Cleveland Past and Present

M >> Maurice Joblin >> Cleveland Past and Present

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City Improvements

Cleveland covers a large extent of territory. The width of its streets and
the unusual amount of frontage possessed by most of the dwellings, made
the work of city improvements in the way of paving, sewerage and water
supply, at first very slow of execution. The light gravelly soil, on which
the greater portion of the city is built, enabled these works to be
postponed, until the increased number and compactness of the population,
and excess of wealth, would render the expense less burdensome.

The first attempts at paving were made on Superior street, below the
Square, and on River street. The paving was of heavy planks laid across
the street, and was at the time a source of pride to the citizens; but
when, in coming years, the planks were warped and loosened, it became an
intolerable nuisance. On River street the floods of the Cuyahoga sometimes
rushed through the warehouses and covered the street, floating off the
planks and leaving them in hopeless disorder on the subsidence of the
waters. It was at last determined to pave these streets with stone.
Limestone was at first chosen, but found not to answer, and Medina
sandstone was finally adopted, with which all the stone paving of the
streets has been since done. Within two or three years the Nicholson wood
pavement has been introduced, and has been laid extensively on the streets
above the bluff. On the low land along the river valley the paving still
continues to be of stone. At the present time there are between seventeen
and eighteen miles of pavement finished or under construction, about half
of which is Nicholson wood pavement, and the remainder Medina sandstone.

Within a few years the work of sewering the city has been systematized
and pushed forward vigorously. At first, the sewers were made to suit the
needs of a particular locality, without any reference to a general system,
and consequently were found utterly inadequate to the growing necessities
of the city. Proper legislation was obtained from the General Assembly,
money was obtained on the credit of the city, the territory was mapped out
into sewer districts, with sewer lines for each district, so arranged as
to form a part of one harmonious whole, and the work commenced. All the
main sewers drain into the lake. There are now about twenty-seven miles of
main and branch sewers finished, and additional sewers are in progress of
construction.

The rapid growth of the city, and the gradual failure, or deterioration,
of the wells, in the most thickly settled parts, rendered it necessary to
find some other source of a constant supply of pure water. It was
determined to obtain the supply from Lake Erie, and for this purpose an
inlet pipe was run out into the lake, west of the Old River Bed. The pipe
is of boiler plate, three-eighths of an inch thick, fifty inches in
diameter, and three hundred feet long, extending from the shore to the
source of supply at twelve feet depth of water, and terminating in the
lake at a circular tower, constructed of piles driven down as deep as they
can be forced into the bottom of the lake. There are two concentric rows
of piles, two abreast, leaving eight feet space between the outer and
interior rows, which space is filled with broken stones to the top of the
piles. The piles are then capped with strong timber plates, securely
bolted together and fastened with iron to the piles. The outside diameter
of the tower is thirty-four feet, the inside diameter is eight feet,
forming a strong protection around an iron well-chamber, which is eight
feet in diameter and fifteen feet deep, which is riveted to the end of the
inlet pipe. An iron grating fixed in a frame which slides in a groove, to
be removed and cleaned at pleasure, is attached to the well-chamber, and
forms the strainer, placed four feet below the surface of the lake,
through which the water passes into the well-chamber and out at the inlet
pipe. A brick aqueduct connects the shore end of the inlet pipe with the
engine house, three thousand feet distant. From the engine house the water
is conveyed to the reservoir, on Franklin, Kentucky and Duane streets,
built on a ridge thirty feet higher than any other ground in the city.

The Cleveland Water Works were commenced on the 10th day of August, 1854,
and were so far completed as to let water on the city on the 19th day of
September, 1856. The time required to build the Works was two years and
thirty-nine days. The capacity of these Works to deliver water is greater
than the originally estimated wants of the population the works were
intended to supply, which was for 100,000. They are, however, capable of
supplying at least 300,000 inhabitants with abundance of water. By an
enlargement of the main pump barrel and plunger to each Cornish engine,
which was contemplated in the plans, the supply may be increased to an
almost unlimited extent. No fear can be entertained that the present
Water Works in the next fifty years will fail to yield a superabundant
supply of water.

