SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY - 375 until March 21 Springfield was under military law, when everything was peaceable again. THE NEGRO AS A CITIZEN The riots in Springfield have not been incited by the better class of Negroes, and among them are many highly respected citizens. They are recognized in business, and some of them receive political appointments ; they are employed in the county offices, and some render efficient service. It is said the first Negro in Springfield was named Tony and that he had a tavern on the site of the Lagonda National Bank at Fountain Avenue and Main Street. It is well understood that the early Negroes of Clark County were located in Western Ohio by slave owner ancestry, many of them direct descendants from the master and slave women. Xenia has long been regarded as a Negro center, and from there many came to Springfield. Wilberforce College at Xenia is maintained by the Negro population in Western Ohio, and many Springfield Negroes finish their education at Wilberforce. Some have graduated from Springfield High School, and from Wittenberg College, while Wilberforce is available to all of them. The Negro educator, Booker T. Washington, said that while it required 100 per cent white blood to constitute the white race, that ten per cent Negro blood insured the black race, and with slave owner ancestry and intermarriage there is considerable mixed blood in Springfield and throughout Clark County. Recently there is not much intermarriage and the per cent of white blood is being lowered rapidly in the Negro race. While some Springfield Negroes claim a population of 25,000, and insist upon it, a conservative estimate places the number at 10,000, and the law-abiding ones say the riot reports were exaggerated—and that race prejudice is dying out in Springfield. Segregation is not enforced although some communities are recognized as Negro strongholds. They have churches and lodges, and both Young Men's and Young Women's Christian Associations, and they are represented in business and the professions. While the Negro is proclaimed as an imitator he never copies from the "poor white trash." The Negro race is musical, and education enables him to compete with the white race in many lines of activity. Negroes have always been barbers, and while white-washing was in vogue they usually spread whitewash in the homes of well-to-do citizens in Springfield. While some are unassuming and perform an honest day's work, a Negro laundress advised a newcomer white woman not to be seen washing her own windows if she wanted to be recognized in Springfield society. Some of the local families own their own homes, and while they have little knowledge of the original settlers, it is known that some were early. When Peter Perry died he lacked only fifteen days of having attained to 102 years, and yet he knew little of local history. He had come from North Carolina, and while the slaves are about all dead, many Springfield Negroes have slave ancestry. There is a Springfield Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and at a recent meeting the paper presented was : "The Disarmament Conference and What It Means to All American Citizens.." The colored business men and women co-operate in such movements as the "Negro Business Exposition and Bazaar," and the different denominations promote religious training among their young 376 - SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY people. By nature the Negro is religious, although not so many denominations exist as among the white people. While most Negroes are Methodists or Baptists, a few are Christian Scientists, and the Colored Men's Council is inclined to celebrate particular dates and events, always honoring President Lincoln and Frederick Douglass with anniversary programs and sometimes inviting white speakers, although there are platform speakers among themselves. Springfield Negroes were interested in an address delivered by President Harding October 26, 1921, in Birmingham, Alabama, in which he said : "North and South, whites and blacks must put aside prejudices and set the face of the nation courageously toward a constructive and permanent solution of the race problem." The 1920 census report shows 10,381,309 Negroes in the United States, and of this number 340,260 have migrated north in a decade, and there must be some cause for the migration. The Negro is an economic factor in the life of the South, and yet the North offers better living conditions; it is for the students of economics to determine the whys and wherefores of recent Negro migration. After the Civil war there was an exodus, followed by another in the '80s, and lately there has been continuous migration, the unrest more noticeable each year. The Negroes like the social conditions North better than South—they like Springfield when there are no riots in progress. CHAPTER XXXIX PUBLIC UTILITIES IN CLARK COUNTY While there were toll gates along the National Road, and there were railroads in Springfield prior to 1850, the noonday of the nineteenth century had been passed in the onward march long before the modern improvements that made of civilization a simplified problem had evolved from the brain of the genius, and the scheme of profit from the ownership of public conveniences had taken hold on the mind of the speculator. It was the period of the simple life in Springfield. When each family used candles and lamps, and drinking water from its own private well ; when each family heated its home with firewood bought on the market, and when each family received all its information from visiting f riendsbef ore there were gas and electric lighting systems, bef ore there was gas for fuel, and before there were telegraph and telephone systems, before there was radio—there was no speculation in conveniences used in the homes, and then every home was a separate institution, a law unto itself. Today there are no independent homes, the public utilities rendering them all dependent, and when the lights go out sometimes there is not even a tallow candle in the house ; when the heat goes off there is no fuel in readiness ; when the water fails, there is no well at the kitchen door. The whole community depends upon the utilities, saying nothing about the quality of the service. There always has been, and no doubt always will be men who succeed in promoting business interests of others better than for themselves, and under existing conditions combinations of capital—corporations—will continue to profit from their efforts. While on the face of things it seems that public necessities should be public trusts, private ownership of public utilities is the prevailing system ; while Government control may be inconsistent with private ownership, there are those who advocate it and the United States Postal System is a strong socialist argument. There is frequent agitation of the question of municipal ownership of all the commodities— public utilities that are deemed as necessities, and now the charges are controlled by legislation—by a public utilities commission determined to eliminate graft, and yet corporations seek to control them, realizing that the people will pay for such necessities. One of the first utilities operated in the United States was the Atlantic and Pacific Telegraph Company, and the first message was transmitted from Baltimore to Washington in 1840, the query : "What Hath God Wrought ?" as yet unanswered because new possibilities are being unfolded daily. Telegraph connection along the National Road was established in 1847 in Springfield, and, in 1852, John W. Parsons became a messenger boy, and for many years he was office manager of the West. ern Union in Springfield. When the line was being constructed along the National Road a Harmony Township woman said the "new fangled clothesline was too high," although she admitted that it would dry her clothes—would "blow them to tatters." The average citizen did not understand the use of nonconductors, and wondered how the messages passed through those glass ornaments on the poles, and one asked how the fluid would run up-hill. - 377 - 378 - SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY The Pigeon Express was ahead of the invention of the telegraph, and although wild pigeons flying over no longer obstruct the view, carrier pigeons are still utilized in messenger service. In 1848 Ira Anderson opened a railway telegraph station in connection with the Pittsburg, Cincinnati & Louisville Railroad, and it was called the O'Reilly line, being used in the news service of the presidential campaign. In 1849 George H. Frey, Sr., established telegraph service over the Cincinnati & Sandusky Railroad Line, known as the Morse code, and in 1864 Mr. Parsons, who had been messenger boy beginning in 1852, and had grown into the knowledge, was put in charge of the office. In 1861 he and Brainard Lathrop went into the Civil war as telegraph operators. They were assigned to the Army of the Potomac, and while stationed in the Washington Navy Yard they saw President Lincoln frequently. They were often in the same room with the President, and they listened to his troubled conversation when he was sad-faced from the weight of responsibility resting upon him. When these Springfield operators were transferred to the peninsular campaign, Lathrop was killed by a torpedo the rebels had planted under a