1890	1900
Detroit Buffalo Cincinnati Cleveland	205,876 255,664 296,908 261,353	285,704 352,387 325,902 381,768

In 1890, Cleveland had won the title of Queen City of the Lower Lakes ; in 1900, Cleveland had become the Metropolis of Ohio. THE MAYOR JOHNSON ERA In 1901, Mayor Farley was succeeded by the ever-to-be remembered Tom L. Johnson. Mr. Johnson, by successive elections, held the office for four terms and during those eight years there was something doing all the time. In September, 1901, the thirty-fifth National Encampment of the Grand Army of the Republic was held in Cleveland. A committee of one hundred representative citizens was formed and from it an executive committee of fifteen was chosen. The chairman of this committee was General James Barnett, by general consent "The First Citizen" of Cleveland ; Colonel H. C. Ellison was the treasurer, and the Hon. Edward W. Doty was the efficient secretary. Of course, money would be needed ; of course, the money needed would be procured ; but the method of securing it " was different." It was evident from the first that Cleveland was unitedly and enthusiastically in sympathy with the movement, and so it was resolved to give the entire city an opportunity to contribute. "No soliciting committee was formed ; not a single personal call was made. The newspapers told of the needs of the Executive Committee—one hundred thousand dollars was the sum it thought desirable. A public appeal was followed by circular letters that were scattered broadcast over the city. No one was forgotten or neglected. The letter carrier in the 'Triangle' bore as heavy a burden as his fellow on the Euclid Avenue route. Every citizen was invited ; but no one was coerced. He might give or not, just as he chose, and there was no one at his elbow to mollify." The executive committee had safely trusted the people and the people responded with patriotic and grateful generosity. The amount of money sought was raised ; it was raised in an unprecedented time; it was all done joyously. In the same spirit, Cleveland welcomed the thinned and rapidly thinning ranks of the Boys in Blue, acknowledging her obligation openly and showing her thankfulness gladly. One of the finest manifestations of the universal feeling was the poem written for the occasion by William R. Rose: 318 - CLEVELAND AND ITS ENVIRONS - [Chap. XX 1861 Out of the North, the loyal North, They came at the Chieftain's call; On fields of flame in Freedom's name They forced Rebellion's fall. Shoulder to shoulder they pressed along, Thrilling the land with their marching song; Strident the drum with its pulsing beat, Rhythmic the fall of the tramping feet ; Sinews of manhood under the blue, Ready and eager, and fearless and true : Loyalty's tide, with resistless flow, Swept through the mists of the long ago. 1901 Slowly they come with throb of drum, The flag with its scars above; In memory's name the loyal flame They feed from the cruse of love. Shoulder to shoulder they come in view, Side by side in the dear old blue ; Halting and bent, and with faltering feet, Onward they plod through the cheering street ; Burdens of age under blouses of blue— Many the dead, and the living so few ! Loyalty's army, remnant of yore, Drifts towards the mists of the silent shore. Tom Loftin Johnson was born at Georgetown in Kentucky on the eighteenth day of July, 1854. From 1869 to 1875, he was a clerk in a street railway office in Louisville. He invented several street railway devices, bought a street railway in Indianapolis, and became a manufacturer of iron. He later engaged in building street railways in Cleveland and served two terms (1891-95) in congress. He was an ardent advocate of the principles and single-tax theories of Henry George. Having accumulated wealth, he practically retired from active, money-making efforts and devoted himself chiefly to taxation questions and official duties. He had a liking and a genius for sociological contention and once said to me: "Some men who can afford it take their recreation in golf or buy steam yachts; I find. my best fun in politics." In 1901, he was elected mayor and soon thereafter publicly said : "If at the end of my life it shall be found that I have accomplished any good thing for Cleveland, I want the credit therefor to be given to Henry George." Tom Johnson certainly loved and sought power and some of his methods were those common 1891-93] - THE STREET RAILWAY STRUGGLE - 319 to political "bosses," but, I feel sure, he loved power and authority, not for the selfish and senseless enjoyment of mere possession, but rather for the additional ability it gave to do things in which he believed with all his heart. I was not a believer in the principles that constituted his main motive power and, in several municipal campaigns, took an active part in opposition to his candidacy. But after the passing of years and with the advantage of a better perspective, I feel, in duty bound, to say that Tom Johnson served Cleveland in an altruistic spirit and here developed a civic consciousness and energized a public conscience that today are recognized as characteristic of this, the field of his latest and best labors. STRUGGLE FOR 3-CENT STREET RAILWAY FARE The center of Tom Johnson's cyclonic career as mayor of Cleveland was the memorable struggle for 3-cent street railway fare. The general situation of street railway matters at that time is set forth clearly in a later chapter. It will be enough here to say that nearly all the lines in the city were owned and operated by the Cleveland Electric Railway Company. The company's franchise, granted by the city council, was about to expire, and the council that could renew the franchise was dominated by Mayor Johnson. After two years of legal warfare, the city council granted (May, 1893) to the People's Street Railway Company, a second low-fare franchise. No 320 - CLEVELAND AND ITS ENVIRONS - [Chap. XX intelligent Clevelander of mature age needs to be told by whom or for what purpose that company was organized. On the twenty-third of September of that year, ground was broken for a 3-cent line on the West Side and, on the following day, West Siders said: "It really looks as if we might some day ride on a street car for three cents." The details of the ensuing fight, for it was a fight, cannot be told here although dramatic incidents followed one another in rapid succession, For example, late in 1905, the annexation of the village of South Brooklyn to the city of Cleveland was still incomplete, when Mayor Johnson was informed that the village council was likely to grant an extended franchise to the Cleveland Electric Railway Company before the annexation proceedings were completed, Then Peter Witt, the city clerk and staunch lieutenant of the mayor, was sent with a policeman to South Brooklyn to sieze all village records and papers and to take the clerk of the village into the city and hold him there as long as might be necessary. Then a force of the city police was sent to the village to guard the village hall and to prevent any meeting of the village council until the annexation was a thing accomplished. In the course of time, the People's Street Railway Company became the Forest City Railway Company, and a holding company known as the Municipal Traction Company was formed and leased the property. The Cleveland council gave this Municipal Traction Company a franchise to lay a duplicating line on the west side of Fulton Road, and, by resolution, ordered (June 11, 1906) the Cleveland Electric Railway Company to move its track from the middle of Fulton Road to make room for the proposed track and to do so within thirty days. Fulton Road was an important bit in the proposed advance of the low-fare lines toward the Public Square, but the order of the council was disregarded by the old company. Mayor Johnson laid his plans for a coup with care and secrecy. On the morning of the twenty-fifth of July, the mayor, the president of the board of public service, the street superintendent, with other city officials, the president of the Traction Company, and workmen were at Fulton Road by five o'clock and promptly began the work of tearing up the tracks that were.still in the middle of the highway. When the officials of the Cleveland Electric Railway Company tardily heard of the mayor's move, they applied for an injunction which the compliant court promptly granted. The process server who was rushed to the scene did not find the really responsible party and, as no one else could. call off the workmen, the injunction was ignored. For this palpable offense, the mayor and the president of the board of public service 1906-08] - THE STREET RAILWAY STRUGGLE - 321 were cited for contempt of court. The mayor was exonerated but his subordinate was fined a hundred dollars, "which, I am happy to say, he never paid," Mayor Johnson says in his autobiography entitled "My Story." On the first of November, 1896, the West Siders decorated their houses and made gala day as the first 3-cent car went by with Mayor Johnson acting as motorman. All that now stood between the 3-cent line (the Three-fer it was commonly called) and the coveted center of the city was the lower part of Superior Street from the eastern end of the viaduct to the Public Square, then occupied by four tracks of the old company. For