The water was first introduced into the city temporarily at the earnest
solicitation of the Mayor, Common Council, and Trustees of Water Works, in
which the citizens generally participated, on the occasion of the State
Fair, on the 24th of September, 1856. Apart from the Fair, this event was
hailed with demonstrations of great joy as the celebration of the
introduction of the waters of Lake Erie into the city of Cleveland. At the
intersection of the road ways, crossing at the centre of the Public
Square, a capacious fountain, of chaste and beautiful design was erected,
from which was thrown a jet of pure crystal water high into the air,
which, as the centre, greatest attraction, gratified thousands of admiring
spectators. It became necessary after the Fair to shut off the water as
was anticipated, to remove a few pipes near the Ship Channel which had
broke in two by the unequal settling of the pipes in the quicksand bed
through which they were laid. These repairs were promptly made, and the
water let on the city again; since which time the supply has been regular
and uninterrupted. The length of pipes laid up to the first of January,
1869, aggregated thirty-nine and one-half miles. The total cost of the
Works to that period was $722,273.33. The earnings, over running expenses,
for 1868, were $36,340.23, being a little over five per cent, on the
capital invested. The preliminary work is now doing for the construction
of a tunnel under the bed of the lake, in order to obtain a water supply
at such a distance from the shore as to be beyond the reach of the winter
ice-field and the impurities collected beneath the ice-crust.

Three commodious and tasteful markets have been erected within a few
years, one on the west side of the river, one in the fifth ward, and the
Central Market, at the junction of Woodland avenue and Broadway.

Four horse railroads are in active operation within the city: the East
Cleveland, organized in 1859, and running from the junction of Superior
and Water streets, by the way of Euclid avenue and Prospect street, to the
eastern limit of the city on Euclid avenue, thence continuing to East
Cleveland. This line has also a branch running off the main line at
Brownell street, and traversing the whole length of Garden street, to the
eastern limit of the city. The Kinsman street line, organized in 1859,
runs from the junction of Superior and Water streets, through Ontario
street and Woodland avenue to Woodland Cemetery. The West Side railroad
runs from the junction of Superior and Water streets, by way of South
Water, Detroit and Kentucky street, to Bridge street, with a branch along
Pearl street. The St. Clair street railroad, the latest built, runs along
St. Clair from Water street to the eastern line of the city. Besides
these, a local railroad, operated by steam, connects the Kinsman street
line with Newburg, and another of a similar character connects the West
Side railroad with Rocky River. Charters have been obtained for a railroad
to connect the Pearl street branch of the West Side railroad with
University Heights, and for a line to run parallel with the bluff
overlooking the north bank of the Cuyahoga from River street, to the
boundary between the city and Newburg township.

[Illustration: Yours very truly, H. S. Stevens]

Henry S. Stevens.

To Henry S. Stevens, more than to any other man, are the citizens of
Cleveland indebted for their facilities in traveling, cheaply and
comfortably, from point to point in the city, and for the remarkable
immunity the Forest City has enjoyed from hack driving extortions and
brutality, which have so greatly annoyed citizens and strangers in many
other cities. To his foresight, enterprise and steady perseverance is
Cleveland indebted for its excellent omnibus and public carriage system,
and for the introduction of street railroads. Both these improvements were
not established without a sharp struggle, in the former case against the
determined opposition of the hack drivers who preferred acting for
themselves and treating the passenger as lawful prey, and in the case of
street railroads, having to overcome interested opposition, popular
indifference or prejudice, and official reluctance to permit innovations.

Mr. Stevens was born in Middlesex county, Massachusetts, January, 1821.
After spending seven years at school in Salem and Boston, his father's
family moved to New Hampshire. He attended school there for two years.
Before he was twenty years of age he developed a desire to visit new
scenes and a propensity for observing strange characters and manners,
which seems to have strengthened with his years. Our railroad system and
ocean steam navigation were then in their infancy, and the first journey
he made was almost equivalent to a journey around the globe at the present
day. He took passage in a packet ship from Boston for the West Indies,
visiting Porto Rico, Matanzas and Havana, thence to New Orleans, the
interior of Texas and Arkansas, and remained a winter at Alexandria, in
western Louisiana. About a year after his return to New Hampshire the
family removed to Maryland, where he resided nine years, and finally came
to Cleveland in 1849, when this city had less than a fifth of its present
population. He was one of the early proprietors of the Weddell House, and
upon his retirement from the business, he established the omnibus local
transit for passengers and baggage at a uniform rate of charge, which
system has been generally adopted in the principal cities in the country.

