550 - HISTORY OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS. Charles M. Ridgway was elected Chief Engineer on the one hundred seventieth ballot. The new ordinance provided That the Fire Department of this city shall consist of one Chief Engineer and one assistant for the entire department : one captain, one lieutenant and forty men for each hand company ; one operator and machinist ; one assistant operator and fireman ; three drivers and horsemen and pipemen for a steam fire engine ; and as many hook and ladder men, not exceeding twentyfive, as the number and quality of the fire apparatus belonging to the city shall from time to time require. Unable to agree with the Fire Committee the operators of the steam engine threw up their positions in disgust. Worse still, the engine failed to do what was expected of it. The four story furniture factory of Brotherlin & Halm took fire one very cold night in February, 1856, and burned to the ground in thirtyfive minutes. The steam fire engine was on the ground," said the State Journal, " but owing to the extreme cold of the weather, the thermometer being at 16̊ below zero, was unable to throw a drop of water owing to the freezing of the water in the suction pipes." The same paper, referring to a fire in Hall, Brown & Company's dryhouse in the Penitentiary on February 6, same year, said : " The steam engine was sent for and immediately put into service, but the machine was in operation only a few minutes when it was rendered entirely useless by the water freezing in the hose. " Under date of March 7, 1856, we have these statements: The Columbus Fire Department is composed of two unequal parts — the ornamental and the useful. The ornamental but by no manner of means useful part is called the committee of the council on the Fire Department. The useful, but not at all ornamental, is composed of one Chief Engineer, one operator, five men, five horses, three wheels and a great squirt. In this state of affairs a hand engine company was organized on March 15, 1856, and asked for the Franklin engine and the Niagara hosecarriage. The Captain of this company was James Westwater. On May 3, 1856, Ridgway & Kimball's car factory, on the west bank of the Scioto, fell a prey to the flames. The Franklin Engine Company was promptly on hand, and saved the adjoining buildings. The steam fire engine could not render any service because its chimney was too high to let it go through the bridge, and for the additional reason that if it could have got through it might have set the bridge on fire. On May 11, 1856, a new ordinance for reorganization of the Fire Department was passed. This measure repealed all antecedent legislation for the department, and vested its control entirely in the Fire Committee. Charles Ridgway resigned as Chief Engineer and Mr. Trowbridge was chosen his successor. A new engine house was provided for, to be erected on a High Street lot owned by the city, opposite the Montgomery House. In June, 1856, it Was announced that the steam fire engine had been put in complete order, having been entirely " overhauled by the new engineer, Mr. Trowbridge, under the direction of Mr. Latta, the builder." St. Paul's Lutheran Church took fire October 10, 1856, and was destroyed, excepting its walls. A serious part of the loss was that of the organ, which had cost $2,300. The steamer and one handengine were present, "but from the situation of the buildings they were unable to throw water directly on the fire." C. P. L. Butler's bakery was burned March 29, 1857. The Ohio Statesman of April 1, that year, contained the following : On the door of the Steam Fire Engine house is posted the motto semper paratus. A countryman, on seeing it, walked into the house, and addressing the engineer, said he would like to look at some of his " sample. purtators." FIRE PROTECTION - 551 On March 12, 1857, a state Firemen's Convention was held in Columbus. About fifty delegates were present. On June 8, same year, the sale of a part or all of the handengines was ordered by the council. The steam engine acquitted itself with credit during a fire in the Penitentiary shops October 23. Its services on that occasion more than paid, it was said, for its cost. In April, 1858, a hose company was organized. The city was at that time provided with fortyfive public cisterns and as many wells. A new independent fire company called the Columbian Independent Hook and Ladder Company was organized in August, and a new hand engine; named the Capital, arrived in September. The Lafayette Hose and Engine Company and the American Hook and Ladder Company were contemporary organizations The Fame Fire Company was reorganized and revived in 1859; the old Franklin engine was about the same time fitted up and put into service. The Lafayette company was disbanded in May for want of pecuniary encouragement. On September 5, 1859, the council passed a resolution to sell the steam fire engine, with its entire equipment, and " organize good and efficient hand companies in each ward in the city," which, the resolution added, "are all sufficient for the protection of the city and a greater protection to the pockets of the taxpayers." During the night of October 18, 1859, the Columbus Machine Manufacturing Company's works were in part destroyed. The steamer was run down to the river on the east side and its hose extended to the fire through the bridge. On November 21, 1859, the council passed an ordinance reducing the paid force of the Steam Fire Department to two members — the engineer and a helper — and pro. viding for the organization of a volunteer hose company. The burning of the Neil House on November 6, 1860, may be considered a turning point in the history of the Columbus service. By that event the service and its equipment, as they then existed, were shown to be far from commensurate with the growth and magnitude of the city. Insufficiency of water and inadequacy of means to apply it were alike demonstrated. The council was therefore impelled to take action and appointed a special committee to investigate and report upon the condition and needs of the Fire Department. That committee reported on November 19, as follows : The steamer, not in service, requires extensive repairs ; the Capital and Fame hand engines in service ; hose and hose reels in good order. On receiving this report, the council authorized the purchase of three hand engines— including two small ones — and such additional hose and other apparatus as were needed. A resolution was adopted on the same occasion providing for the appointment of a committee to investigate as to the merits of the rotary steam fire engine constructed by H. C. Silsby, of Seneca Falls, New York. On December 6, 1860, one of these engines was put on trial in Columbus, by its manufacturers, and- produced such satisfactory results that its purchase, together with that of an -additional steamer of same kind and capacity, was recommended and ordered.8 The order for the purchase of handengines was rescinded. An ordinance of November 26, 1860, created the office of chief' engineer, the incumbent of which was vested with control and supervision of the entire Fire Department, with police authority to arrest disobedient members ; salary, $600; term, one year. John Miller was appointed to this position by the council. The Capital City Fire Company, a new organization accepted by the council December 10, asked to be put in charge of the Capital engine and hose carriage. The first Silsby steamer ordered by the council was received in February, 1861 ; cost $3,250.9 A companion machine followed a few weeks later. The machine assigned to the Gay Street enginehouse was named Joseph Ridgway, Junior ; that at the Third Street house, Benjamin Blake. The old steamer, at this time known as the Fire Fly, was sold in October, 1862, at public auction. In March, 1863, numerous fires occured in rapid succession, and were believed to be 552 - HISTORY OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS, the work of incendiaries. A new Silsby steamer was tested and accepted on July 24, 1863. During the ensuing November John Miller resigned as Chief Engineer and was succeeded by Isaac H. Marrow. When Mr Miller first entered upon his duties he found the Fire Department in a most deplorable condition ; without head, organization or confidence. He left it in an excellent state of efficiency. His successor, soon after entering upon his duties, organized a system of fire alarm by church bells to be rung by policemen. For this purpose the city was divided into five districts. The number of strokes given upon the bell denoted the number of the district where the fire was located. In his report for the year ended April 1, 1865, the Fire Chief, Colonel Marrow, recommended that a system of telegraphic signals be provided. This recommendation was repeated in the report of the same officer for 1866. T. B. Ashbury's carriage manufactory, corner of Third and Rich streets, was burned April 23, 1865 ; on June 22, same year, John A. Shannon's factory of the same character, on Scioto Street, met the same fate. The burning of the Shannon establishment was said to have ben the largest fire which up to that time had taken place in the city, except the burning of the Neil House. In his report for the year ended April 1, 1867, Chief Engineer Marrow reported that the fire losses for that year had amounted to $17,962.23, and that the city at that time possessed sixtytwo cisterns and forty-five wells, with an aggregate capacity of 697,064 gallons. The construction of fifty additional cisterns was recommended. The Scioto River, it was stated, was not available as a source of water supply owing to the bad condition of its front on Canal Street. Under an ordinance of February 12, 1866, the Fire Engineer had been charged with ith the duty of inspecting and certifying as to the safety of all new buildings. The construction of an electric fire alarm telegraph was again urged. In pursuance of the recommendations of this report the council appropriated $5,000 for the construction of ten new cisterns. On October 21, 1867, the City Council accepted a proposition from II. C. Silsby to build a steam fire engine for the city and repair the Third Street engine, for $6,000. Five barns in. Noble Alley were burned October 29. On November 2 a fire in the Penitentiary shops caused a loss of $70,000. The new steam fire engine arrived in December, and was named L. Donalason.. A contract