years this had been "free territory" but the court had tied it up with an injunction. In the night following the twenty-sixth of December, 1906, the board of public service held a meeting and authorized the action that quickly followed. Hundreds of men and scores of teams, and the needed material had been assembled in, secluded but convenient parts of the down-town district. At midnight, the work in hand was begun and morning found a straggling, zig-zag track laid on top of the pavement from the viaduct to the Square. The trolley wire overhead hung loosely from scantling arms carried by trolley poles that were planted in cinder-filled barrels that were nailed to weighted wagons to keep them in place. And so the 3-cent fare cars got to the center of the city. The performance was audacious, picturesque, and characteristic. As the council would not renew the expiring franchises of the old company, the best that the Cleveland Electric Railway Company could do was to lease its lines to the Municipal Traction Company, and this they did, making contract provisions that included protection of their employes all of whom had been loyal to the corporation for which many of them had worked for years. The general manager of the Municipal Traction Company, now operating all the street car lines in the city on a 3-cent fare basis, was A. B. duPont, a kinsman or the mayor. One of the red-letter days of the long-drawn-out struggle was the twenty-eighth of April, 1908, on which day all the cars were run free, 3-cent fare having taken effect on all the lines of the city the day before. It was a day of triumph for Mayor Johnson; the crowded cars with their noisy burdens suggested to some an importation of a New Orleans mardi-gras, or "the swarming of some ten thousand swarms of ten thousand moving bee-hives of brown and yellow," and to others the triumphal procession of a victorious Caesar coming back from the wars with captive kings and princes in his train, or the older story of Achilles dragging the body of the slain Hector three times around the walls of the ancient vol. I-21 322 - CLEVELAND AND ITS ENVIRONS - [Chap. XX Troy. But today, the more fitting historical analogue is the return of the great discoverer from his first voyage to the New World, when Columbus and the chivalry of Spain rode through the crowded streets of Barcelona and into the presence of the waiting Ferdinand and Isabella. The glory and barbaric pomp were but for a day ; they never were repeated. And so from hour to hour, we ripe and ripe, And then from hour to hour, we rot and rot, And thereby hangs a tale. Before long, Mr. duPont began to reward the newly-fledged employes who had been in the service of the Traction Company by giving to them the choicest runs in the service, taking many of them from old employes of the Cleveland Electric Railway Company, in direct violation of the terms of the lease above mentioned. A street-railway motorman or conductor has little chance' for promotion and, in general,.the best for which he can hope is the securing of one of the best runs. For instance, a run that consisted of consecutive hours in the daytime was more to be desired than one that began at four o'clock in the morning, ran on for two or three or four hours, laid the man off in the middle of the day, called him back for two or three "rush " hours in the early evening, laid him off again, called him hack in time to carry passengers home when the theaters closed, and sent him home at or after midnight. As chairman of a city council committee, I learned that such runs were not rare and that "swing" runs were worse ; that some of the men could not get four consecutive hours of sleep out of twenty-four, and seldom saw their children when the children were awake. The distribution of the desirable runs was made by the seniority rule ; i. e., the man who had been longest in service took his choice, the next oldest employe took his choice of what was left, and so on. Many of these "plums" were taken from motormen and conductors who had won them by long and faithful service and given, in direct violation of the terms of the lease, to comparatively new employes whose chief merit lay in their loyalty to the Municipal Traction Company in the antecedent era. In consequence of this flagrant wrong and some others of less importance to the men, eighteen hundred of Mr. duPont's employes "went on strike" (May 1, 1908) ; the question of wages was in no way involved. THE TAYLER FRANCHISE Of course, the Municipal Traction Company needed large sums of money and capitalists were careful as to security before they 1908-10] - THE STREET RAILWAY FRANCHISE - 323 would make the needed loans. Then the city council passed an ordinance that really placed the credit of the city back of the bonds of the company. The law under which this was done provided that such an ordinance should be subjected to a referendum vote if petitioned for within a certain number of days by a certain number of voters. The number of petitioners was large and the number of unexpired days was small; it seemed impossible that the work could be done in the time. Then came the strike setting free eighteen hundred able-bodied and intelligent men who got behind the petitions and pushed their ball over the line just in time. Mayor Johnson had long been an active advocate of the initiative and referendum, but he did not like the turn that things were taking. In spite of the mayor's opposition, the ordinance was put to vote (October 22, 1908) and the referendum killed it by the small majority of about 600. The killing of the ordinance made it impossible for the Traction Company to secure the needed loans and, in the end, forced the transfer of all the lines back to the Cleveland Railway Company (March 1, 1910) under a new franchise drafted by Robert W. Tayler, United States judge for the Northern District of Ohio. This remarkable franchise begins with the following preamble: Whereas, The Cleveland Railway Company is the owner of a system of street railroads within the city of Cleveland; and Whereas, The Forest City Railway Company, The Municipal Traction Company and The Cleveland Railway Company are parties to litigation affecting the ownership of various unexpired street-railroad grants for lines, all of which lines are now operated by a receiver appointed by the Circuit Court of the United States for the Northern District of Ohio, Eastern Division; and Whereas, It is the common desire of the city and The Cleveland Railway Company to have all the, grants of street-railway rights in the city of Cleveland now outstanding surrendered and renewed upon terms hereinafter recited, to the end that the rate of fare may be reduced, the transfer privileges made definite, and the right of the city as to regulation and possible acquisition made certain ; and Whereas, It is agreed that a complete re-adjustment of the street-railroad situation should be made, upon terms that will secure .to the owners of the property invested in street railroads security as to their property, and a fair and fixed rate of return thereon, at the same time securing to the public the largest powers of regulation in the interest of public service, and the best street-railroad transportation at cost, consistent with the security of the property, and the certainty of a fixed return thereon, and no more ; Now, therefore, be it ordained by the council of the city of Cleveland, State of Ohio, etc. 324 - CLEVELAND AND ITS ENVIRONS - [Chap. XX This ordinance, No. 16238A, passed December 18, 1909, approved by the mayor, December 18, 1909; accepted by the Cleveland Railway Company, December 20, 1909; acceptance ratified by the stockholders of the company, January 26, 1910; approved at referendum election, February 17, 1910 ; effective, February 19, 1910, and amended by Ordinance No. 20890B, passed July 10, 1911; approved by the mayor, July 14, 1911; accepted by the Cleveland Railway Company, July 11, 1911; approved at referendum election, November 7, 1911; effective, December 4, 1911, provides that the Cleveland Railway Company be given a renewed franchise for all the street railway lines in the city, from the nineteenth of February, 1910, to the first of May, 1934, in consideration of a surrender of all unexpired franchise rights, and reserves to the city the right to grant to any other person or corporation the right jointly to use for street-railroad purposes the central district of the city "upon such reasonable terms and conditions as the council may prescribe." For the purpose of fixing a basis for the rate of fare, and the price at which the property of the company may be purchased, the capital value of the system was fixed at $24,091,600. In the matter of municipal regulation, the principal agent is a city street railroad commissioner, appointed by the mayor, confirmed by the council, and paid by the company with the expense of the necessary "assistants, accountants, engineers, clerks, and other employes to inspect and audit all receipts, disbursements, vouchers, prices, payrolls, time-cards, papers, books, documents and property of the company." The commissioner was made the technical advisor of the council and required to keep informed on every phase of the company's business. Plans and estimates of all proposed extensions, etc., had to be filed