obliterated that picture ; it only hangs on memory's walls, and many citizens do not remember it at all. Mr. Miller says : "Of the old time flouring mills that of Rock Point located on Mad River half a mile east of Durbin Station was noted for not having any distillery attachment ; it was built by Peter Sintz, Sr., and was operated by George Grisso who had the reputation for honesty in taking toll, and made excellent flour. It was a wonder to see the wooden cog wheels spinning round, and it was a dizzy sight looking out f rom the attic window to the race, and see the water rushing into the wheel pit at the bottom," and mention has already been made of the relation of - 239 - 240 - SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY Mill Run through its water power to the early industries of Springfield. Some men today talk about the overcast water wheels, when water turned the wheels of industry. In the formative days of Springfield history, fortunes were seldom measured by six figures, but business men were looking into the future. Like the sturdy pioneers on the Clark County farms, there were frugal, calculating business men in Springfield. An old account says : "One of the peculiarities of the earlier times was the varied development and marked individuality notable among men ; every little community had its distinguished citizens ; some higher and some lower in interest ; some came from poverty and obscurity and worked themselves up to positions of competence, wealth and distinction ; they overcame stubborn opposition," and men on the street mention the names : Warder, Bushnell, Fassler, Whitely, Kelly, Snyder, Foos, Ludlow, Bretney, Bowman, Shellabarger, Humphreys, Mitchell, Thomas, Johnson, Mast, Crowell, Kay, Pringle, Houston, Forgy, Williams, Busbey, Hamma, Miller, Fairbanks, Gotwald, Bancroft, Anthony, Mason, and they had just begun mentioning those identified with the development of Springfield. NEWSPAPER CLIPPING "Many persons hereabouts can remember when nearly everybody was talking about patents— patents on reapers, patents on water wheels, patents on grain drills, and a thousand other things ; now we seldom 242 - SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY hear about these inventions on the patent side. In the older days attorneys made fortunes on patent litigation—now we seldom hear of a patent being instituted ; it is alleged that the U. S. patent office is the most backward and antiquated of all the government departments, the salaries paid to experts being so small that they cannot be retained in the service. "Manufacturers now depend upon improved facilities, labor saving devices, perfection of organizations, and advertising for progress and protection in their business ; some inventors of processes even refuse to patent their ideas, preferring to keep the principles and the processes secret, and to rely on that secrecy for success * * * Inventive genius is fickle and uncertain ; success is often sudden and unexpected—sometimes it never is realized ; the inventive faculty and business ability seldom exist in the same person," and mention is made of the fact that Thomas A. Edison swamped $5,000,000 before he attained success ; that others had failed on automobiles before Henry Ford succeeded ; that Mark Twain expended $200,000 and went bankrupt trying to invent a type-setting machine, and that Cash Register Patterson encountered many difficulties bef ore Dayton and cash register became synonymous terms in the business world. SPRINGFIELD'S FIRST INVENTOR James Leffel, inventor of the water turbine, operated a sawmill outside of Springfield, the power being furnished by the overflow of water from the Snyder race along Mad River ; while the turbine demonstrated its superiority over the under and over shot water wheels, Mr. Leffel was not spared to reap the financial returns accruing from his invention ; it seems that William Foos backed the enterprise, financially, and that John Bookwalter succeeded to the Leffel business opportunities. Mr. Leffel displayed genius in other lines, specializing on fine breeds of poultry, and winning premiums at the county fair. Mentioned as local inventors are : James Leffel, William N. Whitely, John J. Hoppes, Wiliam Blackeney, Doctor Kindelberger, Clark Sintz, A. W. Grant and Fuller Trump, and because of the activities of William Needham Whitely, and a desire to portray his relation to the community accurately, the following resume is utilized : "About the time Springfield was in process of transition from the formless hamlet to the organized town with its more complex functions, there appeared its first recognized inventor, and the founder of its metal industries, James Leffel, whose invention of the `Leffel Double Turbine Wheel' marked an important step in the development of water power, and whose foundry and factory were really the beginning of Springfield's industrial importance. In the '40s several shops sprang up, among them the Railway Car Shop of Hatch and Whitely, and the Plow Factory of William Whitely, brother of Abner Whitely who was one of the partners in the firm of Hatch and Whitely. WILLIAM NEEDHAM WHITELY "William Needham Whitely, nephew of William and Abner Whitely, and son of Andrew Whitely, was born on a farm in 1835. three miles east of Springfield. He had natural proclivities toward the use of metal tools, and the contrivance of mechanical devices. He easily gravitated to the then incipient factory