with Garnewell & Company for a fire alarm telegraph was ratified by the council in February, 1868; contract price, $4,500. In a message of this year the Mayor spoke of the Fire Department of Columbus as the best organization of the kind in the West. The entire working force of the department had been newly uniformed; blue pantaloons, coat, cap and vest, and blue shirt. The badges consisted of the legend "C. F. D.," in a silver wreath, worn on the cap, and a silver shield bearing the same letters, the engine number arid the image of an eagle, worn on the breast. Excepting the badges and caps, the uniforms were paid for by the men On August 10, 1868, William S. Huffman was appointed Fire Engineer, vice Isaac H. Marrow, resigned. On September 15, same year, a firemen's State convention was held at the City Hall. An appropriation of $3,000 to connect the State institutions with the enginehouse by telegraph was inserted in the appropriation bill by the House of Representatives April 22, 1868. The appropriation had previously been stricken from the bill. On April 27, same year, the work of putting the firealarm telegraph in position was begun." The force and equipment of the department on April 1, 1869, were thus stated: One chief engineer, one superintendent of fire alarm telegraph, three steamer engines, three foremen, three engine drivers, three horsemen, two truckmen, four steamers, four carriages, one hook and ladder apparatus, ten horses and a supply of hose. The city possessed fiftyfour wells and seventytwo cisterns. On April 12, 1869, Henry Heinmiller succeeded William. S. Huffman as Chief' Engineer," FIRE PROTECTION - 553 The steamer Ridgway, which had become almost useless, was reconstructed, this year, at the Franklin Machine Works. The Columbus Woolen Factory, erected in 1851, was destroyed by fire August 4, 1870; estimated loss, $75,000. In December 1871, the fire alarm telegraph system was completed. The works of the Columbus Cabinet Company were burned October 30, 1872. In November of that year a volunteer fire company was organized by Chief Heinmiller to work the steamers during disability of the horses of the department from epizootic. The Iron Buggy Company's building was destroyed by fire. May 27, and a part of the Gill carworks on June 26, 1874. The Flowers enginehouse, on North High Street, neared its completion in July of that year. The purchase of a Babcock truckwagon, with chemical fire extinguishers, was authorized June 29. Anderson's papermill was burned April 15, 1875. After the Holly system of water supply had been introduced and fairly tested the belief was entertained by many that the steamers, then four in number, were no longer necessary. Chief Heinmiller maintained the opposite view, which experience has since fully justified. The cisterns were maintained for several years as a reserve to be resorted to in case of bursting of the waterpipes. On July 12, 1875, the council accepted the following proposition from the insurance companies represented in Columbus That they will purchase, for the use of the city, at their own expense, one chemical engine and salvage wagon combined [and equipped, the entire outfit to cost not less than . $2,500, and] . . . will forthwith organize and equip a competent salvage corps consisting of at least twelve men [to be under the control of the Fire Marshal, to act as a special fire police, and to be paid by the insurance companies: provided the city would furnish suitable room for storing said apparatus and also "furnish one span of horses and the keeping of the same [and employ and ply one pipeman and one driver]. The new South High Street enginehouse was formally opened with feasting and speeches February 8, 1877. The warehouse of Keyes & Company, near the Broad Street bridge, was burned May 22, and that of McAlister & Sons, corner of Naghten and Fourth, .on October 27, same year. On June 27, 1878, the Franklin County Infirmary buildings, and on August 13, same year, Anderson's paper mill were partially burned. Monypeny's warehouse, on the west side of the river, was burned during the night of March 2, 1879; estimated loss, $70,000. Doney & Dent's elevator, on West Friend Street, was destroyed during the night of March 5, same year. This was one of several fires believed to be incendiary, and probably the work of discharged convicts. So numerous were the fires in March, 1879, that much excitement prevailed, public meetings were held, and the city was, during several nights, placed under military patrol and guard. Thomas Bergin's warehouse and G. W. Weinman's machine shop were burned September 7. The sum of $5,000 was appropriated in 1879 for enginehouses on Oak and West Broad streets. The purchase of a chemical engine, at a cost of $2,250, and of a fourwheeled hose carriage costing $700, was authorized February 16, 1880, a condemned steamer to be turned in as part pay at $500. The chemical engine was placed in service at the Gay Street enginehouse February 21, next ensuing. An association of survivors of the Fame Engine and the Hornet and Niagara Hose companies was organized August 13, 1880. On September 6, same year, D. D. Tresenrider was appointed Fire Engineer vice Henry Heinmiller, who had served eleven years; A testimonial in silverware was presented to the retiring engineer by the men of the department. On charges made by former employes Engineer Tresenrider was suspended from office on March 2, 1882, by the mayor. The council refused to concur in this action, and directed Mr. Tresenrider to resume the duties of Chief Engineer. The controversy was terminated April 25, by a decision of 'the 554 - HISTORY OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS. Supreme Court sustaining the City Council. The planing mill of Slade & Kelton was burned June 26, 1882; that of W. A. Hershiser on May 10, 1883. Wesley Chapel, on High Street, was burned May 13, 1883. On November 18 of that year a fire broke out in the Asylum for the Feeble Minded, which destroyed the central or main building of that institution. The resources of the institution for its own protection against fire proved to be far from adequate. The Columbus fire department turned out promptly and rendered all possible assistance. A steamer at London, Ohio, was telegraphed for, arrived within two hours after being summoned, and aided materially in preventing the entire asylum from being destroyed. The water thrown by the steamers was derived from cisterns, the institution not being then connected with the city waterworks. Among the other fires of 1883 were the burning of Blasch & Sons' warehouse, July 19; that of McCord & Decker's elevator September 6, and that of the Columbus Basket Factory September 24. The Case Manufacturing Company's works were visited with an extensive fire October 23, 1884. The Huston Spring Wagon Works were burned January 16, 1885, in which year T. Ewing Miller's business block, southwest corner of Long and High streets, was burned on January 22, Joseph Gardiner's slaughterhouse on May 19, and the Ohio Pipe Company's works December 16. The-Central Christian Church was partially burned on January 10, 1886. Other fires of that year took place in the Penitentiary shops of Brown, Hinman & Company and the Ohio Tool Company February 18 Lovejoy's planingmill April 27, Hershiser & Snyder's planingmill August 8, and the Wheel and Bending Company's shops October 20. On June 7, 1886, Charles Bryson was nominated by the mayor for appointment as Fire Engineer vice D. D. Tresenrider, but the council refused to confirm the nomination. Bryson was reappointed by the mayor and both he and Tresenrider undertook to act, causing much confusion in the department. The matter was carried to the Supreme Court, which gave a decision October 11 adverse to the tenure of Bryson. Joseph Grovenbery was then appointed and installed by the mayor, but resigned soon afterwards on account of an injury received at a fire, whereupon the mayor appointed W. P. Callahan, but on November 8 Callahan's nomination was rejected by the council, and on November 29 a committee of that body reported that the charges on which Tresenrider had been suspended were not sustained Nevertheless, on November 30, the mayor again suspended Tresenrider and reappointed Callahan. The case was taken before Judge Bingham, of the Common Pleas, on application for an injunction, which was granted, restrain- ing the mayor, Callahan and all others from interfering with the department. Tresenrider therefore again took charge of it December 1. The following important fires took place in 1887: Grand Opera House, February 21; Frederick Jaeger's icehouse June 22; Robert Wood's planing mill Decem- ber 19. During the night of January 12, 1888, the large rink building on West Spring Street, then known and used as the Fourteenth Regiment Armory, took fire and, being of a very combustible nature, was speedily destroyed. The building was at the time being used for the purposes of an extensive and very interesting bench show then in progress, and contained many hundreds of pet dogs, birds and choice specimens of poultry, most of which were destoyed. This was one of the most distressing and deeply lamented fires which ever took place in the city. The loss was of such a nature that it could scarcely be measured in money, and could not be replaced. On March 13, same year, the Buckeye Buggy Company's works were burned ; estimated loss, $150,000. Other fires in 1888: B. S. Brown's block on North High Street March 22 ; Fitch's warehouse May 3 ; tileworks of A. 0. Jones & Company September 2; the street railway stables on East Main Street September 24; and the Columbus Bridge Company's works November 1. In 1889 the Case Manufacturing Company's works were burned May 10; the Fish Manufacturing Company's establishment May 23; the store rooms of Wells & Tracy on STREET LIGHTING - 555 North High Street March 10; the Breyfogle block on North High Street July 17 ; and the. Chittenden, Roster and McCune buildings (in part) August 25. On December 16, 1889, the council authorized a contract with the Ahrens Manufacturing Company, of Cincinnati, for six new steamers, at a cost of $27,000, the Silsby engine known as Ben. Blake to be taken at $1,500 in exchange. During the same month and year Chief Engineer Tresenrider recommended a reconstruction of the enginehouses, the erection of several pew ones and extensive additions to the equipments of the department, incurring an aggregate expenditure, in