with the commissioner for examination and approval, the final approval to be given by the city council. The company was to pay the commissioner.a salary not exceeding $1,000 a month, fixed from time to time by the council, and to furnish him office room, furniture, stationery and supplies. The city reserved to itself the entire control of the service, including schedules, routes, and the character of the cars, provided that the service demanded would, at the maximum rate of fare, produce enough money to meet the ordinance requirements concerning the interest fund. This interest fund was a gauge to determine the rate of fare. The ordinance fixed the amount of this fund at $500,000 lind included all earnings above operating, maintenance, and renewal allowances; interest dividends, and taxes were to be deducted from 1910-11] - THE STREET RAILWAY FRANCHISE - 325 the fund. The preamble of the ordinance gave assurance of a "certainty of a fixed return and no more," and the ordinance itself fixed such returns as follows: (a) 5% per annum on the total bonded indebtedness of the company. (b) 6% per annum on the floating indebtedness. (c) 6% per annum on the stock, payable quarterly. As the balance in the interest fund went up or down, the rate fare was changed, according to a prescribed schedule, the maximum rate being 4-cent cash fare, seven tickets for twenty-five cents, one. cent for a transfer and no rebate thereof. The minimum rate was 2-cent cash fare, with one cent for a transfer, this cent to be rebated to the passenger when the transfer ticket was taken up on the transfer line. As the balance in the interest fund went up, the rate of fare automatically went down, and vice versa. The schedule provided ten different rates of fare; the first to go into effect was 3-cent cash fare, with one cent for transfer and no rebate : subsequently, the rate fell to 3-cent cash fare, with one cent for transfer and rebate. This sliding scale of fares might be changed on demand of the city or of the company ; in case of disagreement, the question was to be settled by arbitration. When the unexpired term of the franchise became less than fifteen years (i. e., after May 1, 1919), the company may elect to change the maximum rate of fare and to assume complete control of service (subject, of course, to the city's police powers) on condition that whenever the amount credited to the interest fund (less the proportionate accrued payments to be made therefrom) was $200,000 in excess of $500,000, such excess should be applied to the reduction of the capital value of the company, the benefit of such reduction to go as a reduction of the purchase price to the city or its licensee. If the city or its licensee should buy the property before the expiration of the grant, the purchase price was to be the capital value plus ten per cent.; at the expiration of the grant, this possible ten per cent bonus fell off. If the city or its licensee, as purchaser, should assume the payment of the bonded indebtedness of the company, the amount of such indebtedness must be deducted from the capital value before determining the purchase price. Such are the characteristic features of the ordinance which provides for a multiplicity of details, such as free transportation of policemen, firemen, and employes; operating and maintenance allowances ; equipment ; extensions, betterments, and permanent improvements ; accounting systems, etc. The most prominent of all the fea- 326 - CLEVELAND AND ITS ENVIRONS - [Chap. XX tures of the Tayler grant are the commissioner and the interest fund. The ordinance was not amended until August, 1918, when, because of increased expenditures due largely to the war then going on, five additional rates of fare were authorized, the maximum being thus raised to 6-cent cash fare, nine tickets for fifty cents, with one cent for transfer without rebate. The first application of the new fare schedule, now in force (September, 1918) fixed the fare at 5-cent cash fare, five tickets for twenty-five cents, with one cent for transfer and no rebate. NATURAL GAS, STREET NAMES, ETC. While the long fight for 3-cent fare was largely attracting the attention of the public, the ordinary events incidental to municipal growth were taking place. Thus, the East Ohio Gas Company was organized, secured control of the two companies that were making and selling coal gas, and, in February, 1903, began supplying Cleveland with natural gas. Most of this supply is piped from West Virginia fields. The company now (1918) has more than 200,000 consumers with the demand exceeding the supply. After careful study and long continued deliberation, official and unofficial, the system of street nomenclature and house numbering was radically changed (January 23, 1905). Under the present system, the city is divided into four sections, Northeast, Southeast, Northwest, and Southwest, The dividing line between east and west is Ontario Street from the lake to the river, and thence southward following the river. On the East Side, the dividing line between north and south is West Superior Avenue and Euclid Avenue. On the West Side, the dividing line between north and south is Lorain Avenue. Highways that run approximately east and west are called avenues, and in general bear their old names ; thus St. Clair Street became St. Clair Avenue. Highways that run approximately north and south are numbered consecutively east and west from Ontario Street, the meridian ; thus Willson Avenue became East Fifty-fifth Street and Pearl Street became West Twenty-fifth Street. Dead-end highways (open at only one end) that run approximately north and south are called Places and are numbered like streets; thus Hodge Alley became East Thirteenth Place. Dead-end highways that run approximately east and west are called Courts and generally bear their old names like the avenues. Highways that run along lines materially different from north and south, or east and west, are designated as Roads, with names sometimes modified or changed as seemed desirable ; thus Woodland Hills Avenue became Woodhill Road. The section of the city is gener- 1905] - STREET NAMES AND NUMBERS - 327 ally indicated by adding the initial letters, N. E., N. W., S. E., or S. W., to the ;lame; thus there is an East Fifty-fifth Street, N. R, and an East Fifty-fifth Street, S. E., or, more briefly but just as definitely, Fifty-fifth Street, N. E., and Fifty-fifth Street, S. E. On the avenues, the houses are numbered one hundred to the block, with the even numbers on the right hand side as one goes east or west from Ontario Street (the meridian) ; thus the Laurel School, 10001 Euclid Avenue, is on the left-hand (north) side of the street, the first house beyond the line of One Hundredth Street. On the streets, the houses are numbered consecutively southward from the lake with the even numbers on the right-hand (west) side of the street as one goes in that direction ; thus the Woodward Masonic Temple, 1949 East One Hundred and Fifth Street, is on the left-hand (east) side of a street. a hundred and five blocks east of Ontario Street, which, as everyone knows or quickly learns, runs through the middle of the Public 328 - CLEVELAND AND ITS ENVIRONS - [Chap. XX Square, from which all distances in the city are generally measured. After one has learned a. few fixed facts, such as that Euclid Avenue divides the house numbers of the streets at 2000, one easily perceives that the Woodward Masonic Temple is on the east side of the street just a little north of Euclid Avenue. A brief stay in the city soon familiarizes one with these fixed facts and with the plan, and, after that, one will quickly realize the many advantages secured by the change made in January, 1905. For example, even an old resident of the city desiring to find a person who lived at a certain number on Logan Street, might have no idea where that person might be found, but when he is told that the desired person lives at 2035 East Ninety-sixth Street, the mind instantly and without inquiry locates him on the left-hand or east side of the ninety-sixth street east of the Public Square, and a few doors south of Euclid Avenue. He therefore takes a Euclid Avenue street car, gets off at the corner of East Ninety-sixth Street, walks south a few steps, and without doubt or delay pushes the button and rings the bell at the front door of the right house. BELT LINE RAILWAY NOT ELECTRIFIED About this time, the Belt Line Railway scheme was on the anvil. The road was intended to lessen freight traffic through the central part of the city and was generally believed to be promoted by what were called the New York Central Railroad interests (a not very wild guess). As part of the proposed line was to run through a fine residence section at the East End, there was a loud demand that the road be made an electric road, thus to lessen the noise incident to the passing trains, or, at least, that the locomotives be fed with hard coal or oil, thus to avoid an unnecessary addition to the already costly and offensive smoke nuisance that made Cleveland almost as dirty as Pittsburgh. But the council (i. e., Mayor Johnson) turned deaf ears to appeals and threats and granted the franchise (August 7, 1905) asked for without imposing any such restrictions. This is the solitary act of Mayor Torn L. Johnson that has troubled me to explain in accordance with the altruistic spirit with which I have already credited him. MOSES CLEAVELAND'S BURIAL PLACE In 1899, Mr. and Mrs. Elroy M. Avery made a new "Canterbury Pilgrimage." Northward about half a mile from Canterbury Green * they found a small, neglected burying-ground about * See map on page 29. 