HIST. SURVy
Illinois Historic]] Survey
\
I
INDUSTRIAL
THE
BUILDING
INTERESTS
ILLUSTRATED
tjieago
Qoodspeed Publishing Oorqpaqy
1891
In3
a
COPYRIGHTED.
All Rights Reserved.
I '
JOHN MORRIS COMPANY
PRINTERS AND BINDERS
ABLE OP
CHAPTER I.
TOPOGRAPHY, LIMITS AND SURVEYS.
PAGE.
Latitude and longitude 11
Congressional description 11
Kivers and lakes 12
Elevations above lake level 12
Accretion and erosion 13
Strata 13
Water levels '. 13
Rainfall 14
Alluvium and drift deposits 14
Bearing capacity of clay 15- 18
Historic remains found in modern excavations . 17
PAGE.
Selection of site for city 22
First survey 22
Incorporation 23
Extension of limits 23
Area of extension 26
Area of parks 26
Area of lakes 27
Length of boulevards 27
Defects in arrangement of streets 27
Beaubieu's claim 28
Lake front claims . . 29
Present territorial limits ........................................................................ 30
CHAPTER II.
SANITARY
Introduction to chapter 31
Old-time plumbing 32
The model plumber from the architect's stitml-
point 35
Tin and copper workers, 1839 38
History of plumbing and plumbers, 1842-91 ... 39
A paper by A. W. Murray 49
A paper by David Whiteford 50
Reminiscences by E. Baggot 56
Water seals in vented traps 58
Views on seals 61
Power and duty of the municipality
PLUMBING.
Plumbers of 1871-9 62
Iron pipe in house drainage 63
Leaden pipe weights and strengths 65
Great plumbing contracts 70
Specifications for Auditorium 74
Modern apartment house plumbing 86
Modern growth of plumbing laws 87
Duty of the architect in re plumbing 89
Sanitary plumbing 90
Sanitary ordinances 91
Certificate of instructions 96
97
CHAPTER III.
Objects of trade associations
National association of Master Plumbers . . .
PLUMBERS' ASSOCIATIONS.
98 The apprenticeship question 103
99 A paper by .1. J. Wade 106
240 ; '6
IV
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
A paper by A. Young 108
Report of apprenticeship committee Ill
Report of apprenticeship committee 112
A statistical report, 1890-91 116
Ladies' auxiliary associations 118
Estimate of the trade by a physician 120
A paragraph from Gibson's address 120
A paragraph from Griffith's address 121
Chicago Master Plumbers' association 122
Relation of plumbing to the modern house 125
President Griffith's report for 1887 126
Problems before Chicago plumbers 128
Practical plumbing (Moylan) 129
Report of apprenticeship committee 135
Strike of 1890 136
Conditions under which a plumber's license
should be granted 137
Mandable's paper , 142
First state convention of plumbers 144
Chicago Sanitary association 144
International Brassmolder's union 144 .
Conclusion of chapter 145
CHAPTER IV.
SANITARY DRAINAGE AND SEWERAGE.
Origin of sanitary drainage 146
Idea of municipal direction 149
Disease in 1832 and preventive measures.. .... 150
Early attempts at sewerage 158
Crude sewerage of 1849 154
Grade and sewer systems, 1855 154
Early sewer builders 156
Health in 1866 '. 157
Sanitary work in 1867 159
Cholera in 1872-3 163
History of sewer construction 167
The Pullman system 171
Velocity in flow of sewers 173
Air currents in sewers 176
Value of Fullerton avenue conduit 177
Ignorance and filth 178
Nacey's views on house drainage 179
State laws for the inspection of buildings 180
Municipal laws governing the drainage and
plumbing of new houses 180
Systems of elevating sewage 184
Garbage crematory 185
Drain tile and pipe 187
CHAPTER V.
CKXKKAL SANITARY DRAINAGE.
System of 1865 189
Influence of lake level on drainage 192
The city outgrowing the system of 1865 192
Report of drainage commission of 1887 193
The drainage act of 1889 198
Changes in the officials of the drainage board . 202
Worthen's report 202
Opposition to the act 203
Englehard's paper 203
Peculiarities of a chief engineer 217
The Skokie cut-off ignored 218
Address to the people, April, 1891 219
The Tribune on the situation 221
Engineer ArtingstalPs reports 224
The first ordinance establishing a route 226
Sewers emptying into lake and rivers 229
CHAPTER VI.
IIOVSE HEATING AND VENTILATING.
Early stoves 231 Furnace construction 234
Reminiscences of stove manufacture 233
The house f uruace 234
Chicago furnace manufacturers 234
Heating rooms on furnace level 236
Fresh-air ducts 236
Hot-blast system of heating 2:!7
TM1I.K Of VONTKXT*.
I'AGE.
Hot- water heating 238
Circulation of water 239
Convection and radiation 243
Steam and hot water 245
Influence of walls and glass on radiation 245
Heater manufacturers 252
Master Steam & Hot Water Fitters' association 253
Steam & Hot Water Radiator Manufacturers'
association . . . 254
PAGE.
Possibilities of the house furnace 254
Electric heating 254
Gas as a heat producer 257
Nature of fire 259
Gas and coke or coal combined 260
House ventilation 264
Smoke consumers 267
Laws relating to ventilation and the smoke
nuisance . . . 269
CHAPTER VII.
GAS AND KLECTKIC LIGHTING.
Introduction of gas 270
Gasfitters 271
Development of gas manufacture 273
Companies in the field 273
Water gas 276
Shop rules 277
Practical gasfitting 280
The future of gas 286
Electricity 287
Edison on dangers of electric lighting 290
An insurance company's warning 296
Vernacular of electricians 297
Arc and incandescent lights 299
Thomson-Houston Electric Company 302
Telephone 305
Alarm guard 306
National Electric Light association 306
CHAPTER VIII.
THE WATEK AND PAVING SYSTEMS.
Water supply of 1836 307 Street grades 311
Water supply of 1842 307 Changes in 1881 312
Regulations in 1855 308 Streets, paved and unpaved 312
Stand-pipe 311 Asphalt pavements 313
CHAPTER IX.
THE LUMBER
Sanitary value of wooden houses 318
Building eras in Chicago 318
Changes in interior finish 318
Woods used for interior work 319
Economical forestry 320
Forest area 327
Statistics of imports and -exports 327
Chicago's receipts of lumber 329
White pine product of Northwest 331
Reminiscences 332
Hardwood business -'!:!4
TheLiimbermen's National Building association 338
The Lumbermen's Mutual Insurance Company W
INTERESTS.
The Wholesale Sash, Door & Blind Manufact-
urers' association 339
The Chicago Sash, Door <fc Blind Manufact-
urers' association 340
Exhibits of woods 341
Lumbermen who contributed to the World's
Fair fund 342
Lumbermen's exchange 343
Members in 1883-91 344
Officers, 1859-91 348
Lumbermen's association of Chicago 348
Fourteenth annual meeting 3.VI
Lumber statistics .. . :!">!
TABLE OF CONTEXT*.
PAGE.
I lardwood Dealers' association 351
Yard Dealers' association 352
Primeval sawmills 352
Lumber trade of Chicago, Early 355
Wood manufacture at Chicago 356
Dealers of 1849 357
Turners of 1849.. . 357
Sash, door and blind statistics 358
Sash, door and blind price-list 359
Lumber manufacturers 360
Saw and planing mills 363
Lumber dealers 369
Lumbermen of 1891 373
Statistics . . .383
CHAPTER X.
BUILDEKS' METALS AND HAKUWAUE.
Early iron fronts 384
Early fireproof buildings 386
Use of steel in modern buildings 387
Chicago construction 390
Large iron estimates 391
Pig iron 394
Iron territory tributary to Chicago 397
Cast iron 400
Wrought iron 402
Steel 403
Structural iron 405
Architectural iron workers 411
Wire works 422
Galvanized iron 424
Lead 426
Zinc 427
Tin 428
Copper 434
Brass and copper manufacturers 437
Nickel 438
Alumiuium 439
Price list of metals and plumbers' supplies .... 442
Brass and bronze founders 445
Sheet-metal workers 449
Metal roofs and roofers 453
Sky and sidewalk light manufacturers 457
Electric light apparatus 457
House heating apparatus 459
House heating apparatus, Dealers in 460
Bridge building 462
Bridge builders 470
Shipyard, First 471
Dealers in builders' hardware 472
Recollections of (). Lockett 473
Locksmiths and bellhangers 475
Lock manufacturers 475
Metal Manufacturers' association 476
Mining & Metal exchange 476
CHAPTER XI.
PAINTING AND DECOKATING.
House painting 477
A retrospect of the painting trade 483
Grammar of ornament 487
When colors harmonize 489
Plastic and color decoration of the Auditorium 490
Modern decoration 491-495
Morality and neat homes 493
Painters' association 494
National Association of Painters 494
Barytes, its uses and abuses 502
Chicago Painters' association 509
Large paint concerns 510
>Iixing colors 511
A course in the painters' school 5U>
Painters' exchange 517
Paint & Varnish club 518
Journeymen painters 518
Painters' unions 519
Painters' council 520
Pioneer house painters and decorators 520
Ornamental painters 521
Painters of 1872-9 52'.'
Calciminers 524
Wall paper 524
TABLE OF CONTEXT*. VH
PAGE. PAGE.
Embossed paper 531 Fireplace and mantel 556
Decorators as upholsterers 536 Ceramics 560
Plastico 537 Glass, Window and ornamental 563
Theater decoration 538 Glass manufacturers and dealers 569
Parquetry 539 Art metals 572
Wood carvings 540 The Chicago Society of Decorative Art 576
Mosaics 541 Thoughts on architecture 581
Paper on mosaics 543 Schools of ornamentation 587
CHAPTER XII.
RECENT AND MISCELLANEOUS BUILDING EVENTS.
Buildings of recent date 587 Architecture an art or business 619
Elevators and grain warehouses 600 A paper on the subject of emphasizing the
Chicago construction from the point of view of structural elements of a building 622
the Underwriters' association 603 House building from a surgical standpoint 624
Architecture fifty years ago 604 The line between architecture and engineering 629
Logic of architectural design 606 Architectural acoustics 633
A few practical hints 609 A comparison of building systems in America
Uniformity in building 617 and Europe 634
Repose in architecture 618 Sub-contracting 638
The Seeley paper 641
CHAPTER XIII.
MANUFACTURERS OF SEWERAGE, BUILDERS' rRON AND LUMBER MATERIALS.
Personal history and reminiscences 642
CHAPTER XIV.
I)K< ORATOKS. PAINTERS AND PAINT DEALERS.
Personal history and reminiscences 705
s
CHAPTER XV.
PLUMBERS, HEATERS AND VENTILATORS.
Personal history and reminiscences 746
CHAPTER XVI.
ROOFERS, GALVANIZED IRON WORKERS, BRASS AND IRON FURNISHERS, GLASS DEALERS, ETC.
Personal history and reminiscences 778
CHAPTER XVII.
OFFICIALS, BUILDING PROMOTERS, EI.KfTHICI ANS, IIOISKMIIVF.liS AND EI.EVATIII! DEALERS.
Personal history and reminiscences 798
GLOSSARY OF ARCHITECTURAL AND BUILDING TERMS S18
INDEX.. . 879
ILLUSTRATIONS.
First plat of Chicago facing 26
Map of city extensions facing 42
L. Wolff facing 57
Map of foundations facing 74
Map of plumbing facing 90
Montauk building facing 106
Rookery building facing 122
Board of Trade facing 138
Telephone building facing 154
Tacoma building facing 170
Section of Fair facing 186
Great Northern hotel facing 202
German theater facing 218
Unity building facing 234
Calumet club facing 250
Blair flats facing 266
Auditorium facing 282
Courthouse facing 298
J. B. Simpson facing 313
View of mantel lacing 330
Chicago, Burlington & IJuiucy office .... facing 346
Palmer's residence facing 362
Tremont house facing 378
Partridge residence facing 394
Owings building facing 410
Woman's temple facing 426
Goodall flats facing 442
J. P. Mallette. . .
Manhattan building facing 458
O. Lockett facing 473
Odd Fellows building facing 490
Fibre cement for exteriors facing 506
Grille work facing 522
Grille work facing 538
Grille work facing 554
A. S. Hopkins facing 557
George P. Kimball facing 563
A. Smith facing 589
G. B.Goodall facing 591
P. P. Nelson facing 593
N. Provost facing 597
C. Gareau facing 599
J. P. Rees facing 629
Thomas Tulley facing 635
J. P. Whiting facing 641
N. A. Williams facing 642
W. 11. Chenoweth facing (550
Mosaic work facing (ilili
Mosaic work facing 682
A. Plamondon facing 7o;>
Mosaic work facing 714
Mosaic work facing 730
Mosaic work facing 762
Mosaic work facing 794
John M. Dunpli y facing 799
facing 804
Interior view of flreprooflng.
View of an iron column
INDUSTRIAL
THE
BUILDING
INTERESTS.
I.
TOPOGRAPHY. LIMITS AND SURVEYS.
/^\ HIC AGO is in latitude 40 degrees 50 minutes 1 second north, and longitude 10 degrees
I J| 33 minutes 40.4 seconds west, being the determined location of the late Chicago uni-
^*~ ^versity, on Cottage Grove avenue. Forty-one degrees 53 minutes 48 seconds lati-
tude, and 10 degrees 35 minutes 1.77 seconds longitude, was the determined location of the old
church of the Holy Name, between Huron and Superior streets, on Wolcott street, and 41
degrees 53 minutes 6.2 seconds latitude, and 10 degrees 33 minutes 39.38 seconds longitude
that of the city building. While the first given latitude and longitude have been authenticated,
the observations leading to the other measurements were true, and are nearer the results
obtained in a majority of the nine principal geodetic and astronomical surveys made, though
another survey places the courthouse in latitude 41 degrees 2(5 minutes. Other surveys are
as follows:
Fort Dearborn* 41 deg. 52 min. north, 87 deg. 35 min. west, 10 deg. 31 min. 58.7 sec.
Chicago City hall* 41 deg. 53 min. 6.2 sec. n., 87 deg. 36. min. 1.2 sec. west, 10 deg. 32 min. 59.9 sec.
( 'hureh of Holy Name 41 deg. 53 min. 48 sec. n., 87 deg. 37 min. 47.73 sec. w., 10 deg. 34 min. 46.43 sec.
Iron light-house* 41 deg. 53 min. 24.9 sec. u., 87 deg. 36 min. .V.I sec. w., 10 deg. 33 min. 57.7 sec.
Chimney I.C. K. R. shops I,. F.* 41 d. 51 m. 511.5 s. n., 87 d. 37 m. 21.27 s. w., 10 d. 34 m. 19.7s.
Station Washington street** 41 deg. 52 min. north, 87 deg. 35 min. west, 10 deg. 31 min. 58.7 sec.
Southeast corner Madison and I.aSallet 41 d. 5:! in. 4 s. north, 87 d. 37 m. 45 s. west, 10 d. 34 in. 43.7 s.
Old Chicago university}: 40 deg. 50 min. 1 sec. n., 87 deg. 36 min. 41.7 sec. w., 10 deg. 33 min. 40.4 sec.
Center Nautical almanac 41 deg. 50 min. 1 sec. n., 87 deg. 36 min. 26 sec. w., 10 deg. 33 min. 15.7 sec.
The congressional description is townships 37, 38, 39, 40 north, ranges 13, 14 and 15
cast of the third principal meridian. The west line of range 14, at Western avenue is seventy-
eight miles east of the third principal meridian and one hundred and forty-four miles east of
n'nlteri States topographical survey. "signal service. tCapt. Powell. JT.H. Safford.
A
12 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
the fourth. The first principal meridian is the division line between Ohio and Indiana, and
the second principal meridian is a little west of the center north and south line of Indiana.
Chicago is in reality 103 degrees 9 minutes west of the natural or major meridian or
118 degrees 9 minutes west of the great Pyramid of Egypt. New York city, through which
the minor meridian passes, is 90 degrees west of the major meridian.
The Chicago river and its branches form the interior boundaries of the three divisions of
the city under the act of 1853. The main river divides the north and south divisions, while
the north and south branches are the dividing lines between these and the great west divis-
ion. All are short streams, but subject to floods in wet weather, the south branch being
particularly subject to the overflow of the Desplaines.
The Calumet river, Calumet lake, Hyde lake and Wolf lake are now within the city
limits in township 37 north, range 14 and 15 east. There are, in fact, three Calumets, like
the three Chicagos the Little, the Grand and the Calumet. The two branches unite just
north of the south line of the city, whence the main river runs northwest to Calumet
lake, and thence northeast to Lake Michigan. Calumet lake is a shallow sheet of water,
three miles long by two miles wide all that remains of the marsh which covered a great
area of Hyde Park within the memory of men now living. On the west shore of this lake
are the towns of Pullman and Kensington, and stretching westward to the west line of
Blue Island ridge is a plateau, on which many settlements have been made since 1 S82. The
elevations above the level of Lake Michigan south of the old city limits are given as follows:
Wabash and Fifty-fifth street, eleven feet; meadow, Washington park, ten feet; Hyde Park,
ten feet; Pullman, five feet; Chicago Lawn, twenty-five to thirty feet; Englewood on the Hill,
thirty feet; Normal Park, ten feet; Englewood, ten feet; Stickney, twenty feet; Evergreen park,
thirty-five to forty feet. The elevations on the west are Riverside, thirty-five feet, thirty-nine
feet at railroad depot; midway between Greggs and East Grove, one hundred and eighty
feet; Downer's Grove, one hundred and forty-two feet; Austin, forty-five feet; Douglas Park,
fifteen feet; Hawthorne, thirty to thirty-five feet; Lawndale, ten to fifteen feet; Western
Springs, ninety-three feet; Oak Park, sixty feet; Bidgeland, thirty to forty feet; River Forest,
forty to fifty feet; Park Ridge, fifty to sixty feet; La Vergne, thirty-two feet, Grossdale, forty-
three feet, and La Grange, sixty-six feet. The elevations on the north are Norwood Park
depot, seventy feet; Mont Clare, seventy feet; Franklin Park, ninety feet; Irving Park, twenty-
five feet; Maplewood, fifteen feet; Edgewater, ten feet; Ravenswood, twenty-five feet, and
Montrose, thirty-five feet.
The necessity of elevating grade will be better understood by the following general
statement of the topography of its original surface. From the fort, at Rush street bridge,
south on Michigan avenue, the surface of the ground was, as it is now, about nine or ten feet
above the surface of the lake. The surface drainage was from Michigan avenue west to the
river, and from State street west was nearly a level plain, elevated some two or three feet
above the river. The topography of the north division was similar, the surface declining
from Rush street toward the west, The surface water cut large gullies in the soil, known as
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 13
sloughs, three of which opened into the river. One at State street was about sixty feet wide
at, the mouth and extended in a southwesterly direction to the site of the present Tremout
house. Another had its outlet between Clark and La Salle streets, and extended inland
across Lake street. The third and most formidable one was on the north side, near Franklin
street, being eighty feet wide at the river, and extending north through the Kingsbury and
Newberry tracts to Chicago avenue.
The natural accretion, north of the Chicago river equaled four hundred and twenty
feet between 1821 and 1833; three hundred and sixty feet between 1833 and 1838; two
hundred and fifty-six feet between 1838 and 1843; three hundred and sixty-four feet between
1843 and 1849; one hundred and twenty feet between 1849 and 1854; one hundred and
thirty feet in the succeeding decade; one hundred and eight feet between 1864 and 1869;
one hundred and forty-two feet between 1809 and centennial year, or nineteen hundred
feet in fifty -five years. During the four years ending in 1880, a strip about forty feet
in width was washed away, leaving the area of natural accretion about ninety-eight acres.
During the period that accretion was carried on north of the river, erosion was at work south
of the river, and the old shore line of 1821 was gradually washed away, until the east curb of
Michigan avenue became the shore line of 1869, between a point north of Monroe and a
point south of Jackson, while a line running southeast to the Illinois Central tracks and Park
liow marked the extent of the erosion. In later years the action of the water on the north
shore has been rather of an erosive than an accretionary character, and hence shore protective
measures are necessary to hold abutting property. South of the river erosive action always
obtained, so that the debris of a burned city and the filling of the years since 1871 show
only a small tract compared with that which the waves swept away between 1821 and 1871.
The strata upon which the city rests must always be an interesting study for the geolo-
gist, and a profitable one for the builder. Draw a line south on State street to Sixty-eighth,
and thence southwest along Vincennes avenue, and you will have the eastern limit of the
older lands of the city. From that line to the lake shore, south of Thirty-eighth street, the
soil has been naturally made within a short period of geologic time, and north of Thirty-
eighth street to the main river, within the historic period by artificial means. North of the
main river to the ancient shore line the land has been made by natural accretion, except the
small area tilled in with debris since the tire or taken from the waters by the Lincoln park
commissioners and others. South of Fifty-fifth street the work of conquest goes onward under
tlie direction of the South park commissioners, and, were Chicago enterprise and cupidity
left unchecked, the whole lake bottom, from the mouth of the river to the lake's eastern shore
line, would be lifted up to city grade. The two past decades point out. unmistakably, tin-
extent to which this land- making system has been carried; while the discussions of 1890-91, on
extension of shore line for Worlds' Fair and railroad purposes show the trend of thought in
this direction.
Over the tract described the waters of the lake have left evidences of their occupation,
of their rise and fall. Indeed geology refers to the time when the lake rose thirty feet above
14 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
its present level, and submerged a greater area than is now embraced within the limits,
drowning out the forests as well as the mammal habitants. The gradual recession of the
waters is also shown by sand terraces, evidences which time and improvement have not
wholly removed. The rise and fall of the lake is due sometimes to heavy winds, but gener-
ally to some unaccountable agency which science herself can not yet explain. The variation
in feet of the lake waters, above and below city datum, is recorded as follows:*
Max.
Mill.
Mean.
Max.
Min.
Mean.
1854
1.83
1867
2.60
0.06
1.49
1855
3.45
0.15
1.56
1868
2.58
-.41
1.01
1856
3.05
0.42
1.60
1869
2.13
-1.00
1.13
1857
4.35
0.60
2.42
1870
:i.25
(1.41
2.09
1858
4.69
1.33
2.90
1871
2.80
-.30
1.77
1859
4.45
1.31
2.98
1872
1.80
-.40
0.81
1860
3.53
1.30
2.54
1873
2.70
-.76
1.40
1861
4.40
0.90
2.56
1874
2.80
-.20
1.67
1862
3.30
1.20
2.50
1875
2.90
-.90
1.42
1863
3.30
0.70
2.10
1876
4.20
-.10
2.51
1864
2.80
-.80
1.57
1877
3.90
1.10
2.31
1865
3.66
-.40
1.30
1878
3.30
0.40
2.06
1866
2.50
1.08
1.07
1879...
3.30
-.50
1.14
The average hight of the lake waters above Chicago datum, from 1854 to 1874 inclusive,
was one foot and eighty-four-hundredths, as derived from tri-daily observations taken by Col.
Graham in 1854-5, and at the city pipe yard on the river since 185(>.
The meteorological records of this city give the following as the number of inches of
rainfall or its equivalent during each of the last ten years:
Year. Rain. Year. Hain.
1881 44.18 1886 26.77
1882 41.34 1887 29.13
1883 45.86 1888 30.86
1884 34.61 1889 34.95
1885. . . . . 44.37 1890. . .
Average 42.07 Average 30.88
The rainfall of the last five years has averaged nearly one inch per month less than the
average rainfall for the half decade ending in 1885.
The alluvium and drift deposits, sometimes seventy feet in depth, rest upon the thick
limestone conformation common to this section of Illinois. Outcrops of limestone exist west
of Wood street near Eighteenth, on Halsted near Twenty-seventh, Stony Island avenue near
Eightieth, on West Ohio near Rockwell, and other localities named in the pages devoted to
lime kilns and quarries. The true dip of this rock is northeast.
The sand and clay covering of this limestone sometimes exceeds seventy feet in depth,
and, even in the neighborhood of an outcrop, shows unusual depth for covering. On the sur-
face a thin layer of black muck is generally found resting on a bed of sand, ranging from
seven to fourteen feet in depth, which in turn rests upon a compact blue-clay bed of from
three to seven feet in depth. Below this dry blue clay is the great, compact damp deposit of
*The numbers preceded by a dasli signify that the lake level was then below city datum.
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 15
blue clay, sometimes exceeding fifty feet in depth and always resting on the limestone. The
dry blue-clay strata, or the dividing line between the saturated sand and the saturated blue clay,
must be considered the true basis of solidity above bed rock. This conformation was
unknown when the beginnings of Chicago were made, and thus builders had to contend with
difficulties now obviated and very nearly forgotten. It will be remembered that the original
surface of the ground was swampy and but slightly elevated above the level of the river, thus
making cellars or basements impracticable. The strata underlying the city, as known to the
pioneers, was a black loam, a foot in depth, then three or four feet of quicksand to a solid
stratum of blue clay, the latter impervious to water. This sand, in wet seasons, became thor-
oughly saturated with water, which could not sink through the clay and could not flow away.
Evaporation was the slow method of its removal; so that in excavations, for foundations or
postholes, the work was generally carried on in a sea of mud and water. A majority of the
frame buildings rested on posts sunk through the quicksands to the clay. The greatest dif-
ficulty was experienced in the arrangement of vaults, as they would fill with water to the sur-
face, rendering a system of levees necessary.
In preparing the foundation for the Rialto building, four borings were made on a hun-
dred and seventy-five foot line east and west. This examination resulted in the information
that the bed of blue clay was irregular and without geological drift or trend and varying in
thickness from forty-five to ninety inches. In February, 1880, " The bearing capacity of Chi-
cago soil " was discussed before the Illinois State Architects Association. Frederick Baumann,
who first formulated the idea of isolated piers, and in 1873 published a work on the art of pre-
paring foundations in Chicago, lead in this discussion. He first described the soil peculiar
to Chicago, the bed of blue clay fcnmd underneath the layer of loam, and the yielding muck
beneath the clay. He then gave the theory of the formation of such a soil as elaborated by
Ignatius Donnelly, in his " Ragnarok," and stated that such a soil was not found in eastern
Asia, Australia, or western North America. This clay, as found in Chicago, was, when dry,
hard and very good for foundations, but when wet it was softened and difficult to treat. There
were beds of streams and small rivers running through this stratum of clay which were filled
with soft wet clay, and very difficult to treat. There was one where the Holy Family church
on Twelfth street is located that caused infinite trouble when the tower was constructed. The
use of this clay bed as a base for foundations lies in its capacity to resist pressure. The first
requisite in foundations is to find a ground as a base which is as unyielding as possible. The
pressure of buildings always comes on the ground itself and not on the foundations; hence,
the ground is the prime subject for consideration. On this, a substance must be placed which
is not yielding in itself. It need not be dimension stone necessarily. That is used so fre-
quently only because it is cheap and abundant.
He laid down as a first principle, the fact that the areas of base must be in due propor-
tion to the superiuciimbent loads, and the centers of these areas of base must coincide witli
the axes of their loads. To illustrate the second portion of this principle, he would take a
piece of plank, one foot square, resting on water. If a stone lie placed directly in its center
16 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
the plank will keep its true level, but. if placed upon one corner, the plank assumes an in-
clined position, and the axis, which must retain its original angle with the base, is thrust out
of its perpendicular line. Therefore, when a base is laid on this clay, and the axis is placed
away from its center, there is a corresponding settlement toward the side having the least
projection of base. He would establish a rule, therefore, to make the outside projection a
little the larger, so that the settlement of the walls, if any, would be inward, where the joists
would keep them apart. If the settlement be outward, there is nothing but the anchors to
keep the building from parting, and anchors are never strong enough to do this. In cases
where there are high and heavy outside walls, with light inside walls, unless the foundations
for the inside walls are constructed proportionately to the weight they have to carry, the
walls will go over every time. Before this principle became known, and learned by experience,
there were many failures of buildings in Chicago. In building the storage reservoir for the
old waterworks in 1854, on the old "rookery" lot, where Burnham & Hoot constructed a
building in 1886, there was a circular wall three feet in thickness, upon which the tank was
supported. In the center was a light wall which contained the inlet and outlet pipes.
When the water was let on, the resistance to pressure on the inside wall being less than it
should have been, the ground under the center was forced up and threatened the collapse of
the structure. The water was let out as quickly as possible, and a wall constructed inter-
mediately between the outside and center walls, thus equalizing the pressure. If these prin-
ciples are observed, there can be no remarkable difficulty in building foundations in Chicago.
D. Adler, speaking on this subject referred to his experiences in the construction of
Central Music hall. A prominent architect protested against the smallness of the foundation
for the corner pier. He was sincere, but misinformed, overlooking the fact that the founda-
tion was constructed directly in proportion to the load put upon it. Incidents are numerous
illustrating the correctness of the theory. In many instances it is a positive error to make a
foundation large. In 1881 Adler & Sullivan constructed a store building between two heavy
party walls, between which were two piers designed to carry a light iron and glass front.
The building was rushed through without as close supervision as should have been bestowed
upon it. When the work was completed, the mason contractor said that he had done a good
job on the center piers. He had put in "busting" good foundation stones, instead of using
small stones as specified. The architect became alarmed, and upon examination found that
instead of stones two feet six inches square, as specified, he had put in one three feet by four
feet six inches, and the other over four feet square. By and by the building was up and, as
expected, the walls at the side began to go down with the center piers rigid. The long stone
had to be drilled off, and. as it was impossible to drill the other off. the corners were cut off,
and a man had to be kept employed for several days in keeping the soil loose underneath the
outer edges of the stones, until, in ten days, the trouble was corrected. In many cases where
breaks occur in fronts it is due to a like cause. Another condition of Chicago soil makes
foundations suffer. Once in a while a soil which is a mixture of quicksand and clay is met
with. If the foundations are lower than the sewers, it makes a good substratum for build-
TUB BUILDING INTERESTS. 17
ings. But if rains corne during work and till the trenches, the foundations will suffer more
than in other soil. There is no remedy except to scoop out the wet slush and fill up with
dry. Another source of difficulty is an error which is made by all in all kinds of buildings,
in calculating too high for the load which is to be imposed on the floors when constructed.
The interior pier foundations are made too heavy, and the result is that the outside walls go
down and the inside piers go up. Allowance is almost always made for a load which will
never come. Again, in small buildings, there seems to be a holding in of the soil by outside
walls, causing a convexity of surface (vide, chapter on foundation work). The founda-
tion at Jackson park shows the cap of a fifty-foot clay bed, seventeen feet beneath the surface.
Several years ago, when the excavations were made for the McCormick university, the
workmen found imbedded eight feet from the surface in a sand-gravel-and-shell formation
two oak trees of the black and white variety, lying across each other. Modern excavations
disclose other mysteries. In October, 1890, while workmen were engaged in excavating
for the foundation of the Newberry Library on the old Ogden property, on the north side,
they made an interesting discovery. Imbedded in a formation of clay and sand they found
several pieces of black oak and cedar driftwood in a fairly good state of preservation. The
wood lay about eight and one-half feet below the present surface on what was undoubtedly
an ancient beach of Lake Michigan.
In April, 1891, while the excavation for the foundation of Dr. Price's laboratory were
being made on Illinois street near Kush street, a scull was brought to light, and the anti-
quarian realized that it was that of John Kinzie's victim. The following letter from Giir-
don S. Hubbard, dated June 25, 1881, gives an outline of the tragedy:
I think that Mathew Irwiu was not sub-agent at Fort Dearborn, but that he was United States
factor, acting also as Indian agent. His duties were principally confined to Indian affairs, under the
direction of the commanding officer when lie was not specially instructed by the department at Wash-
ington. As regards the unfortunate killing of LaLime by John Kinzie, I have heard the account of
it related by Mrs. Kin/ie and her daughter, Mrs. Helm. Mr. Kinzie never, in my hearing, alluded to or
spoke of it. He deeply regretted the act. Knowing his aversion to converse on the subject, I never
spoke to him about it. Mrs. Kinzie said that her husband and LaLime had been for several years on
unfriendly terms, and had had frequent altercations. At the time of the encounter, Mr. Kinzie had
crossed the river alone in a canoe, going to the fort; and LaLime met him outside of the garri-
son and shot him, the ball cutting the side of his neck. She supposed LaLime saw her husband cross-
ing, and. taking his pistol, went through the gate purposely to meet him. Mr. Kin/.ie, closing with
LaLime, stabbed him, and retreated to his house covered with blood. He told his wife what he had
done, that he feared lie had killed LaLime. that probably a squad would he sent for him, and that
lie must hide. She. in haste, took bandages and with him retreated to the woods, where as soon as pos-
sible she dressed his wounds, returning just in time to meet an officer with a squad with orders to seize
her husband. He could not be found. For some days he was hid in the bush and cared for by his wife.
LaLime was, I understand, an educated man and quite a favorite with the officers who were greatly excited-
They decided that he should be buried near Kin/.ie's house, and he was buried near the bank of the
river, about the present terminus of Hush street, and within two hundred yards of Mr. Kinzie's house,
in plain view from his front door and pia/za. The grave was inclosed by a picket fence, which Mr.
Kinzie in his lifetime kept in perfect order. My impression has always been that Mr. Kinzie acted, as
he told his wife, in self-defense. This is borne out by the fact that, after a full investigation by the
officers, whose friend the deceased was. they acquitted Kin/ie, who then returned to his family. In some
of these details 1 may be in error, but the fact lias ever been firm in my mind that LaLime made the attack,
provoking the killing in sell' defense. Most certainly Kin/.ie deeply regretted the result, and avoided
any reference to it.
18 INDUSTRTA1* CHICAGO:
When John H. Kinzie donated one hundred feet square on this corner to St. James
Protestant Episcopal society, a mound over LaLime's grave existed. The building did not
extend back to it, as a plat was reserved for cemetery purposes. Even after the old building
was dedicated to business uses, the ground was left undisturbed until the coffin, ashes and scull
met with a rude awakening at the hands of some Knight of Labor in April, 1891. The
skeleton was taken to the Chicago Historical Society's library, at the instance of Major
Kirkland. Under the title " What the new Chicago ' skyscrapers ' are resting on," the Tribune
says:
"The multiplication of buildings of great dimensions and correspondingly immense
weight within the down-town business section of Chicago has furnished several interesting
problems for civil engineers. Before the era of 'sky scrapers,' in the days when a six-story
office building was considered to be about the limit of construction, the questions for archi-
tects and builders to consider were comparatively few and simple. Such buildings imposed
no severe strain upon their supporting surface, and the plans were prepared by architects
without much or any attention being paid to anything save making the walls strong enough
to carry the floors and the roof. Occasionally a church or large public structure, such as the
Federal building or the Courthouse and City hall buildings, demanded something more. In
those days the only method of preparing foundations for large and heavy structures was by driv-
ing piles into the earth. This was done, for example, at the County building; was done by con-
tract, not without suspicion of ' boodle ; ' and was done in a careless and slovenly manner, the
effects of which are becoming more openly visible every year. For other large buildings the
system of preparing an artificial foundation of concrete was tried, and in one notable instance
that of the Postoffice with most disastrous results. The growth of the city and the enor-
mously increased demand for office-room led to the erection of towering structures of
fourteen and sixteen stories. Space being extremely valuable, any plan which would econo-
mize it carried its own recommendations. It had been customary to build from the ground
up on pyramidal foundations of great strength, but of correspondingly great bulk, thus sacri-
ficing practically all the basement. This basement area grew in value when the introduction
of electricity for lighting purposes necessitated a dynamo-room in every important building,
and the costly and wasteful system of bulky stone foundations was condemned. Substitutes
had to be found and various plans were suggested and tried. It was no longer sufficient for
an architect that he should be able to furnish a plan for a handsome exterior and a commo-
dious interior; he must be capable of providing the maximum of strength and solidity, com-
bined with the minimum of biilk in the supporting parts. The services of the engineer became
more and more essential and in fact indispensable.
"Preliminary to the construction of any one of the mammoth buildings of which so many
are at the present time under way, it is first necessary to ascertain with absolute accuracy the
nature of the soil upon which the structure is to be erected. This can only be done by bor-
ing, and accordingly preliminary boring tests are made at frequent intervals over the whole
surface. Throughout the business section the earth deposit upon which the city is built is of
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 19
a fairly uniform character. First comes a layer of alluvium, then more or less of a moder-
ately solid clay, which degenerates after a few feet into softer clay, often with an intermixture
of sand. As the boring rod descends, the quality of the deposit is carefully noted and every
change as carefully recorded. The alternations of the softer and the more solid clays con-
tinue, sometimes broken by a pocket of sand or an occasional bowlder, until at a depth vary-
ing from forty to sixty feet what is known as hard pan is reached. The underlying rock
is not found until a depth of from eighty to ninety feet has been attained; that is, in the
business section. South from about Twenty-sixth street the character of the soil changes
from clay to sand, and the same is true of certain sections on the west side, where heavy
deposits of sand and gravel overlie the clay. About Cheltenham Beach the underlying lime-
stone approaches to the surface and crops out in places.
" Many curious things are brought to light by the boring-rod or during the process of
excavation for new buildings. Where these are to be constructed on the site of older struct-
ures the workmen of course meet with artificial constructions and deposits which they would
much rather not have to deal with. Thus, in clearing the ground for a large store now being
built on Dearborn street, they found a well, and at the bottom of it a hundred feet of iron
chain. This hole had to be filled to the top with concrete, and so made even with the sur-
roundings. Occasionally they come upon the bed of an old and dried-up creek or rivulet,
and near the lake traces of the former course of the Chicago river are found. From the
deposits of sand discovered in many places evidences of the changes which hundreds of
years have wrought, in the position of Lake Michigan itself are plainly discoverable. Some-
times a pocket of quicksand is struck, greatly to the disgust of builders, contractors, and all
concerned. But quicksand pockets make less difference nowadays than of old time, for
appliances have been invented for going through them, the device of freezing the entire
mass solid being often used in tunneling. Of natural curiosities met with in boring and
excavating in Chicago, among the most noticeable are the glacial bowlders, which furnish
mute but undeniable evidence of the time when glaciers swept from the north over what is
now Lake Michigan, and thence across what now forms the prairies of Illinois. These stones
are found of all sizes, from a few inches to two or three feet in thickness and length. They
are mostly rounded or elliptical in shape, but on one side they bear the scars which they
gathered on their long journey in the glacier. The mimite scratches which show the effect of
attrition on these lx>wlders are, as a rule found to be tilled up by a limestone deposit, but,
this being carefully removed, the results of attrition are plain to the sight. Many of these
bowlders, broken and angular pieces which formerly formed part of the rounded mass, are
often found.
"Having ascertained satisfactorily the quality of the substratum, the work of laying the
foundations for an immense commercial or office building is begun. Contrary to the general
opinion that Chicago was originally built in a swamp, the fact is that the city offers as
desirable building sites as could be ashed. For ordinary buildings, residences and the like,
all that is necessary is to strip of!' the purely alluvial soil down to the first solid clay, and in
30 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
t
this dig trenches in which to build the walls. The subsoil of Chicago will carry any building
of this character, and the settlement, if any there be, will be equal and regular. On the
sandy soils, again contrary to the received opinion, a still better foundation is obtained. Not-
withstanding the Scriptural warning against building one's house on the sand, the fact is that
sand, being incompressible, will carry anything. That sand is incompressible is proven by
the fact that it is impossible to drive a pile through it, while the pile would slip through clay
as readily as through cheese. As an example, the piles which form the government break-
water were not driven but set in place by means of waterjets, which scattered the sand so as
to permit the insertion of the piles, around which the sand immediately gathered and became
firm. The system of strengthening foundations by means of piling has been known and
practiced for ages. Venice and Rotterdam are built on piles, and very large buildings are
thus supported. In these cases, however, the buildings are practically afloat, the immense
number of piles used possessing sufficient buoyancy to support them. On the same principle
a building could be constructed in Lake Michigan. But in piling in clay the aim is to reach
the hard pan, which may be found at from forty to fifty feet below the city datum. When
this is reached it is impossible to drive the piles any farther for the hard-pan would turn an
edge tool, and simply blunts up the pointed ends of the piles. The length of the piles is
therefore proportioned to the known distance between the surface and the hard-pan, and so
much as projects above the surface is sawed off even. This, however, is not done exactly at
the surface. To insure the life of piling it must be subject to the influence of water, and
either under water or in wet clay its life is practically unlimited.
"In a modification or adaptation of the pile system in use in Chicago for some very large
buildings, the piles are sawed off even a foot or so above the ground surface. Upon the tops
of these heavy timbers are laid, and these are crossed transversely by railroad iron or steel
rails. On the structure thus made a bed of concrete is spread. The system of piling, once
almost the only one adopted for large buildings, fell into discredit and disuse in Chicago,
largely because of the failures in regard to the Courthouse and other buildings. But in the
case of the Courthouse all that was done was to drive thirty-foot piles into fifty feet of wet
stuff. Finding no bottom then an attempt was made to supply the deficiency by driving
twenty-foot piles on top of the others. As a matter of course the new piles slipped off into
the mud and were lost, and the end of it was that the foundations of the Courthouse were
soft clay with pieces of timber floating on it and resting upon nothing. A revival of the
piling system, the piles being driven down until they strike hard-pan, is now advocated and
is being carried into effect in some very large buildings. Of the merits of the controversy
between the advocates of this and other systems this is not the place to speak. The plan of
making a concrete foundation for the entire building, that is of constructing a smooth and
even artificial bed for it, has been tried. So also has the system of connected bearings, as in
the United States building, where it was sought to distribute the unequal weight of various
parts over supports of varying strength. The condition of the building shows the imper-
fections of this system. The pyramidal plan for foundation walls proved also unsatisfactory.
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 21
It gave strength, but at great expense for stoue and lalx>r, and as has been said it sacrifices
the whole or greater part of the basement. In one notable instance a pyramidal foundation
was put in at great expense. Years passed and the building was not completed. Finally the
lot was sold and an immense building, now in course of construction, was designed. But
before this could be begun it was necessary to remove the old costly and cumbrous founda-
tion, for space was too valuable to be sacrificed to it, and new methods of construction did
not permit of its use. It took many weeks and a large outlay of capital to remove the old
foundation, for it had become as solid as the everlasting hills and had to be loosened by
dynamite.
"A system of foundation laying which lias come into vogue of late years, and which is
being applied on a large scale in the construction of Chicago buildings, is that known as the
'isolated pier' system. The surface having been removed until solid clay or hard pan is
reached, a bed of concrete is spread. Upon this steel rails are laid to the number of a dozen
or more. Crossing these are smaller rails, and these are crossed again by other rails, the
whole being imbedded in concrete and finally boxed in. The center of the structure thus
formed affords a resting place for one of the steel posts which serve to support the building.
Larger or smaller pier-carriers, according as to whether they are to support the piers of the
outer or inner walls, are used. It must be remembered that in the architecture of large
buildings in Chicago at the present day a radical departure has been made. Formerly the
walls were built to carry the floors and the roof. Now the floors carry the walls. One of
these sixteen-story buildings of to-day consists of a homogeneous steel frame, all the parts of
which are riveted together. The walls are a mere veneer of brick or terra cotta, and serve
simply to keep out the weather. They are often of glass ; they might be of canvas or paper
if desired, for they have nothing whatever to do with the stability of the building. The walls
of one, two, or half a dozen floors might be torn down and the rest would stand. The steel
frame on the supporting piers constitutes the building, and the walls are no more essential to
its standing than the stairs or the windows are. One great difficulty met with by engineers
in devising large and heavy buildings is that of providing against the settlement of adjoining
buildings of smaller size and weight. All sorts of devices have been tried to overcome this
trouble, the principal one now used being the extension of the foundation of the new building
under the old one. Of course this is not feasible where the new one is to be carried on piles
while the original is not so supported. Biit where concrete is used it can be carried under
the old building, and the systems in which steel rails are used can be extended to take in the
supposably weak sister already in occupancy. Allowances have to be made in all such cases
for the natural settlement of the new structure, and this is a matter involving great nicety of
calculation. But Chicago engineers and architects are full of expedients, and, with the
advantage of experience in the construction of immense buildings, they are able to grapple
with each difficulty as it arises. It goes without saying that the bearing strength of all
material used is known to :i certainty, and that foundations are built amply adequate to the
strain which is to be put UJKHI them. I'nder such circumstances the people of Chicago can
23 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
feel satisfied that the great 'skyscrapers' are built to stay, and they may be confident that,
short of an earthquake, nothing can disturb their solidity."
The formation of part of the city's site is due to glacial force. The Stony Island anti-
clinal leaves no room to doubt the presence of glazial power in remote ages; for the great
mountain of stone, which rose above the water a thousand feet and covered an area of
8,000x1 ,400 feet was moved from its bed by this power and carried away to be distributed
on other sections of the elevated lands. So also with the stone beds at Blue Island and down
the Desplaines. The irresistible glacier forced them forward, ground them into pebbles or
rolled them into bowlders. High divides disappeared, and the country between the head of
Lake Michigan and the Mississippi was given topographical possibilities, which appear, even
now, to be little understood and only partially utilized; although the French explorers
defined such possibilities over two hundred years ago.
The selection of a point above and near the ancient mouth of the Chicago river was made,
so says tradition, under the tyrannic rule of love. Shortly after the treaty of Greenville the
United States resolved to place a garrison somewhere near the head of Lake Michigan, and
sent an agent hither to report on the site. Near the mouth of the Calumet river appeared to
him well suited for the purposes of a fort, and his intention was to recommend it. Exploring
northward he arrived at the Chicago settlement, where his mission being known, every effort
was put forth to win his favor for the iipper location, and, among the most subtle agents,
working for Chicago, was the daughter of the trader, Le Mai. She was a pearl in the sea of
rocky humanity gathered here, and for her sake and in answer to her pleadings, the Federal
agent forgot the deep, wide Calumet river and harbor and recommended the upper river as
the proper location. In 1803 the fort was built here. In 1838 the late Jefferson Davis, then
a lieutenant of engineers, objected to the expenditure of money on the improvement of the
upper river and urged in language which could not be mistaken the claims of the Calumet
as the only place where a safe harbor could be made at a reasonable cost. The proposition
was fought by the villagers round the fort. They won, and only in recent years has the true
harbor received attention.
The first survey was completed in 1830, for the commissioners of the Illinois & Michigan
canal, by James Thompson, on the south half of section 9, township 39, range 14, or from
Kinzie street soiith to Madison, and from State street west to Halsted. On this tract a few
cabins stood. That belonging to the agency occupied the center of North State street, near
the river bank; that of McKee stood at the southwest corner of State and Kinzie, and extended
into the present State street; Portier's cabin was a little southwest of McKee's and Wolcott's
log house, on the river bank, southwest of Portier's; John Miller's cabin fronted on the river,
at Wolf Point, between the north branch and the" bayou, and Mark Beaubien's first frame
house, on what is now the southeast corner of Lake and Market. This may be called the
southeast quarter of section 9. West of the two branches, or (he southwest quarter of the
section, was the La Framboise store and cabin, on the river bank, just north of Madison street ;
Chief Che-chi-bin-quay's, or Alexander Robinson's store, stood on (he wes( bank of the south
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 23
f
river, almost due west of Beaubien's Point, and Elijah Weutworth's house, on the west bank of
the north river, opposite Wolf Point. J. B. Beaubien's store, on the west bank of the old river,
Fort Dearborn, at the corner of River street and Michigan avenue, Craft's store and house,
on northwest corner of Madison street, opposite mouth of old river, and the Kinzie house, on
the river front, between Rush and Pine streets, were all east of the original plat. On this
tract of three-eighths of a square mile the name Chicago was conferred, by the canal com-
missioners, as it was the name given by the officers of Fulton county, 111., to the election
precinct established here September 2, 1823, and by the officers of Peoria county in August,
1 820. The north side streets shown in the original plat are Kinzie, forming the north line,
Carroll, running parallel with the river from Franklin to State, with North Water street
forming the river front of Wolf Point and the northern extensions of Market, Franklin, Wells
(Fifth avenue), La Salle, Clark, Dearborn and the line of State street. South of the river
are South Water street, Lake, Randolph, Washington and the line of Madison, intersected by
the north and south streets named above, with East Water street running along the west
bank of the south branch.
The village was incorporated August 5, 1833, and the following named trustees elected:
T. I. V. Owen, George W. Dole, Meadore D. Beaubien, John Miller and E. S. Kimberly.
This body met August 12, that year, and designated the boundaries of the commune as
follows: From the intersection of Jackson and Jefferson streets, north on Jefferson to Ohio
streets, east on Ohio to the lake shore, thence south along the lake shore to the center of the
Chicago river, west to State street in this river center, south on State to Jackson and east on
Jackson to Jefferson street. The whole area was alwut seven-eighths of a square mile and
the population about two hundred. The fact that one hundred and sixty frame houses were
built that year would indicate a large addition to the number of inhabitants.
The town of Chicago as incorporated February 11, 1835, embraced sections 9 and 16
and north and south fractional sections 10 and 15, township 39 north, range 14 east of the
third principal meridian. The act, however, provided that the authority of John S. C. Hogan,
John K. Boyer, John H. Kinzie, Gurdon S. Hubbard and Ebenezer Goodrich, then trustees
of the town, should not extend to south fractional section 10 until its evacuation by the United
States. This territory was bounded on the south by Twelfth street, on the west by Halsted,
on the north by Chicago avenue and on the east by the lake.
Under the act of March 4, 1837, the name " City of Chicago " was conferred and the
limits extended to Twenty-second street on the south; Wood street on the west; North
avenue on the north, with the lake on the east. A small tract on the lake shore, east of La
Salle street and north to a line south of an imaginary extension of Armitage avenue east, was
included, the congressional description of the whole being: "East half of the southeast
quarter of section 33, township 40 north, range 14 east, and fractional section 34, township 40,
range 14; also east quarter of sections 0, 7, 18 and 19, all of fractional section 3 and of sec-
tions 4, 5, 8 and 9 and fractional section 10 (except the southwest fractional quarter thereof, oc-
cupied as a military post, until the same shall become private property), and fractional sec-
24 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
tion 15; sections 16, 17, 20, 21 and fractional section 22, township 39 north, range 14 east.
For a whole decade the citizens were content with the size of their town, but were discontented
with the character of improvements, so that they sought a change of some kind. The act
of February 16, 1847, authorized the first extension of the "city," and constituted Western
avenue the western line from North avenue to Twenty-second street, thus adding the western
two-thirds of sections 6, 7, 18 and 19, township 39, range 14, omitted in the act of 1S37. The
east half of section 33, township 40, range 14 was also added, that part mentioned in the act
of 1837 included.
The second extension of the city was authorized by the act of February 12, 1853. The
erection of a few important buildings, the attempts at grading and sewering, and the growing
opinion that in time the village might be something, suggested the idea of " spreading her-
self," and hence the legislative leave to spread. The north, south and west divisions are
names applied in this act for the first time, for the limits are designated by divisions. All
those parts of sections 31 and 32, township 40 north, range 14 east, lying east of the center
of the north branch and the west half of section 33, township 40 north, range 14 east, were
assigned or added to the north division, i. e. from North avenue to Fullertou avenue, and
from the west line of Sedgwick street to the north branch. The addition to the west
division embraced the angle formed by the south branch, Twenty-second street and Western
avenue, or fractional sections 28, 29 and 30, in township 39 north, range 14 east, while to the
south division were added all of sections 27 and 28, from the lake to Halsted, north of
Thirty-first street, except the extreme northwest corner of section 28, within the angle as-
signed to the west division.
The third extension took place a decade later, in the midst of civil war February 13,
1863. The house-moving and stone sidewalk and sewer era had been introduced some years
before, and now the modest citizens were seeking a greater area to which the old buildings
might be moved or on which humble ones could be erected. It was a wise measure, for it
enabled the working man to purchase a lot and build a little home on the prairie that would
hold him here and make of him a useful citizen. This act added parts of sections 31 and 32,
from North avenue to Fullerton avenue, and from the north branch to Western avenue, to the
north division, while to the south division were added the tract north of Thirty-ninth street,
known as sections 31. 32. 33 and 34, from Western avenue to the lake, south of Thirty -first
street, with fractional sections 29 and 30, north of Thirty-first, between Halsted and Western
avenue, bounded north by the south branch. The extensions noted and the original town
constituted the city as known until 1869.
The fourth extension was authorized by the act of February 27, 1869. It is remarkable
that, as the town was incorporated in February, 1835, only one exception to the rule of ap-
proving acts in February, relative to the extension of limits, is known for over three decades,
and that exception dates back to March, 1837. Could it be that the thoughtful executive
took this means for warming the hearts of citizens in the cold month of February, as he did
in that March of 1837, when the chill of panic WHS visibly removed by similar action? The
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 35
addition made in 1S09 equaled in extent more than one-half the city of 1808. With the ex-
ception of the south half of section 30 and a small angular piece of land in the southern part
of section 35, township 39 north, range 13 east, the whole tract from Crawford avenue, or
West Fortieth street to Western avenue, and from Thirty-ninth street to North avenue (about
eleven and one-half square miles) was ushered into the city. The congressional description
of this addition is known as sections 1, 2, 11, 12, 13, 14, 23, 24, 25, 20 and parts of sections
35 and 30, township 39 north, range 13 east.
At the close of the fiscal year, 18734, a city embracing an area of twenty-two thousand
four hundred acres was presented. Within this area were: Six hundred and nine miles of
streets, one hundred and seventy miles of sewers, three hundred and fifty -one miles of water-
pipe, fifty bridges, lake, river and land tunnels, water works, one hundred and sixteen thou
sand and fifty feet of river, canal and basin, or two hundred and thirty-two thousand one
hundred feet of interior river frontage. At the close of 1879 the thirty-six square miles
known as Chicago, embraced seven hundred and eighty-nine acres of public parks and three
hundred and eight-five acres of river, canal and shipping basins, or slips, or twenty-nine
miles of river frontage and twelve miles of slip and basin frontage, seven hundred and sixty-
one miles of sidewalks; over one hundred and thirty-nine miles of improved streets of the six
hundred and fifty miles of streets within the city; thirty-two bridges and eighteen viaducts;
four hundred and forty-three miles and six hundred and ninety-eight feet of water pipe; three
thousand two hundred and thirty hydrants; two thousand nine hundred and ninety-two stop-
valves; two thousand and sixty-seven water meters; ten thousand eight hundred and eighty-
two street lamps; three hundred and twenty-two miles and one thousand four hundred and
one feet of sewers constructed between 1855 and December 31, 1879, at a cost of $5,280,-
894.85.
On May 10, 1887, the fifth addition to limits was made by the legislature. This is
known as section 30, extending from Kedzie avenue east to Western avenue, and from North
avenue to Fullerton avenue. The legality of the method of admission was tested in the
courts, but the will of the people conquered that of the township officials and " section 3(5"
became a part of Chicago.
The sixth extension, authorized by the act of April 29, 1889, added to the city parts of
sections 35 and 3(5, township 39 north, range 13 east, south of the canal and known as
Brighton Park, ignored by the act of February 27, 1809, in describing the fourth extension.
Sections 3, 10 and 15, east of West Forty-eighth street, and the eastern two-thirds of sections
22, 27 and 34, east of West Forty-sixth street, extending to Crawford avenue or West Fortieth
street, and from Thirty-ninth street to North avenue, formed the main portion of this addi-
tion, while section 25, known as Maplewood, bounded by Fullerton avenue on the south. Bel
mont on the north, Kedzie on the west and Western avenue on the oast was also admitted.
The seventh extension was made under the general law of Illinois, providing for the
admission of towns, townships, cities or villages into cities. The order of the County court of
Cook county, filed July 1T>. 1S89. declared that the special election of June 29, 1889, was
26 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
legal in every particular, and that the east half of sections 4 and 9, township 39 north,
range 13 east (or the area bounded by Madison and West Forty-eighth, North avenue and
West Fifty-second street), formerly of Cicero township, was part of Chicago. The same
order of July 15, 1889, admitted the city of Lake View, all of Jefferson township not hitherto
annexed, the village of Hyde Park and all of Lake township. The annexation of this large
and populous territory to Chicago was so zealously contested by the municipal officials of
each district that the will of the people appeared, at one time, to count as nothing in opposi-
tion to the amphibological laws of the period and the interests of the office holders. At the
close of 1889 the city extended from North Seventy-first street to South One Hundred and
Thirty-eighth street, twenty-four miles north and south and ten and one-half miles east and
west on the line of Eighty-seventh street.
On April 15, 1890, the village of Gano, two square miles, was annexed, thus increasing
the area from seven-eighths of a square mile in 1833 and two and fifty-five hundredths
square miles in 1835 to one hundred and seventy-five and five hundredths square miles
in April, 1890. On May 5, 1891, the admission of the village of Fernwood occurred.
The territory so added is described as follows: The west half and the west fifty feet of
the east half of section 9; the east half of the southeast quarter and the southeast quar-
ter of northeast quarter of section S, and the south six hundred and sixty-six feet of
northwest quarter and the west fifty feet of southeast quarter and west fifty feet of the south
six hundred and sixty-six feet of the northeast quarter of section 4, all of township 37 north,
range 14 east of third principal meridian.
This gradual building up is summarized as follows :
Square Miles. Square Miles.
August 12, 1833 87 February 27, 1864 11.35
February 11, 1835 2.55 May 16, 1887 1.00
March 4, 1837 8.15 November and December, 1887 7.15
February 16,1847 3.33 July 29, 1889 128.24
February 12, 1853 3.90 April 15, 1890 2.00
February 13, 1863 6.48 May 5, 1891
The following parks and public squares are situated within the city.
Acres. Acres.
Lake Front park 41.00 Humboldt park 2<H>.2
Kills park 3.38 Garfield park 185.87
Washington square 2.25 Douglas park 179.79
Dearborn park 1.43 Jackson park 586.00
( onsrress park 0.7 Washington park 371.00
Union square ! 0.5 Gage park 20.00
( 'ampbell park 0.5 Midway plaisance si u i
Aldini- square 1.44 Shedd's park 1.00
( )ak park 0.25 Logan square 4.25
<4reen Bay park 0.25 I lolstein park 2.3
Lincoln park 250.0(1 \\~oodlawn park 3.86
Wicker park 4.00 (iroveland park 3.4
Union park 14.:i Douglas monument square 2.02
Jefferson park (old city) 5.5
Jefferson park (former town of Jefferson I.. . 5.00 Total 1,974.111
Vernon park 4.00
KIRST
J.'
u.
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 27
Calumet lake covers an area of three thousand one hundred and twenty-two acres;
Hyde lake three hundred and thirty and eight-tenths acres, and that part of Wolf lake west
of the Indiana line, six hundred and forty-two and eight-tenths acres. The frontage on
Lake Michigan is about twenty-two miles, and the river and canal frontage, within the present
limits, about eighty miles (both banks).
The boulevards completed at the beginning of 1890 measured about sixty miles in length
and embraced over one thousand acres.
When Chicago was first surveyed, its proprietors had no idea of its future destiny. They
conceived a population of ten or fifteen thousand, and gathered their prospective family within
the irregular quadrangle formed by the Chicago river, its south branch and the lake. They
witnessed the union of fifteen thousand, and, like the farmer, who, as his family increases,
makes additions to the old homestead, had streets surveyed on parallel lines to the original
thoroughfares, leaving the regulation squares and the streets intersected by right angles,
just as they appeared on the original paper submitted to them by the old straight up and
down surveyors. Good souls! They never dreamed that within the eventful period of their
own lives one million people would win health and bread on the marshy tract; their brightest
day dreams could not picture it a location for a city of five million inhabitants, as uwmy now
expect it will be, and thus they lost sight of a most important feature in laying ouft' a great
city, even as a generation of their successors failed to see the omission.
Thus it was that no provision was made for quick transit for a large populatioifc'oH lines
radiating from the great business center. It is true there are Cottage Grove avefijie; Jrom
Thirty-ninth street to Twenty-second street; Archer avenue, from Brighton to Jttheteenth
and State streets, and Vincennes avenue, from State and Sixty-ninth streets to Halsted and
Eighty-seventh streets, on the south side. They lead only to State street. On the west side,
Canalport avenue, Blue Island avenue, Ogden avenue, Colorado avenue, Grand avenue, Mil-
waukee avenue, Elston road and Holcomb avenue exist, and on the north side, Hawthorne
avenue, Clybourn avenue, Lincoln avenue and the northern extension of Clark street are
found. Do you think the surveyor originated all those short cuts to and from the busi-
ness center? Not at all. As a matter of fact, he was displeased with this infringement on
his ideas of regularity and rectangular squares. The important and really useful avenues were
opened by the farmers in the old days of prairie schooners, and their natural selections were
merely followed by the surveyor. The channel of the river, the shore of the lake or the short
line of an old railroad right-of-way suggested the others. The requirements of a great city
had nothing to do with the adoption of such cut-offs, and it is doubtful if antipathy to
centralization ruled subsequently when those streets were actually surveyed, even if they
seem to be opened only for the convenience of a section. This improvidence of the past
denies Chicago a true geographical business center; leaves the northman, who desires to visit
the west side, to travel south in a direct line, and thence west in a direct line; treats the
southsider similarly, and uses the westsider indiscriminately. To rectify this error of the
28 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
past, millions of dollars must be expended, opening up new angular avenues and giving direct
thoroughfares to all parts of the great city.
The Fort Dearborn addition to Chicago has a history both interesting and instructive.
The seventy-five and sixty-nine-hundredths acres, known as fractional section 10, township 39
north, range 14 east, formed the Beaubien claim and, as such, was known in the courts of
Chicago and Washington, until 1878. Even to-day fractions of it, known as Dearborn park
and part of the lake front, make food for lawyers.
In 1812 Beaubien purchased Charles Lee's claim and cabin on the lake front; in 1817-8
he paid $1,000 to Dean for his house on the west bank of the old river, near the foot of Ran-
dolph street; later he purchased the American Fur Company's interest in the old building,
known as the United States factory, and subsequently became owner of other improvements
and lands by purchase. In May, 1835, he entered his pre-emption claim to the southwest
fractional quarter of section 10, township 39, range 14, before E. D. Taylor, receiver, and
James Whitlock, register of the United States land office at Chicago. Those officials con-
sulted D. J. Baker, Sidney Breese and other lawyers, and on their advice issued certificates
of entry to Beaubien and received $94.61 in consideration. A year later, a part of this tract,
which the owner conveyed to Murray McConnell, a lawyer of Jacksonville, 111., was intro-
duced to the courts as an ejectment suit under the title "John Jackson ex-dem. Murray
McConnell vs. de La Fayette Wilcox." Judge Ford's decision showed the validity of Beau-
bien's title, but, as the patent was not yet issued, ejectment could not be enforced, and pro-
ceedings to obtain a patent were suggested. The Supreme court of Illinois held similar
views, and in 1839 the fight was transferred to congress. There, Henry D. Gilpin, solicitor
of the treasury, presented the statements of James H. Collins, Buckner S. Morris and Justin
Buttertield, three pioneer lawyers of Chicago, charging the United States receiver and regis-
ter with collusion in issuing the certificate to Beaubien. This was enough for the con-
gressional committee on claims, although the members knew Beaubien's certificate of 1835
to be as valid as the certificate issued to John Kinzie's heirs in 1831, for a fraction of
section 10, north of the river. The claim was disallowed. In the United States Supreme
court the claim was also presented in 1838. Every opposition was offered by this court, and
in March, 1839, the judgment of the Illinois Supreme court was reversed.
The Chicago lawyers and other interested parties urged the prompt sale of Beaubien's
claim, and, responsive to their desires, the secretary of war ordered the survey of Fort Dear-
born addition to Chicago. In April lots were advertised for sale, and on June 20, the sale
took place, Government Lawyer Collins buying five of the six lots, which Colonel Beaubieu
desired to hold. This action of Collins led to the indignation meeting of June 21, but he
continued to reside here until 1854, when cholera in its most frightful form swept him away
from the enjoyment of the old Beaubien homestead.
In 1840 the United States court took measures to cancel the certificate and receipt given
to Beaubien in 1835, and on December 18, 1840, the pioneer presented the documents and
received back the $94.61 paid into the land office. In -1 878 the claim was re-presented
THE BVILDTNO INTERESTS. 29
to congress, but Senator Bayard, of the committee on private land claims, reported ad-
versely.
Fort Dearborn addition extended from State street to the lake, and from Madison street
to the river. The plat, made under order of April 23, 1839, was acknowleged June 6, 1839,
and recorded June 17, that year. The tract east of the east line of block 12, south of
the south line of blocks 10 and 11, north of the north line of block 15 and east to the lake
shore, was declared public ground. The whole area was fifty-three and one-quarter acres,
or fifty-six and one-half acres, including three and one-quarter acres of land carried away
by the waves.
In 1848 was passed the act appropriating $10,000 for building a marine hospital on the
northern part of block 5, with east front on Michigan avenue, or the south ten feet of lot 1
and lots 2, 3, 4 and 5 in block 5. The hospital was burned in 1871, the same as purchased
by the Michigan Central Railroad Company.
In 1850 the Illinois Central Railroad Company purchased for $45,000 a valuable part of
the reservation, and in 1854 lots 1 to 6 in block 4, fractional lots 8 and 9 in block 2 and the
north 34 feet of lot 1 in block 5, or the old lighthouse site, were donated to J. B. Beaubien.
The lake front surveys have been before the legislature and courts for over two decades.
The parties chiefly concerned are the government of the United States, the state of Illinois,
the city of Chicago, the Illinois Central Railroad Company and the owners of property upon
the west side of Michigan avenue, between Randolph and Twelfth streets. By a decree
entered in the Circuit court of the United States for the northern district of Illinois, in ac-
cordance with an opinion rendered by Judges Harlan and Blodgett, in February, 1888, it was
determined as between the parties to that suit,
First. That the Illinois Central Railroad Company was the owner of the made land
north of Randolph street as far as the Chicago river, and of the made land south of Park
Row and extending to Sixteenth street, because it was the shore or littoral owner. Second.
That the Illinois Central Railroad Company had a right of way two hundred feet in width on
the oiiter line of what is now open ground, between Randolph street and Park Row, known
as the lake front. Third, That the city of Chicago was the owner of the open ground
between Randolph street and Park Row, east of Michigan avenue, and the shore owner, not-
withstanding the right of way of the Illinois Central Railroad Company, but in trust for the
public.
That case did not settle the rights of lot owners on Michigan avenue opposite the so-
called lake front. It was claimed there by the Illinois Central Railroad Company that
under the act of the legislature of Illinois, of 1869, it was the owner, but without power to
sell or convey the fee of the submerged land for one mile to the eastward of its right of way,
between Randolph street and Park Row. This claim was denied by the court. An appeal
was taken in this case by the government, in which the Illinois Central Railroad Company
joined, and presumably other parties will join. The case is now pending at Washington.
It will not be heard for two or three vears.
30 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
In the case of the Catholic bishop of Chicago against the Lincoln park commissioners,
lately decided by Judge Tuley, in 1890, it was held that the state was not the absolute pro-
prietor of lands covered by the waters of Lake Michigan, in the same sense as it would be
the owner of the land upon which the state house stands; that is, it holds the submerged
land mentioned in trust for the public to preserve the right of navigation, subject, of course,
to the paramount authority of congress. In the same case Judge Tuley also held that the
riparian or shore owner had the right to fill out by artificial means to navigable water, so long
as he should not be interfered with by the state or general government.
The whole lake-front question is a complex one in which the nation, state and municipal-
ity are interested, and, like many other questions affecting great interests, is dragged along
slowly from court to court.
The message of Mayor Cregier to the council, published in April, 1891, refers to the
city's Ixmndaries, thus: "During the year ending April 27, 1891, our city's territorial limits
have been extended on the south by the acquisition of portions of the villages of Grano,
Calumet, West Roseland, Washington Heights and Fernwood (annexed the present week),
embracing in the aggregate an area of ten and tifty-seven-hundredths square miles, bringing
within the present municipal boundary one hundred and eighty-one and one-half square miles,
equal to one hundred and sixteen thousand acres. From the incorporation of the original
town of Chicago there have been ten extensions by annexation; nine of these were added
during the past two years, embracing one hundred and forty square miles. The city's limits
extend from north to south on the line of Halsted street, a distance of twenty-one and one-
half miles; from east to west on the north line of Eighty- seventh street the city is ten and
one-half miles wide, and on the south line of the same street the distance between the limits
is four and one-half miles. This indeed constitutes a vast area within one city. Ordinarily
men and women who have resided any considerable length of time in a city, become more or
less familiar with its various localities. How many of our citizens, old or young, have ever
traversed the great city of Chicago and are sufficiently familiar with different sections to
point the way or even find their way throughout its length and breadth ?"
Within these boundaries are thirty-two hundred and ninety acres of public park, seventy-
four miles of driveways, twenty-five hundred and thirty-seven miles of sidewalk, twenty-two
hundred and thirty-five miles of streets, including six hundred and sixty-nine and sixty-four-
liundredths miles of paved streets; forty-one miles of river frontage, about twenty-five miles
of lake frontage, twenty-nine viaducts, sixty-one bridges, thirty-seven thousand street lamps,
nine hundred and twenty-nine electric street lights, twelve hundred miles of electric wire
used by city, three hundred and ninety-five and one-third miles of street railroad track, thirty-
five railroad termini, two hundred and eighty-six public schoolhouses, about one hundred
denominational schoolhouses, four hxindred churches, twenty-eight police stations, seven-hun-
dred and eighty-four and one-half miles of water mains, nine and one-half miles of water
tunnel completed with eight miles under construction and seven hundred and eighty- four and
one-half miles of main sewers. The old tunnels connecting the north and south and south
and west divisions with the driving tunnels now being constructed are important works.
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 31
II.
SANITARY PLUMBING.
\\/ EARS before the introduction of Christianity the plumber was a certain" communal
|j) quantity. Without him the great cities of antiquity never could have risen to im-
portance, for Hygeia, the precise goddess of health, decreed that the plumber should
be the foundation of municipal greatness as the laborer should be of national wealth. In the
days of Antioch and Pompeii the plumber and the lead pipe were well-known institutions.
Later, Rome, herself, won the workmen inside her walls, and for centuries, controlled the
trade before it spread to Spain and France. In 1 539 Robert Brocke was the first to cast
short lengths of lead pipe, by the use of molds, in England. The lengths were jointed to-
gether by a process of burning. A native of St. Germain, in the reign of Henry IV. of
France, invented a process by which the pipe could be made any desired length as follows:
The mold was placed in a horizontal position, the metal poured in on top near one end, and
when cast, was drawn out; only one or two inches were left in near the spout where the metal
entered, so that when another length was cast the hot metal would melt the end thus left,
and become a continuous part of the pipe, and so on until the required length was made.
The practical making of pipe by the use of piston, cylinder and press, was begun in 1820, but
it was talked of as far back as 1705, and plumbers were themselves inventors. The hatchet,
straight soldering bolt, round-iron, torch, blowpipe and wipiugcloth, completed the worker's
simple outfit, but, nevertheless, great work was accomplished by the simple artisan, and the
more simple implements of ancient times, as is evidenced by specimens rescued from the ruins
of cities and buildings of long ago. In the museums of antiquities throughout the world, the
work of ancient plumbers may be examined and, at Rome, their fittings may be seen in
use. In the Cherchel museum is a piece of lead pipe made by rolling a sheet of metal, turn-
ing the edge over, and then running molten lead along the joints.
"\Vith the introduction of printing the useful arts improved, and in this improvement the
plumber shared. His methods changed gradiially, but so much like a snail's pace, that in
1850 a few more implements only could be fcrand to mark his progress. Whatever work was
accomplished, however, was solid in character, and, according to the light of those times,
quite in keeping with the plumber's notions. A worker in Chicago for alxnit thirty years,
supposes a workman of 1851, to awake from a long sleep, in 1891, and visit the shop where he
32 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
labored forty or fifty years ago. What a change he would find in the methods of work since
he went away. The old-time workshop has been turned into a storeroom for materials. The
well-planed straight-edge work-bench is sadly out of repair. One work-bench is to be seen
where there were many before, and few tools belonging to the master are now to be found in
the tool rack, except gasfitter's tools which were not known in a plumber's shop at that time.
The round-irons which were so symbolical of the trade, a candle has to be lighted to look for
them, and, after a search one may be found. One man is to be seen preparing or wiping a
joint on a stopcock, or check and wastecock. He asks where are all the men, and he is told
twenty men are at work on new and old jobs. The charcoal furnace and soft-coal stove are
no more, but in their place is the gasoline furnace. The cast-iron trap mold and offset mold
have been sold for old iron or may be found lying around the shop, but never used for its
original purpose. The round-wood mandrel for forming lead soil pipe may be found, but is
seldom used. Everything pertaining to the shop of fifty years ago has disappeared, and in
its place a hundred new forms in brass, copper, iron and lead, may be seen. The old simple
systems are all gone, and the working plumber of to-day, being no longer a manufacturer of
raw material, is seldom found within the shop.
In February, 1886, J. J. Hamblin delivered an address on "Old time plumbing." At
the end of the first day of his apprenticeship he was sorry he had undertaken to learn the
trade, but, a few weeks later, he supposed he knew all about plumbing. To tell the truth he
did not know the difference between the pull of a water-closet and the pull of a bell, both
looking alike. He soon found out the weight of a coil of lead pipe, for he had to carry it up
a three-story ladder on his shoulder. The plumber's boy of to-day would cut the coil in two,
or tell the journeyman to carry it up himself. He soon learned how to heat solder, after
burning a few pots and listening to "gentle" lectures for being careless. How soon a boy
learns anything he takes an interest in! Not long after this he was melting some old lead.
He happened to have a piece that was wet and put it in the pot. His hearers knew well the
result. He did from that time on. After a while he began to look things squarely in the
face. He made up his mind he was a botch. He resolved to turn over a new leaf and try
to become a plumber. He considered all new devices and began to think for himself. He
could now look back to a great many mistakes he made, which he could profit by if he were
to go over the same course again. As to plumbing in the fifties, as compared with that of
to-day, he thought there were much better mechanics then than now. They were mostly
foreigners who had learned their trade under better discipline in the old country. At that
time they did not have so many patents and curious devices as plumbers have to-day. There
was no ventilation then no back ventilation they depended on the trap to keep out that
monster sewer gas. All traps and most other fixtures were made by hand, and as to lead-
workers, from which term the name "plumber" is derived, he had seen them equal to any of
the present day. There is nothing worth greater consideration in the construction of a city
dwelling than its plumbing. On the plumbing depends the health of the inmates, and on
health depends the pleasure of living. From the sewer in the basement to the top of the
TlIK nUJLDING INTERESTS. 33
ventilator shaft, death lurks in defective plumbing. Ill health, despondency, doctor's bills
and death follow surely in the path of the ignorant or vicious or negligent worker in leaden
pipe and traps, while health, hope and courage are generally found in that house which the
honorable and intelligent worker fitted up on true sanitary principles.
The plumber of modern times must not only be a worker with his hands, but also with
his head, a mechanic skilled in his trade, studious of the art, quick to learn from his experi-
ences. He must differ widely from the solderer of a past age, who had only to provide the
supply and waste pipes, set them in the place assigned by the architect, make a few simple
joints without regard to taste, and charge a modest sum for his labor and material. He must
have a practical knowledge of sanitary science, hydraulics, ventilation, heating and draining,
and the will and strength to act according to such knowledge, for his success in business, as
well as the health of his clients, must depend iipon his intelligent appreciation of what is due
to himself and to them. For good work he should demand good pay, and as one is the corol-
lary of the other, the first should always be observed. The work of the ancient plumber was
strong and rough, the work of the modern plumber nmst be durable and neat.
The model plumber is not a rare avis in Chicago, as pictured by Architect Pierce from
an architect's point of view; he is everywhere throughout the city, but "mixed in" with him
are others who are without principle, the same as in any other trade or profession. The
writer says: "The journeyman plumber, like the journeyman of all other trades, is good,
bad, or indifferent, not because he is a plumber, but because he is human, and because of the
varying degrees of intelligent interest he takes in his work. Even the influence of that great
leveler 'the union' has not yet succeeded in wiping out this personal equation and reducing
all journeymen to a dead level of mediocrity or worse. If he is an indifferent or a poor work-
man, he is a thorn in the side of the conscientious architect or superintendent (and probably
not less so in that of his employer), but not more so than the poor workman of other trades.
But, it is the contracting plumber which this article was intended to deal with, and the jour-
neyman may be dismissed with the statement that if intelligent, capable and willing, he will
cooperate with the architect to the extent of making the best of unfavorable circumstances
and conditions; but if dull, vicious or slovenly, he will sometimes defeat the architect's inten-
tions and make an indifferent job of the best planned work. The model contracting plumber
may be considered under several heads, which I will take up in succession, assuming that the
work under consideration is to be contract work. He may come with a letter of introduction
or a testimonial, or he may be introduced personally by a mutual acquaintance who can vouch
for his capabilities and character, or he may introduce himself. In either case the architect
who has not already a long list of trustworthy plumbers to select from, will be glad to add to
that number. And now, assuming that the applicant has satisfied the architect that he is
capable, honest and trustworthy, and has been invited to figure upon plans of prospective
work, the model plumber will develop aboiit the following traits:
"Care in studying the plans and specifications, to find what the architect's intentions
are. and. in case they are clear and unmistakable, as shown by plans and specifications taken
34 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
i.
conjointly, to assume that such evident intention is the architect's intention, and figure accord-
ingly. In case of conflict, or obscurity of meaning, or of evident oversight in plans and spec-
ifications (taken conjointly), the plumber will make memoranda of such matters, and get the
architect's explanations thereon, or, perhaps, a correction of the obscurity or oversight before
submitting his tender. He will not remark that competing plumbers will probably take
advantage of any obscurity or oversight, or that he (the orator) will do everything exactly as
it should be done, whether specified or not. He will not be over-inquisitive to learu who his
competitors are, either by 'pumping' assistants or the architect himself, but will assume that
the architect's interest to have good work affords a reasonable guaranty of good faith that no
one without a fair reputation for honesty and ability is likely to become his competitor, and if
his mind is not clear upon that point he will excuse himself from figuring upon the job, leav-
ing the architect to fill his place by some one else.
" But suppose now that he has found plans, specifications and architect satisfactory, and
has made up his estimate; he will seal it, and address it to the architect, endorsing upon the
outside of the envelope, 'Tender of A. B. for plumbing, Etc., of houses for C. D.,' and will
send it in by mail or otherwise to await the action of the architect and owner, who, when all
the tenders are in (and the two can take the time to go through the entire list), will consider
them, and decide upon the award of the contracts. This may be within a few days or per-
haps a week or more after all bids are in. The model plumber will not forget to send his bid
in promptly; he will not send it to the owner instead of the architect; he will not ask that
he be notified if some other bid is below his, as ' he would not stand for a few dollars;' he
will not fail to put his name upon the outside of the envelope so that the architect may know
when all bids are in, also to prevent premature opening. He will not go to either owner or
architect after the bids are closed and ask to be taken in and allowed to figure, nor will he
propose to either of the parties mentioned to take the job at or below the figures of some
other plumber. He will not state the amount of his bid either to the architect or to any other
person ; neither will he hand in an unsealed bid expecting in either case to get some ' pointer '
which will enable him to modify his bid if necessary to secure the work. While enterpris-
ing owners, and even architects, have been known to countenance such methods, the model
plumber will join with the model architect in discountenancing them at all times. He will
not besiege the architect's office as soon as his bid has been sent in to find out 'when those
bids will be opened' upon some plausible pretext, but will, if he has been awarded other con-
tracts meantime, which will prevent him from desiring the one in question, ask leave to with-
draw his bid, stating frankly the reason.
" When the architect and owner open the tenders, they will find no equivocal wording in
that of the model plumber. It shows exactly what he proposes to do the work for according
to plans and specifications, and if any estimate of changes has been verbally asked for by
the architect, he has not forgotten to state the change in price such modification would make.
He is not the one who reasons that by forgetting to comply with this verbal request, he may
stand a better chance to get the job, and can then, perhaps, get a better price for the changes.
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 35
And the clear presentation of his estimate will be one point in his favor, and may give him
the award even if lower estimates have been made, indeed, one or more of the estimates may
be so low as to insure their rejection upon the warrantable assumption that there has been
some gross error, or inability to estimate correctly.
"When architect and owner have agreed upon the award of the contracts, notices will be
sent to those selected, and the model plumber may receive one, either to call and sign con-
tract, or to call for consultation in relation to changes that have been discussed subsequent
to inviting tenders. If the former, it will be without any expectation that the plumber will
discover an error in carrying out items, or in the footing of columns of figures, or in the omis-
sion of some important items of expense, which, when corrected, will increase his bid to a
figure a little below that of a competitor (the amount of whose tender he has in the meantime
obtained, ' now that the figures are all in and it can do no harm to compare notes ' ). The
model plumber will not learn what tender has been made by other plumbers before the figures
have been opened and contracts let, neither will he divulge what tender he has made; much
less will he conspire with others to compare figures and so arrange them that this prospective
job shall go to A, that to B and the other to C, etc. He will not be the plumber who goes
to the architect after the tender has been sent in and states that he has inadvertently put one
item in twice, or that he made a mistake in footing by carrying one too many, and that he
wishes to withdraw his bid and put in a lower one, corrected as indicated. He will not (should
he learn from the architect, or from another contractor, that lower tenders have been made)
go to the owner or the architect to learn how much he will have to 'knock off' to secure the
job, and will not say nor intimate to either owner or architect that the work can not be done
for less than his bid, and that the successful bidder does not know how to figure on work, and
can not do a good job, etc. All these, and other like methods, the model plumber is incapable
of. He may well be aware that some of his business rivals have been known to practice some
such strategic methods of securing work; possibly, that they have even secured good jobs by
paying some sharp architect a bonus to induce him to award them the contract, but he has
not discovered that they have gained either reputation or riches, certainly not the former, and
is not overpower ingly tempted to resort to any such questionable methods to secure his share
of business."
" The model architect from a plumber's standpoint," was written in March, 1889, by T.
C. Boyd, in reply to a paper on " The model plumber."
" While not assuming to answer Architect Pierce's paper for the plumbers of Chicago or
even attempting to meet all of the points he makes, there are a few observations that are, I
think, pertinent to the issues raised in his description of the architect's ideal plumber. The
architect's superintendent may be good or bad or indifferent, but he is generally good. It is
the architect himself that we are now dealing with. His superintendent may be dismissed
with the remark that, if intelligent, he will cooperate with the plumber to make the best
sanitary job out of a poorly arranged plan. It would try the skill of both to do this, but they
will do it if the architect's deputy be a man of any brains and training.
36 INDUSTRIE CHICAGO:
" The model architect may be considered under several heads. First we will take con-
tract work. The intelligent plumber who wants to do work for the model architect, presents his
card and is invited to estimate on plumbing, gas and sewer work. The first sensation experienced
by the intelligent plumber will be surprise. He finds the plans are without ambiguity, and is
thunderstruck at the absence of conflicting clauses or obscurity of meaning or oversight in the
specifications. He will next be gratified to discover that there is no room for a dishonest com-
petitor to take advantage of corrections or explanation, obscurities or oversights, intents or mean-
ings in the plans and specifications. This is something so new to the experience of the inelli-
geut plumber that he has to rub his eyes to discover if he is really alive and awake. When he
has satisfied himself that he is neither dreaming nor dead and in the place reserved for plumbers
in the world to come, he will take another look at the model architect's plans and specifications.
He will find there distinctly marked a water-closet not on an outside wall a well lighted and
ventilated room, whose soil pipe goes down vertically to the sewer, whose vent pipe goes as straight
up a partition to the roof, all marked clearly on the plan. There will be no obscurity, no con-
flict of meaning. The same will apply to the bathtubs, the washbowls, the laundrytubs, the hot
water boiler, the pantry sink fixtures, for all of these the same care will be taken by the
model architect. He has made a practical study of the supply pipes feeding the above fix-
tures, keeping them away from outside walls to prevent them from freezing in the winter, run-
ning them through lead-lined troughs, where they cross ceilings, and where they go from one
story to another if he can not have them on the outside of a partition he will have built
in the wall a recess with a front board even with the face of the plaster, fastened with round-
headed screws, so that if they have to be examined no damage need be done to the house.
No water pipes will be run into cold-air boxes by the model architect, because he does not draw
his plans that way.