all, of about $200,000. According to the report of Engineer Heinmiller for the year ended April 1, 1891, the department then possessed, fully manned and equipped, six steam fire engine companies, seven hose companies, two hook and ladder companies, one engine supply wagon and one telegraph wagon. The following apparatus, not manned, was held in reserve: Two second class Ahrens steam fire engines, three chemical engines and one fourwheeled hose carriage. Arrangements had been made for reconstruction of six of the existing engine houses and the erection of four new ones. STREET LIGHTING. The use of gas for street illumination had its inception in England in 1813. When the Capital of Ohio began its existence in 1812, the use of such an agent for lighting either streets or houses was yet a matter of the future. Matches were unknown, 12 fires were started by the use of .flint, or steel, and tinder, and the resources for nighttime light were the lard lamp, the tallow dip and the blaze and sparkle of the woodburning fireplace. The streets of the borough, when the borough began to have streets, were not lighted at all except by planetary agency and such cheerful rays as reached them from the windows of the cabins. When starlight and moonlight failed, nightly street goers and travelers resorted to the use of lanterns. The Statehouse and other public buildings were lighted with candles and spermoil lamps. During the last half of the thirties a socalled double reflecting lamp was brought into use in the theatre and a few of the churches- 13 Meetings of all kinds continued to be announced for " early candlelighting " down to the fifties. On February 18, 1840, a Weal chronicler wrote : Arrangements are making to illuminate a part of the city on the eve of the birthday of Washington (Friday, 21st. inst.) We understand that High Street, from the south side of Friend Street to the north side of Broad Street, and Broad Street from the east side of High Street to the river. will be generally illuminated ; and other parts of the city partially so. We are requested to state that 7 o'clock is the hour designated for lighting up; and that the lights should all be extinguished by 9 o'clock. We hope all things will be done in order, and with due regard to safety. 14 This illumination was made with candles. The special occasion for it was the great Harrison convention described in another chapter. Under date of December 8, 1842, we find the following in the Ohio Statesman : The Messrs. Lennox, of this city, have fitted up experimental gas works at the store of Mr. George, in the Buckeye Buildings, on Broadway. We examined them last. night, and, when we take into consideration that the experiment is on a small scale, hastily got up, we must admit that the burners make a very beautiful light. This is the first experiment of gas lights in Ohio, we believe. The same paper of June 13, 1843, contained the following card, signed by J. Vaile : 556 - HISTORY OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS. The subscriber has purchased the right for the State of Ohio of Walker's patent for making Gas for lights from stone coal, etc., with the same stove that is used to warm the home, and offers to sell rights, either by towns or counties. The apparatus and process are so simplified that they can be successfully used in dwelling houses, stores, all public buildings and for lighting streets. On July 30, 1844, an ordinance was passed intended, as declared in its title, " to authorize Richard Page and others to light the city of Columbus with gas." This ordinance vested in said Page and his associates, assigns and successors "the full and exclusive privilege of using the streets, lanes, alleys and commons of Columbus for the purpose of conveying gas to the said city and citizens thereof for the term of twentyfive years," except that the council should have the option to purchase the works after fifteen years. In reference to the compensation of the contractors the ordinance provided that for such quantity of gas as the council might require for public lamps they should receive " twenty dollars per annum for each lamp using not less than five cubic feet of gas per hour and being lighted the average number of hours which public lamps are lighted in the cities of Cincinnati, Louisville and Pittsburgh, and giving light equal to the lamps in said cities." The lamp posts and their connecting pipes, lamps and meters were to be furnished by the city. Page was required to begin laying his pipes within six months from the date of his contract but does not seem to have laid them. In 1848, John Lockwood & Company, of Cincinnati, in pursuance of a resolution of the General Assembly, introduced a process for gas illumination in the Ohio Penitentiary. This event received the following newspaper mention under date of September 9, year last named : The eastern wing of the prison, in which are 250 cells, and in every cell a tenant, is furnished with 98 gas burners ; which enables the convict, after the labor of the day is completed to spend the day in useful and entertaining reading, the facilities of which have been furnished by the assiduous care of Father Finley, the Chaplain of the Institution. . . To light the whole establishment—both wings, hospital, guardroom, office, dining room, &c., will require about 190 burners, and will consume about 400 lbs. of grease per week. This grease is saved from meats cooked for the food of the convicts, and converted into gas. Lockwood & Company desired to undertake the lighting of the city and accordingly, on September 15, 1848, an ordinance was passed conferring upon them that privilege under a charter granted by an act of the General Assembly passed February 21, 1846, to the Columbus Gas Light and Coke Company, the original corporate members of which were named as Joel Buttles, Samuel Medary, Charles Scott, James S. Abbott, Dwight Stone, John Miller, James D. Osborn, James West-water, S. D. Preston, William Armstrong and associates." In the ordinance authorizing Lockwood & Company to avail themselves of this company's charter, the rights conferred and restrictions laid upon them were much the same as those embodied in the ordinance of July 30, 1844, above mentioned. The contractors were given exckusive use of the streets and alleys for the distribution of gas for a period of twenty years and were required to supply the street lamps at a price not greater than that charged in Cincinnati provided that price should not exceed twenty dollars per post. Further requirement was made that the contractors should, on or before November 1, 1849, " complete their apparatus for generating gas, and lay down in connection with the same at least 3,500 feet of leading or main pipe for its distribution." On December 6, 1848, the Columbus Gas & Coke Company met and elected John Miller president, Joseph Ridgway, Junior, secretary, and D. W. Deshler treasurer." After this the purposes of the company seem to have languished, for, under date of September 11, 1849, we read: STREET LIGHTING - 557 Cleveland and Dayton will be added to the list of cities lighted with gas before the coming winter sets in. . . . What is the Columbus Gas Light Company about ? 16 But, on March 11, 1850, this: We are happy to learn that an effort is being made to revive the Gas Company of this city. . . . Mr. Lockwood, the energetic contractor, is now here, and is ready to put the thing through, and have our streets and houses lighted with gas in six months. . . . Zanesville has just finished and put in operation her gas works. They were built by Mr. Lockwood.'" This seems to have been a harbinger of practical results. An ordinance vesting in the Columbus Gas Light and Coke Company exclusive use of the streets and alleys for gas distribution until February 21, 1866, was passed May 14, 1850, and a few days later a statement was published that Mr. Lockwood's workmen were engaged in laying the foundations of the company's buildings. These buildings, it was stated, were located " in the northwest part of the city." Their erection and equipment, once begun, must have been pushed with considerable energy, for, under date of October 18, 1850, we read: The main pipes are laid as far as the Statehouse, and it is designed to "light up" as soon as the first of December. It is now determined, we learn, to light the old Statehouse with gas for the few remaining years of its existence. 18 Nevertheless, the council reserved its decision as to adoption of the company's facilities for public use until November 16, 1850, on which date a resolution was passed deckaring : "That we deem it indispensably necessary to light High Street, market space, market house and the engine houses with gas." For the use of private consumers gas was first let into the pipes on December 7. On the following Monday (December 9, 1850) the event was thus chronicled : A portion of the gas burners were supplied with that article on Saturday evening and the agents of the company are extending their connections so as to supply all who have fixtures for that purpose forthwith. Stores, business houses, &c., will be supplied, but the lamps on the streets will be few and far between this winter. We have seen arrangements for but two of that kind. However, the use of gas by private consumers stimulated the council sufficiently to impel it to adopt a resolution, December 9, providing for the appointment of a committee to contract for lamp posts and appurtenances, and directing that " the fund arising from wharf rents, after keeping the same [the wharves in repair," and the income from the markethouse, should be annually appropriated to defray the expenses of street lighting. On December 12 proposals for furnishing thirtyone street lamps, together with posts and equipments, were invited, the lamps. to be of the same size and material as those then in use in Cincinnati; and on January 29, 1855, after a long controvesy, a contract with the Gas Company was agreed to. In this contract the company agreed to supply the public lamps at a price not exceeding twothirds of that paid by private consumers, and that these should not be charged more than the average price paid in Cincinnati, Cleveland and Zanesville. The lamps, posts and meters used in street lighting were to be furnished by the city. On May 26, 1852, the observation was made that the company was extending its pipes " to all parts of the city," and that illuminating gas was being used