telegraph office—so much for his having learned to be an operator in Springfield. When the O'Reilly and Morse telegraph offices were consolidated in 1849 Mr. Frey was placed in charge in Springfield, and ever since that time retrenchment has been the policy of the railroads. In 1863 the Atlantic and Pacific Telegraph Company opened an office in Springfield, and continued until 1880, when the American Union Telegraph office was opened, and in 1881 all lines consolidated with the Western Union, and George R. Carter became local manager. In 1910 T. E. Jones assumed control of the local Western Union, and he lists the following managers : John W. Parsons, who returned from the Civil war and had charge of the office many years ; J. P. Martindale, Jacob Brugger, R. C. Bliss, George Getches and Mr. Carter. Associated with Mr. Jones is Miss Bernadine Brugger as assistant, whose time of service began under her brother, Jacob Brugger. The Western Union office in Springfield employs sixteen clerks, and including linemen and messengers there are forty persons employed there. Mr. Jones relates that the one line established in 1840 has been multiplied many times, and that it operates a number of overseas cables, and that the increased business is largely due to the inauguration of the night and day letter service which has brought the telegraph from the emergency to the utility class. While for many years nothing but market reports were transmitted by telegraph because of the attendant expense, now the night letter is universally used in business correspondence when speed is necessary. It is operated wholly by non-resident capital with Mr. Jones as the local representative. When night letters were introduced by the Western Union Springfield business men were quick to recognize the opportunity—they were quicker than the mail service. Correspondence by telegraph was ended in a few hours that had required days, and it was an important saving of time, business deals being closed in a few hours that used to "hang fire" for several days. Life is too short for the old time methods of business communication ; business is transacted on a definite knowledge of the changing markets, and grain and livestock dealers know the latest quotations. Those who turn first to the market quotations page when opening a newspaper understand the necessity. SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY - 379 The Postal Telegraph and Cable Company opened its Springfield office April 4, 1887, with C. A. Winston as local manager, and for sometime he handled the business alone. However, business increased and now the office has the full corps of clerks, full retinue of linemen and messengers, and, in 1890, the Postal absorbed the United Lines Telegraph Company, continuing the business from the Postal office, and now the Western Union and Postal offices, and now the wireless system of communication is being installed in Springfield. The first utility application of wireless telegraphy is being made by the Detroit, Toledo & Ironton Railroad in Springfield, and if the wireless station is a success the system will be extended in Springfield. The mysteries multiply, and confusion worse confused is the inevitable result, Mr. Jones of the Western Union relating that a woman sending a telegraph message wished to withhold her name, saying that her husband would recognize the .handwriting, and the wireless would be her undoing. While public utilities continue to attract speculators, an economic writer says it is to the advantage of society that business as a whole shall be profitable. The great industries, the railroad corporations and all public utilities which are the framework of national well-being, never would have been created under conditions unfavorable to returns upon the investment ; profit is the wage of service. Profit is the spur to endeavor, and a good profit means good service. Poor profits presage unemployment, hard times and business mortality. To deny reasonable earnings to industries including public service corporations, is to deny their usefulness or right to existence. No doubt the following lines were penned under the pressure of circumstances : "So far as we are concerned, public utilities officials are welcome to their jobs ; if they make money the public kicks ; if they don't the stockholders kick," and public or private, people do not give their attention to business without thought of gain from it. The president of a utility company once said : "I shall be disappointed if the company is not on a dividend-paying basis when I appear again," and without question he expressed an unanimous opinion. It is a popular impression that the public utility corporation pays the taxes, but again it is the "ultimate consumer," the patron whether of one utility or another who really "pays the freight." There is no secret about it, local and state taxes considered as part of the operating expense of the corporation, the commission permitting such corporations to collect a rate which will cover all expenses, and allow of a profit upon the value of the property used in the service. While the "gentle reader" of a newspaper may not be able to distinguish always between legitimate news and propaganda, the telegraph brings intelligence from the outside world with alacrity, and people know what happens all round the world as quickly as they learn what occurs in the next town. When presidential campaigns are being launched in convention, as in 1920 in Chicago and San Francisco, within a few hours the telegraph, combined with the printing press, spreads the news throughout all the towns in the country. Because of the network of telegraph lines, the other towns in Clark County have the information as soon as it is known in Springfield. THE TELEPHONE SYSTEM While some men and women of today feel that they are living through the greatest age known to history, others regret their activities so soon- 380 - SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY think they would enjoy greater advantages in future. Some one exclaims : "Imagine a pioneer who, about three months after the presidential election in 1832, received an eastern newspaper or letter conveying to him the information that Andrew Jackson had been elected President of the United States in the previous November. If the settler happened to be a Jackson man, he donned his hunting shirt and coon-skin cap and sallied forth in search of the few neighbors of his political faith to communicate the glad tidings to them, and mingle their rejoicings over it. The news of the result of a presidential election is now known in every considerable city and town in the United States and the Orient within twenty-four hours after the close of the polls in the voting precincts." While for some years the telegraph service was limited to birth, marriage and death notices, the telephone came along and divided the commercial patronage, and for a time seemed to monopolize local business—all big fleas have fleas to bite 'em—and that is when the Western Union introduced the night letters, all Bell telephones now being branch offices from which tolls are collected monthly for night letter service. Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone in 1876—the American Centennial Year—and for sometime Springfield territory was controlled from the Dayton office managed by George L. Phillips. In 1879, when the system was installed in Springfield, there were only five subscribers and the business was handled from the Dayton office. For years the Bell Telephone Company operated only in the larger cities with but few patrons ; finally the independent companies springing into existence extended the service to the smaller towns, and into the rural communities. The Ohio Bell Telephone business in Springfield is managed by E. M. Staples, and exchanges are operated in Enon, Pitchin, North Hampton and Tremont City, accommodating 8,640 patrons in Springfield territory. Since 1883 an exchange has been operated in Springfield. At the end of the year, 1921, there were 13,380 telephones in residences and business places with which Springfield patrons might be connected, and it is said that the. United States with only one-sixteenth of the population of the world, has two-thirds of its telephones. While Springfield telephone directories today are almost the same as city directories—the popular idea once prevailing that the service was only possible to the rich—the first directory issued in 1883 only had a list of 250 patrons. It was on a large card, and printed across the top were the words : Springfield Telephone Exchange. This directory was the compliment of the J. D. Smith Printing and Binding Company distributed among patrons, and the Ohio Bell Company still clings to a copy of it. The subscribers were not then called by number, nor was the system electric. When one wished to be connected he turned a crank, asking for the party and the girl at the switchboard turned another crank to get the party and now the automatic telephone relieves the parties of all details. Because finance was hard to interest the organizations were of slow development, but finally the telephone received recognition and none would be without it. When the name system prevailed, the operator had to remember all the names in the directory, and now the call by number simplfies the switchboard requirements. Before there were