"After the model architect has drawn his plans he writes his specifications, being care-
ful to conform strictly to the marks on his plans in relation to water-closets and traps, stands
of supply pipe, bathtubs and cocks, hot and cold-water supply pipes; waste pipes, vent
pipes, and so on through the entire list of the fixtures on his plans. He may then say:
'The fixtures to be furnished on this job are: In the kitchen, a boiler, a sink, and a set of
three wash trays; in the pantry, a butler's pantry sink; in the bathroom, a water-closet,
bathtub and a washbowl; in the front chamber, second floor, a washbowl: in the middle
chamber, south, a washbowl: first floor, a washbowl; in the basement, a servant's water-
closet.' No oversight in the plans and specifications of the model architect are to be con-
strued to the disadvantage of the long-suffering plumber. The intelligent plumber will
present his estimate to the model architect, and. if lie be the lowest responsible bidder, he
is awarded the contract. If there are changes in the plans and specifications consisting of a
small addition, the model architect will ask the plumber what the alteration will be worth,
and note it on the contract. If it is a large addition, the model architect will get a bid
from the plumber who has the contract and one from the next lowest bidder who originally
figured on the job, always giving the additions to the man who has the contract if his figures
are not out of reason.
THE BUILDING INTKRESTS. 37
" If the plumber is dealing with the model architect he is safe, but heaven keep him
if he is in the hands of the conjointly-oversight-intentious-obscurity-conflict-memorandum
architect. In that case he will endeavor to put up a stack of soil pipe as crooked as a bood-
ler's moral sense, endeavoring to strike the deformed partitions. When the poor plumber
thinks that he has satisfactorily accomplished the most difficult job of his life, he is sum-
marily told, ' It is not the intention to have the soil pipe there, I want it conjointly with
that gas pipe in the other partition, and you must move it at your own expense, Mr. Plumber.'
The plumber next runs a length of gaspipe from front to rear of the building close to the
bearings, no marks being on the plans to warn him he is going to have trouble. He is
about to put a gas pump on to test the pipes, thinking he has nearly completed the gas-
titting, when he is cooly told: 'There was an oversight in not marking the hot-air registers
on my plans, which have been buried in the obscurity of my desk until this morning. Yoti
will have to take out, at your own expense, that main running line of gas pipe on the second
floor, putting it where it will not come in contact with the hot-air registers.'
" Still working for the c.-o.-i.-o.-c.-m. architect, the plumber builds his sewer from the
front of the building to the catchbasin, builds the latter two feet ten inches from the rear of
the building, places his vent cap four inches above the grass plat, and has all of his soil and
waste pipes connected with the sewer. In his specifications he fails to find which calls for
him to test the sewer pipes and soil pipes with water pressure. He has been congratulating
himself that he has that job 'roughed in,' as we term it, ready for plastering. Now he
expects to get his first payment on the work, and goes to the office of the architect for that
purpose. I can not describe the plumber's consternation when he is informed by the archi-
tect: 'Your mode of building sewers conflicts with a memorandum that I happened to find
regarding this work: I want you to disconnect all your soil and water pipes, plug up the
lower ends and till them with water; have them stand thus for three days; I will notify you
when to empty them. Then disconnect the sewer outside of the front of the building, move
the catchbasin three inches farther west. The vent of the sewer trap in the grass plat is
six inches too far south; my intentions conflict with my memoranda, considered conjointly
with the oversight and the obscurity of the whole subject matter, but. Mr. Plumber, you will
have to conform to the memoranda before you get any money on this work.' That settles it.
The plumber turns from a twilight color to a deep red as he thinks of the manufacturer and
jobber, who are wondering how he is making out on the work. I could easily exceed the
space occupied in describing 'The model plumber from an architect's standpoint,' but I will
forbear and leave the subject to others after I have given one more illustration.
"The plumber is still working for the alphabetical architect, not he of the 'model' per-
suasion. He has completed his gasfitting according to the marks on his plans, when he is
told by the a. a. and the owner to move a gaslight in the diningrooin on account of shelves
that were overlooked. 'Put a droplight in the kitchen,' he is told. 'Move the light in the
library to suit the bookcase, change all the lights on the chimney-breasts to conform to the
mantels.'
88 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
"Now the cost to the plumber for wages to the journeyman gastitter to make these
changes is $25. After his original contract is completed he charges this sum for labor and
$2 or $3 more for materials. The a. a. invites the plumber to meet him in the build-
ing to check the bill over. The owner is living in the house by this time, and the
plumber might as well try to find a needle in a haystack as to check up that bill from the
house. New plaster, new paint, new everything. All the gastittings that are to be seen are
the ends of pipes sticking out of the partitions and ceilings. To show architect or owner
where the labor had been put would have been as easy as to find perpetual motion, but the a. a.
shows the obscurity of his intentions by the happy thought of proposing to count the gas
brackets and droplights in the house. This is done. There are thirty-seven, all told. ' Now
Mr. Plumber, we will count the fixtures on the plans.' This is done and the result is thirty-
five. The $25 for extra wages while making that job conform with the owner's 'inten-*
tions,' cannot be counted so easily, for it has been paid out months before. 'I cannot allow
you any extra pay for gas fitting,' says the a. a., 'for, taken conjointly, one light left out
here and placed there, conflicts with the memoranda the doctor and I have of extra pay.'
" The plumber is still at work for the same architect. He has one of the improved bath-
tubs to put up. His specifications call for tub, combination cock for hot and cold water,
Fooley waste. It is set up and the water turned on. But it was the intention of the owner
to have had an old-fashioned tubular over-head shower on that tub, but the oversight in the
specifications conflicted, so it did not appear there. The plumber receives a quiet order to
put in a tubular shower, but gets no more pay for the change than he did for the gasfitter's
wages. The name I have given this architect to distinguish him from the model architect is
obtained from the paper, to which is a partial reply, under the heading 'Estimates from
plans.' The model architect is more numerous than he used to be, and there are more of
him every season. By cooperation between him and the intelligent plumber, sanitary science
is making great strides to the front. But the plumbers' paradise is yet to come."
The Chicago tin and copper worker was the predecessor of the plumber. In 1839 he was
represented here by William Wheeler & Co., of 145 Lake street; Bottsford & Beers, corner of
Lake and Dearborn streets; James Sinclair, 58 Washington street; I. B. Eddy & Bros., Na-
thaniel Butler, George Farwell, George Foot, Thomas George, C. D. Grannis, James Hage-
man, Orrin Hotchkiss, Chris. Metz, John Phelps, Hiram B. Smith, J. Spafford and Phillip
Swain all workers in tin, copper, lead and sheet iron. They knew little or nothing of the
plumbers' art even as then practiced. In the old cities' of the North Atlantic states the
plumber proper was a scarce quantity, and the labor proper for him even scarcer. What was,
was simple to a degree, and the tinner was at all times capable of mastering the intricacies of
old-time plumbing. In the west, of which Chicago was then as now, the gateway, he was
the plumber in disguise, making pots, kettles and pans, in the absence of leaden pipe, valves,
traps and the thousand and one new fangled pieces of shaped metal which a newer civiliza-
tion called for.
The tin and copper smiths of 1843 were George W. Bidwell. with S. J. Siirilain, resided
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 39
on Dearborn street; William Durrell, Williarcl Goodrich, Joseph Hageman, J. W. Hill,
Charles H. Hodgson (died 1860), Orrin Hotchkiss, David Maxson, Chris. Metz (died 1886),
James K. Murphy, Hiram B. Smith and Phillip Swain.
The history of plumbing, gastitting and water and steamfitting in Chicago dates back to
April, 1842, when the old water- works reservoir, on the corner of Lake street and Michigan
avenue, was completed and consumers given the privilege of connecting their homes, stores or
factories with it, at their own expense, on the payment of from $10 to $500 for the supply of
water. At this time James Long, who owned the mills close by, agreed to do the pumping
for the water company on condition that he could apply the surplus power of their twenty-tive-
horse engine to the running of the mill machinery. The plumbers' work of the period consisted
in attaching a leaden pipe to the wooden main, and connecting this leaden pipe to an upright
in the yard of the home, store or factory. This upright pipe the boys (who worked for the
hardware dealers, then the plumbing contractors) dignified with the name of hydrant.
Within the succeeding nine years there were eight hundred of such hydrants for houses and
two hundred for stores and factories in use, while the wooden mains extended over nine and
a quarter lineal miles. Thomas George, who had a mechanical shop at 201 Lake street, led
in this primitive plumbing business, and his apprentices were known all over town, among his
staff in 1849 being James S. Bassett, of the latter-day firm of Bassett & Beaver. In 1852
James Givens was journeyman, and in 1853 the firm of Thomas George & Co., Edward Ham-
ilton being the partner, advertised their ability to do coppersmithing and plumbing. This
partnership continued until 1858, though Thomas George continued business until 1861,
when he failed.
The directory of 1849 contains the following names of journeymen and master tinners:
Samuel Arentz, Clark and Superior; A. P. and M. Atherton, William Boys, Richard Clancey,
Adam Deerfield, Carlton Drake, Harlow Evans, Mr. Filger, Patrick Fleming, Horace Gilbert,
George Glazebrook (molder), Charles D. Grannis, 54 Lake; Michael Greenebaum, 116
Wells; Richard Hargrave (rnolder), Charles Hastings, Thomas Holmes, Sextus N. Wilcox,
Augustus Leip, E. A. Miller, James K. Murphy, I. Rubel, Matthew Toughey, O. H. Sherwood,
James Sinclair, E. Smith, Charles Stose and a man named Strong.
Michael Greenebaum established a hardware, tin and plumbing shop at the corner of
Randolph and Union streets late in 1850 or early in 1851. Later he was joined by Jacob
Greenebaiini, but afterward the firm of Michael Greeuebauin & Sons was formed, now
Michael Greenebaum's Sons, 11 North Canal street. In 1849 Michael worked at the tinners'
trade for Wheeler & Company, and, after entering business for himself, gave his special atten-
tion to plumbing affairs. Terence Maguire and Thomas Gaskell were here prior to 1853, as
journeymen plumbers. In 1850 the first exclusive plumbers' shop was established, on the
corner of Canal and Lake streets, by an immigrant named Alexander Raffen. The presence
of a plumbers' sign insured trade, and this newcomer, from Cupar Fife, Scotland, had no
more difficulty in winning trade than a German umbrella mender would have to-day, were
he to place the signal of his trade above some State street basement. Alexander made marked
40 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
progress, so much so that in 1852 he moved from the west side to the corner of Fifth
avenue arid Monroe street. In 1854 his shop was at 172 Fifth avenue, and the first
master plumber's son, Alexander W. Eaffen, was a partner in the concern. In 1858 the shop
was moved to 261 Fifth avenue, where business was carried on until the beginning of the
war, when Alexander W. and John T., his sons, entered an Illinois Volunteer regiment. In
1 805 Alexander W. Raffen reestablished himself at 106 Lake street, where he remained until his
partnership with William Woodruff, in 1 808, when their sign was placed over a basement
at the corner of Madison and State streets. In 1870 the firm appears to have ceased
business; but Alexander W. Raff en's name was connected with the plumbers' trade until 1870,
when he was appointed superintendent of the Chicago postoffice. The pioneer master
plumber his father died in 1873. He lived to see extraordinary changes in his trade.
When he came here plumbing was not understood by early Chicago citizens. It may be
cited that in the Gem of the Prairie, of June 15, 1850, a case of water-hammer in the
house of the editor was mistaken for spirit rappings, but it was later decided that a fish, an
eel, perhaps, had got into the conducting pipe from the reservoir. The plumber himself
could not explain away the mystery, as he had no experience with water pipes prior to his
immigration.
Under heavy water pressure plumbers invariably have what is known as "water-hammer"
or concussion, to deal with or to dispose of. This is especially true when self-closing work,
ground key work, or spring valves are in use. As water is nearly incompressible, when con-
fined in a pipe and under pressure and running with great velocity it is like a rod of iron of the
same dimensions and moving with equal speed. When suddenly brought to a halt, as when
a cock or valve is shut off, a violent and vibrating shock is the result. This shock is often
felt throughout the whole building, and is a severe strain upon the service pipe and upon the
plumbing fixtures.
The advent of Raffen drove the hardware plumbers to activity. The Scotchman's hard,
rough work, done at the lowest imaginable price, had to be competed with. Thomas George &
Company employed Terence Maguire and Thomas Gaskell to contest the field with Raffen, and
early in 1853 Andrew Lloyd opened a shop at 234 Lake street. About the same time Alex-
ander Pederson and Samuel B. Kenney established their shop at 54 north Clark street, thus
bringing six Richmonds into the field. There was work for all, however, and the antipathy
to Raffen soon subsided. In 1853 H. L. Wilson established a shop at 161 Lake street, with
John Hughes acting plumber. This Hughes made the first taps on the new iron water mains
February 15, 1854, being assisted by David Rowlands. The same year Wilson formed a
partnership with Foreman Hughes, and removed to 50 Dearborn. Four years later they
carried on business at 44 Dearborn, but in 1800 the partnership did not exist. Hughes' shop,
at that time, was on the northwest corner of State and Washington; but moving to 109
State, he continued business there until 1808, when he admitted his son, Kendrick, as a part-
ner, and opened a shop at 8183 Washington street. Several changes in location were made
prior to 1870, when John Hughes died.
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 41
Late in the summer of 1854 Thomas W. Hutchison and Robert D. McFarlane came to
Chicago, and, establishing a shop on Monroe street, west of the old gas works, and a store at
the northeast corner of Fifth avenue and Randolph streets, entered at once on plumbing life
in the West. In 1850, Hutcheson, who was not a practical plumber, sold his interests to
McFarlane and retired to his wife's boardiughouse (then occupying the site of the present
Chicago Club house, 48 and 45 Monroe street), where he died in 1871. In 1858 McFarlane,
having sold the shop near the gas works, removed to 167 and 169 Washington, and died
there in 1868. The manufacture of brass faucets, the specialty of the firm of 1854, was for-
gotten for the more lucrative business of plumbing and gas and steamntting. Riley V.
Wightman established a tinshop on West Randolph street, in 1855, in connection with his
plumbing business. When he retired, in 1861, one journeyman, W. S. Verity, was capable
of attending to the plumbing department.
James Brown opened a shop at 114 Dearborn street, in May, 1856; two years later, with
Daniel L. Boone as partner, opened one at 145 State street. About the beginning of 1857
Boone became proprietor. In 1861 Brown re-established himself at 159 Dearborn street; in
1864 worked at the trade for Barnett & Murray, and died soon after the close of the war.
Thomas Garvey established a shop at No. 1 Dearborn street, in 1856, later accepted
Mahlon McEntee as a partner, moved to 59^ North Clark street, again to 86 North Clark
street, in 1863, and thence to New York City in 1865. where he established a liquor store.
From 1856 to 1861 George Lawson carried on a shop at 123 Wells street, but his saloon
at 199 J Randolph street, known as "The captain's office," claimed the greater part of his
attention. What effect this combination had upon the plumbers of that time is not related.
The directory of the city, for 1854-5, gives the names of new plumbers as follows: Terence
Maguire, 32 Lake street; W. Monteney & Company, corner of Lake and Green streets; G. N.
Williams, 369 South Clark street, near the Catholic church at the comer of Polk street.
Terence Maguire, born in Fermanagh county, Ireland, in 1832, came to the United States in
his childhood, learned the plumber's trade in New York City, and came to Chicago in 1852,
with Henry L. Wilson (a brother of Wilson of the Journal) and John Hughes. In 1853 he
opened his own shop on the northeast corner of Lake street and Wabash avenue, and in 1855
formed a partnership with Ludwig Wolff. They opened a shop in Couch place, in rear of
75 Lake street, at once. Ten years later they moved to 95-111 West Lake street, and the
same year William Barry was admitted a partner. In 1S68 Maguire sold his interests to
Edward Boss and purchased Boss' distillery, at Rock Island, 111. The same year Barry &
Boss sold to L. Wolff, who, in 1877, capitalized the concern, under the title The L. Wolff
Manufacturing Company. William Monteney knew all about gas meters, but nothing about
plumbing. After some time he became an inspector for the Peoples' Gas Light & Coke Com-
pany, which position he held until about 1S84, when he returned to England.
In 1884 there was presented to the Plumbers' association a list of the recognized plumb-
ers of Chicago in 1856. The list was prepared by order of its publishers or of a circle of
plumbers, neatly framed and marked "To be held until called for." The names enrolled are:
42 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
John Hughes, Bell & Irons, B. D. McFarlane, Jeremiah Scanlan* John C. Ryan, P.
Kearney, P. Meauy*, Augustus C. Becker, J. O'Calligan, G. Powell & Company, Livingston* &
Bassett*, Frederick Hartmau, John Mills*, William Maxwell, Magiiire* & Wolff*, Joseph
Hogau*, Barnett & Murray*, Joseph Schuster*, Alexander Raffen, William Beaton, Bigdeu
& Baggot, Rubel & Bro., Michael Greenebaurn*, T. Garvey, William S. Verity*, Kostlery* &
Brown. Of the pioneers of the trade those marked thus * were residents in 1885.
Prices for plumbing material have not changed since 1856, as much as one might sup-
pose. Solder was then sold at forty-five cents; the price now is twenty-five. Pan and valve
closets only were quoted then the former at $10 and the latter at $15. While the prices of
these remain about the same as now, there are dozens of other closets, of all sorts and styles,
in use at the present time, ranging in price as high as $50 and $75, with the necessary fix-
tures. Then, lead-lined tanks were used, now, there are cast-iron and sheet-copper tanks,
the iron being considerably cheaper, but not considered so good, from the fact that among
other things, they rust and the water which flows from them discolors the watercloset bowl.
Iron pipe is sold from fifteen to eighteen cents cheaper now than formerly. Sinks are twenty-
five per cent, cheaper. Then, copper toilers only were in use, and cost from $32 to $00.
These have largely given way to galvanized-irou boilers, which cost from $13 to $30. While
many consider the copperboiler the ideal, the galvanized-iron is probably just as good, if the
galvanizing is well done, and it is less liable to collapse, being made stronger.
The city directory of 1855-6 gives the names of nine plumbing firms, including four
tinners. That of 1856-7 gave seventeen names of plumbers; but of the number there were
five who should be classed with tinners, pumpmakers or stove dealers.
John J. Hamblin having served an apprenticeship to Joseph P. Quinn, of New York
City, set out for Chicago September 1, 1856, and arrived here September 6. Robert
McDougall, who was then a journeyman phimber in the employ of Michael Greenebaum,
urged him to come to Chicago. His first work here was for James Brown, who was plumbing
contractor for the Richmond Hotel, on the corner of South Water street and Michigan avenue.
Next he worked on North's theater, and in November, 1857, became a boss plumber himself
as a partner of James McDonald. This was the beginning of Hamblin's long and useful
career in Chicago.
James McDonald came from Scotland in 1850, settled at Chicago in 1856, and in 1857
became an employer of labor, with his shop at 51 Desplaines street. In 1859 his partnership
with J. J. Hamblin ended, and that with James McDonald, Jr., commenced. In 1861 the
elder McDonald enlisted, served through the war, and, a short time after his return, died
suddenly at the door of his house. James the younger continued business here until he
enlisted in the United States Navy.
William Beaton came from Scotland in 1853 and settled at Chicago in 1855. In 1857
he became a partner of James Irons, established a shop at fS3 Washington street, and took P.
L. O'Hara as their first apprentice. From 186'2 to the time of his death he carried on busi-
ness alone at 79 Dearborn street.
9th Extension lw Ord.
G Passed 5
May 12th, 1890.
</>
I
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 43
John A. Hampson and George P. Ruggles, with Joseph Hogan as foreman, established
a shop at 159 Lake street in 1857; but the depression of the period militated against their
success, and failure waited on their venture.
Eliphalet W. Blatchford came in 1855 and established the lead works on Clinton street.
Caleb F. Gates, who was a partner in the firm of Thomas George & Company, up to its failure
in 18(55, joined the Blatchford enterprise that year, and in 1869 the Shot Tower Company was
organized with C. F. Gates secretary.
Richard T. Crane came also in 1855, when he was joined by his brother, Charles S.,
shortly after. A little brass foundry was established by the former in a corner of Martin
Ryerson's lumber yard. In 1856 the brothers erected a building at 102 Lake street; in 1858
introduced the manufacture of steam-heating apparatus; in 1864 established their wrought-
iron pipe mill, at the corner of Fulton and Desplaines streets, and in 1865 built their present
works. In 1880 the pipe mill at the corner of Canal and Judd streets was built.
The principal plumbers in 1869 were Bassett* & Pattison*, James Bell, Harry Byrne*,
James Irons*, George Key, James Patterson*, John C. Ryan* (296 Clark street), John
Schuster*, Hugh Watt*, Woodruff & Raffen, John Hughes* & Son, and Phillip Meany*.
The following list of master plumbers, doing business here in 1891 is given, so that it
may l>e compared with similar lists of earlier years and stand as a reference for the future:
Atkin. Andrew W., 144 West Lake street; Alles, George, 463 Division street; Alles, J.
F., & Bro., 238 Lincoln avenue; Anderson, Matthew, 69 Thirty-fifth street; Antlauer, Will-
iam, & Co., 538 Milwaukee avenue; Arnold, Robert J., 407 West Division street.'.-
Baer, Adam J., 1710 North Clark street; Baggot, E., 171 Adams street; Baggot, E., &
Son, 2134 Michigan avenue; Bain, D. & L., 633 West Madison street; Barr^ James C.,
320, Forty-third street; Barrett, Michael F., 468 West Chicago avenue; B*rry, George
D., 285 Center avenue; Basset, James S., 204 Dearborn street; Bauer, Henrj, 232 North
avenue; Bayha & Bachmann, 124 Olybourn avenue; Beam, John H. W., Ravenswood Park,
near Wilson avenue; Beaver & Smith Co., 3111 State street, telephone 8664 ; Becker, Peter, 668
West Twenty-second street; Becker, Peter, & Co., 483 South Halsted; Becker & Schirra, 643
Sedgwick; Bell, James M., 80 Thirty-fifth street; Bensinger, Alfred W., 173, Thirty-first
street; Birney, James, rear 4001 West Madison; Bischoff, Charles, 352, Ogden avenue;
Black, Harry A., 40 Forty-third street; Boulton, William H., 240 Lake; Bowden & Co.,
158 Fifth avenue; Bowman Bros., 750 West Chicago avenue; Boyd, Charles J., 805 Forty-
seventh street; Boyd, Thomas C., 11. 40 Dearliorn street; Boyle, Michael, 243 Ninety-second
street; Bradley, Edward, Vinceunes avenue near Tracy avenue; Bradley, James H., 8028 Vin-
fennes avenue; Breen, Joseph B., 368 West Van Buren; Breyer, Charles C., 833 Milwaukee
avenue ; Breyer, Ernest, 72 West Randolph ; Breyer, Henry, Jr., 1 706 Mil wa ukee avenue ; Brooks,
C. J., Plumbing Co., 879 West Polk; Brooks, MarcellusG.,1111 West Harrison; Brosnan, Timo-
thy J., 688 West Lake; Brown, J. W., & Co., 364 Lincoln avenue; Brown, William C., 370 West
Lake: Browne, FW., & Co., 118 Eighteenth; Brunt Bros., 9115 Erie avenue; Bryson, T. B., &
* Here also in 1872-9.
44 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
Son, 6335 Wentworth avenue; Bufton & Lyon, 26 Customhouse place; Burg, Hans C., 46
South Morgan; Burkhardt, Edward, Jr., 942 North Clark; Burns, Daniel W., 25 Forty-third;
Butler, James J., 521 West Taylor; Byrne, J. J., 2810 Archer avenue; Byrne & Ryan, 254
Forty-third.
Cameron, Alexander M., 135 West Van Bureu; Campbell, Albert A., 842 West Madison;
dampen, E., & Co., 1553 Wabash avenue; Cannon, John, south side One Hundred and Elev-
enth place West Michigan avenue; Canty, John, 3105 State street; Chappell, William, 60
Lake street; Chilvers, A. L., 1611 Forty-seventh; Christiansen & Becker, 1245 Milwau-
kee avenue; Clancy & Sons, 215 Ogdeu avenue; Clark, James J., 119 Twenty-second and
113 Fifty-third; Clark, Lacy, 6302 Yale; Coleman, Rupert, 855 North Clark; Coles,
William G., 194 South Western avenue; Coller, Chris., 4538 Wentworth avenue; Collins,
J. M. & Co., 356 Thirty-seventh street; Conant, Clarence M., 474 Ogden avenue; Coulin,
Thomas, 3905 Cottage Grove avenue; Council, John, 235 West Harrison; Connor, Edward
D., 2465 Archer avenue; Conraths, Jacob, Jr., 411 Fifty-ninth; Conway, Thomas, 614
Sixty-third; Cook & Maugau, 1802 Wabash avenue; Cook & Shannon, 577 South Hal-
sted; Coolidge, William M., & Co., 223 Lake; Corboy, M. J., 78 Dearborn; Cotter, William,
& Sou, 867 Thirty-first street; Cullinan, Thomas, 236 Thirty-first street; Cummings, Will-
iam H., 1236 West Van Biiren street; Curtiu, Jeremiah J., Wallace northeast corner Forty-
third.
Dalton, John F., 127 Indiana street; Daly, Le F., 97 Dearborn street; Danneil,
William, 453 South Canal and 406 South Western avenue; Davey, Samuel F., 461 Lincoln
avenue; Degnan, John, 3304 Cottage Grove avenue; Dempsey, John, 196 West Madison
street; Denniston, John A., 148 North Clark street; Desmond, Patrick C., 906 West Lake
street; Devlin, Edward J., 30 Rush street; Dewald Bros., 746 Southport avenue; Dewar, D.
P., & Co., 6312 Wentworth avenue; Donoghoe, James, 497 West Huron; Dornbos Bros., 573
West Eighteenth street; Downs, William J., 59 Plymouth place; Doyle, James J., 6040 South
Halsted street.
Ehrhardt, Richard, 2338 Wentworth avenue; Emblen, Joseph L., 256 Thirty-fifth street.
Falk, Frank, 717 Milwaukee avenue; Faulkner, Clayton R., 809 Seventy-ninth street;
Fehr, Gustav A., 80 Canalport avenue; Feldcamp, George J., 333 Sixty-third street;
Feltman, Peter, 1149 Lincoln avenue; Finn, Richard B., 136 Thirty-fifth street; Fischer,
F. J., 7446 Cottage Grove avenue; Foley, Thomas, 646 Noble; Foskett & Brown, 217 Fifth
avenue; Foster. Adolph H., 800 West Twelfth street; Franklin, George W., Ravenswood Park,
south Leland avenue; Fransted, Edward L., 443J West Randolph street.
Gannon, John, 5601 South Halsted street; Garner & Bahu, 1740 Milwaukee avenue;
Garvey, Jeremiah, 478 South Leavitt street; Gay & Culloton, 52 North Clark street; Geary,
Thomas F., 72 Thirty-first street; Geiss, Ignas J., 1199 Milwaukee avenue: Gilligan,
Charles B., 237 Forty-third street; Goehst, Edward, 4309 Lake avenue; Good, Samuel,
2904 Cottage Grove avenue; Goodridge, George F., 461 West Indiana street; Gormley,
James, 2580 Archer avenue; Graham, Richard, 78 North Clark street; Griffin, Lawrence G. ,
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 46
161 West Madison street; Griffith, Robert, 427 North Clark street; Griffith, Watson, 51
North Wells; Gruschow, Frank W., & Co., 84 Oak street; Gunderman Bros., 182 North
avenue.
Hackett & Council, 143 West Harrison; Hagedorn, Joseph, 300 Twenty-fourth street;
Halfen. Martin J., 876 Sheffield avenue; Halpiu, John J., 619 Blue Island avenue; Hamblin
Plumbing Co., 348 South Robey; Hamich, Peter H., 172 North Clark; Hamilton, Alexander,
350 State; Hamilton, Henry, 759 Sedgwick street; Hans, George, & Co., 785 Blue Island
avenue; Hans, Michael J., 311 West Twelfth street; Hardiu, Daniel, 217 Thirty- first street;
Hardin, John, 4539 Cottage Grove avenue; Hardin, Patrick K., 3521 State street; Harker,
H. W., & Co., 550 Lincoln avenue; Harvey, Thomas, 509 Thirty-ninth; Hayes, John R., 427
State street; Hennessy, E., & Co., 3251 State street; Herbert, Charles J., 100 Randolph street;
Herbst, William, 171 Milwaukee avenue; Herzog, Louis, 2230 Archer avenue; Hickey, An-
drew C., 69 South Clinton; Hills, George W., 680 West Van Buren; Hoffmeyer, August,
607 North Wood; Hofmann, George W., & Co., 57 South Green; Hogan, Joseph, 275 Fifth
avenue; Hogau, Walter J., 1063 North California avenue; Hois, Joseph, 609 West Twelfth
street; Home, Marshall, 5329 Lake avenue; Howard, Terrell & Co., 10 Center avenue.
Innes, T. & J., 1806 Wabash avenue; Irons, Alfred F., 467 Ogdeu avenue.
Jack, David T.. 882 West Lake; Jaeshke, Paul, 759 Clybourn avenue; Johnston, Will-
iam, 531 Sixty-fifth; Jordan, James F., 3129 Archer avenue; Juergeus, Charles E., 1274 West
Madison.
Kay, John B., 108 Twenty-third street; Keeney, John, 645 Blue Island avenue; Kelle-
her & Son, 3417 Union avenue; Kelley, Augustine, 25 Washington street; Kelly, Thomas, &
Bros., 75 Jackson street; Kendrick, Fred. J.. 3634 State street; Keppner, L. A., 57 Dear-
born street; Killeeu Bros., 3039 South Halsted; Kinney, Peter J., 87 Twenty-second; Kirk,
C. T., Ravenswood Park near Sunnyside avenue; Klahre, Henry, 88 North Clark; Klein,
Stephen, 666 Milwaukee avenue; Klentz, C. Frederick, 552 Elston avenue; Kostlevy, Charles,
218 West Eighteenth street; Kuhn, Frank N., 4111 State street; Kuhlnt, Adolph, 393 Gross
Park avenue; Kurz & Kretschmer, 379 West Eighteenth street.
Larson, G. A., 272 Fifty-seventh street, Latto, Thomas, 3124 Archer avenue; Lawder,
Alexander. 902 West Madison; Lavery, John F., 3643 Cottage Grove avenue; Lawrence,
Charles S., 1315 West Madison; Lea my, James M., 21 West Madison; Lear, Richard H., 3723
Cottage Grove avenue; Leuz, John, 86 Howe street; Levi & Miller, 509 South Canal; Levy,
Louis H., 4009 State; Livingston, S., & Son, 3213 State; Lothian, David, 75 North Wells;
Love & Leilwld, 535 South Halsted; Ludwig, John F., 497 Ogden avenue; Lyon & Lee,
6215 Wentworth avenue.
Mandable & DeVeney, 2306 Cottage Grove avenue; Markey, John, & Co., 2918 Cottage
Grove avenue; Martin, J. T., 215 Twenty -second; Marmedal, Athos E., 445 North Clark;
Mat hews, John T.. 3241 Cottage Grove avenue; Maypole, A. M., & Bro., 816 West Van
Buren; McCalx', Patrick H., 763 Racine avenue; McCourt, John, 3450 Indiana avenue; Mc-
Culloch. Rol>ert, 233 West Madison; McDermott & Kinsella, 5745 Weutworth avenue; Me-
46 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
Donald, Michael C., 383 Ogdeu avenue; McGarry, Peter B., 187 Washington; McGinley,
Charles, 164 Clark; McGinley, John J., 558 South Ashland avenue; McGinley, J. & Sons, 86
South Desplaines; McLaughlin, James J., 742 Forty-third; McMullen, Joseph J., 3441
South Halsted; Mertz, George J., 2208 Archer avenue; Metz, William, 342 Fifth avenue;
Miller, Anthony, Forty- third, southwest corner Atlantic; Miller, George, & Co., 1138 West
Lake; Miller, Robert C., 871 West North avenue; Miller, Robert M., 2518 Cottage
Grove avenue; Milne, John A., 1353 West Lake; Minzesheimer, M. F., & Co., 512 North
Clark; Mische, Adolph L., 127 Goethe; Mitchell Bros., 85 Forty-third; Molter & Kret-
schmer, 426 Division; Monahan, James, 1636 Thirty-seventh; Morau, John K., 1620
Wabash avenue; Morris Bros., 3442 South Halsted; Morrissey, Peter J., 417 South May;
Morrow, William B., 750 Forty-third street; Mose, Andrew K., 665 West North avenue;
Moylan, P., & Co., 2231 Cottage Grove avenue; Mozlau & Alcock, 101 Twenty-second; Mul-
doon, Edward J., 537 West Indiana; Muller, William J., 387 West Chicago avenue; Mund,
Herman, 2 Ambrose; Murphy, James C., 21 Blue Island avenue; Murphy & Voight, 345
Forty-third; Murray, Alexander W., 811 West Madison.
Nacey, Patrick, 339 Wabash avenue; Nash & Hama, 2216 Wabash avemie; Nash & Rea,
494 West Indiana; Negley Plumbing & Gas Fitting Co., 474 North Clark; Nelson & Ceder-
holm, 87 West Ohio; Newerburg & Reich, 874 North Halsted; Neustadt, Fred, 300 North
avenue; Neybert & Euphrat, 2969 Archer avenue.
O'Brien, James P., 293 West Indiana; O'Brien & Luder, 451 West Chicago avenue; Oli-
phant, Thomas A., 4438 Cottage Grove avenue; Oliphant, Walter M., 5 Aberdeen; Oliphant
& Liddell, 268 West Madison; Oliver, George, 313 Garfield boulevard; O'Malley, Joseph E.,
215 North Wells; O'Malley, Thomas J., 317 North Wells; O'Neill, Benjamin F., 752 West
Lake; Overend, George, 2618 Cottage Grove avenue.
Pagel, Albert C., 6746 Yale; Pattison, J. L. & Co., 297 Wabash avenue; Pedersen,
Engelbrecht, 119 West Indiana; Perdisatt, Patrick F., 29(X) State; Peters, John J., 211 North
Clark; Peterson, Charles, Storms avenue, northwest corner Seventy-third; Pfeifer, George,
Kensington avenue, near Front; Pickett, John, 341 Clark; Pietsch, Max B., 161 Southport
avenue; Pinter, Philip, 817 North Clark; Plumstead, James W., 5101 Atlantic; Powers,
Martin B., 3817 State; Powers, Richard J., 9, 90 La Salle; Probasco, R. P., Co., 26 Dearborn
street.
Quinn, Joseph J., 2543 South Halsted.
Rankin, W. & J., 453 West Madison; Redieske, Charles, 99 Clybourn avenue; Reedy,
John J., 3027 Cottage Grove avenue; Reilly Bros., 517 West Madison; Reinemann, E. J.,
North Clark, near South; Beuu Bros., 142 North Clark; Riord;m, Michael J., 527 West
Twelfth; Robertson, Robert, 844 West Harrison; Robinson, Ralph, 173 South Halsted;
Robinson, Thomas E., 566 South Halsted; Roche, James H., 210 Thirty-first; Rock, Thomas
F., 204 Blue Island avenue; Roderwald, Hugo, 510 Belmont avenue; Roderwald, Otto, 200
Clybourn avenue; Roland, John, 952 North Halsted; Rothschild, Jacob, 24 South Green;
Roughan, M. J., 25 Quincy; Rounds & McLogan, 527 State; Ruh, Frank J., 1204 Diversey;
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 47
Huh, Valentine, 548 North Wells; Kussell, Oliver F., 1111 West Lake; Rustman, William
H., 238 West Fourteenth; Ryan, Bart, 290 Dearborn; Ryan, M., & Bro., 421 Milwaukee
avenue; Ryan, William H., 18 Blue Island avenue.
Sanders, P., & Sons, 1314 Wabash avenue; Sauford, E. & T., 5238 State; Sattler, Joseph,
642 West Van Bureu; Scheuer, Joseph, 924 Lincoln avenue; Schmidt, Ira T., 145 Michigan;
Schmidt, William, 641 West Lake; Schmidt, Peter, 4928 State street; Schneider, A., 725
Sheffield avenue; Schram, H. B., 477 Garfield avenue; Schubot, Emil, 382 Clark and 561
South Canal; Schuster Bros., 234 North Clark; Schuster, Charles, 266 North Wells; Shannon,
John H., 273 Blue Island avenue; Shannon, William P., 42 North State; Shay, Dennis F., 9
North Desplaines; Shea, John J., 149 Forty-third street; Sheahau & Conlin, 60 South
Halsted; Sheehau, E., & Co., 220 Illinois; Sherman, Bennett & Co., 2515 South Halsted;
Sherman, George W., 4509 State; Sheville, James B., 5032 State; Sims', William, Sons, 556
West Madison; Sloan, M. C.,& Co., 8828 Commercial avenue; Somner, Alvin A., 80 Chicago
avenue; Straub, Max, 423 North Wells; Steiuer & McFarlane, 918 West Twenty-first;
Stewart, Ceramic C., 7, 325 Dearborn; Stewart, James, 6438 Wentworth avenue; Stokes,
George J., 232 West Randolph; Sullivan, John H., 328 Division; Swartz, John, 96 Plymouth
place; Sweet, Oliver P., 29 Forty-third street.
Terrell, W. F., 10 North Center avenue; Teutsch, John, 2961 Wentworth avenue; Thie-
len & Pinter, 271 North Clark; Thompson, Albert L., 9138 Erie avenue; Thompson, Henry
S., 201 Randolph; Thompson, William R., 85 Lake; Thomson, James P., 272 Fifty-fifth
street; Tierney, Dennis J.. 533 West Lake: Tipple, George, 689 Lincoln avenue; Tossell,
Richard, 5942 South Halsted; Tumalty, John W., 2251 Cottage Grove avenue.
Tiber, Charles, 524 West Eighteenth.
Verity, William S., 229 West Randolph.
Wade, J. J., & Son, 112 Dearborn; Waite, Frank, 25 Artesian avenue; Waldron & Bag-
got, 1072 West Twelfth; Walsh, David, 6754 South Chicago avenue; Walsh, James, 524 Og-
den avenue; Walsh, N. S., 48 West Adams; Walter, Charles, 403 Blue Island avenue; Wat-
son, Alexander H., 426 Milwaukee avenue ; Watson & Davidson, 45 Van Buren ; Watt, Archibald,
2523 State; Watt, Hugh, 300 Dearborn; Webber, Jacob G., 244 North Clark; Weber, Mathias.
477 Twenty-sixth; Webster, Crombie &Co.,924S Commercial avenue; Weisbach. August, 141
Center; Welch, James, 292 Blue Island avenue: Welch, John. 475 South Halsted and 1169
West Van Buren; Weller, Edmund, 3108 State; Weppener, John, 1381 North Clark; Wetzel,
Otto C., 31 Chicago avenue; Whelan, W., 2906 Archer avenue; Whiteford, David, 205 West
Madison and 372 W T est Randolph; Wilkie, John, 262 Ogden avenue; Wilkie, William, 705
West Madison; Wilks, E., & Co., 54 State: Willems. Peter, 254 North Clark; Willson &
Thompson, 173 Randolph; Wilson, William, 3907 Cottage Grove avenue; Wilson & Wilk,
1158 Milwaukee avenue; Winterburn, John H., 53 YSYst Van Buren; Wittick, John N., 7056
Cottage Grove avenue; Wixted & Gibson, 110, Thirty-ninth; Wolf, Peter, 39 Evanston
avenue; Woodley, William T., 366 Forty-fifth.
Young & Cavanah, 995 West Madison.
48 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
Henry W. Hamilton, who came here in 1856 or 1857, was a man not well remembered by
the Chicago plumbers of the present day. He was from a well-to-do family in Ireland, and
seemed out of place in the trade, at which he was a practical workman. He is remembered
as a fine-looking, dashing fellow. He was in business but a few years here when he went
south. At the outbreak of the war he entered the Southern army. In the vicissitudes of
war he was captured by the Northern forces, brought to Chicago as a prisoner of war, and
confined in Camp Douglas. After the misunderstanding had been settled, he went back to
Ireland, where, in Dublin, he married a lady of rank and fortune.
The plumbers of 1859 were: Beaten, William, 83 Washington; Booue, D. L., & Brown.
James; Bell & Irons (James Bell and James Irons), 143 South Wells; Dox, A. J.; Garvey,
Thomas, 59 J North Clark; Greeuebaum Sous (Michael, Jacob and Isaac Greenebaum), 240
Randolph; Hamilton, Henry W., 115 North Clark; Hughes, John, 51 Washington; Humphrey
& Murray (Thomas Humphrey and Alexander Murray), 56 Washington; James, William, 215
North Clark; Lawson, George, 123 South Wells; Hale & Hamblin, 171 West Madison; Ham-
ilton, Fuller & Co. (Edward Hamilton, Willard M. Fuller, John H. Kinney and Daniel Smith),
116 and 118 South Franklin; Hogaii & Wylie, 85 West Kandolph; Kenny, S. B.; McFarlaue,
R. D. ; Lyons, Andrew J., 157 South Clark; Maguire & Wolff (Terence Maguire and Lewis
Wolff), alley rear 75 Lake; McDonald & Hamblin (James McDonald and John J. Hamblin),
43 West Lake; Marks & Schuster (Nicholas Marks and Joseph Schuster), Cedar, near Green
Bay; McGee, John; Mills, John, 82 West Lake; Raffen, Alexander, & Son, 261 Wells, near Jack-
son; Rubel & Brother (Abraham and Isaac), 241 Lake and 183 South Canal; Ryan, J. C.;
Scanlan, Jeremiah; Meauy, Philip, 528 State; Van Schaack, Henry C., Jr., 177 Michigan.
Brass founding may be considered a sister trade. The relation between the plumber
and the brass founder is very close. It may be stated that about as much brass is used in
the plumbing business as there is of lead, consequently the advent of the first brass founder
in Chicago is of some importance. Owen Owens, when alive, related that when he came to
Chicago, in 1848, he found no representative of his craft in the city save a German named H.
W. Riucker, a bellmaker, and two brothers. Rincker had no shop, as his services were so
seldom in demand that a fixed place of business would have been a luxury. He afterward
had a foundry at 198 Randolph street.
Owen Owens, the pioneer of the plumbing-supply trade, was born in Wales in 1817.
At the age of twelve, after acquiring a rudimentary education, he was apprenticed to a brass-
founder in Liverpool. Upon the death of his father, he brought his mother and family to
Chicago in 1848. With him, from Liverpool, came Michael Nugent, and together they began
the manufacture of brass goods and anything else in a similar line. Among other things
they made four of the celebrated hand fire-engines which were, in use in the city until 1857.
at which date Mayor John Weutworth introduced the first steam fire-engine. Their shop
was located on a corner of Washington and Market streets, and was destroyed by fire in
1853, leaving both partners, practically, without funds. Owens went on a farm near Elgin,
111., and Nugent resurrected the business. In 1857 Owens returned from his agricultural
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 49
pursuits and purchased the brass foundry, which Michael Nugent had reestablished on the
lot adjoining the old site, from Mrs. Nugent, Mr. Nugent having died in the meantime. The
style of the firm became T. C. Smith & Co., and so continued until 1865, when Owens pur-
chased Smith's interest in the business. Soon after this he purchased a lot and a substantial
building at 226 Washington street, the present location, in the rear of which he built a work-
shop and foundry. In the great fire of 1871 these were all destroyed, entailing a loss of
$60,000. Owens was not to be discouraged, however, and immediately built a workshop and
foundry on the rear of his lot. Two years later he built the present building, hauling from
the river the water used in its erection himself. His business has been a very prosperous one,
and, looking back over forty years' life in Chicago, his memory could span nearly every im-
portant event in the city's history, and his books would have shown dealings with almost
every plumber who has ever started in business in Chicago. Mr. Owens died May 30, 1887
and the business is now conducted by his sons, Rotert and Joseph.
A. W. Murray read a historical sketch relating to early Chicago plumbing and sewerage,
prepared by President Young in November, 1883. Mr. Young said that, twenty-nine years ago
the waterworks of this city were located at the foot of Randolph street. The pipes extended
south as far as Twelfth street, those on Edina and Buffalo streets, now Third and Fourth avenues,
being of logs. The usual size of a pipe to supply the outdoor hydrant of a dwelling was
half an inch, and that could be strong or light, as the owner preferred. On the west side of
the river the pipes extended to Halsted street. At that time there was no sewerage system,
each building sewers ,to suit himself. The usual method was to extend a wooden box sewer
to the street, and terminate it in an empty hogshead under ground. The sanitary engineer
and sewer gas had not yet made their appearance. The closet then in use was the pan
closet with oval bowl and a good cistern. The soil pipe was made of honest lead, and as
the contract system had not come into vogue the work was honestly done. The cock in use
at that time was of the ground-in pattern. The boilers were of copper and made in the alley
just south of the Tremont house, by Wolff & Maguire. The copper was of good quality; the
steel boiler had not yet come into use. All manufactured articles for plumbers at that time
were of good quality, and the work was well done. The plumbing shops were those of John
Hughes, Alexander Raffen, Captain Lawson and R. D. McFarlane. As the ground on which
Chicago stood was spongy, the entire force of a shop was turned out when a tap was to be
made; the job done, the employer discharged the men for the day. The journeyman was
trusted and treated like a gentleman. He was a first- rate workman, as well as an open-
hearted man. His money and sympathy were freely tendered a brother out of work, or laid
up by sickness. Their favorite resort at that time was at the corner of Clark and Madison
streets, where they gathered evenings and Sundays, and, using the floor for a blackboard, laid
out runs of soil pipe, showing how the work was done and how it should be done "in fact,''
said Mr. Young, "more sanitary science was explained and argued than has been written upon
from that day to this. These very discussions sharpened the interest taken in their calling.
This is the reason that the journeyman of that time was master of his trade. The apprentice-
50 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
ship was five years, and there are quite a number among us who served that time. The boy
was proud of his boss and of his shop, and was ready to maintain the honor of his shop, under
any and all circumstances by force of arms, if necessary. It was also a matter of pride
with the bosses that their boys should turn out well, and when together they would do a
little bragging themselves.
" A quarter century of plumbing in Chicago," was the title of a historical paper, pre-
pared in 1888, by David Whiteford. Looking back to the days of Civil war, he relates that
the plumber was a manufacturer, his workshop a factory, and every man a maker of articles
from raw material that entered into the fitting up of buildings. The plumber made lead
traps, he made the S-trap, half-S and three-fourth S-traps from sheet lead cut to the proper
size and width, forming it into shape by beating the lead by a dresser, first making a drawing
on the bench with chalk, or working to a trap already made; this is the method that was
practiced by some in this city up to twenty-five years ago and even later. This is what was
called the hand-made trap, and probably the oldest trap, unless it is the D-trap.
The trap made on the mold was cut in strips from sheet lead half the diameter of the
size of the trap, formed to a semicircle and worked by the dresser in the neck of the trap
some distance up, laid on the mold and carefully beaten so the lead would neither stretch
nor buckle in the operation. When this was in shape it was cut to the mold, rasped, fitted,
soiled and shaved, and then soldered with a copper hatchet or straight bit. To make a fine
raised soldered seam on this trap was a fine piece of work. Workmen could always be found
in the shop during the working hours, engaged in making articles, such as service boxes for
water-closet tanks or cisterns, both names being synonymous, lining cisterns for the pan-
closet, lining bath tubs from sheet lead and zinc, chiefly zinc; also making up fine, artistically
designed "showers" for bath tubs. This shower was considered a masterpiece of work, and
on it the older apprentices were selected to try their hands. Great pride was taken by the
workmen to make the joints of solder look bright and clean. No bath tub was considered
complete without one of these showers. Another source of employment for the workmen in
the shop was the making of hydrants and street washers. The hydrant was made of wood,
8x4 inches, seven feet long; this was made by the carpenter and fitted by the plumber; almost
every house had a hydrant either in the front or back yard. The street washers were eight
inches square and four feet long, also made by the carpenter, sometimes by the plumber him-
self, and fitted up similarly to the hydrant.
In the year of the great fire (1871), when buildings began to rise where the old ones
formerly stood, great changes in plumbing methods were made. In the spring of 1872 the firm
of Culver, Page & Hoyne erected a building on Monroe street, between Clark and Dearborn
streets. Verity & Whiteford were doing the plumbing. "This was the first time,'' says Mr. White-
ford, " I had seen cast-iron soil pipe used in this city, wrought-iroii pipe not being thought of for
that purpose. These pipes were put together in a manner that would be impossible to leak sewer
gas. The method that was adopted I think a good one. We used oakiim for packing, soaked
in thick red lead and boiled oil. Three rounds of this oakum was driven into the joints, then
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 61
one round of dry oakum forced well into the hub of the pipe, and molten lead was run and
forced tightly in. This was the first soil pipe that I ever saw carried full sized through the
roof of a building for ventilation. The sewer pipe had no fresh-air inlet; they had not come
to its use in Chicago yet. I had put in the smaller pipes from the crown of water-closet traps
a quarter of a century ago, in this city. The purpose was not for ventilation, or to pre-
vent siphonage, but to keep the soil pipe from becoming air-bound; of course it was ventilation
in a small way. I will say in this connection that since the great tire in the city, lead soil
pipe has been gradually giving way to cast-iron soil pipe. Short pieces of lead soil pipe are
used now, only for lateral branches. The dangers arising from lead soil pipe are too well
known to require any remark. In an article published several years ago, I showed the danger
consequent from its use. The cities of the old world did use, and do use it to-day, with great
success. But, circumstances alter cases.
" The next reform or change in plumbing is the water-p loset. The introduction of the first
sanitary closet in Chicago was in the autumn of 187'2. This closet is now a question among
plumbers and our learned sanitary engineers, whether it is a sanitary closet or not. There is
a phase in this closet that is good, namely, the quantity of water used in every discharge.
This feature of its make-up scours the soil pipe, and drives the fecal matter into the main sewer
before it loses its momentum. The weak phase of this system is very bad. The larger
reservoir in connection with the closet bowl is a fouling place, as bad, or worse, than the pan-
closet. This first water-closet, I speak of, is the Sanks plunger closet, of Scotland. Those
closets were put in the Palmer house when it was built, in 1873. From this time onward we
may reckon, began the changes in the plumbing system. I can name a few of the closets
that were all the rage, but apparently have now run their race. The Jennings water-closet,
the Zane water-closet, and the rest of this class of closets are survivors, only because they have
improved the reservoir and made it a small size. The water-closets used and the methods of
construction up to the time of the Chicago fire, were three in number, the pan-cistern water-
closet, the pan-valve closet, the English and Philadelphia hopper closet. These three con-
stituted the pioneers.
" The pan-closet of twenty-five years ago was identical with the pan-closet of to-day. The
old pan cistern-closet was defective in structure in two particular things: First, the supply
pipe to the closet bowl was far too small for a proper flush; one-half inch pipe was not suffi-
cient. Second, the closet bowl, especially the French bowl, was defective in principle. The
swinging of the water around the bowl in a whirlpool-like shape was not enough to cleanse
the bowl nor remove the soil from the trap, or clean the trunk of the closet or wash out the
soil pipe. The oval water-closet bowl, with the lead or copper fan, is preferable to the round
French bowl. The force from the fan is greater, and washes all parts of the bowl. The cis-
tern pan-closet is not used in this city any more, and the pan-closet is fast following it. The
hopper water-closets are still in demand. They are used in basements of houses, under side-
walks and outdoors in yards. Some improvements have been made in fitting them up. The
earthenware hopper is taking the place of iron -enameled hopper, and is more desirable. The
52 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
water-closet trap, where there is no likelihood of its freezing, is located close up to the hopper.
The water-closet seats are made from hardwood, open all around and supported on cast-iron
legs. I have previously stated the introduction of the first so-called sanitary water-closet into
Chicago was the Shanks plunger closet. The next water-closet that appeared in this market
was the washout. This closet is of an entirely new principle to anything we have had here-
tofore; certainly, it is the hopper idea, but superior in many respects. I think Myers &
Sniffen, of New York, were the first to send them here, about 1877 or 1878, and they were
imported from either England or Scotland. From this time forward dates a new era in the
annals of plumbing in Chicago, with the introduction of the flush-rim hopper, of the long
and short pattern, of every shape and form: the siphon water-closet, so finely and scientifically
adjusted to nature's laws; the pedestal washout closet, with its siphon cistern, polished-brass
pipes and hardwood seats, marble and tile floors. With all the variety of water-closets, the
' arrangement of parts is similar in many respects.
" Traps are indispensable to sound plumbing, but especially the water-closet trap. The
water-closet traps, as now made, are of cast and of pressed lead, of cast-iron and of earthen-
ware. The lead traps are most commonly used. On all jobs where there is a pan-closet or
long hopper the lead trap is used entirely. The first lead trap, other than the hand and
mold-made traps from sheet lead, was the cast-lead trap. I think it must be about twenty
years since I first saw the cast-lead trap. The plumber had much fault to find with this trap
for two reasons: First, it was an innovation and violated the old accepted notion that it is
well to let good enough alone. It would also deprive the plumber of his birthright to be the
sole maker of traps. The plumber believed it was not only an intruder, but that it was not
fit to be used, and he was right to a certain extent. These traps were brittle and hard, and
a proper flange could not be turned over on them. There was also many a sand hole in these
traps. I can not say who was the inventor of this trap. There is a similar trap made at the
present time called the Lowe lead trap, a very good one. The next lead trap that appeared
in Chicago, about fifteen years ago, was the Dubois trap. I understand that a man of the
name of Cunningham had a prior invention, but I never knew what became of it. This trap is
pressed from molten lead, is round, smooth and even in bore and is very ductile.
" The improvement in traps and their introduction into market has been of inestimable
value to the public from a sanitary point of view. The dangers consequent upon the use of
the old style hand and mold-made trap are reduced to a minimum now. In practice the
plumber discovered the seam of the old-time hand and mold-made trap where the solder
joined the two edges together would decay and break away and leave an open space. Iron
soil pipe is used at the present in preference to lead. The method of joining the lead traps
to the sanitary tees is by ferrule. There are several ferrules now in the market. One of
these is a ring of iron forced or pressed inside of a lead pipe. The other is a ring of brass or
iron forced or pressed on the outside of a lead pipe. The last is a ferrule of cast brass,
soldered to the end of trap or lead pipe, and fastened into the soil pipe T or bend with oakum
and melted lead.
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 53
" The fitting up of soil and revent pipes presents problems of the greatest importance to
the plumber and the man who shall have to live near and use his work. The necessity for
the ventilation of the soil pipe is an outgrowth of the introduction of the new style of water-
closet, though it has always been a necessity to ventilate sewer and soil pipe. This is shown
by facts gathered from experience, yet who will say he knew the necessity before the advent
of sanitary fixtures ? It has come to be an established fact that a water-closet set on a line of
soil pipe without the pipe passing up and above the roof of the house and a revent pipe from
the crown of the water-closet trap, is considered not a good job of plumbing. Be this as it
may, it is a positive fact where there is more than one water-closet on a line of soil pipe it
must have atmosphere from some source, and the purer the source the better. The quantity
of water discharged, say six gallons, and it never ought to be less, to do the work effectually,
forms a plug of water in its descent, creating a partial vacuum in the soil pipe and removing
the water from the trap. The ventilating and reventilating of water-closet pipes prevents
siphonage of traps, and has come to stay until some new method shall be discovered.
. "The soil pipes that are put in buildings are cast iron. The revent pipes are sometimes
connected with the soil pipe above the highest fixture, and, once in a while, into a chimney-
flue. There is a system of wrought-iron soil pipe called the Durham system. The pipes are
put together by thread. As to this particular system I can not say much. The best author-
ities on wrought-iron pipe say that the life of cast iron is much longer than wrought iron.
The joints in cast- iron pipe can be made perfectly air and water-tight. If any change or
alteration is to be made, it can be much easier done with cast-iron than with wrought-iron
pipe.
"The washbasins in use for many years in this city were known as common overflow
basins. The washbasins now are known as the patent rubber-plug and the patent metal-
plug basin, the oval washbasin, and basins of various designs with center outlets and back
outlets. All of those basins cau befitted up with valve fixtures and many of them are. Cast-
iron washbasins and cast-iron enameled washbasins and portable stands and washbasins
combined of different shapes and sizes were much used for a good many years, especially in
stores and offices. This class of goods was never much in favor on account of the chipping
of the enamel from the iron. There was also another class of goods much iu vogue years
ago, I refer to the combined earthenware slab and basin, which was very good, but never be-
come popular because they were so easily broken and could not be made well to fit in bath-
rooms and recesses. The present method of fitting up washbasins of the different patterns
of earthenware is by setting a marble slab on the top of the basin. The marble slab is cut
and fitted for the niche or place, where it is to be set, and, instead of setting the basin, as
formerly, into a wood slab to support it iu place, the basin is now fastened to the slab by brass
clamps run in by lead. The common overflow basins previously had the lead overflow con-
nections made by putty. Now they are joined together with a rubber sleeve or connection.
The marble slabs are now sometimes set on brackets and no woodwork around or alxnit
them, and others are finished very Ix-autifully with hardwood and drawers underneath.
54 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO :
" The waste-pipe traps for washbasins that are very much used at the present time are
the Bowers' trap and Cudells' trap. The two traps are half traps made after the form of
the old bottle-trap and common S and half S-traps. There are many other kinds of
traps, but they are all verging on the principle of the common trap. Basin-traps are now
ventilated through the roof of the building or into another line of pipe. The basin-cocks are
much improved in style. The Fuller patent cocks, although invented twenty-eight years
since, it has only been within the past fifteen years that they have been used to any great ex-
tent. For a great many years after the invention of the Fuller cock, which is named after
the inventor who lived in Brooklyn, and had a small workshop and one or two men working
for him, it was next to an impossibility to get any of them in Chicago. I remember when work-
ing for John Hughes (a master plumber), in the year 1862, hearing him say when he wanted any
Fuller work he had to order it six months ahead. I think it was in the year 1878, the L.
Wolff Manufacturing Company purchased the right to make Fuller work in Chicago. It was
then, as the advertisement had it, " no more leaky cocks." The plumbers commenced to use
them by the thousands. To say that the Fuller cock is the best in the market, would be say-
ing too much, they are not durable by any means, and leak about as much as any of them.
I remember taking out ground-key work with the name of S. C. Smith & Company, Owens being
the company and successor, fifteen years after they had been put in, if the owner of the build-
ing's word was good for anything. Ground-key brass-work is the most durable and the l>est
work ever invented, if made of the right kind of brass. There is no water-hammer from
their use and consequently not so hard on the pipes as Fuller work. Compression brass- work
has been used in Chicago for a quarter of a century and some makers' work has given great
satisfaction.
"The methods of fitting up urinals has changed somewhat of late years. The urinal used
in Chicago extensively for many years in public buildings and saloons was a lead-lined trough
four feet and longer, made triaugler in shape, supplied with water through a perforated
pipe running its whole length and operated by a self-acting Hooper cock with foot treadle.
Sometimes urinals were washed out by a common stopcock and water let run a little all the
time. Cast-iron and euanieled-iron troughs were also used and fitted up similar to the lead
ones. The improvements in urinals are like the improvements in water-closets. The aim of
sanitarians for the last decade has been to reduce the dangers arising from foul places by
substituting better material, non-porous vessels, and devising a better water washout.
Earthenware has been in use for urinals for a long time, and nothing has been found to give
more universal satisfaction. There are many different shaped urinals of earthenware. The
flush rimmed lipped urinal and the others of the covered and flat-shaped pattern are supplied
through compression and self-acting cock, and periodical automatic flushing tanks of various
devices. The more recent improvement are marble stalls, they are principally fitted up in
hotels and public buildings. The water supply is kept constantly trickling through brass
pipes over the face of the marble backs, emptying into a marble gulley in the floor which
connects to the waste pipe. The waste pipes of urinals are vented in the best jobs.
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 55
"I will now note the changes in material and methods of fitting up bathtubs, as compared
to that of twenty-five years ago. There were no manufacturing establishments for the mak-
ing of bathtubs in Chicago until Louis Wolff commenced to make them years ago. Up to
this time all our copper tubs were brought here from the east, The other bathtubs that
were used in Chicago were made by the plumbers zinc and lead tubs. There is not so much
improvement in the shape of bathtubs as there is in the way of fitting them up, and the material
that they are made from. Had I to follow my feelings instead of my better judgment I would
say the lead-lined wood bathtub was the best ever used. It would last ages on ages where
made out of the proper thickness of lead. The surface of the lead is a little too rough for a
tirst-rate sanitary bathtub. There are now the Imperial porcelain bathtub and the cast-iron
painted and the cast-iron porcelain. These tubs have been introduced into Chicago of late
years by the J. L. Mott plumbers' supply house, and other houses of this kind. These
bathtubs, especially the Imperial, are very costly, and put only in the very best residence
houses and hospitals.
"The carpenter work done on these bathtubs consists of a hardwood cap on top of tub,
and is left open all around and set up from the floor on cast-iron legs or on wood blocks.
The water to the bath is supplied through combination silver or nickel-plated cocks, with
rubber tube and shower attachment, and Foley & McFarland's patent waste and overflow.
These patent wastes and overflows are only slight improvements on the bath waste and over-
flow the plumbers made thirty-three years ago from a piece of lead pipe, brass valve seat,
and cap fitting made to rest on the wood cap of the bathtub. The present arrangement of
fitting up these bathtubs, including the planished copper bathtubs, is much more healthful
and ornamental than formerly. The old method of connecting the waste pipes from bathtub
into the water-closet trap without a separate trap for the bathtub, is no longer considered by
plumbers a good sanitary job. The plan now followed by the progressive plumber is to have
a drum-trap for the bathtub alone, with the overflow of the bath and the waste from the
bottom of the bath entering separately into this drum-trap to stop any circulation of foul air
from the sides of waste or overflow pipes. The bath-tub trap has a separate vent pipe carried
through the roof of the building or into a vent flue or other stand pipe to prevent siphonage
when the water-closet is used, and also to ventilate the drum-trap itself.
"Galvanized iron kitchen boilers for hot water have taken the place of copper boilers.
The first galvanized boiler I ever saw was in this city about twenty years ago. It was not,
however, until about twelve years ago that they were used to any extent. Now they are put
in altogether. There is one advantage the galvanized boiler has over the copjjer boiler,
besides cheapness, namely, the thickness of the iron as compared to copper. The iron resists
the atmospheric pressure and does not collapse if there should exist in it a partial vacuum,
whereas the copper, as made, would collapse under the same conditions. Sink and laundry
tubs have undergone some changes, yet there has been nothing particularly new to offer to
the trade. Whatever was good in the shape of washtubs in the ]>ast \v;is high-priced and was
seldom used, even in fine residences, until the time sanitary plumbing and soiuid fixtures
were called for and their necessity became well known.
56 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO :
"Since the great Chicago tire (I have dated the changes in plumbing methods almost
entirely from that event) cast-iron sinks have taken the place of wood sinks in all classes of
buildings. The steel sink, pressed into shape and enameled, is something new; it is also
light, strong and clean. Galvanized and enameled cast-iron sinks are also much used now.
Wood sinks, lined with sheet copper, lead and zinc, belong to the past. The soapstone sink
can not be relied upon, as some of them, I have seen, after a few years' usage, get rough and
uneven. There are other good sinks in the market earthenware, concrete and composition.
The present method of putting up water supply pipes in the kitchen is by fastening boards
on the wall and screwing the pipes to the boards, which is much superior to running the pipes
in under the floors."
Reminiscences of old time plumbers by E. Baggot, written in September, 1891, deals
familiarly with ancient tradesmen and their methods. He says:
" Plumbing has become so closely identified with health, and the efforts to improve the
public health have been so rapidly increasing in their effectiveness, that it is not strange that
great advances should have been made in the art in response to demand of the people for
healthful habitations. Added to the anxiety on the part of the owner that his residence
should be free from sewer air, there has been and still exists a laudable desire on the part of
the plumber that his work should be as perfect as possible. These two desires have joined to
produce a great improvement in plumbing work and in sanitary fixtures. There has also been
a growth of public opinion in Chicago which has permitted the city health department to
maintain an inspection of plumbing which has been rigorous emragh to accomplish great
good, and all these causes combined have worked to produce a high grade of plumbing work.
" When one who is familiar with the early frontier days of Chicago, with the primitive
methods then in use for disposing of human excrement, steps into one of the magnificently
appointed buildings which now adorn its streets, and examines the complete and comparatively
perfect systems of disposal of waste products, he can see at a glance the great improvements
which have been made.
"Much of this great advance has been made, to be sure, in an artistic direction, and
marble slabs and nickel-plated fixtures have superseded the uncomfortable and unhygienic
inconveniences of that early time. But an advance quite as great, though not so readily
recognized by the unpracticed eye, has been made in the appliances themselves.
" Of course these sanitary improvements have been made gradually. Those who have been
familiar with the plumbing business will remember when the pan-closet represented the
best water-closet obtainable, and when we were not aware of the danger which accompanied
waste and soil pipes which were not run through the roof, or which were not trapped as fully
as they might have been. But I will say for the plumbers that they have never been back-
ward in making improvements in their work, and many of the improvements we now have are
the prodiicts of the ingenious inventing plumber, who recognized danger in faulty work and
sought to remove it by substituting an improved appliance.
" There have been very excellent and enterprising plumbers in Chicago, and the best work-
V :
\
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 57
men have coine here and after working for a few years as journeymen, have gone into business
for themselves and now stand as leaders in the trade. The pioneers in plumbing have nearly
all passed away. In 1846 the first public water supply was put in, and, as was to be expected,
the limited amount of plumbing done at first, was done by hardware men at that time in
business. Thomas George, at 201 Lake street, did most of the early plumbing, and in 1 849
among his apprentices was James S. Bassett, who is still in the plumbing business in Chicago.
Michael Greenebaum & Bro. were also early tinners and did plumbing, but these feeble
attempts ceased when the work increased, so that regular plumbers began to work in the city.
The first plumber to enter business in Chicago was Alexander Baffen, father of John T. Raffen,
who established himself at the corner of Canal and Lake streets in 1850. It was not until
1853 that Mr. Baffen had a competitor, when Henry L. Wilson went into busines at 161 Lake
street, with John Hughes as his practical man, and in later years his partner. With Wilson
also came Terence Maguire, who went into business for himself at 32 Lake street in 1853. It
was in 1855 when Ludwig Wolff formed a partnership with Maguire, with a shop in the alley
south of the Tremont House. Thus began the business career of a man who was founder of
the well-known plumbing supply house of the L. Wolff Manufacturing Company. B. D.
McFarlane was also one of the early plumbers of the city. In 1856 J. J. Hamblin (still in
business), and James McDonald appeared in Chicago, and for them worked as journey-
men many of the men who have since added honor to the trade in Chicago, including Daniel
J. Kock and Edward Bufton. In those days the plumber was a manufacturer of lead-traps,
tanks and other things, which are now much better and more cheaply made by machinery. It
was in 1872 when cast-iron soil pipe was first used in Chicago, and since then cast-iron and
wrought-iron soil pipe with screw joints have entirely displaced lead pipe. In water-closets
the old pan-closet found itself improved upon by the pan-valve closet and the English and
Philadelphia hopper-closets. Then followed the closets of the plunger type, then the wash-
out patterns, followed by the siphon closets so scientifically adjusted that they seem nearly
perfect in their action. Of the improvements made in ventilation of pipes and traps, and in
trapping fixtures and pipes I have no space to go into detail. It is only necessary to say that
the methods now in use are the results of the latest scientific investigations, and no improved
method of plumbing is now devised without being immediately communicated to the entire
trade of the country by the enterprising newspapers published in the interests of the trade.
"In the improvements of the sanitary conditions of Chicago, I would be remiss in my
duty and omit the performance of a pleasure, should I fail to mention some of the men to
whom I feel the building interests of Chicago are much indebted. Any city in the world
might be proud of such craftsmen and business men as J. J. Wade, M. J. Corboy, Alexander
Murray, David Whiteford. Thomas Conlin, William Bowden, D. and L. Bain. Oliphant A:
Liddell, T. C. Boyd, J. J. Hamblin, David J. Bock, Eobert Griffith, Patrick Nacey, J. J. Clark,
P. Sanders, Wandable & Davimey, Val. Ruh, A. Young, Hugh Watt, Peter Williams, P.
Becker & Bro., B. Coleman and Foskett & Brown, not to mention many of the younger
plumbers who are attracting favorable comment and attention by their excellent work."
58 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
The laundry tubs, like the sinks, were made from wood and are to-day much used in
that shape, though fast giving way to the porcelain, earthenware and concrete washtubs.
The sanitary arrangements of the waste pipes from washtubs are the same as all other classes
of fixtures, ventilated, by the same method as sinks and water-closets, through the roof of the
building or into some other pipe or flue. The traps of all fixtures are now located as close
to the receptacle as possible.
The trap seal began only in 1883 to take its proper place in public estimation. Prior to
that time the importance of the trap won attention from members of plumbing and sanitary
associations; but the plebian outsiders knew little or nothing of it, some going so far as to
style it a plumber's device for increasing the taxes of house owners. In those days the latest
immigrant learns the uses of the trap; but the word seal is seldom or never heard. Even the
plumbers permit the word trap to carry the whole onus of the apparatus. Without the seal
the trap is worse than useless; with it, it is the protector of the household from sewer gasses.
Architect Putnam, in 1888, contributed to the Sanitary News a paper "On water seals in
vented traps," which goes to the bottom of the subject: "It is evident that the air current
induced by the trap-vent pipe must produce a degree of evaporation on the water seal pro-
portionate to the rapidity, dryness and temperature of the current. But whether or not the
increased evaporation due thereto is sufficient to render the vent pipe a serious element of
danger has been the subject of very considerable dispute, and the differences of opinion have,
unfortunately, not always been expressed in the sober and impartial spirit its importance de-
serves. If it is found that vented traps are really liable to lose their seals in a few days or
weeks, while unvented traps are practically secure in this respect, the question of the desira-
bility of the trap vent becomes a very serious one, well worth investigating; for it often
happens that plumbing fixtures must be left in temporary disuse, as when, for instance, in
winter or summer hotels or residences, the rooms are, out of season, partially or wholly va-
cated, or in apartment houses or office buildings, when certain rooms are closed during change
of lease; or in schoolhouses during the months of vacation; or, in short, in any building, in
case of sickness, death or absence for travel or any cause. Under such circumstances it be-
comes necessary to appoint a special watchman to fill the traps at regular and siiitable inter-
vals. This practice has proved to be altogether unsatisfactory and unreliable. The vent
pipe becomes a greater source of danger than the trap. Instead of the watchdog it should
more properly be likened to the wolf quickly devouring the seal it was appointed to guard.
How now should experiments be conducted to give the absolutely satisfactory answer we de-
sire to this question? Only by using for our apparatus, plumbing pipes correctly laid under
ordinary conditions and for regular use in house drainage, and by repeating one experiment
under a sufficient variety of conditions to permit of the formulation of rules covering all. By
measuring the rapidity, temperature and moisture of the air current in the vent pipes in each
experiment, a very accurate estimate of the average rate of evaporation in buildings can be
obtained, and the relative effects of warm and cold flues.
" For the present our problem is to discover, not whether the vent pipe always occasions a
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 59
rapid destruction of the water-seal, but whether, under ordinary conditions, it is liable to do
so and to do it frequently enough to render its use dangerous and undesirable. The experi-
ments I am alwut to describe have been made exactly in the manner above recommended.
The first series was made in winter on the plumbing pipes of a Boston office building four
stories high above the basement. The main soil pipe was four inches in diameter and
extended from the cellar ceiling up through the roof, where it remained open as a head
vent. At the bottom the pipe ran horizontally fifty feet to the main house-trap, on the
inner side of which was the foot vent. The traps tested were ordinary oue-and-one-fourth
or one-and-oue-lialf inch cast-lead lavatory traps, vented at the crown, the vent pipes being
carried through the roof. One series of experiments was made on a cold vent pipe two and
four inches in diameter. Another upon a vent pipe which entered a heated flue ten feet
teyond the trap tested. In lx>th series the experiments were made on traps on the lower
floor, so that the ventilating current was obliged to traverse over thirty-five feet (in the first
series over fifty feet) of soil pipe before reaching the crowns of the traps on which the experi-
ments were made. Twenty feet of this soil pipe was kept constantly wet by the discharge of
four water-closets, two sinks and seven washbasins in daily use in the various occupied rooms
connected with it. The remainder was wet at the beginning of each experiment.
" A Casella anemometer was used to measure the velocity of the ventilated current mov-
ing in the cold flue, a small portion of the flue being cut out and a glass chamber holding the
anemometer being inserted to take its place. Thus in all our experiments the conditions were
the usual ones met with in ordinary plumbing, except that, inasmuch as our soil pipe was
kept constantly wet, the conditions were less favorable for evaporation than in houses which
are temporarily closed. Since in these the entire inner surfaces of the waste pipe traversed
by the ventilating current is at once dried by disuse, and all the energy of evaporation is
turned upon the seals of the traps. Hence, it may lie safely assumed that the average rate
of evaporation shown in our experiments would be exceeded rather than unequaled in prac-
tice. The experiments were made both in winter and in summer, and extending over several
months; they included a fair average of wet and dry weather.
"The experiments were as follows: (A) Experiments on evaporation produced by a cold
ventilating flue. A one-and-one-quarter-inch scant S-trap having a seal of four and five-
eighths inches deep attached to the end of the branch waste. A one-and-one-half-inch ven-
tilating pipe was taken from the one-and-one-quarter-inch ventilating flue. This flue passed
through two occupied offices (basement and first floor) whose temperature was maintained at
about fi8 degrees Fahrenheit, during the terms of the experiments, and through a chemical
labratory (second floor) whose temperature was maintained at about 60 degrees Fahrenheit.
For the remainder of its hight the flue passed through a cellar and stairways, whose temper-
ature was maintained at alxmt 45 degrees Fahrenheit. No artificial heat was applied to the flue.
" The velocity of the movement of the current of air was measured by the anemometer.
The daily rate of loss of seal by evaporation, and the velocity of the current in feet per
minute was obtained. The loss of seal averaged alxnit an eighth of an inch per diem. It
00 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
m
amounted to about a quarter of an inch the first clay, and gradually diminished as the level
of the water descended in the trap and the distance of its surface from the ventilating cur-
rent increased, to a little less than au eighth of an inch per diem. Hence an ordinary S-trap
having a one-and-one-half-inch or a oue-and-three-quarter-inch seal, would loose its seal in
from uiue to eleven days under these very ordinary conditions. The experiment was repeated
several times at different parts of the year, from the middle of December to the middle of
May, with substantially the same results. The same trap was now vented two inches below
the crown. The rate of evaporation was somewhat slower. This experiment was carried
on only eleven days, inasmuch as by this time one and one-half inches of the seal had l>een
destroyed, and the seal of ordinary machine-made S-traps does not exceed one and one-half or
one and three-quarters inches.
" A number of experiments were then made on S-traps un ventilated, but open at both
ends as is the case in practice. The loss of water was almost inappreciable, not exceeding
one-thirty-second or one-sixteenth of an inch in ten days. (B) Experiments on evaporation
produced by a heated ventilating flue, (a) A one-and-oue-half-inch trap having a seal three
and one-fourth inches deep tested. A one-aud-oue-half-inch wrought-iron gas pipe six
inches long connected the crown of the trap with a brick flue, 8x12, heated by a stove. The
average loss per diem exceeded one-third of au inch or exactly four-elevenths of an inch.
The smallest loss was one-eighth of au inch. The fixture side of the trap was closed during
the tests, (b) A second series of experiments was made with an ordinary one-and-one-half-
iiich cast-lead trap having a seal one and one-half inches deep. The trap was connected with
the heated flue at a point three inches beyond the crown. Four tests were made. The loss
of seal was much slower than in former tests, because of the distance of the mouth of the
vent pipe from the crown of the trap. The rate of evaporation, however, in these four tests
averaged one-seventh of an inch a day; the greatest loss in any day being three-eighths of an
inch. In all these experiments on evaporation it was found to make no material difference
in the results whether the fixture end of the trap was open or closed, showing that evapora-
tion at this point was inappreciable. In the experiments on evaporation with the cold ventil-
ating flue, in the first experiment with the vent at crown, the anemometer recorded an aver-
age rate of movement of the ventilating current, of ninety-four feet per minute.
"In the second test, with vent at crown, the average was eighty-five feet per minute, with
vent two inches from crown the average was one hundred and nine feet per minute. The
velocity of the current during the cold months of the year was quite uniform. In the sum-
mer months, however, it was exceedingly variable, sometimes equalling that of the cold sea-
sou, and sometimes ceasing entirely or even retrograding. In the cold months the relation
between the rapidity of evaporation and the velocity and dampness of the air-current was not
accurately determined, the rate of evaporation being quite uniform in spite of considerable
barometric fluctuation and change of velocity. But in summer a change of the conditions of
the atmosphere produced a very marked change in the rate of evaporation. On a few occa-
sions of damp or rainy weather in the summer months, where the cold brick Hue was used
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 61
without a ventilating cap on top, the seal actually gained slightly in depth, from condensa-
tion on the cold flue of the damp air of the soil pipe, or from an actual fall of rain or moist-
ure down the chimney. These accretions were, however, very rare, not occurring more than
three times in the whole duration of the experiments."
The experiments demonstrate that au S-trap of ordinary depth of seal, if vented to
the roof, will, when not used, lose its seal by evaporation in from nine to eleven days,
and that a similar trap, unvented but open at both ends, as is the case in practice, will
lose not exceeding one-thirty-second to one-sixteenth of an inch in ten days. Accepting
these data to be correct, the conclusion is inevitable that venting to the roof is indeed a
most untrustworthy practice. But these experiments equally demonstrate that if the con-
ditions of an unvented trap as regards evaporation can be maintained, and at the same
time the seal of the trap be protected against siphouage, then the simple S-trap of easy
curves and uniform calibre is incomparably better than any other. Siphonage can only
l>e prevented in this form of trap by the free admission of air on the sewer side of the
seal whenever a partial vacuum is formed in the pipe. This is now sought to be secured
by back vent pipes to the roof, but with disastrous results to the seal of the trap, by evap-
oration when not in use. But if the admission of air is limited by an automatic
device, to the requisites to prevent siphonage, then, during periods of disuse the con-
ditions would be identical with those of an unvented trap, so far as evaporation is con-
cerned. Hence an ordinary S-trap vented by such a device, would not lose its seal by
evaporation, when not used, in less than from eight to sixteen months, if Putnam's obser-
vations are founded on correct data. The want of such an appliance has long been recog-
nized, and numerous attempts have been made to produce a device that woidd success-
fully meet this requirement. One of the first of these that came to public notice, operated
by means of a hinged valve, with depending edges which dipped into a shallow channel
of water, while others relied upon the accuracy of mechanical closures of various forms,
but all alike failed of success until 1888, when one or more practical trap vents were brought
to the notice of plumljers. The work of Chicago inventors, within the last three years,
has presented to the public an opportunity to select one from many successful traps.
In June, 1888, the Sanitai-y News obtained from a few leading plumbers their views on
trap seals in untenanted houses. Replies were received from David Whiteford, J. J. Wade,
Martin Moylan, Tossell & Hendrick, P. K. Hardiu, Kelly Bros., L. H. Levy, John F.
Matthews and J. J. Coughlin. The first-named believed in the use of glycerine. It is itself
an antiseptic, and would IH> washed out clean the first flushing the fixtures got. Then it
would not evaporate if left a year, and frost would not interfere with it or the pipe in winter.
The cost would lie merely nominal, as glycerine is quoted in the list of chemicals at 20 @ 25
cents a pound. The second stated, "To prevent sewer gas from flowing through traps of
fixtures when the building is unoccupied in summer or winter, the water should l>e removed
from the trap, and salt, well packed, substituted. This forms a solid crust on the surface,
thus preventing sewer air from entering the apartments, and is a safe and sure remedy.
62 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
When the building is occupied again, the water is let run and the salt melts away without
any difficulty.'' The third answered, "The answers you will receive to your inquiry, 'what
to do with traps while not in use, or while house is closed,' will, I have no doubt, thoroughly
demonstrate the thoughtfulness and responsibility of the plumbing trade. I feel sure
this simple every-day question has l>een presented for the first time in all its importance by
the News to a great many readers. Your answers will show the necessity, I think, of keeping
up the a, b, c problems of the trade. I have used glycerine or oil in my practice." The
fourth was laconic, saying simply, " Turn off the supply pipes, and leave the traps full of
water." The fifth said, " I would turn the water off from the house and leave the traps filled;
then there would be no danger of siphonage, where the traps are well ventilated, as they are
in all modern plumbing." The sixth, "I would dry the closet and fill the l>owl with glycer-
ine, or a similar fluid, which would not evaporate." The seventh, "I would remove the closet
and solder a lead cap over the trap, in case no one was around to fill it. If the bathtub has
a connection with the closet, I would do the same." The eighth, "I would have a man fill
all the traps once a week with water. If the plumbing were properly done, there would )>e no
danger of gas escaping," and the ninth, " For fear of rats gnawing the pipes when thirsty,
or the pipes bursting, I would shut the water off, if the pipes were properly ventilated. If
convenient, I would have some one turn the water on once a week." Thus the question rested
and still rests, many Ixjlieving that whether in use or out of use, the trap seal is unable to
resist gas pressure in such a degree as to prevent ingress.
The plumbers of 1871-2, others than those named above, were Adams & Burke, 176 In-
diana; George Alles*, 463 Division; E. Baggot*, 132 Fifth avenue; G. J. Baker, 6 South Jeffer-
son; Biederman* & Bischoff, 320 Ohio; James Blow, 102 Harrison; H. W. Boettner, 471 South
Halsted; William Bowden*, northwest corner Archer avenue and State street; Boyd* &
Button, 146 State; Boyington & Edwards, 974 Wabash; Charles Breyer*, 87 North Halsted; M.
C. Brooks, 279 West Eaudolph; James Brown, 180 North Halsted; William Brown*, 349 Divis-
ion; Richard E. Burns, Cottage Grove and Twenty-third; John Byrne, 198 South Park; W.
S. Carpenter, 605 West Lake; Clark & Lyons, 1055 State; M. J. Condon, 354 Blue Island;
Council & Goolden, 53 Cottage Grove; William Craggs*, 35 West Adams; Danniells* & Brown,
453 South Canal; James Ferguson, 9 South Halsted; Gair & Hadfield, 133 La Salle; Jerry
Garvey*, 407 Twelfth street; Ginley & Co., 118 West Monroe; Watson, Griffith*, 51 North
Wells; Harper & Skinner, 190 Twenty-second street; Harth & Weppner, southwest corner
Chicago avenue and Wells; P. Harvey*, 449 State; G. Hauslein, 291 North avenue; Alexander
Hendry, 154 Eighteenth street; C. J. Hickey, northwest corner Kinzie and Dunn; Henry
Hoff, 190 North Wells; Joseph Hogan*, 132 West Madison; James Hussey, 305 North
avenue; Innes Bros.*, 422 West Van Buren; Kelly & Cashill, 426 West Twelfth ; Robert Kind,
265 Division; R. C. Kinney, 75 Dearborn; Lane* & Murphy, 143 Illinois; Thomas Lees. 931
North Clark; S. Livingstone*, 1473 State; Terence Maguire, 133 Michigan avenue; McCartney
& Hamblin, 461 West Madison; Thomas McKenna, 1200 State; Joseph McMullen*, 808 South
Herein 1879.