in " a large number of private residences." In August, 1852, the pipes were being laid southward " along High Street, over the Mound," and eastward on Town Street, On April 15, 1854, the company's plant and equipment were thus described: 558 - HISTORY OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS. The buildings occupy the whole space between Water Street and Bank Alley, fronting on Long Street. They compose a retort house, purifying house, meter house, coke house, coal shed and fitting shop and office. [The] retort house, 80 x 29, contains eight benches or furnaces with twentyfour retorts.. . Fifteen retorts are kept in constant operation. . . . The gas holder weighing fourteen tons, made of sheet iron, is eighteen feet in height, fifty in diameter and will hold 30,000 cubic feet of gas. Fortysix thousand bushels of coal are consumed annually. Last year 9,500,000 cubic feet of gas were consumed. The city government owns 114 lamps and posts. The cost to the city is for each lamp about $20 annually. The citizens pay at the rate of three dollars per thousand feet. There are at present about three thousand burners in the city. In manufacturing the gas the best Youghiogheny coal is used; cost per bushel, seventeen cents, delivered. The coke is extensively used by our foundries and factories and highly prized. The coal tar is used for composition roofing, and is sold at two dollars per barrel. The employes, fourteen in number, are paid $1.50 per day. .. . About seven miles of street pipes have been laid. No lamps had up to this time been placed on Broad Street. In 1854 illuminating gas was first supplied to the Institution for the Deaf and Dumb. In 1858 the city possessed 150 lamps, the cost of which had been $25 each. On March 11, 1861, the gas committee of the council reported upon the prices paid for gas as follows: In Cincinnati, down to November 1, 1860, $17.50 per annum for street lamps (not lighted on moonlight nights), and $2.50 per 1,000 feet to private consumers, a discount of five per cent. being allowed for payment within five days from the end of each month ; in Zanesville, $15 for public lamps and $3.50 per 1,000 for private consumption ; in Cleveland, after 1855, $17.50 for each public lamp and $2.50 per 1,000 for private consumption. Averaging these rates, as provided for in the ordinance of May 14, 1850, the council reduced the Columbus price from $3.00 to $2.83. The capacity of a new tank which the company placed in position in 1861 was 60,000 cubic feet. In 1862 a revenue tax of ten cents per thousand was levied on gas, and was paid, it was maintained, by the consumers. About eleven miles of pipe had up to that time been laid in the streets and alleys of the city. The production of the works averaged about 90,000 cubic feet in twenty-four hours. In 1868 the company added a new gasholder to its equipment, which was also in other respects considerably improved and enlarged It began with twelve retorts ; in this year it had 151. Gas works at the Penitentiary for the supply of the State buildings and institutions were completed in 1873. In May, 1878, the price of gas was reduced by the company from $2.25 to $2.00 per 1.000 feet. The city had by this time become so largely in arrears in its bills for street lighting that the council ordered the use of onethird of the lamps to be discontinued. Some hundreds of consumers petitioned for an additional reduction of price, but the company declined to accede to the request. On December 1, 1878, the council authorized a contract with the Mt Vernon Lantern Company for 1,000 naphtha lamps for the streets. About 1,000 of these lamps were brought into use in January, 1879. The contract price for this service, for the term of one year, was $13.95, the Lantern Company to clean and fill the lamps, and keep them in serviceable condition. On May 7, 1883, an ordinance was passed so amending that of May 14, 1850 (as amended February 22, 1864), as to extend the Gas Company's grant of street privileges until February 21, 1893, and requiring, in consideration thereof, that the company should furnish the gas required for city lamps at $1.15, and that for private use at $1.25 per thousand cubic feet. At the present time (September, 1892) the company is supplying private consumers at the rate of $1.00 per thousand cubic feet, less a discount for payment before the fifteenth of each month. The company's supply is limited mostly to private consumption. On September 17, 1884, the Ohio Gas Light Association was organized by representatives of prominent gas companies, at a meeting held at the Park Hotel. STREET LIGHTING - 559 In March, 1881, a company was incorporated having for its object the introduction of the Brush system of electric lighting in Columbus. The capital stock of this company was $100,000 in $100 shares. On the twentieth of June, next ensuing, the council passed a resolution authorizing a contract with this company for the lighting of certain streets, as an experiment, but owing to conditions imposed by the patentees of the Brush light, forming the principal company, at Cleveland, the Columbus company was unable to place its stock. On February 9, 1882, the Edison system of electric light was placed on exhibition at the office of the Ohio State Journal. On February 9, next ensuing, that establishment put the light to a practical test in its offices and composing rooms, and declared the result to be satisfactory. This was the first useful application of an electric system of lighting made in the city. The system, after some delay, conquered its way to additional favor. On May 14, 1887, the present Columbus Electric Light Company was incorporated by Will C. Turner, W. D. Brickell, H. Lindenberg, J. W. Collins, W. S. Ide and Luke G. Byrne. The company organized by electing C. H. Lindenberg as president, J. F. Martin vice president, W. C. Turner secretary and E. Kieswetter as treasurer. The company's plant, at the corner of Third and Gay streets, was erected and equipped in 1887-8. It now supplies power for private and business use and incandescent light for the Capitol, the National Government building and the theatres. Present officers and directors: Adolf Theobald, president ; John Siebert, vice president ; Emil Kieswetter, treasurer; Charles H. Lindenberg, Louis Siebert, Jacob Bleile, C T Pfaff, Joseph F. Martin, F. E. Drake. The secretary and manager is A. W. Fields ; capital stock $200,000. The privilege of laying "pipes, mains, conductors, and service pipes" in the streets, avenues and alleys of the city was conferred upon this company by ordinance of March 28, 1887. On February 18, 1884, the Columbus Electric Light and Power Company was authorized by the council to erect and maintain its poles and wires in the" streets and alleys. This company was incorporated on August 1, 1883. Its plant is situated at the west end of the Broad Street bridge. Its present officers are : President, William Monypeny; vice president, A. D. Rodgers; its secretary and manager is J. G. McGuier ; capital stock, $500,000. This company has a fiveyears contract to light the streets of the city. lt now supplies about 800 street lamps, for which it receives $75 each per annum. It also supplies about 450 lamps in commercial use. It produces the arc light, and furnishes power for elevators and all other purposes. The Penitentiary and the Central Asylum for the Insane have, at the present time, small electric light plants of their own. FUEL GAS. A company having for its object to provide the city with natural fuel gas was organized in January, 1886, and in March of that year began boring for gas near the Sewer Pipe Company's works, on the east bank of the Whetstone. This experiment was not successful. A little oil was found, but no gas. The well was sunk to the depth of about 2,000 feet, at an expense of about $4,000. The Trenton limestone was struck at a depth of 1,910 feet. On April 11, 1887, the council passed an ordinance granting to the Columbus Natural Gas Company the priv• ilege of laying its pipes in the streets, alleys and public grounds of the city, In May, 1888, natural gas in considerable quantity was discovered in the Clinton limestone at Thurston, Fairfield County, twentyfive miles southeast of Columbus. The supply of this well was stated at 250,000 cubic feet per day. To work this 560 - HISTORY OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS. field, a company was organized under the name of Clinton Natural Gas and Fuel Company. On December 17, 1888, the council enacted a schedule of prices of natural gas for a term of ten years, the rate for manufacturing purposes to be seventyfive per cent. of the cost of coal. An ordinance of February 4, 1889, granted street privileges to the Columbus Natural Gas and Fuel Company, which had acquired options on a large amount of gas territory lying between Newark and Lancaster, and had begun sinking a well near Hadley Junction, twentyfour miles east of Columbus. In March this boring emitted gas at an estimated rate of ten million cubic feet per day. The Columbus Natural Gas and Fuel Company, which had been organized chiefly for prospecting purposes, transferred all its rights and franchises to the Central Ohio Natural Gas and Fuel Company, which was incorporated July 24, 1889. This company made additional borings, conducted its pipes from its wells to and through the city, and on December 31, 1889, turned on the first natural gas burned in Columbus." The company now has fifteen wells, and is continually drilling new ones in its field. During the fiscal year ended May 1, 1892, its supply to the city amounted to 600,000,000 cubic feet ; its supply for the current fiscal year is estimated at one billion cubic feet. Its authorized capital stock is $3,000, 000, of which sum shares to the amount of $1,787,000 have been issued. The present officers and directors of the company are : John G. Deshler president, H. D. Turney vice president, J. H. Hibbard secretary, George W. Sinks treasurer ; C. D. Firestone, M. H. Neil, Walter W. Brown and G. C. Hoover. J. O. Johnston is the company's superintendent. NOTES. 1. Ohio State Journal. 2. The committee's report was accompanied by the following detailed estimate : Cost of Machinery, $55,000 ; Pumping well, $3,046: buildings, $6,405 iron piping, delivered, $167,030 ; hydrants and stopvalves, $10,022 ; trenching, joints and hack-filling, $34,266 ; total, $275,769. 3. The contract, as approved, was in substantial accord with the Holly Company's proposals. 