telephone wires connecting the homes in Springfield and throughout Clark County there were signals—codes that were easily interpreted—a red rag hanging from an upper window always meant distress ; different colors had different meanings, and the settlers knew when SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY - 381 they were wanted by the different signals, but all that belonged to some remote period ; today the Clark County family that is not in communication with the outside world through the "friend on the wall," is the exception. Local patronage is divided between the Ohio Bell and the Home Telephone Company connecting Springfield with Xenia and intermediate points. The office in Springfield was opened April 1, 1904, and it was operated by the Central Construction Company till August 20, when the plant was turned over to the stockholders; and DeLoss Odell was installed as manager. He came from Dayton in the employ of the Ohio Bell Company, but he has served continuously as manager of the Home Company. The Home Telephone Company was organized by local capital, Governor Asa S. Bushnell promoting it, erecting the office building on Center Street later acquired by the company. The Home Telephone Company serves eight exchanges in Clark, Greene and Champaign counties, the local exchanges being Springfield, New Carlisle and Donnelsville. There has been a merger proposal submitted to the utilities commission, November 16, 1921, and both the Ohio Bell and Home Telephone companies have been asked to schedule their properties, and an advance in rates is under consideration. A dispatch sent out from Columbus, November 3, 1921, said there would be no reduction in rates for at least five years, the opinion broadcasted by telephone men attending a district meeting of the Ohio Independent Telephone Association. When the public demands improvements the companies do not favor rate reductions. While the average citizen. thinks of Edison as the foremost inventor, it was Alexander Graham Bell who gave the telephone to the world. On December 21, 1820, when Daniel Webster addressed those assembled at Plymouth Rock 200 years after the landing of the Pilgrim Fathers he prophesied that, in 1920, there would be nation-wide communication. Looking forward 100 years he said : "On the morning of that day, although it will not disturb us in our repose, the voice of acclamation and gratitude commencing on the Rock of Plymouth shall be transmitted through millions of the sons of the Pilgrims until it loses itself in the murmurs of the Pacific seas," this quotation being embodied in the address delivered at Plymouth Rock in 1920, by. Senator Henry Cabot Lodge in connection with the Tercentenary, and on the anniversary day, at 12:45 o'clock, when a long distance telephone connection was established, he paused while Governor Calvin Coolidge of Massachusetts, now vice president of the United States, greeted Governor Stephens of California, saying : "Massachusetts and Plymouth Rock greet California and the Golden Gate ; the sons of the Pilgrims, according to prophecy, send to you the voice that is to be lost in the roar of the Pacific," and through the wireless methods of communication news is now had from ships at sea. A Springfield man sits in his home and hears a concert in a distant city ; his instrument is in tune with the waves set in motion—the waves always in motion, but the man knew nothing about it. The radio station at Wright Field at Dayton is installed in service, with a 300-mile range, and it is still the beginning of the wireless age in history. Springfield telephone exchanges maintain operator's schools, and a chief operator assists those unfamiliar with the service, and each day she learns how many errors are to her account. The automanual system affords the speed and accuracy of the adding machine, linotype and typewriter to the telephone service ; ease and simplicity of operation insures 382 - SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY the best service, and the welfare of the operators is taken into the consideration. It is the Springfield policy to have enough operators to insure quick telephone connections, and they are urged to be very distinct in repeating numbers. When there is a fire or some other local disturbance, all the patrons rush to the 'phone and expect immediate service. Ice storms are the most destructive enemies of the telegraph and telephone lines, and when there are such emergencies the lines are overtaxed by impatient patrons. The patron should not attempt to engage central in a personal conversation—her times belongs to all—although she is allowed to give the time of day to a patron. A local manager says : "If those who use the telephone in Springfield and other communities would discontinue the use of the salutation, 'hello,' a wonderful improvement in the telephone service would be the result." The word has no relation to the business, means nothing and is discourteous. No merchant would allow a clerk to address a customer with that word, and yet it is the greeting over the telephone frequently. CHAPTER XL THE WATER SUPPLY OF SPRINGFIELD While James Demint, who lived on the site of the Northern School, obtained water for domestic purposes from a spring at the foot of the hill, and Springfield was given its name because of the abundance of spring water available to settlers and travelers, all this a local condition in 1801, it is reported in 1921, after the lapse of 120 years, that the springs are out of commission and Springfield water consumers used 4,150,019,561 gallons of aqua pura taken through a pumping station from Buck Creek a short distance above the city. While Demint had the water without price, Springfield citizens pay more than $125,000 annually, the 1921 water rent amounting to $127,000, with the springs gone dry and some consumers unable to pay because of the industrial situation—out of employment for several months, and the water system is one utility owned by the city. It is operated by the municipality, supplies all closely built territory, and a few consumers beyond the limits of the city. The plant was commenced in 1881, and in 1898 it was improved as it is today. It is under the direct supervision of George S. Cotter who, since 1908, has been at the pumping station and knows the system thoroughly. He is a member of the American Water Works Association. John P. Smith is superintendent of water distribution, and M. J. Gilmore is inspector of meter and fixtures. There are seventeen regular employes at the plant, and, since 1910, all are under civil service regulations. While the main water works office is in the city building with repair shop in the basement, the principal pipe yards and general stores are at the old pumping station and standpipe. Fire alarms are sounded at the pumping station, and uniform pressure is maintained sufficient for an ordinary conflagration ; it is increased when there are big fires. A special order from the fire chief insures increased pressure, all the departments being connected by telephone with the pumping station. The Springfield water supply is obtained from subterraneous sources that feed Buck or Lagonda Creek, and it flows from the force of gravity to a receiving well from which pumps discharge it into a single system of distribution, pressure being equalized by the standpipe. The street elevations range from 911 to 1,077 feet, and the water is forced from the lower to the higher levels, or the force of gravity carries it from the higher to the lower levels, and the visitor who sees the gravel beds through which aqua pura is strained before its distribution from the pumping station has confidence in the purity of the water supply in Springfield. The local water supply is obtained immediately from extensive gravel deposits in the Valley of Buck Creek, just above its confluence with Beaver Creek. It drains eighty-two square miles above this intake, the area including the greatest elevation in Clark County, and from the springs in these Clark County hills the dry weather flow in Buck Creek is estimated at 20,000,000 gallons of water every twenty-four hours. In time of high water it is increased, and Springfield is never without sufficient water in storage. Water and fire are called man's best friends and his worst enemies, and a study is made of both because of their relation - 383 - 384 - SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY to the development of Springfield and Clark County. The Fire Fighters' Bucket Brigade needs no introduction in any community. LOCAL RAIN FALL The average annual rain fall as reported from Dayton, twenty-four miles away, covering a period of sixteen years between 1904 and 1920 was thirty-eight inches, with a maximum of 47 5/10 and a minimum of 26 9/10 inches, which is regarded as true in Clark County. When the underground flow of water from the hills about Catawba is inadequate, the supply from Buck Creek is diverted into a raceway by a concrete dam less than one mile above the pumping station. It has a four-foot opening provided with a sluice gate, with different sized pipes to receive the water in dry periods. This surface water taken from the race flows over flat land underlaid with gravel which forms a natural filter bed covering an area of fifty acres. It requires twelve hours for the water to filter through this gravel from the intake to the receiving