1899-1906] - THE GRAVE OF MOSES CLEAVELAND - 329 an acre in area and surrounded by one of the rough stone walls that, in New England, often serve as substitutes for fences. The wall was much broken and the iron gate was dilapidated and difficult to adjust. The acre was separated from the highway by a narrow strip of land, the ripening corn on which concealed it from the view of passers-by. The little cemetery was overgrown with tall weeds through which two sheep led the way to the graves of General Moses Cleave-land and his nearest relatives. The graves were marked by four stone slabs, two standing nearly upright and two lying flat in their original positions. When the gathered moss 'as scraped away from the upright slabs, one was found to bear this inscription: MOSES CLEAVELAND Died Nov. 16, 1806 Aged 52 The other upright slab marked the grave of "Esther, Relict of Moses Cleaveland, Esq." She died. January 17, 1840, aged 74. The flat slabs covered sandstone vaults in which rested the remains of the parents of the founder of our city. These slabs had to be freed from filth and washed with water before the inscriptions could be read. The story of the quest was told in an illustrated, full-page article printed in the Plain Dealer (October 15, 1899) and the question. raised, "What are you going to do about it'?" The first satisfactory answer to this query came when, in the summer of 1906, the Chamber of Commerce appointed Elroy M. Avery, Tom L. Johnson, Harry A. Garfield, Charles Lathrop Pack, Harvey D. Goulder, Worcester R. Warner, and Ambrose Swasey a committee to take action in the matter. The land between the burying-ground and the highway was bought and given to the town, and a contract was let for a simple but sturdy memorial of Connecticut granite. On the centennial anniversary of the death of General Cleaveland, F. F. Prentiss, president, Munson Havens, secretary, Ambrose Swasey, Hubert B. Fuller, and Elroy M. Avery of the Chamber of Commerce, and Liberty E. Holden, president of the Western Reserve Historical Society, at the old Canterbury burying-ground, met George S. Goddard of Hartford, the personal representative of the governor of Connecticut. Mr. Swasey placed floral wreaths on the graves of Moses Cleaveland and his wife, but, owing to the inclemency of the weather, the other 1906] - THE CANTERBURY MEMORIAL - 331 exercises were held in the church at Canterbury Green. At this meeting in the church, Mr. Aaron P. Morse, of the local board of selectmen, accepted the deed of the land, saying : It is with pleasure we receive this deed in the interests of the citizens of the town of Canterbury, and I promise that they will always endeavor to keep the plot green in memory of the noble man we have met to honor. CHAPTER XXI THE SIXTH CITY On the first of January, 1910, Tom L. Johnson was succeeded as mayor of Cleveland by Herman C. Baehr who held the office for two years that were weak and colorless as compared with the eight years that had gone before. The United States census of that year still further inflated the vanity of Clevelanders who measure greatness by population statistics. The comparative table, thus amplified was made to read :

	1890	1900	1910
Cincinnati Detroit Buffalo Pittsburgh Baltimore Cleveland	296,908 205,876 255,664 343,904 434,439 261,353	325,902 285,704 352,387 451,512 508,957 381,768	363,591 465,766 423,715 533,905* 558,485 560,663

The greater part of the inflation above mentioned was caused by the fact that, in passing Baltimore, the "Metropolis of Ohio" had become "The Sixth City" of the United States. From that time to this, the honeyed words, "Sixth City," have been kept as standing matter in the composing room of every Cleveland newspaper and rubbed into almost every public or private mention of the city. One of the most memorable events of Mayor Baehr's administration was his appointment of a city street railway commissioner at the maximum salary ($12,000 a year) authorized by the Tayler franchise. The young man appointed for this important position had lately come to Cleveland from a small Wisconsin town and consequently was ill qualified to "act as the technical adviser of the council of the City of Cleveland in all matters" relating to the operation and expenditures of such a big business as was that of the Cleveland system of street railways. But Mr. Dahl drew his comfortable salary for two years and then packed his trunk and abandoned Cleveland. * Includes Allegheny City. - 332 - 1910-13] - MAYOR BAKER AND A NEW CHARTER - 333 COUNTY CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION In the fall (October 10-15, 1910), came a six days' celebration of the centennial of Cuyahoga County. As in the centennial of the city, held fourteen years before, there were elaborate programs, processions, music, cannon salutes, and speeches galore. Perhaps the event that attracted the greatest public interest and admiration was the parade of automobiles decorated in every conceivable manner, ranging from historical and serious, through the magnificently beautiful, to the commonplace and comic. It was the fitting successor of the Wheel-man's Day of 1896. The present Federal building covering the sites of the old post-office, the block that contained Case Hall, and the intervening street, was completed and ready for occupancy on the first of January, 1911. The cost of land and building was approximately $4,600,000. During the erection of the new building, the post-office was housed in the Wilshire building on the north side of Superior Avenue between West Fourth and West Sixth streets. Mayor Baehr was succeeded (January, 1912) by Newton D. Baker * who had been Mayor Johnson's chief political lieutenant and the law director of the city. Of the campaign that lifted Mayor Baehr and a Republican administration into the city hall, Mr. Baker was the sole Democratic survivor. When he came to the chair that his former chief had occupied for eight years, he was accompanied or quickly followed by the still familiar faces of former members of Mayor Johnson's official family. In short, it was the "Henry George Administration" redivivus. Tom Loftin Johnson had been transferred from Time to Eternity, but for the next four years Mayor Baker successfully directed the municipal affairs and marshaled the local Democratic hosts, winning victories in the name of the dead commander much as victories were won in the name of the Cid of Spanish ballad and romance. HOME RULE CHARTER FRAMED Under authority of a new state constitution that had been framed by a convention and approved by a vote of the people in 1912, the voters of Cleveland elected fifteen commissioners who framed the present "Home Rule" charter for the city. The charter was approved by the voters of the city in July, 1913, and, under its provisions, officers were elected in the following November. The characteristic features of this new city charter are set forth in a later chapter of this volume. * See portrait on page 441. 334 - CLEVELAND AND ITS ENVIRONS - [Chap. XXI CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION OF PERRY 'S VICTORY In this summer, came the Centennial Celebration (September 14-17, 1913) of Perry's victory on Lake Erie. Centennial celebrations had become somewhat common, bit the people of the city were quite ready for another. In the official souvenir program, Mayor Baker, as chairman ex-officio of the "Cleveland Perry Centennial Celebration Commission," said: Cleveland during these days is turning aside from her accustomed commercial and industrial activities, and with the same vigor and earnestness that mark her success in them is showing the loyalty of her people to the best traditions of the Republic. Our aspiration for a finer and higher city civilization in Cleveland will be stimulated by the recollection that it rests upon foundations of so heroic and patriotic a character. The purpose of the celebration as officially stated was as follows: A hundred years has wrought mighty changes in our country and we celebrate the Centennial of one of the greatest achievements of history. There is something sublime in the roll of centuries measured by the flight of revolving years, but there is something more sublime in measuring the march of progress as it is directed by a wise Providence and achieved by a heroic people to secure the perpetuation of a Republic and the liberties of a suffering people and to bring perpetual peace among nations that once were at war with each other. We aim in this to show four things : First. The importance of the battles with their victories. Second. The great undertaking of transporting men and the munitions of war across an almost pathless forest for hundreds of miles and to establish naval stations in the sparsely settled regions of the Great Lakes. Third. The high character of the fleet, 'the skill and genius of the men who built and manned it. Fourth. The splendid endowment of Commodore Perry, and the bravery of the men who fought with