4. Mrs. Betsy Green Deshler. 5. On February 10 Messrs. Goodale, McCoy and Osborn were appointed a committee to distribute the donations made by the citizens for the use of " the sufferers by the late fire." 6. The leather bucket used by John Otstot is still preserved. 7. The encouragement here referred to consisted in the passage by the council of the following resolutions: " That there be paid out of moneys appropriated by the Columbus Insurance Company for the benefit of the Fire Department, the following premium to wit : To the Brigade which shall first throw water on any fire occurring in this city, the sum of nine dollars if the fire occurs within one square of their Engine House ; the sum of twelve dollars, if the fire occurs within two squares; the sum of fifteen dollars if the fire occurs within three squares ; the sum of eighteen dollars if the fire occurs within four squares; the sum of twenty-one dollars if within five squares; and one dollar in addition for each additional square that the fire may be from the Engine House ; the square to reckon from street to street, the money thus appropriated to be equally divided between the three companies forming the brigade which shall be entitled to the premium, " That if the Hook and Ladder Company shall arrive on the ground at any fire with their apparatus before the arrival of any Engine or Hose Company, they shall be paid out of the above named fund three dollars." 8. The members of the committee to which was entrusted the test of the machine, and which recommended its purchase, were John Miller, John S. Hall, Charles Ambos, William A. Gill and J. W. Osgood. STREET LIGHTING - 561 9. The first test of a steam fire engine in Cleveland was made in November, 1862. Columbus was said to have been the fourth city in the Union to adopt steam service. 10. The destruction of the Central Asylum for the Insane by fire in November, 1868, will be described in the history of that institution. 1. An ordinance of May 8, 1871, amended June 8, 1874, provided for appointment of the Fire Engineer by the mayor, with the approval of the council. 12. The invention of matches took place in 1829. 13. This lamp was patented and manufactured by Fletcher, in Springfield, Ohio. 14. Ohio State Journal. 15. Martin's History. 16. Ohio State Journal. 17. Ibid. 18. Ibid. 19. The company's gas was first burned in the house of its president, Mr. John G. Deshler. 36 * State Capitol and Institutions. CHAPTER XXXV. THE CAPITOL. The accommodations for the State government, although ample when first provided by the proprietors of the capital, were speedily outgrown. Early in the thirties the need of larger and better buildings began to be seriously felt. A proposition to erect a new Statehouse was discussed in the General Assembly in 1836, and elicited the remark by one of its sanguine advocates that he expected to see Columbus develop within a few more years into a flourishing city of not less than ten thousand people. During the following year a committee, of which Hon. James Hughes was chairman, reported that the existing State buildings were altogether inadequate to the safe keeping of public papers or the increased requirements of the General Assembly, and recommended the immediate erection of a new capitol on the Public Square in Columbus. Referring to this report the Chillicothe Gazette spoke contemptuously of the superannuated structures which then occupied the Square, and declared them unworthy of a State like Ohio. Impelled by such expressions of public opinion, and the report of its committee, the General Assembly, on January 26, 1838, passed an act providing : That there shall be appointed by joint resolution of both houses of the present General Assembly three commissioners under whose direction, or a majority of them, a new State House shall be erected on the Public Square in the city of Columbus, and said commissioners shall severally take an oath or affirmation faithfully to discharge the duties assigned them, and should any vacancy in the office of either of the commissioners occur by death, removal or otherwise, the Governor shall fill the same by appointment until the next meeting of the General Assembly when an appointment shall be made to fill such vacancy by joint resolution as before herein provided. The statute further directed that the board of commissioners thus to be appointed should, by advertisement in the newspapers of Ohio and of the cities of New York, Philadelphia and Washington, offer a premium of $500 for the first, $300 for the second and $200 for the third best plan for the proposed Statehouse to be accompanied by estimates and approved by the General Assembly. Immediate supervision of the construction was entrusted to a superintendent, with authority to contract for and procure labor and materials, his salary to be not over one thousand dollars, and his term of service to rest with the discretion of the commissioners. The superintendent might also contract for as much of the convict labor of the Penitentiary as it might be judicious to employ. The sum of $10,000 was appropriated for expenditure in such work as might be appropriated to any plan which might be adopted. The necessary expenditures of the commissioners were to be paid from the State treasury. [565] 566 - HISTORY OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS. In token of the general gratification of the people of Columbus at the passage of this act, Colonel John Noble, who then kept the National Hotel, on the present site of the Neil House, " had the candles in his front windows so arranged," says Martin, " as to form letters and spell NEW STATE HOUSE." The commissioners appointed by joint resolution, pursuant to the act, were Joseph Ridgway, Junior, of Columbus, William A. Adams, of Muskingum County, and William B. Van Hook, of Butler. These commissioners met during the ensuing April and contracted with William S. Sullivant for the privilege of taking from his quarry on the Scioto, three miles above the city, all the limestone necessary to erect the proposed building.' The. price to be paid for the stone was fifty cents per perch of twentyfive cubic feet. Of the prizes offered for the best three of about sixty plans submitted, the first was awarded to Henry Walter, of Cincinnati, the second to Martin E. Thompson, of New York City, and the third to Thomas Cole, of Catskill, New York. The commissioners explained that in making these selections they were governed by the following considerations which they supposed to have promoted the passage of the act under which they were appointed : First, to construct an edifice which should combine in its interior arrangement perfect security to the archives of the several departments of the public service, and convenience to the several bodies and officers to be accommodated ; and secondly, that in its exterior form and interior disposition of apartments there should be united that beauty and grandeur which the rules of art require, and which comport with the wealth and dignity of the State. The plan ultimately adopted was a modification of the three obtaining premiums, and was intended to provide apartments not only for the General Assembly, but for all the State officers and for "the invaluable library." Judging by the estimates which accompanied the plans, rating labor at the prices then prevailing, and making allowance for that of convicts, the employment of about two hundred of whom was recommended, the commissioners concluded that the building could not be erected for less than $450,000. The delivery of stone for the walls began at once, and before the end of 1838 amounted to 2,062 perches, of which a part were hauled to the Penitentiary to be dressed by convicts. Pursuant to recommendation of the commissioners the General Assembly at its next session appropriated $50,000 for the work, which, with opening of the spring of 1839, began actively. Excavation was made for the foundation, the laying of which proceeded steadily under the supervision of the commissioners and of Mr. Henry Walter, the architect.2 A frame building for use as an office and the safekeeping of tools and machinery was erected on the Capitol Square which was surrounded by a very high board fence to prevent escape of the convicts employed. The water required by the builders was obtained from the grounds. For the ceremony of laying the cornerstone, which was appointed for July 4, 1839, and which the existing, legislature and its immediate predecessor were invited to attend, the following " officers of the day," were appointed President, Colonel James Kilbourn ; vice presidents, Robert W. McCoy, Alfred Kelley, John A. Bryan, Joseph Ridgway, Junior, Noah H. Swayne, Jacob Medary, James Allen, Philo H. Olmstead, John Noble, Christian Heyl, John McElvain, and James Dalzell ; marshals, Joseph Sullivant, James C. Reynolds, Wray Thomas and Nehemiah Gregory. The order of the procession, which was directed to form on the east side of High Street with its right on Broad, was arranged as follows: 1. Marshals on horseback ; 2, martial music; 3, band ; 4, military on foot ; 5, military on horseback ; 6, revolutionary soldiers ; 7, orator of the day and reader of the declaration ; 8, president and vice presidents of the day ; 9, clergy ; 10, committee of arrangements; 11, invited guests ; 12, United States and State officers ; 13, societies ; 14, band; 15, handicrafts ; 16, city band; 17, mayor and THE CAPITOL - 567 council ; 18, citizens. The route of the procession was thus prescribed : North on High to Long, by countermarch south on High to Town, west on Town to Front, south on Front to Mound, east on Mound to Third, north. on Third to State, west on State to High, thence on High to the Public Square. "Order of exercises at the bower :" 1, Prayer ; 2, original ode; 3, Declaration of Independence ; 4, ode ; 5, oration ; 6, ode; 7, benediction. After these exercises the Square was to be vacated in order that the public dinner might be served. The day of the ceremony was ushered in with an artillery salute and a burst of martial music. The weather was propitious. Three military companies had arrived the evening before from Lancaster. They were the Black Hawk Braves, Captain Burnett; the Lancaster Guards, Captain Myers, and the German. Guards, Captain Witty. After passing over the route mapped out for it, the procession, which was very large for those days, entered the Capitol