town of Springfield. In 1853 he was well on SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY - 243 his way toward becoming a highly trained mechanician, as well as proficient pattern-maker and draftsman. Skill in these handicrafts, combined with the powers of an imaginative and active brain, under the inspiration of the career of James Leffel, whose achievements had made such a powerful impression on the youth's mind at a time when impressions were of most effect, led to the invention in 1856, of his Combined Self-Raking Reaper and Mower, a machine adapted to either grain or grass harvesting, and which was given the name Champion. "In the same year, Mr. Whitely prevailed upon Jerome Fassler, a Swiss of sound mechanical ability and having the painstaking love of detail and accuracy native to the Swiss character, to join him in the manufacture of his newly invented reaper. In the next year there came into the firm two strong and able men, Oliver S. Kelly and Amos Whitely, and thus was established the Springfield Agricultural Works, or Whitely, Fassler and Kelly, as the name appeared and later became famous in the business world. The Civil war greatly promoted the use of farm machinery, and the Champion firm grew and prospered, and Springfield became known to the nation as 'The Champion City.' In 1867 the territory was divided among Whitely, Fassler and Kelly, the Champion Machine Company organized by Amos Whitely, Robert Johnson and Daniel P. Jeffries, and Warder, Mitchell and Company, composed of Benjamin H. Warder, Ross Mitchell and Asa S. Bushnell. "Springfield, in the early '70s, had now been definitely committed to the metal industries with agricultural implements forming by far the larger part of her output. Refinements and developments of the Combined Reaper and Mower to keep the three Champion Reaper factories busy, occupied a large part of Whitely's time and energy. The idea of tapping the coal and iron fields of southern Ohio by means of the Springfield, Jackson and Pomeroy Railway, which project had been attempted with but little success in the middle '70s, thus bringing coal and iron directly to Springfield by a short haul, now made such a strong appeal to Whitely that he immediately threw himself into the construction and completion of this railway with characteristic energy and determination. The road was opened in the later '70s, and for a time seemed to justify its cost. 244 - SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY "In the middle '70s Whitely established a branch factory in Toronto, Canada, being one of the earliest American manufacturers to extend his operations outside the national boundaries. The Canadian branch was known as the Toronto Reaper and Mower Company, and it was a successful enterprise until sold, in 1879, to the firm of Massy, Harris and Company. In fact, the acquisition of the Toronto Reaper Company was a decisive factor in causing the Massy, Harris Company to locate in Toronto, and thus it influenced favorably the growth of Toronto, and gave impetus to the expansion of the Massy Company which is today the leading Canadian-British implement company. 1884—THE TWINE BINDER "In the early '80s improved and modernized factories and mass production became increasingly important, and about 1884 the type of self-binder known as the 'Twine Binder' was well settled and adapted to production on a 'one design' basis. It now became vitally important to meet the tremendous manufacturing competition centered around Chicago, the West now having rail transportation was open, and vast wheat production beginning, raw materials flowed freely into Chicago factories, and their finished product was closer to the wheat growing states. "Whitely's business associates could not agree to embark in the plan of expansion which he had in mind, to equalize the advantages Chicago possessed and to meet the changing conditions in the trade; so in the first years of the '80s, he undertook single-handed, not only the design of machines for the three Champion factories, but also the building, equipping and organizing his vast new plant known as the East Street shops. In 1886 Mr. Fassler and Mr. Kelly retired from the business. The East Street plant was famous not only for it size and equipment, but for its inclusion of malleable iron foundries and steel works in the factory group as well, thus forming the most complete production cycle from raw material to finished product, of any factory of the time. "A period of transition from wood to steel reaper construction followed the establishment of so modern a plant, which could thus produce steel machines as easily as competitors could wood-type reapers. Whitely was far in advance of his day in pre-visioning the coming of all steel machinery. The period of change from wood to steel was the time also to make many innovations in the general makeup of the mower and binder. In 1886 he had just completed two machines of markedly advanced design which were to be known as the Whitely All-Steel Binder and Mower, when the Knights of Labor organization threatened the unionization of his works. Cooperative defense on the part of manufacturers was an unknown thing at that time, and the threat was met with single-handed defiance. CINCINNATI BANK FAILURE "In Cincinnati at this time there was a banker by the name of E. L. Harper who was the son-in-law of Swift of the Newport (Kentucky) Roller Mills. Whitely had been for many years a