him and his noble purpose to serve and save his country. NIAGARA DAY Henry Watterson, the veteran editor of the Louisville Courier-Journal supplied the story of the battle, and there was an elaborate and lengthy list of committees and the members thereof. Sunday, the fourteenth of September, was designated as "Niagara Day," with special services in all the churches and a reception on board the government ships in the harbor in the forenoon. In the 1913] - ANOTHER CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION - 335 afternoon, a naval parade went out into the lake to meet the "Niagara," Perry's flagship, rebuilt and refitted after the long sleep of the famous old brig at the bottom of Misery Bay, Presque Isle Harbor, Erie, Pennsyl'ania. At four o'clock in the afternoon, there was a reception of the "Niagara" at the East Ninth Street pier, with appropriate music and addresses, after which came the "Presentation of the "Niagara" by the Hon. Harvey D. Goulder, chairman of the reception, committee" and its "Acceptance by the Hon. Newton D. Baker, mayor of the City of Cleveland." Meanwhile, there were commemorative exercises at Washington Park and water sports at Gordon Park. In the evening, there was an illuminated motor boat parade along the city front. PERRY DAY Monday, the fifteenth of September, was "Perry Day" with numerous exhibitions of relics of the war of 1812, old and new railway locomotives and trains, fleet tactics by the naval militia ships, life-saving drill by the United States Life Saving Crew, and naval target practice, and aeroplane flights. In the evening, came a decorative automobile parade (with prizes), and a reception at the Hollenden Hotel by women's organizations, with Mayor and Mrs. Baker at the head of the receiving line. United States troops were in camp at Edge- 336 - CLEVELAND AND ITS ENVIRONS - [Chap. XXI water Park and carnival shows in full bloom on the lake front at the foot of East Ninth Street. CHILDREN'S AND WOMEN'S DAY Tuesday, the sixteenth of September, was " Children's and Women's Day" with literary and musical exercises in the forenoon at the Hollenden. In the afternoon, there were exercises at the Perry monument in Gordon Park, Harvey D. Goulder, chairman; music by the Perry orchestra and the Children's chorus, and an address by the Hon. John H. Clarke (now a member of the United States supreme court). In the evening, there were "Perry Patriotic Exercises," largely musical, at the Grays' Armory, William Gordon, chairman, and Dr. Mattoon M. Curtis, speaker ; at Brookside Park, W. J. Clark, chairman, and the Rev. Dr. Dan F. Bradley, speaker; at Edgewater Park, Mayor. Baker, chairman, and the Rev. Francis T. Moran, speaker; at Wade Park, the Hon. Martin A. Foran, chairman, and Rabbi M. J. Gries, speaker ; and at Miles Park, W. R. Hopkins, chairman, and the Rev. M. J. Keyes, speaker. The "Niagara" was kept open all day to the school children ; every child who visited the ship was given an American flag. ,The carnival shows were still doing business on the lake front. CONCLUSION OF THE CELEBRATION On Wednesday, the seventeenth of September, there were motor boat races off Gordon Park and the annual Work Horse parade (with 1916-17] - CLEVELAND IN EPITOME - 337 prizes) in the forenoon, and in the afternoon the grand Perry Centennial parade, Major Charles R.. Miller, grand marshal, and Lieutenant-colonel Felix Rosenburg, chief of staff. There were eight divisions, the eighth consisting of industrial and decorated floats. In the evening, there were fireworks in Edgewater, Gordon, and Lakeview parks, with the United States troops still in camp and the carnival shows still guarding the city's exposed lake front. MAYOR BAKER ENTERS THE WILSON CABINET At the end of his second term, Mayor Baker declined a renomination and soon became a member of President Woodrow Wilson's cabinet as secretary of war. His successor was Harry L. Davis, who is now (1918) serving his second term. Among the events of this administration may be mentioned the completion and occupancy of the new city hall, the opening of the new art gallery in Wade Park (June 6, 1916), the building of the new high-level bridge, the beginning of a new auditorium building, and the national declaration of a state of war with Germany. These several events, and the noble response of Cleveland and Clevelanders to the calls of the government for men, money, and munitions will be considered in a later chapter. FIRST CITY IN AMERICAN SPIRIT In 1917, a pamphlet entitled Cleveland was published with the statement that it was issued under the joint auspices of the Chamber of Commerce, the Chamber of Industry, the Young Men's Christian Association, the Builders' Exchange, the Real Estate Board, the Federated Churches, and twenty-five other organizations, the secretaries of which had prepared its editorial copy. From this authoritative document, now a year old, I clip and condense the following. This act of mine is not piracy, pillaging, or plagiarism, but rather the commendable taking of useful information for the public good. Sixth in population, fifth in manufacturing, fourth in financial importance, and first in civic attainment, is the proud record that Cleveland holds up to view. By its recent achievements Cleveland has gained the title of "First City in American Spirit." It stands first in the country, in proportion to its population, in donations to the Red Cross and in enlistments, while it oversubscribed its quota of the {first] Liberty Loan by nearly 100 per cent. Cleveland is the largest city between New York and Chicago. It had in 1917 a population, within its corporate limits, estimated at more than 800,000, and within a five-cent car-zone more than 1,000,000. The Connecticut Land Com- Vol. I-22 338 - CLEVELAND AND ITS ENVIRONS - [Chap. XXI pany acquired 3,000,000 acres of land known as the Western Reserve at forty cents an acre ; one acre in Cleveland today is worth more than $2,000,000. Cleveland has doubled its population every twenty years. Sixty years ago, it was forty-third city in the United States. At that time every city that now leads it ranked in the first eight. Cleveland is literally the melting pot of the nation. With the discovery of iron ore in the Lake Superior districts in the forties, and the construction of railroads from the East and South in the fifties, Cleveland realized that it occupied a strategic position for bringing together coal from the Ohio and Pennsylvania districts and iron ore from the upper lake regions. A steady and consistent expansion of industrial and business activities took place, which, through all the years to the present day, has continued uninterruptedly. Realizing that destiny pointed to Cleveland as the natural meeting place of iron ore and coal, hundreds of manufacturing plants have sprung up throughout the years until today the city is second only to New York in the diversity of its industries. Cleveland now leads all other communities in the manufacture of nuts, bolts, wire goods, gray-iron castings, paints, varnishes, electric batteries, twist drills, steel forgings, plumbers' fixtures, vacuum sweepers, carriage hardware, job printers' presses, astronomical appliances, and stands second only to New York in the manufacture of women's ready-to-wear clothing. With the advent of the automobile two decades ago, Cleveland became an important center for the manufacture of motor vehicles. The city now ranks second in the world in the production of automobiles. Cleveland is the home of the largest paint and varnish factories in the country. Cleveland owns or controls two-thirds of all the shipping upon the great lakes, with 45 steamship lines connecting with all the ports upon these inland seas. The city has eight passenger boat lines, nine interurban lines, and is served by seven trunk lines, enjoying unexcelled transportation facilities. Four of every five steamships carrying iron ore and coal upon the great lakes are owned or controlled in Cleveland. More than 60 per cent of the 50,000,000 tons of iron ore annually brought down the lakes from the Northwest is received in the Cleveland district. Cleveland is fifth in manufacturing importance in the United States. Owing to its being the most economical place for the production of iron and steel, a large percentage of these articles secure 'their basic supply at home. Out of every dollar invested in automobiles in the United States. 30 cents comes to Cleveland factories or shops making parts. Cleveland is fourth city in financial importance in the country. It is the home of the fourth Federal Reserve Bank, which has the third largest capital among the twelve Federal Reserve banks—$12,000,000, with deposits of $60,000,000, which are steadily increasing. There are 750 banks included in the district of which Cleveland is headquarters, and which embraces six counties in West Virginia, Eastern Kentucky, Western Pennsylvania and all of Ohio. Among the largest cities in the district are Pittsburgh, Erie, Wheeling, Cincinnati, Columbus, Dayton and Toledo. 