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 63
Halsted; John Mills*, 181) West Lake; Philip H. Murphy, 929 State; Murray & Son*, 318
West Eaudolph; P. Nacey*, 631 State; Oliphaut & Liddell*, 268 West Madison; J. L. Patti-
son & Co.*. 132 Lake; N. E. Peterson, 177 Twenty-second street; John Pickett*, 351 Clark;
George Powell, 103 Madison; John Powell*, 103 Randolph; Edmund Powers*, 388 Twenty-
second street; Patrick Eafferty, 226 La Salle: James Keid, 1223 State; D. J. Rock* & Dorgan,
76 North Clark; Valentine Ruh*, 548 North Wells; M. Ryan*, 324 Milwaukee; Sanders &
Bro.*, 564 State; Jerry Scanlan, 424 State; Bernard Schaefer, 391 North State; Thomas
Shatwell, 143 West Harrison; Sheehan & Drinkwater, 147 North Wells; W. S. Shepherd, 483
Wabash; Sloan & Graham, 190 North Wells; Charles Spayers, 193 West Harrison; William
Stell. 121 West Randolph; Stoneham & McCullough, 18 North Halsted; R. & J. Summers*, 375
Canal; W. S. Verity* & D. Whiteford*, 229 West Randolph; J. J. Wade*, 74 West Madison;
John Ward, 421 South Canal; Weir & Craig, 149 Archer avenue; Willems Bros.*, 256 North
Clark; Moses Williams, 707 Wabash.
The plumbers and gastitters of 1879, whose names do not appear in the lists of 1872
were Matthew Anderson, D. & L. Bain, Peter Becker, A. Bergeuer, John Blake, Patrick
Blake, Henry Boon, Breyer & Berney, C. J. Brooks & Co., Timothy Brosuan, W. C.
Brown, Ernst Bryen, J. J. Bufton, Michael Burke, D. W. Burns, H. Byrne & Co., James
Byrne, Ed. Campen. Ed. Carr, John A. Carroll, Chappell & Welber, William Coates, Coffey
Bros., Michael Conway, Curtin & McDouough, Daly & Matthews, Patrick Desmond, B. J.
Downey, Chester Drake, John W. Driscoll, John Dunn, Henry Fleming, John Gannon, Will-
iam F. Gay, George Giruey, Richard Graham, Robert Griffith, James Halleran, Halpin &
Kelly, Dan A. Hauley, Hartman & Deuniston, Thomas Havey, Edward Heuuessy, M. E.
Herbert & Bro., William Herpst. Andrew C. Hickey, T. P. Hughes, C. P. Hulbert, A. F. & J.
Irons, J. B. Kay, Thomas Kelly & Bros., J. Ketter & Son. Louis Kopp, C. Kostlevy, Theodore
Kraefft, Krakow & Sou, Gus. Kreischmer, John Lavery, William Lazievre, Alexander Leuder,
Louis Levy, William Lewis, W. F. Lothian, William Lutz, Matthews & Holt, T. J. McCarthy,
Alexander McDonald, James McGinley, McGinley Sous, S. McGraw, J. B. McKay, James
McLaughlin. R. M. Miller, James Mouahau, M. W. Moran, Martin Moylan, Hiram Mum?,
James C. Murphy, A. W. Murray, John Nelson, F. Neustadt, Edward O'Brien, James O'Brien,
Napoleon O'Brien, John P. Olson, Joseph O'Malley. Thomas O'Malley, Alfred Patterson,
Matthew Pitts, W. Raukiu. Rudolph J. Reetz, H. M. Reilly, Jr., Thomas Robinson, Joseph
P. Roche, Roche <k Hardiu, John G. Roland, George S. Ross, J. H. Roth, Ruehlman Bros.,
John T. Ryan, John Scaulon, Martin Schell, Peter Schmidt, A. J. Sherman, Michael C.
Sloan, George J. Stokes, P. J. Thieleu, W. & E. Thompson, George Tipple, Joseph Urban,
Charles Walter, A. H. Watson, Hugh Watt, John Watt, John Walsh, A. R. Wilson, John H.
Wiuterbury and Andrew Young.
In 1884 a committee of the PluuilxTs* association reported on the use of iron pipe for
house drainage. This committee could not recommend anything Ix-tter than the usual salt-
glazed sewer pipe, properly laid on a solid bottom and imbedded in Portland cement concrete
of a thickness not less than two inches. If the se\\ -i-r Ix'il is filled ground it should l>e thoroughly
Here in l$7fi.
04 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
rammed and made solid; this only applies to underground drainage. The committee further
recommended that no iron pipe for soil or ventilation be used unless coated inside and out-
side with tar, and that all vent pipes be flushed out with water at least once every six mouths
to prevent them filling with rust. The committee considered this necessary, especially where
offsets or tends are in vent pipes; also, that vent pipes be left as short as possible above the
roof, as that portion of the pipe generally freezes in winter and stops all ventilation. The
objectors to the opinion of the committee were many, among them being P. Havey. He was
not in favor of the use of sewer pipe, buried underground, but would use iron pipe, and have
it laid in a brick box, or hung on it's side, so that it might at all times be accessible. Original
defects, or those which resulted from use, could then be discovered in ten minutes at any
time. It was admitted that the joints of sewer pipe would crack, but no one could tell where
these defects were without digging up the entire length of drain. These remarks applied to
that part of the drainage within the house walls; outside, the laying must of course, conform
to the rules and regulations of the department of public works. If iron pipe rusted, it could
be seen, if laid as suggested, and could be replaced, but let such thickness of pipe te pre-
scribed that it would not te likely to rust out. Messrs. Bowdeu, Eoche, McGinley, Griffith
and others participated in this debate, and expressed themselves in consonance with the report.
C. W. Durham, who originated the use of wrought-irou pipe with steam-fitting joints
for house drainage, was formerly a resident of Chicago and a civil engineer of some reputa-
tion. He early gave his attention to sanitary engineering in all its branches, and, among
other things, invented a hot-air furnace, the principal aim in the construction of which was
to prevent the escape of gases into the house. He early noticed that house drains were
likely to become broken or misplaced by the uneven settling of the walls of a building, and
he conceived the idea of so constructing the system that it would be practically independent
of the building, so far as settling was concerned. He therefore rested the entire system of
pipes above ground upon an independent foundation, and, by using wrought-iron pipes with
screw joints, made it impossible for the pipes to be pulled apart at the joints, and thus pre-
vented the escape of gases. It is said that the patents cover this general method of construc-
tion, as well as the special fittings which have teen devised, and which are manufactured by
the company, or for the western states, by E. Baggot, of this city.
The discussion of traps is also receiving its share of attention. Modifications of existing
traps, as well as new forms of traps, are being put upon the market. The trap is, in one
sense, the base of all plumbing, and there is no one thing on which more ingenuity is being
exercised in its perfecting. A large advance has already been made, but there is still room
for improvement. Faucets and cocks of all kinds are being planned on new principles, and
nowhere is there a greater opportunity for inventive genius to display itself. The repair bill,
where many faucets are placed on the plumbing system, is no inconsiderable amount, and it
should be the aim and design of manufacturers of this line to make their goods in the most
lasting way possible.
Lead pipe and brass are the metals most prized by the plumbers, with iron pipe fore-
THE BUILDING INTKRK8T8. 65
ing its way toward popularity. Although lead, in many instances, has teen found in a
native state, it is more generally discovered as sulphuret of lead. This is known in com-
merce by the name of galena. Knight says lead was known in old times. "They sank
as lead in the mighty waters," is a part of the triumphant song of Miriam, 1491 B. C.
Job refers to its use for writing tablets, " An iron pen and lead." A work of Hesiod's was
preserved for many centuries scratched on leaden tablets. Iron, tin, and lead were enumer-
ated by Ezekiel as among the commercial objects of the Tyrian trips to Tarshish. The
Romans used sheet lead largely in making water pipes. Lead was probably the first metal
worked, because its ores are abundant in all countries, and it is frequently found at or near the
surface of the ground, fusing at so low a ternj>erature as six hundred and twelve degrees
Fahrenheit. The discovery of melted lead must have attracted the attention of the an-
cients at an early day, while building fires in the mineral districts. Ewbank relates
that the terraces of Nebuchadnezzar's hanging gardens were covered with sheets of lead,
soldered together to retain moisture in the soil. Archimedes used lead pipes to distribute
water by engines in the large ship built for Hiero. The plumbers of Pompeii used lead
pipes, for the Neapolitan government sold large quantities of lead pipes as old metal.
Plumbing is, therefore, no new art, but among the earliest of which there is any record.
Rolling or milling lead was invented by Thomas Hale in 1670.
A table of weights and strengths of leaden pipe was prepared a number of years ago by
B. B. French, civil engineer, of New York City. The figures in the table were determined
by actual test, and the experiments on each pattern of pipe were made in duplicate. The sec-
ond specimen was subjected for the space of ten minutes to one-quarter of the absolute or
bursting pressure of the first, on the supposition that within that time the alteration of its
structure, if any, would ensue. The pipe was then burst, and if its tenacity proved equal, or
nearly so, to the first proof, it was assumed that its strength was unimpared by the pressure
thus imposed and a safe working pressure was derived. As the gauge tased in the experi-
ments did not record below two hundred pounds pressure per square inch, pressure under
that amount was assumed. The strength of the oue-and-three-fourths-inch pipes were cal-
culated, as no pipes of that size were available for test when the experiments were made.
This table, we are informed, was never printed, though a limited number of lithograph copies
were made at the time. Owing to the diversity in the markings of pipes of different manu-
facture, we would caution our readers not to make comparisons on the basis of the pipe-
markings, but to compare according to weights and dimensions. It is to be regretted that
lead pipes are not made to conform to a common standard, but on comparing the above table
with the different current lists of the inanufactiirers, we find that it does not vary widely
from any of them. Some of the sizes are heavier than one manufacturer's and lighter than
another's. The list in the table, therefore, is as much entitled to be called a standard as any
of the several lists of the present day.
The presence of impurities affects the ductility and malleability very much. Common
impurities are oxide of lead, which is dissolved in small quantities while in a melted state,
66
INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO :
zinc, tin, antimony, etc. Lead has a very low tenacity. The tensile strength of lead is vari-
ously estimated at from one thousand four hundred pounds per square inch by Trautwiue,
and by authorities, as below : Cast, nineteen hundred and thirty pounds per square inch, by
D. K. Clark; sheet, twenty hundred and forty; pipe, twenty-two hundred and forty; pipe,
twenty-seven hundred and forty-five, by Box; pipe, thirty-three hundred, by Kankiue; pipe,
twenty-one hundred and ninety-nine, by Kirkaldy. Impurities, or small quantities of other
metals reduce the specific gravity, and have the tendency to make the lead harder, while
increasing the tensile strength generally, which, in pipes, is rather an advantage than other-
wise, if not carried to excess.
Number
of
Experiment.
Caliber.
4]
E
9
5
fl
i?
Exterior
Diameter.
Thickness.
Dlstentlmi of
proof.
Absolute
bursting
pressure.
Mean
bursting
pressure.
Safe
working
pressure.
la
>~~
. -5 4>
- *
r
Theoretical
value of P.
by formula.
1
^
2
I'....
3
0.2
2 ....
%
E
0.5
2'....
%
E
0.5
3 ....
%
AAA
1.12
0.75
0.18
03
1987 5
3' ....
4
%
%
AAA
AA
1.12
1.5
0.75
68
0.18
15
0.08
07
1950.
1610
1968.75
492.18
10275.15
1967.84
4' ....
fi
AA
1.5
0.68
0.15
05
1645
1627 5
406 875
8494 25
5 ....
\
A
1.2
0.64
0.13
0.05
1350.
5' ....
%
A
1.2
64
13
07
1412
1381
347 75
7259 91
6 ....
%
B
1.0
0.625
0.125
0.03
1330.
6'....
\
B
1.0
0.625
0.125
0.03
1355.
1342.5
335.625
7006.78
7 ....
^
C
0.14
0.60
0.11
05
1162 5
7'....
3 4
C
0.14
0.60
0.11
06
1212
1187 25
296 81
6196 45
8 .
*
10
55
087
07
1080
8'
3 i
10
55
087
05
1090
1085
271 25
5662 83
9 ..
*4
D
:;;;;
9'. ..
\
D
10 ....
\
0.9i<
0.5975
0.08
6.04
780.
10'....
%
0.9^
0.5975
0.08
05
770
775
193 75
2!>s6 96
11 ....
%
AAA
3.0
1.
0.25
1750
11'....
%
AAA
3.0
1.
0.25
08
1825
1787 5
446 875
5245 01
12 ....
%
2.8
0.95
0.225
09
1620
12' ....
K
2.8
95
0.225
09
1690
1655
413 75
4856 22
13 ....
\
AA
2.0
0.86
0.18
07
1425
13'....
%
AA
2.0
0.86
0.18
12
1362 5
1393 75
348 43
4089 55
14 ....
%
A
1.10
0.82
0.16
0.06
1230
14'....
A
1.10
0.82
0.16
03
1340
1285
321 25
3770 53
15
B
1 3
75
1 25
05
930
15'....
3
B
1.3
0.75
1.25
0.04
1030.
980.
245.
2875.58
16 ....
Q
C
1.0
0.70
0.10
09
790
16'....
a
C
1.0
0.70
0.10
0.07
775
782 5
195 625
2296 06
17 ....
tf
D
0.9
0.63
65
07
462 5
17'....
H
U
0.9
0.63
0.65
06
475
468 75
117 18
1375 35
18 ....
O
0.10
0.65
0.07
0.09
550
18'....
g
0.10
0.65
0.07
0.09
562.5
:!.)! . 25
139.0625
1632.18
19 ....
V
0.12
0.68
0.09
08
637 5
19'
H
12
68
09
do
613
625 25
156 31
1834 62
20 ....
s^
AAA
3.8
1.10
0.23
14
1510
20' ....
5 tt
AAA
3.8
1.10
0.23
13
15S7 5
1548.75
387.18
2908 94
21 ....
*
AA
2.12
1.06
0.21
0.10
1340
21'....
S 6
AA
2.12
1.08
0.21
10
1420
1380
345
2592 03
22 ....
%
A
2.8
1.
0.18
0.09
1115
22' ....
\
A
2.8
1.
0.18
12
1190
1152 ">
288 125
2164 68
23 ....
B
2.0
0.95
0.16
0.09
1000.
23' ....
H
B
2.0
0.95
0.16
0.08
975.
987.5
246.875
1S54.8
THE BUILDING INTERESTS.
67
Number
of
Kxperimeiit.
1 1
i
f
Kxterlor
Diameter.
Thickness.
Dlstentlon of
proof.
Absolute
burstliii;
pressurr.
.Mean
bursting
pressure.
Safe
working
pressure.
Equivalent
head in
feet.
Theoretical
value of P.
by formula.
24 ....
24'....
25 ....
25'....
26 ....
26'....
27 ....
27'....
28 ....
28'....
29 ....
29'....
30 ....
30'....
31 ....
31'....
32 ....
32'....
33 ....
33'....
34 ....
34'....
35 ....
35' ....
36 ....
36'....
37 ....
37'....
38 ....
38'....
39 ....
39'....
40 ...
40'....
41 ....
41'....
42 ....
42'....
43 ....
43' ....
44 ....
44'....
45 ....
45'....
46 ....
46'....
47 ....
47'....
48,....
48 ....
49 ....
49'....
50 ....
50 ....
51 ....
51-....
52 ....
....
53 ....
53' ....
54 ....
%
y,
96
%
%
*A
%
I
I
%
%
%
%
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
!
i
Ik
ik
ik
ik
1M
Ik
Ik
Ik
a
a
ik
ik
|
11
''..
i
iJi
g
D
D
T
E
AAA
AAA
AA
AA
A
A
B
B
C
C
D
D
E
E
AAA
AAA
AA
AA
A
A
B
B
C
C
D
D
E
AAA
AAA
AA
AA
A
A
B
B
C
C
D
D
E
E
1.7
1.7
1.4
1.4
0.86
0.86
0.84
0.84
1.17
1.17
0.10
0.10
0.11
0.07
0.09
0.09
785.
805.
680.
737.
795.
198.75
1493.29
708.5
177.125
1330.76
4.14
4.14
3.8
3.8
3.0
3.0
2.3
2.3
1.12
1.12
1.3
1.3
1.33
1.33
1.20
1.20
1.13
1.13
1.05
1.05
1.
1.
0.93
0.93
0.29
0.29
0.225
0.225
0.19
0.19
0.15
0.15
0.125
0.125
0.09
0.09
0.12
0.08
0.10
0.07
0.10
0.12
0.06
0.10
0.12
0.08
0.12
0.12
1450.
1475.
1200.
1250.
1145.
1000.
890.
840.
7!H).
775.
505.
505.
1462.5
365.625
1907.27
1225.
306.25
1597.54
1072.5
268.125
1398.66
865.
216.25
1128.06
782.5
195.625
1020.47
505.
126.25
658.58
6.0
6.0
4.8
4.8
4.0
4.0
3.4
3.4
2.8
2.8
2.4
2.4
2.0
2.0
1.8
1.8
6.12
6.12
5.12
5.12
4.11
4.11
3.11
3.11
3.0
3.0
2.8
2.8
2.4
2.4
2.0
2.0
8.0
8.0
7.0
7.0
6.4
(i.4
5.0
1.60
1.60
1.46
1.46
1.42
1.42
1.34
1.34
1.28
1.28
1.25
1.25
1.20
1.20
1.18
1.18
1.80
1.80
1.75
1.75
1.67
1.67
1.59
1.59
1.52
1.52
1.50
1.50
0.30
0.30
0.23
0.23
0.21
0.21
0.17
0.17
0.14
0.14
0.125
0.125
0.10
0.10
0.09
0.09
0.275
0.275
0.25
0.25
0.21
0.21
0.17
0.17
0.135
0.135
0.125
0.125
0.09
0.07
0.25
0.18
0.16
0.08
0.11
0.18
D.ia
0.15
0.14
0.18
0.17
0.14
0.20
0.19
0.20
0.18
0.07
0.18
0.12
0.09
0.12
0.14
0.14
0.15
0.15'
0.19
1220.
1240.
870.
950.
810.
905.
790.
700.
560.
565.
525 .
512.
47:. .
475.
320.
330.
937.5
987.5
885.
762.5
690.
680.
505.
587.5
415.
425.
375.
325.
1230.
307.5
902.28
910.
227.5
667.54
875.
214.375
629.03
745.
186.25
546.5
562.5
140.625
412.63
518.5
129.625
380.35
475.
118.75
348.44
325.
81.25
238.40
962.5
240.625
451.87
823.75
205.93
386.72
685.
171.25
321.59
546.25
136.56
256.45
420.
105.
297.18
350.
87.5
164.37
::::::::::
1.44
1.44
2.08
2.08
2.
2.
1.96
1.96
1.86
0.095
0.395
0.29
0.29
0.25
0.25
0.22
0.93
0.18
325.
320.
730.
755.
700.
700.
595.
662.r.
500.
0.11
0.20
0.14
0.16
0.16
0.22
0.15
0.90
322.5
8o.<>-2.->
151.48
AAA
AAA
AA
A A
A
A
B
742.5
185.625
242.04
700.
175.
228.1!)
628.7.-.
157.18
204. ill!
68
INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO :
Number
of
Kxperiment.
Caliber.
s
U.
B
9k
P
Exterior
Diameter.
Thickness.
Distention of
proof.
Absolute
bursting
pressure.
Mean
burst inn
pressure.
Safe
working
pressure.
Kqulvalent
head In
feet.
Theoretical
value of P.
by formula.
i
54' . .
55 . .
55'..
56 ..
56' . .
57 ..
57'..
58 . .
58' . .
59 . .
59'..
60 ..
60'..
01 ..
61'..
62 ..
62'..
63 . .
03'..
04 ..
04'..
05 ..
05' . .
00 ..
66'..
67 ..
07'..
08 ..
08'..
09 ..
69'..
70 ..
70'..
P
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
'2
2
2
2
2
2
B
C
C
D
D
5.0
4.4
4.4
3.8
3.8
3.0
3.0
2.0
2.0
8.8
8.8
6.7
0.7
5.0
5.0
4.0
4.0
3.10
3.10
10.11
10.11
8.14
8.14
7.0
7.0
6.0
6.0
5.0
5.0
4.0
4.0
3.0
1.86
1.80
1.80
1.78
1.78
1.74
1.74
0.18
0.15
0.15
0.14
0.14
0.12
0.12
0.19
0.24
0.20
0.21
0.23
0.34
0.28
512.5
445.
415.
506.25
126.56
165.02
430.
107.5
140.17
320.
260.
230.
315. 78.75
102.68
245.
01.25
79.86
E
E
AA
AA
A
A
B
B
C
C
D
D
AAA
AAA
AA
AA
A
A
B
B
C
C
D
D
Wa
ste.
2.12
2.12
2.04
2.04
2.
2.
2.00
2.60
2.50
2.50
2.42
2 42
2.38
2.38
2.32
2.32
2.18
2.18
Wa
r
110.24
111.36
464.97
93.35
89.43
373.40
0.125
0.125
0.30
0.30
0.25
0.25
0.21
0.21
0.19
0.19
0.16
0.16
0.09
0.09
ste.
0.23
0.14
0.15
0.13
0.25
0.25
0.14
0.26
0.27
0.16
0.13
0.08
0.22
325.
312.
610.
612.5
512.
510.
405.
405.
330.
340.
275.
245.
200.
. 200.
318.5
79.625
76.28
325.77
611.25
152.81
112.07
629.70
511.
127.75
93.69
405.
101.25
14.25
360. 90.
66.006
260.
65.
47.57
200.
50.
36.67
Latter days have developed a wide difference of opinion on the values of lead and iron
pipe for soil supply and waste purposes. Not only have their qualities of durability been
discussed, but also the relations of each to the true sanitary condition of buildings. Hugh
Watt, in June, 1890, maintained that should you ask the question of an old-time plumber, he
would say at once: "Lead; there is nothing like lead." In his practical experience of nearly
half a century (there were 110 sanitary engineers in those days to make out the plumber's
specifications), the plumber was allowed to use his own judgment in the weight of lead that
he thought was necessary for the particular job he had in hand. He would take the raw
material (pig lead), cast it into sheets, and then make the pipe for four-inch soil pipe, and
never thought of using anything lighter than eight or ten-pound lead; such pipe, when
properly put up, was good for thirty years at least. If they had known enough to have had
ventilation through the roof, it might have lasted much longer. Sewer gas was unknown
in those days, consequently ventilation was not thought of. As the wheels of progress rolled
along hydraulic pressure came into use, and deprived the plumber of his crack job of casting
sheet lead. Although very hard, laborious work, he did not like to give it up to be l>eateii by
that machine, but he soon had to acknowledge that the drawn pipe was much superior to the
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 6!
haiid-made pipe. If the manufacturers had kept up the proper weight it might have been
generally used to this day, but they tried to see how light they could make it, and destroyed
their trade. In 1 873 he had a block of buildings on the north side, and sent a load of soil
pipe to them. When he arrived at the buildings the plumber was trying to make an offset on
one of the lengths. The workman asked what kind of pipe this was which had been sent him.
Watt said he had ordered six-pound pipe as usual. When examined, it was found to be
impossible to make an offset of twelve inches on that pipe, so a foot was cut off, and it only
weighed four and one-half pounds. Ordering the pipe sent back to the factory, he went to
inquire what they meant by making such rubbish of pipe as that was. They said they had
a demand for it, and some of the plumljers wanted them to make it still lighter. He told
them they were taking a good way to ruin their trade, as the plumbers would be forced
against their will to adopt the cast-iron soil pipe. Cast iron had teen introduced quite a
number of years Ix-fore that, but the plumbers were slow to take hold of it. They did not
like the brittle stuff; the lead was so nice and smooth and pliable, they could bend it and
twist it to any shape they wanted, and thought there was nothing like lead. They did not
have so many nice iron 1 fittings in those days, and the plumbers had to do a great deal of
planning and scheming with the few fittings they had at hand. The iron-pipe manufacturers
were very apt to catch on and make any kind of fitting the plumber wanted, from a quarter
bend to a- ninety-degree curve, offsets from two-inch to sixteeu-iuch, Y's, half Y's, sanitary T's
of every description, so that any mechanic with very little head work can select such fittings
as he may need for the most difficult job he comes in contact with. The iron pipe makers
took a different course from the lead pipe men. Instead of making their pipe lighter they
doubled it in weight, and, making all the necessary fittings to correspond, have now a stand-
ard quality of pipe, which, if properly put up by a good, competent man, will stand a water
pressure of twenty-five or thirty pounds to the square inch. There is still one thing more
they ought to do, and some manufacturers are now doing it, that is, test the pipe by hydraulic
pressure before it leaves the foundry. It may cost a few cents a foot more for the pipe, but
the plumber, and the public at large, will lie benefited by having an article which, when
properly put up by a skillful mechanic, is good for at least half a century.
One change that was inaugurated comparatively recently was the system of exposed
pipes. While a few years ago it was the exception to leave the soil, supply pipes, taps and
other parts of the system exposed, this arrangement is now generally followed in new work
of the l)etter class. It is a very encouraging sign, too, this growing popularity of exposed
plumbing work, for it indicates a desire on the part of the public to have their work done in
an honest and substantial manner. There is no doubt that this improved style of plumbing
has come to stay, although it may undergo modifications, but people will never return to the
abandoned method of covering this part of the house equipment. Another noticeable fact in
connection with this general line of business is the increasing adoption of plumbing systems.
It was not so long ago that only the best city residences were plumlx-d. in the country dis-
tricts the primitive system of sanitation Ix-iug adhered to. Now, however, every year sees
70 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO :
plumbing systems introduced into smaller aiid more inexpensive classes of houses. All the
new low-cost cottages springing up around every city in the country are being supplied with
some simple plumbing system, while even the old houses are being renovated and equipped
with toilers, bathtubs, closet and basins. Along with this growth of public interest in san-
itary conveniences there has also come a demand for a higher class of goods. The old-fash-
ioned pan-closet went out of favor some years ago, and the number of new closets that are
being put upon the market show that perfection has not yet been reached, though many of
the minor objections to the early washout and siphon goods have been overcome. There is
also a demand for complicated bathing apparatus and baths, the luxury of which would have
tickled the fancy of a Komau emperor, are "now found in many private dwelling houses of
wealthy people. The habit of cleanliness is increasing among all classes, and bathtubs,
either portable or stationary, are being more and more generally introduced. The portable
tub is almost a novelty here, but it is meeting with a considerable demand in new parts of
the country where town water service has not been introduced.
The contract for the plumbing of the Calumet building was awarded to Foskett & Brown,
in April, 1884. The water-closets and urinals are on the top floor and in the basement only,
but these floors are easy of access by the two elevators which are kept constantly running.
Double-flush, trapped closets are used, their outlets all leading to a single soil pipe, six inches
in diameter, extending to and above the roof. At present, the upper end of the soil pipe is
surmounted by a cowl; but it has been suggested that this cowl be removed and the soil pipe
left open to secure more certain ventilation and prevent the closing of the pipe by freezing
of vapor. The soil pipe is placed in a perpendicular shaft about 3x12 feet in size, extending
from the basement to the roof; in this shaft are placed, also, the gas, steam and water pipes.
This shaft not only serves as a ventilator for the basement, carrying off the hot and impure
air, but, being warmed by the steam pipes, it tends to create a movement in the soil pipe,
thus helping to ventilate it. The waste pipes from the sinks and washbasins are trapped
with Bower's traps, and ventilated by a pipe ranging in size from one and a quarter to two
inches in diameter, and the pipes which ventilate them are carried up above the highest fix-
tures, where they enter the soil pipe. Similar wastes are provided in all the washbasins and
the sinks, and are made of four-pound lead, so shaped as to secure ready outflow. The very
best material is used in everything. The soil pipe is of cast iron with securely packed lead
joints. While the flush of the water-closets are automatic, that of the urinals are left entirely to
the control of the janitor. The main drain connects with the street sewer without an inter-
vening trap, but it is also connected with the huge smokestack of the building. The chim-
ney thus becomes not only a ventilator for the drain, but tor the street sewer as well. As the
fires in the furnaces of this building are expected never to cease burning, the experiment
may be as safe as it is certainly successful, while there is heat in the chimney. Horizontal
pipes are laid in gutters, made of four-pound lead, which are readily accessible through tin-
floors. The gas is supplied to the rooms on each floor, through separate meters, the meters
for each room being arranged in the halls. The heating is done by steam, direct radiation
coils being placed in each room.
THE BUILDINO INTERESTS. 71
The plumbing of the Rialto building was awarded to E. Baggot in August, 1885, at
$26,500. It was the largest contract for plumbing made here up to that date, and one of the
first calling for exposed pipes.
The contract for plumbing work in the new Board of Trade building was awarded to
Hugh Watt, in June 1884, for $19,000. Its essential requirements were:
The contractor is required to take a main supply pipe, of extra heavy cast iron, four-
inch, regular standard, such as the city of Chicago uses in its city mains. This pipe will
lie taken from the meter in front just through the curb wall, and extended through the
whole length of the building, or to such places as are required to take out branches for the
supply to the receiving tank for the lx>ilers, with a shutoff Fuller brass cock, one and
one-quarter inches, attached to a one-and-one-half-inch strong lead pipe. There will also
be a one-inch lead pipe leading to the cistern in the building and for the elevators. This
will also have a three-fourths-inch shutoff Fuller brass cock. From this main pipe there will
IK- a two-inch strong lead pipe for the supply of the basement, first and second stories;
also, a one-inch pipe will extend from the second to the third story, with a one-inch
branch of strong lead pipe in the basement, first and second stories; also a one-and-one-
half-inch supply for the supplies of the different closets shown on these floors. The
water-supply for the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth stories will be taken from
the tank over the pavilion on the west or Sherman street side of the office building, in a
two-inch strong lead pipe, and quarter-inch strong lead branches on the fifth, seventh and ninth
floors, leading to the several places for water-closets and basins where shown on the plans.
The fifth-floor branch will supply the fourth and fifth floors, the seventh-floor branch will
supply the sixth and seventh floors, and the ninth-floor branch will supply the eighth and
ninth floors. All branch supply pipes to basins must be one-half inch strong to each basin;
and for the nests of water-closets, three-quarters inches strong to each nest, with oue-half-inch
branches to each separate cistern for the closets, and each closet must have a separate cis-
tern. All the horizontal pipes must lie safe-lined with three-pound sheet lead covered with
;i sheet-zinc cap. All these safe-linings must have an outlet of one-inch light lead pipe
to the basement, without connection with the sewer, or soil pipe, or open waste. The basins
and water-closets alxrve the first floor will be underlined with three-pound sheet lead, and
the basin safe-waste may be connected with the pipe safe-waste on the same floors. The
waste from the water-closet safe-lining will have an independent two-inch iron waste pipe
to the basement, not connected with any soil pipe or sewer. The connection may l>e made
on each floor to a two-inch pipe water-closet safe-waste, as one set of the closets is located
directly over another in the office portion of the building. In putting in the supply pipes
from the mains on each floor, each set of water-closets must have a shutoff cock, so that
if the nests, or water-closets, are out of order, the supply can l>e shut off without affect-
ing either those above or below. The supply for the basins must have a shutoff for each
basin, separate, so that the other basins on the same floor may not be interfered with in case
of repairs Ix'incr required for any of them.
73 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
The washbasins are to be fourteen- inch, plain, heavy English ware. Those for the gen-
eral lavatory, in connection with the Board of Trade hall, will have Italian, counter-sunk, mar-
ble tops, one-and-one-half-inches thick with molded edge, and one inch thick molded edge
Italian marble, twenty-four inches wide for the backs. The top of the bowls, and the bottom
of the marble, must be ground together and thoroughly set with three brass clamps to each
bowl. This will be required for all other bowls in the building. Each and every bowl will
have Washburn & Moore's patent waste valve and trap connection, and vent above the trap,
connected with a pipe leading to the top of the building, except for the gents' lavatory on the
main hall floor, especially for the Board of Trade department, which will be conducted into the
main vent flue across the corrider by a four-inch cast-iron pipe. The vent and waste pipes for
the basins will be two-inch cast iron. The basin cocks will be self-acting and nickle plated.
All the waste and soil pipes will be extra heavy cast iron, thoroughly coated with two
coats of liquid asphaltum, and all the joints thoroughly calked with oakum, and then run
with lead and tamped positively tight. All the waste and soil pipes leading from the first
floor into the sub-basement will be suspended from the first floor beams, where they run
horizontally. The soil pipe leading from the main nest of closets, especially for the Board of
Trade, will be six inches, with branches cast on for connecting each separate closet; also, the
same size soil pipe from the series of water-closets on the east side of the office building up
to the fifth floor, and four inches from the fifth floor to the top and to the roof. The vent
from the soil pipe from the Board of Trade's closet proper will have a vent flue six inches
direct into the main ventilating shaft across the corridor. The vent from the bowl and from
above the trap must be four-inch iron each, and each carried into the main ventilating shaft
across the corridor. The vents from the flue, and from the top of the traps to all the water-
closets in the several floors, must be carried separately through the roof, and there terminate
witli a half bend about two feet above the roof.
The urinals for the main Board of Trade department will tie made with three-quarter -
iuch hammered-glass backs, two feet and four inches wide, and five feet high, screwed into the
backs, and the divisions will be one-aud-one-fourth-iuches Italian marble in the thick pro-
jection. The outer ends will be one-aud-one-half-iuch thick marble. All these divisions will
be grooved one-fourth of an inch deep, eighteen inches back from the front edge, to receive
the three- fourths- inch glass backs, and must have at least one inch of marble back on the
groove. There are to be oue-half-inch thick Italian marble Ixittoms set on and attached, to
drip to the lead trough; these bottoms will have the same width as the divisions, to rest in.
All these joints will lie set in the finest English Portland cement. The lead-lined trough will
l)e eight-pound sheet lead. The outlets of all these urinal troughs must have a four-inch
lead and iron trap at one end. The trap must have a screw cap on it for opening, as the
case may require, and each of the traps must )- ventilated at the top into the secretary's
private closet soil pipe. There are to l>e seven-eighths of an inch (inside measure) perfor-
ated brass pipes extending the whole length of the urinal hacks for a constant spray of water.
These perforated pipes will \ie carried by a three- fourths-inch brass burr cock at one end. All
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 73
exposed pipes in this room must lx- of brass. The urinals on the first floor will l)e made in
the same way throughout as the last described. The urinals for all the other floors will have
Bedfordshire earthen urinals 15xl8J inches, full backs, with projecting lip twelve inches;
these will all be attached to marble backs, seven-eighths inches thick, and the same hight as the
glass backs already mentioned, and capped with marble, and marble divisions, ends and lx>t-
toms, as already specified, only differing by having the tottoms counter-sunk one half inch
deep, and catching the drip. There will be no waste from these lx>ttoms. The earthen
urinals will l>e mounted with one-half inch brass supply pipes, and burnished-brass cocks,
self-acting. The waste from these urinals will lx> connected with the water-closet soil pipes,
and trapped with a two-inch iron or lead trap, and screw cap as before mentioned, and ven-
tilated above the trap. The waterclosets throughout the building will be the Inodora, all
earthen closets, with separate cistern for each, which will l>e protected by a fancy pole and
brass chain worked by opening and closing the door. The flushing pipe lietween the cistern
and flushing rim of the bowl will be one-and-one-fourth-iuch brass and brass-burnished
couplings, every part made in the most thorough manner, and the seats will rest on fancy
brass legs in front. The basement water-closets will Ix; self-acting enamel closets.
The plumbing system of the Tacoma consists of supplies, waste and ventilation pipes,
arranged generally on the Durham system of house drainage. All soil, waste and ventilation
pipes are of wrought iron, heavily coated with asphaltum inside and out, and all joints
screwed up. This is a general guarantee against sewer gas from leaky joints. The rain-
water on the roof of building is carried down inside in wrought-irou pipes, which are con-
nected with the sewerage system. Under the roof, at each down spout, is placed a gravel
basin which is readily accessible to the janitor of building. These gravel basins are of
wrought iron. The sewerage system of the building is also of iron, and wherever the sewer
is connected with the street sewer, a back water trap is inserted to guard against possible
backing up of the city sewers. The under side of asphaltum floor of basement is thoroughly
subdrained with open joint tile sewers which carry water to a large basin in the engiueroom,
from which it is raised by means of a siphon pump to the level of the first-story floor and
then allowed to flow into the sewer. Thus every precaution has been taken against flooding
from city sewers and surface water, rendering the basement absolutely dry and perfect. The
water-closets for the entire building, except stores, are located in the eleventh and twelfth
stories, the ladies' toiletroom being on the eleventh floor and the gentlemen's toiletroom on the
twelfth floor. There is also a toiletroom in the basement for the tise of the basement and
first-story stores. Thus all the difficult plumbing is massed and easily cared for. Each
store and office has a washbowl, supplied with hot and cold water throughout the year. All
the plumbing is open and accessible. Closets for the building are J. L. Mott's " Inodoro,"
supplied with tanks. The toiletrooms are finished in Italian marble, with closet divisions,
tank screens and floors of marble. The seats and doors, tx>ing the only woodwork in the
rooms, are of oak.
The plumbing of the Auditorium was awarded to Potts & Esch for $94.00(1, in August,
74 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
1888, and the same month commenced the work of piping for steam, illuminating gas, fuel
gas, hot and cold water, soil, waste and ventilation. There were five bidders, the highest
being $104,(HX). The specifications for this work are instructive in every particular. Noth-
ing appears to \te> overlooked, and in the ensemble everything connected with first-class
plumbing is noticed. The specifications are as follows: "The contractor shall furnish all
labor and material and complete and construct in good, firm, substantial and workmanlike
manner, the sewers, drains, catch-basins and their appurtenances, and all the piping for cold
and hot-water supplies, waste and ventilation of waste, and the plumbing fixtures, and all
appurtenances, making the system of water supply, use and waste, complete and ready for
use, and all piping and appurtenances for the gas supply in the manner shown upon the plan,
and set forth in the following specifications:
Material. All material used in this work shall be the l>est of its kind. All pipe shall
l>e of the inside diameter shown. Cast-iron pipe shall l>e light gas pipe, cast on end in
lengths of twelve (12) feet, and smooth inside with inner and outer surfaces concentric, sound
and free from defects. The average weight per foot for each pipe, including bell, shall not
be less than the following: Eight-inch pipe, thirty-seven pounds per foot; six-inch, twenty-
five; five-inch, twenty-one; four- inch, seventeen; three-inch, twelve and one-half; two-inch,
nine and one-half.
The pipe shall be of iron which will cut well, and any pipe cracked in cutting or other-
wise, shall be at once removed from the building and shall not be used in any part of this
work. Fittings for cast-iron pipe shall be specially made for drainage purposes of the same
internal diameter as the pipe with which they are used and of equal quality; these include
curves or bends, ellx>ws, traps, Y-branches, etc., and where shown shall have handholes with
cast-iron covers packed and bolted, or screw plugs as may be directed, and those receiving
risers shall have a proper shoe cast on them. Fittings for junction of wrought and cast-iron
pipe shall te cut at one end with a full thread to receive the wrought-iron pipe. All cast-iron
pipe fittings shall lie thoroughly coated inside and outside while hot, with coal-tar varnish.
Clay pipe shall be hard burned or vitrified salt-glazed pipe with sockets, and equal in quality
to the Standard Akron Ohio pipe, straight and sound with smooth internal surface and circu-
lar concentric section. Drain tile shall be hard burned unglazed straight tile. Brick shall
l>e hard burned sewer brick free from lime, and shall lie thoroughly wet before being used.
Natural cement shall be Utica, Blackball, or one equal in quality, satisfactory to the
architects. Portland cement shall be best English or German Portland. Siind shall be clean,
sharp sand. Lead shall be pig lead of good quality for calking. Gaskin shall l>e made of
old roj>e yarn. Mortar for pipelaying shall !* made of one part natural cement and one
part sand. Mortar for bricklaying shall be made of one part natural cement and two parts
sand. Portland land cement mortar shall be made of one part Portland cement and three
parts sand. Portland cement concrete shall IR> made of one part Portland cement mortar
and three parts broken stone, thoroughly mixed. The parts of cement and sand shall be by
measure. The cement and sand shall l>e mixed dry, and only sufficient water shall he added
Fig. 1
GRADE
,';': v.i' , Sand and
: :V:v/.' : Made Up Ground
ffV.: 8 to 1 2 feet.
BLUE MUCK
5^ About 50 feet
'/'/.' ' V ' * " T* */^ *
ffl'-Rffi&W HARD PAN
^' 3 to 6 feet.
1
rig - 3
\
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 1O
Fig. 11
A
Fig. 12
Fig. 13
CLAY
;^
$S
BLUE
^MUCK
%&
BUItDI^S FOU.\Die\S OF TJIK
TEE BUILDING INTERESTS. 75
to make an easy working mortar when thoroughly worked. Mortar shall be mixed fresh for
the work in hand, and any mortar which shall have set or become hard in the box shall be
thrown out and shall not be used in the work. Broken stone shall be clean, and broken to
pass through a oiie-and-oiie-half inch ring. Gravel shall l>e fine, free from sand or dirt.
Boards shall l>e common pine.
Street connections. The stubs are laid into the curb-line, and this contractor shall
excavate for them, clean and examine them, and, upon order of the architects, shall connect
with the same.
System. The sewers shall l>e of iron, in part laid in the ground below the basement
floor, and in part suspended to the floor beams of the first story as near the ceiling as prac-
ticable.
Excavations. This contractor shall excavate for the sewers to be laid in the gr,own*l,
open trenches not less than two feet wide in the bottom, and for the surface drains not tfefes^iS'*
\4 l^"
than four inches wider than the boxes, and truly to line and grade. A line shalVJHtttwed to
mark out the trenches, and there shall be no variation from the 'plan except on order of the
architect. After refilling the trenches the surplus earth, if any remain, shall l>e removed
from the building by this contractor.
All sewers laid in the ground shall be of cast-iron pipe. The cast-iron sewer shall be
connected to the street connections by inserting it at least eighteen inches into the sewer pipe
and rilling the space between the iron and vitrified pipe with Portland cement mortar. In
case the iron pipe will not enter the clay pipe, the joint shall be made at least eighteen inches
in the curb wall; the entire hole in the wall shall then be filled under and over both pipes
with Portland cement concrete rammed in place. From this point the sewer shall be laid
true to line and grade, rising one-fourth inch in one-foot length, or, as ordered by the archi-
tects, using fittings indicated and shown. Where risers are shown to connect, the top of the
fitting shall be set at the level of the basement floor, and the fitting shall be seated upon or
firmly clamped to the adjacent foundation wall or stone. Each pipe or fitting shall be laid
on a solid bed of dry earth or sand under its entire length, and with a proper bell hole at
each joint. Any deflection in line shall be with a proper curved fitting, and all branches shall
be joined with a Y-branch. The sewer shall be kept truly in line and grade. The joints
shall be tightly calked with hemp gaskin, leaving not less than one and one-half inches depth
of lead room. The inside of the joint shall be examined, and if not smooth shall be made so.
A clay roll shall be used to make the joints, and it shall be so put on as to allow a suflicient
excess of lead that the joint when calked shall finish flush with the end of the bell. No
asbestos roll shall be used. The joint shall then be nin full of molten lead at one pouring, if
it does not fill perfectly it shall be cut out and repoured. The joint shall be examined and if
any lead has run through it shall be removed and the inside of the pipe left smooth. The
joint shall be thoroughly calked with a proper calking tool and a two and one-half pound
hammer. No lead shall be cut off until the calking has been carried all around the pipe, the
lead shall then be trimmed and finished smooth and flush with the end of the bell. All
78 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
openings for risers or connections shall be closed with iron plugs or flanges until used, and all
handholes shall be closed at once and the sewer kept clean. Any dirt which may get in shall
be removed by this contractor.
Backfilling. As fast as the pipe is laid, dry earth or sand shall be rammed in place at
the sides of the pipe, leaving the joints and top of the pipe exposed until tested as hereinafter
specified. After testing the trenches shall be filled, in layers not more than nine inches
thick with sand or dry earth. Each layer shall be thoroughly rammed with an iron rammer.
Catch-basins shall be built in the boilerrooms where shown, four feet inside diameter
and four feet deep in the clear below top of finished floor. They shall be built with three
flat courses of brick in the bottom and three rings of brick in the wall, each ring laid from
bottom to top with a sweep from a center pin. The sweep shall be cut to allow one-half inch
plaster and one-half inch collar joint between the rings. Portland cement mortar shall be
used. A flat course shall be first laid in mortar in the bottom with full joints, and upon this
the outer ring of brick shall be started and carried up seven courses. The joints shall be
kept full and the back of the wall shall be plastered and filled in with sand lightly tamped.
The bottom and wall shall then be plastered inside with one-half inch of mortar and the
second flat course of brick shall then be laid in mortar with fidl joints, and the second ring
of brick shall be started and carried up four courses, keeping the cellar joint full. This
bottom and wall shall then be plastered as before, and the third flat course in the bottom be
laid in as before, and the inner ring of wall be started. The rings shall then be carried up
in the order started, with not less than two courses difference in the hight, and each of the
outer rings plastered as before, and the joints kept full. Plaster and filling at the back to be
kept up with the outer ring, as before specified. No headers shall be used in the wall except
in the top three courses. Half brick shall be used in building the rings in the wall. Bottom
boards shall be used to stand on while building the basin. The basin shall be cleaned out,
the center pin drawn and the hole carefully filled with mortar rammed in, and the joints in the
bottom and wall shall be scraped out and pointed up with mortar struck smooth. The basin
shall be covered with a flag-stone five feet square and four inches thick set in mortar at the
level of the finished floor, and with a counter-sunk iron ring and lid eighteen inches clear
diameter.
Manholes. Rectangular manholes shall be built where shown with eight-inch walls
laid in natural cement mortar, inside measurement two feet six inches by three feet, with two
flat courses of brick in the bottom. The inside joints shall be pointed and struck as before
specified. These manholes shall be finished at the level of finished floor with cast-iron
frame and lid thirty inches square inside, bolted to the brick work with six counter-sunk bolts
in each.
Flanged pipe. Where ejectors are shown the pipe shall finish with a oast-iron flange of
twelve inches in diameter.
Suspended sewers. The suspended sewers in tin- basement shall be of wrought-iron
pipe hung to the beams of the first floor. The points of suspension shall be not more than
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 77
twelve feet apart. As regards line, grade and the use of fittings they shall be built as speci-
fied for cast-iron pipe sewer. The joints and fittings shall be as hereinafter specified for
risers and branches in the waste-water system.
Testing. When the sewers are completed this contractor shall set up a stand pipe on
one of the openings for risers on each section, and shall close all other openings and stop the
sewer at the trap, and fill the same with water to the level of the second floor. If any leak
shall show in the pipe or joints, he shall make the same tight and repeat the test. He shall
not be entitled to demand or receive payment for this work, nor shall the final certificate-
issue until the same shall be made tight as contemplated herein. If so ordered by the archi-
tect the sections shall be subdivided and tested. After this test the back filling shall be
completed as hereinbefore specified.
Surface drains. Surface drains shall be laid of the size and on the lines shown in
plan. They shall be set in boxes in the trenches and the boxes and trenches shall be
filled to the bottom of the concrete floor with gravel or broken stone. The boxes shall be
made of sixteen-foot pine boards; the bottom nailed to the sides projecting eight inches
at one end. The corners of the boxes shall be notched through. The boxes shall be not
less than one inch wider inside in the clear and one inch higher than the outside diameter
of the pipe with which they are used. Each box shall be set in the trench as directed, on
a solid bed for its entire length, and with the projecting sides of one box resting upon
the projecting bottom of the preceding. The drain tile shall be strung upon a straight
pole with stop near one end and ten feet four inches long beyond the stop. The pipe
shall be turned to make as close joints as possible, and each joint shall be wrapped around
with a piece of tarred roofing felt, lapping by and securely tied on each side of the joint
in a square knot with linen twine. The pipe shall then be set in a box with the pro-
jecting end of the pole inserted into the preceding pipe, and that joint shall be covered
with roofing felt and the pipe shall be held closely up in place centrally in the box and
filled around and to the top of the lx>x with fine gravel; the pole shall then be withdrawn
and the trench at the sides of the box and to the top, as before specified, shall be filled
with broken stone. All drain tile shall be laid in this manner: Where shown surface
basins shall be built four inches thick of brick standing on end, and with one flat course
in the l>ottom, they shall finish nineteen inches inside diameter and sixteen inches deep
and shall be covered at the level of the finished floor with a cast-iron ring and lid eighteen
inches inside diameter. The main drain shall be laid at such grade as directed, in the
same manner as the foregoing, and the connecting basins shown shall be three feet inside
diameter with two flat courses in the bottom laid with the top six inches below the bottom
of the drain. The walls shall be eight inches thick drawn in to nineteen inches inside
diameter at the top. Corbeling to be done in the top six courses, which shall be headers.
These basins shall be finished at the floor level, with iron ring and lid, as before. The
brickwork in the surface and connecting basins shall be laid in natural cement mortar. At
the connecting basin where junction is made with the iron pipe to ejectors the connecting
78 INDUSTRIAL OHIO AGO:
drains shall each be fitted with a back-water flap valve firmly secured in place. The broken
stone filling shall be finished evenly at the specified level, and shall be covered by this con-
tractor with inch boards secured to stakes driven on each side of the trench, and he shall
maintain this protection until the laying of the concrete floor, and shall make good any dam-
age which shall arise from his neglect so to do.
General description. There will be two independent systems of water-supply, one
for the hotel and one for the office building and auditorium, each to furnish both hot and
cold water. City pressure shall be used to supply the basement, first and second floors with
cold water, except in dressingrooms of stage. The cold-water supply for all other floors,
including the tower, shall be taken from tanks-located as shown. The hot-water supply for
all floors, except the basement, shall be taken from the house tanks.
Tanks. The surge tanks in the basement and the house tanks in the roof spaces and on
the fourteenth floor will Ixj furnished and set by owner, and will te provided with proper
flanged openings ready to receive the plumber's connections.
Street connections. The connection to the water main in the street will l>e laid in by
the owner to the curb line. The owner will also set the meters and make the cpnnection from
the curb line to the surge tanks. The owner will also furnish and set the connections from
the surge tanks to the house tanks.
Material. All material used in this work shall be the best of its kind. Wrought- iron
pipe shall te standard, except in connections from tower to basement for water supply, it
shall be extra strong; and in all sizes above one-and-one-fourth-inch diameter, shall be lap-
welded. When used for water supply it shall be galvanized pipe. For waste and ventilat-
ing pipes it shall be black pipe coated inside and outside while hot with coal-tar varnish.
All this pipe shall be cut with full threads, and when used for waste or ventilating pipes
shall be cut to a gauge. Fittings for waste pipes shall l>e specially made for this purpose of
cast-iron of the same inside diameter as the pipe with which they are used, with full threads
cut in a lathe to the same gauge as the pipe. Graded fittings shall have the grade cast In
them. Fittings for ventilating pipe shall l>e of cast iron, cut with full threads, and all of
greater diameter than two inches cut to a gauge. All fittings for waste and ventilating pipes
shall be thoroughly coated inside and outside, while hot, with coal-tar varnish. Fittings for
wrought-iron pipe used in water supply shall be of malleable iron, cut with full threads.
Brass pipe and fittings for same where exposed shall be nickel plated. Lead pipe used in
the basement, first, second, eighth, ninth, tenth, thirteenth, fourteenth, fifteenth, sixteenth
and seventeenth stories, for water connections, shall lie strong pipe, weighing for one-lialf-
inch pipe, one pound twelve ounces per lineal foot; five-eighths-inch pipe, two pounds eight
ounces per lineal foot; three-fourths-inch pipe, three pounds per lineal foot. And in the re-
maining stories it shall be extra strong pipe, weighing for one-half-inch pipe, two pounds
eight ounces per lineal foot; five-eighths-inch pipe, three pounds per lineal foot; three-fourths-
inch pipe, three pounds eight ounces per lineal foot. For waste and ventilating connections
light lead pipe shall be used, weighing for one-and -one- fourth -inch pipe, three pounds per
TUB BUILDING INTERESTS. 79
foot; one-and-oue-half-inch pipe, four jxrands per foot; two-inch pipe, live pounds per foot;
All pipe and fittings shall be of the inside diameter specified or marked on the plans.
Sheet lead for sating and for flashing shall weigh four pounds to the square foot. All
brackets, clamps or hangers shall be of wrought iron and constructed to the satisfaction of
the architects.
Joints. Joints in and to wrought-iron pipe and fittings shall be made with threads
fully coated with red lead and oil or tar varnish as will at the proper time be ordered by the
architects, and screwed home with proper tongs or wrenches. Joints in lead pipe, or of lead
pipe to brass fittings, shall be made of solder, neatly wiped. All joints shall be finished
smooth inside.
Carpenter work.^All carpenter work for the troughs, gutters and safes, hereinafter speci-
fied, and all necessary for grounds, supports, etc., in setting the fixtures and marble included
in this specification shall be done by this contractor, and he shall employ skilled workmen to
do the same.
Risers and branches. All risers and brandies for soil, waste or ventilation shall be of
wrought-iron pipe, and shall be connected as shown to the sewerage system in the basement.
All connections through which water is to run shall be made with Y's, and these Y's, or the
elbows used to change from vertical to horizontal runs, or to receive water-closets or slop
sinks, shall be cut to the proper grade of the horizontal pipe. Safe-waste risers shall be
of wrought-iron pipe located as shown, with lower end closed with safe-waste valve, loosely
hung. All safe wastes to fixtures in the ninth, tenth and sixteenth stories shall lie
carried to and connected with the trough in the floor or roof space above, containing
the main supplies. All risers shall be of the size marked on the riser diagram, and shall be
located and follow the lines shown on plan. They shall l>e clamped at every third floor se-
curely to the beams or wall with wrought-iron clamps, and where they cross the building, or
at any deflection from the vertical, a secure support shall be given the riser in its new posi-
tion, and such intermediate support as shall be directed. Branches to water-closets shall be
securely hung or clamped to beams where necessary. All branches for water-closets or sinks
shall finish at the floor level with a flange proper to receive each fixture, set level and true.
Branches for the ventilation of traps shall be run as shown, and all openings shall be left
alxrve outlet of fixture at such hight as to give a continuous rise to the connection from the
crown of trap; and in the case of bathtubs this shall be alxrve the top of overflow. Where a
branch crosses a room, corridor or doorway, on any floor, it shall lx> run in the floor above
and dropped to the fixture. In all cases, whether of waste or ventilating pipes, the iron shall
come through the floor or plaster, leaving the opening at the finished floor or plaster line,
ready for the connection. All openings shall !w> closed at once, securely, with iron plugs or
flanges until connected.
Handholes. Handholes shall be left where shown and closed with a brass plug.
Traps. The traps used under fixtures shall, except where trap is in combination witli
the fixture, be the common lead S-trap, of the same diameter MS the pipe with which it is used.
80 1NDU8TKIAL CHICAGO :
furnished with trap-screw at bottom, and with a soldering union connection at crown for venti-
lation, as shown in detail. Eacli fixture shall have its own trap set in every instance as close
as possible to the waste opening in the fixture.
Connections. All connections between lead pipe and wrought-iron pipe, or fittings,
shall be made with a soldering nipple or union of the same internal diameter as the pipe.
Tank connections. This contractor shall furnish and set a cross-head at each surge tank
and shall connect the house tanks in the roof space by a main supply running in the roof
space, or near ceiling of ninth floor, continuing this beyond each tank, all as shown; or shall
set a cross-head, as the case may be. At the tanks the connecting pipes shall be provided
with valves for shut-off; in the case of pipe three inches in diameter or larger, these valves
shall be iron body, double-faced brass gate valves.
From these cross-heads or the main supply, branches of wrought-iron pipe for cold water
shall be taken off, as shown, and each branch shall be provided with a shut-off cock at the
point of connection.
House Ixjilers. This contractor shall furnish and set in basement, where shown, eight
hot-water boilers for the house service. They shall be of the inside diameter and length
shown, built of Otis steel or its equal, not less than one-fourth of an inch thick, properly
braced and tested to an internal strain of two hundred and fifty pounds to the square
inch. Each boiler shall be fitted with an internal copper steam coil brought through the
shell and with coupling ready for steam connection and tested for one hundred pounds of
steam, and shall furnish their entire contents per hour continuously at two hundred degrees
temperature with steam at five pounds pressure. Each boiler shall be provided with a
pressure gauge and approved safety valve, and three-fourths inch sediment pipe and con-
nected to nearest drain.
House boiler connections. This contractor shall connect the house tanks of each system
to their respective boilers in the basement, and shall furnish and set a cross-head at the top
of each boiler to which he shall connect branches to the hot- water supply, all as shown. The
connecting pipes from tanks to boilers shall be provided with a valve at each point of connec-
tion and a drain cock where directed; the cross-head and each branch from it shall be pro-
vided with shut-off cocks.
Pipe in basement. All pipe in the basement shall be hung to the beams of first floor as
closely as is practicable.
Risers. Risers shall be of wrought-iron pipe of sizes shown on riser diagram, located as
shown, and shall be securely fastened to the walls or corridors at every third floor. Each
riser for hot or cold water in the basement shall be provided with lever handle stop and waste.
Each cold-water riser which is supplied from above shall be provided at its lowest point with
a lever-handle stop and connected into the nearest safe waste.
Branches. All branches shall be of wrought-iron pipe and shall, at the fixtures, show
through the floor, or through the plaster, as the case may be. All pipe shall be laid to drain.
Connections. At all connections to fixtures the iron pipe shall be brought through the
T1IE BUILDING INTERESTS. 81
floor or plaster, and the connections shall be made of lead pipe wholly outside finished floor
or plaster line. Each connection to cock or bibb shall be provided with an air hammer six-
teen inches long and a stopcock with a square head, which can only be moved with a wrench,
all as shown in detail. Every connection to iron pipe or fitting shall be made with a solder-
ing nipple of the same internal diameter as the pipes.
Pipe covering. All suspended pipes in the basement, except returns to boilers, and all
hot-water risers and the horizontal runs to descending risers, shall be closely covered with a
non-conducting pipe covering, approved by the architects and thoroughly secured to the pipes.
Safing. All horizontal pipes along girders, on walls or in floors or roof spaces, and all
fixtures except in bathrooms and water-closet rooms, shall be safed. Molded spaces will be
left where necessary in the terra cotta floors for such safes as run in the floor; and this con-
tractor shall form the bottom to the proper drip and shall line the sides with dressed boards
with the upper edge rounded and level with top of beams. For the lead safing along girders
he shall furnish and secure firmly in place the necessary troughs dressed with rounded top
edges, and under the fixtures he shall build the necessary grounds. The grounds under fix-
tures against the base shall be of clear white pine, and where exposed of cherry three inches
high, smooth, with rounded upper edges closely fitted and finished on the exposed sides as
hereinafter specified. For washbowls they shall include the entire space under slab, and for
other fixtures the space under fixtures.
Gutters shall be lined with sheet lead turned neatly over the edges and closely nailed
with flat-headed nails. The gutters shall be connected to safe wastes with one-and-one-half-
inch lead pipe. Gutters shall be fitted with covers of No. '2fi galvanized iron soldered at the
joints and turned down over the edges at the sides one inch. The trough for main supply of
cold and hot water in the roof space and in the ninth floor shall be built of two-inch lumber
and shall finish at least eight inches deep. The sides shall be nailed to the bottom and the
inside shall be dressed with rounded top edges, and it shall be lined with lead, as before
specified. The upper edges shall be tied together every three feet with one-inch by one-
quarter-iuch iron straps bent over the top and screwed to each side with oue-and-one-quarter-
inch screws. All safe wastes which rise to the floor below main trough shall be carried up
and connected to this trough with funnel-shaped opening. The top of the troxigh shall be
set level all around and it shall be covered like gutters. After the galvauized-irou covers are
in place all gutters shall l>e temporarily covered with boards nailed in place for protection;
and this contractor shall have charge of and maintain the same until the finished floor is laid,
and shall make good at his own cost and expense any damage resulting from his negligence
in so doing. All troughs and pipes in roof space shall l>e hung from the roof teams.
The safes under the fixtures shall l>e of sheet lead turned over the grounds and nailed as
l>efore. The lead shall l>e formed to drip to the center and shall be connected to the safe
waste with one-aud-oiie-half-inch lead waste pipe. The opening shall Ix- covered with a brass
two-aud-oue-half-inch convex strainer, soldered in place.
Safe waste from tile floors. This contractor shall set in base of all rooms with tile floors
83 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
where fixtures are located at floor level, as directed, and connect safe waste with two-inch
lead pipe, a brass overflow grate with nickel-plated face, made as shown in detail. This shall
be closed temporarily with a thin piece of metal, and after tiling is laid this shall be removed
and the overflow made operative.
Testing. All gutters, troughs and safes shall be tested with water. All supply pipes
shall be filled with cold water at normal pressure and carefully examined while exposed to
view. After completion of the whole work the architect shall select three risers for soil and
waste, including their ventilators on each system with a separate outlet, making nine risers in
all, and these shall be stopped off at the bottom and at all openings and filled with cold
water to the roof and be carefully examined. If any of the above be found to leak they shall
be made tight and the test repeated; if, in the case of the waste and soil risers it is, in the
judgment of the architect necessary, more or all of the risers including their ventilators, shall
be tested and corrected in the same manner. These tests shall be made at the cost and
expense of this contractor, and he shall not be entitled to demand or receive payment, nor
shall the final certificate issue until all this work be made tight as contemplated herein.
Flashing. The waste or ventilating pipes continued through the roof shall be flashed
with sheet lead not less than eight inches in every direction from the pipe on the roof, with a
piece of lead soil pipe not less than one-eighth inch thick, fitting close and running to the top
and turned over on the inside of the iron pipe. The joint between the sheet lead and lead
pipe shall be a wiped joint.
Setting. All fixtures except where otherwise specified, will be set without casing, and
all pipe, safing, etc., done by this contractor, exposed to view, shall be done in a neat, clean
and finished manner to the satisfaction of the architects.
Cutting and fitting. The contractor shall do all cutting and fitting and shall furnish
and set all grounds in floor or walls necessary in setting or securing the fixtures, marble
slabs, etc.
Water-closets. All water-closets used in the general and helps' closet rooms in base-
ment on east front shall be the Kelly Self-acting Washout closet. In all other public
water-closet rooms the closets shall be all porcelain back outlet washout closets. Selection
will be made by the architect from the "Inodora," "Knickerbocker" and "Delta." The tank
used with the closets shall be of wood lined with copper, operated aiitomatically by the seat
action, and shall give a certain strong flush of about three gallons; with the "Inodora"
Mott's No. 11; with the "Knickerbocker," Meyer-Sniffen copper lined ; with the "Delta," No.
55, shall be the tank used. The tanks shall be of plain flush paneled cherry set on bronzed
iron bracket. In the bathrooms attached to private rooms the water-closets shall be "(icy
ser," with eighteen -inch copper-lined wood cistern, or the ''Sanitas." with nickel-plated chain
and pull. Where shown in plan, water-closets shall be set on the iron flange or fitting before
specified, packed with a solid rubber ring, and shall be bolted to the iron flange with proper
brass bolts with hexagon nuts; nuts set uppermost and the bolts secured so they can not drop
out when mit is removed. A lead washer shall be used under the nut, The flush pipe
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 83
between tank and closet shall be one-and-one-fourth-inch wrougkt-iron pipe. In public
water-closet rooms the flush shall be brass pipe of the same diameter.
This contractor shall set for the closets cherry seats of proper dimensions with enameled
iron drij) tray and bronzed iron legs, substantially as shown in Wolff's catalogue of water-
closets, with automatic seat attachment, where such is used, pertaining to the closet and
tank selected. From the crown of the water-closet trap to the ventilating pipe lx?fore specified
a connection of two-inch lead pipe shall lie used.
Bathtubs. Where shown on plan bathtubs shall l>e set and connected. The tub used
shall be Mott's porcelain-lined French bath, with a nickel-plated plug, stopper and chain.
Five-and-a-half-foot tubs shall lie used, except where otherwise ordered, and they shall be set
in ;i cast-iron base, shown on details. Each bidder shall note in proposal price per half foot
to be added or deducted for variation in length of tubs used. The portion of the rough floor
necessary to set the cast-iron frame for tubs shall l>e brought up to the proper level with
cement mortar. When this mortar is set, the frame shall be placed in position, and the floor
inside and three inches outside all around the frame shall be poured with melted Trinidad
asphalt, one-quarter inch deep, over the entire surface, making a tight joint with the iron frame
and with the tile partition. The tub shall then l>e set in the frame, and the joint between them
shall l)e filled with putty well worked up with red lead and oil. The waste connection shall
be run through this frame and connected outside with the overflow, all to be of brass pipe
with trap, as shown in detail.
All baths shall l>e finished on top with a rim of cherry. The hot-and-cold-water connec-
tions shall be of lead pipe and connected to Peck Bros.' improved nickel-plated combination
bath cock No. 8.
Washbasins. The washbasins shall lie white porcelain, oval or round, with visible
standard waste and overflow. One-half the basins shall be 15x19 inch oval, and one-half six-
teen-inch round basins, with nickel-plated fittings. Selection will be made from the " Saui-
tas," "Nonpareil " and "Universal." Each basin shall l>e ground to fit slat) and clamped in
place with three Peck Bros.' No. 2 basin clamps. Each basin shall be fitted with two nickel-
plated Boston self-closing cocks connected to hot and cold water with half-inch lead pipe.
The \vaste connection for each basin shall )>e oue-and-one-quarter-iuch lead pipe, and the
crown of each trap shall lx? connected to the ventilating opening before specified, with oue-
and-one-fourtli-iuch lead pipe rising continuously, the connection to the iron pipe to be
made witli a soldering union. Basins of the shape directed shall be set where shown in plan
with marble slab and back. The slab shall l>e supported on cherry frame with cherry legs,
;is shown in detail.
Slop sinks. Slop sinks in the water-closet and sinkrooms where shown, shall lie Dema-
rcst's combination trap, standard No. 1, enameled iron, set on the specified flange fitting,
packed and bolted like the water-closets and finished on top with hardwood rim. Marble
shall be set as hereinafter specified, and eacli sink shall be fitted witli two half-inch plain
nickle-plated Fuller iron-pipe bibbs with loose flange and lock nut, and connected to hot and
84 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO :
cold water. lu each boilerroom, where shown, shall be set a square galvanized cast-iron
sink 42x'20x6 inches. Each sink shall be fitted with one three-quarter-inch Fuller finished
hose bibb connected to cold water, and one half-inch Fuller finished plain bibb connected
to hot water. The waste pipe to each sink shall be one-and-one-half-iuch lead waste, with
combination trap, not ventilated. All sinks, except as otherwise specified, shall be connected
from crown of trap to ventilating oj>euing hereinafter specified, with one-and-one-half-iuch
lead pipe rising continuously, connected as specified for basins
Urinals. Urinals shall be set where shown in marble stalls as hereinafter specified.
They shall be flushing-rim lipped urinals, flat back or corner as the case may be, and shall
lie ground to fit slab and held in place by nickel-plated urinal clamps. They shall be con-
nected as shown in detail, and except in general water-closet room in basement, shall be
flushed automatically with Demarest's patent automatic flushing cistern of copper-lined wood;
with one or two urinals, cistern No. 1 shall be used; with three or more urinals the size shall
be No. 2; the cisterns shall be fitted with a square-headed compression urinal cock and single
or double coupling as required. In the general water-closet in the basement the flushing
tank shall be Williams' two-inch automatic flushing siphon, set in lead-lined wood tank,
throwing ten gallons at a flush. Selection will be made lietweeu No. 1 standard blind cap,
nickel plated, and Bedfordshire No. 1, with nickel-plated top and bottom connections, shown
in detail.
Kitchen and pantry sinks. This contractor shall set and connect in kitchen where shown
a set of four wooden sinks each forty-two inches square outside and eight inches deep, of one-
and-one-half-iuch clear pine with galvanized iron legs, and shall line the same with galvanized
twenty ounces bright copper, and shall cover the back eighteen inches high with fourteen
ounces bright copper, all neatly turned over the edges and closely nailed with copper nails.
The sinks shall be finished on edges with a hardwood rim four inches wide. Each sink shall
be furnished with two-inch metal plug and stopper, safety chain and chain-stay and overflow
grate, and connected as shown to cast-iron grease traps with two-inch lead pipe. Each sink
shall be fitted with two one-half-iuch plain Fuller flanged iron pipe bibbs connected to hot and
cold water. Six square copper pantry sinks, 16x30 inches, with one-aud-one-half-inch metal
plug and stopper, safety chain, chain-stay and overflow, shall lie set where shown and con-
nected to grease traps as before with one-and-one-half-inch lead pipe. The backs shall be
covered eighteen inches high with fourteen ounces bright copper, as l>efore specified, and each
sink shall be fitted with two one-half-iuch plain Fuller bracket flanged iron pipe bibbs con-
nected to cold and hot water.
This contractor shall also set proper fitting for the connection of the dish-washing
machine, where directed, and also in the laundry shall set fittings for connection of washing
machines and ringers.
Laundry tubs. This contractor shall set and connect in the laundry where shown, six-
teen "Yorkshire" brown glazed earthen washtubs with bronzed iron standard and hard-
wood tops, complete, as shown in Plate 'JB3-D Mott's catalogue 1SS7. each tub to l>e fitted
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 85
with metal plug, stopper, safety chain and stay, and two one-half-iuch plain Fuller bibbs with
flanges, connected to hot and cold water and connected to waste to grease traps with one and
oue-half-inch lead pipe.
Grease traps. This contractor shall set and connect as shown, for the kitchen and
laundry fixtures, cast-iron grease traps partly in the floor and supported securely on the floor
beams. These shall be made as shown in detail with waste and ventilating connections as
desired.
Drinking fountains. This contractor shall set and connect where shown, drinking
fountains with marble slab and back, one-half-inch lead coil sufficient to cool the water to
proper degree, one-and-oue-half-iuch lead waste connection and an approved self-closing
fountain cock coming through the back with loose flange and lock nut.
Shampoo cocks. The shampoo cocks in barter shop will be furnished by the owner, and
this contractor shall set and connect the same.
Street washers. Brass three-quarter-inch street washers shall be set where shown, as
close to the building as is possible and calked into the sidewalk. They shall be operated by
a key and a key shall be furnished with each street washer. The connecting pipe shall lx>
provided with an iron pipe lever handle stop and waste at such point as may be directed.
Cocks and bibbs. Cocks and bibbs shall be equal in all respects to samples in architect's
office and shall be approved by them.
Boiler connection, etc. Pipe for boiler connections and other points which may be
required shall be run as shown in plan.
Woodwork. All exposed woodwork which is to be furnished by this contractor shall
be dry selected cherry of uniform color, and shall be worked and set by skilled mechanics.
It shall be close jointed, and all exposed surfaces shall be brought to a good surface. This
surface shall lie filled with one coat of shellac rubbed down, and three coats of hard oil, each
coat rubbed down, the last with pumice stone to an eggshell finish.
Marble. The marble used for plumbers' work in this building shall be pure white
Georgia marble. All exposed surfaces, both faces and edges, shall be polished as highly as
sample in architect's office, except foot-pieces in urinals.
This contractor shall furnish and set the basin slabs and backs, slop sink backs, foot
pieces, backs and sides of urinal stalls, and partitions and backs of water-closet stalls, with
polished brass frames or supports as shown. The marble for basin slabs shall be not less
than twenty-four inches wide and for single basin one-and-one-quarter-inches thick; for more
than one basin, oue-and-one-half-inches thick. Basin slabs shall be counter-sunk one-quarter
inch, and shall measure this in all cases. In counter-sinking and cutting holes, provide for
proper basin cocks and wastes. Backs for basin slabs shall be not less than sixteen inches
high of seven-eighths stock. The backs shall be set in plaster and each piece shall be also
secured by two or more hold-fast screws, which shall project from the wall into holes cut
properly in the back of the slain said holes to IK- filled with plaster and the slab pushed into
position and held until the plaster has set. No screws will be allowed in the face of the
86 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
marble. Detailed drawings will be furnished showing the finish of edges of all basin slabs
and backs, and these shall be strictly followed. Marble for slop sinks shall be seven-eighths
stock, and where there is no adjacent side wall shall be a slab at back four feet high by two
feet six inches wide, with proper holes cut for bibbs, and the edge finished as in detail drawing.
Where pipes show in the sink room this slab shall be set in front of the pipe and shall be
finished on top with a strip of seven-eighths marble and returned to the wall at the sides with
the same. This back shall be set in plaster with its lower edge on the floor and shall be
fastened back near the top with two nickel-plated, square headed, brass log screws with nickle-
plated rosettes, as shown in detail drawings. Where the slop sink is near a side wall, a
similar slab four feet high by two feet two inches wide, secured in same manner, shall lie set.
Marble for urinal stalls shall be seven-eighths stock with foot piece, except in general
water-closet room in basement, not less than two inches thick, coimter-sunk half-inch. In the
general water-closet room in basement, foot pieces shall be not less than three inches thick,
counter-sunk as before. The partitions and backs for urinal stalls and closets shall be con-
structed as shown in detail drawings. Clamps and bolts shall be of polished brass. Backs
and sides where they come against walls shall be set in plaster with concealed fastenings.
All marble shall be set with fine joints closely fitted, level, plumb and square. Detail draw-
ings will be furnished showing sizes and sections of edges, brass work, etc., of this marble
work, and these drawings shall be strictly followed.
Guarantee. This contractor shall be responsible for this work and for the operation of
the fixtures, and shall make good, and repair or replace, as may be necessary, any defective
work or fixture which may show itself within one year from the date of final certificate,
provided said defect is due to imperfections in material or workmanship, as specified.
The plumbing of the modern Chicago apartment houses displays artistic points as well
as useful ones. A system of doing plumbing work well and neatly was introduced by Moy-
lan & Alcock, in 1888, in fitting up the Morton apartment house. The building itself is a
handsome structure, five stories high, containing twenty-four apartments, each appointed in
the most convenient and approved manner. The kitchens are supplied with gas ranges and
refrigerators. The bathrooms present an unusually clean and handsome appearance. The
closets are the " Marua," the baths porcelain lined, while the washbowls are richly deco-
rated and supported by brackets. The arrangement of fixtures is superb. The hot-water is
supplied from a l>oiler in the basement and is carried through galvanized-irou pipes. The
laterals are of lead. Drum-traps are placed immediately under the basin and connected with
the bathtub. The traps are beneath, but have a handhole on a level with the floor. The
object in using this kind of a trap is that in flats it has been the experience of many that the
bathtub has not been used sufficiently often to keep the water in the trap from fouling or
evaporating, but in this instance, with the wastes of the bathtub and the washbowl con-
nected with the same trap, the continued use of the latter precludes the possibility of fouling
or evaporating. The arrangement of pipes presents a handsome appearance, as is the case
with all exposed work where the work has to be necessarily of a superior order. In the case
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 87
of repairs, the cost is reduced to almost nothing, it being estimated that work of this char-
acter will not foot up to one-twentieth part of what is ordinarily expended for repairs in flat
buildings. Another good feature of the system is that when each tenant has easy control of
the water iu his apartments, there is no possibility of interfering with the operation of fix-
tures in the other parts of the house when it is necessary to make repairs. The old system
of stopcock rods, which are always found deficient when needed, is done away with. The
distribution of water is so nearly perfect that there is always a full supply at any faucet in
the house, and water can be drawn from any faucet in the twenty- four apartments at the same
time. There are separate stopcocks in the kitchens and bathrooms, so that when anything
is wrong with one group of fixtures it can l>e repaired without interfering with the others.
A large laundry, with six sets of grauatiue tubs, is located iu the basement.
The style applies, even in a higher degree, to the more modern flats, such as the Ozark.
the hotel Hyde Park, the Virginia and other great apartment houses, many of which are
equipped with the most perfect types of the system.
The laws regulating plumbing are of slow growth, owing to the opposition of councils
and of people. Years were devoted to the question iu Chicago before satisfactory rules were
adopted, and even in the end, opposition, based on the want of knowledge of plumbing work
and material was offered. There are laws governing the practice of medicine, of law, of
teaching, pharmacy and other pursuits, but when the subject of further regulating plumbing
by law is mentioned, the keen edge of opposition is felt. If this is not the result of dense
ignorance regarding its importance, it is difficult to conceive to what this opposition must be
ascribed. Those ignorant of the nature of plumbing and its relation to health, consider it
as one of the mere mechanical arts and class it with blacksniithing. They do not know any
tetter, and are a full lifetime behind the age in which they live. Blacksmithmg does not
need any special legal regulation, and they can see no more in plumbing requiring it to te
done under legal restrictions. If plumbing were nothing more than a mechanical trick, or the
result of mechanical training, then such reasoning would apply. But plumbing is more. It
is all the mechanics of it imply and all that the scientific knowledge of it demands. A
plumbing job may ]>e made mechanically perfect and yet be wholly defective in its relation to the
proper sanitation of a building. Its nature is such that the health of the home depends
on the character of the plumbing. If the refuse of a family were left in the house for a short
time, it would soon become not only offensive but sickening. Defective plumbing does not re-
move the ill effects of this refuse from the house. It may te able to get it out of sight, but it pro-
vides avenues through which will enter all the foul and poisonous gases that arise from it. It
will do more than this. It will open up to one household all the poisons that arise from many.
Defective plumbing may be put in a house and that house left vacant, clean and new, and
vet in a short time every corner of it will become infected with the foul gases in the sewer
rising from the wastes of the surrounding houses.
Another danger is presented by defective plumbing. A house may be pluml>ed in ac-
cordance with the very liest practices, and every part lie perfect, and yet that dwelling may
88 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
not escape the evils arising from the defective plumbing of surrounding houses. A city may have
its full share of honest, reputable plumbers, who do their work properly, and yet through the
fraudulent and incompetent work of a few irresponsible pluml>ers the whole city is endangered.
Cases are of record where fatal epidemics have resulted from defective drainage of a single
house. One poorly pluml>ed dwelling may be the means of spreading throughout the
city a contagious disease. It has been the case and may be again. The protection from such
dangers lies in the proper regulation of all plumbing work.
Human nature is said to }ye human nature the world over. Bad and incompetent men
can \ye found in all trades and walks of life and the plumbing profession is not an exception
to the general rule. There are so-called plumbers doing plumbing work who need the com-
pulsory effects of legal enactments to compel them either to do good work or quit. This is
all that is required. Some standard for plumbing must be set up, care being taken that it
meets the requirements of sanitary science, and then laws must be passed compelling all
plumbing to te done in accordance with the rules and regulations established. It is not
legislation for a few or a class, but legislation for the public. Experience has long since
taught us that this is a public necessity, relating as it does to the highest public good. It
seems that a subject so well settled and so widely accepted would not need further discussion,
but some officials do not understand liecause they will not. In many cities there are political
rings and cliques, who seem to think that public offices were created especially for them, and
that city governments were established to aid them in working out some selfish end or
ambitious scheme. They give little heed to the best interests of the people so long as that in-
terest is not necessary for their own gain. Cities have grown so had in this regard that the
people have risen in force to cast out the offending officials.
The views of Chicago plumbers on the prevailing desire for a higher standard of plumb-
ing, and on the rules of the Chicago health department, were clearly set forth in a paper,
read by David Whiteford, before the Master Plumbers' association of this city, in October,
1889. From that paper the following paragraphs are taken:
"Since, and before the organization of master plumbers' associations in this country,
individual effort has been directed toward a higher standard of plumbing work. The observ-
ing, experimenting and practical plumber has for years been unconsciously educating himself.
He has been impressed, while actively engaged in his daily pursuits after money for bread,
with new thoughts and other ways of doing his work.. He has foreseen that there would come ,
a time when a radical change in plumbing material and labor would take place. That time
has arrived. The transition has been quietly and almost unconsciously going on, and now
we rind ourselves face to face with the change, scarcely knowing whether to accept the new
order of things or cling with an irresistible fondness to the ways of the past. The old path
we have traveled for years has served its day and generation. To the beater and former of
lead, we bid adieu, a final farewell, forever. The advanced thinkers and sanitary cranks, of
which we form a part, are responsible, in no small degree, to the high state of sanitary per-
fection which has thus far been attained. It. is rumored, and we hear the mntterings of the
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 89
people, that the plumbers are making new rules and getting city and state officials to adopt
them. What will the plumber do next, if he takes it into his head!
"Sanitary science knows no bounds. Our organization, through its efficient members
and skillful leaders, has made itself felt in many ways. Manufacturers and material men,
through its instrumentality, have joined hands with the plumber, in placing before the pub-
lic the best ware that can be found in the market. It is to be regretted that so many master
plumbers stand aloof from our society, for which they can give no valid reason. If sanitary
science and other matters depended upon their efforts for support, it would still be where it
was years ago. These men are reaping a benefit of every hour you pass in these meetings.
If the men engaged in the plumbing business, and who are not in harmony with the associa-
tion, could but realize what their condition would be were this association to disband and go to
pieces, they would come to its support. So long as other men are ready and willing to spend
time and money for their good, they are quite willing to let them do it. The changes recently
inaugurated by the board of health, and approved by this body, are now in force, and you
are expected to adhere to them, and if you don't, the language of Shakespeare, with all its
force, will fall on your head. 'Lay on Macduff, and cursed be he who says hold, enough.'
The plumbing inspector has a duty to perform, and we may feel keenly at times that our
liberties are taken from us; that our pet theories and practices can no longer be indulged in.
That there is a right way of doing everything, is agreed upon, but whether the certificate
of instruction, as handed to you for your guidance, is all that is desired, time alone will tell.
The laws of the Modes and Persians were unalterable, but the laws that govern the plumbers
of Chicago can be amended. If the system of plumbing, as laid down to us, be found faulty
in theory and construction, and can be so demonstrated by this assembly of practical men,
then I think it would be the duty of the powers that be to hearken to the voice of the people
through the proper channel the master plumbers. I do not propose to enter into a discus-
sion of the merits of the rules and regulations governing the trade, but pass hurriedly over
some of them.
"The first on the list is the duty of the architect. I take it that the architect shall use
the certificate of instruction as a whole, taking it as a text to evolve a specification therefrom,
and then present it, with the plans for the same, to the commissioner of health, so that they
can pass upon them, and if a working design could be first prepared, showing a finished
structure, it would greatly enable the contractor to complete his work. The power of the
health commissioner and the duty of the plumber are one and inseparable. The health of
the people is paramount to all other considerations. Should the plumber do his work well,
and in accordance with the law, the commissioner is satisfied, but should the certificate of
instruction, as offered to the plumbers, be at variance with good practice and common sense,
I consider that we are under no obligation to follow them, but this is rarely likely to occur,
as long as a good, thorough, practical plumber is at its head. The first article of the rules
and regulations I will puss over, allowing the commissioner, in approving the plans, to see
that there is a proper place left for pipes.
90 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
" In the second article, the foot connection, I am emphatic in the belief that it ought to be a
bend, as described, with a broad flange on the socket end for resting the weight of a stack of
soil pipe. The makeshifts of the past have not proved satisfactory. Third. The size of pipe.
This is a supply pipe, and it ought to be considered by itself in a sketch, illustrating the
various apartments. Fourth. The pan-closet. We may bid it good-bye. It occupied the
same position on the one end of the soil pipe that the catch-basin does on the other. Fifth.
I remember when scientific sewerage got its first impulse. It was in the discovery that the
kitchen fliie at the side of the stovepipe was the proper terminus, only to blow back in the
stove the awful sewer gas. Sixth. Six years ago, in a paper, read before this association, I
advocated strongly the use of heavy cast-iron soil pipe, and gave my reasons, lead being too
light and too costly when heavy. The enlargement and hight of soil pipe through the roof
is all right, provided the rule means two feet above the portion that it passes through. The
cap or cowl on the top end of soil pipe is of no value, unless it should be in a place where
there is a blow-down. Seventh. Horizontal waste and soil pipes can not well be prevented
in store and flat buildings, but when they can, it is preferable. Eighth. This is all right,
though two inches are plenty large enough, well back-vented. Ninth. This is all right.