Square. Here, as its head of column approached the northeast corner of the foundations, where the huge stone to be laid was hanging by many ropes over the companion piece on which it was to rest, one of the bands struck up Hail Columbia. In the presence of a crowd of five or six thousand people the exercises were here conducted according to programme. The ceremony of depositing the cornerstone was performed by ex-Governor Jeremiah Morrow, whose brief and appropriate address concluded with the following sentences I pronounce that Ohio, a member of this great republic, by her assembled people this day lays the cornerstone of her future capitol. Let the foundations be deep and strong ; let the materials be of nature's most lasting gifts — durable, imperishable ; let the edifice rise in solemn, simple grandeur, a monument of chaste and classic beauty. And may the lightnings of heaven, which scathe, and the whirlwind and storm which prostrate the works of man, pass by and spare this home erected by a mighty people and consecrated to social and constitutional government. And may the councils of truth and justice and public virtue preside in its halls ; may discord and faction be put far from them; and may a free and united people, who reared it, and whose temple it is, watch over and cherish within its walls the form and spirit of their republican institutions. And may the blessings of a benign Providence, now and through all coming time, rest upon this people, and upon this house, the work of their hands. I now lay the cornerstone of the Capitol of Ohio! The stone was then lowered to its place, covering a cavity in the centre of its pedestal in which were deposited, sealed up in strong glass jars, the following articles: Copy of the Declaration of Independence, constitution of the United States and of each of the twenty-six States then composing the Union, ordinance of 1787, Statutes of Ohio, copy of the Bible, copy of Transactions of the Histori cal and Philosophical Society of Ohio, specimen United States gold and silver coins, 150 newspapers, various statistical works and periodicals, specimen agricultural and manufacturing products, reports of the State institutions, and a glass tube, hermetically sealed, containing a scroll bearing the following inscription : The cornerstone of the Capitol of Ohio, in the United States of America, was laid under the direction of the Commissioners by Jeremiah Morrow, ex-Governor of the State, and one of its earliest Pioneers, in the presence of the officers of State and a large concourse of citizens, on the 4th day of July, in the year of our Lord 1839, at Meridian, being the sixty- third anniversary of our National Independence. The State of Ohio, being the sixteenth State admitted into the Union, was organized into an independent State in the year of our Lord 1802. The ceremonies being completed, Reverend Mr. Cressy pronounced a benediction, after which the procession was again formed and moved to the corner of Broad and Fourth streets, where " a soulstirring ode " by William D. Gallagher was sung by " an excellent choir," and a Fourth of July oration was delivered by John G. Miller. After this oration the procession returned to the Capitol Square 568 - HISTORY OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS. where " a superb dinner" prepared by Mr. George, "was served up under a very tasefully arranged bower." At this dinner numerous toasts were proposed and responded to. After these ceremonies and festivities work upon the foundations was resumed and continued until the end of the season of 1839. The commissioners planned to erect a basement story, and collect materials for the interior walls, during the ensuing year, but the repeal of the act for the erection of the Capitol, which took place on March. 10, 1840, set all these calculations at naught. The events which led to and attended this repeal and the efforts which followed it to remove the seat of government from Columbus, have been narrated in the first chapter of this volume. Owing to these proceedings all work upon the Capitol was suspended for six years. Meanwhile the foundations of the building, not yet raised to the surface level, were covered with earth, and the high board fence which surrounded its grounds became dilapidated and weatherbeaten. The expenditure in the work up to the time of its cessation amounted to nearly $50,000. Nothing was done toward resuming the erection of the building until March 13, 1844, when the General Assembly adopted a resolution appointing W. A. Adams, Samuel Medary and Joseph Ridgway, Junior, as commissioners " to report a modification of the plan for a new Statehouse." This commission submitted a report recommending certain changes in the plan originally adopted, and accompanied its recommendations with specifications and drawings showing "in detail the whole design and arrangement of the proposed erection." Here the matter again rested until, on February 21, 1846, a second act " to provide for the erection of a new Statehouse " was passed.3 This act, like its predecessor of 1838, provided for the appointment of three commissioners to supervise the work, and gave them authority to appoint a superintendent, an architect, and other agents to act in their behalf. The plan submitted by the commission of 1844 was adopted, with such modifications in details as might seem, during the progress of the work, to be expedient. To the construction all the surplus labor and net profits of the Ohio Penitentiary were appropriated with a reservation that the debt which the prison officers had incurred in purchasing the stonequarry and in building a railway thereto, together with a previous appropriation of prison labor to the asylum for the insane, 4 should first be paid. The commissioners appointed were W. A. Adams, Samuel Medary and Joseph Ridgway, Junior. In the report at the close of 1846, these gentlemen express regret that owing to poverty of resources but little progress had been made during that year. Only seventeen convicts per day, on the average, had been furnished from the prison, and the time of these had been mostly consumed in laying the foundations of the inner walls and excavating for the foundations of the west front. In 1847 still less was accomplished, and the patience of the people of Columbus with the chaotic and hideous condition of the Capitol Square began to show signs of exhaustion. The Ohio State Journal of August 10, 1847, gave expression to a popular feeling by no means confined to Columbus in the following words : No citizen of Ohio visits the seat of government without experiencing a feeling of mortification at the appearance of the dilapidated old concern dignified by the name State House. Standing in a conspicuous part of the city, and exposed as it is to a very unfavorable contrast with the private edifices which surround it on every hand it is a disparagement to the State. The visitor turns impatiently from the spectacle, and for relief looks for the new Capitol which was commenced some ten years ago to supplant the present uncomfortable warehouse of the State's wisdom and unsafe depository of the State's archives, treasure and literature. He looks —but his view is intercepted by an unsightly and rickety old board fence enclosing the public square in the very heart of the city, constructed some ten years since to secure convicts while employed upon the work of the new building. Should he persevere and get within this uncouth enclosure he would find it occupied with shapen and shapeless materials — rough ashlers, and perfect ashlers — strewn with promiscuous confusion, and overgrown in many places with rank weeds and thistles, THE CAPITOL - 569 Similar sentiments were thus poetically expressed All hearts were light, and faces bright, Some eleven years ago, When that new fence was put around The State House Yard, you know ; For all expected soon to see In grandeur and in style, Arise above that pine board fence A vast and noble pile. But then we felt some little pride, Alas ! that it has flown; Or, that we buried it beneath Yon massive corner stone. And now that fence has grown quite old And bears marks of decay ; And many a post has rotted off As time has passed away, And many a board has fallen down, To show to passers by The base of that stupendous work Which was to pierce the sky. But then, etc. The children all rejoice to see It tumbling to the ground ; And even some of riper years. Smile as they pass around ; They smile to think on bygone hours When free from every care They used to play upon the green In that old public square But then, etc. At length, in the spring of 1848, the work began to be pushed with some energy. William Russell West and J. 0. Sawyer were appointed architects and general superintendents; Jacob Strickler was named as special superintendent; stone from the State quarry was arranged for; labor, both free and convict, was engaged, and on May 5 a local chronicler wrote : " Operations are resumed in the construction of the new State House, under the provisions of the act of the last session." To this announcement one of the commissioners added these statements: The architects at present employed are Messrs. West and Sawyer, of Cincinnati, the former a pupil of Mr. IL Walter, the architect of the Girard College, and the latter a superintendent of construction of the same building. Mr. Henry Walter, the gentleman to whom was awarded the first premium for a plan for the new State House, and who has measurably retired from business, was, in connection with his son, architect of the Catholic Cathedral in Cincinnati. The plan of the interior of the new State House has been somewhat modified, and in the opinion of the Commissioners considerably improved, while the exterior remains with but little alteration. The foundation for the interior, with exception of that for the rotunda, has not been laid ; and the preparations now in progress are not for new and additional foundations. The elevation of the building will be no greater than was originally designed, the level of the first floor being fourteen feet eight inches above the top of the present foundations, and about twelve feet above the level of High Street, opposite the centre of the Public Square. It is the intention of the Commissioners to have the basement walls lint up this season so as to be in readiness for the commencement of the ground arches early next spring. 