well which is sheltered by a small building adjoining the pumping station. This filter bed is drained with soft tile having open joints, and a combined length of 4,300 feet. These drains are above the hardpan underlying an average depth of twenty feet of coarse gravel ; they form rectangular tunnels of open stone work with four feet of head room, and built on top of the hardpan. A concrete cut-off wall creates an underground reservoir in the gravel bed which fills up at night, and is drawn out during the day. Springfield is fortunate in its water supply coming through this gravel filter, and its f reedom from epidemics may be traced to the purity of its water. The receiving well sheltered by the round building outside the pumping station is thirty feet in diameter, and the station is a one-story brick building built in 1898, at the confluence of Buck and Beaver creeks, the water coming from Buck Creek, with its head waters partly in the knobs of Moorefield and Pleasant townships, sparsely settled pasture land and free from the infection of civilization. At the time of the 1913 March flood which devastated so many cities, the water stood f our feet deep in the basement of the pumping station, but the station did not suspend operations. The men worked in the water and Springfield had its uniform supply of water for domestic purposes. The coal was under water, but fires were maintained in the boilers ; there are 400 or 500 tons of coal on hand at all times, and not all of it was under water. J. F. Reynard has been chief engineer since 1.910, and for twenty-seven years he had been with the department ; he does not court a repetition of the 1913 flood experience. The station is operated by three eight-hour labor shifts, and 7,000,00 gallons of water are available even in dry periods, and it is planned to increase it to 15,000,000 gallons. A basin, with capacity of 2,500,000 gallons of water, stands filled to the water level in Buck Creek to be drawn on in emergencies. This is called raw water and is direct from Buck Creek, reaching the basin through a twenty-inch main thus standing level with the flow in the stream. When the stream is low the water in this basin is sometimes reduced to 1,600,000 gallons, which is much below the normal quantity. Mr. Reynard knows when it is wash day in Springfield by the draft on the water supply ; the demand is much heavier than when the women are in Their kitchens doing the usual dishwashing, and he plans to fur- SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY - 385 nish sufficient pressure. Some new machinery was needed, and the newspapers were keeping the people posted, and since the disappearance of the dooryard "pumping station," and the failure of the springs the cornmunity is interested in the question. In 1921 there were 12,742 consumers attached to the public water supply, with 8,399 families having their water supply through meters, thus paying for the actual consumption. There were also 976 fire hydrants through which water might be drawn, and 4,994 tons of coal were consumed in producing the power with which to force. the water into all these places of .possible consumption. In order that a consumer in Springfield may have a drink of water, some one is busy shoveling coal at the pumping station. However, Superintendent Cotter thinks the installation of new machinery will curtail the amount of coal used at the station. Since 1898 there have been improvements in machinery and the latest patents will be installed in the Springfield pumping station. There is an automatic sprinkler installed at the pumping station for local fire protection, but it never has been tested—acts as a preventive rather than as an extinguisher—and the standpipe built in 1881 still does service in Springfield. While it is downtown from the pumping station, it is one mile 'east from the principal mercantile section. It is con-constructed from riveted steel plates, and has a storage capacity of 592,000` gallons. While water must be forced into storage in the standpipe, gravity removes it, the site being elevated and sometimes the water in reserve there is turned into the mains. The maximum water consumption is in the dry summer months when sprinkling is allowed, and August 30, 1920, the station pumped 14,965,000 gallons of water. For about four hours each Monday morning the rate is 19,000,000 gallons, and the maximum of 21,000,000 gallons has been reached in the hours when Springfield is in the laundry. April 1, 1921, the records' show 961 public hydrants, exclusive of forty-three Lowry flush hydrants which are seldom used, they are located at street or alley intersections. Some water pipes in use forty years are still in good condition. There are eighteen miles of four and six-inch pipes in the congested business section, with ten miles of three-inch pipes in the residence districts for domestic use. "The Parable of the Woman at the Well," is no longer exemplified in Springfield, and were an impromptu bucket brigade formed it would have to depend upon faucets for its supply of water. Before the water mains were laid cisterns were installed, and seven of them are still available although seldom used. There are twenty-six cisterns, and when they were in working condition they had a capacity of 150,000 gallons. The cisterns still used are regularly inspected by the fire department. Plans were under way for extension of water service, a number of private wells having been sealed by the Board of Health for sanitary reasons. It was planned to use 3,000 feet of six-inch pipe in an extension in the southwest part of Springfield. In a report issued August 31, 1921, the National Board of Fire Underwriters endorsed certain contemplated improvements and advised others. Superintendent Cotter prepared questionnaires for students in the public schools, explaining the operations of the water department, and giving definite information of the manner in which the city supplies water to .its citizens. While all employees of the water department are under civil service regulations, none are required to attend fires ; it is vol. I-25 386 - SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY the duty of the department to supply water to the fire-fighters in sufficient quantities. New Carlisle installed a public water system November 1, 1911, and while private wells are still used in 1921. the station had 240 patrons. The drainage problem is negligible, the high banks along Honey Creek affording sanitary relief, and a man serves part time keeping the plant in order and pumping water into storage. The towns all have cisterns for storage, and volunteer fire-fighters who know the source of the supply of water. The water mains are laid about f our feet from the surface although frost seldom penetrates more than three feet, and the only exposed pipe in Springfield is an eight-inch main over Buck Creek at Lagonda Avenue ; no difficulty is experienced from frozen water lines in the streets. As city solicitor at the time of its installation, much credit is due Judge F. M. Hagan in connection with the Springfield water sytem—was in position to boost it. CHAPTER XLI THE ORGANIZED FIRE DEPARTMENT When a blaze was discovered in ancient Springfield the whole community went to the fire, armed with buckets, dishpans, anything that would hold water—the analogy between fire and water—well, water uncontrolled is quite as dangerous, and when her house was on fire a woman once handed a fireman a jar of water, asking him to take it to a place of safety. In the days of volunteer fire departments, lines were forms and buckets of water were passed while hot-headed individuals pitched furniture out of upper windows, or carefully carried feather beds down the narrow stairways, mirrors landed in the street, while cushions and bedclothes were handled as if they were fragile articles. When there was a destructive fire it was the topic of conversation for a long time, and with meager protection fires were seldom checked ; the unfortunate families rendered homeless were sheltered by friends until they could make necessary arrangements. When a home was swept away by fire, the fellow who managed to become drenched the worst was the hero. When there was no paid fire department, the volunteer members relinquished whatever task, and hurried to the scene of the conflagration. While homes had burned, and families had been reduced to direst want, the first disastrous fire in Springfield occurred February 21, 1840, when two general stores went up in flames—the Linn and the Murray stores—victims of a fire originating in a livery stable. The Republic newspaper plant was a heavy loser in this conflagration. There have been two Springfield fires that have been regarded as a benefit to the community—Rat Row in 1868, and the levee in connection with the second Negro riot of 1906—the fire-fighters being restrained by the populace each time, until the fire fiend had spent its fury. Since April 1, 1904, Springfield has sustained a full paid fire department with Samuel F. Hunter, chief, and since May 1, 1920, it has been on a two-platoon basis. Chief Hunter is the seventh in the series, beginning with A. R. Ludlow who was among the earliest organized volunteer firemen. He served a good many years when there were no records kept, and in 1870 he was relieved by R. Q. King, who served ten years ; in 1880, Christie Holloway, who