Tenth. I accept this as probably the best practice. I am persuaded that where a heated
flue can be had and the pipe carried to the top of the house, a trap may safely be placed at
the foot of the soil pipe, with a four-inch air pipe, carried from the roof of the building down
to near the foot of the soil pipe above the trap. Eleventh and twelfth I pass, taking it for
granted that all pipes, before being tarred, have been inspected. Thirteenth. Wherever
there is any doubt in the mind of an inspector that the work is not what it ought to be, and
wherever called for, it ought to be tested, using the smoke or water test. Sixteenth. The
brass ferrule I concur in. Seventeenth. Where there is more than two parts to the laundry-
tub, I would use a drum-trap, four inches in diameter, dipping the several branches separately
in the water and a good drum or S-trap for sinks. Eighteenth I pass. Nineteenth. The
holes in sink strainers are entirely too small. If it were not for the liability to get stopped
up, I would have no strainer; it does not get the proper flush it requires. Twentieth. In a
great many cases, I prefer to have connections from bathtubs and basins directly into the dip
of the trap; for instance, a trap is located in the direct line of a free passage of air constantly
going on between the revent pipe and soil pipe, day and night, and a bathtub, the junction
of which is on the outlet side of the trap, or on a bend, is in great danger of being emptied
by evajwration; in such a condition as this, sewer gas would find an easy access into the house
through the basin or bathtub. The bathtub may not be used very often, whereas, if it were
connected to the water-closet trap, it would have the advantage of a frequent flush of water,
keeping the closet trap full of water. Two traps reventilated between, is sometimes done to
good advantage. Twenty-first. To prevent traps from siphoning. Atmosphere must be
brought by some means and connected to the long leg of the siphon near the top of outlet
side. If the air shoiild be taken from the inside of a house, sn long as the vacuum exists the
house is perfectly safe, but when the vacuum is filled and not perfectly sealed, the generated
PLUMBING IN A FLAT
\r
*f
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 91
air passes through the trap back into the house. Mechanical methods have been invented, to
be operated automatically, and by the opening and closing of a shut-off. The water seal is
the most practical and the best known method. Ventilation and reventilation of discharge
waste-water pipes is the safeguard so long as the pipes are good and the air passage is free.
The sizes of pipes, as laid down in the rules, are satisfactory. In regard to the kind of pipe
to be used for reventilation, I am satisfied that wrought iron, as now put in, is not the thing.
In four years, a two-inch pipe, to my own knowledge, has filled up and choked with scales
for the distance of two feet above the crown of the trap. Whether lead of a certain thickness,
galvanized wrought iron or cast iron is the best, I am not positive. The method of reventing
is one which requires great care. Bye passes are unintentionally and so easily made for the
return of sewer gas, that unless the plumber is well up in scientific/construction he will get
into trouble.
"I pass to the thirty-third article. Tanks for drinking purposes. Wharf .ifcthe matter
with a lead-lined tank for drinking purposes? I presume it is lead poisoning. If such is
the fact, I reckon it must be because the water is not drawn off but once a week. When I
was a boy and learning my trade, they would not have anything else. Understand me, I
don't take the ground, that because it was the right thing then, it is the right thing now.
I want to be on the right side of every question. If the authority for the disuse of lead tanks
is a settled fact, and based upon undisputed evidence, I am with you. Article thirty-nine
says, 'the privy accommodation in a tenement or lodging house should not be in the base-
ment, unless it be in a hotel, and that in a part of the building well lighted and ventilated
and set apart for the purpose.' This article I do not understand to forbid the use of water-
closet in basement in private dwellings, but wherever used, must in all circumstances be a
tank water-closet. The last article. The wooden wash trays and sink are the source of a great
deal of local offensive smell, and some of the composition wash trays are not much better; at
least some of them are very porous and absorb water rapidly. In summing up this review of
the plumbing and drainage ordinance, I have only to say that it is the duty of every master
plumber, as far as it lies in his power, to assist the board of health in its enforcement."
The present sanitary ordinances of the city are as follows:
1847. That no person shall hereafter erect, or cause to be erected, or converted to a new purpose
by alteration, any building or structure which, or any part of which, shall be inadequate or defective in
respect to ventilation, light, sewerage or any of the usual, proper or necessary provisions or precautions
for the preservation of health, nor shall the builder, lessee, tenant or occupant of any such or of any
other building or structure (having the right or ability to remedy or prevent the same), cause or allow
any matter or tilings to be or to be done in or about any such building or structure dangerous or preju-
dicial to health.
1348. That no owner, agent or lessee of any building or any part thereof, shall lease or let or hire
out the same or any portion thereof, to be occupied by any person, or allow the same to be occupied by
any person, or allow the same to be occupied as a place in which any one may dwell or lodge, except
when said buildings or such parts thereof are sufficiently lighted, ventilated, provided and accommodated,
and in all respects in that condition of cleanliness and wholesomeness for which this article or any law of
this state provides, or in which they or either of them require any such premises to be kept.
1349. That no person, being the owner, proprietor, lessee, manager or superintendent of any store,
factory, workshop or other structure or place of employment where workmen and workwomen are
F
1)2 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
employed for wages, shall cause, permit or allow the same or any portion or apartment of or any room in
said store, factory, workshop or other structure or place of employment, to be overcrowded or inadequate,
faulty or insufficient in respect to ventilation and cleanliness; and in every such building or apartment,
or room iu any such building, where one or more persons are employed as aforesaid, at least five hun-
dred cubic feet of air space shall be allowed to each and every person employed therein, and the air
changed or renewed by ventilation at least once in every twenty minutes during the hours of employment.
1350. All such places of employment or service shall be kept in a cleanly condition, free from the
effluvia of a sewer, drain, privy, stable or other nuisance; also, as far as practicable, from all gases,
vapors, dust or other impurities generated by manufacturing processes or otherwise, and injurious to
health. Sufficient and separate privies and urinals shall be provided for male and female employes, and
such privies shall be ventilated.
1355. That every owner, lessee and tenant, and manager of any boardinghouse or manufactory,
shall cause every part thereof and its appurtenances to be put, and shall thereafter cause the same to be
kept in a clean and wholesome condition, and shall speedily cause every apartment thereof in which any
person may sleep, dwell or work, to be adequately lighted and ventilated; and if the same be a manufac-
tory, shall cause every part thereof in which any person may work to be maintained at such temperature,
and be provided with such accommodations and safeguards as not, by any reason of the want thereof, or
of anything about the condition of any such manufactory or its appurtenances, to cause unnecessary dan-
ger or detriment to the health of any person being properly therein or thereat.
1359. The roof of every house shall be kept iu good repair and so as not to leak, and all rainwater
shall be so drained or conveyed therefrom as to prevent its dripping on the ground, or causing dampness
iu the walls, yard or area.
1360. Every such building shall be provided with good and sufficient water-closets or privies, and
shall have proper doors, traps, soil pans and other suitable works and arrangements, so far as may be
necessary to insure the efficient operation thereof.
1361. Such water-closets or privies shall not be less in number than one to every twenty occupants
of said house; but water-closets or privies may be used in common by the occupants of any two or more
houses, provided the access is convenient and direct, and provided the number of occupants in the houses
for which they are provided shall not exceed the proportion above required for every privy or water-closet.
1362. Every house situated upon a lot or street in which there is a sewer, shall have the water-
closets or privies furnished with a proper connection with the sewer, which connection shall be in all parts
adequate for the purpose, as to permit entirely and freely to pass whatever enters the same.
1363. All such water-closets and vaults shall be provided with the proper traps, and connected with
the house sewer by a proper tight pipe, and shall be provided with sufficient water and other proper
means for flushing the same; and every owner, lessee and occupant shall take adequate measures to pre-
vent improper substances from entering such water-closets or privies or their connections, and to secure
the prompt removal of any improper substances that may enter them, so that no accumulation shall take
place, and so as to prevent any exhalation therefrom, offensive, dangerous or prejudicial to health, and so
as to prevent the same from being or becoming obstructed.
1364. Where no sewer exists in the street, the yard or area shall be so graded that all water
from the roof or otherwise, and all filth shall tlow freely from it and all parts of it into the street gutter,
by a passage beneath the sidewalk, which shall be covered by a permanent cover, but so arranged as to
admit access to remove obstructions or impurities.
1371. In every such house hereafter erected or converted, every habitable room, except rooms iu
the attic, shall be iu every part not less than eight feet in hight from the floor to the ceiling; and every
habitable room iu the attic of any such building shall be at least eight feet iu hight from the floor to the
ceiling, throughout not less than one-half the area of such room. Every such room shall have at least
one window connected with the external air, or over the door a ventilator of perfect construction, con-
necting it with a room or hall which has a Connection with the external air, and so arranged as to pro-
duce a cross current of air. The total area of window or windows in every room communicating with
the external air, shall be at least one-tenth of the superficial area of every such room; and the top of one
at least of such windows shall not be less than seven feet and six inches above the floor, and the upper
half at least shall be made so as to open the full width. Every habitable room of a less area than one
hundred superficial feet, if it does not communicate directly with the external air, and is without an open
fireplace, shall be provided with special means of ventilation by a separate air shaft extending to the
roof, or otherwise as the commissioner of building's may prescribe.
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 93
1372. Every such house hereafter erected or converted shall have adequate chimneys ninnin-
through every floor, with an open fireplace or grate, or place for stove, properly connected with one of
said chimneys, for every family and set of apartments; it shall have proper conveniences and receptacles
for ashes and rubbish: it shall have water furnished at one or more places in such house or in the yard
thereof, so that the same may be adequate and reasonably convenient for the use of the occupants thereof;
it shall have the floor of the cellar properly cemented so as to be water-tight, the halls of each floor shall
open directly to the external air, with suitable windows, and shall have no room or other obstruction at
the end, unless sufficient light or ventilation is otherwise provided for said hall in a manner approved by
the commissioner of buildings.
138U. That it shall be the duty of every person using, making or having any drain, soil pipe or pas-
sage to connect with any sewer from any ground, building, erection, or place of business, and in like
manner the duty of the owner and tenant of all grounds, buildings and erections, and of the parties
interested in such place of business or the business thereat, and in like manner the duty of all depart-
ments, officers and persons (to the extent of the right and authority of each) to cause and require that
such drain, soil pipe, passage and connection shall at all times be adequate for its purpose, and such as
shall convoy and allow freely and entirely to pass whatever enters or should enter the same, and that all
connections between metal pipes and house drains shall be made by a plumber as the commissioner of
health may direct.
The plumbing and sewerage ordinances are embraced in Sections 1785 to 1758 and
sundry higher numbered sections.
1735. Any person desiring to do business in connection with the waterworks of the city of Chicago
as a plumber, shall first obtain a license as such plumber from the department of public works, and shall
pay a fee of $1 therefor, which fee shall be paid to the cashier of the water office of said city, who shall
account for the same as all other receipts which come into his hands belonging to the water fund of the
city, and no person shall receive such license who shall not have attained the age of twenty -one years and
have an established place of business within the limits of said city, and who shall not furnish the com-
missioner of public works with satisfactory evidence of his responsibility and 'skill to ply his trade in
accordance witli the rules and regulations of the department of public works and the ordinances of
the city.
173(i. Every person desiring such license shall file with the commissioner of public works a petition
in writing, giving the name of the firm, if he shall be one of the firm, and each member thereof, and
place of business, asking to become a licensed plumber, and said petition shall be accompanied by a bond
signed by two or more sureties, to be approved by the commissioner of public works, in the sum of $3,000
conditioned that he, or they will indemnify and save harmless the city of Chicago from all accidents and
damages caused by any negligence in either the execution or protection of his work, or for any unfaithful
or inadequate work done under and by virtue of his license; and that said licensee as such will also con-
form to all the conditions and requirements of the city for his government, or in default thereof will sub-
mit to such penalties as are or may be prescribed by the city council for the government of licensed
plumbers.
1737. Any change of the firm name or location of business must be promptly located to the com-
missioner of public works, and the license shall be kept in a conspicuous place at the place of business.
1738. When two or more persons are co-partners, licenses shall issue in the name of the firm orco-
partnership, and no license shall be transferable.
1739. Any plumber who shall be guilty of a violation of any of the provisions of this article shall
forfeit his license and shall be subject to a fine upon conviction of not less than $10 nor more than $100.
1740. All licensed plumbers shall be held responsible for all acts of their agents or employes done
by virtue of his or their said license. No license shall be granted for a greater period than one year, or the
unexpired portion thereof : all licenses shall expire on the last day of December of each year unless sooner
revoked.
1741. All applications for permits for the introduction or use of water shall be made in writing
upon the printed forms furnished by the department of public works, the blanks to be specifically and prop-
erly tilled in and signed by the owner or duly authorized agent of the owner, and no work \vhatevershallbe
done in the street, or outside a building, by any plumber or other person until after the issuance of such
permit. This restriction shall not prevent licensed plumbers or other persons from rendering assistance
!I4 INDUSTRIAL CHICAQO:
in case of accident to service water pipes occurring at night, or at any time requiring immediate action;
provided, however, prompt report shall be made at the department of public works and a permit for the
occasion secured.
1742. No person except the tappers employed by the department of public works will be permitted
under any circumstances to tap the street main, or insert stopcocks or ferrules therein; all service cocks
or ferrules must be inserted at or near the top of the street main, and not in any case nearer than six
inches from the bell of the pipe; the size of the cock to be inserted shall be that specified in the permit.
1743. In making excavations in streets, alleys or highways for the laying of service pipes or making
repairs or for any other purpose, the paviug material and earth removed must be kept separate and de-
posited in a manner that will occasion the least inconvenience to the public with provision for the pas-
sage of water along the gutter and a safe passage way for foot travel.
1744. No lead pipe shall be used in any work done under the authority of a license issued by the
city of Chicago, except such as is known to the trade as "strong," and must weigh as follows:
Pounds per Pounds per
linear foot. linear foot.
Half-inch internal diameter 1% One and one-fourth inch internal diameter 4%
Five-eighths inch internal diameter 2^ One and one-half inch internal diameter
Three-fourths inch internal diameter 3 One and three-fourths inch internal diameter. .6J^
One inch internal diameter 4 Two inches internal diameter 8
No pipe shall be used for the purpose of street service of a different material or size than herein
specified except by special permit.
1745. All service pipes leading from the street mains to the building line, shall, as far as practicable,
be laid in the ground to a depth of not less than five feet, and said pipe shall be laid in such a manner and
be of such surplus length as to prevent breakage or rupture by settlement, and all joints in said pipes
must be of the kind termed " plumber or wiped joints." The connections of pipe by the so-called "cup-
joiut" is prohibited.
1746. Every service pipe must be provided with a stop and wastecock for each consumer, easily
accessible, placed beyond damage by frost and so situated that the water can be conveniently shut off and
drained from the pipes.
1747. Said stopcocks, unless otherwise specially permitted, shall be connected to service pipes
within the sidewalk at or near the curb line of the same, and be inclosed in and protected by a cast-iron
box with a cover having the letter " W " of suitable size cast thereon; said iron box must be of form and
dimensions satisfactory to the coinmissioner of public works, and must extend from service pipe to sur-
face of sidewalk, and be of proper si/e to admit a stopkey for operating the stopcock.
1748. Whenever two or more distinct buildings or premises are to be supplied by means of branch
or subservice pipes supplied by a single tap in the street main, each branch must be independently
arranged with stopcock and box on the curb line in the manner above prescribed. All cocks used at the
sidewalks by licensed plumbers shall bo of the kind known as " round water way."
1749. Before filling the trench the service cock in the street main must be covered with a suitable
cast-iron box furnished by the city, the earth must be well rammed under the main, to a level with the
top thereof; from thence the trench must be filled in layers of not more than twelve inches in depth, and
each layer thoroughly rammed or puddled to prevent settlement. This work, together with the replacing
of sidewalks, ballast and paving, shall be done in all cases by the city. A sufficient amount must be
deposited with the city before issuing the permit for opening the street to cover this expense. In all
cases where the street to be opened has been recently paved with blocks, sufficient of the paving must be
removed so that the foundation boards or planks (if any) can be taken up without cutting. No permit
shall be granted for the opening of any paved street for the tapping of mains or laying of service pipes
when the ground is frozen to a depth of twelve inches or more, except when in the opinion of the com-
missioner of public works there is a sufficient emergency to justify it.
1750. Plumbers are prohibited from connecting pipes whereby steam boilers may be supplied with
the water direct from city pressure. All such boilers shall be provided with a tank or other receptacle
of sufficient capacity to hold at least six hours' supply in case of a pipe district being shut off to repair
mains or make connections or extensions. In such cases the city of Chicago will not be responsible for a
lack of water for steam boilers or for any other purpose.
1751. No alteration or addition whatever, in or about any water meter, conduit pipe or watercock
in connection with the water supply to any building or premises shall be made or cause to be made by
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 95
any plumber or any person whosoever, without first obtaining a written permit so to do from the commis-
sioner of public works.
1752. No water meter shall be connected with the water-supply pipes of any building or premises,
until such meter shall be tested and approved by the commissioner of public works, and a special permit
granted therefor.
1758. Whenever any material change is to be made in the plumbing work, beyond that specified in
the permit therefor, the plumber is hereby required to give previous notice to the commissioner of public
works, presenting the original permit for correction and record.
1754. Any plumber or other person who shall turn on the supply of water to any building or prem-
ises from which the supply has been shut off by the commissioner of public works on account of non-
payment of water rate or for any other cause, or shall cause the same to be done without having first
obtained a written permit for so doing, shall be subject to a penalty of not less than $10 or more than
$100 for each offense.
1755. No water-closet or apparatvis of any kind shall be connected with the water supply, through
which the water will pass, when such water-closet or apparatus are not in use, unless such water-closet or
apparatus are controlled by a water meter.
1756. All work done by licensed plumbers shall be subject to the inspection, supervision and
approval of the commissioner of public works, and all faulty or defective work which may at any time be
discovered, shall be made satisfactory to the commissioner of public works, and no further permit will be
issued to the party in default until this section shall have been fully complied with.
1757. All permits issued for any work to be done under the authority of this article shall be returned
to the commissioner of public works within twenty-four hours after the work shall be completed, and
such permit shall contain a written statement of the facts and the time the water was turned on for use,
which shall be signed by such plumber.
1758. Any plumber whose license shall be declared forfeited by the commissioner of public works
for a violation of any provision of this article, shall not again be entitled to do work under this article
unless said declaration of forfeiture shall be revoked by said commissioner.
1911. No connection with or opening into any sewer or drain shall be used for the conveyance or
discharge into said sewer or drain of steam from any steam boiler or engine, or from any manufactory or
building in which steam is either generated or used, under the penalty of $50 for each and every day
during any part of which such connection or opening may have been used for that purpose. This penalty
shall be imposed upon and recovered from the owner and occupants, severally and respectively, of such
manufactory or building.
1912. All connection with sewers or drains used for the purpose of carrying off animal refuse from
water-closets or otherwise, and slop of kitchens, shall have fixtures for a sufficiency of water to be so applied
as to properly carry off such matters, under the penalty of $5 for each day the same are permitted to
remain without such fixtures for supplying said water.
1913. No butcher's offal or garbage, dead animals or obstructions of any kind whatsoever, shall be
placed, thrown or deposited in any receiving-basin or sewer: and any person so offending or causing any
such obstruction or substance to be placed so as to be carried into such basin or sewer shall be subject to
a penalty of $10 for each offense, and any person injuring, breaking or removing any portion of any
receiving-basin, covering-Hag, manhole, vent or any part of any sewer or drain, or obstructing the mouth
of any sewer or drain, shall be subject to a penalty of $20 for each offense; nor shall any quantity of
marble or other stone, iron, lead, timber or any other substance, exceeding one ton in weight, be placed
or deposited upon any wharf or bulkhead through which any sewer or drain may run; nor upon or over
any sewer or drain where the same shall lie within three feet of the surface of the street, under the
penalty of $50 for each offense, to be recovered of the person or persons causing or permitting the same.
1914. It shall be the duty of every person having charge of the sweeping and cleaning of the streets
in the city to see that the gutters are properly scraped out before the water is suffered to flow from any
hydnmt for the purpose of washing the same, in order that no substance or obstruction be carried into
any of the receiving-basing; every person violating this section to be subject to a penalty of $5 for each
offense.
1915. It shall be the duty of the policeman to lie vigilant in the enforcement of the provisions of
this article, and report any violations thereof to the commissioner of public works. The captains of the
several police districts shall, on observing or being informed of the opening or of excavating in any street
or avenue, require the person making such opening or excavation t<i exhibit to him the authority or per-
96 INDUSTRIE CHICAGO:
mission for such opening; and, if none has been given by the proper officer, or if the exhibition thereof
be refused, said captain of police shall, without delay, report the same to the commissioner of public
works.
1916. Any person who shall uncover or excavate under or around the brick or pipe sewers in this
city, for any purpose whatever, without the written consent of said commissioner, shall be subject to a
fine of not less than $10 and not exceeding $50: the person or persons by whom the work is done, and
their employers shall be deemed guilty of a violation of this section.
1917. Any person who shall lay, alter and disturb any part of the house drain or drains, catch-basin
or strainer of said drain or drains, cesspool or water-closet, connected with any brick or pipe sewer
belonging to said city, without being duly licensed to perform the same by said commissioner, shall be
subject to a fine of not less than $10 and not exceeding $50 for each offense, which shall be rocoverable
against the person or persons performing the work, or their employers.
1918. It shall be the duty of any person or persons constructing or vising any private drain, sewer,
cesspool, water-closet pipe or other pipe connecting with or emptying into any brick or pipe drain or
sewer belonging to said city, to construct and use the same strictly in conformity with the orders and
directions of the commissioner of public works, which orders and directions shall be given in writing for
such purpose: and any person who shall construct or use, or cause to be constructed or used, any such
drain, sewer, cesspool or water-closet pipe in a different manner from that so ordered and directed by
said commissioner, or in violation of the orders of said commissioner, shall be subject to a tine not exceed-
ing $50, which shall be recoverable against the person or persons so constructing or using said sewer,
drain or pipe, or their employers, and the owner of the lot or lots or premises in which said work is con-
structed or used, shall be deemed and considered as authorizing such construction or use and liable to
such penalty.
2053. It shall be unlawful for any person to construct, have, or permit to remain in any building in
the city of Chicago, any tank for water, of a larger capacity than ten barrels, unless the said tank shall
rest upon a foundation of solid brick or stone masonry, or upon iron girders which rest upon solid brick or
stone masonry, unless said tank shall remain uncovered, when located above the main floor of the build-
ing, under the penalty of not less than $25, and a like penalty for every day he shall refuse or neglect to
comply with the requirements of this section. Provided, no such tank shall be constructed without first
obtaining a permit therefor from the commissioner of buildings.
Any person, firm or corporation, who shall construct, or cause to be constructed, any such tank, with-
out first obtaining such permit, shall be fined not less than $5 nor more than $25 for constructing without
permit.
2056. Any person who shall lay any water-service pipes, or introduce into or about any building or
on any grounds, any water pipes, or do any plumbing work in any building or on any grounds, for the
purpose of connecting such pipes or plumbing work with the pipes of the Chicago waterworks, or of
preparing them for such connections, with the view of having such premises supplied with water by the
Chicago waterworks, or who shall make any additions to or alterations of any water pipe, bath, water-
closet, stopcock or other fixture or apparatus for the supplying of any premises with water without being
duly licensed to perform such work by the commissioner of public works of the city of Chicago, and
without having first obtained a permit for doing such work from said commissioner, shall be subject to a
fine of not less than $10 and not exceeding $50.
The following certificate of instructions, relating to plunibling, drainage, etc., is approved
by the commissioner of health:
When the work is completed, and before it is covered from view, the department of
health shall be notified that it may send its inspector, upon whose report the commissioner of
health will act upon its final approval. All materials shall l>e of good quality and free from
defects; the work shall lx? executed in a thorough and proper manner. All plumbing in the
house shall be so placed as to be readily inspected. Every soil pipe and waste pipe of iron or
lead shall extend through and at least four feet above the roof, of undimiiiished size, and pro-
vided with suitable top or cap. All house drains shall IK- provided with a proper trap near
the street, and be provided with an inlet for fresh air. just inside the trap. The house drain.
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 97
if of iron, shall have a fall of at least half an inch to the foot. It should run along the cellar
wall and never be hidden under ground. These iron pipes shall be sound, free from holes,
and of a uniform thickness of not less than one-eighth of an inch for a diameter of two, three
or four inches, or five-thirty-seconds of an inch for a diameter of five or six inches. Before
they are connected, they should l)e thoroughly coated inside and outside with coal-tar pitch,
applied hot, or with some other equivalent suljstance. All joints in soil pipes and waste pipes
shall be so calked with lead, or with a cement made of iron filings and sal ammoniac, so as to
make them impermeable to gases. House drains, other than iron, should have twice the inter-
nal diameter and half the grade, except by special permission. When a lead pipe or trap is
connected with an iron pipe, the joint shall be made through a metallic sleeve or ferrule, and
calked with lead. Every sink or basin, every water-closet and every tub or set of tubs shall
be separately and properly trapped. All traps should l>e ventilated by a special pipe extend-
ing above the roof. Every "safe" under a basiii, refrigerator or other fixture shall be drained
by a special pipe not directly connected with any waste pipe, drain or sewer. Every water-
closet should lie supplied with water from a special cistern, and not by direct connection with
the city water supply. No overflow pipe from a cistern shall be directly connected with any
soil pipe, waste pipe or drain. When the pressure of the city pumping works is not sufficient
to supply the cistern, a pump should lx? provided. No cistern for drinking water should be
lined with lead. Wrought-iron, steam fitted, glazed pipes are the best for house drains.
Thus it is evident that the municipality has the power to enforce sanitary laws. Whether
this power lx> exercised judiciously or not is a question that has been agitated from time to
time. Severe critics fail to see where they are exercised, but the citizen who is able to dis-
tinguish Ijetween extremes knows full well that the plumbers of Chicago aim to observe the
ordinances and succeed in this aim generally. They realize the importance of their work and
l>end their energies to do it well. Notwithstanding the progress of plumbing, the tendency
of the trade is toward simplicity in the arrangement of pipes and the use of durable material;
but some plumbers go to excess, like other men, and hence the law of the city should be
present to check this excess. Plumbing ordinances are only severe on the bad plumber in
the same degree that the state laws are only severe on the bad citizen.
98 INDUSTRIE CHICAGO:
III.
PLUMBERS' ASSOCIATIONS.
RGANIZATION of the members of the plumbing trade in the United States has
raised that branch of business almost to the rank of a profession, and, with this
social elevation, has conferred upon the members an unquestionable title to in-
tellectual superiority above many of the trades connected with the building arts. Through
organization the working plumber of the past has developed into a student of the scientific
school of plumbing and a director of labor. Progression and success go hand in hand, and one
cannot be successful without being in some manner progressive. Search the world over, and the
fact will come back, if not with added force, at least with striking realization, that the most
successful merchants, manufacturers, professional men and mechanics are those in whom the
most prominent trait is progression. This assertion, more than ever, holds good of plumbing
in its true sense, and if, as some assert, plumbers are successful, in a pecuniary point of view,
it must be confidently said that they are at the present time as progressive, probably more
so, than the average mechanic. Plumbing is, indeed, a progressive science; few realize the
rapid strides which have been made during the present generation, few, indeed, understand
the prerequisites, essentials and training which combine to make the competent and suc-
cessful plumber. Knowledge acquired from long training and study, experience gained after
continuous and patient research, honest desire for success, a susceptible disposition to accept
the results of the investigations of others, have contributed in the makeup of the plumber of the
present time. The plumber of the past was a workman, plain and simple, versed, almost to
perfection in the use of tools and the performance of his work. Beyond this the demands of
his business never led him. Every job was done alike, varied by a regard for decorations,
and a dexterous manipulation of lead pipe; the demands of his calling made him a plodder,
honest and industrious, but as regards new methods, new ideas, obstinate, as a rule. To-day
the science of plumbing demands that the plumber shall be not only a workman, but that he
shall be a skilled mechanic, and beyond that he shall be familiar, if not from actual study, at least
from experience, in certain laws of physical science, with laws which govern hydraulics and
ventilation. The modern science of plumbing abounds with examples which call for the
most thorough and complete knowledge of these laws. The plumber of the past had but to
provide the necessary supply and waste pipes, to hide them from view, if such were a possible
TUB BUILDING INTERESTS. 99
thing, and to set his fixtures neatly to accord with the construction of the building in which
they were placed. The plumber of to-day must thoroughly ventilate, not only the traps and
the system of soil and waste pipes which he puts in, but he also must ventilate the building
itself in the most approved manner, insuring beyond the possibility of a doubt, security
against those poisonous gases which recently-acquired science teaches must be faithfully
guarded against. He must know the laws of hydraulics, that he can understand the capabil-
ities and capacities of supply pipes, the flow in them under varying heads, the loss due to
friction, that allowances may be made for the same. He must understand and know the prin-
ciple of circulation of hot water, that the l>est results attainable may follow his work. He
must combine with these a knowledge of sewerage and drain laying, as applied to buildings,
that he may take a commanding part in all that has to do with sewage disposal, and to
them all he must add a trained knowledge of legitimate business for his own protection.
The associations help to make him capable of being all this and more. They bring him in
contact with the strongest minds of the craft; they inoculate him with a sense of independ-
ent manhood, dependent only upon intelligence.
The National Association of Master Plumbers dates back to June '27, 1883, when the first
convention was held in New York City. It appears that an organization of plumbers existed
there as early as 1880, and on December 1, 18S2, this association met to consider measures
for protecting the trade. A committee was appointed to report at a future meeting on this
subject, and the chairman. Thomas J. Byrne, invited the plumbers' association of Brooklyn to
send one or more delegates. The meeting was held at the Astor House, January 10, 1883. It
was apparent to the delegates that to make the plans suggested in the report effective, a union of
master plumljers was necessary, and to this end a confidential letter was mailed to members of the
trade in the great commercial centers. Thisletter suggested the organization of local associa-
tions and was a success in having the suggestion carried out extensively. On March 7, 1883.
a meeting of delegates from the eastern cities was held in New York, and a call for a meeting
on June 27, 1883, to organize a National association was issued. Twenty-one associations
answered the call by sending one hundred and twenty-five delegates. Mayor W. E. Foster
was made permanent chairman and the same secretaries were retained. A committee of
twenty-one was appointed to formulate a plan of organization. This was done and adopted
and Col. George D. Scott was elected president of the newly organized National association.
Edward Murphy, of New York, was elected secretary. While papers were read on the ap-
prenticeship question and on protection, no action was taken by the first National convention
save to appoint committees to report on those subjects at the next convention.
The second convention assembled at Baltimore, Md., June 26, 1884. Five towns repre-
sented in the first were not represented in this: yet twenty-seven associations sent one hun-
dred and forty-six delegates. Messrs. Boyd, Griffith and Hauiblin, of Chicago, the committee
on by-laws, reported, the reports of the executive committee and other committees were re-
ceived, and the paper on "Trade protection," by J. J. Wade was read. This paper set forth
the resolutions, known as the ' Baltimore resolutions," which became the bible or korau of
100 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO :
the trade. The officers elected were Andrew Young, Chicago, president; James Allison, Cin-
cinnati, vice president; J. J. Wade, Chicago, recorder; J. J. Hambliii, Chicago, correspond-
ent; W. H. Graham, St. Louis, treasurer; Enoch Remiek, Philadelphia, financial secretary;
D. H. Collins, St. Louis, sergeant-at-arms; John Sanders, Martin Moylan, A. W. Murray and
Thomas Havey, of Chicago, and Jeremiah Sheehan, of St. Louis, members of executive com-
mittee. The resolutions as adopted are as follows:
Whereas, the manufacturing and wholesale firms in plumbing materials persist in selling to con-
sumers, to our injury and detriment, placing us toward our customers in the light of extortionists, causing
endless trouble; and whereas, the system of protecting us fropi this wrong, which draws in its wake other
wrongs, is ineffective, it is absolutely necessary to perfect such a system by united action, which will re-
move these evils from which we have suffered for years; therefore, be it
Resolved, that any firm manufacturing plumbing materials selling to others than master plumbers,
that we withdraw our patronage from such firm; that manufacturers of gas fixtures selling to consumers
shall not receive the patronage of any master plumber; that the master plumbers shall demand of the
manufacturers and wholesale dealers in plumbing materials to sell goods to none but master plumbers;
that this association keep a record of all journeymen and plumbers who place in buildings plumbing ma-
terial bought by consumers of manufacturers or dealers; that any manufacturing or wholesale dealers,
dealing in wrought-iron pipe, who sell to consumers shall not receive our patronage; that a committee
be appointed by this association in every state and county for the purpose of reporting to the proper officer
at its head in the state any violation of these resolutions; that these measures are just and necessary
to our welfare, and a rigid enforcement is demanded; that this convention endorse the above, and urge
upon the National association to perfect and adopt a uniform system of protection for the trade over their
entire jurisdiction.
The names of manufacturers who signed the "Baltimore resolutions," without reserve,
prior to October 17, 1884, are given as follows: Peck Bros. & Co., New Haven and Chicago;
Cooper, Jones & Cadbury, Philadelphia; William McShane & Co., New York; B. B. Swain
& Co., Philadelphia; M. M. Murphy & Co., Cleveland; Washburn & Moore Manufacturing
Co., Yonkers, N. Y. ; Ward & Curley. Boston; Thomas H. Hussey, New York; Colwell Lead
Co., New York; Fieldhouse, Dutcher & Belden, Chicago; J. N. Raymond, Chicago: Goulds
& Austin, Chicago; Thomas Maddock & Sons, New York; Thomas Hanson, New York; L. M.
Rumsey Manufacturing Co., St. Louis, Mo.; N. O. Nelson Manufacturing Co., St. Louis,
Mo.; T. P. Tuite & Co., Detroit, Mich.; E. Stebbins Manufacturing Co., Springfield, Mass.;
Charles Harrison & Co., New York; B. P. Bower & Co., Cleveland, Ohio; Thomas Kelly &
Bros., Chicago; Henry McShane & Co., New York; Peter Becker, Chicago; Henry Huber &
Co., New York; The Standard Lighting Co., Cleveland, Ohio; Renton Bros., New York;
Western Brass Manufacturing Co., St. Louis, Mo.; Cassidy & Adler, New York; E. G.
Schafer & Co., Washington, D. C. ; Northwestern Lead & Oil Co., Chicago; Schoenberg
Metal Manufacturing Co., New York; C. T. Bride, Washington, D. C. ; H. McCollum & Co.,
Cincinnati, Ohio; David Morrison, New York; James Bulger, Jr., New York; the Thomas
Gibson Co., Cincinnati, Ohio; Jamer, Jacobs & Co., Brooklyn and New York; Bailey.
Farrell & Co., Pittsburgh, Penn.; Miller & Coates, New York; J. T. Cammeyer & Co., New
York: Lowe & Brother, New York; Le Roy Shot & Lead Manufacturing Co., New York;
Joseph C. Bryan, New York; the Bradley White Lead Co., New York; Myers' Sanitary
Depot, New York; L. Wolff Manufacturing Co., Chicago; Crane Bros. Manufacturing Co.,
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 101
Chicago; Jaines F. McNulty, Brooklyn, N. Y. ; Trageser Steam Copper Works, New York;
Robert Leitch & Sous, Washington, D. C. ; William H. Douglas. Washington, D. C. : James
B. Clow & Son, Chicago; Ahrens & Ott, Louisville, Ky.; E. W. Blatchford & Co., Chicago;
L. P. Clark & Sons, Baltimore, Md.; Lowe & Brother, New York; Peter Kries & Co., W. I.
Clark & Bro., Crook, Horner & Co., J.'Regester & Sons, all of Baltimore, Md.
The third annual convention was held at St. Louis, Mo., June 23, 1885, there being
thirty towns represented by one hundred and fifty-three delegates. The most important
action was the adoption of a resolution placing the interpretation of the Baltimore resolutions
in the hands of the executive committee. This was taken because of a demand from the
eastern cities that the Baltimore resolutions lie so modified as to permit dealers to sell to each
other. James Allison, of Cincinnati, was elected president, and Thomas McNeil, also of Cin-
cinnati, was elected secretary.
The fourth annual convention was held at Deer Park, Md., June '22, 188<), twenty-five
towns being represented by one hundred and thirty-nine delegates, a falling off from the
previous sessions. The executive committee reported its interpretation of the Baltimore reso-
lutions, modifying them as desired by the eastern delegates at the St. Louis meeting. The
committee recommended that the plumber should cease acting as an agent, and endeavor to
purchase goods by the quantity in other words l>ecome a merchant that, in localities
where the Baltimore resolutions could not be lived up to, discretionary power be granted to
local associations in accord with the spirit of the resolutions. This last recommendation was
hotly contested by certain delegations, but was finally carried by one hundred to thirty-two.
The election of officers resulted in the choice of James Allison, Cincinnati, president; John
Trainor, Baltimore, vice president ; Thomas McNeil, Cincinnati, recording secretary; M. J.
Lyons, Bnxjklyn, treasurer; James Seniple, Cincinnati, corresponding secretary; Enoch
Remick, Philadelphia, financial secretary; David J. Collins, St. Louis, sergeant-at-arms.
Executive committee President, Allison; vice president, Traiuor; recording secretary, McNeil;
treasurer, Lyons, and Messrs. George R. Phillips, Providence, R. I. ; James W. Birkett, Brook-
lyn; Thomas C. Boyd, Chicago; J. A. McDonald, New York, and James J. Weaver,
Philadelphia.
In June, 188(5, the late Martin Moylaii prepared a paper on "Extras in plumbing work,"
which was read before the convention at Deer Park, Md. He pointed out that within the nine
preceding years, buildings valued at i|112,0(K),(HX) were erected at Chicago; that the cost of
plumbing therein was about $2,r>00,000. Extra work valued at $(>2r>,(XK) was also performed,
of which only seventy-five per centum returned to the pockets of the plumbers, the balance
$ir>6,000 standing against the house owners of the city. In explaining this question of
extra work lie stated that plans and specifications could not be so drawn as to avoid extra
work. The architect in planning a house is governed by the wants, tastes, whims, prejudices
and finances of his client, and, being a stranger to all these with the exception of the latter,
he, indeed, must needs )w a judge of human nature who could, upon such short acquaintance,
as he is usually afforded, meet every want. His client wishes to have every conceivable
102 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
ornament and accommodation in that prospective home, be it ever so modest, that months of
thinking and planning can suggest, together with all the recommendations of his friends, and
not being able to judge intelligently from plans how this or that arrangement will suit his
peculiar ideas, it is only as the work progresses and he sees it as it will be, that he can say
with any degree of certainty what shall be. The speculative builder does not annoy his head
with the idea of extras. He understands how " to make the punishment fit the crime," and
while appearances tell of contracts teing observed, it takes only a little time to show the
owner that the lowest bidder for plumbing work was not necessarily the cheapest one. The
man who builds a great business block or an elegant residence for himself must have changes
from the original plans and accompanying extras. Otherwise he is dissatisfied with one or
more parts of the building.
The fifth convention was held at Chicago in June, 1887. The city delegates were Robert
Griffith, president; delegates, A. W. Murray, Martin Moylan, William Sims, T. C. Boyd,
Hugh Watt, Michael Ryan, D. J. Rock, David Whiteford, William Bowden, E. Baggot, Rupert
Coleman, Patrick Sanders, Joseph R. Alcock, Michael J. Corboy. William Wilson, Andrew
Young and J. J. Wade; alternates, Thomas O'Malley, John J. Hamblin, Patrick Nacey,
James H. Roche, Fred. Neustadt, Thomas Conlin, P. L. O'Hara, J. W. Weber, Michael Reilley,
James J. Clark, A. C. Hickey, Peter Willems, G. J. Stokes, J. H. Norton, Joseph De War,
C. J. Brooks and T. W. Potts.
John Byrnes, of New York, was chosen president ; John Trainor, of Baltimore, vice presi-
dent; H. G. Gabay, of New York, recorder; W. T. Hudson, of Brooklyn, N. Y., correspondent;
M. J. Lyons, of Brooklyn, N. Y., treasurer, and Enoch Remick, of Philadelphia, financial
secretary. The one hundred and seventy-three delegates represented one thousand three
hundred and fifty -nine members.
The convention of 1 887 was prolific of good to the master plumbers of the country. A
brief abstract of the actual work of national importance accomplished by that convention
shows that the association committed itself to the following points: First. The establishment
of trade schools. Second. A uniform series of regulations concerning apprentices. Third.
The recognition, by the manufacturers of all plumbers' materials, of plumbers as dealers.
Fourth. The appointment of a grand secretary. Fifth. That contracts for plumbing work
should be made direct with the owner or architect. Sixth. Endorsing the "Battle for the
boys,'' by the New York association. Seventh. Endorsing the declaration of principles of
the National association of builders. Eighth. Requiring state vice presidents to keep a
record of violations of the Baltimore resolutions. Ninth. The allegiance of the Manufac-
turers' association of metalworkers to the Baltimore resolutions.
\
The endorsement of the New York trade schools was brought about by the reading of an
essay, carefully prepared by the New York association. It detailed the influence for good
whicli their trade school had had upon the plumbing apprentices, and, by motion of A. Yoiing,
of Chicago, the present, administration was charged with the duty of carrying out the idea of
manual training, so far as possible, in every city. The new rules adopted for the government of
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 103
apprentices, while not, and could not be binding on any plumber, still the adoption of a national
idea might assist in the return to some kind of an apprenticeship system which this country
needs so badly. The Baltimore resolutions were endorsed in two instances. The denomina-
tion of all plumbers as dealers was a declaration of position which manufacturers need to be
apprised of. But the chief victory of the adherents to the Baltimore idea was in securing the
adherence of the National association of manufacturers of metalworkers to the resolutions.
Though the manufacturers' committee asked to be allowed certain concessions, the plumbers'
committee was firm, and absolutely refused to break the intent or spirit of the resolutions.
The provision of a grand secretary with a salary, such as would allow the appointee to devote
his entire time to the work, was a step rendered necessary by the demands of the National
organization. The growth of the association was feeble. The first convention had one Imn-
dred and twenty-five delegates. Five years later, there were but one hundred and sixty-five,
an increase entirely too small. Several organizations faded out after a brief existence, because
they were unable to see any good in continuing. Other associations maintained a very slight
affiliation with the National association, because they did not receive the aid from it which
they were led to expect. In other towns of good size, no organizations existed. The conven-
tion, in committing itself against the practice of subcontracting, put itself on record in a
direction where other bodies took the initiative. Architects' associations recognized the
injustice done to the plumbing trade in not permitting it to be dealt with at first hands.
The association, in endorsing the well-known code of principles adopted by the National asso-
ciation of builders, and by many local organizations, set their face in a common direction with
other employers. The personal independence of the man to work or not to work, to employ
or not to employ, won recognition from all employers.
The system of apprenticeship was treated very ably in the Sanitary News of May, 1887.
The writer considered the relations of the employer, the apprentice and the journeyman to
each other and of all of them to the public: "It is no more than justice that the interests
of the employer should be considered first and paramount to the interests of the other three
classes in this quartet. It is the brain of the master which has enabled him to gather
about him an institiition which will yield to him an income and furnish a means of support
for his laborers. It is his ability as a manager which keeps him in the field against his com-
petitors, and commands a fair return on the money which he has invested. If his interests
are disastrously interfered with, not only he, as the head of the business, will suffer, but in a
ike degree will every man suffer, to whom he has been able to give employment. What are
the considerations influencing him on the apprenticeship question, taking him as a business
man, and irrespective of any philanthropic views individual employers may maintain? Per-
haps the greatest desire he has is that apprentices shall be sufficient to keep the demand for
men supplied, even if not over supplied. In the first case, with the demand for labor con-
tinually met, wages will probably not go any higher. In the second case, with an over sup-
ply of labor, the tendency of wuges will be downward, and that is. to the employer, a gratify-
ing tendency. At the same time he is anxious to see the price of labor go down, he is also
104 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
anxious to see the skill and dexterity of the workmen go tip, so that he can produce a greater
quantity of goods at a price no greater than before. Between these two desires, skilled labor
has always been able to maintain a pretty uniform price. It is also to the employer's advan-
tage to see the quality of the product increase with a decrease of labor expended upon it.
Taking all these considerations together, it should be the desire of the employer to see the
number of apprentices increase. As to his relation to the apprentice, it is evident that he
should, for his own good and for the apprentice's welfare, be something more than
an employer to him. He is theoretically responsible for the boy's advancement in the art-
It is to his interest that the boy's labor be made profitable as soon as possible. He is also
interested in keeping up the standard of labor in order to guarantee the quality of his pro-
ductions in the future. All these considerations point to the master, or employer, as the
proper person to control the apprentices, and to decide how many he shall have in his employ-
ment. As to the fear that such a cause would lead to the substitution of boy labor for adult
labor, it is not a well-grounded one. In trades where boys can perform labor equally as well
as men, it is unjust to boys not to permit them to perform it, and in skilled labor it is impos-
sible for a boy to compete with a man. It would not be a fair representation of the case,
however, were we to leave out of consideration the dishonest employer, who, in order to cut
under his competitor, will "scamp'' his work and employ botch laborers. It would be idle
to say that there are not slop-builders and skin-plumbers, who have no moral responsibility
at all, and who do not care whether there is an apprenticeship system or not, if they only be
allowed the means to continue their miserable existence. -But these do not influence the
question much, and they will be obliged by trades unions to pay adequate wages generally.
"The interests of the apprentice are all bound up in the few years he shall work as such.
His whole career as a workman depends on his acquitting himself ably while he is a learner.
The circumstances of apprenticeship have changed greatly since the early days of skilled
.labor. No longer does the apprentice have to leave home and friends and become an inmate
of a strange family. No longer do his parents have to pay a premium as a compensation for
the knowledge he shall gain. He can live at home and can at any time draw wages commen-
surate with his usefulness to his employer. His lot is a hard one, as, under existing condi-
tions, he has to work hard to obtain an adequate knowledge of the trade, because he has to
work at a disadvantage. He is often no more than a helper to a journeyman and an almost
unknown quantity to the master. If he learns his trade well, under existing circtimstances,
he is, indeed, a bright boy. An apprentice is entitled to some kind of an agreement with the
master who employs him. The old indenture has long ago dropped out of use, but something
should take its place. The term of apprenticeship should be fixed and enforced; it is a
question though, if this term should be invariably applied to all alike. A bright and intelli-
gent lad can easily accomplish in three years what it would take another five years to do, and
it is unjust to require the three-year lad to toil out the remaining two years on the same basis
as the duller boy. As the primary object of apprenticeship is to keep up the supply of
skilled workmen, it is due the apprentices that they should receive all the instruction from
master and journeymen which can be imparted to them.
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 105
" Here we have struck a class of men whose interests are mainly centered in the questions
of wages and hours of labor. The journeyman desires the demand for his labor to be always
good, and that wages shall always be high because of a scarcity of skilled workmen. To
accomplish this he would restrict the number of apprentices, in order that boy- labor may
not supplant him or prevent his own advancement. As regards the teaching of apprentices,
it is manifestly unjust to expect journeymen to teach their trades to lx>ys, knowing that the
only compensation they will receive will be the knowledge that the boys may cheapen their
own labor. If masters will not become responsible for the teaching of the boys, the journey-
men should be paid for it. The journeyman has always jealously guarded his right to the
control of the apprentices. In New York, the plumbing trade has just witnessed an unprec-
edently long strike on this very point. Yet the moment the journeyman takes such a stand
he becomes a monopolizer of labor and becomes a source of danger to the community and
the cause of injustice to the boys who must learn skilled trades. It may be unfair for capital
ists to ask for an unlimited number of apprentices, but it is just as unfair for journeymen to
demand fewer than would adequately fill the demand for the labor of their hands.
"The public is only interested in seeing the quality of products kept up and the price
kept down, and is therefore in sympathy with the apprentices. It is also interested in seeing
that no trade is so overstocked as to keep skilled men out of employment. The great question
is to provide a remedy for the alarming condition of affairs as we find it to-day. It is believed
.that the decline of the apprenticeship system caused, as it was, by the changed conditions of
labor and the substitution of nothing to take its place, is responsible to a great degree for the
demoralized condition of our labor to-day. Our goods are poor. Wages have a downward
tendency. Strikes and lockouts unsettle business, and all of these complications could have
been avoided by a better understanding of the conditions existing between the employer and
the employed. What can be provided for an apprenticeship system ? Let each trade, through
its organizations of masters and journeymen, come together and formulate a plan of appren-
ticeship which will prove satisfactory to both sides. One system can not be applied to all
trades. Each specific trade has its own specific conditions which will influence any plan of
apprenticeship which may be brought forward."
The sixth convention was held at Boston in June, 1888, when several papers were read
and the following named officers elected: John Trainor, of Baltimore, president; E. J. Han-
iian, of Washington, vice president; John J. Carey, of Baltimore, secretary; Enoch Remick,
of Philadelphia, financial secretary; John J. Hamblin, of Chicago, treasurer; David J. Collins,
of St. Louis, sergeant -at-arms. The state vice presidents were T. J. White, of Denver, Colo. ;
George S. Arnold, of Hartford-, Conn. ; John Mitchell, of Washington, D. C. : Robert Griffith,
of Chicago, 111. ; George Kendall, of Clinton, Iowa; Jaines Foley, of Leavenworth, Kas. ; Simon
Shulhafer, of Louisville, Ky. ; J. C. Mitchell, of Baltimore, Md. : Thomas J. Tute, of Boston,
Mass. : J. J. Dunnigan, of St. Paul, Minn. ; Henry Goss, of Kansiis City, Mo. ; M. B. Hussey,
of Omaha, Neb. ; D. W. Littell, of Jersey City, N. J. : \V. G. Reid, of Rochester, N. Y. ; Mr.
Snyder, of Cleveland, Ohio; William M. Wright, of Philadelphia. Penn. : William L. Whip-
106 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
pie, of Providence, R. I. ; T. J. Mooney. of Nashville, Term. ; W. E. Foster, of Norfolk, Va.. and
George S. Lyon, of Milwaukee, Wis.
In November, 1888, the association issued a circular letter giving the Baltimore reso-
lutions and amendments thereto, up to July 1, 18S8, and pointing out the conditions under
which material men and master plumbers should do business. The additions to the original
resolutions :
Resolved, that it is not the intention of the said resolutions to prevent the interchange of patented
or any other plumbing material between manufacturers and wholesale dealers in such goods, or for the
export trade, and that the interpretation of the Baltimore resolutions be left in the hands of the executive
committee with power ; and that it is our fixed intention to adhere to the line of action already pursued
in roftard to " protection of the trade," and that we relax no honorable effort to relieve our business
from unjust and discreditable competition on the part of manufacturing and supply houses.
The paper by J. J. Wade, entitled "How to promote the unity of the associations; what
benefits are derived from the National association and upon what does the security of the Local
and National associations depend," was delivered before the Boston convention in 1888. The
reader says: " In starting out on this my chosen theme, I would presume to invite you, gentle-
men of this association, to take with me a journey through the past. We must trace the fur-
rows left on the sands of tijne and mark each succeeding step as it advances toward its goal,
if we would become thoroughly familiar with the benefits derived from national organization.
History attests that eve.n from the earliest stages of civilization, the principle of unity was
commensurate with progression, and hence we read of national synods held in the first eras
of the world's history. In fact, the ancients considered the foremost step to be taken toward
securing the unity of the people, was the consolidation of power, and so we have the grand
tribunals of these remote periods coming down to us through the centuries as models of per-
fect government. Ever since the time of the Csesars, wise soothsayers have employed their
wits in recommending requisite modes of government for the different nations; new ideas
have been promulgated, old ones stricken out, so that at present, only the most approved
methods are in existence. Take our own grand republic and its glorious founder, before
whom the crowned heads of Europe were forced to bow, and on examination you will find
that prominent among the causes that led to his rapid progression was the centralization of
power, and even the minor organizations that from time to time spring up among men are
regulated by this system, and with what success you art* well aware. Unity, then, is the base
of all associations that have as their aim the good of their fellow creatures, as well as the
elevation of its members in their particular sphere of life. May I state as an example of our
own organization the Master Plumbers' association of the United States to prove to you that
' in union t here is strength ? ' My pride exults at the prosperity of our brilliant, though
short career, where no stain of dissention has sullied the pages of a history of incessant activity.
" Six years ago what was this organization'' A myth you may say, but it was hardly
that, for the dream of such an organization was harbored in the minds of many of our pros
ent members. In the hearts of our founders there was nurtured a hope that was destined to
burst forth into a fiaine of determination that spread throughout the union and enkindled in
>FflE
BL6CK.
COMMERCIAL ARCHITECTURE.
KOMAXESQl'E OKNAMENT.
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 107
the hearts of the master plumbers of this country a desire to be up and doing, a desire to
free themselves from the bonds of slavery, and the indignities that were heaped upon them
through a series of impositions which seemed to threaten our very existence except as mem-
bers of an inferior trade. At this crisis a call was made at the instigation of a noble few,
who felt that by promoting kindly relations among the master plumbers they would combine
their efforts to protect the trade against injustice and encroachments upon their common
rights and interests. That their efforts have not been made in vain you can clearly see.
With our worthy men from the great metropolis, surrounded by an army of ' fighters ' from
all larger cities, could we do aught but succeed ? To the New York men, however, belong
the honor of having established this association, which has spread throughout the United ,,
States. At the first convention learned legislators were found who applied to our new &guu- .?V/'
zatiou the collected wisdom of experience, and framed a constitution in which unity was tne
&
predominant feature. Too much praise can not be given those men who fought so earnestly
in the interests of the trade we represent. Permit me to conjecture, however, that they are
rewarded with the gratitude of every master plumber in this country, and posterity will recip-
rocate in the sentiments which, for want of eloquence, must now remain untold. Since their
retirement from office others have risen up to aid the impetus given by them, and hence follow
the names of Scott, Young, Allison and Byrne, who have all proved themselves men equally
upright, honorable and sincere. Five years ago we ' little knew ' of the intelligence that
was centered in the followers of our trade; we were so unfriendly that we 'cared less,' and
hence it was that two-thirds of our fellow-tradesmen residents in our own city were unknown
to us. Among those with whom we were acquainted there prevailed a sentiment of jealousy,
envy and narrow-mindedness. So far from enlarging our acquaintance to encourage friendly
feelings among the plumbers of other cities, our selfishness was such that it would not permit
us to entertain for a moment such odious connections and so we moved along in the same
groove of antagonism.
" On June 28, 1883, indeed marked a grand epoch in the history of the plumbing frater-
nity of this country. In responding to that national call we became alive to the fact that we
had a mission to perform, an end to attain, and it immediately became our object to make
friends of those whom we regarded with scorn, and associates of those whom we considered
our enemies, so as to work together in a common cause. Who among us have regretted this
movement;' Not one, I can safely say. Through organization we have accomplished work
that would be utterly impossible for individual or even local effort to perform. We have
grappled with the enemies of our trade and they now lie slain by their pet desires. Think of
our victory over the manufacturers; think of the victories gained by the Baltimore resolutions;
think of how public opinion has become elevated and then you will know what benefits are
derived from national organization. Local organization has played its part, and has worked
wonders for the home interests, but through national, concerted influence alone, we have raised
up an impregnable wall which commands admiration and defies attack. Since all this has been
accomplished satisfactorily and well, may we not anticipate great successes for the future 1*
G
108 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
" We have a number of questions on hand that require the concurrence of the national
organization to make firm and binding. These questions should be agitated at our conven-
tion, and then, by becoming familiar with the views of all the members, our deeds may be
sanctioned by the voices of all speaking through our president. Agitation on the subjects
that affect the prosperity of our trade is essential to stimulate the interest now taken by our
members, for it is this alone that will build up a foundation for our society on which its
security must depend. A code of laws regulating the kind of material and how it is to be
used in a building, would not be amiss as a topic for the National organization. This is a
subject that receives much attention from the public, and as one of our principal aims is to
educate the public at large, why not debate on this one, that possesses special interest for them.
If it is not practicable, why is it not so? And if it is, establish it among the members
of our association. Then, oftentimes, labor questions arise in our midst that need the con-
joined effort of the National organization for their suppression or settlement. By this, how-
ever, I do not wish you to infer that all the little difficulties that the local associations en-
counter should be referred to the National organization. We must understand that our execu-
tive officers are all business men, who, should they be ever so willing, could not justifiably
sacrifice their precious time and leave their business to attend to these matters. Not being
salaried officers it would be unreasonable to expect them to leave all their callings to gratify
the whims of any local society. But in questions of weight that effect all local organizations,
we- think it but right and proper to lay the grievances at the feet of our National organization
to receive its advice and be guided by its dictates. Our apprentice system is a question of
national importance. Alas, it seems as if it were doomed to be talked and written about with-
out ever coming to any definite settlement. The subject of trade schools, I am afraid, seems
' too far teyond ' for comment now, so we will pass to another question of national importance,
and that is the best mode ' for providing wholesome plumbing and sewerage systems for the
people of our realm.' We must so master our work as to make it impossible to be held ac-
countable for any of the dire maladies that afflict our populace, for we wish to become 'mas-
ters' worthy of the title and all that it signifies. We must, through our National organiza-
tion, encourage state legislation and insist on sanitary laws."
At the convention of February, 1 889, Andrew Young reviewed the work accomplished by
the association. His paper was statistical as well as historical. It is well worth study.
He said: ''In the brief time before us we may only glean of the harvest, of good results
arising from the organization of the National Association of Master Plumbers of the United
States. Previous to 1883 the plumber was looked xipon as a necessary evil, and a fit subject
for the cheap wit of every scribbler; nor were the lashings we received undeserved, for our
actions toward one another was but the natural result of the promptings of jealousy and cnv\ .
A literature of plumbing we had none, while our business relations with our manufacturers
and dealers were as dishonorable as degrading. Such was the condition of the trade at that
time aimless, purposeless and apathetic. A meeting was held in the city of New York in
June, 1883, when the National association was organized, and the following adopted as the
THE BUILDTNG TNTERE8T8. 109
aim and purpose of the association: 'The association is organized for sanitary, commercial
and social purjx>ses, and has for its special objects the advancement of the trade in all the
latest discoveries of science appertaining to sanitary laws; to promote and combine the intel-
ligence and influence of members for the protection of the trade against imposition, injustice,
or enroachment upon our common rights and interests, encouraging inventions and improve-
ments in sanitary appliances, fostering an interchange of thought, and eliciting and com-
municating for the benefit of each member, the last talent and the result of the experience
and ability of all; to promote amicable relations with employes on the basis of mutual inter-
est and equitable justice to both journeyman and master plumber; to encourage national and
state legislation for the furtherance of the interests of sanitary laws; to secure for the mem-
bers of the trade equitable treatment in their dealings with manufacturers and dealers in
supplies; to regulate the system of apprenticeship and employment, so as to prevent, so far
as practicable, the evils growing out of deficient training in the responsible duties of select-
ing, arranging, and the fitting up of materials relating to the hydraulic and sanitary condi-
tions of dwellings, public and private institutions; to create and maintain a sanitary code at
as high a standard as the progress of science, chemical, philosophical and mechanical knowl-
edge teaches, and we are to carry forward, with tireless zeal, the great work to which the
above language relates.' At this meeting a work was begun that has placed the plumbing
trade of to-day foremost among the industrial arts. Committees were appointed on appren-
ticeship, sanitary matters and legislation, and an essay committee assigned subjects to the
different associations for presentation and discussion at the following meetings.
" The second convention was held in the city of Baltimore, June, 1884, twenty-seven
cities being represented, a gain of six over the previous year. At this meeting a term of
apprenticeship was presented and since adopted; legislation was asked for the District of
Columbia, and during the session our members of congress were asked to further such legis-
lation, and their prompt response to our requests filled us with encouragement. At the
meeting Philadelphia stepped forward with the first manual training school in operation
under the care of the association. The essays read at this meeting were meritorious in the
thorough and practical manner in which the different subjects were handled, and, after an
harmonious session, the convention adjourned to meet in your city in June, 1885. This was a
meeting memorable in our history for the princely hospitalities showered upon us by the local
association and your citizens. At this convention thirty cities were represented. Succeeding
conventions have been held at Chicago, Deer Park, and Boston. These meetings have stimu-
lated us to renewed effort, nor have our efforts failed. Many of the states have enacted laws
framed by us in the interest of the public health, and to-day there are but few cities without
ordinances governing the manner in which our work shall be done, and requiring special quali-
fications by the persons doing such work.
"In other directions our labors have met with pronounced success. Manual-training
schools have been established, libraries collected, to which our men and apprentices have access,
while journals devoted to sanitary science have been established and maintained in many of
110 INDUSTRIAL CIIIGAOO :
our cities. But let us look for a moment at the duty of the citizen and the duty of the
state. Experience proves that disease is a costly burden upon a community. The neglect of
the municipality to provide efficient sanitary regulations is murder by the municipality. Had
intelligent quarantine precautions been rigidly enforced, New Orleans would have been saved
from the yellow-fever epidemic of 1878. There might have been lost $1,500,000 of trade;
their omission entailed a needless waste of $1 1,50(),0(H), enough money to have given them a
sewerage and water system adapted to their needs.
"The smallpox epidemic in Philadelphia, in 1870 and 1872, during which there were
twenty thousand cases and over four thousand deaths, entailed a loss upon the community of
over $21,000,000. As eighty-five of every hundred of these twenty thousand cases and
ninety-five per centum of these deaths, representing four thousand sacrificed lives, were pre-
ventable, we may thus sum up the account that an expenditure of $20,000 for purposes of
prevention would have resulted in a saving to the city of Philadelphia of millions of dollars.
It is within a very few years that the state has seemed to realize the fact that it pays to pro-
tect the health and lives of the producer. Sir James Paget says that the value of a child's
life in England is, in money, 200; that is costs an average of ">00 to raise a child to the
age when it becomes a producer. Its death at the beginning of the production age is, there-
fore, so much lost. Dr. Farr, the eminent British sanitarian, estimates the value of an adult's
life to the state at 750, and its annual productive value to the state as ( J5.
"In the United States, the number of deaths, annually, of the productive age, is four
hundred thousand. Further, every death represents two years of sickness throughout the
community. Therefore, there are in the United States one million, five hundred thousand
persons sick constantly. In England and Wales it has been found that the average of sick-
ness among the working class is a week and a half per year for each individual. The same
supervision of sanitary matters which reduce the mortality rate will reduce the death rate.
The recognition of these facts by nations and by individuals has created a new science-pre-
ventive medicine, and it clothes with a new and peculiar dignity the laborer in every depart-
ment of social and professional life, who intelligently strives in whatever he does to elevate
the physical development and well being of the community.
"The future great city of our continent is yet unknown. I see hi the near future such a
city; its streets models of cleanliness, its sewerage system up to every need, a plenteous
supply of unpolluted water to every inhabitant, its garbage removed, its streets and alleys
cleaned, its sewers flushed during the midnight hours, its avenues shaded and cooled in sum-
mer by trees, whose properties are health-giving; its parks and driveways made pleasing and
beautiful by the hand of man; the face of nature changed to meet the wants and needs of its
inhabitants, its public buildings under vigilant supervision models for the world. Such a
city would be the magnet to draw to its bosom the wealth and culture of the nations. Its
highways graced by institutions dedicated to the arts and sciences, on its fair brow the learn-
ing of a continent would find a fitting home. What of the picture? This is 110 ignis-fatuus,
no illusive shadow; it is a prize within your grasp. Ask yourselves the question, are you
Tllfi BUILDING INTERESTS. Ill
equal to the occasion ? And if you answer aright, your names will be honored by posterity,
as benefactors of the human race."
The seventh annual convention was held at Pittsburgh, Penn., in June, 1889. The
Chicago delegates were A. W. Murray, Patrick Sanders, Hugh Watt, Michael Ryan, William
Bowden, Andrew Young, David Bain, Robert Griffith, Matthew Mandable, Michael Riley, C.
J. Brooks, Charles Bryer, P. J. Laughlin, G. A. Larsen, P. L. O'Hara and D. J. Rock. There
were present one hundred and ninety-five delegates, representing fifty-three cities and towns
and twenty-eight states. A lengthy report on the apprenticeship question ; a paper on " Pure
water for country houses," and one on " Motors for raising water," were presented. The fol-
lowing officers were then. elected for the ensuing year: Edward J. Hannau, president, Washing-
ton ; Robert Griffith, vice president, Chicago, 111. : George A. Green, corresponding and recording
secretary, Washington, D. C. ; Jeremiah Sheehan, treasurer, St. Louis; Enoch Remick, financial
secretary, Philadelphia; Messrs. Scott, New York; Lewis, Brooklyn; Murphy, Milwaukee;
Geiger, Buffalo, and Finnerty, Boston, executive committee. The state vice presidents were
L. E. Furman, California; T. J. Morgan, Colorado; L. H. Mills, Connecticut; Edward Cav-
erly, District of Columbia; William Clark, Florida; William Rothrock, Maryland; Michael
H. Riley. Illinois; James Madden, Indiana; Alfred Gothrock, Delaware: Hugh F. Hogan,
Iowa; G. J. Bransfield, Kansas; Simon Shulhafer-, Kentucky; G. M. Werner, Maine; Daniel
Shannon, Massachusetts: Edward Sterner, Michigan; J. T. Holmes, Minnesota; F. J. Busley,
Missouri; L. E. Littell. New Jersey; N. B. Hussey, Nebraska: T. W. Desnoyers, Ohio; John
A. Kramer, Pennsylvania; W. J. Reid, New York: W. M. Whipple, Rhode Island; R. S. Long,
South Carolina: G. J. Mooney, Tennessee; William E. Foster, Virginia; P. L. Lyons, Ver-
mont; William E. Goodman, Wisconsin, and John S. Trimble, West Virginia.
Among the important reports presented to the convention (1889) was the following:
" Your apprenticeship committee respectfully report that, at the request of the apprenticeship
committee of the International Association of Journeymen Plumbers, on April 16, they held a
conference with the above-named committee, which was pleasant and harmonious, the result
being an expressed desire on the part of the Journeymen's association to aid the National
Association of Master Plumbers in seeing that the boys so get their trades that when they
become journeymen they will be creditable not only to themselves but their instructors. The
apprenticeship committee (which is the legislative committee, a standing committee to whom
the subject was referred) of the National Association of Builders, taking as a groundwork the
system as reported by a former apprentice committee of this national body, have formulated
a plan which will apply to apprentices in all trades, and believing that such a uniform system
is desirable, we submit it as part of our re]rt, and recommend it for approval by this body.
The legislative committee have thoroughly reviewed the method approved at the last conven-
tion, to take the place of the old system of apprenticeship, and recommend a slight change of
wording in the second clause, and an important change in the third clause. They herewith
present the whole method as they recommend its modification, the changes proposed being
inclosed in brackets. Method approved by the National Association of Builders to establish
the right of any person to be known as a regular journey man in the building trades:
113 INDUSTRIAL CHIVAUO:
" The serving of a regular course of instruction in a mechanical trade school, and gradu-
ating therefrom with a certificate of proficiency granted by the same, under rules and regula-
tions approved by a committee of master mechanics, who may unite in the management of
said school. [The preliminary training in the trade school to be followed by] a term of prac-
tice with an employer on actual work, this term to be at least one year less than the usual
term of apprenticeship by virtue of the holding of a certificate of proficiency granted by a
mechanical trade school: during this term of service the young man to be known as 'junior.'
[Finally], completion of the education of the mechanic to be acknowledged [after a proper
examination has been passed before a board of examiners appointed for the purpose by the
association of builders to which the employer may belong, or to whom the junior may apply
for examination], by the issuance of a certificate by the said association, which shall state
that the holder has passed through the prescribed course at the trade school, and the term of
practice with an employer (name and location given) with satisfaction and credit, and is
entitled to be received by all builders as a journeyman. [Any young man who has received
the ' certificate of proficiency' from the trade school may apply for the second examination
before the board of examiners, and, if adjudged by them to be old enough, strong enough, and
competent, may receive a special certificate, which shall state the facts in the case.]
"The committee also recommend that this method of the National association be per-
sistently agitated, and that a special committee be appointed to have the matter in charge."
This was signed by Marc Eidlitz, William Harkness, Jr., and E. L. Bartlett, committee.
"In conjunction with the above, we submit as part of our report the admirable paper on
trade schools, which was prepared and read by Col. R. T. Auchmuty, at the last convention of
National Builders, for the reason that it deals directly with and seems to solve the great prob-
lem of ' What shall we do with our boys ? ' To which were appended the names of John J.
Weaver, William Harkness, Jr., William H. Doyle, apprenticeship committee."
The eighth annual convention assembled at Denver, Colo., in June 1890. The delegates
from Chicago were Hugh Watt, Robert Griffith, David Whiteford, J. H. De Veney, William
H. Rielly, C. J. Herbert, William Bowden, J. D. Roche, J. R. Alcock, James J. Byrnes, C. C.
Boyer, D. J. Rock, Andrew Young, W. P. Gray, J. J. Hamblin, J. G. Webber, J. P. Kalleen.
Robert Griffith, of Chicago, was elected president; Joseph A. Macdonald, of New York, vice
president; Joseph R. Alcock, secretary; M. J. Lyons, treasurer; J. J. Hamblin, financial sec-
retary, and David Whiteford, vice president for Illinois. The question of the exhibit of
plumbing materials and work at the World's Fair was considered, and Cincinnati named as
the convention city of 1891.
On June 12, 1890, James A. Lynch, William H. Graham and Thomas Cantwell, members
of the apprenticeship committee of the National association, presented the following report :
"The apprenticeship question of to-day is one of the most important that we have to discuss
at our annual conventions. What the foundation is to the building, what seed grain is to the
farmer, the apprentice is to the plumbing profession. The trade has in the past employed
boys to learn the business without regard to their mechanical ability or tastes, The result
THE BUILDING INTBRK8T8. 113
has been that fifty per cent, of them quit or were laid off in one or two years, being entirely
unfit for the trade, and only twenty-five per cent, of the total number of boys became first-
class plumbers. We must put better material into our shops in the future if we expect to
make perfect plumbers. A few years ago apprentices in England and other European coun-
tries were required to serve seven years, and then often had to pay for the privilege. When
they got through they were finished mechanics, if not artists. Many of them coming to this
country could shape anything out of lead. The average time for an apprentice in this coun-
try has been five years. Very often boys break through their obligations and quit work, and
proclaim to those who employed them that they are journeymen. It does not take long to
prove their assertion false, and the result is provoking and expensive, as it frequently hap-
pens that they are put on first-class work which has to be done over. And the trade unions
allow these men to select the task or grade of work for themselves, without any regard for
their experience or ability, which is a great imposition and outrage on the business. We all
have this experience sooner or later. Boys become restless as the end of their apprenticeship
approaches and often demand wages they are not entitled to. They become filled with a
sense of their own importance and give a great deal of trouble, often acquiring expensive
habits which their limited wages will not keep up.
"A case of this kind came up in St. Louis. A lx>y quit work, and after several weeks'
wandering found a man who wanted a plumber. He hired as a journeyman, but after a short
time his employer told him he was not a journeyman. The young man acknowledged he was
not, and admitted the deception. His employer then made arrangements to employ him a
year under instructions at a small advance over his former wages, and the boy went to work
for him. His former employer had some circulars printed informing the members of the
organization that this boy had not finished his apprenticeship as agreed, and also referring to
an article in the by-laws which prohibited any member from employing an apprentice who
worked with another member without his consent. The young man was laid off, and could
not get work in any first-class shop in the city. He could go back and finish his apprentice-
ship, but he got stubborn and refused to do so. He tried to get work under an assumed
name, and did get some work in a few small shops, but finally had to leave the city. He
brought suit for $5,000 damage, which was demurred to and the demurrer sustained. Then
he amended his petition and sued for $2,500, and his employer set up a demurrer to that
also, and it was sustained. The boy's attorney then took it to the Court of Appeals, where
they ordered the case to go to trial. In the meantime the judge who sustained the demurrer
on the two occasions failed to be re-elected, and a new judge tried the case. Both parties
fought the case zealously, but there was a good common jury trying the case, and they gave
a verdict against the apprentice and in favor of the employer. Then the Knights of Labor
and other labor organizations raised a howl, claiming to have elected the judge, and that he
had made pledges and promises to them. They were furious becaiise the boy lost the case,
and were going to have a special law passed in Jefferson City protecting workingmen, etc.
The boy's attorney applied for a new trial, and after two months' waiting the judge granted
114 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
it on the sole ground that the verdict was not in accordance with the evidence. The employer
then took a change of venue, declaring he could not get justice in that court; that he had
fairly won the case, and it should have gone up to the higher court on its merits. It was
assigned to an associate judge of the one before whom it had been tried, who was elected on
the same ticket and indorsed by the labor party. This time ten of the twelve jurors were
young men, employes, and when they were sworn in we knew the case was lost. The case
was discussed by them for two days, and they finally brought in a verdict for the boy for a
portion of the amount claimed.
" The case was appealed. The Court of Appeals confirmed the verdict on the ground that
the boy was not indentured according to the law of the state of Missouri, which says that an
apprentice must be taken before the Probate court, accompanied by his parents or guardian,
and two witnesses, and have a notary certify the papers. It was proved that five years was
the customary time for a boy to serve at the business learning the trade. The court ruled
that when there was a written law governing the case custom could not prevail. The boy had
been well treated, was paid his wages promptly and had no other ground for complaint, but
that he was not legally apprenticed. An effort was made to take the case to the Supreme
court on constitutional grounds, but the amount sued for limited it to the Court of Appeals.
This was the first case of the kind ever tried in the state of Missouri, and it was commented
on by the daily press as a case of great interest to employer and employe. The lesson learned
is to take no apprentice unless properly protected by papers. No employer wants to educate
a boy, and then when he is able to do anything have him quit work, often when he needs his
service most,
" What our trade wants as apprentices are young men about sixteen years of age, strong
and sound, physically and mentally; boys who are not afraid of work. Reading, writing and
arithmetic is all the education they need, with a decided taste for mechanics. If they have
not this taste or talent, all the education in the universe will not make mechanics of them.
Too much education unfits a boy for a trade. It makes him feel that work is degrading, and
he wants some work that will not soil his hands. The trade schools are very popular in New
York and Philadelphia. In about three months a boy gets his diploma, and can make a joint,
bend a pipe in all sorts of shape and solder ends of lead together, all of which does not make
a finished workman by a great deal. If a boy does not work in a shop in addition to the
trade-school lessons, the result is only superficial and is only a veneering. The promiscuous
education of boys without regard to their talents or tastes for mechanical pursuits is perni-
cious, and often ruinous to the boy's future. A boy whom nature intended for a minister or
a merchant can never be made a mechanic. We are not in favor of short methods of educa-
tion. They are not dxirable. Nature takes the usual time to perform her work, and it is
done well. The earth takes the same time to perform its revolutions. The sun, the stars
and the various planets revolve in their endless orbits, and have done so for thousands and
thousands of years; they have no short route over which to travel; they go over the same old
beaten path. What would the public think if Yale, Harvard or Princeton colleges were to
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 115
announce that instead of four years' study as of old you could get all the degrees in three
months under the direction and care of old experienced teachers! The people would be
astonished, and would think it impossible. Does our trade-school enthusiast think to over-
come the laws of nature by cramming into a boy's brain in three months what it usually takes
as many years to accomplish ? We admit that as preliminary training for a boy before going
to learn his trade it is splendid, but of itself alone it will do much harm. ' A little learning
is a dangerous thing.' Euclid, the world -renowned mathematician, was asked by the king to
reveal his knowledge to his son, without the drudgery of the labor of years' studying to
acquire it. The king offered him a large sum of money if he would comply with his request.
Euclid said, ' Sire. I would do so with pleasure were it not imjwssible. There is no royal
road to knowledge. Your son must study and learn like all the other boys in your dominion.'
" The same great truth holds good to-day. Look at our successful men in their various
pursuits. They were poor boys. who. by untiring exertions, won fame and fortune. Ericsson,
Edison, Morse, Carnegie, Fulton and Stephensou we want a few boys like these in the
plumbing business to elevate it and ennoble it. Andrew Carnegie says he began in an office
using a broom. All l>oys should begin low and aim high, avoid gambling, drink and other
bad habits, and an industrious, persevering boy with good habits can and does work his way to
the head of his profession. Your committee recommends the trade-schools in connection with
actual work as an apprentice in a plumbing shop; experience in the shop and technical in-
struction in the training school, combined, will make a first-class mechanic of a boy; but trade-
school instruction alone will fail to make a finished mechanic. We request every city and
town where there is a plumbers' association to establish and maintain a trade school in con-
nection with their shops, where their apprentices can be instructed in the science of the trade,
one or two evenings a week, by a committee appointed for that purpose, and to establish a read-
ingroom in the same building, if possible. In this way the trade will be kept in its proper
channel, and diplomas given by veterans in the business to finished plumbers only."
The ninth National convention of plumbers assembled at Cincinnati, Ohio, in June, 1891,
when the following-named officers were elected: Joseph A. Macdonald, of New York, presi-
dent; Jeremiah Sheehan, of St. Louis, vice president; M. J. McDermott, of New York,
recording secretary; W. E. Goodman, of Milwaukee, treasurer; Thomas J. Tute, of Boston,
financial secretary. Executive committee John Trainor, Baltimore: William McCoach.
Philadelphia; C. J. Prescott, Topeka; W. J. Freaney, St. Paul; J. A. Harris, Sioux City,
Iowa. Legislative committee James Madden, Ft. Wayne, Ind. ; Alexander Crawford,
Evansville, Ind. : Charles Anaeshensell, Indianapolis. Ind. ; Peter J. Gall, Indianapolis, Ind. ;
James Healey, Indianapolis, Ind. State vice presidents Colorado, Joseph P. Ratican, Den-
ver: District of Columbia, Donald S. Williamson, Washington; California. E. L. Burgoin,
Los Angeles; Rhode Island, George R. Phillips. Providence; Illinois. William Bowdeu, Chi-
cago: Indiana, James H. Healey. Indianaj>olis: Iowa, J. H. Harris, Sioux City; Kansas,
James Foley. Leavenworth: Maryland, D. N. Sullivan, Baltimore; Missouri, John F. Rear-
don. Baltimore: Massachusetts. Dennis A. Horgan, Boston: Nebraska, J, H, O'Neil: New
116 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
York, J. A. Creelman, Rochester; Ohio, D. M. Kelly, Columbus; Oregon, William Muir-
head, Portland; Pennsylvania, B. F. Call, Pittsburgh; Tennessee, J. L. Park, Nashville; Texas,
D. L. Sullivan, Dallas; Wisconsin, E. T. Doyan, Milwaukee; Utah, J. J. Farrell, Salt Lake
City; West Virginia, C. H. Turner, Parkersburg; Virginia, W. E. Foster, Norfolk.
Secretary Alcock's report, a statistical review of the conventions since the first held at
New York, was presented, and from it the following paragraphs are taken:
" Permit me to quote the record for the year preceding the one about to close. At our
first convention held in New York the association throughout the United States was repre-
sented by one hundred and twenty-five delegates; and the enthusiasm enkindled bv some of
our stalwarts at that time has been kept up from time to time by accessions to our ranks.
The second year of our meeting one hundred and fifty-four delegates were called together at
Baltimore, and while perhaps some new faces appeared, they were always a credit to our
association; some new ideas were brought out and acted upon. Our association had come to
stay. Our fame traveled abroad: our proceedings were published throughout this broad, land,
and were copied and spread before the eyes of our brothers across the deep Atlantic. Our
third year at St. Louis was one of no small consequence. We numbered in our convention some
one hundred and fifty-one delegates, and although not so well represented as the year prior,
still we were working on the same old line protection. Then it was we saw the importance
of mir work and the power necessary to control it. The famous B. R. had been planted, and
signs of growth began to appear: carefully were they guarded and watched lest some weed
or thistle should appear, and to-day they stand forth like the gold dug from the moiintain
stream, pure and untarnished. At our fourth convention, held at Deer Park, we mustered
to the number of one hundred and thirty-nine; no increase over former years, but still a good
healthy showing. Our fifth convention was held in Chicago, and we find on our record dele-
gates to the number of one hundred and sixty-six. Here we find an increase again. Fresh
material, renewed and concentrated efforts, brought the abundant harvest. Our sixth conven-
tion, held in Boston, was largely attended, two hundred and twelve representatives being at that
convention as delegates.
" At our seventh convention, held at Pittsburgh, we lost two in number, two hundred and
ten delegates answering the roll call. Our eighth, although held at a point at the extreme
western boundary of our circle, and consequently difficult for many to be present, was well
attended, there being one hundred and eighty delegates present, and a right royal welcome
did they receive. Our ninth and present convention, with the strenuous efforts of your
officers and state vice presidents, we are able to coiint two hundred and two delegates, and an
increase of twenty-one over last year, and more than at any other preceding convention during
our existence with the exception of the Boston convention. The following is a list of the
new associations formed during the past year: Butte City, Montana, certificate issued January
3, 1891, membership ten; president, Louis Eschle, 38 Broadway; secretary, J. Kreeger, West
Granite street: members, H. T. Van Buskirk, R. B. Gould, Thomas A. Arthur, Charles W.
Gould. John R. Colson, William J. Miller, Frank S. Davey, J. A. Hasley. Chattanooga,
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 117
Tennessee, certificate issued February 4, 1891, membership six; president N. A. McQuade:
secretary, Julius Tschapik: members, Fred Fox, R. Whigan, D. Carlin, J. J. Mack, W. W.
Johnson. Evansville, Indiana, certificate issued February 25, 1891, membership six; presi-
dent, Alexander Crawford; secretary, Charles Wahnseifler: members, Lambert and Grant,
S. A. Bate, Paul Musmussime, Crawford Bros. Worcester, Massachusetts, certificate issued
March 7, 1891, membership twenty-five; president, J. W. Jordean; secretary, George W.
Knapp; other names not given. Odgen City, Utah, certificate of membership for nine issued
March 12, 1891; president, M. Patten; secretary, George Halverson, box 202; members,
Doyle & Halverson, A. W. Meek, W. W. Funge, James Macbeth. Lee Fitzman, Baltimore &
Co., Thompson & Co., P. H. Bolfert & Co., other names not given. Madison, Wisconsin,
certificate issued April 1, 1891, membership six; president, William Owen; secretary, Edwin
Mason: other names not given. Los Angeles, California, certificate issued in 1S91, member-
ship nineteen; president, S. M. Perry, 519 Broadway; secretary, E. L. Burgoiii; members, H. E.
Dascont, A. A. Burnett; other names not given. Texas State association, certificate issued
November 5, 1891, membership forty; president, F. J. Madden, Sherman, Sherman County;
secretary, George Mummert, Dallas; members, David Kirkwood, Sanatarouia ; W. W. Otter.
Houston, Texas. Seattle, Washington, certificate issued June 10,1891, membership twenty-
eight; president, D. B. Spillman; secretary, J. S. McClellan. Altoona, Pennsylvania, certifi-
cate issued April 1, 1S91, membership twelve; president, George W. Stewart, 10001
Eleventh avenue; secretary, George R. Stone, 1009 Fifteenth street. Helena, Montana,
certificate issued September 25, 1891. membership six; president, John Sturrock, 22 Main
street; secretary. B. L. Smith. Louisville, Kentucky, reorganized, membership twenty-one;
president, M. J. Duffy: secretary, W. H. Matlack. Haverhill, Massachusetts, certificate
issued October 30, 1891, membership eleven; president, Charles Le Bosquet; secretary, A.
F. Sanders; members, A. W. Crawim, Harry Blake, Mark S. Holmer, George E. Smith,
John Duncan, Jr.. Harry Le Bosserse, Dennis X. Xoakley, W. F. Sawyer, N. W. Wilkinson.
Charleston, South Carolina, certificate issued April 13, 1891, membership ten: president,
W. F. Paddon; secretary, A. B. Riddick: members, A. J. Reilly, Oscar J. Miscally, J. S.
Hyer, J. F. Tobin, J. J. Carey, C. W. Blake, J. S. Barton, J. J. Finnegan, John Hallis, Will-
iam Welsh. San Francisco. California, certificate issued February 8, 1891, membership
thirty; president, John Shephard: secretary, W. T. Bush, 34 Geary street. Oil City and
vicinity, Pennsylvania, certificate issued May 21, 1891, membership twelve; president, H.
S. Mark, Franklin; secretary, T. N. Chambers, Oil City. Mansfield, Ohio, certificate issued
May 12, 1891, membership four: president. J. J. Tait ; secretary. George H. Harris. Coving-
ton, Kentucky, certificate issued May 15, 1891, membership six; president, J. T. Underbill,
410 Scott street; secretary, F. J. Maser, SIT Madison avenue.
"Individual members August 25, 1890, Barton A. Whitsett, Florence, Alabama: Sep-
tember 16, 1890, William Sofeliss, Woodbury, New Jersey; March 7, 1891, S. H. Bishop,
Wahpeton, North Dakota; April 1. 1891, J. A. Monogan, Eureka Springs, Arkansas; June 8,
1891, J. H. Bradish. Batavia, New York; June 8, 1891, Edward O. Donoyhue, Ogdensburg,
118 INDUSTRIAL GfflCAGO :
New York; J. C. Sullivan, Oswego, New York; M. B. Crawford, Oswego, New York; Juno
13, 18U1, Cranlon & Gault, 130 California avenue, Oklahoma, Oklahoma Territory; Toledo,
Ohio, certificate issued June 15, 1891; membership seven; president, John A. Wait, 410
Madison street; secretary, James P. Lock, 430 Summit street. Brocton, Massachusetts, certifi-
cate issued June 15, 1891, membership nine; president, Thomas J. Kinney, 24 East Elm
street; secretary, Daniel Synah, 7 Perkons avenue.