In 1856, in company with two other gentlemen from New York, he explored
the southern part of Mexico from the Gulf to the Pacific ocean, with
reference to its availability for a railroad and preliminary stage road.
The result was, that two years later he completed an arrangement with the
Louisiana Tehuantepec Company to carry out the provisions of their
charter. He chartered a vessel at New York and shipped mechanics and other
employees, coaches and materials, and in two months thereafter the line
commenced moving a distance of one hundred and twelve miles through the
forests and over the rolling plains of Southern Mexico.

For nearly a year this continued successfully, and it was owing either to
his good fortune or good management, that no accident to passengers or
property was incurred, and of the large number of his employees from the
States, every one returned in good health. The rebellion was then in its
incipiency, and the Southern owners of the route decided to suspend
operations until their little difficulty was adjusted with the North.

Mr. Stevens, however, is better known as having started the street
railroad system here, which has proved so great a convenience to our
citizens, and which has enhanced the price of real estate in this city
more than any other one cause. He built the Prospect street, Kinsman
street and West Side railroads; the first two without aid from
capitalists, and in the face of many discouragements. In the Fall of 1865,
he went to Rio Janeiro for the purpose of establishing street railroads in
that city. These roads are now in successful operation there. In this
journey Mr. Stevens visited many other places in Brazil, including
Pernambuco, Bahia, St. Salvador and Para, on the river Amazon. Returning
by the way of Europe, he stopped at the Cape de Verde Islands, on the
coast of Africa, thence to Lisbon and across Portugal to Madrid. During
his sojourn in Spain he visited Granada, the Alhambra, and many cities in
the south of Spain. His route home was through Paris, London and
Liverpool. Two years later he made an extended tour over Europe, including
Russia, Hungary, and other places of the Danube.

Mr. Stevens has served four years in the city council, and for two years
was president of that body. During his official term he was noted for
regularity and punctuality of attendance, close attention to business,
and watchful care of the public interests. As presiding officer he had
few equals. Dignified, yet courteous, in manner, and thoroughly
impartial, he possessed the respect of all parties in the council, and
was always able to so conduct the deliberations as to prevent unseemly
outbreaks or undignified discussions. Methodical in the disposition of
business, he was able to get through a large amount in a short time,
without the appearance of haste.

Mr. Stevens is one of that class of travelers of whom there are,
unhappily, but few, who not only travel far, but see much, and are able to
relate what they saw with such graphic power as to give those who remain
at home a pleasure only secondary to visiting the scenes in person. His
several wanderings in Mexico and Central America, in South America,
Western Europe, and Russia, have all been narrated briefly, or more at
length, in letters to the Cleveland Herald, which for felicity of
expression and graphic description, have had no superiors in the
literature of travel. This is high praise, but those who have read the
several series of letters with the well known signature "H. S. S." will
unqualifiedly support the assertion. In his journeyings he generally
avoided the beaten track of tourists and sought unhackneyed scenes. These
were observed with intelligent eyes, the impressions deepened and
corrected by close investigation into the historical and contemporary
facts connected with the localities, and the result given in language
graphic, direct, and at the same time easy and graceful. A collection of
these letters would make one of the most delightful volumes of travel
sketches in the language.

Theodore R. Scowden.

Theodore R. Scowden, son of Theodore Scowden, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,
was born June 8, 1815, and was educated at Augusta College, Kentucky.