served four years ; in 1884, W. M. Moore, who served one year; in 1885, E. W. Simpson, who was with the department twenty-eight years. Mr. Simpson belonged to the fire department when it was wholly volunteer service, and men worked for the protection of property—when it was all for glory. When he was elected chief in 1885, he received $100 a year for his service, remaining in that relation until 1904, when full time paid fire department was established, and he left the service. In the days of Fire Chief Simpson, the Simpson Lumber Company horses were used in emergencies, saving the city the expense of so many horses. Mr. Simpson operated a lumber yard in a central location, and one year, when there was epizootic among the horses, an ox team was used by the fire department, the hose cart was too heavy for man power; all this in the days when Mr. Simpson's fire-fighters were designated as the Neptunes. When Springfield was short of funds, Mr. Simpson once - 387 - SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY - 389 carried the volunteer fire department pay roll three months, knowing that in time he would be reimbursed by the city. Economy was the watch word, and that long ago the "city fathers" did not .think of borrowing money to meet pay rolls, however, the men who responded must be paid, and Mr. Simpson took care-of them. There were six fire chiefs in the days of the volunteer fire-fighters in Springfield. "Them days is gone forever," as applied to volunteer fire-fighters; as the demands became more frequent, and life more strenuous, men could no longer leave their daily toil and answer an alarm. It was incumbent that trained men be in readiness, and in 1904, when Samuel F. Hunter became fire chief the system was changed, some of the volunteer firemen being retained in the organized, full-time service. At different times the fire laddies had been known as : Utilities, Independents, Neptunes, Rovers, Silver Greys and Union companies, and the machines were hand drawn. There were long ropes and stalwart men used their mental and physical force in reaching the conflagration—human power paving the way for the horse-drawn, and motorized departments. When the Neptunes and Rovers were rival fire-fighters, feeling ran high ; there was great excitement, and sometimes fights were narrowly averted ; in some natures, the "call of the wild" is not far beneath the surface. It is personal still with Col. David King of the Neptunes, and Gen. J. Warren Keifer of the Rovers. They were all volunteers, and while rivalry stirred, them to greater action, all were distinguished for their zeal and bravery. In those days water was obtained from Mill Run, Buck Creek and from cisterns—twenty-eight cisterns installed before there was a water works system in Springfield. Wherever there was a building with unusual expanse of roof, there was a cistern as a reservoir, the system still in vogue in the smaller towns of Clark County, and seven Springfield cisterns are still regularly inspected by the fire department ; in an emergency water may be used from them. On April 16, 1898, A. R. Ludlow, who was for many years connected with the Springfield Fire Department, published a short history, saying: "The first engine was a force pump mounted on a box bed 3 by 6 feet in dimensions, with cranks extending out on both sides ; it was operated by four men on either side turning the cranks. The supply of water was obtained from the nearest pump by forming two lines from the pump to the engine, the full buckets passing up one line and the empties down the other. When a pump gave out the line formed again at the next nearest pump; the dug wells were then common in Springfield. In this way the volunteer firemen worked until the fire was extinguished, or the building was in ashes ; then the plug was removed from the engine, allow- ing the water to pass out in .order not to freeze in the engine. The volunteers had three ladders, ten, twenty and thirty feet in length, and they were mounted on a four-wheel wagon with a rope attached to the tongue, and the men, swift of foot, soon reached the fire ; this truck for the ladders was strung on both sides with leather buckets and a few lanterns. In those days everybody went to the fire, the women often standing in line and passing empty buckets; that custom reverts to the time when Springfield had about 1,500 inhabitants. When Springfield finally began growing more rapidly, the fire protection was inadequate, and the town purchased two new engines—Utility and Independent. When the new engines arrived. new fire companies 390 - SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY were organized, taking their names from the engines they manned, and in 1844, when he was but eighteen years old, Mr. Ludlow became captain of Utility Company. The Utility and Independent were double-decked engines having suction hose, and they drew water from Mill Run, then an open stream running through Springfield--now a sewer. When there were fires, one of these engines was placed at the stream and the other at the fire ; they were connected by hose, and when the one at the stream could not supply sufficient water to control the blaze, buckets were used to supply the deficiency. While meager records were made in the days of the volunteer fire department, they were not preserved, but from memory Mr. Ludlow listd the following citizens : Charles Cavileer, John Bacon, Mack Fisher, Henry F. Sterrett, William Moore, Sr., Joseph Osborn, William and Jacob Kills, Reuben Miller, Joseph Davidson, Peter Moody, William Werden, Leon and P. E. Bancroft, John Householder, John Ludlow, Joseph Ludlow, Silas Ludlow, John and William Davidson, Martin Carey, Baker W. Peck, Alexander Downey, et al. Af ter the lapse of years such lists are never accurate, when there are no records in existence. Mr. Ludlow speaks of the Lynn and Murray fires in 1840, saying the water supply was insufficient and larger reservoirs were constructed, an unusually large cistern being put in at Main and Limestone streets, and smaller cisterns at other places in the business section of Springfield. It was in 1852—two years after Springfield had incorporated as a city—that the Neptune and Independent companies of fire-fighters were organized among the younger men, and new life was thus injected into the department. These companies did good service through a period of several years, and their efforts were appreciated by the citizens. Some who are remembered are : Jerry Clinefelter, E. C. Mason, T. P. Clark, Cyrus Albin, H. D. John, William McCuddy and Benjamin Best. (Perhaps the fire-fighters were called Neptunes,. and the Independent was the name of their engine.) Soon after the Neptunes came into existence, another company called the Rovers was organized, using the Utility engine for a time. The Rovers put additional life into the department, both Neptunes and Rovers being quick to respond to a fire alarm. At this time the city purchased two new engines of the best pattern on the market. The Rovers listed are : A. D. Rogers, David Cochran, R. D. Harrison, and Mr. Ludlow was transferred from the Neptunes to this organization. When east-end Springfield residents became jealous of those on the west they formed a fire company called the Wooden Shoe, building their own station house, active in the move being George Seibert, Leonard Shaffer, Daniel Huben and John Harrison. At about this time the Rovers became an independent organization, building a house on South Center Street and equipping it with new fire-fighting apparatus. This move brought the Silver Greys into action, and they occupied the house vacated by the Rovers on Main Street west of Center. The name was suggestive, this group of fire-fighters being older men, as 'William Kills, Benjamin Rogers and Doctor Teegarden—all gray-haired men. In 1864 the Neptunes disbanded, the city deciding that a paid department would be less expensive than volunteers paid for their time of service. When the policy was changed in 1864, the city purchased three Silsby steam fire engines, employing Charles Riber, Jack Bundy and Sandy Rea SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY - 391 as engineers, the respective drivers being Charles Weeks, William Walker and Ezra Tolan, and Mr. Ludlow was continued as chief. In listing his successors Mr. Ludlow enumerates King, Holloway, Moore and Simpson as supplied by Chief Hunter, and he includes the name of George Follrath prior to Hunter ; it may be the fault of the copyist. In summing up the situation in a newspaper article in 1898, Mr. Ludlow said : "I think with the system of fire alarm now in use, the equipment and the men in the department, the city can feel safe from fire," and he says further : "These steamers began to get out of order and they became expensive to maintain ; the water in our wells and springs became impure, and the city became clamorous for a water works, which we now have with excellent pressure for fire purposes. Again the fire department was reorganized ; the pressure at the water works was sufficient to furnish all the water needed for large fires ; the steamers were laid by and held in reserve in case of accident at the water works," but nothing was said about steamers by Chief Hunter. SINCE 1904 FULL ORGANIZATION While a few men had been employed in the Springfield fire department for forty years-1864 to 1904—when Samuel