" Besides the above new associations some have been reorganized and others strengthened
and encouraged through personal efforts, so that at this convention we have a total addition
to our National association of two hundred and sixty-eight members, making a great total
in our organization at the present time of one thousand nine hundred and sixty-eight mem-
bers. This record differs somewhat when compared with the financial secretary's books,
where they show a per capita tax, paid for one thousand five hundred and sixty-four
members for last year, while for this year we find that the per capita tax has been paid for
one thousand nine hundred and eleven members, showing an increase over last year of three
hundred and forty-seven members. During the past year nine hundred and eleven letters
were written, eight hundred and thirty-two copies of letters sent out, making a total corre-
spondence of one thousand seven hundred and forty-three letters."
The Ladies Auxiliary associations were represented by the following named members:
Chicago Mrs. J. Hamblin, Mrs. P. Sanders, Miss J. Sanders, Mrs. M. L. Mandable, Mrs.
Andrew Young, Mrs. R. Griffith, Mrs. Alcock, Mrs. Charles Cavanah. St. Louis Mrs.
Morris, Mrs. M. Ward, Mrs. Moran, Mrs. Beardon, Mrs. Gerhart, Miss B. Norris. Pittsburgh
Mrs. B. F. Coll, Mrs. J. Bickets, Mrs. Bradshaw, Mrs. J. W. Tate, Miss E. Weldon, Mrs.
James Hay, Miss Hay. Boston Mrs. Lute, Mrs. Mitchell, Mrs. J. W. French. New York
Mrs. Miller, Mrs. Knight, Miss Knight. Baltimore Mrs. J. Trainor. Bloornington
Miss Loudon. Louisville, Ky. Mrs. Matlock, Mrs. Simon Shulhafer, Miss Ramsey. St.
Joseph Mrs. J. W. Powers. Rochester Mrs. W. G. Reid, Mrs. J. A. Creelman. Pueblo
Mrs. W. J. Morgan.
The delegates, whose credentials were approved, represented twenty-four states and the
District of Columbia. They are named in the following list: Altoona, Peun. G. M.
Stewart, president; David Wylie, Charles Wylie. Baltimore, Md. Joseph Mitchell, pres-
ident; John Trainor, W. H. Rothrock, George Knipp, D. J. Barry, V. H. Dunnett, D. N.
Sullivan. Buffalo, N. Y. Charles Geiger, president; L. P. Beyer, J. S. Stygall, Jr. Brooklyn,
N. Y. William J. Fitzpatrick, president; W. J. Gault, M. J. Lyons, George Cuminings,
Thomas H. Radcliffe, George B. Lewis, Martin Fallen, H. M. Noble, Thomas H. McWhiney.
John Danaher, George Alfred Smith, Gos. Zoll, Thomas Donivan. John J. Keenan, W. E.
Morgan, Patrick Dunn, Paul Gateson, O. O. Sawkins, W. Keegan, J. W. Kelly, J. M. Me
Connell, W. J. McCaw, W. J. Roche, R. J. Knox, E. McDonald, O. Marrin, M. J. Farrell.
Burlington, Iowa H. Ewinger. Bloomington, 111. Robert Loudon. Boston and vicinity
Thomas J. Tute, president; Daniel J. Shannon, W. H. Mitchell, W. U. Mc-Keiina, H.
W. Tombs, J. W. French, C. W. Bromwich, D. A. Horgan, D. J. Finnerty, J. P. Conlon,
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 119
George C. Forbes. Cincinnati, Ohio Thomas Gibson, president; C. W. Murray, Thomas
McNeil, J. B. Gibson, E. J. Nolan, W. J. Gibson, Fred Lampkin. Chicago, 111. J. J.
Wade, chairman; D. J. Rock, T. C. Boyd, T. P. Culloton, M. L. Mandbale, A. Young, Pan!
Iledske, W. Bowden, J. Weber, P. Sanders, J. Matthews, C. Byrnes, Thomas Kelly, J. J.
Clark. Chattanooga, Tenn. J. J. Mack, president; Fred Fox, Jr., R. Whigham. Cleve-
land, Ohio Adam Schneider, president; W. H. Henderson, W. A. Kelly. Duluth, Minn.
W. W. Hooper. Davenport, Iowa James Cameron. Dayton, Ohio Charles Ware, F.
J. McCormick. Evansville, Ind. Alexander Crawford, president; Charles Wamsdell. Fort
Wayne, Ind. James Madden. Indianapolis, Ind. Charles Aneshensell, president; P.
J. Gaul. James Healey. Kansas City, Mo. L. B. Cross, president; H. B. Farley, W. G.
Ashdown, Alexander Gray. Kansas State. C. J. Prescott, president; A. T. Buckridge, John
Sheehan, James Foley, Robert Mood. Milwaukee, Wis. P. H. Murphy, president; L. H.
Plum, W. E. Goodman, L. Eggert, Charles Polachek. Nashville, Tenn. David Glemar,
president; J. L. Park. New Haven, Conn. S. E. Dibble, president; A. J. Clerkin. Ne-
braska J. H. O'Neill, president; N. B. Hussey. Seattle, Wash. D. B. Spellman, presi-
dent; W- B. French, Thomas Kearns, J. S. McLellan. Oil City, Penn. Ray S. Clarke,
president; William Moran. New York City, N. Y. H. G. Gabay, president; George D.
Scott, John Byrns, Joseph A. Macdonald, J. N. Knight, Frank Reynolds, William H.
Quick, T. J. Tourney, T. J. Cummins, J. S. Dunn, C. H. Kranichfelt, T. Sullivan, M. J. Mc-
Dermott, E. J. Brady, Joseph O'Brien, J. Gileroy, T. J. McCormack, Philip Smith, D. W.
Littell, John Miller, O. McGinness, E. J. Connor, John M. Carron, J. A. Rossrnan, Charles
Tucker, William Young. Rochester, N. Y. W. G. Reid, president; George Hennegan,
John A. Creelman, James J. Connor, James A. Tanner. Parkersburg, W. Va. Charles H.
Turner, president; William S. Caswell. Hamilton, Ohio. J. L. Walker. Pueblo, Colo.
J. I. Morgan, president; J. H. Bennett. Portland, Ore. Alexander Muirhead, president; A.
Donnersberg. Robert Brady. Philadelphia. Penn. William Harkness, William M. Coach,
E. Remick, Frank P. Brown, John J. Weaver, George F. Tiber, John E. Eyanson. St.
Joseph, Mo. J. W. Powers, president; R. T. Connell. St. Louis, Mo. Joseph P. Gallagher,
president; James Lancaster, J. M. Lipe, Joseph Tumulty, P. H. Callahan, D. J. Collins, J.
F. Reardon, M. J. Ward, William Morris, Jeremiah Sheehan, John McMahon, O. J. Ger-
hardt, Patrick Madden, E. P. Reardon, William Schwehr. St. Paul, Minn. W. J. Freaney,
J. T. Holmes. Sioux City, Iowa J. A. Harris, president Springfield, Mass. J. W.
Kennealy, president. Texas F. J. Madden, president; A. H. Shafer, George Munimert,
D. J. May, D. F. Sullivan. Washington, D. C. James Ragan, president; E. J. Han-
nan, D. S. Williamson, J. I. Atchison, E. F. Brooks. Worcester, Mass. John J. Jordan,
president; J. F. Deedy. Salt Lake City, Utah J. J. Farrell, president; H. S. James, B.
M. Ellenbeck. Columbus, Ohio- D. H. Kelly, president; E. A. Futerer. Syracuse, N. Y.
W. N. Tobin, president; Charles G. Hanchett, M. J. Kennedy. Los Angeles, Cal. S. M.
Perry, president; H. A. Bennett, W. C. Furry, J. C. McMenomy. Pittsburgh, Penn. Allen
McFudden, president; F. P. Blythe, John M. Tate, James G. Weldon, I. R. Becker, James
120 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
Hay, John Cowley, B. F. Coll, S. W. Hare. J. J. Kennedy, R. J. Bradshaw, George Addy.
Vinceunes, Ind. C. F. Munroe. Madison, Ind. A. Anger. Louisville, Ky. M. J. Duffy,
president; Simon Shulhafer, John Stickler, W. H. Matlack. Covington, Ky. W. S. Nock,
J. T. Underbill. Denver, Colo. Joseph P. Ratican, William McKelvey, M. Mclntyre, T. J.
Delaney, Archie Davis, John R. Parry. Bridgeport, Conn. Gerhardt Drouve, Thomas E.
Logan. Charleston, S. C. W. P. Padden, president; J. A. Reilly, O. S. Miscally.
The receipt of a letter from Dr. O. C. De Wolf, of this city, conveyed to the delegates
the estimation in which their trade is held by sanitarians. He said: " If I may judge from
my own observation during the past fifteen years, I am justified in saying that no feature of
sanitary science, or the application of scientific thought to the sanitary necessities of civilized
communities, has passed along to so remarkable a development as that branch of the sanitary
tree which your organization represents. By intelligent and logical methods you have
advanced from the mere mechanic to a commanding position in sanitary science, and the
scientific world recognizes and acknowledges yotir claim. No curriculum of medical study is
now complete which does not take note of your work, and for the past three years I have
sought to supplement my course of lectures on public hygiene at the Chicago Medical college
by several lectures on plumbing and plumbing appliances, given by a distinguished ex-presi-
dent of the National Master Plumbers' association. In view of my interest in this subject,
you will not regard it as improper, I trust, if I suggest the propriety of your appointing a
committee to wait upon the director general of the Columbian exposition to present the name
of some fellow of your organization as chief of the bureau of plumbing exposition. This
exposition should be made as it can be made of world-wide interest, and will be a sub-
division of the general division of 'the liberal arts.' A place is provided for you and you
should fill it."
The address by Thomas Gibson, of the Cincinnati Plumbers' association; the welcome by
Mayor Mosby, of that city, and the reply of President Griffith, point out as well as words
may, the social disposition of the plumbers in beginning the serious work of a trade conven-
tion. A paragraph from Gibson's address is historical and comparative. He said: "In
1839, when I first came to Cincinnati from St. Louis to enter upon my apprenticeship, very
few people knew what a plumber was, but since that time, even if not personally acquainted
with a plumber, every one, by means of the alleged newspaper humorists, knows them by the
size of their bills. There was a country church in Scotland whose minister was absent. The
promised supply failed to put in his appearance, and as many of the members came from
quite a distance, one of the elders undertook to conduct the service. He did very well in
giving out the Psalms, in prayer, and in reading the chapter of Scripture, which was in the
book of Job, when he said: ' My freens. I dinna ken what you think al>out this subject, but
it's my candid opinion that atwixt God and the devil Job was a very ill-used mon.' I some-
times think that plumbers resemble Job in more ways than one. Every branch of the buifcl-
ing trades is important: and preeminent among them all stands plumbing, contributing as it
does to the comfort and health of the people at large. Physicians fn in all over the land hold
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 121
their conventions an 1 discuss matters pertaining to the advancement of their profession the
cure of diseases which have taken hold of man and we commend them for it. Our business
is to prevent these diseases the physicians cure, and certainly our deliberations must l>e of
more importance and moment than theirs. For ' an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of
cure.' The plumbers' business is becoming of more importance to the people at large every
day. As property rises in value the owners are enabled to occupy the whole of their lots with
buildings, owing to the great improvements in sanitary plumbing. It is in consequence of
the advancement in our trade more than the progress made by other trades, that the erection
of large and lofty buildings in our great cities is possible. Old London was but two stories
high. You all have witnessed the wonders of our modern times."
The mayor of the city was facetious in his warm greeting. "It is a duty I owe to the
master plumbers of this city and to the citizens to give you welcome," he said. "We are
proud of our city and proud of our plumbers and their bills. The master plumbers will
extend to you our city's hospitality, and I extend to you the freedom of our city. You will
be taken care of in a manner due the important interests you represent. I am not a plumber,
and do not know anything about your 'take-ins ' and your ; wash-outs.' That is not my trade,
but I suppose yoiir 'take-in' is the man whom you do plumbing for, and your 'wash-out'
represents the condition of his pocketbook after he has paid the bill. A few years ago plumb-
ing was a mere trade and uncertain in its service, but now it is advanced to a science, requir-
ing not only mechanical skill, but scientific knowledge. As I said, I am not a plumber, and
do not want to get into your domain or I will get lost. I recognize the importance of your
high calling and its relation to public comfort and health. I want you to see our city. You
will be taken to our places of interest, and don't fail to see our suburbs, for we have the finest
on God's green earth. Gentlemen, I give you the freedom of our city."
Great applause and three cheers followed the conclusion of the mayor's address. Presi-
dent Griffith, referring to the address, said he could assure the honorable mayor that he
would not be taken in by the plumbers present, and that he would not find his pocketbook
washed out. He also hoped that as the mayor had extended to them the freedom of the city,
none of the plumbers would get pulled in. "This gavel," said the president, "will bear
interpretation. The handle is made of a piece of wood, taken from the South Fork dam,
which caused the disaster at Johnstown. It signifies caution, wisdom and prudence; that force
is often destructive where gentler measures would be the means of accomplishing much good.
There are subjects coming up for our consideration in which we must use wisdom and pru-
dence, and not the destructive element of force. The flood at Johnstown did no good, but a
vast amount of harm. It destroyed and nearly depopulated a city, and flowed on out into
the sea. and was lost and forgotten, except in the sad remembrances it left behind. Let us
be not like the flood, that sweeps everything in its path to destruction, but like the gentler
tide, that flows through our plains and villages, giving health and strength to all about it.
The head of the gavel came from the top of Pike's Peak, indicating that our aims should be
high and our motives and purposes lofty. We are engaged in a high calling, and our motto
122 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
should be onward and upward t,o the summit of our profession. There is also a signification
in the source whence the gavel came. I want to use it with caution, prudence, wisdom and
gentleness, on account of the source from which it came, for it was presented to me by the
Ladies' Auxiliary association at Chicago."
The Chicago Master Plumbers' association dates back to 1884. From the beginning it
was a success and replete with benefits to the municipality. The Sanitary News noticing its
relation to the public and the National association, speaks enthusiastically of the local
organization: "It is said that great questions of state, great enterprises, and great achieve-
ments have their origin at the family fireside. It is probably true that from the quiet of the
home many great achievements have received their beginning which carried them through.
The local association in its relation to the National association is the fireside, the hearthstone
where there is the quiet and time necessary for the full contemplation of the best interests
of the entire membership. Here is the opportunity for considerate discussion and thorough
investigation of all questions that may arise. Regular meetings afford the best opportunities
for a thorough consideration of all matters possible. Should a mistake be made at one meet-
ing, another shortly held gives the opportunity for correcting it, and thus the question that
come up affecting the general national interest, has the advantage of being well considered
before it is carried up to the National convention or executive committee. It is the local
association that is nearest the people, and in this regard it becomes the best teacher we can
have. It is the association's duty to remove whatever prejudice may exist on the part of the
public against the association of plumbers. There is a sentiment against them, and, however
small, it would be better to remove it. Many do not understand the purpose of the Plumb-
er's association, and look upon it us an effort to form a kind of combine to advance the prices
of plumbing work to the injury of the people. There is no reason to doubt that if the objects
of this association were fully known all opposition and prejudice would be removed. These
have been measurably lessened in the past few years, and through the efforts of the master
plumbers themselves. In nearly every case where their work has been made subject to regu-
lations secured by ordinances, they have themselves been instrumental in securing such regu-
lations. No one can deny that these regulations has been of direct benefit to the public. The
plumbers have placed their work on a high plane in a business sense, and in a professional
way have made it a strong agency in the promotion of health. All this has been to a large
degree due to the efforts of local associations. It does not seem to need argument that every
plumber belonging to an organization should be a member of the National association. It is
through local associations largely that the National association is recruited. They stand
lift ween the National association and the outsiders, are nearer them, and have the first oppor-
tunity of showing to others the advantages of the association. These local associations should
not depend alone on the state vice president as the recruiting officer, but should consider each
member a committee to solicit membership. Building up local associations is the first step in
adding to the National association. Harmony and good fellow-feeling in these associations
will attract others to them.
CO.MMKKC'JAI, .VKOHITKCTI'Ui;
TJIE R00KKRV,
]N'I><>-U()MAN OIJX.VMKNT.
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 123
The report of the committee on incorporation was made January 16, 1884, by Messrs. Sims,
Clark and Tipple, and President Young, with Messrs. Boyd, Wade and Murray, the incorpora-
tors, reported receipt of the charter. The meeting of April 16, 1884, was occupied principally in
discussing the plan for the erection of a new plumbers' hall. J. J. Wade reported that he
had received the following subscriptions to stock: Abraham Mead, New York, $100; J. W.
Birkett, Brooklyn, $100; E. Baggot, Chicago, $1,000; A. W. Murray, Chicago, $100; T. C.
Boyd, Chicago, $100; Andrew Young, Chicago, $100; Peter Willems, Chicago, $100; D. & J.
Hardin, Chicago, $50; J. H. Roche, Chicago, $100; M. Moylan, Chicago, $100; Foskett &
Brown, Chicago, $100; S. J. McGraw, Chicago, $100; Patrick Harvey, Chicago, $200; V. Euh,
Chicago, $100; J. J. Wade, Chicago, $100; George Cummings, Brooklyn, $500; J. J. Hamblin,
Chicago, $100; George D. Scott, New York, $100; M. Ryan & Bro., Chicago,. $AQfi>, A. C.
Hickey, Chicago, $500. J. J. Wade, in behalf of the committee, outlined # plan f&t -th mcor-
**!**! 4 * . ^
poratiou of the Chicago Master Plumbers' association, in order that they might nave 1 pffe|tn>..,
authority for the issuing of stock. The plan was adopted, and the following committee
was authorized to proceed with the incorporation: J. J. Wade, E. Baggot, John Sanders,
E. E. Brown, Martin Moylan, J. L. Pattison, Hugh Watt, Andrew Young, D. J. Rock and J.
S. Bassett.
The committee on library reported that work was progressing in making the room
ready, and that it was probable that it would be thrown open at the time of the next meeting.
President Young announced that he had received a check of $250 from E. W. Blatchford, and
one of $100 from J. N. Raymond, for the library fund. He stated that these gifts were
accompanied by the best wishes of the donors for the prosperity of the association.
In June, 1884, the Chicago association elected the following named officers: Andrew
Young, re-elected president; T. C. Boyd, D. Whiteford, Peter Willems, P. Havey and Martin
Moylan, vice presidents; W. B. Oliphant, recorder; Frank Ruh, correspondent; J. J. Hamblin,
financial secretary; A. W. Murray, assistant financial secretary; John Sanders, treasurer, and
George Tipple, sergeant-at-arms. A presentation of a gold wateh and chain was made to
Andrew Young, and badges to Messrs. Stokes, Moylan and McGinley, retiring secretaries.
The receipt of four bound volumes of the Plumber's Trade Journal, the first journal pub-
lished in the United States in the exclusive interest of plumbers, was acknowledged.
In August, 1884, blank forms were issued to master plumbers, asking for particulars
relating to apprentices. The system outlined is as follows: "The object is to put into prac-
tical working shape the system of apprenticeship which has been adopted by our association,
and has been favorably regarded by the National Plumbers' association. The system, in brief,
is: Each employer returns to the association a list of apprentices, or those working for
him as such, with date of beginning as such with him, age of such apprentice, and place
of residence. This is recorded in a separate book, apprentices' record, which is kept by
the proper officer of the association, who issues a card back to the employer, to be retained
by him so long as the apprentice is in his employ. When the apprentice ceases to work for
him, he is to fill out such card with the date of his quitting and residence of apprentice, and
H
134 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
return the same to the proper officer to be recorded. The apprentice receives a card from the
association to which he is an apprentice, which card he retains as a voucher of his good
standing. When the apprentice takes service with another boss, the blank or certificate is
given to his new employer, to be filled in with the date of beginning with him, and so on,
till the certificate shows that the proper time has been served." In September, 1884, the
license committee reported that it had secured the adoption and enforcement of a new rule
at the department of public works relative to the granting of plumber's licenses to applicants.
Commissioner Cregier now required that any plumber who recommends another for a license
must himself make affidavit that he knows the applicant to be a capable plumber.
In June, 1885, T. C. Boyd was elected president (vice Baggot, who refused renomination) ;
Robert Griffith, Thomas Havey, Peter Willems, R. Coleman and William Bowden, vice presi-
dents; James E. Beaver, recorder; J. J. Clark, correspondent; J. J. Hamblin, treasurer, and
George Tipple, sergeant-at-arms.
In June, 1886, the president was re-elected; Martin Moylan, D. Bain and M. H. Reilly,
took the places of Messrs. Havey, Willems and Coleman, as vice presidents; Joseph Alcock
was elected secretary; George Tipple, correspondent; J. J. Hamblin, treasurer, and Patrick
O'Hara, sergeaut-at-arms. The deaths of M. M. Powers and W. H. Milne were reported, and
the celebrated resolutions of May 25 approved. The preamble to the resolutions set forth
that the Master Plumbers' association and the Journeymen Plumbers' and Gastitters' unions
have always been able to adjust all matters between themselves to the satisfaction and mutual
benefit of each; that the Master Plumbers' association is steadfastly opposed to the introduc-
tion of other tradesmen or mechanics to exercise any control or business over the plumbing
or gasfitting business. It was resolved that no member of said association will employ any
plumber or gasfitter after Saturday, May 29, who recognizes his right to leave his employer
at the dictation of steamtitters or other mechanics not part or parcel of the plumbing and
gasfitting business.
In January, 1887, the following named officers were elected: Robert Griffith, president;
J. J. Wade, William Sims, M. J. Reilly, Frank Ruh and William Wilson, vice presidents;
J. R. Alcock, recording secretary; C. S. Wallace, corresponding secretary; J. J. Hamblin,
treasurer; William Sims, financial secretary; P. L. O'Hara, sergeant-at-arms. For chairmen
of committees: C. J. Brooks, sanitary committee; William Wilson, arbitration; Rupert Cole-
man, auditing committee; D. J. Rock, license committee; M. Ryan, legislative; David Whiter
ford, apprenticeship; J. S. Bassett, conference committee; George J. Stokes, library; Hugh
Watt, warehouse committee; T. C. Boyd, exhibit. The report of progress shows one hundred
and sixty-one meml>ers on January 1, 1887, against one hundred and forty members in June,
1886. Ex-president Boyd, in his address, stated that there were two hundred and fifty mas-
ter plumbers then doing business in Chicago employing about twenty men each or five thou-
sand men. He pointed out the power which five thousand voters could exercise not alone on
the council but also on the legislature. The sanitary bill, as adopted by the Western Archi-
tects' association in 1885, was considered in its bearings on the construction and alteration of
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 125
buildings and on the ventilation and sewerage rules. In January, 1888, the association
elected Andrew Young, president; Peter Willems, Martin Moylan, P. Sanders, Daniel Hock,
Michael Ryan and Frank E. Ruh, vice presidents; Joseph R. Alcock, recording and corre-
sponding secretary; P. L. O'Hara, financial secretary; Hugh Watt, treasurer; George Web-
ber, sergeant-at-arms; James H. Roche, P. Nacey, E. Baggot and J. J. Wade, board of
directors. The report of the committee on apprenticeship was presented by D. Whiteford
and the financial report by William Sims. This latter document showed that $10,-166.79 were
received in 1887, and $4,895.55 expended.
The election of January, 1889, resulted in the choice of A. W. Murray for president;
Martin Moylan, Richard Graham, J. H. Roche, C. J. Brooks and M. L. Mandable, vice pres-
idents; J. R. Alcock, secretary; Patrick Sanders, treasurer; J. J. Harnblin, financial secre-
tary, and William Wilkie, sergeant-at-arms. The number of members in good standing was
one hundred and fifty-five, the total revenue including balance $7,388.99, and total expendi-
ture, $3,805.90.
In March, 1887, a paper by Richard Wood, on the relation of plumbing to the modern
house, was read before the Architectural Sketch club. He states that " the absolute necessity of
good plumbing in both dwelling houses and public buildings is second only in importance to the
stability of the structure itself. Until very recently," he says, "it was customary to conceal so
much of the plumbing work in wooden boxes in the plaster and flooring that its defects were
not discovered or sought after until the result made its appearance in the shape of fevers and
other sickness among the inmates, when the physician or other interested persons advised an
inspection to be made. It has been complained of by plumbers that architects are too often
induced to specify new fixtures, with which the market is continually flooded, and their numerous
good qualities thoroughly demonstrated through the medium of innumerable testimonials and
the plausible but not over truthful tongue of a drummer, and that they are frequently called
upon to rectify and repair such of those that are defective in themselves, and for which the
plumbing done in connection with them is in no way responsible. That such requests are
unreasonable can not be denied, and it may be suggested that architects in specifying some
newly advertised fixture should first of all ascertain its suitability for the purpose intended by
consulting with a plumber, or some other person who can speak of its repute. The sewers
from mains, which are of vitrified pipe, should never go beyond two feet outside of the build-
ing line, where the work of the sewer-builder should cease. Then extra heavy cast-iron pipe
should be used, suspended to the joists, where there be no objection to its being seen; if there
1*>, and it must be laid beneath the cellar floor, it should be laid in a trench made of brick
and covered with stone or wood covers, so as to be very easy of access, and have handholes
at each branch for cleaning purposes.
" Much danger might be averted if housekeepers of all classes could be led to believe
that it is sometimes necessary to pay attention to the cleanliness of the plumbing fixtures in
their houses, as they are invariably neglected until reminded of their presence in a not alto-
gether desirable way. I refer more especially to the cleaning of sink traps and the flushing
126 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
of water-closets, which fixtures ought to receive periodical attention. A trap under a sink,
which could be readily cleaned, might be made of a shape which would make a cheap grease
trap. The ordinary S-trap is an excellent one, and should always be placed as near the fix-
ture as possible, and back vented from the crown; a brass union coupling, to connect it, is
desirable, as it can be easily disconnected in case of stoppage of the vent, which often occurs.
All back vents should be of lead, and it is a question open to discussion whether cast-irou
pipes are preferable to wrought-iron for all purposes of plumbing. It is doubtful whether
lead will become generally used for soil and waste pipes. The chief objection seems to be
its cost and liability to be easily punctured, its difficulty of hanging and its expansion. A
good but not very common practice is for architects to indicate on their plans the various
runs of pipe, which should be so arranged as to be most direct, with as few bends and elbows
as possible, to be well protected from injury and easy of access in case of accident, without
having to tear down other work in the building.
" Soil, waste, and vent pipes should not continue more than one foot above the roof, and
should increase in size at the top and be surrounded with wood casting as a protection, as the
heads of these pipes are often to be seen covered with hoar frost in winter, which must pre-
vent them from fulfilling their intended purposes. The soil and waste pipes should always
have handholes with brass traps, screws at the bottom for cleaning, and safe- wastes which
deliver over sinks, to have valves for the prevention of any disagreeable smell being conveyed
to the upper floors. Where it is necessary to run lead pipe along the floor the cutting of the
joists is often done, and the strips upon which the pipe is laid let into the joist their full
length. A better, although a little more expensive way, is to let the board in between the
joists, screwing them to strips nailed to their sides, thus preventing the cutting of joists
deeper than is really necessary. These troughs are sometimes covered with lead and connected
with waste pipes, but in case of a pipe bursting it would be difficult to avoid damage being
done by the water; so if they are covered with abestus, or well packed with sawdust, the danger
of being frozen is considerably lessened."
In January, 1888, Robert Griffith, the president for 1887, made his annual report. It
was replete in facts, but its most noticeable section was that devoted to the treatment of the
plumber. In concluding his reference to the value of organization he said : " It is now
necessary that we should keep what we have fought for and gained, stand together and ' hold
the fort,' that the enemy may not again take possession of it. But they say: ' Well, Un-
people slander the plumber just as much as they ever did.' Yes, this is true, to some extent.
They will point to all the diamonds in the jeweler's safe, and to all the prominent buildings
in the city, and tell you that the plumber either owns them, or has a mortgage on them; and
the funny newspaper man will show your picture in his paper on a cold morning, and tell his
readers that this is the plumbers' harvest. Yes, arid he will do this while sitting in his com-
fortable office, with his legs crossed, enjoying a highly-flavored cigar, while the plumber is
going shivering along the street, to attend to some frozen pipe. When he arrives at the house
to which his order calls him, he is met at the door with the common courtesy that his profes-
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 127
sion deserves: 'O! We couldn't wait for you, we had to get another plumber.' When
you come to inquire into the matter, you find that the same order was left at two or
three different plumbing shops, and the one who got there first had the honor of thawing out
the frozen pipe. The other plumbers lose their men's time. But ' that don't count much, as
you can always hire good men without giving them any wages, and you can keep a standing
army of plumbers to attend to parties who do not intend to pay for anything that they can
beat their way out of!' But what about the plumber who got there first and did the job?
Well, in due time, he sent in his bill and was politely told he should take it to the landlord.
It is of no use to say anything to the contrary, so the bill is taken to the landlord, who looks
at it and reads: ' Thawing out water pipe, seventy-five cents.' He then asks: ' Who ordered
you to do this work?' To which you reply: 'Why Mr. Stylishman, up at your house.'
Then he tells you to take it back to Mr. Stylishman, saying: ' I don't know anything about
it.' The bill is taken back, and Mr. Stylishman tells you that he will call and pay it himself
in a few days; but he forgets all about it until you call again, and then he makes some other
excuse, and puts you off a while longer. Of course the time of collecting this bill don't cost
anything, so you call again but, alas! only to find that Mr. Stylishman has moved away from
that house and has gone to parts unknown. This is the kind of people who talk most about
the plumber, and this is often the kind of a harvest the plumber reaps in cold weather. But
let the funny newspaper man and the professional beat talk and make fun for themselves to
laugh at, for all fools must laugh at their own folly. It is not the honest, good-paying cus-
tomer who ridicules the mechanic.
" Again, some of our members say that the master plumber is not treated as other pro-
fessional men are. Well that is so in many cases; the master plumber seems to be more of
a common servant for the public to call upon, than is the case with other professions. Take
the doctor, for instance. He is called to visit a family, goes there, and is met at the door
with: ' Good morning, doctor! I'm glad to see you. Step right into the parlor; let me take
your hat,' and he is invited to the best chair that adorns the room. Now we don't object to
this kind of treatment to a doctor; it is just what he deserves. But the master plumber is
called to the same house, and is met with the familiar greeting to which he is accustomed:
' O! it's the plumber. Mary, show this man where the laundry is;' or, perhaps, to some other
fixture that may chance to be out of order and is dealing out poison in large quantities, pure
and unadulterated, for general use in the family.
" What is the difference in these two men ? Are they not both men of importance ? The
one cures sickness, the other prevents sickness. Which is the more important of the
two ? But it is an old saying, ' Rome was not built in a day,' and you can not educate all the
people in a day, but we expect to get there some time. You ask: ' How are you going to do
it ?' Why, by assuring your customer when you have an opportunity, that his interest is your
interest, and that you are interested in the health of his family, and by being careful to prac-
tice just what you preach, and, by and by, you will see that the master plumber will stand
upon the same level with other business men. and will receive the treatment that his profes-
sion deserves.
128 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
" And now, in conclusion, allow me to make a few suggestions that may be for our
benefit. Be careful how you listen to reports you may hear about your brother members, and
do not believe every foul-mouthed slander that some one may tell you about your fellow-
craftsman: but have respect and esteem for one another. Bear no enmity against each other.
If a member has wronged you in any way go and see him. talk the matter over with him, con-
vince him of the wrong, and I will venture to say that you will heal the wound quicker by
pouring on a little oil in this way than otherwise."
In March, 1 N8<S, J. J. Wade read a paper on the subject of " Problems before Chicago
plumbers," from which the following is adopted:
" One of -the principal objects of the Chicago Master Plumbers' association is to promote
health and devise methods to furnish the populace with good plumbing, drainage and water
supply. This feature of the work is consequently of great importance to the public, since
with the freedom of a perfect constitution come happiness, peace and prosperity. A contrary
effect, however, is produced where sanitary disorders exist, good health being dependent
almost entirely on the sanitary condition of the city. Therefore, more clearly to demonstrate
the truth of this assertion, take a survey of the sewerage system now used in Chicago and
the work it is expected to perform daily in order to effect prompt and efficient removal of the
sewage-waste of household and manufacturing establishments, the sweepings of streets, rain-
water, etc. The founders of the sewerage system did not suppose, nor had they the remotest
idea, that from the Indian village of half a century ago, Chicago would become in so short a
time one of the greatest business centers in the commercial nations of the globe. Had they
any presentiment that such a growth would be possible, Lake Michigan, from which is
received the water supply, would never have been selected for the sewage repository, nor
would the Chicago river, a navigable stream over which thousands of people pass every day,
have been chosen as an outlet to carry off the immense quantities of refuse matter of so vast
a population. Have you ever considered what an enormous quantity there is of the sewage
matter ? In order that you may have an idea of its magnitude, make an estimate. Every
man, woman, and child has an allowance of ninety-seven gallons of water daily, at which
rate a complete system of sewerage for a population of eight hundred thousand people would
require provision for the discharge of three hundred and ten thousand, four hundred tons
daily, or one hundred and thirteen million, two hundred and ninety-six thoiisand tons yearly.
In this calculation storm water is omitted. Considerably more than three hundred thousand
tons of sewage, therefore, pass through the sewers every day, mingling at certain periods of
the year with the water of the lake, thereby breaking up the harmony of even iron constitu-
tions, which, together with the nauseating odors rising from the stagnant river, leave the
victim gloomy and unhappy. Nor are these the only sources of the water citizens are com-
pelled to drink. Kecent investigations prove how much attention is p;iid to so important a
factor in the public health as drinking water. The main sewers are very imperfect. The
low grade at which they are constructed prevents the essential instantaneous outflow, and
hence the solids remain stagnant in the pipes, generating the most unwholesome gases.
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 129
When northeast storms are raging, or high winds prevail from that direction, these gases are
driven back from the months of the main sewers into the house drains, and through the
water in the traps of waste and soil pipes. If the house drains, soil, or waste pipes are in
any way defective, these gases must necessarily find some outlet, and invariably escape and
force themselves into the dwelling. Necessity, therefore, demands the most perfect house
drains, soil and waste pipes possible. As the safest remedy against all such imperfections in
pipes, rigid testing by air or water pressure is recommended, this duty being assigned to
expert sanitary inspectors appointed by the authorities. That ventilation by the most
approved methods must be adopted, with the use of all the latest improvements in sanitary
fixtures in order to eradicate, by protecting health, some of the 'ills that flesh is heir to,' are
also recommended.
" The story about the system of house drainage now in vogue being defective, is some-
what old, but is nevertheless true. But how can it be otherwise, when it is regulated by no
stringent measures ? The work is done haphazard, by the lowest bidder, pipes simply thrown
together, with no safeguards whatever. The only object to be attained is cheapness and
profit at the same time, rather than durability and perfection. Men meet every day the
laborer of a year ago, the licensed sewer builder of to-day; the crude apprentice of a year
ago, the licensed plumber of to-day; and the makers of the cheap and imperfect work that is
seen around. Under these conditions, is it any wonder that scarlet fever, diphtheria and other
pestilential plagues rage violently every day? The mission of the plumbers' society, there-
fore, is for a high and noble purpose, not that which plumbers are daily charged with as
being their highest ambition:
"To welcome to our hearts the fierce howling blizzards,
Which come from the north like a wolf from the fold,
Rejoiced in by plumbers the high-charging wizards
The demons of pipe-bursts, and lovers of cold.
"Their highest ambition is that a study of plumbing and sewerage system be entered
into by the wisest and best citizens. Even though millions of dollars be necessary to effect
a change, such expense should be readily undertaken in finding a different receptable for
sewerage than the place whence the water supply comes. The present pumping capacity
(1888) of the Chicago waterworks is ninety million gallons daily, which gives, in a popula-
tion of eight hundred thousand, one hundred and fifteen gallons to each person. Therefore,
it would seem that the sewage amounts to three hundred and sixty thousand tons every day.
but, of course, it must be taken into consideration that a great quantity of this is simply waste
water from elevators, etc., and has no real sewage substance. Therefore, it is computed
that the real sewage substance is seven hundred and seventy-six pounds to each individual
daily, in place of nine hundred and twenty pounds."
In May, 1888, Martin Moylan read a paper before the Architectural Sketch club, on
"Practical plumbing.'' which is valuable for its comparisons:
" The architect may expect and will be forgiven for mistakes and lack of harmony in the
exterior finish, and for incovenience and discomforts in the interior layout of the house.
130 INDUSTRIAL OHIO AGO:
but I have grave doubts of his forgiveness, here or hereafter, for the misery and discomfort
of an unhealthy home," said Mr. Moylan. " The plumber, while often responsible for bad
plumbing, is, I believe, in the majority of cases, willing and anxious to do right, but is ham-
pered by considerations and circumstances over which he has no control. Therefore, I repeat,
that to the Chicago Architectural Sketch club the future architects of Chicago practical
plumbing is the most serious -and important subject that can engage your attention. It is a
subject of so much importance, and contains within itself so many interests, that I undertake
its consideration with diffidence. But encouraged by twenty odd years of practical experi-
ence, the only safe guide in plumbing, I hope, with your kind indulgence (not so much for
what I say, as how I say it), to throw some light on the subject. You know Chicago con-
tractors, and especially plumbers, have not much time to devote to cultivating anything but
the practical; that after devoting fifteen hours daily trying to come out even with the archi-
tect and owner, there is not much time left to prepare for such an undertaking as I have pre-
sumed upon this evening. I have thought best to devote my attention to the most important
feature of our subject sewer, waste, soil and ventilation pipes. That I may make myself
clear and intelligible," he said, "let us suppose that I am getting built a home. If the house
occupy the entire lot, my sewer would, of necessity, have to be inside, in which case I woiild
run the sewer, as is the custom now, to within a few feet of the house, where I would have a
manhole, large enough to allow a man room to work in. There I would have the sewer-
builder's labors cease, and the plumber's commence. From this manhole I would continue, in a
trench built of brick for this purpose, a six-inch lead soil pipe to catch-basin in rear (unfort-
imately, we are compelled to have such nuisances in Chicago), with four-inch branches for
closets, and one-and-one-half-inch for basins, with handhole openings, properly arranged, all
in trenches, or such way that they could be got at without destroying floors and casing and
creating such general havoc as is now necessary to make the slightest repair.
" Our groundwork now in, we proceed with our soil pipe, for which I have had the
architect provide eight-inch partitions over each other, so as to give me a clean straight run
from basement to roof. In this partition I would have a recess, large enough to accommo-
date all my pipes running to and from basement. In this way the plumber would not have
to be coaxing the carpenter to take out a header here and put one in there. I would increase
my soil pipe through roof one or two sizes. The soil pipes I would carry right in the center
of the recess resting on brass lugs, soldered on the pipe and supported by regular pipe rests.
There should be none of the old-fashioned flanges on floors or straps on pipe; pipes at floors
should be clear, and all supports should be so placed as to give the utmost freedom in exami-
nations. Plumbers given this opportunity and requested to put in extra heavy lead soil pipe,
would send their best men ; no others would be of use.
"The practice of to-day would be reversed, the expert, skillful workman would be sent to
do the 'roughing in' while your young neat workmen would get the finishing, where they
would be least liable to make mistakes and where such would be easily remedied if made.
We have now our soil pipe complete from manhole to roof, and proceed to test it by plug-
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 131
ging it in the manhole and filling with water to the roof. What a pleasurable job this would
be to the plumber in comparison with his task of to-day ! Let us compare, for a moment,
this job of lead soil pipe run in a nice recess large enough to carry all pipes to and from the
bathroom, with a nice paneled board cover set on with round-head screws, or hinged so that
there will be no defacement or trouble in removing it, and the universal practice of to-day of
having everything iron. In the first place all iron pipe for plumber's use is of a very inferior
quality, the purposes for which it is used and the habit of burying it out of sight, and above
all the desire for a cheap article gets the manufacturer to where he is compelled to turn out
a very worthless article. Besides this, with the habit of tarring it or covering over the sand-
holes and cracks, by the time the plumber gets through with it trying to fix up a sand-hole
or defective caulking here, and a split pipe or fitting there, it forms a very poor and danger-
ous job, liable at any moment to give way at some of its many weak points. But if there is
such danger with the iron pipe that has been put up carefully and tested, what can we say of
the miles of it put up by careless, inferior labor without any test ?
" Gentlemen, there is only one way of forming any conception of this great danger, and
that is to examine a load of soil pipe and fittings as they are delivered at a job or at the
plumber's shop. The knowledge you would there get would be entirely sufficient to settle for
all time any doubt there might be on your mind about the fitness of this stuff for soil and
ventilation pipes. The only objections that I have ever heard offered to the use of lead are
that rats gnaw it, carpenters drive nails through it, and it costs a little more. Now, properly
run, the first two are entirely avoided, and as for the last, it is only in keeping with the
man's idea of things who told me some time ago, when I recommended replacing an old pan-
closet that was within ten feet of his bed with something modern, 'No, fix it up, these new
arrangements cost too much. Put in a new pan and we will take another year out of it.' At
the same time there were painters and decorators in the parlors trying their utmost to give
the neighbors and friends of this house an idea that this poor foolish old fellow was a man of
fine susceptibilities, fine feelings, etc. Well, he was not; notwithstanding that, looking at
the parlors you would not have thought that the old pan-closet was good enough so long as it
could not be exhibited and give the owner a reputation for wealth and good taste. Cost, I
think, should not be considered in such an important matter. If the plumbing is riot right in
a house, certainly nothing else is. If the house is unhealthy, the doctor's and undertaker's
bills very soon reach what the perfect job would have cost.
"In the bathrooms. I would place immediately under water-closet a large lead-lined box
sufficient to accommodate the nest of pipes and bathtrap usually located here, and drain bath-
room safing too. Over this box I would place a marble slab in such a way as to be easily
removed to admit of inspection. If the closet is to be closed in, which, I think, is preferable
for private houses. I would only have sufficient covering over this box to bolt my closet to.
In this way the entire network of pipes would be visible by opening the riser of the closet,
which ought always to be hung on hinges from the top with only a button on the bottom to
keep it closed. The fixtures in the bathroom ought to be so arranged that the entire piping
133 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
will be in clear view. The waste from the bath ought not to be more than one and one-half
inch, and from the basins one-and-one-fourth-inch. Bath and basin plugs, as they are made
at present, are very faulty in having such small openings. They should be enlarged so as to
till their waste pipes and thoroughly flush them. The present practice of running kitchen
and laundry wastes is simply abominable. It is hard to conceive why any man in his senses
will run a six-inch earthen pipe from a sink or set of laundry tubs when the openings in these
fixtures are not sufficient to thoroughly flush a one-and-one-fourth-inch one. These wastes
should not exceed one-and-one-half-inch. They are usually in such a position that they can
have a good grade, and whatever their grade they will keep clean longer than a larger filthy
six-inch pipe will.
"But the great danger with this large earthen pipe is that it will clog up and, the joint
below the floor being cement, or, as the health department now insist, elastic cement or asbes-
tus, a very small head of water or pressure from within will force this asbestus or elastic
cement joint and allow the entire waste from the kitchen and laundry to run under the house
until the odor from the accumulating tilth gives warning of something being wrong. Gentle-
men, if you would see a couple of Irundred houses every year for twenty years the entire area
underneath of which was covered with a few inches of seething, rotting sewage, the result of
broken soil pipe and sink- waste connections with the sewer, you would never permit in your
practice, you would never allow in the house that you were to be responsible for and to whose
owner you promised to give a healthy home, a cement joint, an asbestos joint or an elastic
joint. You would have the joint that common sense recommends, that experience, the only
guide and safeguard, in mechanical as in all other matters, tells us is right. You would hare
a lead wastepipe from fixture to outside of house. In that you would have the metal, the
elasticity, the durability, in fact, everything but your asbestos and that you would have sup-
planted with common sense, which is a most useful and valuable thing to have in the per-
formance of practical plumbing.
" Our next consideration is ventilation and reventing, on which there are as many theories
as there are sanitary engineers, and I very much fear as many grievous mistakes made as
there are both. In ventilation, all seem to agree that the soil pipe should- be continued
above the roof, increased as it goes. To this general practice I have no objections to make,
except in the material used, which I insist should always be lead above the highest fixtiire.
It is folly, it is madness, it is criminal to put into any man's house a pipe to carry off. deadly
poisons, which, from the nature of things, cannot last long. Yet what can the individual
plumber do in such cases ? What can the plumbers do without the aid and cooperation of
architects? I have taken out enough of defective cast-iron pipe to convince any man, not
naturally a crank, that iron is no material to use for such purposes. Those pipes that I have
removed (some of which were on exhibition in the Chicago Master Plumbers' association)
were so thoroughly eaten away that it was almost impossible to save enough out of twenty
feet of them for a relic of the iron age in plumbing. None of them were in use more than
fifteen years. I have in my office several four-inch lead bends which once formed the con-
necting link between soil and cast-iron ventilation pipes.
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 133
"In testing houses to find the cause of the odor complained of, I found in two that, with
the peppermint test, we could not locate the trouble, and, seeing that there was an offset from
soil to ventilation pipe, experience lead me to believe that the bend was filled up. To make
sure before cutting it out, we tried the water test, filling from roof, and found that the bend
was solid. In the other cases, the bends, becoming defective, were removed, in doing which
they were found to be almost completely filled up with rust, the ravelings of the iron pipe as
it gave way to the effects of the sewer air. These pipes were four-inch, and the ventilation
pipe in a couple of cases was not more than ten feet long, and had not been in use more than
five years. If such is the case with four-inch cast-iron, what can we say or think of the
practice of putting in one-inch, one-and-one-foiirth-inch and one-and-one-half-inch soft wrought-
iron for reventing.
" The plumber is not to blame always, for I have fitted up houses where there were porce-
lain baths and decorated lwls, the cost of one of which would have more than paid for lead
for all the ventilation and reventing there was in the house, but the owner felt too poor to
stand the additional cost of lead, or probably he might have thought that it was only a de-
vice of the plumbers to get in a bill for extras, and he did not feel inclined to sacrifice a
decorated bowl for something he could not see when plastered up, so the cast-iron ventilation
and wrought-iron had to go in. I believe there is more than enough of wrought-iron pipe
used for this purpose in Chicago every year to reach from New York to San Francisco, and
to what purpose ? The cure in this case is surely worse than the disease. A wrought-iron pipe
will fill up so solid at the first turn or bend it gets in a couple of years that there is no ventil-
ation, and when it dosen't fill up it will be eaten away so quickly that the more venting and
reventing there is, the more danger. The owner or occupant feels secure, believing that every
precaution has been taken to make his house safe, when he would be ten-fold better and
safer if there had never been a foot of such ventilation in his house.
" There is also a practice now-a-days of reventing every trap in the house, whether it needs
it or not, which I think is very unwise for many reasons, as in this indiscriminate venting and
reventing many very serious errors or mistakes are made in what plumbers call 'by-passes,'
by which an otherwise fine job of plumbing is made a death trap. Therefore, while claiming
that plumbing has kept in advance of all other departments of the building trade, especially
in fixtures and workmanship. I am sorry to have to admit that the benefits derived from this
important advancement are only tem]>orary, and I feel no hesitation in saying that the house
gets no better security from foul air than it enjoyed without ventilation, and with the old pan-
closet, the filthiest of all plumbing fixtures. Consequently, I would urge upon the architect-
ural profession to eliminate iron pipe from their plumbing specifications. If you cannot
agree with me as to its untitness for sewer and soil pipe (it may take a few years more to
thoroughly demonstrate it), discard at least for ventilation purposes. I should have probably
said something in the beginning about earthen-pipe sewer, which I regard as just a very little
improvement on the old wooden-box sewer. Why, gentlemen, there is not a week passes by
that I am not grieved and shocked to see the upper surface of new-laid earthen-pipe sewer
134 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
made the passageway for all the laborers and mechanics in new buildings. Look at the way
it is put into place. At least in half the houses in Chicago the trenches prepared for earthen-
pipe sewer would remind you very strongly of a farmyard where hogs were let loose for a
picnic, a hole here and a couple of feet of trench there, and then another hole and so through
the house. Where there is any depth to go, every shovelful of dirt that can be avoided is left
imdisturbed. Work cannot be done in such a manner properly, and it is not done. There is
no necessity at this late day to use such stuff. There is no reason why the health of families
should be subjected to the risk of any material so easily misplaced or injured.
" Our next consideration is ' Plumbing fixtures,' on which I am pleased to state there is
very little to be said except in praise. Everything from the sink to the bathtub and their
fixings and connections is on the steady advance to perfection. The new-style closets seem
to me to possess all the necessary requirements for cleanliness and durability. No closet
should be used that a closet-brush will not reach to water seal. The servants' closet, which
sometimes receives too little attention, ought always to be automatic in its workings. ' Baths
and basins ought always to have the removable overflow attachments which allow of the cleans-
ing of those fouling places, with which the porcelain, enameled or copper bath is all that can
be desired for health and comfort. Wooden laundry tubs and sinks are fast disappearing,
but hardly as quickly as they ought. The new styles, with a one-and-one-half-inch lead waste
from fixture to catch-basin, will never give any trouble or headaches. I would also recom-
mend the placing of a large tank in attic, so arranged that it could be used for a supply tank
in case of need, but whose chief purpose would be for flushing soil, waste and ventilating
pipes. This would be of very great benefit, and, in my opinion, would prevent in great meas-
ure what we may call the ' dry rot' in those pipes. With such an arrangement flushing the
entire system once or twice a week, there would not be so much foul air generated in house
pipes, and householders would be taught the necessity and importance of its liberal use. I
have never seen such an arrangement. I don't think there is one in Chicago, but I believe
you can not have a perfect job of plumbing without them. No house can possibly be clean
and healthy without frequent inspection and cleaning of its plumbing fixtures. No plumbing
fixture should be used that can not be easily cleaned in all its parts. This ought to be the
chief consideration in their selection. No house is safely plumbed for any length of time
where wrought iron is used for soil or waste, and is absolutely dangerous where used for ven-
tilation purposes. I believe that every remedy, so far, for coating iron pipe for preserving
for plumbing purposes, is merely a makeshift, a blind, and does more harm than good in
hiding and covering a multitude of defects.
''Let us suppose that the National Association of Architects should submit to the National
Association of Master Plumbers the following proposition at their meeting next June: ' That
hereafter all plumbing must be guaranteed for a term of ten years, during which period said
plumbing must annually be tested by filling with water from manhole in front to roof, and if
any defects are found, to right them free of expense to owner.' What think you. gentlemen,
would be the answer of the National Association of Master Plumbers V I feel very safe in an-
ticipating their answer. It would read something like this:
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 135
' ' Yes, gentlemen, we will do just as you say on the following conditions: That you specify
no iron pipe for sewer, waste, ventilation or reventing pipes; that you specify lead instead,
and that you require a bond with every guarantee.' This proposition I most respectfully
submit to the consideration of the National Associations of Architects and Plumbers, believing
and feeling that as each has the one grand object in view, healthy homes for their clients, it
is the shortest, surest and safest road to honest, practical plumbing."
On January 8, 1889, David Whiteford of the committee on apprentices, presented the
following report to the Chicago association :
" The past year has been one of inactivity, especially on the part of its chairman. No
new plan of effort has been suggested to you for your consideration and action. The usual
course of lectures or addresses has been omitted. Toward the end of the year our amiable
brother and fellow-craftsman, J. J. Hamblin, did kindly volunteer to talk to the apprentices,
for which he has always had a great interest, I deemed it of little use, however, as the ex-
piration of my term of service would soon close, to try to awaken in you a new interest in
your apprentices. Before much good can be accomplished in this direction, you must move
with one accord. Two-thirds of the members of our association pay little attention to the
requests of your committee in sending in the names of their apprentices, etc. We sent out the
yearly circular letter to every member. Thirty-two answers were received out of a possible
one hundred and fifty. These replies to our circular letter does not indicate, however, that
we were not in possession of a list of apprentices of master plumbers, as many had sent in
their list of apprentices the previous year. Eight boys out of every ten who have called on me
for a job have known nothing about our apprentice system. After asking their names and look-
ing over our registry for their record, their names did not appear. This very likely can be ac-
counted for, to some extent, that so many boys go simply as helpers, with no fixed design in
their mind to learn the trade. We would suggest when a boy is hired he be made acquainted
by his employer that he has to serve a stated time at the trade, either with his present em-
ployer or some other. This of course could be best accomplished by the chairman visiting
every shop, take a list of names, and hand them a certificate of apprenticeship. The ap-
prentice scheme is all right, and I believe it would be difficult to amend it. I think there has
been an apathy all along the line. None of us have shown the interest at heart that we
might have done. We need a Chicago millionaire to leave some money to the Master Plumb-
ers' association, or, probably, better still, to the manual training school for the purpose of
fitting up and equipping a class for plumbing instruction. Until this time comes which is
sure to come someway or another- let us not cease in our endeavor to teach the boys what
we know. In the past we have raised up good workmen, as thoroughly trained as our oppor-
tunities could command. We must keep pace with our sister cities of the east with their
schools of science. The giant city of the west cannot lag behind. Ours is now a city of
schools and colleges, and from her halls of learning step forth some of the brightest orators
of the pulpit and bar, and of the ablest of men in surgery and medicine that can be found in the
land.
136 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
" We have now on our registry the names of five hundred and forty-five apprentices.
Out of this number only eight have received their journeyship certificates. There also appear
the names of one hundred and five master plumbers on the record. Twenty-five per cent, of
the names that appear have sent no record of their apprentices, but are shown on the record
through others as having had certain boys in their employ. Nothing of a serious nature has
arisen between master and apprentice during the past year that has needed your committee's
mediatorial services. Everything seems to have moved along smoothly. In closing this third
year of my services as chairman of your apprentice committee I do so not with a feeling of
pride or satisfaction. The results could have been greater. Appoint out of your number a
capable man as chairman to take charge of such an important branch of your work. It is in
vouth that the mind is molded and fitted for future development. Choose from your ranks,
then, a good leader a man of magnetism. Such men will surmount any drawback that may
appear in their way."
The officers chosen in January, 1890, were Hugh Watt, president, to succeed A. W.
Murray; David Whiteford, first vice president; James J. Clark, second vice president; Jacob
Weber, third vice president; David L. Bain, fourth vice president; Charles C. Breyer, fifth vice
president, John J. Harnblin, treasurer; Matthew L. Mandable, financial secretary; Alexander
Irons, recording secretary; Charles J. Herbert, sergeant-at-arms. The deaths of George
Bigdeu, Joseph Dewald, L. H. Hartman and Martin J. Ryan were noticed, and the progress
made by the Ladies' Auxiliary association commended. The roster of members on January 1,
1890, contained one hundred and forty-eight names; the receipts for 1889 amounted to
$0,218.34, and the disbursements to $2,635.42. In May, 1890, the prize essay on methods of
exhibiting plumbers' materials and workmanship at the World's Fair, was read by J. J. Wade.
The plumbers' strike of April, 18&0, was settled by arbitrators representing the journey-
men and employers. The committees on arbitration comprised James Boyle, Joseph Alcock,
Bernard Shields, James Buchan and Patrick Burke, representing the journeymen, and J. J.
Hamblin, Patrick Nacey, Martin Moylan, E. Baggot and M. J. Carboy, representing the em-
ployers. The settlement turned mainly upon the question of what to do with the juniors, but
an agreement was signed embodying the terms of settlement. It is that the minimum rate
of wages shall l>e $3.50 a day for all journeymen pluml>ers, atove which no employer is
Ixjund to go; all future differences are to be settled by arbitration. The juniors receive an
advance of twenty-five cents a day. They had demanded fifty cents. This advance benefits
only a minority of the juniors, as most of them work under a previous agreement that their
wages shall be advanced annually. Those working under this agreement are excepted from
the advance of twenty-five cents. The classification system of wages was abandoned by the
employers, while the men gave up their demand for a uniform rate of wages for all work-
men. The middle ground l>etween the two is agreed upon. A minimum rate of wages is
fixed, Ijelow which no employer can go, and to which a vast majority of the men will !>e raised
ur reduced, but there is nothing to prevent an employer from paying more to such men as he
thinks particularly valuable. Under the old system one class of workmen got $3.l>0 a day,
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 137
and another, by far the larger, $8.15. The men demanded au advance to $3.75, which was
to extend to all workmen alike. The tosses did not oppose this advance so much as the idea
that all men should be paid alike without regard to their capacity.
In May, 1 890, David Whiteford read a paper proving the conditions under which the
city authorities should grant a license to carry on the plumbing business. He said: "When
the pioneer plumbers landed in Chicago from eastern cities and from across the seas, they
obeyed the law which is ever present in the hopeful mind never to rest satisfied in their
present condition, so long as they have before them a prospect of bettering themselves in
life, or until they have reached the hight of their ambitions, and lifted themselves beyond
the reach of poverty, and placed themselves and their families in comfortable circum-
stances. To that end did the first plumbers of our city, following the pent-up desires of
their mind, launch out upon the world in business for themselves. In those early days
when the plumber established himself in business, there was no law higher than himself,
and no legislation had yet been thought of for the regulation of his business. The plumber
was left to do as he pleased, as no one knew more of his trade than he did himself. He
was trained in the old school, and under the direction of the old masters. Time had handed
down to him the heritage of the fathers, hoary with age. He followed the instructions with
great faithfulness, not daring to venture outside of the old beaten path lest his conscience
would charge him with going astray, and violating the fundamental principles of his trade.
Revolution upon revolution has been going on. The past methods of the tradesmen of
all classes are dissimilar in character to what they were thirty -five years ago. The head
has immeasurably lessened the work of the hand, and made it subservient to its wishes.
The ingenuity brought to bear on all trades is co-extensive, and the needs of the times must
be carefully studied and rightly comprehended to be of any value to the best interests of
the citizens of the world.
"Edward Bellamy says in his book, 'Looking backward:' 'We are living in the close
of the twentieth century, enjoying the blessings of a social order, at once so simple and
logical that it seems but the triumph of common sense.' Edward Bellamy is presenting the
social condition of things one hundred years ahead of time. We do not predict what con-
ditions the master plumber will be in a hundred years from now, but if the government takes
our business from us, and puts each master plumber in a good, fat office, we will, no doubt,
be as well off as we are to-day. This is not our object, however, as we desire to review the
past and present conditions of licensing men to carry on the plumbing business, and per-
chance, by some comparison of facts, be able to show who are not the fit persons to grant a
license to carry on the plumbing business, and by this means bo able to show who are the
proper persons to grant a license to.
" The conditions which exist at the present time are to some extent similar in character
to those which existed twenty -eight years ago. This was about the time the city authorities
established an ordinance requiring the plumber to take out a license to conduct the plumbing
business. At that time the applicant for a license did not need to qualify by taking oath that
138 INDUSTRIAL GBICAOO :
he was a practical plumber, nor did he have to satisfy a board of commissioners that he was
able financially, physically, practically or theoretically to carry on the plumbing business.
"In 1802 there were engaged in the plumbing business in Chicago twenty-six master
plumbers. Two-thirds of them were men who had learned the trade. There were about
one hundred and fifty thousand inhabitants, or one master plumber for about six thousand
inhabitants. To-day there are engaged in the business of plumbing over three hundred and
fifty master plumbers, three-fourths of them, or more, having learned the trade. This is one
master plumber for less than three thousand inhabitants. The increase of master plumbers
in proportion to population is due, perhaps, to the difference in the quality and quantity of
work done in each house, as the ratio of plumbing fixtures and accompanying pipes has
increased to satisfy the sanitary demands of growing cities. So it appears that the master
plumbers increase in proportion.
"Taking into consideration the growth of the city of Chicago in twenty-eight years from
one hundred and fifty thousand inhabitants to over one million, it is astonishing that the city
authorities have not required a more stringent law for the licensing of master plumbers.
The object of the common council, in passing an ordinance requiring a plumber to take out
a license for the conduct of his business, did not comprehend anything beyond protecting the
citv against paying damages which might arise in consequence of persons being injured by
falling into excavations made in public highways by plumbers for the purpose of laying
water pipes. The greatest consideration of the authorities was the protection of life and
limb from accident.
"Now the greatest desideratum of the city fathers and state legislators should not only
be the protection of life by accident, but from the more serious and insidious death-dealing
sewer gas, which has conclusively been found to be a hundred- fold more dangerous to human
life than any other cause of human ills. The giving of a bond is not a sufficient guarantee
nor is the statement of two practical plumbers upon oath enough on which to grant a license
to carry on the plumbing business. Can we say with all the light of the past thrown on the
present, that we have not known, as the result of our ignorance of sanitary laws in construct-
ing plumbing, many a fair face and lovely form to have fallen a victim to the defects of the
plumlxVs work?
"Is there to be any change made in the methods of dealing out licenses to men to cam-
on the business, or are we to continue in the same old rut, and not have a law passed which
will be in keeping with the present advances of sanitary science? The warning of the past
anil the light of the present should convince the most conservative person in authority th;it
the plumbing trade is uo ordinary one. Let the combined experiences of the enlightened
master plumbers assert at this time that they would much rather, for the benefit of all con-
cerned, not )>e allied with the man who liiis not learned the plumbing trade nor perfected
himself in the art. You have long enough been held responsible for the imperfect work of
men who have licenses to carry oil the business, but not sufficient knowledge. Can there be
a remedy found? Shall the plumber be able to start a new epoch? Will you pause and
6K
I:.! I Kill \(i. JSS2-5.
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 139
suggest to the city authorities those whom you think should be granted a license? Has the
time come with us in Chicago as it has in other cities in this and other countries, that we
can ask the watchman upon the wall what are the signs of the times, and what of the night ?
And the echo comes back, ' All is not well ! ' The walls must be rebuilt and the battlements
made strong. We may not need a sword in the one hand and a trowel in the other, but we need
the strong arm of the law and the help of lawmakers to protect us and the people of our
land against any further encroachments upon ours and their rights.
"It will be asked what are the rights of the people, and what more do they want that
they have not already? For twenty-eight years the master plumbers in this city have been
living and laboring under the same conditions so far as the licensing of plumbers is con-
cerned. There have teen laws enacted for the government of plumbers for several years
iinder the directions of the board of health. There has been little effort put forward heresy
tofore for their enforcement. It is a noticeable fact, however, since a master plumber has
been put to work as chief inspector of plumbing, with an able body of practical plumbers
as assistants, that the work is changing for the better. We concede that there has been a
point gained, and the right of the people better conserved by the inspection of the plumbers'
work. However, if it has been found necessary to have stronger and more durable and relia-
ble material, tetter sanitary fixtures and all that, what of it, if, on the other hand, workmen
and master plumbers are not asked for higher skill and a more perfect knowledge of their
business ? If there has been a need of a radical change in the method of plumbing, there
still exists a greater need of guarding the trade from a class of soulless and incapable mas-
ters. It has no doubt appeared to you all by observation that there are too many appren-
tice-boy master plumbers. The granting of licenses to young men is overdone, and a great
wrong is forced upon the community and on the young men themselves. Scarcely has the
boy left off carrying the bag of tools for the plumber before he applies for a license to carry
on the business. The young man has put in his test efforts to be able to make a joint, and
has succeeded fairly well, and tecause he can do this and solder on a pair of tacks, he con-
siders himself a crack workman. He must be a master plumber, and his nearest kinsman
prevail on some good-hearted master plumber to vouch for his ability and business qualifica-
tions, and that he is entitled to a license.
" Gentlemen of the fraternity, this is one of the greatest evils that you have to contend
with to-day. This class is undermining and sapping the very life of the plumbing business,
and lowering the once honored guild of master plumbers in the estimation of the people.
These facts we offer for your consideration and action. The people in their ignorance tell
you of the cheap ware they can buy from them, and they tell others to buy, but the purchase
is like the most of cheap bargains it is not worth the money paid. It is the old story over
again of 'penny wise and pound foolish.' You will remember seeing a sign somewhere in a
window that read: ' Plumbing done at half price.' Of course this sign attracted the atten-
tion of the people who were looking for a cheap plumber. No one can do cheap plumbing
and do it good. These are not the men who should be recommended to the commissioner
I
140 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
of public work for a license, for by so doing it is putting into their hands a weapon of great
mischief. The men can not fulfill the conditions which the trade demand, and should not be
granted a license.
"The great majority of master plumbers rise from the ranks of journeymen, yet there
are a great many who have not, but who have learned what they know about the trade by
being associated with others who are practical. The time was in Chicago when the gasfitting
trade was not considered a part of the master plumber's work, and contracts for plumbing
and gasfitting were let separately; but gradually the plumber contracted for gasfitting, and
the gasfitter, in turn, contracted for plumbing, and so we find this state of things existing
to-day. The gasfitting and plumbing trades are very closely connected, but a gasfitter can
learn his trade in two years, while it takes five to learn plumbing. What we think ought to
be done before a license is granted to gasfitters hereafter is, that they should be associated in
the plumbing business with a plumber a time equal to that an apprentice spends at the trade,
so he could learn, at least, the theory, if not the practice, before he is granted a license.
" There are still other trades, as the tinsmith and steamfitter, who keep constantly rap-
ping at the door for admittance to carry on the business, and the trade papers and books of
the various classes are called upon as a library of information to furnish the missing link
between the man who has served his time at the trade and the man who has not. By this
means a tradesman can equip himself fairly well, and in time become an adept and expert at
the trade, a prosperous and honest business man.
" If there is a standard to be reached and any reliance to be placed in the ability of a
person to manage the business of a plumber, a certificate of proficiency must be laid down.
The main question that presents itself to every person when he wants a job of plumbing
work done is : 'Is the man I hire a plumber ; does he know the beginning and does he know
the end of his work in all its details ? ' The engineer at the locomotive must be known by
the railroad company who hires him to be a capable engineer, and one in whom they can
place implicit confidence. He is a man of steady nerve, whose eye is always on the lookout,
and whose hand is ever on the trottle. Would you, if you knew it, embark on a ship for
some distant shore, and place your life in the hands of a man who was not a captain and
never sailed the seas nor learned to navigate a ship? You would want the captain to be a'
sailor with all the knowledge possible, and hold a certificate granted to him by a board of ex-
aminers. On the same ground and by the same immutable principles, you ask that the
plumbers should hold a certificate of ability.
" Let us pass from this and review a class of men who receive a license to carry on the
plumbing business, who never ought, as they have never learned a trade of any kind, but who
have push and daring enough to force themselves before the public as plumbers. They are
prompted to rush into the business for the money they believe there is in it. This class
reminds us of men whom we have known who were not contented with the particular business
in which they have been engaged and doing well. In the moment of excitement, on hearing
of gold being found in yonder hill and plenty of it, they start in search of it. Footsore and
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 141
weary they arrive at the mountain only to face the adamantine rock with no tools, no experi-
ence in handling the tools like the old and well-tried miner; they return to the home they left,
wiser and better men. This class of men entering the plumbing business with no experience,
neither practical nor theoretical, looking for a bonanza and not finding it, drive on fearlessly
and regardlessly, with only one idea, to make a spoon or spoil a horn; and this they do by
hiring cheap labor and doing poor work, thus endangering the lives of thousands of persons
by faulty plumbing construction.
" What will be done with such men ? Will the city authorities conscientiously grant a
license to these innovators and quacks who know nothing of the trade they engage in? Pub-
lic sentiment, if it only knew, would cry out against it. The newly filled graves of the inno-
cents loudly speak against it. Guardians of the public weal must be asked to raise their
hand against it and stop granting licenses to such men. It is said of Diogenes, the philoso-
pher, that he went about with a lantern in his hand looking for an honest man. The master
plumbers of Chicago must light the lamp and let the full glare of the light be focused on the
city and state authorities so they may see the necessity of passing a law to regulate the grant-
ing of licenses to men to carry on the plumbing business. Let the authorities be like
Xeniades of Corinth. When he asked his slave, Diogenes, after he had purchased him, what
business he was proficient in, he answered: ' To command.' At one time in the British army
there was a rule to take commissioned officers from the sons of the ' nobility,' as it was called.
Now they rise from the rank and file. Strictly speaking plumbers, and only plumbers who have
been fitted by education and merit, should conduct the business. In the cities of Baltimore
and St. Paul they have passed laws for the examination of the plumber. In Glasgow, Scot-
land, the journeymen are registered. All this goes to show that the trade is considered equal
in the eyes of thinking persons to be put on the same level with the physician and druggist,
and of paramount importance to any of the professions.
" In the foregoing thoughts we have principally dwelt in a general way, asserting that
the plumbers' work improperly done is a dangerous commodity to have around, but have not
so far shown wherein the trade of the plumber differs materially from that of the gasfitter's
steamfitter's and tinsmith's. The gasfittin g trade is the fitting in of iron pipes in buildings for
conveying illuminating gas for lighting and heating purposes. The technicalities of the
trade consist mainly in mensuration, as the rules and sizes of pipe are laid down for their
guidance. The threading of pipes and putting them in is a question of strength and agility,
and the testing to make them tight, a matter of patience. As for the work of the steamfitter it
is the repetition of the gasfitter almost in every detail. If the pipes leak the escape of steam
will make itself known and point to the place. The tinsmith's trade, and that part of it
which is akin to the plumbing trade, is the solder and the soldering bolt. We admit that any
of the three trades has in it those principles of workmanship which the plumbing trade con-
tains, but no man of any of the trades could possibly do the work of a plumber without a
good deal of practice. The distinguishing features of the plumber's trade, from almost any
other, lies in the scientific points that it embraces; the methods of pipe construction, material
142 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
and receptacles for the immediate removal of organic matter, and the prevention of foul air be-
coming injurious to life and health, and by understanding the surrounding condition of things.
Take for instance the very able paper presented on catch-basins, by J. J. Hamblin, and you can
comprehend the relation that the size of one pipe holds to another. It has been shown that
a two-and-a-half-inch pipe can not be washed clean internally and made inoffensive by joining
an inch and a quarter to it. Neither can a soil pipe be kept clean by the quantity of water
used at each discharge. Science has taught us the necessity of flushing all waste pipes with
a plug of water equal to the size of the pipe. To this end the plumber should have some
knowledge of the laws which nature has laid down for him as to the correct sizes and angles
of pipes for the flow of liquid wastes and gases in a horizontal and vertical position. Take
the very best constructed forms of angles and grades of discharge pipes and let a quantity of
water pass through filling the entire diameter of the pipes and you have the very best con-
ditions possible for the thorough cleansing of the waste pipes. And yet you have the very
worst conditions for preventing the emptying of the waste-pipe traps of their water seals. Many
illustrations could be made to show that the greatest care is needed in designing and execut-
ing plumbing work.
" In reviewing the thoughts which have been presented, there grow out of them several
essential points for training men to carry on the business of a plumber. The first is, that the
apprentice to the trade must needs be required to attend one year in the day time, or its
equivalent at night, during the term of the apprentice, at a manual training school where a
special branch can be given covering the knotty points of the trade. Second, the registration
and examination of the journeymen plumbers under state law would correct two existing
evils : First, no apprentice at the trade should be examined and registered for a journeyman
until he has served his stated time. Second, the journeyman should not apply for a license to
carry on the plumbing business until he is a registered journeyman in good standing. Third,
state legislation and the unity of the craft protecting and upholding the board of health in the
enforcement of good plumbing, will go far toward weeding out and furnishing to the trade a
class of competent master plumbers. Competition is said to be the life of trade. That might
be true if there were a standard for all men and all men worked to the standard."
At a meeting of the local association, held July 24. 1890, Matthew L. Mandable read his
paper on "In what relation should the intelligent and trustworthy plumber stand toward
his customers in the selection of sanitary appliances': 1 " "The plumber of to-day," he said,
"should stand in the same relation to his customer as the family doctor does to his patient that
is, as an adviser. He should first inquire, when consulted aboiit undertaking the plumbing of a
house, what kind of a structure his customer is going to erect, about the amount of money he
proposes to expend in building a house for himself and family. After the information has
been obtained, it is the duty of the plumber to advise his customer what he considers it best
for him to do. and what he thinks best for him to use in the line of sanitary appliances. This
may prove a very difficult task and require considerable experience. The plumber of to-day
is not what he was twenty years ago. His surroundings are changed and the mode has
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 143
changed. At that time they all had the same idea as to which was the best closet; now they
have at least fifty or more to select from, and they all seem to do the work for which they are
intended. Therefore, I think the plumber should use great care in advising what goods to
select. He should not let his prejudice against any firm, which for some reason or other may
have fastened itself in his mind, enter into the transaction at all. He should, by all means,
advise the customer to buy the best that money can get, as it is the cheapest by far, in the
end. And now I come to a feature of the business which some of you may be inclined to
slight, and think of no real value to the business. Every master plumber should have his
own showroom, with a complete line of his favorite fixtures set up all complete, and supplied
with water, so that he will be able to show his customers the advantages claimed for the
various designs. As it is to-day, the plumber is null and void three times out of five, as the
manufacturer is standing in the plumber's place. The manufacturer goes to great expense in
fitting up a grand showroom, pays big rent and employs expensive clerks, who, by the way,
deserve great credit for the able manner in which they display them themselves when your
customer happens to fall into their hands. Seldom do they lose their sale, for they have got
just what the plumbers should have their own specialties to show to the public. I do not
wish to be considered as expressing myself maliciously toward any of our manufacturers while
on this subject, but I do feel as though the plumber of to-day should endeavor to follow the
good example which the manufacturer and jobber have placed before us. We can readily
see how easy it is to make a sale when we have the goods to show. The plumber should have
his goods to exhibit, just the same as any other retail merchant, and I feel that we are com-
ing more and more to this feature of the business every year. We have good examples in a
dozen or more of our members, who are awaking to the fact that it is a good thing to have a
showroom fitted up with a nice line of sanitary goods. It is highly necessary at the present
time for the plumber to stop and consider what position he occupies with his patrons and the
public. A great many times he is ignored altogether, and often he is not considered the
proper person to consult concerning the class of fixtures to be used. This should not be the
case. The plumber should call attention to the fact that the plumbing is the most important
work that is put into a building, and he should endeavor to influence his customer in select-
ing the best material. He should not be afraid to tell his customer that certain goods which
he is about to put in are not what lie ought to have; that they are not the best fixtures, and
try and have him get nothing but the best, so far as lies in his power. The curse of the
plumber to-day is the cheap, shoddy goods, with a big discount as their only recommendation,
which supply dealers endeavor to foist upon the trade, the use of which should not be per-
mitted; but as long as they can find buyers, the dealers will live and get rich at the cost of
the plumber. But he is himself to blame for this, as he well knows that a good article can-
not be bought at the ridiculously low prices which some manufacturers make. It is the sale
of to-day which they are after, and not the plumbers' benefit, and as long as you buy their
goods, they will continue to live. It would be a blessing to the public, as well as the plumber,
should the cheap man be wiped out of existence, and buried forever, to return no more.
144 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO :
Once upon a time goods were sold on their merits, but now the cry is, 'How cheap can I sell
them?'"
The feature of the meeting of Deceml>er 11, 1 890, was the nomination of officers for
the ensuing year. The nominations were as follows: Patrick Nacey, David Whiteford* and
William Bowden, president; M. L. Mandable, William F. Gay, T. P. Culloton and M. J.
Carlxjy*, first vice presidents; William Bowden, C. J. Herbert*, second vice presidents; Frank
Ruh, Joseph R. Alcock, C. A. Cavanah*, third vice presidents; Joseph O'Malley, Charles
Lawrence and A. C. Hickey*, fourth vice presidents; George J. Stokes*, fifth vice president;
Patrick Sanders*, treasurer; Harry A. Black*, recorder; M. L. Mandable, John J. Hamblin,
J.H.Kilian, James DeVeney*, financial secretaries; Henry Negley, Paul Rediske*, sergeants-at-
arms. The election took place in January, 1891, when the officers whose names are marked
thus, * in the record of nominations, were chosen. The report of the committee on appren-
ticeship was presented by A. W. Murray; six hundred and thirty names of apprentices ap-
pear on the record up to date, and of this number three hundred and nineteen were entitled
to certificates of journeymanship. The ordinance prepared by Alderman Ryan, increasing the
plumbers' license to $100, was approved, and the work of Andrew Young in connection
with the health department complimented. Mr. Young stated that few of the members
of the association had any idea of the number of defective closets and traps that were
ordered to be replaced by new ones by the inspectors, and as a result thousands of dollars'
worth of work was given to the Chicago plumbers.
The first state convention of master plumbers assembled at 15 Washington street, Chi-
cago. June 15, 1885, for the purpose of forming an association. William McGraw, then vice
president of the National association, issued the call and was elected temporary president,
The delegates present were E. C. Barrett, Joliet; S. A. Jones, Rockford; Charles Stetson, Free-
port; P. Mueller, Decatur; P. J. Kane, Alton; Samuel Good, George Stokes, John Swarts, E.
E. Campin, Joseph Dewald, William Bowden, Martin Moylan, J. J. Clark, David Whileford,
Hugh Watt, Daniel Rock, Alexander W. Murray, P. C. Desmond, Charles Breyer, J. H. Roche,
William Gay, J. J. Hamblin, William Wilson, Andrew Young. T. C. Boyd. William McGraw
and James E. Beaver, Chicago. The officers elected were P. J. Kane, president; William
MeGraw and Martin Moylan, vice presidents; P. Mueller, recorder; C. S. Stetson, correspond-
ent, and S. A. Jones, treasurer. The per capita tax was placed at $2.
The Chicago Sanitary association was organized in 1886 with Peter Willems, president,
Among the earliest members were John F. Alles, A. W. Murray, J. J. Wade, D. J. Rock,
Rupert Coleman, George Tipple, Fred Neustadt, George Alles, Robert Griffith. J. J. Hamblin,
Jacob Weber, David Whiteford, John E. MacDonald, W. F. Gay, Richard Graham, Martin
Moylan, J. Reilly and E. Breyer. Its purpose is distinct from that of the Master Plumbers'
association, with which it has no connection, as it aims solely to promote a friendly feeling
between members of the plumbers' trade.
The International Brassmolders' union was organized at Chicago in March, 1891. The
brassmolders' trade, so intimately connected with plumbling. is one of the most important in
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 145
the United States, but it was without organization until 1891. This city, being the greatest
center of the trade in America, led in local organization, for, in June, 1890, a local union was
established, with J. W. Morgan, president, and A. R. Healy, secretary. Within less than nine
months this local union held in membership two hundred and twenty-five of the two hun-
dred and fifty brassmolders in the city last June.
The ramifications of the trade are as numerous as its followers. Every branch of the
building trade is interesting to the plumber; for what is weak and poor in a building, as well
as what is substantial and rich, relates to his trade and in a measure controls his calculations.
Again the promise of a good sanitary condition for a new building has to be made by the
plumber, and in his conclusions he must have before him the whole house plan as well as the
plans of the water, sewer and gas systems of the locality in which his work is to be done. The
promptings of the trade lead still farther into the consideration of material, and every metal
and manufactured clay must expose its mysteries to him. Hence all the instructive papers
read before local and national associations come from the plumber as poetry from the poet.
There are, of course, grubs in the trade, who neither think nor write nor speak. They plod
along, day after day, like the cabbage worm; but, fortunately, for one of such, the trade can
l>oast of a dozen thinking men, who leave no stone unturned to arrive at the acme of trade
knowledge and turn it to the improvement of material and apparatus. The result of this study
and thought may be seen to-day in Chicago. Old-time methods have been revolutionized
and the iron and lead pipes, which were hidden away only a few years ago, are now presented
to the occupants of home or office or store as part and parcel of the furniture.
To the associations of plumbers this remarkable advance is, in a great measure, due.
As a Ijody they declared themselves in favor of improvement, and fostered taste and invention
wherever and whenever they were made reconcilable with utility. To the associated plumbers
the cities owe much, for their health depends on their sanitation, and in making this fact
public and in enforcing their ideas, they have brought blessings to the millions whose lives are
passed amid the smoke and dust and debris of great cities.
H6 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
RAFTED IU.
SANITARY DRAINAGE AND SEWERAGE.
^|<TNOTHING is more conducive to the health of a great city than a system of house
II I drainage and sewerage based on true principles; yet nothing of so much importance
-*- X^ ^ receives such little attention from the municipality. Years ago the villagers
of Chicago knew nothing of the value of general cleanliness. Perhaps the few cabins
scattered over the marsh did not warrant the effort to attain such knowledge. Later,
when cabins multiplied, and death was beyond all proportion to the sparse population, a
thought may have been given to the insalubrious marsh, but not one to its improvement.
The locality was only fitted for man in a wild or semi-civilized state, and then only as a
temporary fishing or hunting ground; but its white pioneers, living in a semi-civilized state,
brought hither iron constitutions proof alike against malarial poison and the rigorous
climate to build the foundation of a great community. They appear on the prairie like
great aluminum columns, resisting the corroding influences of time and bearing up the first
floors of civilization without regard to nature or art.
A time arrived when they received a rude awakening. The shadow of Asiatic cholera
fell upon the prairie, and the prairie seemed fitted to receive the reality. The bodies of a
hundred soldiers were buried within a few days.
The true beginnings of sanitary sewerage and drainage must be credited to ancient
Home. In digging trenches for the purpose of laying the foundations of new forts in that
city a few years ago, it is recorded that the workmen came upon the remains of ancient drain-
age works. The most perfect example was found below the surface of a hill on which a villa
once stood. A system of tunnels four feet high and two feet wide were cut through the por-
ous rock, the roof supported by pairs of large tiles meeting in the center. The galleries of
this tier converge to a common outfall which leads to a second tier a few feet lower. The
outfall of this tier is narrow and closed by a sheet of lead eighteen inches square, pierced
with numerous holes and serving as a strainer, through which the water passes to the
third tier forty feet from the surface. The floor of this tier is level, has no outfall for the
water, and is six feet high and nearly three feet wide. This serves as a place of storage for
the water conducted to it by the upper drains, and is connected with the surface, as were the
others also, by a perpendiciilar shaft up which the water could be raised. Steps were placed
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 147
in the shaft for convenience of access when they were cleaned. When the drains had been
cleared, though it was a dry summer season, the water began to flow, and the drains to dis-
charge their double duty of sanitating the soil and providing water for the villa above as
when built centuries ago. An authority on this subject repeats that sanitary science in gen-
eral is not a new thing in the world's history. Much pertaining thereto was well understood
in ancient times, and the remains of elaborate drainage works have been brought to light by
recent excavations of the sites of other former centers of civilization as well as at Rome.
Perhaps the earliest written formulation of elementary principles of this science is the code
of sanitary laws laid down by Moses in the Old Testament. Thus in Leviticus, chapter xiv,
verse 33, where a plague-infected dwelling is described, we can not fail to recognize in the
expression: "The wall of the house with hollow strakes, greenish or reddish, which in sight
are lower than the wall," a description of a wet subsoil polluted with filth. The ancient
remedy prescribed for such a condition was the entire removal of the infected portion, its
reconstruction with clean, new material, and the thorough cleansing of the remainder in all
particulars. At the present time little more than this would be done by city health officers
in a similar case, and the additional work would consist of an examination of the water used
by the inmates and the removal of all accumulations of decaying organic matter from the
premises; special stress would also be laid upon the necessity of efficient underdrainage and
sewerage, in order to prevent dampness and any further pollution of the soil. Other princi-
ples of sanitation were likewise enunciated by Moses, which are still regarded as standards, and
form the basis of certain recent systems for rendering harmless various offensive wastes.