1917-18] - CLEVELAND IN EPITOME - 339 CLEVELAND AS A TWENTIETH CENTURY PIONEER Cleveland was first to glimpse the future when it embarked upon a plan to expend $30,000,000 for its group plan of public buildings. Cleveland churches were the first to be controlled through a central federation. An unparalleled educational system has been built up in Cleveland, with its three fine universities, 20 business colleges, 114 public and 57 parochial schools. Cleveland, with all its busy commerce and toiling industries, has not forgotten aesthetics, for in its beautiful art museum on the border of a picturesque lake is much to inspire the soul and please the eye. Cleveland has a remarkable system of parks and playgrounds, having a total area of 2,176 acres. There are free baseball diamonds, children's playgrounds well equipped, football grounds, tennis 'courts, skating ponds, and a stadium in Brookside Park where 80,000 have been seated at one time to witness a. local amateur baseball game. Cleveland was the first large American city to accept the daylight saving plan and set it in operation. The Cleveland Foundation, endowed with more than $40,000,000, is now studying Cleveland's needs with a view to revolutionizing city life and activities in years to come. Careful. surveys of civic operations are made so that intelligent progress may follow. INCREASES OF TEN YEARS Automobiles, bodies and parts - 486% Bread and bakery products - 132% Cars and repairs. - 195% Chemicals - 130% Clothing, men's - 220% Clothing, women's - 119% Confectionery - 190% Copper, tin and sheet iron - 434% Cutlery and tools - 201% Electrical machinery and supplies - 328% Foundry and machine products - 112% Hosiery and knit goods - 107% Paint and varnish - 173% Printing and publishing - 130% Slaughtering and meat packing - 133% Stoves and furnaces - 187% No. of m'f'g. establishments, from 1,616 to 2,346 - 45% Capital employed $156,321,000 - $312,967,444 - 100% Salaries and wages 41,749,000 - 92,909,888 - 123% Value of products 171,924,000 - 352,531,109 - 105% Average number of factory employes 70,917 - 121,100 - 71% A new Cleveland is springing into existence—a city in which it is good to live; a city the residents, of which believe that "he profits most who serves best ;" Cleveland, the city that co-operates ; Cleveland, the city that seeks perfected humanity ; Cleveland, the city with a sublime faith in its future ; Cleveland, the city of ideas and high ideals; Cleveland, the city that really has a soul! 340 - CLEVELAND AND ITS ENVIRONS - [Chap. XXI In beginning the seventeenth chapter of his admirable History of Cleveland, published more than twenty years ago, Mr. Kennedy gives a paragraph that I think worthy of reproduction here: In a record of this character—a history of the creation and growth of . a great city,—the individual of necessity disappears as the many appear, and incidents of a personal nature give place to events of sufficient importance to be of interest to all. Generalization, therefore, replaces specifications. Lorenzo Carter, in the Cleveland of 1800, was larger, relatively, than any one man could be in Cleveland to-day. James Kingsbury, sitting with gun in hand, on a log in the snowy silence of the Conneaut woods, waiting for some stray bird or beast, whose flesh could save the life of his wife, was a picturesque figure, because he was a solitary speck upon a bleak and inhospitable pioneer landscape ;—the picture, in all these eases, is striking, because of its setting, and also because of the time that has passed, and the things that have been done since it was drawn. The life of a pioneer village is told in these incidents ; that of a great city by its achievements, and the' impress it has made upon the civilization of which it is a part. Although the material results of the first quarter of Cleveland's second century are incomparably greater than were those of the first quarter of her first century, and largely in consequence of that fact, the method of historical treatment necessarily changes; details give way for generalities, individuals become far less important than institutions, and sociological conditions and tendencies dominate .domestic affairs. In short, as the vision broadens, it takes on more of the characteristics of a bird's-eye view. The succeeding chapters of this volume constitute an attempt to comply with these demands of changed conditions. CHAPTER XXII THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF CLEVELAND The early pages of this volume contain the story of the earliest schools in Cleveland. For instance, it will be remembered that, in 1800, "a school house was built near Kingsbury:s on the ridge road, and Miss Sarah Doan, daughter of Nathaniel Doan was teacher," and that, in 1802, Anna Spafford opened a school for children in Major. Carter's well-known front room—the first in what was then called "the city." In 1806, came Asael Adams, aged twenty, and entered into contract "to keep six hours in each day and to keep good order in said school." In 1817, the village trustees voted to refund to certain public spirited citizens the several sums of money that they had paid toward building a little school house amid the oak trees on the east side of the lot now occupied by the Kennard House (St. Clair Avenue and West Sixth Street). The resolution provided that the funds for this purpose should be taken from "the treasury of the corporation at the end of three years from and after the thirteenth of June, 1817," and that "the corporation shall be the sole proprietors of the said school house,"—the first school property ever owned by Cleveland. In 1822, came the Cleveland Academy "of brick with its handsome spire and its spacious room in the second story for public purposes," of which institution Harvey Rice soon became the head-master. In 1836, Cleveland became a city. Its charter contained the following provisions concerning schools, the credit for which probably belongs to John W. Willey, who became Cleveland's first mayor: Sec. XIX. That the city council be, and they are hereby authorized at the expense of said city, to provide for the support of common schools ; and for that purpose each of the wards of said city shall constitute a school district, until such time as the city council may divide each ward into two or more school districts, which they are hereby authorized to do, in such manner as they may deem most convenient, having due regard to present and future population ; and they are hereby authorized to purchase in fee simple, or to receive as a donation for the use of the city, a suitable lot of ground in each school district, as a site for a school house therein ; and they are hereby - 341 - 342 - CLEVELAND AND ITS ENVIRONS [Chap. XXII authorized to erect hi each district a good and substantial school house, of such dimensions as shall be convenient for the use of the common schools in said city, and to defray the necessary expenses of the building and constructing such school houses, and also to pay the purchase money for the lots of land on which the same shall be erected ; it shall be lawful for the city council, annually, to levy, in addition to the other taxes in said city, a tax, not exceeding one mill on the dollar, upon all property in the city subject to the payment of annual taxes by the provisions of this act, until a sufficient sum shall be raised and collected from such tax to meet all the expenses which shall be incurred, for the purchase of lots of land and the erection of the school houses aforesaid : Provided, It shall be lawful for said city to borrow such sum or sums of money as may be sufficient and necessary for purchasing or building as aforesaid, and to refund or pay the same as the tax aforesaid shall be collected; and the said tax is hereby made a special fund to be appropriated to no other purpose. Sec. XX. That for the support of common schools in said city, and to secure the benefits of education to all the white children therein, it shall be the duty of the city council, annually, to levy and collect a tax not exceeding one mill on the dollar, upon all the property in said city subject to the payment of annual taxes by the provisions of this act, which shall be collected at the same time and in the same manner as is provided for the collection of the annual taxes; which tax, together with such as may be collected by the county treasurer for school purposes, within such part of the county of Cuyahoga as is within the limits of said city, shall be exclusively appropriated to defray the expenses of instructors and fuel for said schools, and for no other purpose whatsoever; which schools shall be accessible to all white children, not under four years of age, who may reside in said city, subject only to such regulations for their government and instruction, as the board of managers, hereinafter mentioned, may from time to time prescribe. Sec. XXI. That the city council shall, annually, select one judicious and competent person from each school district in the city as a manager of common schools in said city, which managers shall constitute and be denominated "The Board of Managers of Common Schools in the city of Cleveland ;" who shall hold their office for one year, and until their successors are appointed and qualified, and shall fill all vacancies which may occur in their own body, during the time for which they shall be appointed. Sec. XXII. That the said board of managers shall have the general superintendence of all common schools in said city, and from time to time shall make such regulations for the government and