F. Hunter was installed, the volunteer or "Minute Men" system was abandoned, and now all firemen who devote their time to the city are on a regular payroll, and since the introduction of the two-platoon system, May 1, 1920, they are on duty twenty-four hours and off the same length of time—subject to emergency calls at all times. The chief is continuously on duty ; his entire time is given to the city, and all firemen sleep with their ears attuned to telephone calls, responding as quickly at night as to day time alarms. Under the two-platoon system firemen have home privileges impossible under previous conditions ; they have opportunity of knowing their families and sharing in home pleasures appreciated by all of them. Springfield was equipped with horse-drawn fire-fighting apparatus when Chief Hunter assumed his duties, but when motorized apparatus was on the market he was in favor of the change. It was f our years after his appointment until motorized apparatus was introduced in America, but in 1908 he recommended the purchase, and the following year the Board of Public Safety ordered a combined motor driven hose and pumping engine made at Vincennes, Indiana. It was through the influence of I. Ward Frey that Chief Hunter first considered the change, and when A. C. Webb demonstrated the motor drawn equipment that year at the Firemen's Convention in Columbus, he witnessed the demonstration. When convinced of its utility Chief Hunter ordered the equipment, installing the first engine June 9, 1909, which proved to be the forerunner of a complete change of fire-fighting equipment in Springfield. Because Springfield was among the first cities to install the motorized system there were many junket visitors who came to study the system and to note results ; all the fire journals, and many magazines carried Springfield feature stories. Springfield was again on the map of the world—this time through its motorized fire department ; the full change accomplished in 1916—the city seven years in transition. As motors were acquired horses were disposed of, and in 1916 twenty-eight well trained fire-department horses went onto the auction market, some going to other cities to be used in fire departments and some being sold among Clark 392 - SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY County farmers. When a horse has been used in a fire department he learns the game, and when the alarm is sounded even though he is being used in some other department—as street cleaning—he always wants to "beat it" to the conflagration ; he is not satisfied with the daily routine after having been a fire horse. Chief Hunter told of a sorrel horse named George, saying he was a most faithful animal and a favorite with the men ; in 1903 George met with an accident that tested his strength and his knowledge. It was March 20, when he was in a ladder-truck team of three horses going to a fire and crossing a railroad track the horses were struck by a train ; two of them were killed instantly, but George—a powerful horse, standing seventeen hands high, -wrenched himself loose f rom the others by main force. When the horse escaped from his fallen mates he ran into the commons, now the park space south of the tracks along Fountain Avenue, and turning in his tracks he sniffed the air. When firemen approached him he whinnied as if he would tell them about it. He saved his life by force and strategy and turned around to watch the denouement. Although George had grown old in the service, he was sold at auction. Visitors to the department always asked to see this remarkable horse. Many successful farmers have adopted the policy of selling animals before they become indebted to them, thus feeling that they must retain them because of past service. Sentiment had no part in the transition from horse-drawn to a motorized fire department. While there was horse-drawn equipment for several years after the motor was installed, the motor engine went to all fires unless a second call came in, when the horses were pressed into service. The motor engine replaced the steamer, hose wagon and five horses ; it soon demonstrated its economy. While the fire department uses eighty gallons of gasoline in a week, it is less expense than feeding and shoeing so many horses ; there are no veterinary bills, and while tires deteriorate they do not wear out, because they do not make the mileage. A run to a fire is not like cross country travel, and while extra horses were always held in reserve in the department, as yet there are no extra engines ; from the standpoint of economy the motorized department commends itself. In his 1921 annual report Chief Hunter advocates an increase in the force, saying the city is growing while the strength of the department remains unchanged, and he asked for repairs at the engine houses. In 1921 the Springfield Fire Department answered 277 calls ; there are nine fire stations, and the man power is : one chief, one superintendent of fire alarm system, ten marshals, ten lieutenants, thirty-three firemen, two engineers, one operator, and two assistant operators. The chief asks f Or twelve more men. In 1921 the fire losses in Springfield totaled $393,467.65, and the department responded to outside calls where the losses exceeded $4,000. In 1920 the department answered 301 calls, when the loss only reached $80,000, much less than the last report, some unusually disastrous fires occurring in 1921, and the alarms were numerous the following January falling eight under the record number in one month; in August, 1916, the department answered sixty-three calls, when a firebug was operating in Springfield. Now and then there is a clay on which there is no fire alarm. Lack of water is the difficulty when the department responds to rural calls and to calls in towns lacking the necessary water service. SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY - 393 In towns where fire departments are maintained reciprocity prevails and no charges are made by the Springfield department for its service; in towns not making such preparation, and thereby sustaining an expense, Springfield charges $50 an hour ; the department does not respond to rural calls unless the charges are guaranteed ; the department cannot wear out its equipment with no returns, and it must be a responsible person who guarantees the charges. Sentiment does not govern the situation ; while some persons criticise the department, they would do the same thing themselves. When they must pay for service, it stimulates other communities to take care of themselves. Chief Hunter had just received a check for .$150 in payment for service rendered in Catawba, the note accompanying it saying : "We, the Council of the Village of Catawba, wish to express Our thanks to the Springfield Fire Department for aid in subduing the fire January 13,1922, which threatened our village," and the check„ was transferred to the city manager to be used in defraying operating expenses 'of the department. Under a state law enacted many years ago any township in which' there is no paid fire department may issue bonds amounting to $20,000 for the purchase of fire-fighting equipment, and Mayor Jacobs of Catawba would recommend. that action in Pleasant Township there were two disastrous fires—the Titus store, and the M. E. parsonage, and wiring seemed to be the difficulty. The need of more cisterns was recognized, and a campaign of education was being planned for the whole county ; when a thing is done in Springfield the effect is felt in other communities. The' Fire. Prevention Society is sustained by Springfield industrial plants, with Chief Hunter as its president ; his work in the interest of fire prevention. has been recognized, by the. Ohio Fire Chiefs' Club, and twice he has been elected its president. He is chairman of the exhibit committee of the International Association of Fire Engineers, and was busy planning for the current meeting in San Francisco. For eighteen years Chief 'Hunter has been a member of the International Association, and he usually attends the meetings. Now that fire prevention is mandatory—is taught in the public schools—people are learning to be more careful, and Chief Hunter has issued sets of rules governing the use of stoves and furnaces, open fires, safety rules for burning rubbish, safety rules in smoking, and safety rules for matches. It is said that when Henry R. Schaeffer, who for twenty-six years was a member of the Springfield Board of Education, is near a school house he always plans to inspect the fire drill, and one day when a state inspector was at Northern Heights he turned in the fire alarm and stationed himself in the main corridor to watch the children evacuate the building. In a short time he inquired of the janitor about the working of the gong, to be told that the children had left the building by other exits and were impatient about returning. The inspector had not "inspected" in that instance. In the time Chief Hunter has served the community he estimates that fire insurance companies have saved almost $2,500,000, which .is clear profit, showing an average profit amounting to $137,361.60 annually, because of the excellent protection Springfield property has given in that period ; with fire-fighting 'facilities, fire-fighters show results, and in his report the chief urges the installation of sprinkling systems in all public buildings—hospitals