On leaving college, in 1832, he was apprenticed to the steam engine
business at Cincinnati, and continued at this about four years, when he
engaged as engineer on a steamer plying between Cincinnati and New
Orleans. From the time of commencing engine building, he employed all his
spare moments in studying mechanics, hydraulics and civil engineering. He
remained in the position of engineer on the river for about eight years,
when, in 1844, he turned his attention to the work of designing and
planning engines, and so put into practice the knowledge acquired by
application for the previous twelve years, and, in fact, for which he
more particularly fitted himself while at college. He was then appointed
by the city council of Cincinnati, engineer of water works, the primitive
works then existing being inadequate to the increased wants of the city.
The water was conveyed in log pipes, and the work before Mr. Scowden was
to replace these logs by iron pipes, and to design and erect new works. In
about a year from his appointment his plans were perfected and he was
ready to commence operation. A great difficulty under which he labored,
was, the necessity of keeping up the supply of water all the time, and
being at the same time compelled to place the new reservoir and engine
house in the exact spot of the old. This made the construction extend
through nearly eight years, during which time from forty to fifty miles of
iron pipe were laid, and a reservoir of great capacity constructed. This
was his first great public work completed, and was a perfect success.

The first low pressure engine ever successfully used in the Ohio and
Mississippi valleys, was designed by Mr. Scowden and introduced into these
works. It was found that the sedimentary matter of the Ohio river cut the
valves in the condensing apparatus, and so destroying the vacuum, rendered
the working of the engine ineffective. This Mr. Scowden overcame by
introducing vulcanized india rubber valves, seated on a grating. Since
that time he has designed several low pressure engines for the Mississippi
river, which are still working successfully.

In 1851, Mr. Scowden was commissioned by the city of Cincinnati, to make
the tour of England and France for the purpose of examining the principles
and workings of public docks, drainage, paving and water works. After
returning and making his report he resigned his post and came to
Cleveland, for the purpose of constructing the water works now in
operation in this city. The plan and designs were completed during 1852,
and active operations commenced in 1853. The site of these works is said
to have presented more engineering difficulties than any other in the
country. At the time the tests were made for the foundation of the engine
house, the water was nearly knee deep, and four men forced a rod thirty
feet long and three-quarters of an inch in diameter twenty-eight feet into
the ground. By the aid of five steam engines and pumps he succeeded in
excavating to the depth of fourteen feet, and not being able to proceed
further, he commenced the foundation. It is well to note the fact here,
that the soil was in such a semi-fluid state that it could not be handled
with a shovel, and altogether the chances of success for securing a
permanent foundation looked, to the public, at least, very dubious. The
citizens grew uneasy; they thought it was a waste of public money, but Mr.
Snowden never despaired, though he with his own hand thrust a pole down
twelve feet from the bottom of the excavation.

He laid down over the whole area two courses of timber laid cross-wise,
leaving a space of twelve inches between each timber. The first timber was
drawn by a rope, and floated to its place. In order to get a bed he
scooped a space of two feet in length at one end, which was filled with
gravel. This process was continued through the whole length of the timber.
The second timber was floated to its place, leaving a foot between them,
and the same operation was performed throughout the whole foundation.

All the spaces between the timbers were filled with broken stone and
hydraulic cement; then the cross timbers were laid, filling the spans with
the concrete also. It is to be observed that not a single pile was driven
in all the foundation.

The masonry was commenced upon the timbers, and carried up about nineteen
feet, and, notwithstanding the misgivings of scientific and experienced
contractors and builders, and others, the superstructure was completed in
1855, and from that day to this not a crack in an angle of the building
has been seen, although it may with truth be said that the engine house
floats on a bed of quicksand. There were three thousand feet of aqueduct
from the engine house to the lake, which presented similar difficulties,
as did also the laying of pipes under the Cuyahoga river.

The engines in use in the Cleveland works are the first Cornish engines
introduced west of the Allegheny mountains. After completing the works and
putting them in successful operation, Mr. Scowden resigned his position
here, in 1856.

In 1857, Mr. Scowden commenced the construction of the water works of
Louisville, Kentucky, and finished them in 1860, and for character,
capacity and finish they are acknowledged to be second to none in the
United States, if in the world. The second pair of Cornish engines used
west of the mountains were introduced there.

The next public work of Mr. Scowden was the extension and enlargement of
the canal around the Falls of the Ohio at Louisville, which comprises a
new work, as very little of the old was used. The engineering of the work
was done under the direction of a board of directors, the president of
which was James Guthrie, former Secretary of the Treasury under Pierce,
and late United States Senator.