The rules, however, which were of easy observance by a nomadic people who could
quickly leave a tainted locality, required considerable amendment after the migratory habits
were abandoned in favor of permanent abodes in a single spot. For social and defensive
reasons, large numbers of persons gathered together more or less compactly in communities
or cities, and it was soon found that almost as much was to be feared from the diseases which
developed in dense population, as from the attacks of external foes. Great care, accordingly,
became necessary in the choice of locations for new towns, both with regard to the preserva-
tion of the public health and to successful defense in times of war. These important princi-
ples were keenly appreciated by the ancient Romans, whose conquest of the world was dis-
tinguished by the foundation of a vast number of cities, connected together by great roads
and provided with extensive sanitary works for the welfare of the inhabitants. In fact, the
Roman civilization in Europe was characterized by the concentration of the population in
cities and the almost entire absence of country dwellings. Latin authors state that much
attention was paid to the selection of sites for their towns, particularly with the view of secur-
ing freedom from noxious exhalations and obtaining efficient drainage. The extensive sacri-
fice of domestic animals, kept for a long period of time in a locality previous to deciding upon
the foundation of a city, possessed in reality a scientific significance, for when the livers and
certain other organs of such animals were found- in a healthy condition, it was regarded as
evidence that the soil of that locality was safe for the occupation of human beings and that
148 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
its waters were fit for their consumption. Examinations of the subsoil were also made to as-
certain whether it was capable of sustaining the weight of the contemplated structures, and
whether it contained an undue amount of ground-water. If all of these conditions were
found favorable, work on the new site was generally commenced by systematically draining
it, as well as the adjacent lands; and as soon as a sufficient population was attained to warrant
the expense, other improvements specially designed for the health and comfort of the inhab-
itants were carried out. The sanitary work done by the ancient Romans is thus seen to give
evidence of nmch commendable wisdom and of remarkable municipal enterprise.
With the fall of the Roman empire, however, the development of practical sanitary
science ceased for many centuries, and nearly all of the important public works that had been
constructed for the maintenance of health in populous cities were allowed to decay, and even
to become utterly forgotten. As a consequence of this neglect, the condition of densely
inhabited towns became deplorable, and relief was sought by the formation of smaller com-
munities in the agricultural districts. A number of large cities, however, which were dis-
tinguished by an unusually favorable sanitary and commercial location, continued their
existence, but their growth was very slow, and serious epidemics were of frequent occurrence.
In spite of such repeated warnings, few efforts for improvement appear to have been
attempted, and these only when an exceedingly large mortality threatened the ultimate
extinction of the inhabitants. Owing to the undeveloped condition of the physical sciences
which are the handmaids of hygiene, the measures adopted at such times were rarely of per-
manent value; and it was not until civilization had sufficiently advanced to lead again to the
formation of large towns, that considerations of the general health and comfort of the popu-
lation gradually compelled earnest attention to be given to the subject of the systematic
removal of the dangerous organic wastes. Especially slow appears to have been the progress
of the art of the sanitary drainage of dwellings and cities; and, in fact, so recent is the
formulation of the principles of scientific sewerage, that many of the pioneers of the art are
among the living.
The relation between architecture and the sewerage of cities will doubtless appear very
remote at the first glance; but, upon reflection, a strong mutual dependence of these arts can
easily be discovered. The development of a large city involves an accumulation of wealth by
many inhabitants and the creation of desires for personal comfort and luxiiry. To satisfy this
desire, the architect's skill is first called into requisition, and hence large towns become the
special field of important architectural operation. Particularly is such the case in the United
States, where the physical and intellectual activity of the people is much more concentrated
in cities than in the Old World, and, in consequence of this fact, the best specimens of Amer-
ican architecture are generally found in populous towns and their immediate vicinity. The
increased value of land in large cities, as well as the effort to provide shelter for great multi-
tudes upon relatively small areas of ground, has also resulted in the development of an
entirely new type of buildings, which is characterized by an unusual hight of walls and a
large number of stories, and has been adapted to a variety of purposes. Structures of this
THE BUILDING INTKHEKTS. 140
kind are necessarily more or less monumental in character, and require the utmost stability of
their foundations, in addition to a pleasing appearance and a convenient arrangement; they
must, moreover, be made perfectly healthy in all their parts, otherwise the large outlay
involved in their erection will not meet with adequate returns. Now both of these essential
features are dependent in high degree upon the local sewerage system, and hence it follows
that architectural progress is always impeded where facilities for drainage and the removal of
organic wastes are absent.
The powerful impulse which the remarkable development of science and industrial art
during the past few decades has imparted to modern civilization, has had the effect of inducing
an astonishingly rapid growth in the population of nearly every large city. Among the
reasons that may be assigned for this growth, the principal ones are doubtless the general
increase of wealth resulting from more skillful management of business enterprises and the
payment of higher wages to employes, the consequent desire for the comforts, recreations and
luxuries obtainable only in large communities, and the attraction which the possibility of
securing profitable employment exerts upon the population of agricultural districts. A study
of the census reports of our own and other lands shows that the concentration of population
in large cities still continues, and, in fact, that the rate of increase is steadily growing. The
introduction of so many new inhabitants, however, occasions periodical insufficiency of accom-
modation in these places, and thus requires commensurate improvement in both public and
private work, not only in order that proper care may be taken of the new arrivals, but also
that no serious danger to health shall result from the aggregation of large numbers of people
ujxm a limited area of territory. Experience has proved that, sooner or later, the site of
such aggregations will become pestilential, unless early provision is made for the safe removal
or destruction of the putrescible organic wastes produced by the occupants, and as the study
of the precise relation of these wastes to the diseases prevalent in dense communities has lat-
terly become very extensive, the expansion of knowledge has led to the development of a
special department of applied science, called sanitary engineering, which deals with the pro-
motion of the health, comfort and longevity of mankind. Now, since one of the provinces of
architecture is the accomplishment of the same purpose, there is accordingly a common
ground upon which the architect and the sanitary engineer can meet.
The idea of a municipal guardianship of public health is well set forth in Superintendent
Young's report, published in 1890. The preservation of the health of every class in a com-
munity is equally important to the rich and the poor. It is important to the wealthy that
the working people should be kept in good health; for the influence of infectious diseases
once introduced into the dwellings of the working classes often spreads far and wide, and
is no respecter of persons; it is much more important to the poor man, as his health is his
capital and wealth, that when taken from him leaves him a burden upon the community.
How much the nation loses annually by preventable diseases can not be estimated; physical
ability forms the basis of the working capacity of the laborer, and full work can not be
obtained from a sickly and enfeebled population. Therefore, those communities who per-
150 INDUSTRIAL CUIGAGO :
sistently neglect proper sanitary measures are squandering the wealth of their citizens. It
is true economy to make sufficient appropriations for sanitary inspection and the general
enforcement of the sanitary rules and regulations. Health is the capital of the laboring
man and working woman; it is better to preserve health than to give alms. Unsanitary
conditions cause sickness, disease and death, followed by pauperism, demoralization and crime.
To preserve health is a moral and religious duty, for health is the basis of all social virtues.
We make ourselves useful only when we are in good health. Municipal neglect of the public
health is nmrder by the municipality. With a sufficient number of practical plumbing
inspectors to cover the one hundred and seventy square miles of territory, the ordinances could
be enforced and the rate of mortality reduced and much sickness prevented. The enforce-
ment of the rules is a boon to the poor man, whether purchasing or building a home; for he
could not himself superintend the plumbing and drainage of a house in course of con-
struction, and would be at the mercy of any dishonest contractor. After the arrival of the
troops in 1832, under date of July 19, General Scott wrote to military headquarters at Wash-
ington: " Major Whisler reports to-day sixty-three bayonets for duty; the battalion of artil-
lery in the fort, or hospital, eighty-one. Colonel Eustis hands me this paragraph : ' The health
of the battalion of artillery is evidently improving, and the progress of the cholera is checked.
In the last four days there have occurred eleven new cases and ten deaths. The sick report
is reduced from seventy to fifty, of whom twenty-eight are decidedly convalescent. The new
cases are more mild than those of previous occurrence. The four companies, on leaving De-
troit, counted one hundred and ninety enlisted men; fifty-nine have died, four were left sick
at Mackinac, fifty remain sick and eighty-six enlisted men are on duty.' " On August 1, the
disease was reported subsiding. No deaths had occurred in the last sixty hours, and there
were very few cases. The prevalence of the disease among the troops caused great anxiety
to General Scott, who did all he could to avert it, and to check it in its spread throughout the
country. He left Chicago for Rock Island on July 29, and from the latter place he wrote,
under date of September 1 : " The great calamity of the times has come upon the troops on
this island." His views as to the manner of the introduction of the disease are interesting.
" I cannot doubt," he says, " from much personal observation that spasmodic cholera is partly
epidemic and partly contagious. The atmosphere prepares the human system for its recep-
tion, and then it is readily degenerated by intemperance or extraordinary exposure; and when
once generated, readily propagates from individual to individual, whose systems are more
or less prepared for its reception. From all that I can learn, the population below, as well as
the troops in this quarter, were many weeks since so prepared. To the systems so prepared,
premature and fatal activity has been given, I believe, by importation from Chicago."
While at Chicago and on his way westward, General Scott filled the whole country, south
and east, through newspapers, by innumerable letters, through discharged volunteers on the
Illinois and Rock Island rivers, and other means, with admonitions to rangers not to approacli
Chicago. He sent his letters unsealed, endorsed with his name and rank, to excite curiosity,
and to induce postmasters and others to read them and give publicity to his admonitions.
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 151
In short, he erected a paper barrier around Chicago, through which no company of rangers,
though ordered to report to him, could iguorautly pass. The first case taken west of Chicago
was that of a man named Johnson, who was with a company of fourteen men under Captain
Ford, who came up from the Ohio river for provisions. The latter heard of General Scott's
solicitude, and received his warning; nevertheless he moved forward and suffered himself
with some of his men to be coaxed into Fort Dearborn. This was about August 10. Twelve
days later the company reached the Mississippi, and on the night of the 25th Johnson was
taken sick with the cholera. The second case, which appeared on the following day, proved
fatal. General Scott closes his dispatch to his superior officers, in which he gives the painful
details of the epidemic, as follows: "I am fully aware of the heavy responsibility that rests
upon me for the spread of a dreadful malady among the troops under my orders, and through
them prematurely among the population of this immense valley. I have never regarded my-
self as having been born to be a curse to my country. On the contrary, it has always been
the first wish of my heart to serve her gloriously, but my care and foresight, amidst recent
events, have been signally defeated. I have, without getting into battle myself, brought dis-
ease and death upon those who vanquished the public enemy. To the new danger I have
freely and fearlessly exposed myself without utility. My heart is deeply humbled and
afflicted. But, if I can not show that I have employed extraordinary care, and exercised even
more than common sagacity to prevent the evils which I lament, I ask to be subjected to uni-
versal execration."
The beginning of sanitary laws in Chicago dates back to November 7, 1833, when the
trustees ordered that persons casting refuse into the river should be fined $3. On June 6 of
the following year positive instructions were given to the street commissioner to have debris
and refuse of every character removed from the streets. This was followed in August, 1834,
by laws providing against the obstruction of ditches, and a committee of citizens was appointed
to see that those sanitary regulations were carried out. The fear of Asiatic cholera prompted
the action of the village trustees, and drew several leading residents into the circle of sanitary
works. Such men as Dr. W. B. Egan, Mark Beaubien, Dr. Goodhue, C. Taylor, G. Kerch-
eval, A. Steele, J. Miller, N. E. Norton, Dr. Kimberly, John Davis, J. K. Palmer, H. Hugu-
nin, J. Bates, John Kinzie and Dr. Clark, were appointed by the trustees to guard the village
against all attacks of the disease. In February, 1835, a board of health was created, but on
the demand of f'2,(K)0 by this body, made June 19, that year, to carry out necessary improve-
ments, the villagers stamped the board as the very essence of extravagance and withdrew all
countenance from the members as an organization. At this time sewers were undreamed of
and the system too common even now in little country villages throughout the Union, then
obtained. It was continued in varioiis forms until the close of the fifth decade of the century,
when the danger became too great to tolerate longer and the people called on the council to
exercise their powers under the act of Febraary 10, 1847.
The sauitarv doings of the council and of the citizens in 1834-5 are thus set forth in de-
tail: On June 15, 1JS34, the fear of cholera impelled the trustees to direct the supervisor
152 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
" to remove and abate all nuisances within the corporate limits." Ordinances were passed
providing that no " straw, shavings, or other substance " should be thrown into any " sewer,
drain or ditch " within the town limits, under the penalty of a $2 fine and the expense
of removing the nuisance; and that no person should deposit any "dung, dead animal,
or carrion, putrid meat or fish, entrails, or decayed vegetables, or any other offensive sub-
stance," in the streets, river or elsewhere, under a penalty of a fine of $3; it also prohibited
any owner of a lot from allowing such deposits to be made on the lot, or in the streets or
alleys adjoining.
Two months after the passage of the first of the above ordinances, the town trustees
were called to make suitable arrangements to prevent the introduction of the dreadful and
fatal disease into the town, and at a meeting the condition of the town was taken into
consideration and a full discussion of the impending danger followed, resulting in the
adoption of measures intended to be preventive. The street commissioner, or supervisor, was
directed to make arrangements for cleansing the streets and removing the filth half
a mile outside of the limits of the corporation, and the inhabitants were warned not to
throw anything of an offensive nature into the river. Committees of vigilance were ap-
pointed, whose duty it was to inspect all houses and yards of individuals of the town, and,
if not found in proper condition, to direct the owners or occupants to cleanse them and put
them in order within twenty-four hours of the notice given.
The first board of health was established at this time, though its functions were special,
and its existence short. A committee was appointed to procure a suitable house, without
the limits, for a hospital, to prescribe for all persons attacked with cholera, and to give such
instructions to the supervisors as to promote the health of the town. Arbitrary authority
was given the supervisor to order every male person in the town, over the age of twenty-one
years, to work upon the streets and alleys within the corporation, for the purpose of cleaning
them, and failure to work or furnish a substitute was punished by a fine of $5 for each
offense. The cholera scare began to pass away, when the ordinances, already loose enough,
were modified. On September 1 it was ordained that any person not wishing to work on the
streets could compromise the matter by paying $1, instead of $5, as before.
There are no means of knowing, even approximately, the mortality, if any, from cholera
during the year, and neither can it be judged of the efficiency of the measures taken to keep
the plague out of the city and to stay its progress, if it were introduced, though there is no
evidence that it. appeared at all. No record of the deaths was kept, and all the regulations
were primitive, however effective they may have been at the time. One good was accom-
plished by the cholera fright, and by the agitation and discussion which it caused. The pro-
priety, if not the necessity, of making some permanent provision for preserving the general
health of the town, and for meeting future contingencies in the shape of cholera or other
epidemics, forced itself iipon the trustees; ami, accordingly they organized a board of health,
and prescribed its duties and powers.
At a special meeting of the president and trustees of Ihe town of Chicago, on June 19,
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 153
1835, a new board of health was established, consisting of seven persons, whose duty it
should be to examine all streets, alleys and other highways within the limits of the town,
and direct and aid the supervisor in the discharge of his duties. They were also re-
quired to examine the condition of every lot, dwelling house, cellar, outhouse, or other build-
ing, of whatever description, and require the owners, or occupants, to remove " all the pre-
disposing causes of disease " an extensive undertaking, it would seem and abate all nui-
sances. The board of health, or the supervisor, were given authority to remove the nuisance,
or fulfill the other requirements, if the owner or occupant should refuse or neglect to do his
duty, at his expense, and, additionally, a fine of $5. Another important result of the agita-
tion of sanitary matters was an order issued on August 13 of that year, directing the town
surveyor to lay out sixteen acres of some suitable canal lot south of the Chicago river, and
ten acres north of the river, for cemetery purposes. When the grounds had been surveyed
and fenced, an order was issued forbidding further interments within the town limits. The
north-side cemetery was located on what is now Chicago avenue, close to the lake shore, and
the south-side cemetery, near the present intersection of Twenty-third street and Wabash
avenue. The rapid extension of the town soon compelled the evacuation of these burying
places. The first Chicago cholera scourge came to an end in 1835, having continued through
the four years, 1832, 1833, 1834 and 1835, with greater or less severity.
In 1833 the first pier along the river was built, and early in 1834 the great sand bar was
removed, opening the river to the commerce of the lakes. During the twelve succeeding years
attempts to straighten the river's course were made; the line of docks was extended, and citi-
zens began to dream that this " great and shining stream " would form at once the highway
for commerce and the great channel for sewerage. The dreamers were summarily aroused in
1845, when that ''shining stream" became so terribly offensive that the drowsy councilmen,
driven to a sense of danger, adopted an ordinance providing penalties for those detected in
casting refuse into the river and otherwise protecting it from pollution. This ordinance,
while aimed at the owners of the slaughter houses, who were, in fact, primarily responsible
for the pollution, did not or could not affect the equally noxious feeders or open street drains
which meandered toward the river in all directions. Hence, even if it were observed by the
plutocratic butchers, it could be only semi-effective in abating the dangerous nuisance.
As early as 1835 Anson Sweet constructed a large plank sewer on the west side of Dear-
born street, from the river to Lake street, and was censured for the expense incurred. This
was the first attempt at public sewerage. Sundry efforts to drain the streets were made dur-
ing the following decade. The council in 1846 conceived the project of surface draining the
town by cutting down the streets so that the surface water of adjacent blocks might be carried
to the river. This unwise movement was effected to the extent of excavating in front of sev-
eral blocks on Lake and Randolph streets, but was stopped by injunction of the property
owners. The streets were refilled, and in a very few years it was difficult to find out who
was resjxjnsible for the suggestion of making a second Venice of Chicago. About 1847 the
owner of a brick block on the southwest corner of Lake and State streets, determining to
154 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
have a cellar under his store, made the live-foot excavations and planked the bottom and sides
with three-inch plank, the joints of which were caulked. Upright posts were placed between
bottom and ceiling to resist the tendency of this box-like cellar to rise; but all was done with-
out avail, as the force of the water was more than equal to the weight of the building, and
the whole structure entered on an upward movement. This led to the abolition of the cellar
project.
In 1849 a crude system of drainage was introduced, one which cost the town, ultimately,
a large sum of money. Madison and State streets were selected as drainage divides, and
Randolph, Lake and South Water streets were lowered according to a scale or grade estab-
lished with the object of carrying off the water. The New Orleans system was adopted with-
out its perfections, so that it is not to be wondered at that the people cried out against the
remedy and demanded a practical sewerage system. In 1850 heavy box sewers were placed
in the centers of Fifth avenue, La Salle, Clark and State streets, draining the territory be-
tween Randolph street and the river; branch sewers were also introduced, and the total cost,
$2,871.90, was raised by special assessment. This attempt proved futile, for the box sewers
failed to carry off the waters, and the planked streets became wood-covered, disease-breeding
sinkholes. So unbearable did the streets become that the application of quicklime to the
planking had to be resorted to The second system of drainage was a failure. The legisla-
tive act of June 23, 1852, provided for the creation of a board of drainage commissioners.
Charles V. Dyer, Isaac Cook, Henry Smith, George W. Snow, James H. Rees, George Steele
and H. L. Stewart were appointed with plenary powers of taxation and construction. It was
a step in the right direction. Just as the summary levee laws in the South proved immensely
beneficial, so also did this radical act of 1852 inure to the sanitary and financial good of the
village. By the close of 1854 there were four and a half miles of sewers, from five to eight
feet below the leading streets, and the use of cellars became a possibility for the first time.
In the north, south and west divisions ditches or dykes were excavated, and the marshy ap-
pearance of the neighborhood was partially lost in the improvement. Such were the begin-
nings of the sewerage system of this city. Humble, unsatisfactory, expensive for the time, use-
less for the future, they appear to have been necessary in the economy of city building and
municipal education.
The appearance of the cholera in 1854, and the death rate of five-and-five-tenths per
cent, of inhabitants, or one thousand four hundred and twenty-four persons, suggested the
act of February 14, 1855, providing for the creation of a board of sewerage commissioners
with ample powers. W. B. Ogden, J. D. Webster and Sylvester Lind were at once elected
commissioners, and they appointed E. S. Chesbrough, then city engineer, superintending en-
gineer of the work. Grades were a lopted for the new system, the following inclinations
being given, so as to produce a velocity of about two feet per second, when running half full:
Six to four feet, one in two thousand five hundred: three and a half feet, one in two thousand:
three feet, one in one thousand six hundred and sixty-six; two and a half feet, one in one
thousand two hundred and fifty: two feet, one in one thousand: one and one quarter foot and
FI.ORE.VTINE-ROMANESQI E STVI.K.
ITALIAN OUXAMENT.
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 155
one foot, one in five hundred, with the provision that where more decided inclinations could
be had they would be given. Under this system fifty-three and a quarter miles of sewers, or
two hundred and eighty-three thousand five hundred and eight-six feet, were built prior to
April, 1801, when the powers of the sewerage commissioners and their system were trans-
ferred to the board of public works. The effect on the health of the people was made evident
in 1855, when the death rate decreased to two and forty-six huudredths percent., and in 1800,
when one and eighty-eight hundredths per cent, was recorded.
Five years after the construction of the sewers was commenced, or, in the spring of 1801,
fifty-three and three-fourths miles of sewers had been built, which, with the catch-basins and
manholes, cost $080,277.30. This included items which were not figured on in the original
estimate, to the amount of 182,213.40. The average cost of sewers in 1850 and 1800 is shown
by the following tabular statement:
In 1866. In I860. ^\*
6-foot sewer, per linear foot $5.76 $2.88 ^
5-foot sewer, per linear foot 5.39 2.44;*; jttf>''*
4-foot sewer, per linear foot 5.75 t j,r'2-20
3-foot sewer, per linear foot 3.19 1.45
2-foot sewer, per linear foot 1.66 92
1-foot sewer, per linear foot 1.20 70
These differences in cost were owing to lower prices of labor and material; to greater
competition among contractors, and to greater experience among the contractors and work-
men. The cleansing of the sewers had cost up to January 1, 1801, 17,735.78. It was the
custom to examine, and, if needed, to cleanse every sewer at least once a year. Some were
found to require it twice or three times a year. The very slight inclination of the sewers led
to unusual precaution in their construction; the result was that up to 1801 it had not been
necessary to break open any sewers to remove substances that had found their way into the
sewers and caused obstruction, except in two instances. One of these sewers had not been
accepted from the contractors on account of known defects in the work, and the other had a
defect not discovered until after the work had been accepted. In both cases the sewers were
filled with quicksand which found its way thnnigh the defective work. An important modi-
fication of the original plan consisted in omitting the arrangement for flushing the sewers.
It was found that the interest alone on the estimated cost of that arrangement would be more
than the existing expense of cleansing the sewers.
The original plans of 1855 had in view the opening of a sewerage channel to the Mis-
sissippi, and thus avoid the contamination of the lake water. The sewerage commissioners,
in their half-yearly report, made on June 30, 1800, thought that it was "expedient to delay,
for the present, the construction of the canal from the lake to the South Branch," and it has
not yet been built. The estimate for that work, with the necessary wheel and engine for
pumping was $00,000. This expenditure, it was argued, would be rendered in a large degree
useless, so soon as the deep cut in the Illinois and Michigan canal, which was then contem-
plated, should be made. It was thought that if the condition of the river seemed to demand
some extra means of purification, some arrangement might be made with the canal company
156 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
to pump from the river so much as might be necessary to change the water. Should the deep
cut be indefinitely postponed, it was felt that it would be necessary to revert to the original
plan. The board said that no subject seemed to them to be of so great importance to the
material interests of the city, and they recommended that the matter be brought before the
next legislature. Mr. Chesbrough had been directed to make some investigations with refer-
ence to the practicability of lowering the canal so that it could be fed by the river, without
the aid of pumpingworks. Two projects were then talked of, one to give the canal a chan-
nel two hundred feet wide and six feet deep, and the other with a channel of the same width,
but twelve and a half feet deep. The probable cost of the former was estimated to be $10,-
000,0(X), and the latter $20,000,000. Mr. Chesbrough came to the conclusion that economy
should decide the question, and the canal company be hired to keep their pumpingworks in
operation during about ninety days a year. Thus, in connection with what the canal com-
pany would have to do, for their own benefit, pumping operations might be carried on dur-
ing three-foifrths of the time. It was considered that it was only from May 1 to November 1
that serious inconvenience could arise from the effect of the sewage in the river. Sometimes,
in the coldest weather of winter, the water of the river, when covered with ice a foot or more
in thickness, became offensive to the smell ; at least offensive gases were generated somewhere,
and they made themselves very sensibly felt wherever they found openings in the ice.
At the close of the spring of 1866 there were four hundred and forty-four thousand seven
hundred and eighty-nine linear feet of sewers in existence, built at a cost of $1,345,798.60, all
flowing into the river. The population was two hundred thousand four hundred and eighteen,
including twenty-four thousand eight hundred and fifty-one children of legal school age.
There were about thirty-five miles of streets improved. These figures show little over two
feet of sewerage and less than a half foot of improved street for each inhabitant at the close
of 1866. The lake- water was highly impregnated with sewage; sloughs were still as common
as open drains; the packing interests were as extensive as their methods of removing large
quantities of refuse were bad, and, all in all, the city was prepared to respond promptly to the
call of any epidemic which might present itself.
The sewer builders of 1869 were William M. Dee*, 106 Monroe; Dickey & O'Brien*, 184
La Salle, and Woodruff & liaffen*, 78 Madison. Charles Gladding* was the principal dealer
in sewer pipe. In 1872 many additions were made to this list; John Brown, Coffey &
Jackson, Ed. Flannedy, G. Gladding, M. Hartnedy, P. McCarthy, J. McNulty, P. R. and It.
R. Williams were all enrolled. W. M. Dee, Hill & Williams, Hyde Park Cement Pipe Works
Company, and Joliet Mound Company, were dealers in and manufacturers of sewer pipe.
The Sanitary News, in its issue of August, 1885, refers to the epidemic of 1866, which
carried off nine hundred and ninety citizens. "The first case of cholera in Chicago occurred
July 21, I860. To what extent the disease spread during the remainder of that month is not
known, as the city authorities, from the desire not to alarm the public, reported all such cases
as cholera morbus. On August 10, S. C. Blake, city physician, reported to the board of
police, acting as a board of health, as follows: 'There have, doubtless, a few cases of spo-
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 157
radic cholera occurred in the city, but there is no evidence that cholera is prevailing in any epi-
demic form in our city. In vi_ew of the fact that cholera morbus is prevailing to a consider-
able extent, it is the duty of all citizens to purify and thoroughly cleanse and disinfect their
premises.' Three days later the board of police ordered the health officers to purchase disin-
fectants and to cause the assistant health officers to examine all unhealthy localities, and
especially those in which disease was reported ; they were also required to have such localities
thoroughly cleansed and disinfected. On the 16th three cases of cholera were reported, and
the health officers were instructed to purchase material for the erection of a temporary hospi-
tal for the reception of cholera patients in the south division of the city. The health officers
were also instructed to employ such nurses as were necessary at the cholera hospital. Two
days later the chairman of the hospital committee of the board of supervisors of Cook county
was requested to meet the board of police for consultation. As cholera was prevailing in
Cincinnati and St. Louis, the city physician was authorized to employ two competent physi-
cians to visit and meet the morning and evening trains from those cities at a distance not less
than ten miles from the city, to ascertain if there were any cases of cholera on board. The
health officer was also to employ a competent physician to take charge of the cholera hospital.
Assistant health officers were directed to be at the depots upon the arrival of each train, to
take charge of persons suffering from cholera reported by the physicians. The city had be-
come so much alarmed by the 24th of September that an ordinance was passed making an
additional appropriation of $10,000 with which to fight cholera. The disease continued to
rage with more or less violence throughout the year, two fatal cases being reported on the
last day of December. The highest mortality was marked on the 10th of October, when there
were eighty -two deaths. Dr. John H. Ranch, while sanitary superintendent of the city, and
during the months of July to December, inclusive, I860, prepared tables showing the mean of
the thermometer, the amount of rainfall, the direction of the wind, the mortality by cholera,
and the number of cases reported."
In the early part of the year 1866 the council made appropriations, and the board of
I>olice in conjunction with the board of public works, went vigorously to work removing, so
far as in their power, the exciting causes of disease, filth, etc., the results of former years of
neglect. Owing to favorable climatic influences, and no doubt to the precautionary measures
adopted, the first six months of 1866 were comparatively healthy, but, owing to meteorological
changes, the mortality from all diseases was very much increased in July, and in this month
there were indications that the dreaded pestilence was again in the city, although it had been
reported as cholera morbus. In August there was a decided increase in the number of deaths,
and on the fourteenth of that month the authorities announced the presence of cholera.
From this time to the end of the month the fatality from this disease increased with daily
Ihictuations until the end of the month. Not much change occurred in the month of Sep-
tember, deaths occurring daily without exciting any unusual alarm, and for a time it was
hoped that the scourge had done its work; but this hope was dispelled on October 8, when
it became epidemic, causing the most intense alarm aud excitement, and continued so until
158 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
the twentieth, when it gradually diminished, the last fatal case occurring on December
31, 1866.
The great fatality by cholera in October, stimulated the friends of sanitary reform to
action, and it was found that there was a general feeling among them that, although every effort
had been made by the authorities to prevent the cholera, there was a want of intelligent action
upon the part of those who had been entrusted with the execution of the preventive measures
that had been adopted. Then, again, there was a well-founded feeling that -sufficient promi-
nence was not given to health affairs by law, as they were necessarily a secondary considera-
tion with the board of police, which was encumbered and embarrassed by a multiplicity of
other cares and duties, and could not give to the public health the time and attention it
required. Custom sanctioned for a number of years the appointment of a health officer who
was not a medical man, to whom was entrusted the general management of the health depart-
ment, although the acts passed in 1865 made it the duty of the city physician to keep the
board of police advised of the sanitary condition of the city, but beyond this his authority did
not extend. Owing to the great increase of population, to the varied and numerous duties
devolving upon the officer, to the inadequate remuneration given him, and to the want of
means and authority to carry out his suggestions, but very little could be expected from him
in his official capacity. The registration of deaths was notoriously imperfect, and gave only
an approximate idea of the mortality.
To this defective registration, attention has been frequently called, and many unsuccessful
efforts were made to improve it. This important duty was entrusted to those who were
wholly incompetent to perform it, and even to them, comparatively speaking, no compensation
was allowed. It is simply nonsense, suggests Dr. Kauch, to suppose that any but a medical
man can properly prepare or supervise such records. It will also be seen that, generally
speaking, the common council did not appreciate the importance and necessity of providing
the means to enforce the existing regulations, or passing new ones, the object of which should
be to promote the health of the city. Experience had also taught those who were interested
in this subject that it was absolutely necessary, for the successful execution of the laws in
this respect, to remove those who were entrusted with their administration, so far as possible,
from local political influences, and that frequent changing of those who were placed in charge
of the health affairs of the city was generally productive of much harm. Impressed with
these views, a friend of sanitary reform visited Philadelphia, New York and Boston, and after
carefully investigating their respective systems, he returned to this city, with the conviction
that the plan adopted in New York, in the establishment of the metropolitan board of health,
was the best and most efficient. The success attending the efforts of this board in preventing
the increase of cholera was so striking that it attracted universal attention; and had it not
been for this fact, the ravages of the pestilence would, undoubtedly, have been much greater
throughout the entire country, as New York is the entrepot and distributing point of nearly
all the emigrants that arrive in this country. A meeting of citizens interested in this subject
was called, and at that meeting a committee, consisting of Elliott Anthony, A. C. Coventry,
T1IK BUILDING INTERESTS. 159
Dr. J. V. Z. Blaney and Dr. John H. Rauch, was appointed to prepare a bill, to be sent to
the legislature at the ensuing session, embodying the main features of the metropolitan health
bill of New York, and at the same time to adapt it to the existing laws and altered circum-
stances here. The press heartily cooperated with the movement, and so did the board of
trade and the mercantile association. The board of police acquiesced in the proposed change,
being anxious to be relieved from the charge, which, from the organization of the board,
naturally took precedence of the health department, and because they could not give this
subject the attention it required, as the duties in many respects were of a character entirely
different from those which generally occupied their attention. A copy of the bill was sent to
the common council, accompanied by a request asking their cooperation in securing the pas-
sage of it by the legislature. The council, however, opposed it, and in addition to the pro-
posed charter amendments that had been prepared, added others for the reorganization of the
health system then in force. A spirited contest occurred before the legislature, upon the part
of the friends of the bill first prepared and the common council, which finally resulted on
March 9, 1867, in the passage of the act creating the health board.
On April 3, 1867, the board of police formerly transferred to the board of health every-
thing coming within the province of the latter' s authority. Among the first acts of 'the board
was the adoption of a report made by the sanitary committee, which was prepared with
special reference to warding off cholera. It is interesting to note the plan of action pro-
posed in the first organized sanitary effort of the city authorities. The committee believed
it to be of the first importance to have a thorough sanitary inspection of the city made " for
the purpose of ascertaining what is necessary to be done to promote its sanitary conditions."
The committee also recommended the appointment of a sanitary superintendent, who should
)>e the chief executive officer of the board. He was to be charged with the execution of the
orders of the board, and to exercise a practical supervision over its officers, agents, and
employes. He was to make weekly reports concerning the public health of the city, and any
causes endangering life or health that had come to his knowledge. It was recommended
that the city be subdivided into sixteen sanitary districts, in each of which should be a sani-
tary inspector, who should be a physician of respectable character and standing. These
inspectors were to be required to make written reports to the sanitary superintendent once a
week, or oftener, as required, stating what duties they had performed, and such facts con-
nected with the sanitary affairs of the city as might be worthy the attention of the board. A
conference was to be held with the board of public works to ascertain where the duties of the
board of public works ceased, so far as related to the streets and alleys, and where the duties
of the board of health commenced. It was also recommended that the removal of the dead
from any cemetery within the limits of the city be forbidden, and that no privies l>e allowed
to be emptied, unless they, with the night-soil, were thoroughly disinfected.
Dr. Rauch was appointed sanitary superintendent, and sixteen medical gentlemen were
appointed sanitary inspectors. Among these may be noticed the names of several who are
now among the prominent physicians of Chicago, such as Drs. H. W. Jones, H. M. Lyman.
160 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO :
Walter Hay, W. C. Lyman, E. O. F. Roler, Philip Adolphus and others. Among the first
specific recommendations of the committee was one that the use of any organic matter in fill-
ing up streets, alleys or lots, or made ground within the city, a very common custom, be
prohibited. The committee also recommended that some system be adopted for the disposal
of night-soil, manure, kitchen-offal, and refuse matter, that might be detrimental to the health
and cleanliness of the city, and that the laws and ordinances relating to the health and san-
itary affairs of the city be " published in all the papers of the city, and that extra copies be
obtained for distribution." It was only a short time before the number of sanitary districts
was increased to twenty-two, and six more inspectors were appointed. The assistance of the
board of police commissioners was requested and given, to the extent of having a sergeant
of the force detailed as sergeant of the sanitary police. As early as the llth of April
the public expressed their alarm in a memorial signed by a large number of citizens, which
was presented to the board of health. In this document were important suggestions with
regard to cholera. As a result of a conference with the board of public works, the latter
agreed to clean the streets and cooperate cheerfully with the board of health in all work
tending to sanitary reform. In accordance with suggestions from the sanitary committee, a
notice was published in all the city papers informing the public that a sanitary inspection of
the city was about to be made, and requesting the cooperation of all citizens. A circular of
instructions for the use of the sanitary inspectors, known as " Circular No. 1," was adopted
and placed in the hands of the inspectors. It is of sufficient interest to warrant its reproduc-
tion, and was as follows: "The sanitary inspectors will keep constantly in mind the great
good to society, and the scientific value of the knowledge expected to be gained by the system
of health police that has just been inaugurated in this city. It is therefore desirable that
they should take special interest in all sanitary questions, and keep themselves informed of
what is being done, at home and abroad, relative to the causes which affect health or disease;
thiis they will contribute their share to the accumulation of knowledge which is destined to
promote human life and establish sanitary science on the most permanent foundations. The
value of these inspections depends entirely upon the conscientiousness, intelligence and in-
dustry of the inspectors, which the board trust will be appreciated, particularly when it is
borne in mind that they involve life, health and prosperity.
"Inspectors will be under the immediate control of the superintendent, and will obey
orders with promptness. They shall present themselves at the office of the sanitary superin
tendent as often as required by him, to receive orders and to make reports; nor are they to
consider that their duties are limited to the district to which they may be assigned. They
are to watch over all cases of small-pox, malignant fevers, or any contagious or infectious
diseases, and if the patients are removed, to follow them with their supervision. It is a
matter of great importance that they should familiarize themselves without delay with the
sanitary conditions of their respectives districts, commencing their inspections where sanitary
reform is most needed, and devoting especial attention to the localities in which cholera pre-
vailed during the past summer, diligently searching for all local causes, especially overcrowd-
TUB BUILDING INTERESTS, 161
ing, the lack of ventilation, drainage and water, the influence of manure, garbage, etc. (in
such common use for filling up lots in the city), and, if possible, to indicate in their reports
the remedy for such deficiencies when found. The inspectors shall, every Saturday, make a
written report to the superintendent, stating what duties they have performed during the
past week, and also such facts as may have come to their knowledge connected with the sani-
tary affairs of their district, or the city, worthy the attention of the board, or as its regula-
tions may require. All the forms for making reports must be filled up legibly and minutely,
and any information added that will throw light on the subject under investigation. Reports
should contain the name and position of the person making them, the date when any matter
was inspected, the streets, avenues and alleys, how many lots the same is upon, and the names
of the several owners, tenants and occupants of each, so far as can be ascertained. Reports
should specify what part of the thing reported is on each lot, and (except in case of the regu-
lar general reports of the inspectors, upon which no order of the board is to be found), there
must be a separate report, on a separate blank for each thing and lot reported upon, except
that, when one building or business owned, tenanted, or occupied by the same person covers
several lots, when only one report need be made. In cases where it will facilitate the under-
standing of the thing complained of, a simple diagram of the premises should be sketched
with the pen on the margin of the report. Care must be taken to secure accuracy in reporting
owners, tenants or occupants. In regard to each and every nuisance reported upon, the officer
making the report should state his opinion that it is dangerous to life and detrimental to
health. In addition to the duties already imposed upon the inspectors, they will promptly
investigate and report upon any special complaints which may be referred to them by the
superintendent, and pay particular attention to the character of meats and other articles of
food offered for sale in their respective districts. They shall wear their badges prominently
displayed when engaged in their official duties. On entering any house or premises, they
must announce their authority and the object of their visit, and while endeavoring to avoid
giving offense, must make their investigations minute. If resistance be offered them in the
performance of their duty, they are to report the fact to the superintendent. They will, like-
wise, promptly report all who violate the health laws, in order that the offender may be
summarily dealt with. All questions of doubtful authority must be referred to the superin-
tendent for decision.' 1
Look over the reports made by the health officers in April, 1867, and be grateful that the
dread disease did not carry off nine thousand nine hundred and ninety inhabitants, in 1800,
instead of the nine hundred and ninety-nine who died. Dr. Hay, sanitary inspector of the
second district, reported the streets generally in bad condition, and the alleys, without excep-
tion, filthy, being used as a common receptacle for manure and garbage of all sorts. The
sewerage was bad and the gutters and catch-basins obstructed. He wrote: "It seems incon-
ceivable that people can exist; and that they do live in comparative health in the midst of
such filth is only another illustration of the wonderful adaptability of man to his surround-
ings." In twelve days he reported: "Two hundred and thirty-four nuisances have been ex-
162 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
amined and complained of to the sanitary superintendent. An improvement is already per-
ceptible in the district, although the work yet before us appears to be inexhaustible." Dr.
John M. Woodworth, of the fourth district, represented the western portion of his district as
being in a "deplorable sanitary condition neglected stables and privies; filthy, oozy yards,
and garbage scattered everywhere; obstructed sewers, and some of the streets impassable to
teams with empty wagons." Dr. K. M. Lackey, inspector of the sixth district, reported im-
perfect drainage; bad streets, in many places impassable, and labelled "No bottom," "Keep
out," etc. ; the slaughter houses in a passable condition, and the scavenger work imperfectly
done. Dr. Philip Adolphus, of the eighth district, reported his district in a bad sanitary con-
dition; lots overflowed with water, gutters clogged up and filthy, great accumulation of
manure, etc., and no pure water in the district. Dr. H. Webster Jones, of the ninth district,
reported imperfect drainage, clogged gutters, and the use of surface water for drinking pur-
poses. Dr. W. C. Lyman, inspector of the eleventh district, stated that the sanitary condition
of his district suffered from (1) accumulation of manure; (2) accumulation of night-soil; (3)
lack of drainage and connection with sewers. Dr. H. M. Lyman, inspector of the twelfth dis-
trict, reported impaired drainage, defective water supply of a majority of the inhabitants, and
the use of surface water. Dr. George Schloetzer, inspector of the fourteenth district, re-
ported imperfect drainage, clogged gutters, and an accumulation of garbage, etc. Dr. John
Reid, sanitary inspector of the fifteenth district, reported many of the streets and alleys in an
impassable condition, with large quantities of manure in the latter. Dr. D. B. Trimble, in-
spector of the sixteenth district, reported the streets in a fair condition, the alleys in bad con-
dition, and the drainage imperfect. The river was in a worse condition than ever, as citizens
who stopped to consider the influence of such filth, shuddered to think of its results.
On April 20, 1867, a petition was received from about four thousand citizens of Chicago,
requesting the board to exercise its full powers to prevent the reappearance of cholera during
the coming season. The people seemed to have good reason for anxiety, from the fact that the
night-scavengers frequently deposited nightsoil in the streets. The only action which seems
to have been taken with reference to this matter was that the night-scavenger work was to be
let by contract.
The conditions of the city when the inspectors began the work cannot better be shown
than by their reports. The condition of the streets and alleys was found to be such that it
was reported early in May as one of the greatest obstacles in the way of sanitary improve-
ment, and a special committee on streets and alleys was appointed. By this time the work
was carefully systematized and much good work was being done. At one meeting, one of the
inspectors presented a communication on cholera, calling attention to the ground-water,
theory of Pettenkofer, and recommended that observations be made in Chicago with regard
to the effects of ground-water on the disease. There is no record showing that this recom-
mendation was carried out. The sanitary committee presented an elaborate report on disin-
fectants, which was substantially like the recommendations of the present. Considerable
attention was given to the subject of water-supply, as many people were using water from wells.
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 163
It was recommended that, when the lake- water was not supplied, it was a matter of vital im-
portance that rain-water, or water-boiled, should be used for drinking. The recommendations
have so useful an application at the present time that they may be reproduced in part:
"Boiled water must be allowed to cool, also to absorb air which has been driven off by boiling,
before it is drank. It should also be filtered. A flannel bag also answers for this purpose.
The use of well water in this city is detrimental to health, as it is nothing but the drainings
of the surface, containing large quantities of organic impurities. These can, to some extent,
be removed by using a chemically pure solution of permanganate of potassa, eight grains to
an ounce of distilled or boiled water. Into a half-pint of the suspected water, in a goblet or
tumbler, put one drop of the red solution. If the red tint disappears from the glassful in
half an hour, add more of the solution. For every drop that loses its color in the half-pint
there will be from one-half to two grains of putrid organic matter in a gallon of that water.
To purify such water, if it must be used, drop in the permanganate until the red tint remains
in the water. A barrel of water may be prepared, using the same proportions, for culinary
purposes. The addition of the solution to the water will not render it in any way injurious,
nor give it an unpleasant taste."
The benefits of cleaning the city were plainly seen in delaying the appearance of cholera
this year. It was not until July that the disease appeared, although, under ordinary circum-
stances, it might have been expected early in the season. During the entire mouth of July
there were only three fatal cases; in August, five; in September, one, and in October one a
total of ten cases for the year. The conditions for cholera were certainly prevalent before
the systematic cleaning-up began, and the effects were shown in an increase in the number
of deaths, particularly among children. Cholera morbus was reported as having frequently
occurred in July, " generally the result of excesses and of living in filthy places." On the
29th of the month the board of health recommended all householders to disinfect their out-
houses, sinks and cesspools generally. The board also appealed to all citizens to aid the
health authorities in carrying out sanitary measures. Early in August, the sanitary superin-
tendent called attention to the necessity of increased vigilance upon the part of the board,
owing to the increase of deaths from bowel affections. The vigilance of the authorities is
shown in steps taken on the 12th of August to supply the small-pox hospital with lake- water
and bathing facilities, and in providing that the better clothing be disinfected by boiling, hot
air, and the vapors of sulphur or bromine, under the immediate direction of the city physi-
cian. By this time it had become apparent that cholera would not prevail to any serious
extent during the year, and special attention was given to small-pox. Cholera did not reap-
pear in Chicago until the year 1872, when the fourth and last epidemic came, and caused
much suffering and great mortality.
The history of sanitary transactions in 18714 is taken from the report of the depart-
ment of public works, issued in June, 1891: "The result of the almost total neglect of
sanitary laws for a number of years, in addition to the fact that the construction of sewers
did not keep pace with the increase of population, was apparent from the increased mortality
164 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
of the year 1864. There was a great increase by cholera morbus and cholera infantum.
Erysipelas and the lower grades of fever nearly doubled and small-pox almost trebled. There
were nearly five times as many deaths by measles, and a great many more by pneumonia.
Scarlet fever had almost disappeared. There were one thousand two hundred and thirty-
three cases of small-pox reported, and two hundred and eighty-three deaths occurred. The
report of the sanitary superintendent for the years 1870, 1871, 1872 and 1873 the period
immediately preceding and following the great fire, contain much of interest, although the
records of 1871 are incomplete, having been destroyed. Immediately after the fire, the
placing of so many people in barracks, the crowding incident thereto, with the favorable con-
ditions for local epidemics, called forth the utmost vigilance of the department, which was
heartily seconded by the medical staff of the Belief and Aid society. Steps were taken im-
mediately for the erection of a small-pox hospital, and a temporary structure was provided on
the site of the old building. The month following the fire was one of a high rate of mortality,
twenty per cent, of which was estimated to have been caused by exposure during and after
the fire. With the approach of winter and the crowded condition of the barracks; with the
heavy influx of strangers, and an increasing number of cases of small-pox with their points
of infection, danger was apprehended from a general epidemic of this disease. Steps were
taken to ensure a general vaccination by the inspectors of this department; orders were also
issued by the Relief aud Aid society that all persons receiving aid from the fund consigned
to their care, be vaccinated. In this way some sixty-three thousand were vaccinated, and so
to this action was due, no doubt, the escape from a general epidemic.
Since the great fire an unusual number of cases of small-pox has occurred in the city.
The usual course was taken, simply vaccinating the infected houses, until winter, when
an attempt was made to eradicate the disease by a general house-to-house vaccination.
Authority was given by the board, aud nine assistant sanitary inspectors appointed, to report
to the regular inspector of each division. The work of visiting and vaccinating was begun
about December 20, 1873. It was faithfully done, both by the inspectors aud assistants. At
the time this work was commenced the number of infected houses reported each week was
thirty-one. After persistent work the number of infected points commenced to diminish, and
at the time of issuing this report (April 1, 1874),- the number of infected houses for the week
was five, showing a decrease of twenty-six points compared with the week that the work was
commenced, and a decrease of thirty-one points compared with the corresponding week of the
previous year. The winter was one in which the most favorable conditions existed for a gen-
eral epidemic of small-pox, as the disease was prevalent in many of the small towns surround-
ing Chicago, and from these towns persons from infected houses were in daily communication
with the city, and many of the patients, when nware of the nature of their disease, would
coine to the city to gain admission to the small-pox hospital. With this constant exposure to
the disease, confidence that the great care taken, with the efficient mode of inspection and
vaccination, was the only means by which a general epidemic was prevented. In addition to
the work done by this department, by request of the sanitary superintendent, all persons
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 165
receiving aid at the office of the agent of Cook county were compelled to be vaccinated and
to have their families vaccinated, or to present certificate or satisfactory evidence of recent
vaccination from the proper medical officer. In this way about three thousand families were
examined and vaccinated. The same rule was adopted by the Chicago Relief and Aid society,
and by other charitable societies. The number vaccinated by the department was in ratio to
the examinations, about one to seven; the number of persons actually vaccinated was seven
thousand one hundred and sixty-two, while the number examined was fifty thousand one
hundred and thirty-four. During the winter the new small-pox hospital, located on the
grounds of the House of Correction, was completed and occupied. New furniture was placed
in the rooms, and every effort made to make it comfortable and home-like, so that the objec-
tions urged against going to the old Lake hospital would not be \irged against this one.
Rooms were provided for doubtful cases, not connected with the wards, where inmates could
remain without danger of infection until all doubt was removed. Rooms were also provided
for private patients, where any one could go and have all the conveniences of home. The
experience of the previous winter clearly demonstrated that the only way by which small-pox
could be kept down is by thorough inspection of infected houses and neighborhoods, and the
early isolation of cases, with power to vacate all lx>arding and tenement houses where a num-
ber of cases have occurred. This policy, followed up for a time, rid the city almost entirely
of the disease.
The force of sanitary policemen was wholly inadequate to the performance of the duties
required by the department. It was an area of thirty-five square miles, with a population of
at least four hundred thousand. This was divided into twenty wards, with an average area
of one and two-thirds square miles for each ward. The appropriation of 1873 provided for
eighteen men; this did not give a man for each ward; in fact it gave but sixteen, two on
special duty one at the office and one as meat inspector. The inspector of meats did what
he could toward discharging his duty, but the work was necessarily done very imperfectly,
the number of markets and slaughter-houses in the city to be looked after being so situated
that no one man could do it justice. Nothing is more important to a city or people than the
food they eat. A strict surveillance should be kept over all slaughter-houses and markets,
and everything not sound condemned. In the summer of 1873 Chicago was visited, in com-
mon with many places in the west and south, by cholera. It is true that sanitary science and
care has rid this, the most terrible of diseases, of many of its terrors. It is a well-known
fact that good water, perfect drainage, and personal attention to cleanliness and diet, with
proper care, has rendered the disease, to a certain extent, controllable. During the epidemic
of the summer of 1809 the disease struck hardest where sanitary laws were not observed.
When the first cases occurred here, the department went to work quietly and did what could
be done. The cases of cholera occurring in and about Chicago, during the summer of 1873,
were principally in the Fifth ward, south of Thirty-fifth street and west of State street, and
in the adjoining town of Lake, which was a continuation of this district, teing separated
from the city at that time by Thirty-ninth street, The district was densely populated, prin-
166 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
cipally by foreigners, consisting of Germans, Swedes aud'Poles, the families living in small
rooms, poorly ventilated, and subjected at all times to the ill effects of overcrowding. The
district was low, with sandy soil and poor surface drainage. The water used, at the time of
the first case, was procured from shallow wells, supplied with surface water, ordinarily from
five to sixteen feet in depth, and walled up with pine boards, the water rising to within two
feet of the surface of the ground. Many cases occurring in the beginning and, in fact,
throughout the continuance of the disease, were reported as cholera morbus, as many physi-
cians were loath to acknowledge the disease as cholera. Many cases so reported were iden-
tical with the cases reported as cholera. There were, outside of this district, thirteen cases
reported as deaths from cholera in different parts of the city, the most of them from two to
four miles from the district in which the first cases occurred, and with one exception in loca-
tions where overcrowding and filth were prevalent. There were six cases in the Fifteenth
ward, two in the Third ward, one in the Eighth, one in the Thirteenth, and one in the Twelfth
ward. After the disease broke out in the Fifth ward, many persons fled to other parts of the
city; however, no connection could be traced between the cases in the Fifth ward and the
cases in the wards mentioned above. The first case occurred at No. 444 Arnold street, in the
person of John McFee, a bridge-builder, who had been working near Memphis, and left on
account of the cholera. When he arrived in Chicago he had diarrhoea, which remained
unchecked, and after a week or ten days developed choleraic symptoms and proved fatal.
The second case was at No. 945 Butterfield street, two miles from the first case, in a tenement
house occupied by several Danish families.
From the beginning, active measures were taken by the officers of the board of health
Drs. Ranch and Reid. Thorough disinfection was prosecuted, and the people warned not to
use the water from surface wells. The board of health recommended that water pipes be
laid, so that the district could be supplied with pure lake water, and ordered the wells to be
fouled with carbolic acid so that the water could not be used for drinking or culinary pur
poses. The board of public works supplied the district with water as far south as Thirty-
ninth street, where public hydrants were placed by the )x>ard for the benefit of the people in
the town of Lake. Butterfield street was supplied June 24; Burnside street July 13,
and Arnold street June 10 to 21. The effect, of cleanliness on families and individual
cases was marked. Those who observed sanitary laws, attended to the disinfection of stools,
and who were prompt in calling a physician, with few exceptions, recovered, and the occurrence
of a second case in such families was rare. On the other hand, when the stools were not
cared for, and the vomit permitted to remain on the floor, and the bedding (principally feather-
beds) used without having been properly cleaned, and where no attention was paid to venti-
lation or personal cleanliness, several cases would generally occur, and as a rule prove fatal.
As but few cases were reported to the board until they had proved fatal, there were no data
aside from the cholera hospital, by which to form an estimate of the value of any plan of
treatment.
During the fall and winter of 1S72 there appeared the epizootic or horse disease. After
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 167
traversing the eastern states it made its appearance in Chicago October 11. The disease spread
rapidly, until almost every horse in the city was afflicted. During the prevalence of this dis-
ease cattle were substituted for horses, and the business of the city done in that way. The num-
ber of horses dying during the epidemic was eleven hundred and fifty. The mortality of 1870
was not characterized by any general epidemic, although the numter of deaths was greater than
in 1869, the deaths for that year being sixty-four hundred and eighty-eight, or eight hundred
and thirty-five less than for the year 1870. The increase of deaths was accounted for by the in-
crease in population during that year, the ratio remaining about the same for each year. The
largest mortality from any disease was from cholera infantum, nine hundred and sixteen having
died from that disease. The mortality statistics for 1871 were very imperfect, the records of the
office, as before stated, being destroyed on October 9. The mortality for the year was some
three hundred and forty-seven less than for 1870, notwithstanding the deaths caused by the
great fire. The mortality that week was: By burns, ninety-six; by falling walls, five; and
some ten or twelve others were found, upon whom the coroner held inquests, some of whom
died of shock, some of suffocation. The total number of inquests held was one hundred and
seventeen, the result of the fire. The total mortality for the year 1872 was ten thousand one
hundred and fifty-six, Ijeing thirty-one hundred and eighty more than in 1871. The cause of
this is apparent when we consider the great number of people brought together in barracks
during the winter, the crowding in the tenement houses that remained, and the great influx
of workmen engaged in the work of rebuilding the city, who were congregated in cheap board-
ing houses without reference to comfort or ventilation. This overcrowding brought its
legitimate result an increased death rate although during the year no epidemic existed.
The highest death rate was from cholera infantum, being fourteen hundred and sixty -nine.
The mortality for 1873 was ninety-five hundred and fifty-seven, a decrease of five hundred
and ninety-nine compared with 1872. The decrease in the death rate was very noticeable
during the latter part of the year. The removal of so many people in the barracks and the
less crowded condition of the tenements, the better ventilation of the new buildings that
replaced the old ones had its effect on the mortality. During the summer, although cholera
was present, the cases of cholera infantum were less than the year before, there being twelve
hundred and sixty cases this year against fourteen hundred jjnd sixty-nine last year. During
the year many miles of sewers were laid, and a large area of our city drained. The board
enforced the law compelling persons to connect dwellings with sewers. Much good was
thereby done, and the sanitary condition of the city much improved. In 1874 the ordinance
regulating packing and rendering-houses was adopted. The council learned that the old
system of condensers had to be superseded by one which would rob the gases of their odor or
destroy them.
Returning to the subject of sewer building, attention must be redirected to the act of the
legislature approved February 14, 1855, under which a board of sewerage commissioners was
appointed by the city council, consisting of one member from each of the three divisions of
the city. It was the duty of this board to consider all questions relating to the thorough aud
systematic drainage of the city, to submit a plan and an estimate of the cost to the common
168 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
council, and to issue bonds from time to time, as they should deem expedient, not exceeding
the sum of $500,000, pledging the faith and credit of the city for the payment of the prin-
cipal and interest thereof. The first commission consisted of William B. Ogden, J. D. Web-
ster and Sylvester Lind. E. S. Chesbrough was appointed chief engineer and William H.
Clark principal assistant engineer. During the season of 1855 surveys were made and plans
drawn and adopted by the commissioners and submitted to the common council and their
fellow-citizens for a general approval, December 31, 1855. The plans submitted were
bound on the north by Division street, on the west by (Reuben street) Ashland avenue, on the
south by (North street) Sixteenth street, and on the east by Lake Michigan. The plan as
adopted and since carried out provided for main sewers in the north division, in Kush, Clark
and Franklin streets discharging into the main river, and Chicago avenue emptying into the
north branch. The west division mains were located on Fulton, Randolph, Madison, Adams and
Van Buren streets, emptying into the South Branch. The south division, east of State street,
was drained by a main sewer in Michigan avenue, from the river to Sixteenth street, the sum-
mit being at Van Buren street ; that part south of Van Buren street discharging into the lake
at Twelfth street, the part north to empty into the main river; the portion lying south of
Washington street, west of State street, to be discharged into the South Branch at various
streets; the part west of State street and north of Washington street to be drained by two-
foot sewers in each north and south street emptying into the main river. From the outset
Mr. Chesbrough insisted upon constructing sewers to discharge by gravity; this necessitated
raising all the streets from one to three feet above the natural surface of the ground in order
to have sufficient cover over the top of the sewers to protect them from frosts and heavy
traffic. The first sewerage bonds to the amount of $100,000 were sold March 19, 1856. The
first contract for constructing public sewers was awarded and work commenced in 1856.
State street, from Randolph street to the river, was built by Ives & Lonergan, contractors.
North Clark street, from North Water street to Erie street, was built by S. S. Wiltsee & Co.
West Randolph street, from the river to Desplaines street, was built by S. S. Wiltsee & Co.
These were the first sewers built.
There were built during the year 1856, six and two hundredths miles; during 1857, four
and eighty-six-hundredths miles; during 1858, nineteen and twenty-nine-hundredths miles;
during 1859, ten and forty-five-hundredths miles, and during 1860, thirteen and nine-hun-
dredths miles; total built by sewerage commissioners, fifty-three and seventy -one-hundredths
miles.
On December 19, 1856, Mr. Chesbrough received instructions from the board of sewerage
commissioners to proceed to Great Britain and the continent of Europe for the purpose of
examining the various methods of sewerage adopted there, and to collect such information as
in his judgment would aid in the further prosecution and perfection of the sewerage of the
city of Chicago. He visited Liverpool, Manchester, London, Glasgow, Amsterdam, Ham-
burg, Berlin, Paris and other cities, and made a lengthy report to the board of commissioners
March 25, 1858, recommending that the system planned by himself and adopted by the board
in 1855 be carried forward. By an act of legislation, approved March 20, 1861, the board of
THE BUILDING INTERESTS.
169
sewerage commissioners was abolished and a board of public works was created. At an elec-
tion held the third Tuesday in April, 1801, Benjamin Carpenter, Frederick Letz and John
G. Gindele were elected commissioners. The board was organized and assumed full control
of all public works, including sewerage, on May 6, 1801. The board of public works contin-
ued in power, with several changes in its members, until September 19, 1870. Total number
of miles of sewers in place December 31, 1870, two hundred and sixty-five and eight-
tenths miles. On September 18, 1870, an ordinance was passed abolishing the board of
public works, and on September 18, 1870, the department of public works was organized,
with the Hon. Monroe Heath, mayor and- acting commissioner. No commissioner of public
works was appointed until after the Hon. Carter H. Harrison was inaugurated mayor, on May
19, 1879. Charles S. Waller was appointed and qualified commissioner.
The total cost for the construction of sewers and catch-basins and maintaining same since
the establishment of the sewerage system in 1855, to January 1, 1891, is shown in the fol-
lowing table taken from the official report:
YEAR.
Linear ft.
of sewers
boot.
No. of
oatch-
basins
built.
No. of
man-
holes
built.
No. of
louse
drains
put in.
Cost of clean-
ing sewers
and
catch-basins.
street Inter-
sections and
repairs of
sewers.
Cost of
construction.
Previous to 1861
283,586
2,826
16,676
39,6(6
26,021
20,948
48,127
89,681
47,841
139,705
78,166
50,716
47,342
146,702
222,322
120,971
I. VMS
64.666
88,081
145,381
79,128
132,076
98,515
;:,.:;i ;i
101,547
118,647
103,193
90,.-)84
104,903
171,023
993,573
379,203
1,174
18
72
192
189
223
327
418
480
771
626
277
245
897
1,054
958
155
363
492
820
271
548
792
835
751
796
734
756
816
1,351
6,102
2.9S6
2,102
33
66
204
183
168
271
566
293
928
468
357
341
1,015
1,474
789
75
431
603
1,043
.-).-)4
917
725
497
654
854
723
605
674
1,190
i 8,620
2,604
2,194
243
365
536
512
1,288
3,732
3,703
3,261
3,979
5,187
3,093
1,435
4,091
6,292
3,365
1,172
1,822
1,544
2,953
4,196
4,810
5,677
5,963
5,957
6,325
7,441
8,100
8,152
4,303
Estimi
Cost of
9,279
$ 5,619 48
1,715 60
4,897 24
5,065 40
9,417 81
13,818 07
28,445 16
26,540 81
26,954 06
26,015 68
21,464 30
17,415 46
21,484 16
31,229 27
36,884 57
32,098 23
29,345 41
35,763 33
25,704 37
29,283 67
25,561 48
34,512 15
33,969 35
34,749 74
43,678 03
46,532 18
51,110 46
50,264 (15
52,422 41
61,503 01
ted coit of ( it
maintenance not
107,87:: :i4
No amts. found
on reports.
$ 2,951 76
3,024 07
2,058 11
4,597 63
7,493 56
7,773 65
9,581 42
11,287 08
7,527 16
10,954 74
42,557 1-2
16,975 40
29,781 97
21,996 72
28,107 40
19,803 29
16,959 44
19,259 49
10,649 69
25,068 11
30,967 89
26,618 05
25,140 81
37,893 29
45,333 02
50,707 64
43,789 60
53,782 97
63,459 25
ruction, /
known. \
83,388 08
$ 665,188 46
3,617 31
57,036 42
169,527 38
87,221 48
137,643 02
225,564 53
416,730 51
197,152 92
654,141 26
258,664 70
153,295 36
173,255 76
450,222 90
587,507 38
342,932 89
79,545 28
291,829 63
37,264 97
130,840 50
92,544 08
452,310 (Mi
224,450 1(>
232,084 33
258,020 91
203,188 03
177,647 24
186,49ti 98
228,567 57
350,234 54
2,614,224 75
826,718 67
1861
1862
1863
1864
|SC>5
1866
1867
1868
1869
1870
1871
1872
1873
1874
1875
1876
1877
1878
1879
1880 . . .
1881
1882
1883
1SS4
1885
1886
is*7
|ss-
1889**
Atmex'd Hiitricts /
prerjoui to 1890, \
1890 *
Totals
t4, 149,317
L'K.W
*.W.oi6
121.57(1
$971.338 38
$159,48) 01
$10,965,669 98
At the close of the fall of 1SH4 < September), the whole village of Hyde I'ark could boast of (inly sixteen miles of
sewers, placed without much regard to grade.
**At the close of issii only three sewers in the old city emptied directly into the lake.
+Of this amount. fi.x!'7 feet have been taken up and replaced iiy sewers of larger si/.e, leaving in place January I,
18!>1. 1.143,4-1) feet, or 7S4,7:)7 miles.
of the above 781, 7H7 miles, :uai.(i'.i4 miles are constructed of brick, and 4.'l.ii4:t mill's are of vitrilie.l clay pipe.
*Of tins amount twenty-six manholes have been abandoned, leaviut: in place January 1, isitl, 'Jii.tHK).
170 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
The cost of sewer building and house drainage has been a serious drawback to the
extension of the sewerage system of Chicago. The large sums required to line the pockets of
officials made the question of sewer building, within the old limits, a serious one for the
council; while the plan of special assessment or direct taxation for street improvement, made
it a serious one for the settlers in the old suburbs, now part of the city. The knowledge
that too large a percentage of the total cost would be required by the contractor and boodlers
proved a poor incentive to prepare the taxpaying mind for expenditure in this direction, and
thus the great centers of population throughout the world, except Paris, tolerated the bar-
barous, dangerous cesspool and wooden pipe, until necessity drove them to accept the
expensive remedies prescribed by the sewer-builder and the plumber. Municipal law, com-
petition and the law of demand and supply, were generally ignored in works of this charac-
ter; for the solidarity of interests in the trades prevented competition to a degree, and left the
taxpayer to pay a fixed price or do without the improvement. The old town boards were
stockholders, so to speak, in the trusts, and the taxpayer was too often compelled to pay
the highest price for the least value. The ordinance, the commissioners, the judgment
and the collection, were all summary institutions, wasteful and untrustworthy in the
extreme. Sewers were constructed at great expense and out of all proportion to even pros-
pective demands. An inquirer into the methods of the past finds out the needless expense
and the ignorance of design manifested. He distinguishes between the combined and
separate systems thus: In the combined system that is, sewers designed to carry the
storm-water as well as the sewage the size is determined by the amount of storm- water to
be provided for, the amount of sewage being so small that it is not necessary to take it into
consideration. The ordinary amount of sewage is very small in comparison to the size of the
sewer, and the stream is shallow and sluggish. The sand and rubbish carried into the sewer
during storms form small dams, holding the sewage in pools. The sewage decomposes, and
the sewer becomes a manufactory of sewer gas on an extended scale, and the gas pours out
of the manholes and street-basins into the streets and through empty traps and leaky pipes
into the houses. In the separate system of sewers, i. e., from which the water is excluded,
the size of the sewer is determined by the amount of sewage to be provided for where
rapid and efficient disposal of sewage is desired. By thus limiting the size of the sewer to
what is necessary for the service required, there is not only given an efficient working, but the
cost is decreased considerably.
To illustrate the carrying capacity of sewer pipes, let it be supposed that the lots on a
street are forty feet wide; there is a house on every lot, and each house contains an average
of five people. Allow two barrels of sewage per day for each person. An eight-inch sewer,
laid on a grade of one foot in a hundred, will carry more sewage than would be discharged
from a row of houses two miles long under the same conditions. A sewer small enough to
secure a proper depth of flow is much less liable to stoppage and clogging than one in which
the flow is shallow and sluggish. The matters of ventilation and flushing can also be
much better attended to in a small sewer than in a large one. In some cases storm-water
ILK anus
BUIIiDIJVe.
COMMEKCJAL AUCIIITECTIJKE.
UOMAXESQUE OKNAMENT.
*"***'" '
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 171
conduits may be necessary on the principal streets, and may empty into the nearest water-
course. The Chicago sewerage system, outside the old business center of the city, perfect as it
now may be, is at fault in its expense and scope, so much so that a sufficient sum has been
expended on eighty square miles to complete the system over the entire area of the present
city, or about one hundred and eighty square miles.
The compound sewerage system was introduced since 1 889 at Auburn Park. It is called
the double sewerage system, and necessitates the laying of twice the amount of pipe that the
ordinary style needs. Therein lies the cause of the extra cost. One pipe is laid from five to
seven feet deep, and is used for the regular sewage. At the head of each of these sewers is
a reservoir, eight feet deep and five feet in circumference, which is fitted with valves, etc., so
as to automatically flush the sewer as often as desired. The outlet of this flow is into the
Chicago rivtjr. Above this lower pipe is one for rainfalls or storm-water. This pipe is but'f'
from three to four feet deep, and leads its contents, by gravity, in an almost opposite direction " \ vttft-lV**^
^jt'.***^-* 1 ""
to the Auburn lakes, and thence to the Calumet river.
Pullman, the home of water fowl and muskrat at the close of the eighth decade of this
century, is to-day an object lesson in communal life. In the matter of city sewerage, it demon-
strates, in a small way, the economical systen of Paris, France. Dr. De Wolf deduces
from this accomplished fact five important points: "First, that the sewage of a town, if
separated from the surface water and used on a farm in the vicinity of a market, can be
profitably made into manure; second, that capitalists can find a profitable investment in the
erection of towns built on sanitary principles for the occupation of their workmen; third, that
the erection of such towns as Pullman and Saltaire has a very valuable and decided sanitary
educational influence on the general population; fourth, that such towns, by improving the
social surroundings of the working classes, tend to diminish the unrest, which is one great
factor in capital and labor conflicts; fifth, that this field is one which especially deserves the
attention of philanthropists, since it increases the power of the person aided to help himself,
does not take from him self-respect, and therefore has no pauperizing tendencies, like the
greater numl)er of other philanthropic schemes."
The sewage farm of Pullman is situated about two and one-half miles south of the vil-
lage. About one hundred and forty acres of land have been thoroughly drained and piped
for the reception of sewage, with which these acres are irrigated by means of hose. Hy-
drants are placed at proper intervals, so that the distribution can be easily effected. There is
nothing offensive about this work, nor can any one detect noxious odors at the pumping sta-
tion, or at the farm. All organic matter in the sewage is at once taken up by the soil and the
growing vegetation, and the water, making from one hundred to five hundred parts of the
sewage, runs off through the under-drains to ditches which carry the filtered waters into Lake
Calumet. Where the sewage-water leaves the drains it is as clear and sparkling as spring- water,
and laborers often drink it. One acre of land will take up the sewage of one hundred per-
sons. There is land enough already prepared to receive the sewage made by a population of
fifteen thousand. The pumps now at the pumping-station can handle five million gallons a
K
172 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
day, if necessary, and the main to the farm could carry the sewage for a population of fifty
thousand. These pumps are now required to handle about a million gallons a day, coming
from shops, homes and public buildings. All waste products at Pullman are thus carefully
utilized, being transformed by vital chemistry into luxuriant vegetable forms. The sewers
of the town are kept clean by the flow and by ample flushings. Provision is made for rod-
ding them out when they become obstructed. Every portion of the town is perfectly sewered,
and every sewer is well ventilated by perforated manhole covers. The whole system is built
after a scientific method, the same plan being adapted to every house and lot. The drains
are trapped only outside the buildings, where an S-trap is used. Traps are also placed un-
der the water-closets. House drainage is of course compulsory, as everything is owned by
one man, but the tenants have nothing to do with this themselves, everything being provided
for them. No odors have been detected even at the ventilating manholes, as the sewers are
kept as clean and well flushed as possible, and the sewage is almost immediately pumped out
of the town.
The ordinary street in Pullman has the regulation width of sixty-six feet. When finished
there is a sidewalk on either side, eight feet in width, then plats of grass eight feet wide, on
which shade trees are planted, and then cobblestone gutters two feet in width. Thirty feet of
the central portion of the street is paved for a roadway. At the outside of the sidewalk line,
or what is termed the block line, there is usually a terrace, from one to three feet higher than
the street center, and from eighteen to twenty feet wide, which makes the distance between
opposite house lines a little more than one hundred feet. The sidewalk has a lateral pitch of
two inches, the side nearest the roadway being two inches lower than the side on the block
line. The long grass plots, too, have a further slope of two inches from the sidewalk to the
gutter-line. These gutters are usually about three inches deep, with summits so placed as to
lead surface-water to the catch-basins, which are placed in the center of gutters, at intervals
of about one hundred and sixty-five feet The pavement is crowning, the street center being
as high as the sidewalk line nearest the building line and sloping each way to the gutters.
There are six miles of paved streets, and two kinds of pavement, or macadam have been used.
The first kind consists of nine inches of furnace slag spread over the street, and this slag
covered with four inches of Joliet gravel. The second kind consists of a similar substratum
of slag or broken stone, with a top-dressing of four inches of crushed limestone. The top-
dressing in both cases is well rolled with heavy rollers, and, with moisture and use, becomes
a sort of artificial stone. The furnace slag used is a porous vitreous compound, which readily
absorbs water and has a tendency to keep the surface of a street dry. The material known
as Joliet gravel is composed almost wholly of limestone pebbles. Experience and observation
have shown that crushed limestone is preferred as a top dressing for streets.
The streets are swept and cleaned every day and sprinkled when there is any dust. The
results are believed to lie perfectly satisfactory, and it is claimed that such clean streets and
alleys can not 1 found in any other city on the earth. The dust argument against the
crushed stone applies with equal force against the gravel, as the dust in both cases is merely
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 178
pulverized limestone. In the construction of sidewalks no particular material has been pre-
scribed. Most of the walks are now of two-inch plank. Here and there we find a stretch of
gravel walk. Some brick sidewalk was laid during the summer of 1884. Although the town
is still in its infancy, there are already thirty thousand shade trees and shrubs in its streets and
parks. The regulations provide that garbage and ashes shall not be deposited in streets or
alleys, but shall be placed in receptacles at the back ends of the lots; thus the alleys and
streets are kept clear and clean. The contents of these receptacles are carted away daily.
The mean velocity of flow in sewers has been determined through a knowledge of the
relation of the mean velocity to the cross section and slope of the water. Some years ago
Kutter's formula was published, while D'Arcy and Bazin also wrote on the subject. The
former considers the character of saturated surfaces. Though his work is complicated, a real-
ization of his terms and his diagrams will render it comparatively simple. Engineer Hering
points out how its simplification may be accomplished for general sewer work without even
the use of the diagram, thus :
The original formula reads:
(1) 1.811 0.00281
41.6 + +
(0.00281V n
41.6 + - -1 -
s / vV
in which v = velocity per second, n coefficient of roughness of wetted perimeter, r
hydraulic radius, s = slope of water surface.
0.00281
The term , which occurs twice, can be readily eliminated by' substituting for the
s
value s the least grade that we are likely to have in sewers namely, 1 :2500. Then we obtain
0.00281
the constant value: - - = 7.0, which reduces the formula to-
0.0004
(2) 1.811
48.6 + -
n
v =
1 + 48.6
This substitution influences the result but little. It tends to make the smaller sewers
slightly larger than the original formula. There would be in fact no difference at all for a
sewer about thirteen feet in diameter, whatever its grade, and the difference would increase,
as the size diminishes and the grade increases, up to an excess of about five per cent, for a
sewer of one-foot diameter, at, a grade of four feet for one hundred. This excess of about
five per cent, is practically the maximum error for sewer application, and it is always on the
safe side. We can, therefore, safely let it stand. But the formula can still further be simpli-
174 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
fied by substituting a numerical value for w. According to Kutter, for glazed pipe we would
have to put n = .010. But owing to the frequency of joints and the imperfect shape due to
the process of burning, which causes projection in the sewer at nearly every joint, it is not
safe to assume so low a coefficient. Besides, the flow of sewage is slower than that of clear
water, because the suspended matter drags at the perimeter and tends to hold the water back.
Allowing for these causes, we generally get nearer the truth, if for pipe-sewers we put n =
.01 3. For brick sewers, on the other hand, Kutter gives n .013.
It has been found, however, that if well built n can often be reduced to .012. Still, for
sewage flow, the resistance is again greater, and it is found that by adopting the value of
n = .013 also for brick sewers we are about as nearly correct as it is necessary to be in the
majority of cases, and err slightly on the safe side, if we err at all. By substituting this value
in formula two we get:
(3) 188
v = 0.64^
or,
(4) 188 r V s
v = ,
0.64 + yV
which is, therefore, not only a sufficiently accurate, but also a sufficiently simple formula for
general use in sewer work, for which purpose it has been used since 1 879. Stated in general
terms, the formula reads:
(5) A r V s
V ^^
B + Vr
By substituting the following values for the coefficients A and B, we can use it for any
other degree of roughness than n = .013, as we may think proper in some cases.
Different Degrees of Roughness. A B
For n 0.011 very smooth with even joints 213 0.54
For = n 0.012, very smooth with even joints 200 0.59
For = n 0.018, average, with even joints 188 0.64
For = n 0.014, average, with even joints 178 0.69
For = n 0.015, poorly built brick work with washed-out joints 169 0.73
For very smooth and regularly-shaped sewers we might say:
200 r V a
v =
0.6 + V r
which formula is easily remembered and easily solved.
Wooden manhole covers were in general use prior to the year 1 879. For the eighteen years
preceding that date the average cost of maintaining these covers was thirty-eight cents each.
In his annual report for the year 1878, Benezette Williams, principal assistant engineer, urged
the adoption and use of iron covers. A standing objection to any municipal improvement then,
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 175
as well as at the present time, was the cost. Williams sought to show that it would be econom-
ical to use iron covers rather than wood, and presented the fact that the cost of each wooden
cover, thirty-eight cents, was equal to the interest on $5.40 at seven per cent, per annum,
hence that, if $5.40 were added to the cost of wooden covers, a permanent cover needing no
repairs or renewals could have been obtained and would have been equally economical.
Wooden covers were then costing a little more than $5 ; if permanent covers could be obtained
at any price less than $10.40 it would be wise to adopt them, to say nothing of the greater
satisfaction and safety attending their iise. But covers of a good quality of cast iron
could be had at a cost not exceeding $10. In accordance with Williams' recommendation
the use of iron covers was inaugurated in the following year, and nine hundred and
ninety-eight were substituted for wooden covers, at an expense of $7,332.46, not including
one thousand one hundred and thirty-six open iron covers on manholes and catch-basins for
ventilating purposes, costing $3,568.71. The question of ventilating the sewers through
grated manhole covers was first suggested by Mr. Williams, and a small appropriation was
made by the city council in the year 1878 for this purpose. Nothing was done, however, until
the following year.
In 1883 an elaborate system of plumbing, sewerage and sanitary ventilation was intro-
duced by "$. J. Wade, as the embodiment of improvements suggested by twenty-five years of
practical work. Other members of the craft in Chicago also introduced admirable sanitary
apparatus, and it may be stated that no body of plumbers in the world has at all approached
that of Chicago in the number and usefulness of health guarders for sewers and drains.
The system of sewer building adopted in Washington, D. C., and common in Chicago, is
peculiar in its perfection and highly sanitary in its effects. The runners, under twenty-four
inches in diameter, are composed of round, vitrified, terra cotta pipes, placed in concrete,
with bands set in hydraulic cement. One of the prime objects of this substantial setting is
to present an obstacle to tree roots entering the pipes. The sewers over twenty-four inches
in diameter are constructed of brick, springing in egg-shape form from a base of vitrified pipe
known as the half-pipe invert. This system is so planned that a rainfall of two inches per
hour and a house drainage of five cubical feet per second to every one hundred thousand
superficial feet may be carried off immediately. The system of manholes show one in every
one hundred and fifty linear feet, with ventilated covers in the street and close covers in the
parkways.
In the case of large cities, the drainage of the surface and the subsoil, as well as the
removal of organic wastes by water-carriage, is commonly effected by a single subterranean
conduit; but when circumstances demand that the conduit containing such objectionable
wastes shall be absolutely impervious, a separate pipe, laid under or alongside of the former
and simultaneously with it, is sometimes provided for the interception of the subsoil water.
Drainage and sewerage are thus performed by a single operation ; and even where sewers have
been constructed as water-tight as possible, with the direct view of excluding sub-soil water, a
marked reduction in the level of the latter always follows from the simple act of cutting a
176 INDUSTRIAL GUICAGO :
trench on a true grade to some outfall, and the provision of a relatively smooth and continu-
ous surface along which thie water may flow in a thin sheet. The principal function of a
sewer, however, is the quick removal of putrescible surface matter from human habitations,
and the delivery of such matter to some distant point.
In 1890 Chicago led in the movement to master the air currents in sewers. Instead of
having the branch to connect with house drainage opposite the lot, it is inserted from five
to ten feet beyond a continuation of the lot line in the direction of flow in the main sewer.
The object of this system is on its face simple. The possibility of the sewer current, even
in case of flood, is reduced to a minimum, while the chances of air currents being diverted
from the larger main are lessened. Common sense, rather than science, suggested the
change from the old system, and beyond the extra expense which it entails on the house
owner in making connection with the main, it is every way preferable. The movement of
sewer air is an important question connected with ventilation of sewers. Engineer Santa
Crimp, in his paper read before the Institute of Civil Engineers, says:
" With regard to the question of temperature as causing movements of sewer air, it has
generally been supposed that the movements were principally due to that cause. If the as-
sumption were a correct one, the sewer air would pass upward in winter, and downward in
summer, that is speaking generally. The movements would be most rapid when the differ-
ence between the temperature of the air and that of the sewer air was greatest. Now, in the
author's experiments, the greatest difference was found to be in October, when it averaged
eighty and four-tenths degrees, yet during that month the up hill currents were too feeble
to affect the anemometer except upon three days. During the same month down-hill cur-
rents were registered on twelve days. In the exceedingly calm and foggy December, the differ-
ence was seventy and eighty-five-hundredths degrees, yet the results as regards up-hill currents
were altogether of a negative character, while down-hill currents were registered on nine
days. February again shows a difference of seventy and fifty-five-hundredths degrees, and
while up-hill currents were registered on nineteen days, down-hill currents were found to pre-
vail on every day ; moreover, the movements were exceedingly active, compared with those of
the other mouths referred to.
" The results obtained during February and March are in striking contrast, and it is
obvious that the effects of temperature are weak compared with those of some other agent.
The drag of the sewage, if of any appreciable degree, would have made itself apparent dur-
ing the calms of December and in other months. The author would at once say that the
experiments had not long been in operation before he found that the wind was practically
the only agent capable of producing movements that could be registered by an anemometer.
Numberless cases could be quoted from the mass of detail accumulated in making these ex-
periments, but a few must suffice. During the entire series of experiments the actual volume
of air recorded as passing down-hill exceeded that recorded as passing up-hill by very nearly
one-third, while down-hill currents were recorded on two hundred and seventy-three days as
against up-hill currents op ninety-seven days. The cases given could be multiplied if desir-
T1IE BUILDING INTERESTS.
177
able, but throughout the whole series of experiments the same effects of the wind were
observable; the direction of the sewer-air currents was determined by that of the wind, while
the currents were either strong or weak or imperceptible, according as the wind was fresh
or light, or calms prevailed."
The value of the Fullerton avenue conduit, in connection with the pumping works at
Bridgeport, was so manifest as to attract the attention of many, who never before gave a
thought to the influence of surroundings on health. Others, practical men, were not slow in
recognizing the improvements. Such practical plumbers as J. J. Wade wrote on the subject
repeatedly from 1881 to 1887. In 1881 the population of Chicago was five hundred and
forty thousand. The total deaths in that year were thirteen thousand eight hundred and
seventy-four, which makes a death rate of twenty-five and sixty-niue-hundredths per one
thousand persons living. In 1882 the population was five hundred and sixty thousand, six
hundred and ninety-three, and in that year thirteen thousand two hundred and thirty-four
persons died, making a death rate of twenty-three and sixty-hundredths per one thousand
population. Here is where the work of the health department of the city of Chicago under
the administration of Dr. De Wolf begins to show its value. In comparing the deaths in
1882 with those of 1881, we discover that if the same death-rate had prevailed in 1882 as did
prevail in 1881, the total number of deaths in 1882 would have been fourteen thousand four
hundred and eleven, instead of thirteen thousand two hundred and thirty-four. In other
words, stating it more forcibly, one thousand one hundred and seventy-seven persons were
alive at the close of the year 1882, who would have been dead had it not been for the sanitary
work of the health department. Carrying this comparison a little farther, it is seen that in
1883 the saving in lives over the death rate of 1881 was three thousand three hundred and
forty-five; in 1884 it was three thousand seven hundred and twelve; in 1885 it was four
thousand five hundred and ninety-nine, and in 1886 it was four thousand three hundred and
eighty-one. These figures mean that in the past five years the work of the Chicago health
department has saved the lives of seventeen thousand two hundred and fourteen persons
who would have been dead had the death rate of 1881 and the conditions which caused it
been allowed to continue. This great work has been accomplished in the face of a great
increase in population, the city numbering seven hundred and three thousand eight hundred
and seventeen, in May, 1887, and in spite of a very large immigration of uneducated people,
not accustomed to the restraints of sanitary regulations. The following table shows very
clearly this great sanitary work:
YEAR.
Population.
Death rate.
Total deaths.
Whrtt iloatlis
would be at
25.69.
Saving In
lives.