and schools. Out of 1072 buildings inspected, 787 were approved and 285 needed improvements. While the water system 394 - SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY was installed at an expense of $88,000 and it is a source of continual expense in repair and extension, it has been an annual saving of thousands of dollars, and still some one is constantly clamoring for better service. New Carlisle has two motor trucks in its fire department, one for hose and the other for chemicals, and it has twenty men registered in its volunteer fire department. F. W. Weaver, local fire chief, has considerable pride in the fact that the hose truck was home made, the material and workmanship donated to the community—built at an actual cost of $585, while $2,500 is the list price for such equipment. It is equipped with 1,250 feet of hose, and connections can be establishd with all of the houses in the town. Sometimes the New Carlisle department answers calls in the country. Mr. Weaver had been a member of the department seventeen years, and since 1919 had been its chief. W. A. Zinna had been twenty years a fire-fighter in New Carlisle. When the fire bell rings, the men are on the job—best volunteer fire department in the state—they said on the street, and while the air pressure system is used and water is only pumped twice a day except in emergency, the f our wells supply a storage tank that has never been lowered more than seven feet. Buckets are retained at the department, but they never are used in New Carlisle. South Charleston has similar equipment to New Carlisle, and should Springfield respond to a call from either town it would be on the basis of reciprocity. On January 3, 1920, Walter E. Reinheimer died in Springfield as a result of being overcome by gas November 7, 1919, while fighting fire. He is the only man to die at his post, although many have shown unfaltering courage ; a fireman dare not think of personal comfort or shrink from danger ; when others are excited, he must retain his mental equilibrium—must do and dare for those unable to do things themselves ; they safeguard the homes of Springfield. CHAPTER XLII LIGHTING SYSTEMS IN SPRINGFIELD "How far that little candle throws its beams," and there was a time when "a light in the window" had significance, although now an effulgence of light marks the modest as well as the magnificent home and nobody thinks about "The Light That Failed" under present-day municipal conditions. At Christmastide, 1817, when it was known in Springfield that the Ohio Assembly had recognized Clark County, the citizens assembled in the evening. While there were no municipal lights they made bonfires and proclaimed the fact ; they burned tar barrels, and it is related that they had spirits which made them ardent—just about the first jollification, and the light from the burning tar made the heavens lurid about them. As early as 1825—only eight years after the bonfire demonstration—the lighting system in Springfield is ̊thus described : Large glass lamps with double reflectors, costing $25 each, were placed on posts at suitable points, and there was a contingent fund of twelve-and-one-half cents raised from each house to pay for oil and wick ; the lamps were to be lighted and cared for free of charge by the persons before whose doors the posts should be placed, and while that generation may have assumed the responsibility, who would do it today ? On September 19, 1849, the Springfield Coke Company was organized, with $5,000 as capital stock. The officers of the company were : Charles Anthony, James S. Goode, William Foos, Peter Murray, T. J. Kindelbarger and Joshua Gore, and April 4, 1850, Springfield was lighted by gas the first time ; there is no record of how long the lamps were used that had been installed a quarter of a century earlier. At that time there was no thought of discovering natural gas in Clark County. While Mother Nature has been indulgent in many ways, lavish in her distribution of other commodities, Clark County did not happen to be located in the gas and oil belt of the United States. There have been numerous attempts made to penetrate the earth for those commodities, and as early as 1865 there was a small quantity of gas discovered in Pike Township, and in 1890 another gas pocket was located in that vicinity, but there was never gas in paying quantities. When oil was discovered in the Lima field in 1885 it stimulated Clark County speculation, but without results. In 1887 a well was put down in the Frey stone quarry, now Cliff Park, along Buck Creek, and a pocket of gas was discovered and it was piped into the I. Ward Frey homestead and supplies the household except in cold weather, when gas from the city is added to it. The flambeaux that burn continually in the door yard at the Frey home on North Fountain Avenue are supplied with gas from this well. Its site in Cliff Park is marked by an urn. In 1888 William N. Whitely made an attempt to secure natural gas near the C. C. C. & L. Railway station, and in 1892 P. P. Mast tried the experiment in the western part of Springfield. At about that time wells were sunk at New Carlisle, South Vienna and Brighton, but without satisfactory results ; the drill penetrated the earth to a depth of 1,650 - 395 - 396 - SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY feet in outside places, and in Springfield the promoters went deeper. Salt water was encountered at 1,815 feet, and at 2,000 feet Whitely secured gas that flowed continuously, but it was of poor quality. The drill pene- trated to a depth of 2,533 feet in one instance, when the well was plugged and abandoned; it was .the Pettigrew well, within fifty feet of Plum Street and across from the well in the Frey quarry—Cliff Park. It. was put down in 1887, just before the Frey well that still furnishes a limited quantity of natural gas. In transferring the quarry property for park purposes the Frey family reserved this gas well for private use. Doctor Lisle,. who was a local chemist, studied the situation; he saved samples of the different soil formations and analyzed them. . It is known that Trenton rock must contain dolomite, calcium and magnesium carbonates to produce gas, but they were not. in the right proportion in the local territory. While all the ingredients were found that would indicate the presence of gas, the drill failed to penetrate it. Springfield lost some industries at the time that were attracted to the gas territory in Indiana, the Whitelys going to Muncie. Professor Geiger, who, was at Witten- berg, was confident that gas would be reached and tried to influence P. P. Mast to try again, but one failure satisfied him. The following is clipped from a Springfield newspaper, 1921: "How many years will it be before we are back burning coal or wood in our cook stoves, or perhaps using oil burners or electric. stoves? Figures compiled by the State Utilities Commission show that Ohio gas companies sold 16,000,000,000 cubic feet less of their product. in 1920 than they did in 1918, and this year will show a still further decrease, the commission recognizing that home consumption should come before factory consumption and reducing the latter by more than 5,000,000,000 cubic feet ; the industrial supply will be shut off before the homes are deprived of natural gas." A Washington head line reads : "Proceedings brought by the states of Ohio and Pennsylvania, involving the independence of industrial enterprises and the domestic comfort of the people of two states upon natural gas produced in West Virginia, were. listed for argument in the Supreme Court." Eighty-five per cent of the natural gas produced in West Virginia is controlled by several companies which export into Ohio and Pennsylvania, where the domestic supply has been exhausted, and while some West Virginia gas is used in Clark County the bulk of the local supply comes from the Fairfield, Licking and Hocking County field in Ohio, the serious question being natural gas from any source in the future. Manager E. D. Abbott of the Springfield Gas Company went to Columbus, where he entered into a contract with the Ohio Fuel Supply Company to deliver to the City of Springfield 1,750,000 cubic feet of natural gas in 1922, in consideration of the advance in price from 35 cents to fifty cents a thousand cubic feet, the rate beginning on Thanksgiving Day, 1921, and the terms were accepted in Springfield. In 1850, when Springfield abandoned the oil lighting system and began using artificial gas lights, the product of the Springfield Gas, Light and Coke Company under the supervision of E. C. Grogan, the service began April 5, with .a rate of $6 a thousand cubic feet; however, the artificial gas was little used for heating purposes. In time it was reduced to $1, and now after many years the rate is raised—this time to 50 cents. The demand is greater than the supply, and since 1913 there has been artificial .gas in Springfield. The lighting of the city is divided, the SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY - 397 Springfield Gas Company supplying fuel to 953 street lights cheaper than the city is lighted by electricity. There are 15,000 domestic consumers in Springfield, and the Ohio Fuel Supply Company furnishes gas in South Charleston, New Carlisle, North Hampton and Tremont City. There are some farmers who obtain gas from the pipe lines along the