The locks in these works are the largest in the known world for width,
length, and lift, not excepting the Suez Canal. There are two locks of
thirteen feet lift, and containing fifty-two thousand yards of masonry.
The canal is crossed by iron swing bridges. The work has been inspected by
the United States topographical engineers, and General Wietzel, now in
charge of the work, has pronounced it unsurpassed by anything within the
range of his knowledge, and, what is more remarkable, a like tribute to
the skill of our fellow citizen has been accorded by French, English and
German engineers, and also by the president of the board.

This was his last and greatest triumph of engineering skill; and being a
national work, and he a civilian, he may well feel proud of his
achievement.

After completing the last mentioned work, Mr. Scowden returned to
Cleveland and engaged in the iron trade, constructing a rolling mill at
Newburg, for the American sheet and boiler plate company, with which he is
still connected.

As an engineer, Mr. Scowden stands high. He never was baffled, though
established principles failed, for he had resources of his own from which
to draw. Without an exception, every great public work undertaken by him
has been not only completed, but has proved entirely successful.

As a man he enjoys the respect and confidence of his fellow citizens. His
manner is affable and unassuming, and his disposition kindly. Constant
application for twenty-five years has had its effect upon him, but with
care, he may yet be spared many years to enjoy the fruits of his labors.

John H. Sargent.

John H. Sargent has been, and is, so intimately connected with the
construction and management of some of the most important public
improvements of the city, and notably so with the sewerage system and
water works management, that it is eminently proper he should be noticed
here as a representative man in the department of City Improvements.

[Illustration: Yours with Respect, J. H. Sargent]

Mr. Sargent was born March 7, 1814, at Carthage, near Rochester, New
York. His parents were but recent emigrants from New Hampshire, and when
he was but three years old they removed again toward the land of the
setting sun, taking up their residence in what is now the city of Monroe,
Michigan, but which was then known as River Raisin. In that place they
remained but a year, at the end of which time they removed to Cleveland.
Levi Sargent, the father of the subject of this sketch, was by trade a
blacksmith, and was at one time a partner in that business with Abraham
Hickox, then, and long after, familiarly known to every one in the
neighborhood as "Uncle Abram." He soon removed to the west side of the
river, and thence to Brooklyn, where he built him one of the first houses
erected on that side, on top of the hill. Hard knocks upon the anvil could
barely enable him to support his family, so the boy, at the age of nine,
was sent to the Granite State, where for ten years he enjoyed, during the
Winter months, the advantages of a New England district school, and worked
and delved among the rocks upon a farm the remainder of the year. At the
age of nineteen, with a freedom suit of satinet, and barely money enough
to bring him home, he returned to Cleveland.

Here, after supporting himself, he devoted all his leisure time to the
study of mathematics, for which he had a predilection. Subsequently he
spent some time at the Norwich University, Vermont, at an engineering and
semi-military school, under the management of Captain Patridge.

When the subject of railroads began to agitate the public mind, and the
project of a railroad along the south shore of Lake Erie was resolved
upon, Mr. Sargent was appointed resident engineer upon the Ohio Railroad,
which position he held until the final collapse of that somewhat
precarious enterprise, in 1843. Sandusky City had already taken the lead
in Ohio in the matter of railroads, having a locomotive road in operation
to Tiffin, and horse road to Monroeville. Upon the reconstruction and
extension of this last road Mr. Sargent was appointed resident engineer,
and while there, seeing the advantages that Sandusky was likely to gain
over Cleveland by her railways, at the solicitation of J. W. Gray, he sent
a communication to the Plain Dealer, illustrating the same with a map,
urging the construction of a railroad from Cleveland to Columbus and
Cincinnati. He also advocated the project in the Railroad Journal, but
that paper discouraged the matter, as it was likely to be too much of a
competing line with the Sandusky road already begun. But the agitation
continued until the preliminary surveys were made, the greater part of
them under Mr. Sargent's immediate charge. When the project hung fire for
a time, Mr. Sargent, in company with Philo Scovill, spent two seasons
among the copper mines of Lake Superior. When the Cleveland, Columbus and
Cincinnati railroad was begun in good earnest, he was called upon once
more and located the line upon which it was built. Mr. Sargent remained
upon the road until opened to Wellington, when he went upon the Michigan
Southern and Northern Indiana railroad, where, for nearly five years, he
was engaged in extending and reconstructing that road, and in locating and
building its branches.