patron of the Swifts and of Harper, and in common with many business men in southern Ohio, he had great confidence in Harper's ability. About two years previously, Harper had founded the Fidelity National Bank of Cincin- SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY - 245 nati. Secretly he was working to engineer a corner in the Chicago wheat pit, and was without their knowledge furtively diverting the resources of the bank and its patrons to the furtherance of his schemes. He was within striking distance of his goal when suddenly the market broke, and he was unable to cover his losses. "Whitely was thus confronted with such varied and apparently insuperable difficulties that he was forced to ask for a receiver, and he was himself appointed. In the campaign of 1884, he had made great efforts to help elect Blaine, realizing that the time had come when the fate of American industries was out of the hands of their creators, and in the keeping of politicians or statesmen. In the campaign of 1888, the struggle over the tariff was renewed, but without decisive results, although the republicans won. Reaper prices were still going down, and were to reach their lowest ebb within three or four years. The affairs of the Whitely Reaper Company (the Champion interests having been disposed of in 1887 to the Warder, Bushnell and Glessner Company) were wound up in 1891, and the great East Street plant was sold to Charles W. Fairbanks of Indianapolis, who, in 1894, converted it into a leased-space plant housing various industries. In 1901 the major portion burned down and was never rebuilt. "Whitely's subsequent activities led him into the natural gas fields of Indiana—a lure that attracted many eastern manufacturers in the early '90s, and in 1892 he built a factory in Muncie, Indiana. These shops burned in 1894, and in 1897 Whitely returned to Springfield. He was instrumental in bringing about a revival of operations in what was known as the 'New Champion' group of factories, which is now divided among the American Seeding Company, the Foos Gas Engine Company and the Champion Chemical Company. "In 1904 Whitely built a plant in the west end of Springfield which was instituted as a Cooperative Reaper Factory, financed largely by farmer assistance. William N. Whitely was a man of large affairs, dominant and decisive, resourceful and able, at all time generous, kindly and sympathetic, largely living a Spartan existence, frugal and simple in his tastes. He was not in the least given to self-indulgence or personal extravagance. In body and mind massive and impulsive, he was always a tremendous worker. He was almost without a peer in industry, and indefatigable application to the activities that absorbed him to the ultimate benefit of the community and country he loved with a pure and fervent patriotism. "Mr. Whitely had those imaginative qualities of mind, that power of personality and magnetic fascination which combined with gentleness and modesty in personal intercourse, always makes a strong appeal to American hearts ; vigorous and virile, facing forward ready for the next best thing. Indomitable, tenacious and unembittered, in 1911 he passed out not having reliquished that fortitude of character that is the guerdon of the invincible." In the home of the son, W. N. Whitely, Jr., are many scrap books filled with clippings from newspapers, and in the hearts of Springfield friends are many kindly reminiscences ; stories are told reflecting the character of this unique citizen. They say a man born on the Charleston Road put Springfield on the map of the world. Like other having initiative, Mr. Whitely was not influenced by friends ; he did not allow an idea time enough to develop and accumulate until some improvement was SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY - 247 added, and the cost of production was ahead of the revenue from the invention itself. He was working 2,000 men when labor troubles arose, and people still discuss a $4,000,000 business failure in 1887, and its lasting effect on the community. Gen. J. Warren Keifer assumed to straighten out the entanglements, and later George H. Frey was in control when the holdings were disposed of to C. W. Fairbanks. The original Whitely, Fassler and Kelly manufacturing plant was on the site of the Arcade, and the dissolution there saved valuable property to the partners withdrawing from the enterprise. It is said that when the panic of 1893 swept the country, Springfield had not yet recovered from a panic of its own, but with its varied industries it has many wheels turning, and when prosperity abounds local industries share in it, "Springfield is without natural boundaries and, therefore, has numerous manufacturing sites with proper sidings that can be procured at a reasonable cost. Our railroads enter the city from all directions, which makes it possible to secure satisfactory locations in all sections." What if it is a "low gear" community ? The conservative business men do not wish to breast another local panic. While Mr. Whitely had an ambition —wanted the biggest shop in the world, he did not wait the time and season, and in the face of local labor difficulties he imported men from Baltimore. It was winter when he built the East Street shops, and salamanders were used to prevent the walls from f reezing. He did not figure the expense, and they say of him that he lived in the future. Many who are active in Springfield industry today