570 - HISTORY OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS. The expenditures upon the building in 1848 amounted to about $20,000 cash and $4,220 in convict labor at forty cents per day. At the close of the year the basement walls were still incomplete. In 1849 a railway track was laid to the bottom of the stone quarry, and machinery was provided for hoisting and transporting the stone with diminished trouble and expense. The basement walls were completed, and by the close of the year the building had risen fourteen feet above the surface of the ground. In 1850, the work, stimulated by a generous appropriation, and facilitated by improved steam machinery, made commendable progress, notwithstanding the cholera epidemic then prevailing. In addition to about eighty convicts, a force of free stonecutters was employed, and by the close of the year the building had risen nearly thirty feet above the original surface. The expenditure for the year amounted to $68,383.45. Joseph Ridgway, Junior, of the. Commissioners, died of cholera at Mt. Vernon, in August. His successor, appointed in the following March, was William S. Sullivant. Early in the spring of 1851, the winter coverings were removed from the walls, and the work resumed. The quarry railway had meanwhile been extended on Third Street to the Capitol Square for the transportation of stone thither by locomotive traction. To the force of convicts employed, numbering this year about one hundred, were added about thirty hired stonecutters. The increase in the height of the exterior walls during the year was about twenty feet ; the aggregate height reached was about fortyeight feet. The total expenditure was $99,383.95; the architect asked for the next year an appropriation of $250,000. Before the season of 1852 opened an unexpected motive for hastening work on the new Statehouse was given by the destruction of the old one by fire. This event occurred on Sunday morning, February 1. The Ohio State Journal thus described it : Yesterday morning, about four o'clock, the cry of fire rang through our streets. It was soon ascertained that the Old State House was on fire. The watch first discovered it in the centre of the Senate Chamber, and on the floor. This was nearly extinguished when it was discovered that the timbers overhead and near the belfry were on fire. Soon it burst out through the roof, and the entire belfry was quickly in flames. The engines could not reach the fire, and it was then evident that the venerable old edifice in which the legislature of Ohio has met for the last thirtyfive years was doomed to destruction. The belfry, after burning brilliantly for a few minutes, came down with a crash upon the floor of the Senate Chamber. The roof then gradually fell in and the upper story of the building was a mass of flames. An effort was made to confine the fire to the Senate Chamber and upper rooms, but there was too heavy a mass of burning matter on the floor to be extinguished and soon the flames reached the Hall of Representatives. The origin of the fire has not been ascertained. The desks, chairs and furniture had been removed, and the entire building was then resigned to its fate. In the Senate Chamber very little was saved. We learn that the clerk's papers were all secured, but that a large mass of documents, journals, constitutional debates, &c., were consumed. The loss of the State is not great, as it is hoped that by 1853-4 the State House will be so far completed as to permit the session of both houses in the new halls. The Ohio Statesman s account said : The fire originated near the bell, in the cupola, and by dropping through to the Senate Chamber floor communicated rapidly with other parts of the building. The Sergeant-atArms of the Senate rushed in as soon as they discovered the fire in that Chamber, and with much trouble and by the assistance of others succeeded in saving the official records of the Senate, and most of the valuable books, papers and a part of the furniture. The furniture, carpets, books, records and papers of the house were all saved by the timely and energetic efforts of the House officers, members and citizens. An investigation as to the origin of the fire was made, under joint resolution, but came to no satisfactory conclusion. Circumstances strongly indicate that the origin was incendiary. The use of the old United States Courthouse was immedi- THE CAPITOL - 571 ately tendered for the sittings of the Senate, and was accepted. The House was accommodated in Mr. Neil's Odeon Hall. At the beginning of the ensuing session — December 6 —the Senate transferred its sittings to the Ambos Hall, which had been handsomely fitted up for its accommodation. The House continued to meet in the Odeon. Thus the two branches of the General Assembly were again brought near together, albeit obliged to communicate with one another by way of the street. This arrangement was resumed during the sessions of 1853-4 and 1855-6. In 1854-5 no legislative session was held. In the winter of 1856-7 the General Assembly convened for the first time in the new Capitol. On March 18, 1852, an act was passed " to provide for the more efficient and expeditious completion of the new State House.' This seems to have been a case of partisan " reorganization." Pursuant to this act an entirely new board of commissioners was appointed. Its members were Edwin Smith, S. H. Webb and E. F. Stickney. These commissioners appointed one of their own number — S. H. Webb — to be general superintendent of the construction in all its departments. They retained William R. West as architect, made J. K. Linnel clerk, and appointed the following foremen : J. R. Edwards of masonwork, James Pasco of stonecutting, Gideon Walton of carpenterwork and Martin Maguire of the stonequarry. Eighty convicts and 135 other workmen were employed in the Capitol Square ; the force at the quarry numbered about one hundred. An appropriation of $200,000 for the ensuing year was asked for. In July, 1853, Ambos & Lennox, of Columbus, contracted to furnish the iron framework for the roof at a cost of $37,837. Owing to difficulty in procuring iron, the contractors did not make as rapid progress as they expected to ; nevertheless, by the end of the season, they had a considerable part of the framework in position. Copper for the roof, at 33i cents per pound, was contracted for, and about eighty cases of this material were delivered. Before 1853 closed, the columns and pilasters for the legislative chambers, all of Pennsylvania white marble, were in position ; cost, $17,750. On June 15,a reporter of the Ohio Statesman wrote : The stonecutters make the yard ring with the clink of their chisels. The hewn stones move upward to their places. The oxen and locomotives are busy at. work. The boys in stripes move pretty briskly for the warm weather. The central columns are rising upward. Same paper, October 18: We see that the whole row of the front columns have been put in. The front begins to present a fine appearance. Within a week the frieze and cornice will be put on. . . • A great many visitors are moving over the building. Same, October 24: Five large derricks, we believe they are called, adorn the summit of the State House. Their long arms are continually reaching out, picking up with their big clamps, big stones, and flinging them into their proper places with great rapidity, considering their size. The giant Demigods when they fought against Heaven did not pluck up the trees and burl the mountains with more facility. The massive columns of the eastern facade were placed in position during the winter of 1853-4. On April 18, 1854, the architect, William R. West, resigned ; his successor was N. B. Kelley, appointed May 11. In his letter of resignation Mr. West said : The present Commissioners, on coining into office, in addition to the architect " thought it indispensably necessary to have one general superintendent over all the departments." It was next thought necessary to remove, with one exception, every master mechanic on the building, as well as the superintendent of the stone quarry — one whose energy, intelligence 572 - HISTORY OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS. and knowledge of the courses of stone from which I wished to have all the important blocks quarried, rendered invaluable. These men, familiar with the work under their charge, have suddenly to give place to new hands, some unqualified and some unwilling to perform their duties. Order, system and subordination soon came to an end. Workmen sometimes received directions from the President of the Board, and sometimes from the architect. Of those given by me, some were obeyed, some were disregarded, and some were countermanded by the clerk ; and I found that I no longer had that control and supervision of the work without which no architect can have his plans properly carried out. The result of this change of system has been to produce delay, to cause useless expense, and seriously to affect the proper construction of the house ; in all of which is involved the reputation of the architect. Of the work which, two years ago, I estimated would be completed at this time, the eastern portico and pediment are not yet completed, the third floor is not yet arched, the cupola is not begun. The new architect, Mr. Kelley, was invested with general supervisory authority, and was allowed a salary of $1,500 per annum. Charles Rule, of Cincinnati, contracted to furnish and put down all the flooring tiles, which were to consist of Italian white and American black, white and blue marble, the tiles varying, according to quality, from one to one and onehalf inches in thickness. James Lennox contracted to furnish the wrought iron watertanks and Nelson A. Britt to put on the copper roof'. At the end of 1854, all the stonework was completed except the stairways and the cupola. For and during the year 1855 the following contracts were made : Goodwin & Mahon, Cincinnati, gaspipes; James H. Johnson, Cincinnati, plumbing ; Charles Rule, Cincinnati, marble balusters and rails for the interior stairways and the marble rostra for the presiding officers of the General Assembly ; Dale & Son, Cincinnati, plastering; II. Cummings, Cincinnati, painting and glazing.; J. R. Schroder & Company, Cincinnati, locks ; J. B. Platt, New York, glass ; Corry & Webster, New York, registers and ventilators; James Lennox, Columbus, heating apparatus; Columbus Machine Manufacturing Company, wrought and cast iron work for the ceilings. The