instruction of the white children therein, as to them shall appear proper and expedient, and shall examine and employ instructors for the same; and shall cause a school to be kept in each district for at least six months in each year, and shall cause an accurate census to be taken annually, in each district, of all the white children therein, between the ages of four and twenty-one years : and require of the several instructors thereof, to keep a record of the names and ages of all persons by them 1836] - THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS - 343 respectively instructed, and the time each shall have attended said schools, and return a copy of such record to the board of managers, at the close of each and every current year ; and said board shall certify to the city council the correctness of all accounts for expenses incurred in support of said schools, and give certificates thereof, to the persons entitled to receive the same ; they shall, at the close of every current year, report to the city council the state and condition of the several common schools in said city, as well the fiscal as the other concerns in relation thereto, and a particular account of their administration, thereof ; and they shall do and perform all other matters and things pertaining to the duties of their said office, which may be necessary and proper to be done, to promote the education and morals of the children instructed in said schools, or which may be required of them by the ordinances of said city, not inconsistept with this act: Provided, That no person shall be employed as instructor in any of said schools who has not first been examined by the board of managers, and received a certificate of qualifications, as to his or her competency and moral character. Sec. XXIII. That all moneys which shall belong to the village of Cleveland, or which said village shall be entitled to at the time said city shall be organized under this act, for the use of common schools therein, shall be paid over to and held by the city treasurer, and all moneys hereafter levied and collected within the limits of said city, for the support of common schools, and also all other moneys appropriated by law for the use of common schools therein, shall be paid into the city treasury as a separate and distinct fund, and shall not be applied, under any pretence whatever, to any other use than that for which it is levied and collected; and a separate and particular account of the receipts and expenditures thereof, shall be kept by the treasurer, in a book to be provided for that purpose ; and the said treasurer shall not be entitled to receive any percentage, premium or compensation, for receiving or paying out said fund, or for keeping the accounts thereof. Sec. XXIV. That the city council shall fix by ordinance, the commencement and termination of the current year of said common schools, and determine the time and duration of all vacations thereof, which shall be the same throughout said city ; and said city council may at their discretion, at any time previous to the erection of the school houses provided for in this act, lease on such terms and conditions as they may deem proper in the several school districts of said city, and for such times as they shall think necessary, convenient buildings for the use of common schools, therein, to be occupied only till such school houses shall be erected and prepared for the reception of such schools: Provided, That the property of black or mulatto persons shall be exempted from taxation for school purposes under this act. UNDER THE BOARD OF SCHOOL MANAGERS The first election under the charter was held on the eleventh of April, 1836, and in May of that year "a communication was received 344 - CLEVELAND AND ITS ENVIRONS - [Chap. XXII from the mayor in relation to common schools." In June, the city council appointed a committee "to employ a teacher and an assistant to continue the Free School to the end of the quarter or until a school system for the city shall be organized at the expense of the city." This "Free School" had been organized in 1830 "for the education of male and female children of every religious denomination." Its sessions were held in the basement of the Bethel Church ; hitherto, it had been supported by voluntary contributions. In October, the council appointed the first board of school managers, consisting of Mayor John W. Willey, Anson Hayden, and Daniel Worley. In November, an enumeration of persons between the ages of four and twenty-one was ordered, and in March, 1837, the council committee on schools was requested "to ascertain and report, as soon as convenient, what lots may be purchased, the price and terms of payment, to be used for school purposes—two in the first ward, one in the second ward, and one in the third ward." In the following July, the city council passed an ordinance introduced by Horace Canfield --An Ordinance to Provide for the Establishment of Public Schools. This memorable instrument is printed in full* in an earlier chapter of this volume ; it constituted the real beginning of the public school system of Cleveland. The school managers immediately began the organization of the schools under the provisions of the ordinance. From the passing of this ordinance the history of the public schools of Cleveland is the record of the development of public education adapted to the wants of a small town into that which strives to meet the needs of a great city. The following chronological record, some of which was kindly prepared for this volume by Miss Harriet L. Keeler, a former superintendent of the Cleveland public schools, marks the successive steps of that development. In the early days, individuals and small events bulked much larger than they do today. In 1838, the school managers, Samuel Cowles, Samuel Williamson, and Philip Battell, reported that, during the preceding winter, eight schools had been sustained with eight teachers, three male and five female, with an enrolment of 840 pupils and an average attendance of 468. They also reported that "the schools have been wholly free and open to all within their districts legally admitted to their privileges. The boys and girls have been entirely separate, the former taught by male and the latter by female teachers. . . . The wages given have been, to female teachers $5 per week, and to male teachers $40 per calendar month." * See page 200. 1839-40] - THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS - 345 In 1839, the school managers, Silas Belden, Henry Sexton, and Henry W. Dodge, reported an unchanged salary schedule for teachers, an enrolment of 823 pupils, and an average attendance of 588, "making the present number attending the schools quite too many [for the accommodations provided], and being only about one-fourth of the number of youths in the city who are legally privileged to attend." At this time, the city was renting the school rooms that it occupied, and the agitation for enlarged accommodations had become rather warm. In the spring of this year (1839), John A. Foote introduced in the city council a resolution declaring it expedient for the city to buy land and build a schoolhouse in each of the four districts. The resolution was referred to a committee of which Harvey Rice was chairman. This committee reported in favor of buying two lots and erecting on each a building for the proper accommodation of two hundred pupils ; the council adopted the report. Thereupon a lot on Prospect Street in the first ward, and another on Rockwell Street in the second ward were bought and contracts were let for two buildings to cost $3,500 each. Both buildings were completed in 1840. The Academy and the two new buildings could seat about 600 pupils, but nearly 900 were crowded into the three, and some of the rooms previously rented were re-occupied,* The teachers at the * This overcrowding of pupils seems to have been the chronic condition of the Cleveland schools to this day; the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak—a common result of rapid growth. 