right of way as a consideration, but the recent advance in the rate causes conservation; in this way the company accommodates more families—economical use allowing of it. People now have better appliances for the use of natural gas ; science has revealed that the right combustion makes better results, and consumers profit f rom the revelation. The object of the Springfield Gas Company is satisfactory service, and in its basement work rooms is an heirloom of the past—the walls being the cliffs once so prominent there. Instead of walling a basement, it was necessary to blast the stone in removing it and nature walls it. While the cliffs wall adjacent grounds, the walls of the gas office basement are hidden from view only when a Visit is made there. When the Springfield Gas Company was organized along in the '80s, when it was demonstrated that natural gas did not exist under this area, only about 500 families installed meters, but in the course of ten years there were 3,500 consumers ; gas then furnished at the rate of 12% cents, and A. S. Bushnell was president of the company, with J. W. R. Cline as secretary and general manager. At that time the gas company handled gas stoves: but when the gas rate was advanced the consumers gradually drifted back to the use of other fuel, the statement indicating a loss of many families as gas consumers. In the beginning many were afraid of natural gas. Under existing contract, unless the gas company assures the people sufficient gas, the rate reverts back to 35 cents. When consumers find their bills increased they do not object so much if the service has been satisfactory. The life of a public service corporation depends upon its ability to furnish satisfactory service, and recent winters have made it impossible for' the natural. gas company to guarantee its service. Now that the public is better educated in conservation the gas company promises better service. THE ELECTRIC AGE It is said that electricity was first used in America for stage illumination February 10, 1879, in a. San Francisco theater, and since that time there have been great strides of advancement in the use of electric current. It was 'in 1879 that Thomas A. -Edison invented the incandescent lamp, and four years later electricity was being used in' 'Springfield. When the first electric lighting company was organized in, Springfield in 1883 W. A. Scott was its president, and associated with him were Philip Wiseman, Theodore Troupe and Oliver S. Kelly. At that time the cost of installation was borne by the merchants, and in 1885 the Kinnans-Wren Company had the first incandescent lamp in their store : it was the center of attraction, no doubt causing as much excitement as radio in these days. When street and store lights were installed in Springfield a man with a ladder came around each day . to clean the globes and put in new 'carbons. In 1900 the Electric Light property was sold to the American Railway Company, and since then it has been operated in connection with the city street railway system ; in that year the Home Light, Power and Heating Company was organized, and in 1905 the Peoples Light and 398 - SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY Power Company purchased the holdings from the American Railways Company. In 1908 the Springfield Lighting, Heating and Power Company was organized and purchased the property of the Home Lighting and Power Company, and in 1909 the Springfield Light, Heat and Power Company was organized and it now supplies light, heat and power to 11,000 patrons ; it has some suburban patronage, and others want the service. In the way of street lighting, the Springfield Light, Heat and Power Company supplies 337 cluster post lights and 735 incandescent street lights, the current produced in its own plant at Rockaway Street and Buck Creek. The company has a coal bin with space for more than 6,000 tons, one side of the bin being the natural limestone formation known as cliffs, and a little blasting was all that was necessary in making a bin of it. When the smoke stack, 206 feet high, was constructed in 1920 it was slightly excavated into the solid stone, and beginning so much below the level of the street the height of this stack is not appreciated in the community. In 1920 the company did a "million dollar" business, and it occupies a site that would be waste land along Buck Creek—exactly suited to its requirements. While C. I. Weaver is the vice president and general manager of the Springfield Light, Heat and Power Company, and George J. Klenk is the secretary, it is controlled by non-resident capital designated as the Commonwealth Power, Railway and Light Company, with extensive holdings in many cities. While this is the age of electricity, those who are dealing in it say that it is still in its infancy—that super power is yet to be developed from it. The State Utilities Commission adjusts the rates and controls the issue of securities, thus affording protection of possible investments. While the water power is no longer utilized—Mad River, once the site of many mills and distilleries—some have advocated the idea of utilizing its rapid current in producing electricity, and the possibilities of thus utilizing water power at Clifton, a border town on the Little Miami, have attracted some attention, mention made elsewhere of the possibility. When Mr. Weaver entertained the Springfield Rotary Club at a luncheon at the plant of the Springfield Light, Heat and Power Company, instead of a staid, formal address on some foreign subject, he reviewed its history, saying that the factories are utilizing more and more current, and the plant is a real f actor in the development of the community. Since local electricins and scientists have solved the electrolysis problem, a number of business men have visited Springfield investigating the subject. The candle burning in the Demint cabin window when Griffith Foos was prospecting in this vicinity attracted him, and since that time many visitors have been induced to locate because of unusual advantages, and again the statement that the gas and electric advantages are real factors in the development of Springfield. CHAPTER XLIII OUT-OF-DOOR PLEASURE IN SPRINGFIELD PARKS It is related that as early as June, 1803—only two years after the original survey of Springfield—Griffith Foos and Archibald Lowry, with their wives, had grown tired of the density of civilization and they made a pilgrimage to Yellow Springs. It was no doubt the first recreation jaunt—the first excursion party out of Springfield. Looking back over the lapse of years, many citizens have acted upon their suggestion and have gone "far from the madding crowd," and thus a pioneer custom —but that was a fault with most pioneers—they did not take "Little Journeys in the World." The Foos-Lowry party went prepared with provisions to spend two or three days—there were no Wayside Inns—and leaving Springfield on horseback the excursionists directed their course toward Dayton until they reached Knob Prairie, when they turned southeast and followed an Indian trail until they came to the springs. They remained two days, unmolested and unseen by the Indians, enjoying the picturesque scenery which was then in its wild and uninterrupted state. They describe the site known then only to the Indians as magnificently grand, and while wandering among the beautiful evergreens and the dense shrubbery they discovered two wells in a ravine only a short distance from the river. These wells were three feet in diameter and they had been sunk several feet in the rock ; they seemed to be artificial, and writing about them in 1852 R. C. Woodward said they were still visible. The Springfield tourists were the first white party to visit the spot, but since then a train of visitors have gone from Springfield. While they went on horseback, following a trail, the beaten paths now lead to Yellow Springs. Writing about love of nature some one anticipates the present-day public pleasure resort, saying : "You need not own the land—you probably will not, in the commercial sense. But the true lover of nature owns the world, and his use of it takes nothing from the ownership or use of any other person," and that is true of Springfield parks. When Clark County was covered with timber, there were saw mills scattered about and Mad River was lined with them. The rapid flow of the water afforded power and centered the mills along the stream until steam was utilized, and while the country lying north from Springfield was covered with timber bef ore it finally became cleared land, when the settlers came it is said there was "not a sufficient number of poles to make a meat cart" growing on what was later heavily timbered land—a strong argument in support of reforestation. A Washington newspaper headline reads : "Timber in the United States is being consumed four times as rapidly as it is being grown," said W. B. Greeley, chief of the Forest Service, before the House Agricultural Committee in urging Federal legislation designed to conserve the forests. Sixty-one per cent of the timber now standing in the United States is west of the Rocky Mountains, and at some distance from the markets. Before the white man wrought destruction, America had 22,000,000 acres of forest, but due to fires, clearing and lumbering five-sixths of it is already gone ; the country is cutting 26,000,000,000 cubic - 399 -