only know of W. N. Whitely as a story that is told, although he was the most aggressive manufacturer ever in the community. He made the profitable wheat crop a possibility, and revolutionized conditions in agriculture. Many who knew and understood the man are gone the way of the world, and those in active life today do not fully appreciate the mentality of one who continually grappled with problems that may bring their monetary reward in future. Mr. Whitely's tomorrow may be in the dim distance, but ideas originated by him are still earning money for others. When the town planned to erect a monument to the man, his son said the sound of machinery would suit his memory better, and while some of those associated with him live there will be discussion of the activities of William Needham Whitely. While it is said of Mr. Whitely that he "made and broke Springfield," the price of wheat following the Civil war awakened within him a desire to help farmers to help themselves, and thus Springfield became an agricultural manufacturing center ; until the manufacture of farm implements gave the town an impetus, the rural population balanced the city. While agriculture has not receded, manufacturing made great strides in advancement, and Springfield has been dominant, the fact recurring that it was in existence before the organization of Clark County. While Springfield is the city of roses, it is the Kelly Springfield tires that advertise the community today. When A. W. Grant invented the solid rubber tire for vehicles, he had little thought of rubber being utilized in the famous Kelly Springfield tire, and of the fortune wrapped up in it. While Springfield has its reverses, it has its seasons of prosperity. It is said : "They leave Springfield to hunt jobs, and they come to Springfield to hunt jobs." While the last census report shows a population of 60,840, if none left the town it would be 100,000, but it is "give and take," and a shifting population affects all other towns. Springfield did SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY - 249 not engage in the manufacture of the munitions of war, and the labor attracted to other cities has not yet returned to Springfield. The "plowshare" industry did not lend itself to the manufacture of swords, and "pruning hooks" are not readily converted into spears—the Bible prophesy against the war time industry. Springfield's appeal is to agriculture—not to warfare, and there have been no war time profiteers among its manufacturers. While Mad River furnished water power to innumerable distilleries and flouring mills, and Mill Run accommodated the "power" needs of Springfield settlers, the chronology of local manufacturing really begins with the foundry built by the James Leffel Company, and put into operation January 1, 1840. In 1845, they had the second foundry, and since then manufacturing has been the keynote in Springfield history. The Barnetts had a flouring mill on Buck Creek where they had utilized the water to more purpose, and in 1846 they supplied power to Leffel and Richards who built a cotton mill in Springfield. When they extended their power service to others, it was dominated a "fast age," and steam and electricity were still in the future. While many men had seen steam lift the tea kettle lid, they did not stop to think of the power thus generated ; did not utilize the idea, and while industry started on a small scale, there has been constant development in Springfield. Forty per cent of the world's output of manufactured goods is produced in the United States, and a little observation shows that Springfield has its quota. In his 1921 annual report, Fire Chief Samuel F. Hunter says : "Under the heading of recommendations is the first and foremost thought—the fast and constant growth of our city, such as the industrial plants that are expanding with larger buildings, and the finished and unfinished products therein that must be protected," and this summary includes the Bretney tannery which has been owned and operated through three generations : Henry, Charles, and now it is Harry V. Bretney, which is spoken of as the oldest industry in Springfield, operated without change of name or location. In 1850, the form of government was changed and Springfield obtained a city charter. It is said that 1851 was an era of prosperity—the citizens of that time were boosters, pointing out the advantages in point of location and health conditions, and in 1921 men were saying it had more points in its favor ; a better group of business and professional men, and there is no hindrance to its development. As late as 1856 milling was still the principal industry, there being seventeen flouring mills in and around Springfield, and distilling was still a profitable industry, but there came a revolution in industrial conditions. When local inventive genius busied itself, manufacturers turned their attention to improvements for planting, cultivating and harvesting with the result that the fame of Springfield as a manufacturing center spread to world markets, and some of the strongest firms in the country were organized in Springfield. Benjamin H. Warder was a man with vision who surrounded himself with other men of ability, creating for them the necessary opportunities ; it was Warder and Mitchell, and later Warder, Bushnell and Glessner, and all accumulated fortunes. Mr. Warder was a financial wizard, and all associated with him accumulated property.