1881
540000
2569
13874
1882
560,693
23.60
13234
14411
1 177
1883
580000
1992
11 555
14900
3345
1884
630,000
19.80
12471
16 183
3712
1885
664,634
18.76
12,474
17073
4 .V.l'.l
1886
703,817
19.46
13,699
18,080
4,381
Total lives saved in five years.. . .
17214
178 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
During the last half decade the percentage of deaths has been comparatively low.
The conduit was completed January 9, 1880. This is a brick circular tunnel, eleven
thousand eight hundred and ninety-eight feet long, with an internal diameter of twelve feet.
From the river to Racine avenue, four thousand two hundred and seventy feet, it is carried
on a level, thirteen feet below city datum. East of Racine avenue is a vertical reversed
curve connecting the lower grade, which is twenty-seven and two-thirds feet below datum.
From this point to the lake shore shaft a descent of fifty-four and one-half feet marks the
tunnel, while, from the shore shaft to the lake shaft, one thousand feet in length, it is level.
The cause of the gradual descent east of Racine avenue must be attributed to structural
reasons, as from that point east the tunnel work had to be carried on in working clay, and the
line of working clay had to be followed. At each street intersection there are shafts with
branch pipes to receive sewage. The machinery is powerful, showing a capacity of twenty-
four thousand cubical feet per minute in response to one hundred revolutions of the screw.
One of the objects of this conduit was to force such a quantity of water into the North branch
as would not only create a strong current in the branch, but would also force it past its
natural confluence into the South branch. It was part and parcel of the plan to abolish the
divide between the Mississippi and St. Lawrence, and turn the surplus waters of Lake Michi-
gan and the sewage of Chicago into the first-named river.
Sanitary house drainage is a most important branch of this subject. Where intelligence
rules the individual, there is health. Under its genial influence whole city squares have been
raised out of the ancient mire, and many of the cesspools of later days removed; but the un-
pleasant truth remains to be told, that, in thousands of places may yet be found hot-beds of
disease beneath the homes and often in the very living rooms of the people. The earnest in-
quirer may begin in the basements of the city and county buildings in his search for a vicious
system of house drainage. Having examined that unhealthy place, let him enter forty
thousand other buildings and report. The document would prove a grim satire on the pre-
tensions of the many and the conscientious beliefs of the few who claim perfection for the
present sanitary condition of this great city.
Where ignorance is there is filth. The latter is the index to the former, and its removal
the first sign of the dawn of intelligence. Filth degrades as it impoverishes. It is evil com-
pany in an inanimate form, generally destroying that with which it comes in contact. The
poisons it distills into the human system have to be counteracted by other poisons in the form
of alcoholic drinks, until the disease and accepted remedy reduce man to the lowest grade,
and leave him fit subject for the poorhouse or for the prison. Uncleanliness of surroundings
leads generally to corporal and mental uncleanliness, destroying families, and, sometimes,
whole communities.
The subject of cleanliness, must, therefore, possess a rare fascination for the citizen,
whether he be the owner of a cottage or a palace, the renter of a room or of a great apart-
ment house, while to the architect, builder and pluml>er it should be a never-ending study.
On the dwelling, the store or the office building of Chicago, much of the welfare and
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 179
happiness of citizens depend. The damp, ill-lighted building exerts'a terribly evil influence
on its inhabitants. An inadequate supply of pure water is absolutely impoverishing. A
defective system of house drainage is absolutely poisonous, and defective ventilation means a
living death. Therefore, the citizen, to be useful, must be healthy, and to be healthy, in a
great city, requires the use of light, air, good water and general cleanliness.
The rapid growth of the United States militated against the application of true sanitary
principles to city life, as they were understood and acted upon at Paris years ago, and are
to-day observed there. Wealth was the first object sought after, but as the cities grew in pop-
ulation, the law of self protection cried out for remedies. Only in very recent times have
such remedies been prescribed. Still later the prescription was "filled," and many patients
were relieved, but not until the present time has Chicago made a determined effort to correct
the mistakes of the sanitation of the past, mistakes so serious and numerous as may take years
to rectify.
The house drain and trap of a former day must be attacked first. It is difficult to dis-
tinguish between the evil qualities of each. Some few years ago the Sanitary Neivs reviewed,
at some length, the system on which such drainage was constructed, giving, in addition, a
plan of the system. Carelessness or incompetence carried this system so far as to introduce
it into one of the large buildings on Madison street, where an examination revealed the facts
that not only was there a leakage, but also that the sewage had saturated the earth, under
the basement, to its limit, and then formed a cesspool on the surface. How many such cases
as this an examination would reveal to-day ? Is it necessary to have a subterranean examina-
tion? Scarcely. Its existence is denoted on the faces of the habitants.
These serious house-drainage blunders caused, very naturally, a revolution. The sewer
builder and plumber were themselves the leaders in this revolt. They were joined by the
architect and contractor, and, strange to relate, by the house-owner afterward. What benefits
were conferred by this revolution of the trades against the mistaken ideas of the past are
being now realized. The modern system of house drainage combined with the plans for
heating and ventilation insures health, and the house-owner, the last to receive such ideas, is
the greatest beneficiary. In March, 1890, the question of house drainage was discussed
before the Plumbers' association, Mr. Nacey's paper being the basis of the discussion. The
system then in vogue was perfection itself compared with that which it displaced. The ordi-
nary house drain as adopted in Chicago and other cities may be described as a series of clay
pipes joined together with cement and carried from a junction in the street through the dwell-
ing to a catch-basin. At various points along the line of this system apertures are provided
for the reception of tributary branches, which serve for soil and waste pipes throughout the
building. The receptacle known as a catch-basin is placed in the yard in the rear of a struc-
ture. It is built cylindrical in form, three feet in diameter to a depth of about two feet six
inches below the outlet, surrounded by a wall, whose thickness is composed of a single brick
laid in common cement mortar. In the interior of this cesspool a similar wall is constructed,
being carried down below the mouth of the outlet to prevent grease from entering the house
180 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
drain; it also serves as a trap, for, although ill these basins the drains find an outlet, they
are, however, made for the express purpose of receiving the refuse of sinks, laundry tubs and
down spouts. The pipes carrying these substances are almost always laid at the same grade
as house drains, which is one-fourth inch per lineal foot. In short, the drainage system may
be merely defined to be a number of ordinary clay pipes, two feet in length with a hub of
about the depth of one and one-half inch on one end, laid piece by piece, one being slipped
into the hub of another until the terminal point is reached. The recognized system of the
present time is set forth in the following laws and ordinances.
The act of the Illinois legislature for the regulation and inspection of buildings is as
specific in its definitions of the duties of architect, plumber and health commissioner as it is
in the matter of penalty for infraction of the law. Its provisions are as follows:
That it shall be the duty of any architect or architects, builder or builders of, or other person or
persons interested in any projected tenement, lodging house or other places of habitation in any incorpor-
ated city of fifty thousand (50,000) inhabitants, to submit plans and specifications of any such building or
buildings to the health commissioner or commissioners of such incorporated city, that the said health
commissioner or commissioners may examine the said plans and specifications, for his or their approval
or rejection as to the proposed plans for the ventilation of rooms, light and air shafts, windows, ventila-
tion of water-closets, drainage and plumbing.
Architects, penalty. If any architect or architects, builder or builders, violate the provisions of this
act, he or they shall be fined in a sum of not less than one hundred (100) dollars nor more than
two hundred (200) dollars for each offense.
It shall be the duty of any plumber or other person or persons interested in the contract for the
plumbing work of such building or buildings, to receive a written certificate of instruction from the
health commissioner or commissioners before commencing work on the said building or buildings, and to
proceed according to the plans, specifications and instructions, as approved by the health commissioner
or commissioners of said city.
Penalty. If any plumber, or other person or persons interested in the plumbing work, violate any
of the provisions of this act, he or they shall be fined in the sum of not less than one hundred (100) nor
more than two hundred (200) dollars for the first offense, and the further penalty of ten (10) dollars for
each and every day such plumber or other interested person or persons shall, after first conviction, neglect
or refuse to comply with any provisions of this act, or the written instructions of the health commissioner
or commissioners, and for the second offense, a like penalty and a forfeiture of his or their license to do
business in said city for one (1) year after conviction.
Notice. It shall be the duty of any plumber or other person or persons interested in the plumbing
work, after the completion of said plumbing work, and before any of the said plumbing work is covered
up in any building or buildings, or on the premises connected with said building or buildings, to notify in
writing the health commissioner or commissioners, that said building or buildings, or other premises are
now ready for inspection, and it shall be unlawful for any plumber or other person or persons, to cover up,
or in any way conceal such plumbing work in or about such building or buildings, until the health commis-
sioner or commissioners approve of the same.
Emergency. Inasmuch as the health of the people is endangered, an emergency exists requiring
this act to take effect immediately; therefore, this act shall take effect and be in force from and after its
passage.
The rules and regulations of this city, governing the drainage and plumbing of new
buildings, are substantially as follows:
The drain, soil and waste pipes, and the traps must, if practicable, be exposed to view for
ready inspection at all times, and for convenience in repairing. When necessarily placid
within partitions or in recesses of walls, soil and waste pipes must be covered with woodwork
so fastened with screws as to be readily removed. In no case shall they be absolutely inac
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 181
cessible, unless so placed in accordance with a permit issued by the board of health. Foot
connection of soil or waste pipes shall be carried to the level of the sewer, and a one-quarter
or one -eighth -inch long iron bend used. A metallic cap, such as is in general use, may be
used to complete the construction. The size of supply pipe must in every case be ample for
the purpose. Water-closets. The use of pan-closets is prohibited. No brick, sheet metal,
earthenware, or chimney flue shall be used as a sewer ventilator, nor to ventilate any trap,
drain, soil or waste pipe.
Every vertical soil and main waste pipe must be of iron, and where it receives the dis-
charge of fixtures on two or more floors, it must extend at least two feet above the highest
part of the roof or coping or light shaft louvres, and have a diameter above the roof at least
one inch greater than that of the pipe proper; but in no case shall it be less than four inches
in diameter above the roof. No cap or cowl shall be affixed to the top of such ventilation
pipe, but in tenement houses, a strong wire basket shall be provided and securely fastened
thereto in every case, to cover the mouth of it. Soil, waste and vent pipes in au extension must
be extended above the roof of the main building, when otherwise they would open within
twenty feet of the windows of the main house or the adjoining house. Horizontal soil and
waste pipes are prohibited. The least diameter of soil pipe permitted is four inches. A
vertical waste pipe into which a line of kitchen sinks discharges must be at least three inches
in diameter if receiving the waste of five or more sinks, and shall have two-inch branches.
Where lead pipe is used to connect fixtures with vertical soil or waste pipes, or to connect
traps with vertical vent pipes, it must not be lighter than extra light pipe. There shall be
no traps on main vertical soil or waste pipes. All iron pipes must be sound, free from holes
or cracks, and of the grade known in commerce as extra heavy. The following weights per
linear foot will be accepted as standards: Two inches, five and one-half pounds per linear
foot; three inches, nine and one-half pounds per linear foot; four inches, thirteen pounds
per linear foot; five inches, seventeen pounds per linear foot; six inches, twenty pounds per
linear foot; seven inches, twenty-seven pounds per linear foot; eight inches, thirty-three and
one-half pounds per linear foot; ten inches, forty-five pounds per linear foot; twelve inches,
fifty-four pounds per linear foot.
All fittings used in connection with such pipe shall correspond with it in weight and
quality. Tar-coated cast-iron pipe shall be used. When required by an inspector from the
board of health, plumbing work must be tested with the peppermint test, or by other approved
methods, such test to be made by the plumber in the presence of the inspector. Defective
pipes discovered must be removed and replaced by sound pipes, and all defective joints made
tight, and every part of the work in which defects are found be made to conform to these
rules and regulations. All joints in iron drain pipes, soil pipes and waste pipes must be so
filled with oakum and lead and hand caulked as to make them gas-tight. The amount of
lead used to a caulked joint shall be not less than twelve ounces to each inch diameter of the
pipe so connected. All connections of lead with iron pipes must l>e made with a brass sleeve
or ferrule of the same size as the lead pipe, put in the hub of the branch of the iron pipe and
182 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
caulked with lead. The lead pipe must be attached to the ferrule by a wiped or overcast
joint. All connections of lead waste and vent pipes shall be made by means of wiped joints.
Every water-closet, urinal, sink, basin, wash-tray, bath, and every tub or set of tubs and
hydrant waste pipe, must be separately and effectively trapped, except where a sink and
wash tubs immediately adjoin each other, in which case the waste pipe from the tubs may be
connected with the inlet side of the sink trap. In such a case the tub waste pipe is not
required to be separately trapped. Urinal platforms, if connected to drain pipes, must also
be properly trapped.
Traps must be placed as near the fixtures as practicable, and in no case shall a trap be
more than two feet from the fixture. All waste pipes from fixtures other than water-closets
must be provided at the outlet of such fixtures with strong metallic strainers to exclude from
such waste pipes all substances likely to obstruct them. In no case shall the waste from a
bathtub or other fixture be connected with a water-closet trap. Traps must be protected
from siphonage, and the waste pipe leading from them ventilated by a special air pipe, in no
case less than two inches in diameter for water-closet traps, and one inch and a half for other
traps. Except in private dwellings, the vertical vent pipes for traps of water-closets in build-
ings more than four stories in hight, must be at least three inches in diameter, with two-inch
branches to each trap, and for traps of other fixtures not less than two inches in diameter,
with branches one and a half inches in diameter, unless the trap is smaller, in which case the
diameter of the branch vent pipe must be at least equal to the diameter of the trap. In all
cases main vertical vent pipes must be of cast or wrought iron.
Vent pipes must extend two feet above the highest part of the roof or coping, or light
shaft louvres, the extension to be not less than four inches in diameter, to avoid obstruction
from frost, except in cases where the use of smaller pipes is permitted by the board of health.
They may be combined by branching together those which serve several traps. These vent
pipes must always have a continuous slope to avoid collecting water by condensation. No
trap vent pipe shall be used as a waste or soil pipe. Overflow pipes from fixtures must, in
each case, be connected on the inlet side of the trap. Every safe under a washbasin, bath,
iirinal, water-closet or other fixture must be drained by a special pipe not directly connected
with any soil pipe, waste pipe, drain or sewer, but discharging into an open sink, upon the
cellar floor or outside the house. The outlets of such pipes should be covered by flap valves.
The drain pipe from refrigerators shall not be directly connected with the soil and waste
pipe, or with the drain or sewer, or discharge upon the ground; it must discharge into an
open and water-supplied sink. Such waste pipes must be so arranged as to admit of frequent
flushing, and must be as short us possible, and disconnected from the refrigerator. In tene-
ment houses it must be ventilated above the roof. Covering the outlet by means of a flap
valve is recommended. The sediment pipe from the kitchen boilers must be connected on the
inlet side of the sink trap.
Water-closets nmst never be placed in an unventilated room or compartment. In every
case the compartment must open to the outer air or be ventilated by means of a shaft or air
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 183
duct. All water-closets within the house must be supplied with water from special tanks or
cisterns, the water of which is not used for any other purpose. Interior water-closets must
never be supplied directly from the city supply pipes. Except in tenement houses, a group
of closets may be supplied from one tank, but water-closets on different floors are not per-
mitted to be flushed from one tank. In tenement houses there must be a separate cistern for
each water-closet and one water-closet must be provided for each two families. The overflow
pipes from water-closet cisterns may discharge into an open sink, or where its discharge will
attract attention and indicate that waste of water is occurring, but not into the soil or waste
pipe, nor into the drain or sewer. When the pressure of the city is not sufficient to supply
these cisterns, adequate pumps must be provided. The valves of cisterns must be so fitted
and adjusted as to prevent wasting of water, especially where cisterns are supplied from a
tank on the roof. Water-closets, when placed in the yard, must be separately trapped, and so
arranged as to be conveniently and adequately flushed, and their water supply pipes and
traps must be protected from freezing. The compartments from such water-closets must be
ventilated by means of slatted openings in the doors and roofs.
Tanks for drinking water are objectionable, but if indispensable they must never be lined
with lead, galvanized iron or zinc. They should be constructed of iron or wood, lined with
tinned and planished copper, or-wood alone. The overflow should discharge upon the roof,
or be trapped and discharge into an open sink, but never into any soil or waste pipe or water-
closet trap, nor into the drain or sewer. Discharge pipes from such tanks must not deliver
into any sewer connected with soil or waste pipe. Rain-water leaders must never be used as
soil, waste or vent pipes; nor shall any soil, waste or vent pipe be used as a leader.
When within the house, the leader must be of cast iron, with leaded joints, or of copper
with soldered joints. When outside of the house and connected with the house drain, it must,
if of sheet metal with slip joints, be trapped beneath the ground or just inside of the wall,
the trap being arranged so as to prevent freezing. In every case where a leader opens near
a window or light shaft, it must be properly trapped at the base. The joint between a cast-
iron leader and the roof must be made gas and water-tight by means of a brass ferrule and
lead or copper pipe, properly connected. No steam exhaust, blow-off or drip pipe, shall con-
nect with the sewer, or with any house-drain, soil pipe or waste pipe. Such pipes must dis-
charge into a tank or condenser, from which a suitable outlet to the house sewer may be
provided. Yards and areas, and open light courts must always be properly graded, cemented,
flagged or well paved, and properly drained; when the drain is connected with the house
drain it must be effectually trapped. Front area drains must, where practicable, be connected
with the house drain inside of the running trap, if one be used. Cellar and foundation walls
must, where possible, be rendered impervious to dampness, and the use of asphaltum or coal-
tar pitch, in addition to hydraulic cement, is recommended for that purpose. In no case will
the general privy accommodation of a tenement or lodging-house be allowed in the cellar or
basement. Wooden washtrays or sinks are prohibited inside of buildings; they shall be of
non-absorbent material.
184 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
The system of elevating the sewage of the Tacoma to the level of main sewer varies from
that of the Rookery, the Ryerson and the Auditorium. It is accomplished by means of a
steam siphon, connecting the catch-basin in the boilerroom, to which the surface water
drains with the overflow pipe from the elevator discharge tank, and from that point
running below the basement floor to the main sewer. The sewage is carried off by means of
iron pipe suspended from the ceiling of the first floor. In the Rookery building the water-
closets and other fixtures in the basement only are connected with the scheme by which the
sewage is mechanically discharged into the main sewer. The sewage is carried to a catch-
basin. By means of a float in the catch-basin which operates on auxiliary valves shown in
the accompanying illustration, a stream of water under an hydraulic head of one hundred
and seventy feet passes through a main-balanced valve into the ejector, where its velocity is
transferred to the sewage, which, with the incoming water, is discharged into the sewer. In
the construction of these ejectors it is necessary to proportion them to the relative heads
under which they are to be operated. This one is operated under a head of fifty volumes of
sewage to one volume of water. The operation of the main-balanced valve is similar to that
of the piston of an engine. It is governed by the auxiliary valve, and as the float raises with
the water, an arm of the float rod engages with stops fastened to the stem of the auxiliary
valve. By this means the position of the auxiliary valve is changed, thus the high-pressure
water is allowed to act first upon one side and then on the other of the main-balanced valve.
The pressure of the water causes this valve to shift from side to side, thereby allowing the stream
of water from the tank in the attic to enter the ejector, with the results as described above.
The velocity of the water is very great, and will empty a catch-basin at the rate of about eight
hundred gallons in thirty- five seconds, being clean and effective in its sweep, and, when the
action ceases, leaving behind it no possibility of an escape of odors or gases from the sewer
or catch-basin.
The fact that a high basement was desired by the projectors of the Auditorium led to
having the drain below the level of the main sewer in the street. An idea of how extensive
the system of drainage required in this building is may be gained when it is learned that
part of the building is used for a hotel. The hotel contains about four hundred rooms,
many of which are supplied with private baths. In addition to this there are about one
hundred and fifty offices, besides many stores and a large entertainment hall. The necessity
for an almost perfect sanitary system of drainage will be observed at once. To elevate the
sewage to the main sewer, or to discharge the house drain into the main sewer, a patented
device is used in this instance. The sewage from the building runs into an hermetically
sealed cast-iron receiver. This is known as Shone's hydropneumatic ejector. It is placed
at such a level that all the sewers will have a grade at which they will be self-cleansing.
Connected with the receiver is an air-tight pipe from an air compressor, located in the en-
gineroom. When the receiver or ejector is full (in this case two ejectors, each with a capac-
ity of fifty gallons per minute, will be used) a float is raised, whereby an air-valve is opened,
and the contents are drawn out by the pressure. The ejector is absolutely automatic and
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 185
takes care of all the drainage, water-closets, and all the sanitary appliances, and is regulated
to the flow of the sewage. If the receiver fills once an hour it discharges once an hour, or if
it fills oftener the receiver discharges more frequently. The steam from the engine is allowed
to be turned on all day, very little steam, however, being required. It is estimated that an
amount of steam, sufficient to fulfill the requirements of the ejector goes to waste every day
where high-pressure engines are in operation. In every branch of sanitary work Chicago
men have made most remarkable progress, until the question: Have the sanitary plumbing
and drainage ideas of Chicago tradesmen reached the acme ? may be seriously asked. An-
other system of disposing of the solids in sewage is incineration.
The garbage crematory on Seymour street and Grand avenue was completed in March,
1888, at a cost of $7,000. It is interesting simply on account of its capacity for accomplish-
ing good, because what is reduced to ashes therein, would otherwise be allowed to decay and
aid in spreading malaria if not pestilence. The building, or shed, covering the furnace, is
fifty-two feet and eight inches wide, ninety-one feet long, and twenty-eight feet and six inches
high. The foundation must be built in accordance with local requirements, but need not be
excessively heavy. On the foundation, sills, 8x10 inches, are laid. At each corner is an up-
right, 10x10 inches, there being two similar uprights on the ends, each seventeen feet and ten
inches from the corner. On each side there are five uprights, each 10x10, the two next the
corners being sixteen feet from the corner, the others fourteen feet and nine inches apart.
These are framed into a 10x12 floor plate and supported each side by 8x10 diagonal bracings.
In one end there are two doors, 4x6 feet, and in the sides are twelve windows, in two rows.
The sides are framed up with ordinary studdings and sheathed over with one-inch pine boards.
The flat roof is built by laying 3x12 joists on the 10x12 plates, and laying first a floor of
three-inch white pine, and then a floor on that of two-inch oak, laid in this case with a grade
of one in thirty-six. The roof, on which wagons loaded with garbage are driven for unload-
ing, is protected by a substantial railing built of 6x6 posts, 2x6 laterals, and a top rail of 3x8
white pine stuff. The chimney is in the center of the rectangular shed. At its base it is
twelve feet square, tapering in its hight of ninety feet about one inch in forty inches. The
inside of the shaft is four feet square. The shaft is of brick on a stone foundation. The
furnaces are located one to the north and one to the south of the chimney. But one furnace
will be described, as they are identical. The garbage furnace and the coal furnace are sepa-
rate, but connected. The garbage furnace is twenty-four feet and nine inches long by thirty-
five feet and nine inches wide, external measurements. The interior of the garbage-burning
chamber is twenty feet and one inch long by fourteen feet wide, and ten feet and ten inches
high at the side walls. This chamber is divided into two independent chambers by a seven-
teen-inch brick wall, extending from the bottom of the ash pit to the center of the main arch,
from which the arched tops of the two chambers spring. At the front of the garbage furnace
are three coal furnaces, four feet deep with an ash pit three feet high, and a fire-box twenty
inches high. The gr;rte bars for the garbage furnace have one and one quarter inch slots, are
six inches deep, and are supported by cast-iron beams, 2x8 inches by seven feet long set into
186 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
the masonry. The coal furnace is separated from the garbage furnace by a thirteen-iiich
bridge wall, leaving an opening at the back of the fire-box where the flame from the coal rolls
into the garbage chamber and over and through the garbage. The flame from the middle
fire-box divides and goes equally into each chamber. The fronts of the coal furnaces are
pierced with eighteen-inch fire and ash doors. In these a good coal fire is started, which fur-
nishes the combustion which, when added to the combustible material in the garbage, con-
sumes the whole. The garbage furnaces are built of brick, two eight-and-a-half-incli walls,
with an air space of two inches between being built on both sides and ends. Inside of
the inner wall, and forming the fire-box, is a nine-inch wall of fire-brick laid in fire-clay.
The arches are of common brick. Up to a level with the grate bars, the side and end walls
are built solid, twenty-eight inches thick, and above that level the air space is put in to pre-
vent radiation of heat. The bottom of the ash pit of the garbage furnace is made of two
layers of common brick laid on end in cement. The walls of the furnaces are held together
by twenty cast-iron binders, sixteen feet and two inches long, arranged so that the greatest
support comes opposite the thrust of the arches. These are tied by one-inch rods nineteen
feet and nine inches long with square nuts on both ends. The garbage grate bars are of
castiron, one inch wide, with a space of one and one-quarter inches between, so as to give
great draught, and are three feet and five and one-half inches long, made double. The grate
bars are set on IxO-inch cast-iron lateral beams, resting on six 2x8-inch cast-iron cross-beams,
seven feet long. The grate bars are so arranged that at the front end their top surface is
three feet above the floor of the ash pit, and at the rear end, next the chimney, it is four feet
and eight inches. This gives a rising inclination from the front to the rear. In the side of
the furnace are three series of doors. There are four doors to the ash pit, for the removal of
garbage ash. There are four doors, 18x22 inches, immediately above the ash doors, each
being level with the grate bars opposite its position. These are used to throw in fine garbage
and to punch up the burning garbage, and to rake ashes of that already burned down into the
ash pit. Still farther up, at a level with a floor to be hereafter described, are two larger
openings, twenty-five inches by three feet, into which large garbage is fed.
As stated before, the roof of the shed is of such construction as to permit wagons loaded
with garbage to lie driven on it. Apertures in the roof at ten points will permit the descent
of garbage and coal. Two of these are for coal, located where the chutes will deposit the
coal immediately in front of the coal furnaces on the ground floor. Eight are for garbage,
and have chutes which deposit the garbage on an iron floor built on both sides of the furnaces,
and eight feet from the lower floor. These apertures are provided with trapdoors so that
horses can not fall into them. The garbage falls upon an iron floor eight feet above the
ground level, and even with the feeding doors in the side of the furnace. Near by the end
of each of these eight chutes is wooden grating with bars one and one-half inches wide
witli one-inch space between. These gratings are 4x4^ feet square. Over these the
garbage is to be raked as it falls from the chute. The coarser garbage which does not
pass through the bars is fed into the upper doors of the furnace. The ashes and fine
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 187
garbage which pass through the grating fall upon an oscillating sieve geared just beneath
each grating. This sieve is eight feet long, four feet wide, and fourteen inches deep. Five
inches from the bottom is a wire netting with one-half-inch mesh made from No. 10 wire.
The upper portion of the sieve will retain the smaller garbage, while the lower portion will
receive the ashes. The sieve, by its throw, will deposit the small garbage on one side of a par-
tition, to te fed into the furnace doors on a level with the grate bars, while the ashes will fall
on the other side of the partition and be taken away. The eccentric which operates this sieve
h;is an eight-inch throw, and has one hundred and twenty revolutions a minute. It is geared
to a shaft which is operated by a small steam engine located in one corner of the building.
In connection with sewer construction the drain tile or drain pipe plays a most important
part. Only the main sewers of this city are set in brick, so that the tile pipe "horas du
immense constructional as well as economical position. Drain tile absorbs at, njrigjent
amount of labor and capital, especially in the western states. It had its origin most marked
in the first century of the Christian era. Calumella, a Roman contemporary with the philos-
opher Seneca, in the reign of Nero, treats at length and with fullness, not inelegantly, of the
cultivation of all kinds of gram, garden vegetables, trees, the vine, olive and other fruits.
He gives directions for selecting farms, the management of servants and slaves. He himself
lived in Rome most of the time, but owned a small villa and farm in the country. He
advanced the idea of loosening the soil in various ways by cultivation, and to quote his
words, he says, "For to cultivate is no other thing but to loosen and ferment the earth; there-
fore the same laud which is both fat and loose and crumbling yields the greatest profit,
l>ecause at the time it yields the most it requires the least." He speaks of the different kinds
of soil, whether it be woody, stony or marshy land covered with rushes, fern plants or shrubs.
He says if it l>e wet let the abundance of moisture be first drained or dried up by ditches
of these we have known two kinds blind and open. Then he descrites the manner in which
the blind ditches were made with stone and clean gravel, but if these were not obtainable to
make bundles of brush tied together, on which were laid boughs, over which the earth was
thrown, leaving the ends open for the free passage of water both in and out. Thus it can be
seen that they had some knowledge of the benefit of under-drainage as far back as the begin-
ning of the Christian era. There is no record of the Romans using drain tile for draining
laud, but the same author speaks of the use of earthen pipe to convey water to cisterns, as
follows: "But if these also fail you and the small hopes of spring- water force you, let large
cisterns be built for men, and ponds for cattle, for gathering and keeping rain-water, which
is most proper and suitable for the health of the l)ody, and this you may have exceedingly
good if you convey it in earthen pipes into a covered cistern."
The manufacture of drain pipes is in itself an interesting study. The material of which
the pipes are made is composed of three ingredients two kinds of clay and a sand and clay
mixed. The first is a very strong clay obtained from brickyards. It underlies the clay of
which bricks are made. The second is a strong, clay containing a red coloring matter. The
third ingredient is a material composed of fire-clay and sand. These ingredients are mixed
L
188 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
in the proportion by measurement of two parts of the strong clay first mentioned, one part of
the clay containing the red coloring matter, and one part of the fire-clay and sand. Made in
these proportions, the mixture is placed in the wet-pan, where water is added. The wet-pan
is a shallow, circular iron pan, in which the clays are crashed and mixed by two iron wheels,
following each other on edge around the pan, driven by a horizontal axle attached to a ver-
tical shaft. This pan is placed on the ground floor. After the materials are properly mixed
this clay is turned by a suspended shovel into the buckets of the elevator, which are at-
tached to an endless band, in which it is raised to the third floor of the building. Projecting
from the third floor toward the second is the casting which contains the iron mold for the
pipe. Into this the clay from the wet-pan is thrown, and an iron plunger, moved by the
piston of a steam cylinder, which piston is attached to the upper end of the plunger rods,
descends vertically, compressing the clay in the mold below.
After the clay is thoroughly compressed in the mold, an iron table under the mold,
attached to the upper end of a piston passing below the second floor, and forming, as it
were, the bottom for the mold, descends with the pipe standing upon it, The alternate up-
ward and downward motions of the piston which moves the plunger, and the piston which
moves the table, are controlled by the operator on the second floor, where the pipes are
removed from the mold. Pipes under five inches in diameter are, when taken from the
mold, immediately removed to another part of the second floor, where they have placed in
them a wooden frame of the proper length, to which their ends are trimmed off and then
smoothed with leather. As those over five inches in diameter come from the mold, they
immediately have their spigot ends trimmed off, and are then taken by an elevator to the
first floor, where their ends are finished up. These, with the smaller pipes from the second
floor, are placed on end on the drying floor of the first story of the building, where they
remain from three to six days, when they are ready for burning. Branches are made by
placing the branch piece, while damp, upon the main pipe, and then trimming and shaping
them. Traps are formed by hand in plaster of Paris molds, which are made in halves,
dividing lengthwise. The walls of the kilns are of brick, and are thirteen inches in thick-
ness. The kilns are circular, the largest being, inside, twenty-two feet in diameter, and eight
feet high to the square, surrounded by a dome. The kiln is filled with pipes from the
drying floor, placed on end. It is fired from eight fire-places at equal distances round the
kiln. Gas coal is used. Inside the products of combustion pass through short vertical
stacks toward the top of the kiln, whence they are beaten back among the pipes, and finally
escape through a flue built around the kiln, near the bottom, and pass in an underground
flue to the stack. At the proper stage of burning, which is ascertained by small test pieces
of clay, which may be drawn and examined, the attendant passes three times around the kiln,
and each time throws into each fireplace a shovelful of common salt. By this means the
pipes are glazed. After the sealing of the kiln, three days are required in which to tire up
and burn, and three more in which to cool off and remove the pipes, which an- inspected
and are then ready for market.
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 189
GENERAL SANITARY DRAINAGE.
in the systems of city and house drainage has been described and statis-
tics have teen given. The ultimate disposal of this sewage will now be considered.
As has been already shown, Chicago river and its branches formed the main recep-
tacle or reservoir of Chicago sewage up to 1859. In 1848 the canal was completed and the
pumping establishment at Bridgeport established. The water level of the lake was eight
feet l)elow the old summit level of the canal, and to provide a cheap feeder two engines, with
a capacity of seven thousand cubical feet per minute, were placed at its head to pump feed
water from the Chicago river. The idea of draining this city southward was not entertained,
and there is no record of the effect which the removal of seven thousand cubical feet per min-
ute had on the current of the South branch or of the main river. Even in 1855 the architect
of the sewerage system did not look beyond the lake and river for an outlet, for he suggested
that water from the canal or the Desplaines should be pumped into the South branch and
thus create a current which would carry with it, into the lake, the accumulating refuse in the
river. The freshet of 1856 accomplished this without machinery, and eighty-four thousand
of the total number of inhabitants eighty-four thousand one hundred and thirteen were
satisfied with themselves, the river and the new sewers. During the ensuing few years the
increase in population was very marked, even as the growing offeusiveness of the river was.
This led to an arrangement with the canal trustees to increase the capacity of their pumps
and to become, in fact, the great scavengers of the time. Chicago paid for this service from
1859 to 1871.
Meantime great expectations were harlxjred by the people, for the act of 1865, author-
izing the deepening of the summit level of the canal, was in force, and the workmen busy on
a work which many lielieved to be full of promise. In 1865 Chicago appropriated $2,500,(HM>
to be applied toward deepening the Illinois and Michigan canal, one of the objects being to
reverse the flow of sewage. The work of deepening \v;is completed in July, 1871, and for
a season a clear river and prospect of health were placed before the citizens. As days grew
apace such signs l)ecame feeble indeed, the growls of the inhabitants of the Desplaines valley,
in Cook and Will counties, louder, and the calls for a ship canal more fervent and emphatic.
The great fire settled temporarily everything connected with sewage, but in July, 1872, a
190 INDUSTRIAL CHIOAGO:
population of three hundred anil sixty-seven thousand three hundred and ninety-six revived
the old cry for a clean river and pure water. A few years later the Fullerton avenue conduit
was brought into existence, with the object of cutting off the sewage of that section of the
city and driving it into the lake, far above the point where it might pollute the water in the
vicinity of the crib. In 1881 the legislature authorized the city to construct pumps, at the
head of the canal, with a capacity of sixty thousand cubical feet per minute. This was
accomplished in 1883-4, and a modus vivendi between the river and the citizens established.
The plan was further improved in 1885, when the pumps at Fullerton avenue were reversed,
so as to drive thirteen thousand and forty-eight cubical feet of lake-water into the North
branch and create such a current as would send the water and refuse past the confluence with
the main river, into the South branch and thence to the pumps at Bridgeport.
The Tribune, in a very able editorial refuting the false statements made regarding the
cost and prospective benefits of the proposed general drainage plan, deals with the deep cut
of 1865 historically:
"In 1805 the city was authorized to deepen the Illinois and Michigan canal, so that the
sewage which had been flowing into the lake and poisoning the drinking water might flow off
southwestwardly by gravity. The cost of that work was $3,500,000. The money was raised
by selling seven per cent, bonds a little below par. The yearly interest charge on those Ixmds
was $245,(XK). The population at that time was a little under two hundred thousand. The
interest charge per capita, therefore, at the time when the city began on what seemed then a
big undertaking was about $1.25. Rates of interest have 'dropped since 1865. The city or
the drainage district can get what it needs now for four per cent. Suppose that the latter
should issue $25,0(X),000 in bonds, sold at par or above, to raise the money to cut the big
channel. The yearly interest charge would be $1,000,000. But the population is one milion
two hundred thousand, so the annual interest bill per head would be but a shadow over eighty
cents. For while the gross interest charge of 1891 would be four times that of 1805, the
population is six times as great. If the little city of a quarter of a century ago could enter
boldly on a work which required each of its citizens to pay $1.25 a year shall the metropolis
of to-day, the second city in the country, shrink back from an enterprise which will call on
eacli of its citizens for only eighty cents a year?
" It was fortunate that the city had the courage to make the deep cut of 1 805. But for
that it would have been smothered long ago in its own filth. Capital and labor would have
shunned it, and it would not have grown to be larger than Milwaukee. That three-and-a-half-
million investment it seemed a huge sum then was a wise one. Down the shallow cut
made with that money a steady though small stream of diluted sewage has gone to the Illi-
nois, and the water supply of the city has been saved from pollution except on rare occasions.
Had a little more money been spent, the relief would have been even greater. The engineers
who planned the deep cut gave it a fall of only an inch and a tenth a mile, equal to a current
of two-thirds of a mile an hour. They said that if the current were made stronger an extra
mule would be needed for every canal boat coming this way and that of course would not
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 191
do. They were told that tugs would supplant mules speedily as was the case but they
knew too much to believe that and hence gave the canal a fall of only thirty-three inches to
Joliet, whereas, had they given it one of thirty-six inches more, or sixty-nine inches, the greater
force of the current would have carried off most of the lighter material, which, owing to the
more languid flow, was deposited in the bed of the canal. The trustees never dredged it out,
and about two feet of the bed of the ditch has been filled up, thus depriving Chicago of so
much water space which it had paid for. From the great good which this little, faultily con-
structed ditch did, it is easy to form an idea of the immense good which will be wrought by
the great channel it is proposed to cut, which will settle the sewage-disposal question for all
time, let the population increase as it may, and will give the city pure water through the un-
ending years. And it will be a less formidable job to tackle than the one which the city began
so pluckily in 1805."
This is the system of general drainage which obtains here now and will obtain until the
new system, described hereafter, is in operation. On the present plan vast sums of money
have been expended. The best pumping machinery known, and the highest engineering
ideas have been requisitioned; but still dissatisfaction exists. Under certain circumstances,
which arise too often, dangers of a most startling character threaten the city. The health of
the citizen is placed at the mercy of every adverse wind, every Desplaines flood, or every
mysterious recession of the lake waters. When the direction of the wind current is other-
wise than due west, i. e., blowing from the lake, the vacuum created by the pumps at Bridge-
port is not sufficient to exert such influence on the waters of the main river and branches as
to check the natural flow into the lake. In the event of a freshet in the Desplaines valley
the pumps are valueless; for, as stated in the Cullotcn paper, it is invariably the case that
the country on the line of the Desplaines river, from the city line, all along the river valley
from twelve to twenty miles distant, is entirely submerged, the water often covering an area
of twenty or thirty square miles. In the vicinity of Twenty-second street, during a heavy
freshet, the water in the South branch not infrequently rises six or eight feet, while in the
basin of the main river, north of Van Buren street, the rise is generally from eighteen inches
to two feet. During the prevalence of a freshet continuing two or three days, not less than
one hundred and fifty thousand cubic feet of water a minute empty from the Desplaines into
the South branch of the Chicago river. The flow of water from the Desplaines river is much
greater now than in former years, primarily because of the clearing up and ditching of
swampy land. To guard against these overflows the city constructed a dam, but, notwith-
standing the existence of this dam, it was found, at one of the above freshets that the Des-
plaines river was so swollen that one hundred and twenty-five thousand cubic feet of water a
minute found its way over the top of the dam into the Chicago river, while the volume of
water coming down the North branch was twenty-seven thousand cubic feet a minute, causing
a rise in the main river of nearly two feet. Yet this fall of water was only about one-half
the quantity which usually enters the city during the hight of flood season. At such times
every effort of engineering skill and mechanical invention has thus far proved inadequate to
193 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
cope with the action of the refractory elements, and the entire body of water in the main
branches and tributaries is swept into the lake. A lowering of the lake level under its mys-
terious law brings about the same result, so it may be stated that the sewage of a great city
flows into the lake during the greater part of each year.
The effect of the winds and of rainfall on the level of the lake and river is statistically
treated in the first chapter of this volume. The lowering of barriers at Fort Gratiot, the St.
Clair flats, or at Niagara, would, of course, cause the lowering of the lakes. A report quoted
by the Morning Press, Grand Rapids, Mich., in August, 1891, that the level of Lakes Michi-
gan and Huron is now several feet lower than it used to be, and claiming that this low level
has come with the deepening of the channel through the St. Clair flats was noticed, editorially
by the Chicago Tribune on August 24, 1891. It asks if it te true that the rainfall upon the
watershed of the great lakes has Ijeen less for the last five years than formerly, and hints that
if not, the cause must be found in the deepening of the water on the St. Clair flats. The
report says: "It is hard for the public to understand why a deepening of the drain between
Lake Huron and Lake Erie should not have the effect of lowering the level of Lakes Huron
and Michigan. It is folly for the government to l)e spending millions of dollars deepening
harbors from Chicago to Port Huron while the water of the lakes is being drawn off by
dredging the St. Clair flats." This is a matter of great importance, riot only of itself, but in
its bearings upon the proposed Chicago drainage channel. It is asserted by General Poe that
the operations of the government at the flats are not of sufficient magnitude to affect the level
of the lakes, which lie attributes to a lessened rainfall. His view of the case is fully borne out
by the fact that it averaged nearly one inch per month less than that for the next preceding
group of five years. If the same be true at all other points in the region tributary to the two
lakes named, and it may be so assumed in the absence of knowledge to the contrary, the
striking fact is amply sufficient to account for the difference in lake level, and there is no
occasion to drag in the dredging work on the St. Clair flats or elsewhere to explain it. In
this connection it may be stated that expert computation gives about four inches as the niaxi
mum depression in the surface level of Lake Michigan that can occur from the cutting of the
drainage channel to the extreme depth named in the law.
When the revival of 1881-2 brought thousands to Chicago, and suburban towns sprung
into existence, the general drainage question assumed an importance never hitherto attached
to it. In November, 1884, the Citizens' association offered a $500 prize for the best practical
essay on the main drainage, sewerage and water-supply system of the city. In 1885 the
association considered the effects of the flood waters of the Desplaines and North branch on
the lake water, and presented a plan not only for diverting such water from the lake, but for
leading them to the Illinois river. On January 27, 1886, the council authorized the mayor to
appoint a drainage and water-supply commission. This commission organized in March,
that year, and in January, 1887, submitted a formal report which was followed on July 1,
1887, by the more elaborate report of the engineers on providing temporary relief.
The report to the old city drainage commission, made July 1, 1887, by Rudolph Hering
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 193
on the Okokie cut-off suggested the expenditure of $3,348,617. The report is interesting iu
many ways, not the least being the wide difference of opinion on the usefulness of such a
channel :
" As a part of the final project to dispose of the Chicago sewage into the Illinois river, it
was recommended that hereafter no more flood-water should pass into the lake through the
Chicago river, and thus periodically endanger the water supply. This flood- water, which
comes partly from the North branch and partly from the Desplaines river through the Og-
den-Wentworth ditch, can be otherwise disposed of. Sufficient capacity can be provided for
it in the proposed channel to the Illinois river, or it can be diverted into Lake Michigan be-
fore it becomes polluted by its passage through the city. The latter disposition is advised for
the following reasons:
"It is less expensive. To conduct the flood-waters southward without danger of backing
out into Lake Michigan will add not less than $5,000,(M)0 to the cost of the main channel. A
discharge of the entire Desplaines flood-water down the proposed main waterway below
Summit will, at times, greatly diminish the amount of water which it will draw from the
Chicago river. In extreme cases the flow from the latter river would cease entirely or be re-
versed, and a stagnation of its polluted waters or even their discharge into the lake would
occur. During a flood, such as took place in 1881, this condition would have held for more
than a week, and one-half the capacity of the channel would have been useless during two
weeks more. In 1885 only fifty to eighty per cent, would have been available for a period of
three to four weeks. The diversion of the flood-waters into Lake Michigan will secure a re-
duction of the fluctuations of the water-level in this channel and in the river below, and thereby
cause less damage in flood times. By thus giving it a more constant flow, the channel will
be made more suitable for purposes of navigation, an advantage of some moment, when con-
sidering its future prominence as a waterway connecting the Mississippi river with the lakes.
" The diversion project provides a new inlet for vessels to the North branch docks. Inci-
dentally, it furnishes an opportunity for maintaining fixed bridges across a portion of the
river. By a similar channel from the Stock Yards eastwardly to Lake Michigan or southerly
to Lake Calumet the bridges can be closed throughout the central part of the city, thus pro-
viding a satisfactory solution of this important question. It will reduce the low water level
of the North branch at Bowmanville some three feet, and high water about ten feet, and
thereby cause a material benefit in providing better drainage facilities for the territory lying
south of this point, and, also, for the flat and low area extending toward Evanston. It will
furnish a channel from which the lake water may be drawn to flush the North branch much
more thoroughly than is possible by means of the Fullerton avenue conduit, the capacity of
which is at present insufficient to secure adequate cleansing, although the amount of sewage
discharged into the river has not yet reached one-half its ultimate amount; the extension of
dockage above Fullerton avenue toward Bowmanville and the probable construction of sewers
will demand a circulation which this conduit can not provide. The Fullerton avenue con-
duit may then be used as a water-supply tunnel for pumping works, furnishing the northern
194 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO :
and northwestern parts of the city, Lake View and Jefferson with water, and, as such, will
be worth fully fifty per cent, of its original cost.
"During the year that must necessarily elapse before the completion of the main water-
way, the diversion of the Desplaines river and North branch as proposed will be benefi-
cial for the following reasons: It will permit the building of a dam across the Desplaines
valley at Summit, and thus render it possible tx> control the flood waters to the extent of their
entire exclusion from the Chicago river. To build this dam without first building a diversion
channel is not practicable. After the diversion channel is built, the floods of the Desplaines
and the North branch will no longer wash the sewage through the Chicago river into the
lake. The intakes for the water supply can then be safely placed at a much less distance
from shore than is otherwise admissible, and will, therefore, cause a reduction in the cost of
the tunnels. When capacity and head remain constant, the cost increases in a much greater
ratio than the length, on account of the necessity of increasing the size, and the greater diffi-
culties and risks in construction. The sanitary condition of the Chicago river will be im-
proved, because canal pumps can draw through it a greater quantity of water from the lake
for diluting the sewage than under present conditions, as the Desplaines river occasionally
supplies the pumps by way of the Ogden-Wentworth ditch and West forks. Before it is
practicable to excavate the proposed waterway to Joliet, in an expeditious manner, the flood-
water will have to be controlled and excluded as much as possible. The diversion channel
north of the city and sluices placed in the proposed dam at Summit will accomplish this, and
their construction should, therefore, be completed before the other work is done.
"The proposed disposition of the flood-waters will not cause an injury to any vested
rights along the stream. The Desplaines diversion, as proposed, does not imply that here-
after there will be an entire cessation in the flow below the point where it is diverted. The
ordinary flow, such as obtains at least eight months in the year, will not be changed at any
point. During floods the quantity of water passing between the point of diversion and River-
side will be materially reduced to the benefit of this portion of the river. As the bill author-
izing the Desplaines and North branch diversion has now become a law, it is deemed impor-
tant to proceed with the execution of the work at the earliest possible moment, because the
territory through which the proposed channel is carried is rapidly building up, and property
is increasing in value.
" As a result of the investigation, it has been concluded that the channel from the Des-
plaines to the North branch should be given a capacity of ten hundred thousand cubic feet
per second, with a mean velocity of five feet, or a section of two thousand square feet, and the
channel from Norwood Park to Lake Michigan a capacity of twelve thousand cubic feet per
second, the section from Bowmanville to the lake to be two hundred and ten feet in width and
eighteen feet in depth below city datum. The 'distance from the Desplaines to the lake is
eleven and three-quarters miles. Norwood channel, the channel of diversion, will start at the
Desplaines river, three and three-fcrarths miles, by the course of the river, below the village
of Desplaines, and at the first easterly bend above the south line of the town of Maine, in sec-
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 195
tiou thirty-four. The center line of the channel will continue the course of the river above
this bend by an easy curve to a line parallel to and two hundred feet north of the township
line between Maine and Niles on the north and Leydeu and Norwood Park on the south, un-
til the valley of the North branch be reached, at a distance of nineteen thousand four hundred
feet, or three and seven-tenths miles. A strip, four hundred feet wide, and bounded by the
township line on the south, will be required for right of way. The proposed channel of
diversion is designed to carry ten thousand cubic feet per second from the Desplaines with-
out sensibly altering the hight due to a flood of that volume. This channel will conduct
floods of any other hight without materially changing their level. Ordinary floods are less
than that of 1887, and do not reach a damaging hight.
" The velocity in great, and unusual floods will be five feet per second, giving a cross-
section of two thousand square feet. An economical section for this channel will have a depth
of sixteen feet, a bottom width of one hundred feet, and side slopes of three horizontal to two
vertical. The width at the flood line will be one hundred and forty-eight feet. The maxi-
mum depth of cut at the summit will be fifty-seven feet, or forty feet above the flow line, and
the greatest width will be two hundred and seventy-one feet. The flow line will lie sufficient-
ly below the general level of the prairie and the bluff level of the Desplaines at the west end.
It will lie above the prairie level for about two thousand feet at the east end, where it will be
retained by broad levees of from one to seven feet in hight. This will not interfere with the
natural drainage of the prairies. The valleys of the North branch and Desplaines will
furnish ample facilities for spoil banks, which banks will be an improvement, rather than
otherwise, in raising the large areas to the general level of the surrounding country. The Des-
plaiues river dam will be simply an embankment raised to an elevation of fifty-five feet above
datum, or five feet above high water of 1881. About one-half mile from the head of the
diversion channel a low weir or ground sill will be placed with its crest about five feet above
the bed, or at such elevation as will cover the head of an iron pipe four feet in diameter lead-
ing down stream through the solid ground to the open channel of the Desplaines river. This
pipe may be set so as to carry about eighty cubic feet per second before water passes down
the channel of diversion, or, practically, as much water as flowed down the river nine months
of the year ending June 30, 1887. The low water in the fall of 1886 was four feet per second
at Riverside and was still less in the winter. In high water the capacity of the pipe will be
nearly twice that at low water. The drop or weir near the North branch is to be set at an
elevation of thirty-four feet above city datum and have a width of one hundred feet. The
depth thereon for the assumed flood will be nine feet. The total fall to high-water level in
the North branch will be approximately fifteen feet. Below the weir a tumbling bay will be
provided of sufficient depth to cushion the great mass of falling water.
"The length of the first reach from the weir west of Milwaukee avenue to the proposed
location of the first weir in the North branch will be seven thousand one hundred feet, or one
and one-third miles. It is proposed to excavate a section with a bottom width one hundred
and fifty feet U? a depth of twelve feet below the flow line and on a grade parallel thereto.
196 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO :
The route for this excavation is the center line of a belt four hundred feet wide, which belt
represents fairly the available width of the valley. Generally, the cut will be shallow. It
will be necessary to clear and grub the full belt of four hundred feet, which is now timbered,
and reduce projecting bluff spurs. This portion of the valley is exceedingly irregular, and
furnishes large areas for the deposit of spoil. No bridging is required, or is proposed, for
this reach. The second reach extends from the east line of section 5 to a point one- fourth
mile west of Western avenue at Bowmanville, a distance of twenty-three thousand one hun-
dred and fifty feet, or four and three-eights miles. The route follows the bed of the stream
to the Bowmanville bridge, thence easterly one-fourth mile north of Lawrence avenue. The
low- water line is twelve feet above datum at the upper end, descending to eight feet at the
east line of section 9, to seven feet at Crawford avenue, and to five feet at Bowmanville
bridge. The latter elevation is known to be affected by ice gorges. No weirs are proposed
in this reach. For four miles in the valley of North branch the same treatment is proposed
as described for the first reach. The bottom grade will be ten feet above datum at the weir
and descend at the rate of three feet per mile, or be two feet below datum at the Bowman-
ville bridge; thence the descent will be six feet to the end of this reach. An enlargement
of this channel accompanied by a reduction in flood hight will probably occur. If anything
is to be inferred from the Ogdeu-Wentworth ditch, the changes will occur slowly and not be
of an erratic character. In time it will be feasable to extend dockage throughout this
reach.
" The section from Bowmanville to Lake Michigan begins one-fourth mile west of West-
ern avenue, and continues in a straight line one- fourth mile north of Lawrence avenue to five
hundred feet beyond the shore line of the lake. The right of way will extend from the
south line of Webster avenue on the north to the north line of Tuttle street on the south, and
be, generally, five hundred feet wide south from the east- and- west line of Webster avenue.
Subdivisions and street lines may vary the right of way somewhat without affecting the lo-
cation of the channel. For instance, Argyle street, from Evanston road to the lake, will
give a less width on the north.
" It is proposed to dock and dredge a channel two hundred and ten feet wide and
eighteen feet below city datum. The cutting for about one-third of the distance will be
less than ten feet above datum, for another third, from fourteen to eighteen feet, and at
the highest point, on the Green Bay road, twenty-five feet. The cut will require side
slopes and a berme at dock level. A considerable portion of the material above datum
will be sand or soil. The balance of the cutting will probably be in clay. At the lake
end, a pier will extend five hundred feet on the north side, and to three or four feet depth
of water on the south. These piers are not intended to reach a navigable depth. To en-
tirely prevent the water of the Desplaines from entering the Chicago river by the Ogdeii-
Wentworth ditch will require a dam and levee nearly one mile long across the head of
Mud lake valley near Summit. The estimated cost of this work in Norwood Cut, three-
sevenths mile is:
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 197
Excavation, 3,543,123 yards at 25 cents $885,781
Structures, bridging, wire and pipe 102,700
Right of way and damages . . 76,000
- $1,064,481
" North branch improvement, five and three-quarters miles:
Excavation, 1,578,180 yards at 20 cents $315,636
Clearing and grubbing 10,500
Structures, bridging and wire 84,000
Right of way and damages 41,000
451,136
" Bowmauville cut, two and one-third miles:
Excavation, 3,716,5 r 5 yards at 15 cents $557,500
Docking and piers 205,000
Bridging 67,500
Right of way and damages . . . 250,000
1,080,000
Preliminary cut, Bowmanville to Belmont avenue 50,000
Dam and levee near Summit 50,000
Total $2,695,617
" The project of drainage via the Desplaines river, recommended in the preliminary re-
port, involves the extension of the western end of the South fork in a westerly and north-
erly direction to the Ogden-Wentworth ditch, and thence to the Summit. For the immediate
amelioration of the condition of the South fork until the final completion of the main canal,
it was also recommended that the western arm of the South fork be extended along its
proposed permanent line to the Illinois and Michigan canal, where a new pumping station was
to be built.
"The canal pumping-works were built in 1882 by direction of the legislature, which,
by a joint resolution passed in 1881, instructed the city of Chicago to build pumping works
to discharge sixty thousand cubic feet of water per minute into the canal, or so much there-
of as the commissioner should find the canal capable of carrying. The pumps, as built,
are fully able to discharge that amount of water when they are all running, but, as one
of the four separate machines is necessarily off duty a part of the time, it is customary to
run but three, which pump about forty-five thousand cubic feet of water per minute. The
canal by a nominal expenditure can be made to carry seventy-five thousand cubic feet per
minute, or thirty thousand cubic feet more than the usual amount. It is believed to be to
the sanitary interest of every one living along the canal and the Illinois river, as well
as to the commercial interests of navigation and manufacturing, to have more water sup-
plied to it, in accordance with the frequent demands of the state board of health.
" To build a channel from the Stock Yards to the canal, as recommended in the prelim-
inary report, will involve no new exercise of authority, as the city, with the concurrence of the
canal commissioners, possesses full power in the premises. As there is nothing temporary in
this plan except the pumping-works, and as further consideration of the question confirms the
commission in its previous conclusion, the recommendation is repeated that the western arm
of the South fork be extended along the most practicable route to a point on the canal north
198 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
of Thirty-ninth street and west of the Chicago & Grand Trunk railroad, and that pumping-
works be built near the canal with a total capacity of forty-five thousand cubic feet per min-
ute. There are no improvements on the proposed line. The channel will be ten thousand
five hundred and sixty feet, or two miles in length, and should be excavated to an average
depth of twelve feet below datum, and sixteen feet wide on the bottom, with side slopes one
and one-half horizontal to one vertical. Such a channel will carry thirty thousand cubic feet
of water per minute with no greater velocity than that existing in the Illinois and Michigan
canal. By selling permits to brickmakers, this channel can be widened and deepened in a
few years to any desired extent, and a revenue derived therefrom in the meantime. To keep
the eastern arm of the South fork in a sanitary condition it will be necessary to build an
intercepting sewer along its south side from Halsted street to a point on the west arm, so that
all sewage will be discharged into the current established by the pumps. Heretofore, various
other plans have been proposed for the purification of the South fork, the salient ones of
which are as follows:
" To build a conduit from the end of the slip at Halsted and Thirty-ninth streets diago-
nally across the city to Lake Michigan at about Thirty-third street, and to pump lake water to
the head of the slip or to pump river water therefrom to the lake, as occasion might require.
To build a conduit from the same point in the slip to the canal entrance at Bridgeport and
pump into the canal from the slip. To build a conduit from the west end of the South fork
to the canal and pump into the canal.
" The plan recommended is the third one, modified to conform to the complete plan of
drainage via the Desplaines river. The cost of improving the South fork, as herein recom-
mended, is estimated as follows:
Right of way $300,000
3,700 feet of intercepting sewer 23,000
460,000 cubic yards of excavation 115,000
Five highway bridges 25,000
Four railway bridges 20,000
Engine house, foundations and flumes 30,000
Pumps, boilers and connection complete 120,000
Improving canal 20,000
Total $ 653,000 "
This report was signed by Rudolph Bering, chief, and Benezette Williams and S. G.
Artingstall, consulting engineers. Subsequently the commission recommended the discharge
of sewage into the Desplaines near Lockport, through a wide, deep channel of six hundred
thousand cubic feet per minute, and the diversion of the flood water of the North branch,
Desplaines and Calumet into Lake Michigan. The old act to organize the city into a drain-
age district was approved June 6, 1887, but under it little was done and the act of May 29,
1889, was suggested.
The drainage act, approved May 29, 1889, and in force July 4, 1889, is necessarily
general in form, because the state constitution prohibits special legislation. It is, however,
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 199
specially applicable to the great Chicago project of opening an outlet for the waters of Lake
Michigan to the Desplaines and Illinois rivers, and through them to the Mississippi, for the
purpose of drainage and navigation. A synopsis of its provisions with particular reference to
this project is here presented. The title of the act is " An act to create sanitary districts and
to remove obstructions in the Desplaines and Illinois rivers, and the dams at Henry and
Copperas creek" The territory of any sanitary district must be contiguous, must lie within
the limits of a single county, and contain two or more incorporated cities, towns or villages.
Any five thousand legal voters resident within the limits of the proposed district may petition
the county judge to submit to the voters of the district the question of organizing the same
as a sanitary district under the act. The petition must contain a definite description of the
territory intended to be included, and the proposed name of the district.
It is made the duty of the county judge, upon the filing of this petition in the office of
the county clerk, to call to his assistance two judges of the Circuit court, these three, " to con-
stitute a board of commissioners, which shall have power and authority to consider the bound-
aries," of the district, "whether the same shall be described in such petition or otherwise."
At the meeting of this board, of which at least twenty days' notice must be given, all persons
in the proposed district shall have an opportunity to be heard touching the location and
boundaries of the same, and after the hearing the board shall determine the boundaries there-
of. This done, the county judge shall submit the question of organization to the voters of
the proposed district at an election to be held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in
November next ensuing, provided that twenty days' public notice of the election and its pur-
pose must be given. If a majority of the votes cast on that question shall be found in favor
of the proposal, "such proposed district shall thenceforth be deemed an organized sanitary
district under this act."
Next, it is made the duty of the county judge, upon such organization of the district, to
call an election to elect officers, giving due public notice thereof. These officers are to be
nine trustees, " who shall hold their offices five years and until their successors are elected
and qualified, except the term of office of the first trustees shall be until five years after the
first Monday in December after their election. The election of trustees, after the first, shall
be on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November in every fifth year. In all elec-
tions for trustees each qualified voter may vote for as many candidates as there are trustees to
be elected, or he may distribute his votes among not less than five-ninths of the candidates to
be elected, giving to each of the candidates among whom he distributes the same the same
number of votes or fractional parts of votes;" which seems to mean that the elector may divide
his nine votes equally among not less than five nor more than nine candidates. The trustees
are to choose a president from their own number, and may elect a clerk, treasurer and chief
engineer, to hold office during the pleasure of the board, and to give such bond as the board
may require. The board is to prescribe the duties and fix the compensation of all officers and
employes, provided that the president shall not receive more than $4,000, nor any other
member more than $3,000, nor any attorney more than $5,000 per annum. The board as a
200 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
body corporate is clothed with ample powers, which need not be described in detail, for the
purpose for which it is created. It will suffice for the present to say that besides providing
for the drainage of the district, the board may establish, lease and control docks adjacent to
any navigable channel made under its direction and control and dispose of any water power
which may be incidentally created in the construction and use of such channel or outlet, and
such channel or outlet may extend beyond the limits of the sanitary district. Among the
corporate powers is that of acquiring by purchase, condemnation or otherwise, all real and
personal property, either within or without the corporate limits, that may be required (printed
"acquired" in the bill) for its corporate purposes.
The corporation may borrow money or issue bonds therefor, but may not incur indebted-
ness in any manner or for any purpose in excess of five per cent, on the valuation of taxable
property therein, according to the last general assessment for state and county purposes pre-
vious to incurring the indebtedness, nor in excess of $15,000,000 in the aggregate. Upon
incurring any indebtedness, the board must provide for the collection of a direct annual tax
sufficient to pay the interest as it falls due, and also to pay the principal as it falls due, which
must be within twenty years from the time of contracting the indebtedness; but this annual
tax may be remitted to the extent that net earnings from water power and docks may suffice
to meet payments on account of interest or principal. The board may levy and collect taxes
for corporate puposes upon property within the limits of the district, but not to an amount in
any year exceeding one-half of one per cent, of the value of the taxable property within the
district as assessed and equalized for state and county taxes in the same year.
The board may also defray the expenses of any improvement which it is authorized to
make wholly or in part by special assessment, but no special assessment may be made upon
property outside of the district, " and in no case shall any property be assessed more than it
will be benefited by the improvement for which the assessment is levied. Any assessment
may be divided into not more than twenty equal annual installments, and deferred install-
ments shall bear interest at a rate not exceeding six per cent, per annum. Any one or all
of the installments may be paid at any time after the assessment is confirmed, with accrued
interest, if any, to the date of payment." The board may issue bonds or certificates to an
amount not exceeding eighty per cent, of deferred installments of any assessment, payable
only out of such assessment, and bearing interest at a rate not exceeding that upon such
installments, and the board may call in and pay these bonds or certificates as fast as money
is received into the treasury, which is applicable to that purpose.
Provision is made for payment for private property taken for the use of the corporation,
and for damages to real estate, by overflow or otherwise, within or without the district. Pro-
vision is also made for entering upon public property to the extent necessary for the purposes
of the corporation, and for the use of the Illinois and Michigan canal within the limits of
Cook county. The interests of private owners are guarded by a provision that " all damage
to property, whether determined by agreement or final judgment of court, shall be paid out
of the annual district tax, prior to the payment of any other debt or obligation."
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 201
The act provides that the channel to conduct the waters of Lake Michigan into the
Desplaines or Illinois river shall be of sufficient capacity to maintain a continuous flow " of not
less than three hundred thousand cubic feet of water per minute, and to be of a depth of not
less than fourteen feet, and a current not exceeding three miles per hour, and if any portion of
such channel shall be cut through a territory with a rocky stratum where such rocky stratum
is above a grade of sufficient capacity to produce a depth of water from Lake Michigan of not
less that eighteen feet, such portion of said channel shall have double the flowing capacity
above provided for" (that is, six hundred thousand cubic feet per minute), "and with a width
of not less than one hundred and sixty feet at the bottom capable of producing a depth of not
less than eighteen feet of water." Further, if the population of the district, together with
that of tributary drainage territory, if any, shall at any time exceed one million five hundred
thousand, the channel must be made and kept up to a capacity of not less than twenty thou-
sand cubic feet of water per minute for each one hundred thousand of population at a current
of not more than three miles per hour. And in case the general government shall improve
the Desplaines or Illinois river to a capacity of six hundred thousand cubic feet flow per
minute, the drainage district must enlarge the entire channel so as to give it the same
capacity at the same rate of flow. It must also remove the dams at Henry and Copperas
creeks, and may correct, modify and remove obstructions in the Desplaines and Illinois rivers
whenever it shall be necessary to prevent overflow or damage along said rivers, but may not
injure or destroy existing water power.
Before the water of Lake Michigan can be turned into the main channel, the work must
be inspected and approved as fulfilling the conditions and requirements of the act, by a board
of three commissioners to be appointed by the governor, all of whom shall lie residents of
different sections on the Desplaiues and Illinois rivers; their approval, however, to be subject
to the action of a court of competent jurisdiction. The commissioners can only apply for an
injunction to restrain the district board from turning the waters of the lake into the channel,
which the court may or may not grant. The act was approved by the people in November,
1889; the trustees were elected December 12 that year, and on February 1, 1890, completed
organization. The legality of the whole busiuess was questioned, but the Supreme court
was adverse to the questioners.
Opposition and uncertainty followed the new organization. The thoughtful citizen
viewed with alarm the summary powers of taxation bestowed upon the drainage trustees.
Others thought only of the general drainage system in connection with a great waterway
connecting Chicago with the Mississippi, while the other men of the community were con-
tent to mimic the Parisian system or the Pullman system and thus save millions for the city,
as well as avoid poisoning the waters of the Desplaines and Illinois rivers with the sewage of
Chicago. Within the tax-eating circle itself other troubles came up, and the servant of serv-
ants urged his own plans without regard to their utility or expense. The United States
engineers reported adversely, one or two of the trustees held aloof from the meetings of the
board and left the cool-headed president to hold the fragmentary elements together as best
202 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
he could. After the decision of the Supreme court the commission took on a new life,
and work was carried on in comparative harmony until the beginning of the winter of
1890-91 when the chief engineer was dismissed.
The dismissal of Engineer Cooley was followed, on December 11, 1890, by the dismissal
of W. M. Bees, T. T. Johnston, William T. Blunt, J. C. Des Granges and Henry A. Wilson,
chiefs of the various divisions or bureaus, and the appointment of the following named to fill
their places: G. E. Shuable vice Rees, John H. Spengler vice Johnston, August E. Gaus
vice Blunt, J. B. Nixon vice Des Granges and H. C. Clifton vice Wilson. The failure of
Engineer Cooley to present the report on " Federal relations" at a stated time was the given
cause for his dismissal, while sympathy for the chief engineer and refusal to obey the orders
of the trustees led to the dismissal of the department chiefs. The important report was
ordered to be made in the spring of 1890, the work being assigned to Cooley. The report
he was asked to prepare was one to be presented to congress, showing why it should appro-
priate the necessary money for the carrying out of the scheme a detailed statement show-
ing the relation of the government to the scheme of connecting, by a navigable waterway,
the great lakes and the Mississippi river. Up to December 11, 1890, this report was not pre-
sented by the engineer, who claimed that professional usage urged him to hold the report
until he considered it perfect in detail.
The engineer's report (Worthen's) of January 10, 1891, was in favor of the following
described route: "Beginning at the Bridgeport locks the line diverges in a northwesterly
direction to Mud lake. Thence it follows the line of the Ogden avenue ditch, sometimes
crossing it until Summit is reached. Then it bends toward the south, following the west line
of the Desplaines river to a point a little this side of the Sag. There it cuts through the
bed of the river and comes out about a mile this side of Lemont. From that point until it
terminates at Lake Joliet it runs along the west side of the river and parallel to its general
line, without, of course, following the curve. It crosses the bed of the river at two points
only a mile this side of Sag bridge and at Summit, where it cuts through the northern
branch." This is the true course of a channel to connect Lake Michigan with the Illinois
river; it is the old choice of the United States engineers, and the same as pointed out years
ago by John Dooliu, of Lemout, a man thoroughly acquainted with the country and its
conformation.
The alternative route commences at the end of the South branch of the South fork at
Ashland avenue, or thereabouts, and proceeds as the crow flies to the Desplaines river at a
point a few rods this side of the crossing of the river and what is known as the Chicago ter-
minal line. This route travels over a considerable length of rocky formation and bowlder,
and the cutting would be quite expensive. Along the first proposed route there need be no
rock-cutting until a little below Willow Springs. Then the rock-cutting will not extend over
half a mile, until Romeo is reached. There the limestone uplift commences and continues.
Until Willow Springs is reached the cutting is through mud, Ixjwlders, gravel, then again
bowlders, then again gravel. It will not be half as expensive as estimated. A connection
UK fi, ffliR 6
TflK GKKflT \OK'fflKK\ flOTKIi.
COMMERCIAL ARCHITECTURE.
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Of
THE BUILDINO INTERESTS. 203
between the southern line of the South fork and the main channel at a point between Brighton
Park and the crossing of the same channel by the railroad tracks is also proposed. This
branch will cleanse the South fork and furnish the water necessary to make the volume of
three hundred thousand cubic feet. He said further that the work would cost $24,500,000,
and that, too, on the assumption that the cut through the clay this side of Summit is made
eighteen feet deep at once, instead of making it fourteen, as the law allows, and then deepen-
ing it to eighteen at some later period. In order to comply with the law he favors a surface
section for the cutting nine hundred and eighty-three feet wide and eighteen feet of water.
The sides of the canal he would line with dry rubble stone.
Other reports followed; but the tenor of all was that the construction of a channel would
amount to over $20,000,000, and perhaps exceed $30,000,000.
Opposition to the drainage law was manifested immediately after the act was approved,
but did not take practical shape until January 17, 1891, when one hundred and fifty meml>ers
of the Hamilton club agreed to a report tendered by their committee on political action.
After recapitulating the " Act to create sanitary districts and remove obstructions in the Des-
plaines and Illinois rivers," the report says it was understood by the voters of the district and
the people throughout the state that the channel with its connections should form a continu-
ous navigable waterway from Lake Michigan to the Mississippi river. Apparently this idea
has l>een abandoned. The character of the drainage canal was predicated on the idea of a
navigable waterway, and it was assumed that the Federal government would assist, but no
greater assurances than a hope have been given, and the Federal engineers have reported
adversely. Even if the proposed improvements te made they would not l>e available for
general navigation, for the Mississippi at the mouth of the Illinois can not carry vessels draw-
ing more than five or six feet. As to the drainage feature the report says it is difficult to see
how a channel whose surface level is the same as the lake and the river is going to help the
condition of Chicago sewers. There would be no greater fall than now. The drainage law
provides that " all garbage, dead animals, and all solids shall l>e taken from sewage dis-
charged into the channel." If the sewage is purified before going into the channel what is
the use of the drainage channel ? Why should not the purified sewage flow into the lake,
especially when the water supply is drawn through the new tunnel ? But the water supply
is contaminated by sewers which empty into the lake. But these sewers follow the natural
drainage and can not l>e tapped in the rear. Neither is there any such provision in Engineer
Worthen's report to divert the sewage. The report alleges that no one can estimate the cost
of the waterway, and submits resolutions denouncing the drainage law as providing neither
for a waterway nor purer water supply; as creating an engine of taxation menacing property
interests and vesting in a special municipal body unwarranted and irresponsible powers, and
asks for the unconditional and total repeal of the law. After the reading of the report a
general discussion followed. The resolutions condemning the law wholly inadequate to its
purposes and calling for its unconditional and total repeal were stricken out.
George P. Engelhard delivered an address before the Hamilton club at that meeting,
M
204 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
entitled "Chicago and the national waterway." This address was founded on data contain-
ing an exhaustive report to congress by Captain Marshall, of the United States corps of
engineers to the valuable treatise on the "Lakes and gulf waterways," by L. E. Cooley, C.
E.; to Gordon H. Nott, C. E.; George W. Waite, C. E., and others.
" The site of present Chicago and the tributary territory was the field of one of the
most terrific and decisive combats ever waged by Nature's forces. In the pre-glacial period,
the lakes of Huron, Superior and Michigan found their outlet, not through the dreary wastes
of a northern clime to the Atlantic, but by the inviting shores of the present western
metropolis through the valleys of the Desplaiues and the Illinois, where it joined forces with
the Mississippi and swept majestically onward to the Gulf of Mexico. Then indeed did the
Chicago river divide honors with the St. Lawrence. No Canadian had then the hardihood to
assert undivided possession of the outlet waters of our inland seas, and sneer at the wretched
river poverty of the ancient denizen of Chicago. Assuming the presence of population and
civilization, we may picture a vast imperial city, the 'Constantinople of the continent,' the
ancestor of great Chicago, powerful in her wealth drawn from the fertile surrounding valleys
and renowned in her commerce which plowed not only the seas to the north and east, but the
imposing river which brought the treasures of the west and south. But this greatness was
destined to an interruption which already has spanned a long vista of centuries. The por-
tentous day arrived with the relentless advance of those Goths of the ice period, huge glaciers,
which crushed all animal and vegetable life, exterminated lakes and rivers, and even put to
torture and finally death the noble range of mountains which reared their crests from Lake
Superior to northern Indiana. Buried deep in this continental sepulchre of ice, the fiery
spirit of Chicago was for once subdued. For many years, good authorities place it as high
as forty thousand, she lay thus bound and nearly congealed. It was an ordeal which put to
a severer test her faith and recuperative powers than the cyclone of flame which swept over
her in later years. But the day of deliverance came at last; the elements relented; warmer
breezes began to hold sway, and the ice monster was driven slowly but surely backward.
But when the resurrected Chicago came forth, what a transformation had the glacial hordes
wrought! Hardly a vestige of the old landscape remained. The high-soaring Wabash arch
had vanished; ridges had become peaceful valleys; meadows rose into frowning hills; rivulets
thundered as appalling Niagaras; lakes had Ixjcome dry land and land had become water. But
to Chicago the most startling revelation was the divide which pierced the valley of the Des-
plaines, arrested the waters of the imposing outlet of the great lakes to the Mississippi, and
forced them back through the Mackinac and Detroit straits to swell the majesty of the St. Law-
rence. The great river to the Mississippi had disappeared. The Desplaines and Illinois rivers,
and a deserted, though clearly-outlined river bed across the divide, were the mute, sad remnants
of a once mighty waterway. Chicago now found herself on a level with the lake, surrounded
by bayous and lagoons, with here and there a mound of solid ground. The divide was
found to l>e an average of only six feet alwve the lake level, reaching its highest point alwut
fourteen miles from the lake, declining to lake level in thirty miles, near Lockport; and then
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 205
descending precipitously seventy-seven feet in ten miles to Joliet; ten feet more in two miles
beyond, and continuing the descent to a total of nearly one hundred and fifty feet to La Salle,
the head of river navigation, in a distance one hundred miles from Lake Michigan.
"The destruction of this pre-glacial waterway to the Mississippi, with its attendant con-
tinental transformations, has been the subject of fascinating study by geologists, engineers,
statesmen and others, for many years. The waters of the Atlantic meet those of Lake
Michigan by intervening lakes, rivers and canals. Restore the ancient outlet of Lake Michi-
gan; give back to the Mississippi its lost heritage, and the circuit of navigation between the
sealward, the lakes, the Mississippi and the Gulf will 'be complete. This is the daring and
startling challenge which modern enterprise hurls at the helmeted forces of glacial triumph.
Can it be possible that the mighty benefits to accrue to the nation and to the American
people from such restoration shall be much longer deferred ? The commerce of a continent
flows unimpeded from the Atlantic to the foot of Lake Michigan, where it is rudely stopped
and turned back by a paltry hundred miles which defy its rightful progress to the Father of
Waters. Shall this defiance silence the demands for a waterway, indispensable alike to the
proper defense of the nation in times of war, and to its highest prosperity in times of peace ?
Shall the greatest and wealthiest nation of modern times, with the genius of modern
engineering at its command, longer refuse to inaugurate a work destined to eclipse in the
sublimity of its results all former achievements of this or of other countries ? As was asked in
the course of an address by Governor Oglesby, at the waterway convention, 'does not the
national government know that it ought to own at least one through line of transportation f
Will not the national government come to feel that it would be a most expedient and judicious
thing for it to have unobstructed control of one waterway for commerce in this country that
might become the criterion for charges by other modes of transportation ? Can not the people
of New England and the East, as well as the people of the South and West, feel the impor-
tance of spending a few millions of dollars to open this waterway, so that commerce can go
by its own easy steps, and, when necessary, war vessels also?' The voice of patriotism as
well as of the gigantic agricultural and mercantile interests of the Mississippi valley cries
out against further .delay, and demands that a broad-minded, generous and intelligent policy
shall prevail, unencumbered by petty local interests, and controlled by no government save
that of the nation itself.
"The project is no new creation. Albert Gallatin, in 1804, directed attention to the
importance of uniting the waters of Lake Michigan and the Mississippi. Clinton and Morris,
in 1 824, eloquently set forth its advantages, two years Ixjfore the United States granted the
right of way for the Illinois and Michigan canal. The work was promptly undertaken by
the state of Illinois and the canal opened to navigation in 1849. It is nearly one hundred
miles long, six feet deep, sixty feet wide at surface, thirty-six feet wide at bottom and for a
distance of twenty-six miles has a summit level eight feet alxyve the lake. As a national
waterway it has IX.K.MI a sigiiiil failure, owing to the shallowness of the Illinois river, which it
was expected the general government' would improve adequately for general navigation. In
206 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO :
the hope that Congress would complete and enlarge the waterway, the state of Illinois, in
1882, tendered the canal to the United States, but Congress, on the advice of a Federal Ixrnrd
of engineers, declined to accept it, preferring, if it did anything, to utilize the Illinois river
for a waterway, rather than the canal between Joliet and La Salle. Complications with
Chicago's drainage problem were also feared, as the caual was the receptacle of a large
portion of the city's sewage.
"The Illinois and Michigan canal having proved so wofully inadequate to its purposes,
and having so grievously disappointed the hopes of its projectors, the old problem again
pressed forward, 'How shall the great national waterway become a fixed fact?' While rival
sectional interests were debating the question, Congress, on August 11, 1888, authorized the
secretary of war, ' for the purpose of securing a continuous, navigable waterway Ixstween Lake
Michigan and the Mississippi river, to make the proper surveys, plans and estimates for a
channel improvement of the Illinois and Desplaiues rivers from La Salle to Lockport, so as
to provide a navigable waterway not less than one hundred and sixty feet wide and not less
than fourteen feet deep.' The duty imposed by these plans and estimates was assigned by
General Casey, United States chief of engineers, to Capt. W. L. Marshall, the officer in charge
of the improvement of the Illinois river, whose report, dated February 28, 1890, is, beyond
question, the most exhaustive in its details of routes, surveys and estimates, and the most
complete in its information and all facts bearing upon the drainage subject, of all related
literature.
"In making provision for the surveys, Congress was, no doubt, influenced by petitions
from certain circles in Chicago, contemplating Federal cooperation in an ingenious scheme for
solving Chicago's sewage problem by floating the sewage on the national waterway. Captain
Marshall's report does not take kindly to the suggestion. The logic of its surveys, plans and
estimates, is a scathing arraignment of the proposed sewage highway, demonstrating not
only its impracticability and its utter absurdity, but also its ruinous consequences if
persisted in.
"'As the Illinois state law stands,' Captain Marshall declares, 'demanding a constant
discharge and unnecessarily great and expensive channels not demanded nor suitable for the
commerce to be subserved, a compliance with its terms does not seem advisable for the United
States. We find this proposed route,' he further remarks, significantly, 'instead of being
urged upon a purely national basis, encumbered with conditions that have no relation what-
ever to national ends or objects, but purely dependent upon local necessities for sewerage
and water supply as the real governing basis, while a great waterway is urged as a national
necessity to secure United States aid.' Engineer L. L. Wheeler, who was in immediate
charge of the surveys, is no less emphatic in his conclusions. Referring to the disadvantages
to navigation by the proposed sewer waterway through the Chicago river from the lakes h<>
says: 'The river is spanned by twenty -four bridges, all of the largest and costliest type. The
traffic over the bridges in the central portion of the city is enormous and the opening of one
of them interrupts street traffic for blocks away. The river is thronged with lake crafts of all
TUB BUILDING INTERESTS. 207
kinds Ixith day and night, and the bridges require to be constantly on the swing to permit
their passage. At certain hours of the day. however, the pressure of street traffic becomes so
great that the bridges are not opened at all, and vessels must wait at their docks or in the
harbor until the bridges can be opened. In order to make a waterway one hundred and
sixty feet wide through the Chicago river to Bridgeport suitable for Mississippi river steam-
boats it would lie necessary to reconstruct twenty bridges, at an estimated cost of $2,250,000,
and to acquire three hundred and twenty-five thousand square feet of ground, the estimated
value of which is $450,000 and to construct eleven thousand five hundred linear feet of new
dock, at an estimated cost of $172,500. To these amounts would have to be added $165,000
for excavation and a large amount for land damages, which it would be impossible to esti-
mate.' These facts, Mr. Wheeler concludes, would, 'forbid this route as an outlet to the
lake,' and all other proposed routes within the old city limits are ' no less objectionable.'
Even with a width of one hundred and sixty feet, however, navigation in a current of three
miles per hour and a stream but one hundred and sixty feet wide would be fraught with
extremely hazardous consequences to the numerous river vessels of a length double the width
of the channel. The rapid current required by the drainage act for purposes of drainage is,
moreover, as Captain Mashall points out, irreconcilably hostile to the conditions of safe and
efficient river navigation. Following the demonstrated facts and disinterested arguments in
this, as in all former reports to Congress on the subject, and guided by the investigations and
judgment of scores of other engineering experts for the state and city, the nation will unques-
tionably (uuless balked by the Chicago drainage absurdity) soon stand committed to the
project of a pure and independent national waterway, but never to a scheme which would
degrade the majestic enterprise to a mere sewer outlet for Chicago, in violation of every
law of decency, of sanitary science and of sound economics.
"Let us review briefly the development of the Chicago sanitary district, and the colossal
folly which prompted its formation. Finding the general government indisposed to take
immediate action, but disposed rather to avoid the Chicago river route altogether, the pro-
jectors bethought themselves of a plan whereby the city of Chicago, single-handed and alone,
should undertake, at her own expense, the construction of a waterway for the state and
nation. The idea was fascinating. Long had learned sanitarians wrestled with the perplex-
ing problem of the disposal of the city's sewage; long had certain enthusiasts dreamed of
Chicago sitting enthroned at the head of a mighty river which linked the destinies of a conti-
nent. Could not the problem of the dream be happily combined and the drainage and the
waterway project be pushed forward to joint completion ? As the thought progressed, the
estimates of cost gradually contracted, while the advantages rapidly expanded. A committee
was finally appointed which reported in favor of a waterway one hundred and sixty feet wide
and eighteen feet deep from Lake Michigan through the Chicago river to Joliet. Into this
Danube of the West, Chicago could turn all her sewers, thus promoting, it was urged, the
health of all her inhabitants and those of the farms, towns and cities located along the banks
of the stream, Such an undertaking would cost, at the modest estimate of its promoters, not
208 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
less than $20,000,000. The indebtedness of Chicago was already $13,000,000 $5,000,000
in excess of the constitutional limit of five per cent. How then was the money to be raised?
None could be borrowed, and the current municipal expenses consumed all the annual taxes
of the full constitutional limit.
" It was at this critical point a fertile brain evolved the idea of a separate and independ-
ent drainage municipality for Chicago, with separate and independent taxing powers whereby
the bonded indebtedness of the territory comprised in the limits of the city might be doubled.