commissioners aimed to have the legislative chambers ready for use by the end of 1855, but were unable to do so. Their report for that year was accompanied by an elaborate one from the architect, Mr. Kelley, who made these important statements : Upon examining the plan and structure of the building, I found a radical defect in the entire absence of any means for ventilation. There were no flues for this necessary purpose, nor were there any apparent means which could have been intended to supply this serious wants . . . There was no provision for any system of warming the corridors, rotunda and passages of the vast building. . . . In order to supply the flues for ventilation, I was compelled to adopt one of two expedients. I had either to cut into the solid stone walls in every room, and in some of them in several different places, and to construct flues within the masonry ; or I had to case the walls inside with brick, between which and the main walls the flues might be placed. After mature consideration I determined upon the latter plan as the cheapest and best. In applying it, therefore, I have had to line the whole of the building, as it were, with brick inside the outer or main walls. This portion of the work has been completed in all the rooms except those of the Senate, Library and Supreme Court. Mr. Kelley adopted a plan for combining the heating and ventilation in one system. The apparatus for the supply of heat comprised four large steam boilers placed under the rotunda, and connected by pipes with eighteen air chambers situated in different parts of the basement. The cold air was admitted into these chambers " by openings in their walls-at the base," and, on being heated and rarified by contact with the interior steampipes from the boilers, rose by conducting flues between the main walls and their sheathing to the different halls and apartments of the budding. Mr. Kelley's plan for removing the deoxygenated air is thus described in his report : THE CAPITOL - 573 In the east open courts of the building two great ventilating stacks are erected. They are constructed of bush hammered limestone, and their dimensions are 13 feet 5 inches at the base, 10 feet three inches at the top, and 100 feet high. They are finished at the summit with a cornice and blocking. Connecting with these stacks at the bottom, and in fact emptying into them, is a vast system of underground circular brick flues — air stoves. By them the hot air is to be received from the removing flues, which take it from the rooms, and convey it into the stacks. . . . To construct these we had to penetrate the old foundations in forty or fifty places, and had also to cut passages through the basement walls in above thirty places. . . In order that the air sewers might exert a sort of suction force to draw the spent air from the spent air flues, so that it may be by them withdrawn from the rooms, a strong current was needed from the mouths of the sewers to the tops of the stacks. This has been obtained by means of the smoke and waste steam. From the vault under the floor of the rotunda in which the boilers and furnaces are placed, capacious underground flues are constructed by which the smoke, waste steam, gases and vapors are carried into the stacks. These heated elements enter the stacks above the mouths of the air sewers and causing immediate rarification, create a partial vacuum by reason thereof. Up to this the cold air at the bottom of the stack rushes and thus creates a strong ascending draft which carries off and exhausts the flues. Thus two of the most important requisites of the entire building --its warming and ventilation —were arranged for — very imperfectly, as the event has proved —after the structure was so far advanced that a costly and in some respects mischievous arrangement for these purposes was necessary. As to the supply of light for the interior there had been an equal want of forethought. Says Mr. Kelley : At each end of the Senate Chamber I found the light totally excluded by two little insignificant rooms, over which the galleries were to be. The walls of these have been removed, and the windows at each end now light the Senate Chamber. The space will be occupied by a raised platform, furnished with seats for a ladies, gallery. Doubtless this change improved the light in the Senate Chamber very much, but, after all the costly efforts which have since been made to relieve the interior gloominess of the building, many portions of it, including the rotunda, are still far from cheerful. The ambition for outside effect which predominated the original plans seem to have been disdainful of interior comfort. In all parts of the building which were far advanced toward completion Mr. Kelley found alterations necessary. The arrangement by which one of the columns on the west side of each of the legislative chambers was placed directly before its entrance caused him much regret. In general he found the interior construction seriously lacking in "beauty, convenience and adaptation to its uses." The quarry railway on Third Street had by this time become such a tiresome nuisance to the people on that street that they remonstrated strongly against its continuance for the additional term of three years asked fora Acquiescing in this remonstrance, the City Council refused by a tie vote to grant the continuance. Referring to this matter, Mr. Kelley said: A sort of informal proposition was afterwards made to me, to the effect that if the Statehouse Commissioners would grade Third Street from North Street to North Public Lane, the ordinance would be passed. Regarding this as an extortionate and unfair demand, I refused to agree to the proposition, but offered to fill up the street at any grade the City Engineer might fix, wide enough for the railway track, and to keep the whole of the street in repair as long as the track was used, if the Council would fill up their own street on the sides of the railroad.. . . If we were compelled to resort to wagons to haul all the stone we shall require, and all the dirt to fill up and grade the lot, it will make a difference in the expense of the large sum of $30,000, besides causing much delay. On April 8, 1856, the General Assembly which came in with Governor Chase passed an act pursuant to which a new board of Statehouse Commissioners was appointed. The members of this board were William A. Platt, " acting," and 574 - HISTORY OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS. James T. Worthington and L. G. Harkness, " advisory." The commissioners were required by this act to submit to at least two architects of their own selection the plans which had been adopted, and obtain their written opinion as to the fitness of the plans, "the character, propriety and value" of the work and materials, and " the best and most advisable plan for executing and completing " the work which still remained to be done. In compliance with this requirement the board submitted the plans to Thomas U. Walter, architect of the Capitol at Washington, and Richard Upjohn, architect of Trinity Church, New York. In May, 1856, these gentlemen submitted a ,report in which, after commending the general arrangement and adaptation of the building, they proceeded to recommend numerous changes in its details. Some of their more important suggestions were: 1. The fluting of the columns in the portico, so as to accord with the entablature finished in the Grecian Doric style. 2. Removal of the dome, then in course of construction, and its substitution by a roof fashioned according to the design of Mr. West. 3. A system of forced ventilation in lieu of that by exhaustion. 4. Smoke-consuming steam boilers. 5. Removal of the boilers from their position beneath the rotunda. 6. Reduction in the height of the chimneys. 7. Simpler ornamentation of the interior. 8. Skylights in each of the large rooms. 9. More light for the main corridors leading to the legislative chambers. 10. Omission of the galleries intended for the Senate Chamber. The report makes these concluding statements : One great error seems to have been made in working without properly matured plans and details of drawings. In a work like this, the cost of full and complete plans of every part of the building bears no comparison to the saving they effect in the erection of the work and the satisfaction of seeing the end from the beginning. . . . No one can tell what is the value of a thing until the thing estimated for is designed. We therefore think the most important step now to be taken is to have the drawings for the whole work perfected without delay. In regard to these suggestions the new Commissioners remarked that they regarded them as very valuable, although they might not be disposed to adopt them in every particular. With such diligence was the final construction prosecuted that, by January 1, 1857, the legislative chambers were ready for occupancy. The formal opening of the new Capitol was a very impressive event, and attracted the attention of the entire State. Preparations for it on the part of the people of Columbus began with a public meeting held at the American House December 22, 1856. At that meeting it was resolved that the citizens of Columbus would " give an entertainment to the citizens of Ohio on the occasion of opening the State Capitol," and L. Buttles, Henry Wilson, W. G. Deshler, R. E. Neil and Francis Collins were appointed to make all necessary arrangements for that purpose. On the same date, and for the same purpose, Messrs. Noble, Comstock, Decker and Reinhard were named by the City Council. The citizens, committee chose R. E. Neil as its chairman, W. G. Deshler as its treasurer and Dwight Stone as its secretary. Subscriptions of money to defray expenses were at once solicited, and by December 27 amounted to $3,000. Additional funds were obtained by the sale of admission tickets to citizens of Franklin County, citizens, of all other counties of the State being admitted free. The total sum raised by contribution was $4,705, of which a residue of $317.06 remained after all expenses were paid. 7 The day appointed for the festival was Tuesday, January 6, 1857. The visitors, numbering about 10,000, included the Cleveland Grays military company, which arrived during the afternoon of the sixth, and was received, escorted and entertained by the State Fencibles. The city was put en fete, and the rotunda, in which the people of the city spread a banquet for the public functionaries and