346 - CLEVELAND AND ITS ENVIRONS - [Chap. XXII Prospect Street School were Andrew Freese, Sophia Converse, Emma Whitney, and Sarah M. Thayer. Those at the Rockwell Street School were N. A. Gray, Elizabeth Armstrong, Abby Fitch, and Louisa Kingsbury. Those at the Academy (West St. Clair Street School), were George W. Yates, Louisa Snow, Julia Butler. There were also the ungraded Bethel School, a school at the corner of Prospect and Ontario streets, and a school on Chestnut Street. The total number of pupils was 1,051. In March, 1841, the city council created the office of acting school manager and elected Charles Bradburn, George Willey, Charles Stetson, and Madison Kelley as school managers for the ensuing year ; in 1842, the council reappointed them for another year. Charles Bradburn has been called "The Father of Cleveland Schools ;" George Willey's work was of inestimable value. In his History of Cleveland Schools in the Nineteenth Century, Mr. William J. Akers says: "The two men worked together. Bradburn looked after the business interests of the schools. He, more than anybody else, was responsible for the school buildings erected, and the wonderful progress the schools made in the twenty years he gave to them. George Willey had more to do with the educational end of the schools." These were years of monetary depression, a new re-valuation of the state diminished the amount collected by tax for the schools, there was a deficit of $1,298.44 for the year 1841-42, and the opposition to the schools became very bitter. The schools were becoming more and more crowded, a. proposal to issue bonds for a new school was laid upon the table by the city council, and the wages of teachers were cut ; the pay of the four male teachers was reduced from $40 a month to $32.50 and that of the fourteen female teachers from $5 to $4.40 a week ; the school year was shortened from ten to nine months to save money for opening two additional primary schools in the following year. COLORED CHILDREN In April, 1843, some of the colored people of the city petitioned for a separate school for colored children. The judiciary committee of the city council reported against the proposition and the council adopted the report. In administering the schools of Cleveland, no attention has ever been paid to the legal disabilities imposed upon colored children by the city charter of 1836 or by the later legislation of the state. In the words of Mr. Akers, "Cleveland has never had a 1843-45] - THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS - 347 colored school, and colored children have always been admitted to the schools." To this may be added the statement that, without any considerable manifestation of Negrophobia, colored teachers in Cleveland public schools give instruction to white pupils. In other words, "the color line" is absolutely ignored. FIRST PLEA FOR HIGH SCHOOL In the annual report of the board of school managers for 1844, Mr. Bradburn made his first plea for a high school, saying: "The present classification of our free schools subjects them to the reproach that only the elements of an education are taught. We believe that the best interests of our city require that this objection should be obviated by the establishment of a school of instruction in the higher branches of knowledge." In April of that year, the school committee of the city council brought in a resolution "authorizing the school committee to build three new school houses at a cost not exceeding $1,600 [each?]—one for a high school and two for primary schools," to which they added the statement that "the present classification of the schools is deficient, and that the establishment of a high school for boys, recommended by the Board of Managers, is very much needed." The council laid the resolution on the table. In the preceding month (March 27, 1844), the council had elected Charles Bradburn, Truman P. Handy, Thomas Richmond, and J. B. Finury as school managers, designated Mr. Finury as acting (or business) manager, and voted to him an annual salary of $200. The next annual report of the board, in reference to the Prospect Street School, said that "the government of this school is strict and uniform, and through the indefatigable labors of its principal [Andrew Freese] is justly regarded as one of the best in the state." The report also set forth that "the senior male department of the Rockwell Street school is thought to have degenerated both in discipline and instruction. . . . The Council, having directed the Board of Managers to adopt in this school, the system of instruction so successful in the Prospect Street School,* we are not without hopes that vigorous and well directed efforts will soon make it equal to any school in the city." THE SCHOOLS IN 1845 In 1845, the pay of teachers was restored to its former level. In March of this year, the number of children in the city "between * A pleasing shadow cast before by coming events. 348 - CLEVELAND AND ITS ENVIRONS - [Chap. XXII the ages of four and eighteen was about 2,500. About 1,300 of these attended the public schools, and 400 attended private schools, leaving about 800 who were not attending any school." With a persistence worthy of Cato in re Carthage, Mr. Bradburn closed his annual report by again urging the establishment of a high school. In March, the council elected Charles Bradburn, Madison, Kelley, George Willey and R. T. Lyon as school managers and designated Mr. Kelley as acting school manager. In this year, the two senior sections of the Prospect Street School were united and, "for the first time in the history of the Cleveland schools, senior classes of both boys and girls were organized. The experiment was a success from the start and resulted in great improvement in the deportment of the scholars." Of course! In this school year (1845-46), thirteen schools were in operation with four male and thirteen female teachers. There was an enrolment of 1,500 pupils and an average daily attendance of 936, concerning which the annual report said: "Irregular attendance of scholars continues to be the great obstacle to improvement. The disarrangement of the classes necessarily attendant on this irregularity increases much the labor of the teachers and, in some schools, has almost paralyzed all their efforts. Some parents as well as children seem to think that what costs nothing is worth nothing, and so great has this evil become that it can be obviated only by the passage Of some measure that will exclude from the schools all scholars who will not attend with regularity and promptness." Herein the wise Mr. Bradburn put his finger on the sore spot and prescribed' the specific remedy. CLEVELAND'S FIRST HIGH SCHOOL The school managers for the year 1846-47 were Charlei Bradburn, Truman P. Handy, Samuel Starkweather, and William Day; Mr. Bradburn was the acting managing director. Of course, Mr. Bradburn did not relax his labors in behalf of a high school. "The poor people of the city and the middle class stood with him in his demand for the school, but the very rich, almost without exception, bitterly opposed the proposition." In his inaugural address to the council in the spring of 1846, Mayor George Hoadley said : I earnestly recommend to your favorable consideration the propriety of establishing a. school of a higher grade—the Academic department—the scholars to be taken from our common schools according to merit. This would present a powerful stimulus to study and good conduct. The poorest child, if possessed of talents and applica- 1846-47] - THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS - 349  tion, might aspire to the highest station in the republic. From such schools we might hope to issue the future Franklins of our land. On the twenty-second of April, 1846, Mr. J. A. Harris, chairman of the council school committee, introduced a resolution providing that "a boys' department of a high school be established ; that the school committee hire a room for such school at an expense of not exceeding $100 per annum, and fit it up with desks at a cost of not more than $150." The resolution was adopted, rooms were rented in the basement of the Universalist Church on Prospect Street, a little west of Erie Street, later occupied by the Homeopathic Medical College, and Andrew Freese was made principal at a salary of $500 a year. On the thirteenth of July, 1846, Cleveland's first high school was opened with thirty-four pupils; before the end of the year, the attendance was eighty-three. Mr. Akers tells us that "the rooms occupied were a miserable excuse for school rooms. They were damp, dark, and the health of the pupils and teacher suffered in consequence. The main room was heated with a stove, the pipe of which ran the whole length of the basement. Wooden benches and seats were provided. The bottom of the seats were fastened to the backs with hinges, so that the scholars might easily reach their respective seats." In his annual report, made in the spring of 1847, Mr. Bradburn said : The establishment of this school was a cherished object with former Managers. Expectation was high in regard to it, but it is believed that the most sanguine anticipations of the Council, to whose liberality it owes its existence, have been thus far fully realized. It has enabled the Managers to make a more profitable classification of the scholars, has incited a healthy spirit of emulation, and elevated the standard of education in other schools. Its location is not, in all respects, the most desirable, but it is the best that could be found. The discipline of this school has been strict and unyielding, and effected by an appeal to the minds and hearts of the scholars, rather than to their physical sensibilities. The moral tone of the school has been highly gratifying to the Managers. It is not within their knowledge that profane language is used by any of the scholars. The instruction in this school is designed to be thorough and substantial. and to be confined to the solid and useful branches of education. No studies are pursued whose practical value is in any way questioned. The school has thus far had' the capacity to meet the wants of all applicants. A female department in this school is required to extend to the girls the advantages now so profitably enjoyed by the boys. The undersigned would respectfully present to the Council that it is their firm conviction that this system is essential to the success of our public schools, and that it is the only way in which they can be made in truth, what they are in name, common schools; common to all,