This was in plain violation of the spirit of the constitution, but, once seized by the ship-canal
fascination, considerations of fact, law and equity lost all force. The next step was to
embody the ideas in a draft of a bill, which was duly presented to the last Illinois legisla-
ture, backed by a lobby of unprecedented size and of all degrees.of persuasiveness, plasticity
and unscrupulousness. The towns along the route of the proposed canal, and in the tributary
valleys, made the most of their opportunity. They demanded everything as the price of
their support. Amendments were fired at the bill from all quarters of both legislative
branches. Chicago yielded point after point. Several city representatives were disposed to
protest, but the lashings of the city press and the curses of the ravenous spoilsmen who
swarmed about the capital, preserved an unbroken front for the Chicago contingent. There
was great rejoicing when the bill finally passed. Then began the process of suburban annexa-
tion, to fortify the conspiracy against independent municipal action by any portion of the
proposed district. Annexation accomplished, the next step was to make sure that opposition
to the creation of the district was disarmed in advance. A joint session of the central com-
mittees of both the great political parties was called; arrangements for the election were
perfected, and an agreement entered into to print on the ballots only the affirmative proposi-
tion. The proposition, as a matter of course, carried quite unanimously. Thus far the
drainage coterie had won an uninterrupted series of triumphs. They had successfully duped
the legislature, the people of Chicago and the party representatives; but, strange to relate,
in the nominating conventions for drainage trustees, they found themselves unable to dictate
the nominees. The republican convention named republicans, and the democratic convention
named democrats, utterly ignoring the demands of the now arrogant drainage leaders. In
their dilemma, they deserted their dupes, called themselves together, patched up a so-called
'citizens' ticket,' and on election day again came forth triumphant. It was a brilliant fight
and a famous victory; but in their subsequent calculating moments the people of Chicago
began to investigate the real meaning of the drainage act, the actual powers vested in the
drainage board, and the probable consequences of the affair to themselves as citizens and tax-
payers.
" The avowed purposes of the drainage act were: First, to enable Chicago to maintain a
pure water-supply by diverting all sewage from the lake; second, to provide a means for the
most rapid and effective disposal of all the city's sewage, and, third, to authorize the construc-
tion of a channel adapted to the demands both of an adequate sewage outlet, and of a great
navigable waterway to the Mississippi. If the facts shall justify the conclusions that the
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 209
vast undertaking l>ears no necessary relation to the problem of pure water; that for purposes
of drainage it would prove utterly useless, or, at best, but a half-way and temporary expedi-
ent, and that, finally, if, instead of providing a great waterway to the Mississippi, it would
tend to obstruct, jeopardize and defeat the successful prosecution of this sublime project,
would it not be patriotic and wise to call a halt without further delay ?
" The importance of a thorough system of sewerage to every community, and particu-
larly to large cities, is impossible of exaggeration. It is more closely related to the health
and the lives of the people than any other department of the government service. Pure
water and perfect sewerage are the vital factors in the physical life of a city. Impure water,
or imperfect sewerage, is certain to result in extreme prevalence of disease and a high death-
rate at all times, with periodical ravages of frightful epidemics. The question of a pure-
water supply has therefore engaged the earnest attention of all well-governed cities, and, to
the credit of Chicago be it said, no other city has given the subject more conscientious
thought. Lake Michigan furnishes, practically, the entire water supply of Chicago. The
supply for the recently annexed j>ortiou of the city on the north is to be from a point located
nearly two miles out in the lake; that for the towns of Lake and Hyde Park is from the
Hyde Park crib, located one mile from shore, and that for central Chicago from a point two
miles from shore. A new water tunnel is now being constructed, which will supply the city
from a point four miles from shore. The low death rate of Chicago, as compared with cities
against the purity of whose water supply no suspicion can exist, proves that the reports
alleging serious contamination of our drinking water by sewage, are either gross exaggera-
tions or pure fabrications. The new four-mile tunnel inlet was located after an exhaustive
series of observations by the city engineering department, with especial reference to the
direction of the lake currents, and thus to the avoidance of contaminated lake water. With
this precaution, and with the vast diluting and oxidizing forces of the lake, it may be safely
asserted that the new service will supply the city with as nearly pure water as the lake affords
anywhere; but even should this be denied, the fact still remains that purity of water is simply
a question of distance of the supply from shore, and that this question is one merely of
thousands of dollars, where that of a drainage channel is millions. And here we note, in
passing, the strange contradiction involved in the construction of a channel at a cost of mill-
ions, designed to keep the lake perfectly free from sewage, and in the location of a tunnel
four miles out at a cost of hundreds of thousands, when a half mile from shore under such
conditions would do as well.
" But, retort the drainage advocates, even though it be possible to obtain pure water
without the drainage channel, is not the channel the most effective and at the same time the
cheapest solution of the sewerage problem ? Here is a vast city of already over a million
inhabitants, and growing at a rate which promises a population of over two millions in ten
years. Evanston and a part of Lake View, together with a portion of the south side from
Twelfth street, and all of Hyde Park, drain into the lake; all the remaining portion of the
drainage district drains into the various forks of the river by far the greater part into the
210 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
South fork, which discharges into the Illinois and Michigan canal. The site of Chicago is
everywhere low, so low that, adjacent to the river, it was necessary to elevate it fourteen feet
above low water in order to secure proper sewerage. Much of the territory of the district is
below lake and river level. Its waters are frequently undecided whether to seek the lake or
the Desplaines. During the spring freshets the lake is given the preference, but when the
Desplaines runs low the preference is kindly reversed. Under such conditions we should
expect to find the serpentine Chicago river the stagnant, noisome thing it usually is. Its
slimy deposits and persistent sluggishness clog the sewers and drive back their contents
freighted with deadly gases. In view of these conditions, shall the great city of Chicago,
already the second metropolis of the New World, and destined soon to become the first, ignore
this frightful menace to the health and happiness of its people? Shall it permit the evil to
grow and flourish until an appalling epidemic shall teach it the neglected lesson of humanity
and common sense? Is any price \oo high to pay for immunity from the sanitary perils which
threaten us under existing conditions? These are the considerations which appeared to justify,
to the minds of tens of thousands of Chicago's conservative people, the gigantic measure of
relief represented in the proposed drainage channel and the tremendous taxation which it
involves.
"The question, however, recurs, Will the channel afford the desired relief? The effi-
cacy of a medicine is surely not always proportioned to the immensity of the dose. It is
projwsed, in fact the drainage act practically requires, that the channel shall be one hundred
and sixty feet wide and eighteen feet deep, with a flow of not less than three hundred
thousand cubic feet per minute, and a current not exceeding three miles per hour. It is
asserted that this volume and velocity will insure a sufficient dilution and oxidation of the
sewage to render the stream practically pure, and therefore a blessing to the people of the
tributary valleys. The truth of this assertion is challenged by the ablest sanitarians of
Europe and America, whose testimony is unanimous against the contamination of rivers by
metropolitan sewage. The water may appear pure, but the disease germs of sewage are not
thus easily destroyed. High authorities go further and deny that even under the most favor-
able circumstances, would a stream of such limited volume and uniform current, without
rapids or cataracts to expose its impurities to the oxidizing forces of the air, be able to free
itself from the physical offensiveness of the fearful mass of sewage from so vast a city. If
tliis be true under favorable season conditions, what shall be said of the condition of the
stream during the winter months, when the filthy, disease-laden mass* is sealed in ice and
thus free to pursue its satauic way to the population of the river valleys, undisturbed by the
atmospheric angels which are supposed to hover over it and cast out the devils of filth, dis-
ease and death. It is. of course, magnanimous in Chicago to endeavor to dump its garbage
into its neigliljor's front yard, with the assurance that the garbage will, in due season, become
oxidized and innocent and sweet: but we marvel at the good nature or the imbecility of the
neighbor who not only submits to the outrage, but even lends a helping hand to its perpetra-
tion. This phase of the question is. however, one which concerns chiefly the people of the.
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 211
Desplaines and Illinois valleys, though to Chicago it may serve to suggest the important con-
stitutional question, set forth in the brief of Judge Sauford, before the Supreme court, as to
the right of a municipal corporation 'to go outside its own territory to construct a channel
for the deposit of its own filth into territory outside its own limits, and not in its own natural
basin.' This alleged right is contrary to established precedent, is opposed by the most
eminent legal authorities, and is in direct violation of the criminal code of Illinois (chapter
38, paragraph 277.) The Supreme court in its decision failed to pass on this question. It is
held in reserve by citizens of the valleys who may enjoin sewage discharge into the channel
even after Chicago shall have expended millions for its completion. This is a contingent
liability which the district can not afford to ignore. The threatened pollution of navigable
rivers adds another to the many reasons why the United States government refuses to enter
into the proposed Chicago drainage partnership.
" But will the proposed drainage scheme actually drain ? This is the question of vital
interest to Chicago. Let the conditions be clearly seen. Since the channel is to be an out-
let of Lake Michigan, its surface level must be the same as that of the lake and of the
present Chicago river. How, then, will the situation be materially improved, save in respect
to the greater attractiveness of the river itself? The land will be just as low, and the river
outlet just as high as at present. The chief evil to l)e overcome the clogging and damming
up of the sewers, due to their necessarily slight decline will remain precisely as at present.
A face blemish has been removed, but the constitutional disease remains. We have improved
the condition of the Chicago river, but the sluggish sewers are as sluggish and menacing as
ever. The surface of the stream, not its depth, determines the level of its tributaries at their
junction. The sewers must lie higher than the surface lever of the channel, or drainage will
be impossible. Did time and your patience permit, it might also be of interest to inquire
how the drainage scheme projectors propose to reverse the laws of gravitation and make the
vast territory which now drains into the lake divert its sewage into a foreign watershed.
"Let us assume, however, for argument's sake, that everything claimed in behalf of the
channel is logical and true. Its supporters are then confronted with the following section
(No. 208) of the drainage act: 'If the population of the district draining into such channel
shall, at any time, exceed fifteen hundred thousand, such channel shall be made and kept of
such size and in such condition that it will produce and maintain at all times a continuous
flow of not less than twenty thousand cubic feet of water per minute for each one hundred
thousand of the population of such district, at a current of not more than three miles per
hour.' Twenty thousand cubic feet volume for every one hundred thousand population is
equivalent to one cubic foot for every five of population. The drainage board has announced
its intention to begin with a volume of three hundred thousand cubic feet. This would
answer, according to the ratio required by law, for a population not exceeding fifteen hun-
dred thousand, a limit which Chicago will reach, under the stimulus of the World's Fair,
certainly within five years, or several years liefore the channel could possibly be completed.
Should the lx>urd start with the maximum volume of six hundred thousand cubic feet per
212 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
minute, it would suffice for a population not exceeding three millions, a limit which the city,
following its past rate of increase, will reach in from twenty to twenty-five years. Allowing
ten years for completing the work, if prosecuted with vigor, we should then have (conceding
everything which has ever been or ever can be claimed for it), as the net result of a stu-
pendous scheme of perpetual taxation, a solution of the drainage problem for a period of
only ten or fifteen years! This clause in the drainage act is obviously alone sufficient to
condemn it in every part as a rational sanitary measure. Nothing short of shameless
duplicity or a frightfully distorted sense of official duty catf account for the apparent deter-
mination of the drainage board to proceed with its surveys in the face of the law's explicit
condemnation of the entire scheme to early and certain fatality. Just when the exigencies
of a vast population shall have become greatest, the city's drainage system, constructed at
frightful expense, will have become useless! It is this startling mathematical fact in the
drainage act which imparts a hideous grin to the legislative absurdity under which nine men
of alleged sanity are now expending $20,000 a month for a corps of engineers and clerks
and their own inevitable salaries, and under which they have already levied $2,000,000 of
taxes, and are authorized to mortgage the district for $15,000,000, to say nothing of levies
for annual taxes and millions by special assessments!
" ' But,' again retort the drainage dreamers, 'we deny the sufficiency of your conclusions.
Yoii may strike from the list of advantages purer water and better drainage, but have
we not remaining the superlative beneficence of a grand ship canal, which must crown Chi-
cago the autocrat of all mercantile America ?' The construction of such a channel is, as has
been shown, of the utmost importance to the metropolitan future of Chicago, but will the
channel proposed by the drainage board, under the conditions of the drainage act, fulfill the
requirements of a proper navigable waterway to the Mississippi ? The law makes no provis-
ion for a waterway beyond Joliet. It is urged that the general government will improve the
Desplaines and Illinois rivers to La Salle, the head of river navigation, thus completing the
waterway to the Mississippi, but what reason exists for this hope it is difficult even to sur-
mise, in view of the rejection of the gratuitous offer by the state to the United States of the
Illinois and Michigan canal, and the uniformly adverse reports by the government engineers
against any sort of Chicago drainage ship-canal project.
" The objection of the Federal government to the proposed cooperation is primarily that
the drainage idea is fundamentally opposed to the requirements of a national waterway.
By the government improvements now in progress in the Mississippi and Illinois rivers it is
hoped to secure a minimum depth of seven feet in the Illinois river from La Salle south ; six
feet on the upper Mississippi; eight feet from St. Louis to Cairo and ten feet from Cairo to
the Gulf. The present depths are from eighteen inches to three feet less than the foregoing.
Why, then, the tremendous scheme for a channel eighteen feet deep to Joliet nearly treble
the present depth of the Mississippi? If it be to meet the demands of lake craft requiring
a fourteen-foot depth the terminus of the Chicago channel would of necessity be Joliet;
the depth of the rivers beyond, even with the increase consequent upon the augmented vol-
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 213
ume from the proposed new channel being wholly inadequate to the demands of the lake
craft. The waterway should obviously be a consistent whole. It should be either a lake
waterway throughout or a river waterway. A channel for lake craft to Joliet, and for river
craft beyond, would be a magnificent absurdity. Yet this is precisely what the drainage act
requires Chicago, for its part, to do, and at an extra cost, compared with an eight-foot depth,
of not less than $10,000,000. But what logic can justify the exigency which forces
this discussion at this time? The drainage party does not and dare not deny that the ulti-
mate success of everything it has done and everything it proposes to do is predicted upon the
general government completing the waterway from Joliet to La Salle. For Chicago to
attempt this enormously costly extension at its own expense would be criminal madness.
Under the circumstances, prudence would suggest postponement of active operations until
the general government had at least evinced some slight inclination to entertain a thought of
such cooperation, but with an insane zeal and insolent arrogance which rules for to-day if it
must die to-morrow, the drainage board rushes blindly forward to its own doom, defiantly
attempting meanwhile to extort millions in useless taxation for its brainless project. The
plain fact is, that the general government wants not a lake but a river channel, conforming
to the rest of the waterway system, and for reasons of economy starting from the Calumet
river. Chicago, on the other hand, seeks for purposes of drainage a channel of lake depth,
starting from the Chicago river. These views are fundamentally antagonistic, and the Chi-
cago drainage district, therefore, finds itself in the attitude of an heroic engineer who begins
work on a huge bridge with no means of completing it beyond mid-stream, and with no hope
of assistance from the other side.
"And what is this useless ship-canal luxury to cost? The board engineer has given
several opinions, and an army of assistant engineers is now making surveys preparatory to a
report of estimates. In the meantime, we have these estimates reported to Congress by Cap-
tain Marshall for a fourteen-foot channel:
LAKE MICHIGAN TO SAG BKIDGE.
Dredging Chicago river $ 69,200
Widening Chicago river 96,000
Docking Chicago river 172,500
Excavation, Bridgeport to Sag bridge (earth, $2,497,250 ; hardpan, $816,000 ;
rock, $796,480) 4,109,730
Docking, Bridgeport to Sag bridge .' 840,000
Bridges (to replace those over the Chicago river when widened to 160 feet). . 2,865,000
Right of way 1,167,250
Guard lock at Summit 398,130
Contingencies, 10 per cent 971,781
Total cost to Sag bridge $ 10,689,591
SAG BKIDGE TO JOLIKT.
Excavation earth, $168,000; rock, $7,585,120 $ 7,753,120
Waste gates at Lockport 72,955
Locks 1,667,547
Excavations iu basins at Joliet 6,OUO
314 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
Retaining walls above Joliet f 717,7(K)
Retaining walls at Joliet 140,550
Bridges 410,000
Right of way 142,440
Movable dam 52,908
Contingencies, 10 per cent 1,096,322
Total, Sag bridge to Joliet $ 12,059,542
Chicago to Sag bridge $ 10,689,591
Sag bridge to Joliet 12,059,542
Total, Chicago to Joliet $ 22,749,133
" The above estimate of over $20,000,000 is, as has been said, for a fourteen- foot
depth of channel. The Chicago drainage act requires ail eighteen-foot channel, with
a grade of four inches to the mile, which would increase the cost by about $10,000,000.
Here the question again recurs, what possible advantage for navigation to the Gulf of
Mexico would be a channel stopping at Joliet? In the absence of cooperation from the
United States, to make the channel worth anything, it would need to be extended by the
Chicago district to La Salle at an additional cost, according to the estimate of the government
engineer, of $25,533,030. There remains also to be considered the possible damages from
overflow, for which the district is made liable as set forth in the following clause of the
drainage act: Every sanitary district shall be liable for all damages to real estate within or
without such district which shall be overflowed or otherwise damaged by reason of the con-
struction, enlargement or use of any channel, ditch, drain, outlet or other improvement under
the provision of this act. And actions to recover may be brought in the county where such
real estate is situated, or in the county where such sanitary district is located, at the option
of the party claiming to be injured, and in case judgment is rendered against such district,
the plaintiff shall also recover his reasonable attorney fees to be taxed as costs of the suit.
These ' reasonable attorney fees' of successful claimants against the district might reach into
the hundreds of thousands annually. As to the extent of lands in the Illinois valley subject
to overflow, the following quotation is from Captain Marshall's report to congress:
" Now, at any little summer freshet, producing a discharge exceeding eight thousand
cubic feet per second at La Salle, damage by overflow would begin at that point, the artificial
discharge being ten thousand cubic feet per second, and with greater natural discharge In-
come more and more widespread as we progress down stream, at times when such overflows
would not otherwise occur. Upon all rises of the river producing anywhere near bank full
stages, this artificial discharge would cause flowage damages that would not otherwise occur.
The lands would Ijecome submerged at high water earlier and the water remain upon them
longer than it otherwise would. From one hundred thousand to three hundred thousand
acres of lands in the Illinois river valley will be subject to such conditions. Estimating the
possible overflow' at only two hundred thousand acres, with the damage in any one year at
$10 per acre, and we have a possible annual liability of $2,000,000. Estimating tin- land at
$50 per acre value, and protection from such annual liability would cost $10,000,000, It is
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 215
admitted that the Chicago river can not l>e made to carry over three hundred thousand cubic
feet per minute. It has been shown that a minimum of six hundred thousand cubic feet will
be necessary. An auxiliary channel in the vicinity of Thirty-ninth street will therefore be
required, not only to secure a sufficient water supply, but to make the drainage of any part
of the southern portion of the district at all possible. The cost of this feeder is estimated at
$12,000,000. Captain Marshall places the figure at $14,000,000. A channel to divert the
flood waters of the Desplaines, known as the ' Bowmanrille cut-off,' is also a universally con-
ceded necessity. Its cost will be not less than $4,000,(H)0. The flushing of the North branch
of the river will cost $3,000,000. The intercepting sewers from the north line of the city to
Eighty-seventh street, to convey the sewage now discharging into the lake into the proposed
new channel, will involve a cost of $5,000,000 more. We have then a grand total for the
sewage and canal systems to Joliet the following:
" Cost of level channel from Lake Michigan to Joliet (fourteen feet depth) $ 22,749,138
Additional cost for eighteen-foot depth channel, as required by drainage act,
four inches grade to the mile 10,000,000
Possible damages from everflow 10,000,000
Thirty-ninth street or Hyde Park channel 12,000,000
Howmanville cut-off to divert the flood-waters of the Desplaines 4,000,000
System for flushing North branch 3,000,000
Intercepting s-ewers for north line of city to Eighty-seventh street 5,000,000
Total (not including salaries, attorney fees, interest on bonds, etc.) $ 66,749,133
" This total of over $06,000,000 represents the cost of the system, exclusive of the item
for the improvement of the Illinois river to La Salle, computed by Captain Marshall at
$25,533,530, which must be regarded as at least a contingent liability against the district.
This would swell the aggregate to over $90,000,000, all of which indebtedness -would
be payable, under the terms of the drainage act, ' within twenty years from the time
of contracting the same.' The assessed valuation of the district, with the recent increase by
the state Iward of equalization, will be about $225,000,000. The cost of the ship-canal job
will therefore represent a mortgage of forty per cent, on all Chicago property. Such a tax
would be equivalent to confiscation; it would make Chicago the most desirable place for capi-
tal to avoid in the world; it would mean a revolution with no uncertain penalties for the
schemers, theorists, speculators and political spoilsmen responsible for the calamity. True,
the drainage act limits the total lioiided indebtedness to five per cent, of the valuation of
the property in the district, with a proviso that five per cent, shall not exceed the sum of
15,000,000; but, tipon the most moderate estimates of the drainage engineers and
statesmen, this limitation will place the district in the foolish position of attempting a job
which it knows it can hardly commence with the funds at its command, or in the fraudulent
position of beginning the work with the determination of browbeating the people and the
legislature into repealing the indebtedness limitation. No estimate by the drainage mathe-
maticians themselves places the cost of the channel to Joliet, with the drainage accessories at
Chicago, at less than $30,000,000. The $15,000,000 indebtedness limitation is, therefore,
by their own admission, either a gross absurdity or a transparent fraud.
216 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
" The objections to the ship-canal drainage project and its taxation conspiracy may
therefore be summarized as follows: It bears no necessary relation to a purer water supply
for the city. It would, at the best, prove but a partial solution of the sewage problem, and
that for a period of less than twenty years, when, under the terms of the drainage act, the
system would be wholly useless. It contemplates a noisome sewage canal to Joliet, harmoniz-
ing with no other portion of the waterway system of which it is proposed to make it a part.
It would intensify the bridge nuisance in Chicago to an intolerable degree. The welfare of
the entire city demands the diversion of the present river traffic to the lake harbors and the
Calumet, and not its further concentration in the river, as proposed. It threatens Chicago
with a financial burden of such colossal and crushing magnitude as to jeopardize investments,
alarm and divert capital, retard the general prosperity, and cause great pecuniary hardship
and suffering among the poorer classes of the people. It means a project which must inevit-
ably delay for many years the construction by the general government of a grand national
waterway, consistent and harmonious in all its parts, and destined to prove of incalculable
value to the nation, to the entire Mississippi valley, and to the commerce and trade of Chicago.
It means a perpetual menace to the health and comfort of the people of the river valleys. It
is opposed to the experience of London, Paris, Berlin and every other large city on the globe,
and must inevitably delay the proper and permanent solution of the sewage problem of the
city. It creates a powerful political oligarchy, fraught with untold possibilities of profligacy
and corruption.
" It has been my endeavor to set forth clearly the grave defects in the vast undertaking
into which the city has launched, and the grave perils which surround it. It is not the
part of this discussion to present the numerous other plans for a solution of the great drain-
age problem. It is sufficient for our present purpose to indicate that the present one is as
fundamentally defective as it is certainly destructive of its every alleged purpose. An appeal
to the legislature at its next session to stay the further progress of the ruinous project appears
to promise the most effective and early means of relief. Section 207 of the drainage law
provides: ' Nothing in this act contained shall be so construed as to constitute a contract or
grant between the state of Illinois and any sanitary district * * or to prevent, debar or deprive
the state of Illinois from, at any time in the future, altering, amending or repealing this act.'
It is under this clause that the drainage coterie hopes to secure the supplementary legislation
essential to its designs, but under it the people may also take the initiative in chaining and
throttling the monstrous taxation iniquity. A through waterway from Lake Michigan to the
Gulf along the line of the recommendations of the United States engineers is among the early
probabilities, if Chicago will but come to its assistance in the broad-minded, chivalrous spirit
which the nation has the right to expect. But if the state and city permit the present bigoted,
narrow-minded, absurd and ruinous policy of the drainage party to continue, the result can
not but prove disastrous to all the vast national, state and municipal interests involved."
The club and its resolutions weve unmercifully criticised, and the literature of sewerage
systems increased in volumes and vehemence, but the work of the trustees went on, as if the
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 217
act creating the commission and empowering it to construct a great ditch were perfection
itself.
One of the peculiarities of a chief engineer of public works is to dream extravagant
dreams, and achieve comparatively little. From March, 1886, to July 1, 1887, the drainage
and water-supply commission tried to solve the drainage problem. Engineer Hering sug-
gested the Skokie cut-off as an auxiliary to his deep-channel plan for carrying the city's sew-
age to the Mississippi, and recommended that the small sum, scarcely amounting to
$3,000,000, or over $3 per capita, be expended in excavating a ditch to carry the flood waters
of the upper Desplaines into the North branch and thence to the lake. The late chief engi-
neer of the present drainage commission also desired this ditch and the $3,000,000 appropri-
ation, but his desire was impracticable and had to give way. In February, 1891, the newly
appointed engineer, Worthen, and consulting engineer, Newton, reported as follows to the
drainage commission on that worn-out subject: "The large cross-section that the law
demands for the western portion of the drainage channel, which is in rock, made it expedient
to adopt the recommended route, which would likewise serve for the diversion of the Upper
Desplaiues. Since that report we have more fully considered the plans of Mr. Hering for the
diversion of the Upper Desplaines, first into the North branch and then into the lake by a
channel at Bowmauville, and we have made a personal examination of the locality. In Mr.
Bering's report of July 1, 1887, to the mayor and common council upon his project for the
diversion of the Upper Desplaines, he states: 'At Summit the drainage area, including that
of Salt creek, will be one hundred and ninety-four square miles, and the quantity of water
will not differ much from that which now flows during floods toward Joliet,' and he estimates
that even after the completion of his scheme for the diversion from four thousand to five
thousand cubic feet per second during floods will not be intercepted, but as before will flow
through the Desplaines. The conclusion is in confirmation of our previous recommendations
on this subject submitted to the board, viz. : That the portion of the drainage channel beyond
the Summit be used as the diversion of the Upper Desplaines. In this connection it will be
seen by the records of the flood which culminated February 9, 1887, with a volume of ten
thousand three hundred and twenty-four cubic feet per second, that it fell the tenth to eight
thousand cubic feet, the eleventh to seven thousand, and the sixteenth to two thousand, rising
again the nineteenth to five thousand one hundred and seventy-four cubic feet. The effect of the
outflow from this flood through the Chicago river into the lake is shown by the sketch of Mr.
Bering. It does not appear to have reached the crib and to have contaminated the water supply,
except at the period of maximum flood of ten thousand three hundred and twenty-four cubic
feet per second. After the construction of the proposed new drainage channel comparatively
little water from such a flood would find its way into the river, even for a brief period, if the
gates, which it is proposed to place in the new drainage channel, were left open. Ten thou-
sand cubic feet per second is to be provided for in the new channel when the system contem-
plated by the present law is completed, and the floods in the Upper Desplaines exceeding this
quantity are exceedingly rare."
218 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
This report did not mollify the objectors, and the question of amending the act was
suggested.
The Herald, in noticing the introduction of a bill to amend the drainage act, says,
under date February 28, 1891: "A new plan of carrying and using the sewage of Chicago
will be introduced in a bill at Springfield amending the drainage act. Dissatisfaction with
the present law is undeniably general. The people see no light whatever upon the project.
The factious and assumptive majority of the lx>ard appear to think that they need not trouble
themselves giving the taxpayers clear or complete information; that they may proceed when
they are ready to assess from f 20,000,000 to $90,(XX),000 in taxes, and that it is the business
of nolxxly to inquire what benefits the district is to gain or in what manner and under whose
responsibility this colossal sum is to be laid out. Any scheme whicli will be within general
comprehension, which will receive the sanction of engineers of known capacity having property
and family interests in the district, will commend itself in lieu of the mysterious and baffling
plan, if they have a plan, supposed to be contemplated by the majority of the drainage board.
The scheme now proposed excludes absolutely the idea of a navigable waterway. This will in-
duce opposition to it. On the other hand, it is claimed that the scheme in contemplation by the
majority of the board of trustees is a waterway in no proper sense, and will never add a dol-
lar to the shipping interests of the district. If being unnavigable for ships be an objection
to the project, it is also an objection to the only other project under consideration. Experts
differ in opinion over the theories of the trustees, no one of whom has a scientific education;
all of whom are as incapable as any other layman to tell whether the proposed ditch will float
a ship or sink a canoe. The scheme is at least simple, clear, and rejectable on its merits, if
it be rejected. It is a tunnel to catch the sewage, when carried by lowering levels beyond
Joliet, to be settled in basins in the Desplaines valley, the effluent water to be harmless and
the solids to be chemically purified and used for enriching the soil. This is really the Paris
plan, with slight mechanical modification, and a brief history of that plan and the effects it
has produced cannot fail to be of interest."
The newly appointed engineers continued their investigations, as if there were no oppo-
sition, and on March 3 the morning papers announced that the pet scheme known as the
Skokie cut-off, was ignored by them in the report made a day or so Ijefore to the trustees.
One of such announcements hailed the news in the following words: "It appears from
these statements of engineers of unquestioned ability that the cut which has to be made
through the rock beyond Summit will l>e so deep and so wide as to accommodate all the flood
waters of the Desplaines. That deep channel through the rock will carry off six hundred
thousand cubic feet a minute, moving with a velocity of less than three miles an hour. Its
capacity for discharging the flood waters of the Desplaines having a much greater head than
those of Lake Michigan would, of course, be far greater. It appears also that if the flood of
February, 1887, when a little over six hundred thousand cubic feet per minute flowed past
Riverside, contaminated the water supply at the crib for a short time only, that even a larger
flood, happening after the limestone barrier which now holds back the waters of the Des-
BUILDI]SI6.
COMMERCIAL ARCHITECTUBE.
ROMANESQUE DRESS.
*RY
Y :
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 219
plaines has been cut through, will have no effect at all on the purity of the Chicago water
supply. All it would do would be to check for a few "hours the flow of the diluted sewage to-
ward the Illinois. None of that sewage, however, would be forced into the lake. The moment
the Desplaines began falling, the flow through the Chicago river westward would recommence.
Another fact brought out by the above extract is that the Skokie cut-off would not have accom-
plished one of the chief objects Mr. Bering hoped to secure by it. It was his idea to follow
the present l>ed of the Desplaines with his deep cut, and thus utilize whatever excavating
had l>een done by the water of the stream in the slow course of time. It was in order that
he might have dry working that he was so anxious to get rid of the waters of the Desplaines,
which would have interfered so seriously with the contractors. It appears, however, that
even after spending about three millions on his Skokie cut-off he would have had the drainage
of one hundred and ninety-four square miles to plague him. Had he begun digging in the
bed of the Desplaines, every now and then floods about as violent as those which occur now
would have swept down suddenly, drowning out his workmen, carrying away their machinery
, .".
and tools, and delaying the progress of the work for days or weeks. It is not the intention of
the present engineers to l>e guilty of such folly. They will leave the channel of the Des-^ '
plaines to carry off its waters, and will cut a straight ditch across country from Joliet to the
point where the rock-cutting begins. As they go along they will use a part of the excavated
material to build a small embankment to protect the cut from the high waters of the spring,
when the Desplaines abandons its banks and overflows the whole valley. In this way the
men will work all the time in the dry and can go ahead uninterruptedly, by day as well as
by night. The only moisture which will bother them will be the rain which will fall into the
ditch and which can be pumped out with the greatest ease. So it will be seen that here are
three millions saved by rejecting one Hering fad, which was not needed to preserve the purity
of the water supply, and which would not have made the work on the rock cutting any easier."
On April 30, 1891, the drainage trustees, through President Prendergast, formulated the
following address to the citizens on defects in the law and their ammendment: " The decision
of the Supreme court upholding the sanitary district act was announced June 12, 1890. A
petition for rehearing was filed by the opponents of that act, which remained pending until
October, 1890, when it was denied. Notwithstanding the pendency of this petition, the board
of trustees conceived it to be their duty to do what they could to put the law in course of
execution. They could not be expected to know what would be its cost until the trial should
be made, and the application of the law to existing physical conditions ascertained. General
Newton, consulting engineer, and Mr. Wortheu, chief engineer, have, since December 17, 1890,
been actively engaged upon the problem of laying out a route under and in accordance with
the law for a main channel and preparing plans for the adjuncts and additions necessary to
accomplish the purposes of the law. January 10, 1891, they submitted a preliminary report,
and February 21, 1891 a further report. These reports show careful study and thorough con-
sideration of the entire problem. These reports demonstrate further: The cost of construc-
tion of the smallest main channel permitted by the law, which is fourteen feet in depth
220 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
through earth and eighteen feet in depth by one hundred and sixty feet in width on the bot-
tom through rock, would be $22,700,000; the cost of deepening the present canal for a gravity
flow to care for the sewage in that section of the city and Stock Yards, $3,200,000; the
conduit from the lake to the north branch at 'Bowmanville, for flushing the North branch,
$900,000; or a total of $26,800,000.
"In this carefully prepared estimate the following items are not provided for: Eight of
way, dumping ground, and transportation of the waste material to a place of deposit. Fur-
ther charges for straightening the south branch of the Chicago river; changing bridges, etc.,
to produce a larger flow, to be done by the city; the cost of the same, l>eing variously esti-
mated from $750,000 to $1,500,000, must be borne almost wholly by the same taxpayers, and
will make the entire cost over $30,(K)0,000. There is not provision under the law for raising
any such sum, and it was not contemplated that it would cost so much. Requiring a cut of
eighteen feet through rock involves a cost that is wholly unnecessary. The law provides for
an annual tax of one-half per cent, upon the assessed value of the property of the district.
The assessed value is about $204,000,000. The tax will therefore produce about $1,000,000
per annum. The law also authorizes the issue of bonds not exceeding $15,000,000, and not
al>ove five per cent, of the assessed valuation of property within the district. Assuming that
before the work can be completed the assessed value will authorize the issue of the total
amount, $15,000,000 can be counted upon from this source. The bonds with interest must
be paid within twenty years, and taxes levied for such purposes.
"The law also provides for a special assessment upon real property within the district
specially benefited; that is benefited in contradistinction from the general benefit. A special
assessment is indefinite and depends upon: First, the judgment of special commissioners to
be appointed by the court; second, the opinion of a jury, both of which must l>e at present
wholly unknown and largely incapable of estimate. A special assessment is collectable only
after proceedings of this nature have been carried through. The unnecessary cost arises
from the excessive size of the channel through the earth and through the rock, particularly
through the rock. As said before, a channel through the rock is required one hundred and
sixty feet broad on the bottom and deep enough to flow eighteen feet of water. At the max-
imum current allowed by the law through such a channel it would give a flow of over seven
hundred and fifty thousand cubic feet per minute, when the law only requires three hundred
thousand cubic feet per minute through the earth, and that flow of three hundred thousand
cubic feet per minute is not required to be increased until the United States government
makes a channel in the Desplaines or Illinois river of a capacity to receive six hundred thou-
sand cubic feet. As the general government has not yet taken definite action teward doing
this, and as the government engineers and commissioners have not suggested or recom-
mended a channel of such capacity, it does not seem proper to us to proceed to plan and
execute such an extensive work without advising our principal, the people, of what we have
ascertained. But if in the future the rivers should be so deepened that this large channel
should be required, let that time enlarge and pay for the same. The theory of the law is
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 221
that a flow of three hundred thousand cubic feet per minute is ample for all purposes of san-
itation and dilution, and will afford a channel for navigation which will probably not be met
at its southern terminus at or near Joliet by a similar channel during this generation, and
possibly never, that is, as long as the present conditions continue; therefore we say that a
channel can lx> constructed of ample width and depth to flow three hundred thousand cubic
feet per minute where a saving in the rock cut alone will te from $7,000,000 to $10,000,000,
and therewith a corresponding saving in the earth cut. This recommendation in nowise
trenches upon the policy of a commercial waterway through the Illinois river valley; on the
contrary, its adoption will do two things: First, immediately there will result a channel to
Joliet much greater for purposes of a commercial waterway than its lower connection, i. e., the
Illinois river. Second, the construction of this will promote the project so far as it depends
on Federal legislation. We deem it our duty to submit these views to the citizens of this dis-
trict, and suggest that they have the law amended in such particulars as will enable us to
execute it in the most practical and economical way."
At this meeting the chief engineer was asked the direct question, whether the channel
could be constmcted for less than $30,000,000. His answer was that the sum stated would
lie required to carry out the provisions of the law. This immense sum and strong opposition
from within and without the sanitary district led many to lx>lieve that the act, the commis-
sion, the channel and all the hopes of good water and perfect drainage had lapsed, but a
greater effort was made.
On May 1, 1891, the question was discussed in the local papers. The Tribune said:
" Judge Preudergast stated in his remarks before the legislative committee: The fall of the
river from La Salle to Grafton is about twenty-seven feet, from Joliet to La Salle eighty
feet, and from Chicago to Joliet fifty feet. So little is known about the Illinois river, and
so few will understand without explanation the full significance of Judge Prendergast's ob-
servation, that it is worth while to dwell a little on this point. The following table shows
the hight in feet during low water of the surface of Lake Michigan alx>ve the various places
mentioned, Utica lieing a few miles this side of La Salle:
Distance Below the Fall between
apart. lake level. ' places.
, "Lake Michigan
Loekport 33.5 7.5 7.5
Dam No. 1, Joliet 38.8 41.5 34.0
Dam No. 2, Joliet 39.4 51.5 10.0
Lake Joliet 41.9 76.3 25.0
Kankakee river 54.2 93.0 16.5
Marseilles dam 79.7 101.5 8.5
Foot of Marseilles rapids 81.1 118.7 17.2
Utica 97.0 141.0 22.3
' These figures show that while it is an easy matter to make the Illinois navigable be-
tween La Salle and Grafton, to do so between La Salle and the mouth of the Kankakee or
La Salle and Joliet is something calling for engineering ability of a higher order, and the
expenditure of a great deal of money. The general government ordered that surveys and
232 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
estimates of cost be made for fourteen-foot and eight-foot waterways from Chicago to La
Salle in the beds of the Desplaines and Illinois rivers. The total estimate of cost from
Chicago to La Salle was for the fourteen-foot project $48,282,000, and for the eight-foot
one $26,883,000. The estimates from Joliet to La Salle were: Fourteen-foot, $25,533.000;
eight-foot, $9,757,000. From the mouth of the Kankakee to La Salle in the Illinois river the
estimates were: Fourteen -foot, $20,488,000; eight-foot, $6,938,000.
" The government engineer's estimate for a fourteen -foot channel from Chicago to Joliet
is $22,748,000. These are the careful figures of an expert who had to deal with a fourteen
instead of an eighteen-foot cut, and with a canal, not a flowing stream. The proposition
is that this district shall not only give four feet more water than the government project,
but make a stream which shall have a current of over two miles an hour. In other words,
while the bottom of the proposed canal would be all the time at the same level below the
surface of the lake, the bottom of the Chicago deep channel would be sinking lower and lower
all the time, to give the necessary fall. This would necessitate going many feet deeper into
the rock, and would add enormously to the expense. It would be at least half as much
again.
" Would any but a delirious man expect the government to spend $20,000,000 to
make a fourteen-foot channel for twenty miles in the Illinois when the depth of water in the
Mississippi, from the mouth of the Illinois to St. Louis, is but six feet, and that from St. Louis
to Cairo not over eight ? Is the government to spend $20,000,000 in making the navigation
between the mouth of the Kankakee and Utica better than between St. Louis and Cairo; 1
And if it cost the government $20,000,000 to carry fourteen feet from the mouth of the
Kankakee to La Salle, what will it cost to carry eighteen feet from Joliet to below Cairo ?
Has it the countless millions? Until it gets them and will spend them why should Chicago
make an eighteen-foot channel to Joliet, especially when the government engineers say that
such a channel, with its proposed discharge of six hundred thousand cubic feet a minute,
will interfere with their plans for the improvement of the upper Illinois:' Captain Marshall
says: 'As the state law stands, demanding unnecessarily great and expensive channels not
demanded or suitable for the commerce to be subserved, a compliance with its terms does not
seem advisable for the United States.'
" An insistence on the law as it is, therefore, will lessen the likelihood of the general
government doing anything in Illinois. Will it spend $25,500,000 between Joliet
and La Salle when its engineers tell it the work will be interfered with seriously by
the eighteen-foot Chicago channel with its immense discharge? Unless that part of the
Illinois and Desplaines which has a fall of eighty feet in about sixty miles is made navigable
by locks and dams, no Mississippi steamers can reach this city. The state will improve that
section of the stream. This city can not l>e forced to do it. And the Federal government
will not touch it with the Chicago sanitary drainage law as it stands, rendering the Federal
government liable to damages from annual overflows from an excessive discharge of lake
water. The main point made by Judge Prendergast before the legislative committees was
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 233
one which has not been given the prominence it deserves. That is that the ' waterway' for
which Means and other Peruvians, Senecaus, Ottawaus and Peorians are clamoring is not the
waterway of the drainage act, but the impracticable creation of their fevered imaginations,
the result of an attack of too much water on the brain. It never was intended by Chicago to
dig a channel deep enough to float the great lake propellers down to Joliet, Marseilles,
Peoria, Graftou, Alton, St. Louis and New Orleans, for the one sufficient reason, out of many,
that the Illinois river can not be given or made to contain a depth of water such as is needed
for lake navigation without flooding and destroying the whole valley. If lake propellers are
to go down the Illinois it will be necessary to pour into that stream a summer flood which
will cover as much laud as the high spring freshets do. But while the high waters of Febru-
ary and March soon subside and do not interfere with the use of the land for farming pur-
poses, summer floods would make it impossible to raise any crop, except of catfish, on $100,-
(XX),000 worth of fine farm lands.
" Is the Federal government ready to foot those damages, and if not, who will ? And is
it ready, also, to pour out the millions which will be necessary to maintain lake navigation in
the Mississippi from Grafton to St. Louis, Cairo, Memphis, Vicksburg and New Orleans ? Its
total revenues could not do it. But of what use would eighteen feet of water in the Illinois
be if there were but six in the Mississippi from Graftou to St. Louis or Keokuk? This idea
of lake navigation in the Illinois is the wild chimera of a disordered mind. All that was ever
conceived to l>e practicable was, as Judge Prendergast showed, so to improve the navigation
of the Illinois as to allow Mississippi river barges and steamers with a draft of from six to
seven feet to ascend the stream as far as La Salle, and above there to Joliet whenever the
Federal government furnished the money to overcome the fall of eighty feet, and from Joliet
to Lake Michigan, using a channel cut with Chicago money for sewage dilution, but one of
the incidents of which would be improved navigation.
"That is the utmost limit of the ship-canal scheme which ever entered the head of any
sensible man. It never occurred to any but a valley dreamer that the head of navigation of
the lakes and the St. Lawrence should be carried to Grafton, or that lake propellers should
try their luck in a rock-bouud channel with a swift current from here to Joliet. All that
people who have their wits about them wanted was that Lake Michigan should be made the
head of navigation of the Mississippi, so that the stern-wheelers drawing five, six or seven
feet which ply on that river and its tributaries could unload at the wharves of Chicago. If
the valley people say they do not want the kind of waterway which permits that to be done,
but must have one which will allow great lake steamers to sail past their doors, then, like the
dog in the fable, they are dropping the substance and grabbing at the shadow. As Judge
Prendergast says: 'It is beyond the agency of human power to send lake vessels down the
Illinois river below Joliet.' Chicago can do a great many things, but it can not work miracles.
It can not furnish eighteen feet of water in the Illinois. And by insisting that it shall do so,
and by forbidding it to construct any other kind of a channel than that specified in the law,
the people in the valley towns are cutting their own throat*,"
334 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
In May, 1891, S. G. Artingstall was appointed chief engineer vice Worthen. His first
report to the trustees was made May 22, 1891 : " I have the honor to submit the following
report, with map and estimates showing four feasible routes for the main drainage channel
between Bridgeport and Summit, with comparative estimates of the cost of the same. As
the routes shown are wholly in earth excavation, the channels have been taken of sufficient
size and capacity to maintain at all times a continuous flow of not less than three hundred
thousand cubic feet of water and a depth of not less than fourteen feet. In making estimates
wherever practicable, the right of way is sufficient to provide for the deposit and storage of
spoil during the construction of the work. Four routes are considered: No. 1 Commencing
in the West branch of the South branch at Western avenue and following the line of the Ogdeu
ditch to Summit. No. 2 Commencing at the junction of the Illinois and Michigan canal
and the South branch of the Chicago river and following the line of the canal to Summit. No.
3 Commencing at the end of the west arm of the South branch near Western avenue, thence
westward along Thirty-ninth street to the Illinois and Michigan canal, thence westerly along
the canal to Summit. No. 4 follows the preceding route to the canal, where it crosses and
continues in a northwesterly direction to the Ogdeu ditch and along this ditch to Summit.
" As it is imperative that the great pollution in the South branch, caused mainly by the
drainage of the Stock Yards and packinghouses, should be provided for, and as this can not
be reached directly by routes Nos. 1 and 2, a smaller channel to provide for a flow of sixty
thoiisaud cubic feet per minute, commencing at the west end of the West branch and discharging
into the main channel, has been included in the estimates for these two routes. Routes Nos.
3 and 4 I would respectfully recommend to your favorable consideration for the reason that
the total volume of three hundred thousand cubic feet per minute will pass through the
whole length of the South branch and the West branch of the South branch and will insure a
regular and constant circulation and change of water in the most polluted part of the stream)
and this without any additional channels or pumping stations, with the attendant expense of
maintenance and operating. As the east arm of the South branch is private property and not ;i
natural channel, it seems to me that the parties owning and using it should be at the expense
of abating a nuisance. The use of the Illinois and Michigan canal, or any part of it, involves
the removal of the present pumping station and locks at Bridgeport to a point west of the
main channel, where it occupies the line of the canal. In my opinion no serious interruption
to navigation or permanent injury will be done to the canal by the use of any portion of it as
a part of the main channel. I estimate the total cost as follows:
" Channel No. 1. From Western avenue to Summit, by way of Ogdeu ditch, at $2,108,791.
Channel No. 2. From the river to Summit, by way of Illinois & Michigan
canal, at $3,367,313.
Channel No. 3. From the end of west arm of South branch 'along Thirty-ninth
street to canal, then by canal route to Summit, at $2,689,872.
Channel No. 4. Following the same route to canal which it crosses, then in
a northwest direction to Ogden ditch, then along the Ogdeu ditch to
Summit, at $2,227,392.
'' Ou account of the proximity of railroad tracks for a long distance on both banks of the
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 225
canal, considerable of the excavating material when the canal is enlarged to a suitable size will
have to be removed by rail or vessel, and for this proper allowance has been made in the esti-
mates. It is not to be understood from the foregoing that there is recommended a prosecu-
tion of the work from Chicago to Summit only. On the contrary, so far as the means of
the district would permit, there should be a line of operation on the entire route simulta-
neously and a beginning of the work at the lower end of the route at Joliet and working north-
ward.
" The cost of the right of way has not been made, as this department has not been
directed to estimate this subject. This department is now investigating ill further detail the
route for the continuation of the main channel from Summit to Joliet, and will give the results
at the earliest possible time. As soon ' as the board can, after due deliberation, fix the route
for a portion or the whole of the length of the main channel, I wish to commence and pre-
pare working drawings, specifications, etc., so as to be ready to commence operations by the
time you have acquired the right of way. I am able to state that I find in full possession of
the board very valuable and reliable information and data in the shape of contour maps and
borings for the whole length of the route between Chicago and Joliet, also maps of the water-
sheds tributary to the Desplaines and Chicago rivers, measurements of the flow of the streams
and analysis of the Chicago river-water at various points, which are the results of the investi-
gations carried on by the board up to date. The data obtained are now nearly all tabulated
and in available form for immediate use. The collection of this information has of necessity
been a work of much time, care and labor, and was needed to arrive at an intelligent conclu-
sion of the most economical and available route and sections of channel for this important
work."
On June 20, 1891, the new chief engineer submitted the following report: "I have the
honor to submit the following report, with estimate, being the result of investigations for the
continuation of the main channel from Summit to Joliet. Much care and consideration has
been given to locate the line so that it can be constructed at the least cost, and at the same
time comply with all the requirements of the law in regard to dimensions, capacity and
velocity of water. The section from Summit to Willow Springs is located so as to avoid all
expensive rock excavation. From Wilton Springs to Lockport the route is laid out so that it
occupies the lowest ground, and generally follows the bed of the Desplaines river. This is a
material advantage in the portion between Lemont and Lockport, where the whole depth of
the channel is in hard limestone rock. From Lockport it is proposed to build the channel
down the slope to the upper basin in Joliet of sufficient width and depth to carry off the
water the channel shall bring down from above. At the upper end of this slope is to be a
movable dam to control and regulate the amount of water flowing in the channel above, and
to guard against damage which is liable to occur in flood seasons to Joliet and below unless
means are taken to hold the water in check at such times. There are also to be a series of
Imsius, wiers and races in this section, which incidentally can be utilized for power and in
time be a source of revenue to the district. To avoid us much as possible expensive lime-
226 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
stone excavation, it is proposed to construct the channel below Lockport partly by removing
obstructions, and partly by embankments of rubble masonry walls, backed by the waste
materials. Dykes will also have to be constructed to protect some of the low grounds from
being flooded.
"The proposed channel is almost entirely artificial, although in some parts it occupies
the present bed of the Desplaines river, and is subject to its floods, which will be under
control by the movable dam at Lockport. As that part of the route above Lockport for a
length of ten miles is almost wholly in rock, and the work of excavating any channel through
it will be, of necessity, slow and tedious, work in this section can be commenced both at Lock-
port and at (or near) Willow Springs, and prosecuted as fast as the means at the disposal of
the district will permit, while the less difficult stretches between Summit and Willow Springs
and between Lockport and Joliet can proceed in a more leisurely manner, and allow ample
time to consider and carefully design suitable adjuncts necessary for the proper control of the
waters when the channel is completed. Between Summit and Joliet, a distance of twenty-
four and one-half miles, there will be twenty-one million one hundred and sixty-two thousand
cubic yards of waste material, of which eight million three hundred and three thousand three
hundred and eighty-five cubic yards will be rock excavation, and twelve million eight hundred
and fifty-eight thousand six hundred and seventeen cubic yards earth or glacial deposit. This
great quantity of spall I consider of no marketable value at this time, and it is impracticable
to dispose of it, except by depositing it on each side of the channel. A sufficient width of
right of way will be necessary for this purpose. I estimate the cost of constructing the
channel as follows:
"From Summit to west end of fourteen-foot channel near Willow Springs..! 3,907,582 00
From west end of fourteen-foot channel to Lockport 9,031,973 00
From Lockport to Joliet 1,605,910 00
Total $14,545,465 00
"The cost of the right of way is not included in the foregoing estimates. The soil is to
be deposited on each side of the channel, excepting a small portion of the rock, which can be
used in building walls, dams, etc., below Lockport."
The first ordinance establishing a route for the drainage channel was adopted August 4,
1891, President Prendergast, with Trustees Hotz, Grilmore, Eussell and Wentner, voting for
it. This ordinance is substantially as follows:
Section 1. That there be and is hereby laid out and established a route for a main channel to be
hereafter constructed and maintained, together with the necessary additions thereto, over and upon the
lands lying between the following described lines: All the land between the east line of the northwest
quarter of section 6, township 38 north, range 14, east of third principal meridian, and the center of the
Summit and Riverside road, included between the following boundaries on the north and south lines,
respectively.
The north boundary is described as follows: Beginning at a point three hundred and one and forty-
four-hundredths feet south of the northeast corner of the northwest quarter of section G, township 38
north, range 14, east of third principal meridian; thence running north eighty-seven decrees, fourteen
minutes, west six hundred and sixty-six and seventy -two hundredths feet: thence north eighty-six degrees,
forty-one minutes, west three hundred and four and fifty-live -huiidredihs feet; thence north eighty-two
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 227
decrees, forty-eight minutes, west four hundred and two and eighty-hundredths feet; thence north
two hundred and eight and three-tenths feet to the north line of said section 6; thence north eighty-
nine degrees, forty-two minutes, west one thousand two hundred and ninety-four feet to the north west
corner of said section 0; thence west five thousand three hundred and seventy-six and four-tenths
feet on north line of section 1, township 38 north, range 13, east of third principal meridian to the north-
west corner of said section 1: thence west six hundred and twenty-six and seveuty-five-hundredths feet
on the north line of section 2, township 38 north, range 13, east to the center of Spaulding avenue; thence
north along said center three hundred and thirty feet; thence west six hundred and seventy -two and two-
tenths feet to the center of Homan avenue; thence north on said center three hundred and thirty
feet to the center of Thirty-eighth street; thence west on said center of Thirty-eighth street one thousand
three hundred and thirty-five feet to the east line of the southwest quarter of section 35, township 39
north, range 13 east; thence west eleven feet to the center line of Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe railway
in Chicago; thence northwesterly four hundred and twenty-five feet along the center of said railway to
the south* lino of the Chicago, Alton <fc St. Louis railroad: thence south sixty-nine degrees twenty-six
minutes, west fifty feet: thence north sixty-six degrees five ininutes, west two thousand seven hundred
and two and five-tenths feet to a point on west line of said section 35, said point being five hundred
and thirty-six and twenty -two-hundredths feet south of the northwest corner of the southwest quarter of
said section 35: thence north one thousand six hundred and thirty-six and twenty-two-hundredths feet;
thence south sixty-seven degrees twenty-seven minutes, west two thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven
and five-tenths feet to the center of section 34, township 39 north, range 13, east of the third prin-
cipal meridian; thence south two hundred and one feet; thence south seventy-nine degrees two minutes,
west one thousand three hundred and forty-nine and four-tenths feet; thence south seventy-five
degrees thirteen minutes, west one thousand three hundred and seventy-four feet to a point on west line
of said section 34, said point being eight hundred and thirty-one feet south of the northwest corner of the
southwest quarter of said section 34; thence south seventy-five degrees thirteen minutes, west two thou-
sand seven hundred and seventy-two and nine-tenths feet to a point one thousand one hundred and
one feet north of the southwest corner of the southeast quarter of section 33, township 39 north,
range 13 east; thence south seventy-five degrees forty-two minutes, west one thousand three hundred and
eighty-six and thirty-two-hundredths feet; thence south sixty-seven degrees forty-three minutes, west
one thousand four hundred and forty-three feet; thence south one hundred and ninety-six and six-hun-
dredths feet to the southwest corner of said section 33; thence west three hundred and thirty feet on the
north line of section 5, township 38 north, range 13 east; thence south fifty-nine degrees forty-two min-
utes, west two thousand seven hundred and eighteen and seven-tenths feet to a point one thousand two
hundred and twenty -eight feet north of the southwest corner of the northeast quarter of said section 5;
thence south fifty-nine degrees, forty-two minutes, west two thousand four hundred and twenty-four and
four-tenths feet: thence west five hundred and eighty-four and two-tenths feet to the west line of said
section 5; thence south three hundred and forty feet; thence south fifty-nine degrees, forty -two minutes,
west three thousand and eighty-four and eight-tenths feet to a point seven hundred and forty-nine feet
north of the southeast corner of the southwest quarter of section 6, township 38 north, range 13, east of
third principal meridian; thence south fifty-nine degrees forty-two minutes, west one thousand four hun-
dred and seventy-one and four-tenths feet to the south line of said section 6; thence south fifty-nine
degrees forty -two minutes, west one thousand six hundred and eighty-nine and five-tenths feet to the
range line between ranges 12 and 13 east; thence north eight hundred and fifty-four and five-tenths feet
to the northeast corner of section 12, township 38 north, range 12, east of third principal meridian; thence
west to the northwest corner of the northeast quarter of said section 12; thence south to the south line of
Chicago, Santa Fe & California railroad: then southwesterly along said south line to the west line of the
east half of the northwest quarter of said section 12: thence south to the south line of said northwest
quarter; thence east to the center line of the Desplaiues river: thence down the center of the Des-
plaines river to the west line of the east half of the southwest quarter of said section 12; thence south
along said west line to the center of the Summit and Riverside road; thence southeasterly along the cen-
ter line of said Summit and Hiverside road to the Illinois and Michigan canal.
The south boundary is described as follows: Beginning at a point nine hundred and two and one-
tenth feet south of the northeast corner of the northwest quarter of section 6, township 38 north, range 14,
east nf the third principal meridian; thence north eighty-seven degrees fourteen minutes, west six hun-
dred and sixty-six and sixty-two-humlredths feet: thence north eighty-six degrees forty-three minutes,
west three hundred and four apd six-huudredths feet; thence north eighty-three degrees thirty-six
238 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
minutes, west four hundred and two and three-tenths feet; thence south ninety-nine and eight-tenths feet
to the Union Stock Yards Transfer Company's railroad north right-of-way line; thence northwesterly
along said right-of-way line seven hundred and eight feet; thence west six hundred and fifty-eight feet
to west line of said section (i; thence south twenty-seven and fifty-six-hundredths feet; thence west six
hundred and seventy-six feet along the south line of lots 5 and 6 of block 1, and lots ."i and G of block 2, of
Paul F. Knefel & Co.'s subdivision of lot 3 of Kerfoot's subdivision of the north half of the northeast
quarter of section 1, township 38 north, range 13, east of third principal meridian to center of Hart
avenue; thence west six hundred and ninety-eight feet along the center of Fortieth street to the west line
of Blanchard avenue; thence north to a line six hundred and thirty-three feet south of the north line of
said section 1; thence west nine hundred and twelve feet to the north line of Archer avenue; thence
southwest along said north line of Archer avenue to the southwest corner of lot 15 of Graves' subdivision
of lot 1 of the Superior court partition of the south twenty-five acres of the north half, and the north
fifteen acres of the south half of the west half of the northeast quarter of said section 1: thence northwest
on west line of said lot 15, to the northwest corner thereof; thence in a direct line to the southeast corner
of lot 26 of said Graves' subdivision; thence west along the south line of said lot 26 to the southwest
corner thereof; thence north along the west line of said Graves' subdivision to the center line of Fortieth
street produced; thence west on center of Fortieth street twenty-seven hundred and twenty-three and two-
tenths feet to the west line of said section 1; thence south fifty-nine and eight-tenths feet to a point seven
hundred and fourteen feet south of the northwest corner of said section 1; thence north seventy-eight
degrees thirty-one minutes, west thirteen hundred and sixty -six and three-tenths feet; thence north sixty-
seven degrees fifty-nine minutes, west eleven hundred and seventy-nine and one-tenth feet to the south
line of section 35, township 39 north, range 13, east of the third principal meridian: thence west two hun-
dred and forty-six feet to the southeast corner of the southwest quarter of said section 35; thence north
ninety-seven and eight-tenths feet: thence north sixty-six degrees five minutes, west eighteen hundred
and forty feet to the south line of lot 3 of the Superior court partition of the west half of the southwest
quarter of said section 35: thence southwest ten hundred and sixty -two feet on south line of lots 3 and 4
of said Superior court partition to the west line of said section 35; thence north two hundred and forty-
two and five-tenths feet on west line of said lot 4; thence north sixty-eight degrees fifty -eight minutes,
east seven hundred and forty-eight feet on north line of said lot 4; thence north sixty-six degrees five
minutes, west seven hundred and sixty-five feet to a point on the west line of said section 35, said point
being fourteen hundred and ten feet south of the northwest corner of the southwest quarter of said section
35; thence north seventy-four degrees thirty-four minutes, west thirteen hundred and seventy-six and
eight-tenths feet; thence north eighty-eight degrees forty-six minutes, west thirteen hundred and twenty-
four and nine-tenths feet to a point ten hundred and four and three-tenths feet south of the center of
section 34, township 39 north, range 13, east of third principal meridian; thence south seventy-seven
degrees forty -six minutes, west thirteen hundred and fifty-five and twenty-five-hundredths feet to tin-
center of the Western Indiana Belt railroad; thence south seventy-five degrees thirteen minutes, west
thirteen hundred and seventy-three and five-tenths feet to a point sixteen hundred and sixty and four-
tenths feet south of the northwest corner of the southwest quarter of said section 34; thence south seventy-
five degrees thirteen minutes, west twenty-seven hundred and sixty-nine and five-tenths feet to the east
line of the southwest quarter of section 33, township 39 north, range 13, east of third principal meridian;
thence south two hundred and seventy-one and six-tenths feet to south line of said section 33: thence west
thirteen hundied and thirty-four and twenty-six-hundredths feet: thence south one hundred feet; thence
south sixty-eight degrees six minutes, west seven hundred and sixteen feet; thence south sixty degrees
fifty-seven minutes, west seven hundred and fifty -eight feet to a point seven hundred and thirty-five feet
south of the northeast corner of section 5, township 38 north, range 13, east of third principal meridian;
thence south fifty-nine degrees forty-two minutes, west thirty-one hundred and one and five-tenths feet:
thence south two hundred and ninety-eight feet to center of said section 5; thence west five hundred and
five feet: thence south fifty-nine degrees forty -two minutes, west twenty-five hundred and fourteen and
two-teuths feet to a point twelve hundred and seventy feet south to the northwest corner of the southwest
quarter of said section 5; thence south fifty-nine degrees forty-two minutes, west twenty-seven hundred
and twenty-three and eight-tenths feet to north line of section 7, township 38 north, range 13, east of third
principal meridian: thence south fifty-nine degrees forty-two minutes, west thirty-four hundred and
ninety-six and six-tenths feet to a point seventeen hundred and eighty feet south of the northwest corner
of said section 7: thence south to the southeast corner of the northeast quarter of section 12, township 38
north, range 12 east; thence west on south line of northeast quarter of said section 12 to the east Hue of
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 229
block 2 of the county clerk's division of the west half of the southeast quarter of said section 12; thence
south one hundred and thirty-seven feet: thence west two hundred and thirty -three feet: thence south
one hundred and sixty-five feet: thence west two hundred and sixty-six feet: thence south two hundred
and thirty-three feet; thence west two hundred and sixty-six feet; thence south two hundred and
thirty -three feet: thence west three hundred and thirteen feet to the west line of said county clerk's
division: thence south to the Illinois and Michigan canal: thence southwesterly along said canal to the
center of the Summit and Riverside road.
Said main channel to begin at the west arm of the South fork of the South branch of the Chicago
river and to extend to the center of the Summit and Riverside road, all in Cook county and State of Illi-
nois. Said land includes the route of the main channel and such additional lands as are necessary for the
corporate purposes of said sanitary district of Chicago.
Sec. 2. The line or route of said main channel and the width of the same, together with the neces-
sary additions thereto; shall be as shown by the lines in red upon the said map hereto annexed and made
a part of this ordinance.
Sec. 8. The route of the main channel herein described and located is a part of the route, or main
channel, to be laid out and established by said sanitary district of Chicago, the remainder of the route or
main channel, and necessary additions thereto, to be hereafter laid out and established: and the said board
of trustees of the sanitary district of Chicago reserve the right to lay out and establish the remainder of
said route or main channel and such necessary additions thereto.
Sec. 4. That for the purpose of making said Improvement the said sanitary district of Chicago shall
appropriate and acquire the lands hereinbefore described, and the cost of said improvement shall be paid
for in part by general taxation, and in part by special assessment.
Sec. 5. As to any of said lands that can not be acquired as aforesaid, by purchase or cession from
the owners, the attorney of the sanitary district of Chicago shall be and is hereby directed to file petitions
in the Circuit or County courts of the county in which the same is situated, in the name of the sanitary
district of Chicago, praying that the just compensation to be made for private property to be taken or
damaged for said improvement or purpose as specified in this ordinance, shall be ascertained by a jury.
Sec. G. That an ordinance establishing a route or main channel, adopted by the board of trustees of
the sanitary district of Chicago, April 4, 1891, be and the same is hereby repealed.
Sec. 7. This ordinance shall be in force from and after its passage.
This welcome ordinance proved that the progressive party within the lx>ard of trustees
conquered all opposition, and that a great and useful work, once undertaken by Chicago,
must always be pushed forward to competition, regardless of the quibbles of the law and the
opposition of the minority.
It is not from the city sewers opening directly into the lake that the dangers of water
]>ollution arise, but from the fact, hitherto explained, that the river empties into the lake
ofteuer than into the valley of the Illinois. The only sewage emptied into the lake along
the front of the old city, from Fullertou avenue to Thirty-ninth street, is that of a strip
averaging perhaps a quarter of a mile wide, in some places a little wider, accommodating a
few thousand people. But whenever the dip is toward the main river or any of its branches
or forks all the sewage goes into them. Thus all the sewage made west of the North and
South branches discharges into them or the West fork. All the sewage of the Twenty-ninth
and Thirtieth wards of the Town of Lake, covering the Stock Yards territory, discharges into
the South branch, liecause the natural drainage is that way. The south ward of Lake tends
to slope in part toward the Calumet basin, but the inclination is so slight that the sewage
will go whichever way it is directed by the sewers. The natural grade of the west half of
Hyde Park is toward the western outlet of the Chicago river. All of Jefferson and seventy -
five per cent, of the area of Lake View drain into the North branch, as all of Cicero does into,
230 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
the West fork of the South branch. Thus of that part of the city which is within the drainage
district, from ninety to ninety-five per cent, drains naturally into the Chicago river and into
the canal, and hence when the great channel is cut the flow will be into the Desplaines, for
the dip will be in that direction, and, obedient to the law of gravity, the amply diluted sew-
age will run off into the Illinois and Mississippi to the Gulf. Again, when the drainage
channel is drawing three hundred thousand cubical feet of water a minute from the lake, its
suction will draw into the Chicago river, and discharge into the Desplaines nearly all the
shore water which has been fouled by sewers emptying into the lake from Lake View
on the north, as far south as Kenwood or perhaps Jackson Park on the south. Thus this
dreaded sewage will be disposed of without further artificial means; but to make assurance
doubly sure it is the intention to reverse all these shore sewers which now discharge into the
lake, so that they will drain westward, and as the great channel will make the outlet in that
direction considerably lower than that into the lake, not one drop of sewage will mingle
with the drinking water.
So late as the year 1855 the water of the Chicago river and its branches was compara-
tively free from pollution, perhaps as much so as the Calumet river was in the year 1880.
The establishment of a sewerage system and the increase in industrial houses changed this con-
dition, and for the last thirty-six years the same stream which induced settlement in the eight-
eenth century has threatened the physical life of the citizens, if it has not actually exerted
an evil influence on the moral life; for, in the neighborhood of filth the moral life, which is
superior to the physical, must suffer, since uncleanliness and morality can not dwell together.
The conversion of the river into a strait, connecting the upper lakes with the Gulf of Mexico,
is the only means of restoring the river to a condition beneficial to the city.
The system of main drainage now commenced, will place Chicago on the sanitary plane
of Paris, and permit the young city of the prairies to grow up in health and beauty like the
fair city on the Seine.
THE BUILDING INTERESTS.
UI.
HOUSE HEATING AND VENTILATION.
"OTJSE HEATING, like housebuilding, has been subjected by time to change. Within
the memory of men now living, the open fireplace and elaborate mantel formed the
..highest idea of house heating; the grate was slowly received as an improvement,
and the box-stove introduction was still more slowly made, and so with the soft coal, coke
and charcoal burners of early days. Between 1822 and 1830, one Dr. Nott, of Albany, N. Y.,
brought the baseburner into existence, with a view to its use as an anthracite burner. This
was an illuminated magazine stove, without an internal fuel chamber made separate from the
outer case, which was an oblong square. D. G. Littlefield, a resident of Albany, N. Y.,
speaking in 1890, of Nott's invention, says:
" At this time the mining of anthracite coal was in its infancy. It had not been used for
making steam, nor in smelting furnaces, and there were but few persons having confidence in
it as a domestic fuel. Some, however, desired to test it, but there were no proper means of
doing so. It fell to the lot of Dr. Nott, however, to show, so far as he could under the cir-
cumstances, people how to use this fuel for every purpose for which it is now employed.
Coal miners did not have coal breakers in those days. They had nothing but the pickax
and crowbar with which to prepare it for market; and the mine owners looked upon it as a
loss when the coal became broken into small pieces. Thousands of tons now found most val-
uable for many purposes were then regarded as only fit to make into roads leading from the
mines. Dr. Nott, when writing on the subject, made no suggestions as to the size of coal
best adapted for different purposes. He so constructed his stove that it could serve as a coal
breaker. He overestimated the temperature required fora complete combustion of anthracite
coal, and in his anxiety to generate intensity of heat within his stove he lined with fire brick
its whole interior portions, except the flues and ash pit. The intention was to so heat the
coal that it would crumble into smaller pieces on rolling his Saracenic grate backward and
forward by means of a lever attached."
The Doctor had to import fire brick for his stove, and was forced to construct it to fit
such brick. Again he made no provision for the escape of gases generated within the stove,
nor for regulating draft. All his attempts to construct a working stove up to 1853 failed.
282 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
The Littlefield baseburner, as invented in 1853, had all the useful points overlooked in the
Nott stoves, and in 1855 the Pioneer constructed by him was a succes. The Morning Glory
was another of his practical baseburners and the beginning of that long line of artistic stove-
work which is observed to-day in the great stove works of this country.
In the New England states, including everything east of New York, there are two
thousand two hundred and eighty-nine stove dealers. This number, large as it appears, is
exceeded by each of three individual states, for the Empire state has two thousand eight
hundred and ninety-five, Pennsylvania is credited with two thousand four hundred and
eighty-nine, and Illinois with two thousand two hundred and ninety. Taking the next block
of states, working westward, comprising New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, Delaware
and Maryland, we find that the total is nearly three times that of the New England states,
in other words, six thousand six hundred and twenty-three. Going still farther west, and for
lack of a better name calling the next division the central block, comprising everything east
of the Mississippi and north of the Ohio rivers, and in addition including Tennessee, Ken-
tuckv and West Virginia, there are eight thousand seven hundred and fifty-five dealers. The
southern seaboard states show dealers handling stoves to the number of one thousand six
hundred and seventy-one, while Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana add one thousand and
thirty-seven to the number, making for the South a total of a little more than the New Eng-
land states, namely, two thousand seven hundred and eight. Texas alone is an empire when
area is considered, and is credited with seven hundred and eighty-one dealers, while Arkansas,
much smaller territorially, is only a little behind it, having seven hundred and eleven stove
dealers. Missouri is a little ahead of Ohio, having one thousand six hundred and twenty-
seven, while Ohio has one thousand five hundred and seventy-one. Kansas has nine hundred
and seventy-nine, while Nebraska is credited with six hundred and ninety-one. North and
South Dakota, respectively, have one hundred and forty-four and two hundred and ninety-
eight. Minnesota and Wisconsin rank close together, having eight hundred and forty-five
and eight hundred and ninety, respectively. The Pacific coast figures up as follows: Cali-
fornia, three hundred and fifty-four; Oregon, one hundred and fifty -one, and Washington one
Imndred and two, a total of six hundred and seven. Referring to the large cities, New York
has four hundred and forty-two merchants carrying stoves in stock; Brooklyn, two hundred
and seventy-nine; Boston, one hundred and eighty-five; Philadelphia, two hundred and
twenty-nine, and Chicago, five hundred and twenty-seven. Some very interesting deductions
might be made, taking these figures into consideration in connection with the population of
the several cities. For instance, Chicago, witli a population not very far removed from the
figures of Philadelphia and Brooklyn, has more than twice as many dealers as either of these
cities. Again, with a population of about one-half of that of New York, Chicago has more
than fifteen per cent, more retail dealers than the metropolis. This is no doubt to be ac-
counted for in part by the wider distribution of the trade in Chicago and to the fact that there
are more mixed stores proportionately in this city than in any other city in the Union. The
statistics relate to 1S79, and, in considering population, to the census of 1880. Since the
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 233
rejwrt was made, the population of Chicago has been found to exceed one million two hundred
thousand, and the increase in stove dealers has been correspondingly marked.
Reminiscences of ancient stove days are not without value. They recall the times, not
a hundred years ago, when house heating was effected by the cooking stove, and when that
. stove was the central attraction of the family circle during the cold winter days. That great
authority, the Metal Worker, published recently the memories of an old settler, who wrote as
follows: "I have a vague memory picture of a primitive cooking stove with a central fire-
IKIX, flanked by toiling places which overhung the space like a vessel's taffrail. I think it was
called a saddle-back stove. Do any of my readers rememter them more clearly? Soon
after, although not directly following, came the Rotary, which was thought a great innova-
tion in its time. It was originally without an oven, except as hereafter shown, and the
whole top of various sizes of toiler-holes was made to revolve at will around a common
center. Thus the cook could rotate from pots to kettles, bringing them successively over
the direct blaze of the wood fire, to be later ' moved on. ' to more temperate regions. The
covers were, as intimated, of differing diameters, having wire bails for convenience in hand-
ling. The oven was simply a cover made of tin for the whole top of the stove, usually pro-
vided with an aperture at the apex like that of a cistern through which access was had to
the edibles below. Of course baking and boiling could not be done in conjunction, but
that was not accounted a serious objection; for this tin cover was simply an auxiliary to the
more primitive brick oven and did not compete with that old reliable. Later on came the
elevated oven, which at first was a double cylinder of sheet iron with cast heads, to which
doors were hinged. Query: Who first discovered that an oven really needed more than one
door? This oven was supported at an altitude above the stove-pipe sufficient to allow the
procession of utensils to pass under, like water craft below a suspension bridge, by two
pipes or smoke flues, one from the center or hull of the stove and the other from the rear
collar outside of the rotating top. The exit-collar, from which the pipe led to the chimney,
was placed on top of the oven, and thus the smoke and heat were compelled to pass around
the oven between its inner and outer walls. This oven stood at a right angle to the front
or hearth of the stove, but about the time when the rotary idea came out it was placed
parallel with the hearth, on a center-supporting pipe over the rear of the stove. It seems
to me that about this time the Rotary had a cast-iron oven located under the stove, but am
not clear on this point.
"There was a stove with a cast oven on the elevated principle supported on a lower rect-
angular frame upon which as a truck ran wheels, carrying the stove body. By this means
the stove, being a plain top, could be trundled under the oven, exposing two or more boiling
places for use as the cook might desire. The maker's name has passed from my memory, but
I think we called it a 'railroad' stove. Another modification of the upper or elevated oven
door of cast iron was largely sold to the country trade by peddlers who carried wagon loads
of them to the farmers. It was said by competitors that unless a purchaser owned a wood
lot he could not afford to run one of them. Desired economy of fuel produced the 'air-
234 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
tights,' of which I have no time, nor will the editor give me space, to speak in detail. The
story which I received cum grano salis regarding a ' wager stove,' to the effect that a barrel
of flour was once baked into bread therein with only the wood of the barrel for fuel, I used to
tell to customers with a mental reservation to ease conscience as to the capacity and number
of cord feet of wood in that barrel. Another and like unto it was that which said Mr. P. P.
Stewart made a final inspection of his stove with sledge hammer in hand, when the slightest
imperfection was a good reason for the destruction of the stove by the merciless inventor's
hammer."
Some time before the anthracite subheater was invented numerous wood and coalburn-
ers were placed on the market, adaptations of which are offered to-day to consumers of soft
coal and wood as in days of long ago.
The house furnace is peculiarly an American institution. Its succession to the throne of
the stove was slow indeed, so much so that in 1 880 one of the present furnace factories could
produce such heaters in sufficient numl>er to supply the demand in the United States. Since
that period the furnace has shared the popular favor, and to-day thousands of homes are
heated bv hot-air where a decade ago not more than one-twentieth of the numter could boast
of this modern heating system. The numter of furnace manufacturers now carrying on bus-
iness enter into lively competition, leaving the hoiise owner in that happy condition where he
can have his whole house heated at a cost a little below that of heating three parlors with the
ancient or modern stoves.
Lester's furnace was advertised by M. W. Lester & Son, of 54 State street, in 1869; A.
E. Leavenworth, of 176 Lake; N. M. Simonds & Co., 218 Washington; H. C. Van Schaack,
Jr.*, 82 State; Bliss & Brown, 158 State; John H. Keyser & Co., 178 State; Pratt, Went-
worth & Co., 198 Lake; M. A. Thayer & Boomer, 829 State; Wilson, Davis & Co., 31 North
State, and Rubel Bro.*, 193 Lake street, were named in 1872 with Bliss & Brown, Chevill &
Lennox and M. A. Thayer.
The manufacturers of hot-air furnaces in 1879 were William Boomer, 951 Wabash; Ser-
voss, Northen & Co., 56 North Clark street; Hatch & Breeze. 50 State; A. E. Leavenworth, 171
Randolph; Franklin Lester, 57 Lake; Richardson, Boynton & Co., 84 Lake; Ruttan Manu-
facturing Company, 68 Lake, and Younghum & Rickert, 74 Adams. Others engaged in man-
ufacturing or selling heating apparatuses were John D. Bangs & Co., Cruver & Jones, W. T.
Powell, A. Rubel, Isaac Rubel, A. A. Spear, P. J. Stanton, F. R. Taylor and J. M. Taylor.
John McWade, 245 Madison: Prickett & Drysdale*, 80 Monroe; J. C. & J. J. Young, 88
Michigan avenue, were manufacturers or dealers in grates, fenders and grate fronts in 18(59.
Dewey & Jones, 167 Dearborn, were manufacturers of mantels, grates and cornices. H. Gam-
merdinger*, 370 State; E. L. Gowen*, 146 to 152 North Water, and Sherman, Cole & Co.*,
221 to 223 State, were manufacttirers of marble and stone mantels.
In the construction of a furnace and hot-air pipes, the location, the size of hot and cold-
air pipes, the arrangement of flues and the system of ventilation have all to be considered.
Were here in 1872 with the Hackett Manufacturing Coiupauy mid the Scheurman it Hand Mantel Company.
TJIK U ; \IT BUILDIN6
COMMERCIAL ARCHITECTrKE.
ROMANESQUE ORNAMENT.
TUB BUILDING INTERESTS. 236
A central location, a point northwest of the apartments to be warmed, is necessary. An ex-
cavation, fourteen inches deep, below the level of the cellar floor, should be filled in solidly
for foundation purposes, and the apparatus raised upon it. A galvanized-iron smoke pipe
eight inches in diameter, with ventilator and damper; bright tin warm-air flues, encased by
outside tin covering, one-quarter inch from flue, when carried through or in partitions, and
four inches from woodwork when single, should be used. The furnace flues should be eighty
square inches sectional area, and be close from ashpit (or place for tightly fitting ashpan) to
top, as openings in flue interfere with necessary draft. The cold-air box, 16x36 inches inside,
may be carried from the northwestern exterior of the house along the cellar ceiling, and
thence to the base of furnace. A tight-fitting door at the top of the vertical cold-air duct
may permit the taking of air from the top of basement in connection with that from rooms
and halls at night or on cold days during the existence of a south wind. A further provis-
ion for obtuining air from the interior may be made by placing a 2()x'26-inch register in hall,
connected with a 16x'24-inch air-tight wooden duct leading to a point under the furnace.
Cold-air ducts may be carried in the same manner from parlor, dining-room and library to
the furnace. When the exterior air is extremely cold the economy of taking the supplyqf
~* "'ji * JJiU****
air for the furnace from the interior is manifest. Air-tight dampers should, howevej:, .fce.used
on the interior air ducts, so as to close them off from the furnace when exterior air is in use.
Regarding the sizes of registers and pipes for different sized rooms, the following is
taken from the catalogue of a leading furnace company: In public halls or buildings where
but a single register is required, take the hot-air pipes from the top of the furnace and use
register without valves. The size of pipes and registers requisite for the successful operation
of any furnace is a matter requiring the best judgment, and should be determined by the
size, position and distance from the furnace of the spaces to be heated, and can not be gov-
erned by any fixed rule. We usually recommend for rooms of ordinary hight as follows:
Room on first floor, 12x14 feet, should have eight-inch pipe, with 8x12 register. Room
on first floor, 12x18 feet, should have nine-inch pipe, with 9x12 register. Room on first floor,
16x20 feet, should have ten-inch pipe, with 10x14 register. Room on second floor, 8x12
feet, should have seven-inch pipe, with SxlO register. Room on second floor, 10x16 feet,
should have eight-inch pipe, with 9x12 register. Room on second floor, 12x16 feet, should
have nine-inch pipe, with 10x14 register. Medium sized halls should have ten-inch pipe, with
10x14 register. Large sized halls should have twelve-inch pipe, with 12x15 register. When
oval or flat pipes are built in the walls of an ordinary three or four-story city house, the base-
ment, rooms and parlors should have independent pipes; second, third and fourth-story rooms
can be warmed by a single line of pipe, reduced in size over each register, viz. : A house,
18 or 20x45 or 50, should have a separate pipe, 4x1(5, to each parlor. A hoiise, 18 or 20x45
or 50, should have one line, 4x18 to second story, reduced to 4x14 for third story, reduced to
4x8 for fourth story. A house, three stories, 20x45 or 50, should have one line, 4x16, to second
story, reduced to 4x9 for third story. The alx>ve sizes to be varied according to the size of
house and general division of the interior space; 4x24 pipe in the wall should have twelve -
O
236 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
inch pipe connected with furnace; 4x20 pipe in the wall should have ten-inch pipe connected
with furnace; 4x18 pipe in the wall should have ten-inch pipe connected with furnace;
4x16 pipe in the wall should have eight-inch pipe connected with furnace; 4x14 pipe in the
wall should have eight-inch pipe connected with furnace; 4x12 pipe in the wall should have
eight-inch pipe connected with furnace; 4x9 pipe in the wall should have seven-inch pipe
connected with furnace; 4x7 pipe in the wall should have six- inch pipe connected with
furnace.
Heating rooms on furnace level from the furnace is a question that has been somewhat
of a puzzle since the day the furnace was introduced. The searcher for heat on the furnace
level is generally content with that radiating from the apparatus, but men are found who de-
sire that the furnace must now be made equally useful as a heat distributor in the basement
as it is on the second and third floors. To heat four or five rooms on the level, as is some-
times done by a large baseburner stove, is a precarious means of obtaining heat in winter.
In the day-time all doors must be left open and at night all transoms and a few of the doors
must be open; but much depends on the location of the furnace, in such a plan. A second
method is to convey a part of the heat from the top of the furnace by round tin pipes carried
through the partition walls and under the ceilings of adjoining rooms. A third method is to
pipe the cold air from the floor outside the furnace room to a cold IK>X or safety bottom under
the furnace and thence into it, thus giving the warm-air pipes, first descril>ed, more play.
Carrying the smoke pipe through a room or two to the main flue pertains to this method.
Piping the smoke from the furnace room into a combination drum, in an adjoining
room, where it sweeps along to a smoke pipe to be carried to the flue, is a method by which
the circulation of air as well as of heat may be provided for.
The underground fresh-air duct or air-supply pipe may be more than a heater auxiliary.
Unless it be made a way for the entrance of fresh air, it becomes a vehicle for the con-
veyance of poisons to the household. It is customary where houses are built on narrow lots
and the lower or basmeut story is used for kitchen and diniugrooins, to construct the conduit
to supply fresh air to the furnace, of glazed sewer pipe underground, leading from the fur-
nace pit to the rear of the house, where it is brought to the surface by ;i little well built
against the rear wall. The disadvantages of such an underground air conduit in this soil are
numerous, so numerous, in fact, that the health department frequently receives complaints
about them. In order to avoid this unsanitary condition, the health department srctiri-cl the
insertion in a proposed bill governing the sanitary construction of buildings, of a section for-
bidding the use of underground fresh-air conduits. In deference to some architects who l>e-
lieved that method of constructing fresh-air flues as the least objectionable of any, provided it
was properly done, the section has been modified and now reads:
No duct or flue 1'or admitting air to an apparatus intended for warming shall be concealed below the
concrete under the lowest floor of auy building, except that tin- same belaid in dry Band Or soil, and be
made of impervious and imperishable material, hermetically sealed at the joints.
It is altogether probable that architects would provide the underground air duct if they
chose, without reference to the quality of the soil, about which they are not supposed to know
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 237
anything. If the plan called for an underground air duct, the contractor would put it in
without reference to the soil. Then, to, the level of the ground-water rises and falls in this
city very greatly at two seasons of the year. The ground upon which a proposed house is to
be built might be perfectly dry at one time and saturated at another.
The only reason why they should be built, other than a desire on the part of the archi-
tect to preserve the symmetry of his rooms, which would be spoiled by a galvanized-iron pipe
passing through the kitchen or servant's bedroom, is one given by Walter Bernan, C. E., in
his "History and art of warming and ventilating," in which he says: "Where practicable,
cold air should te drawn from a large underground tunnel. By this means, when the exter-
nal air is at the freezing point, the tunnel will furnish air at nearly the mean temperature, by
which a considerable portion of heat may be saved." He also advises the tunnel to be
square, so as to present a large surface to the air, and to be made of some good conducting
material, so as readily to conduct the heat of the earth to it.
An account of a practice once common here, but now prevented by the health depart-
ment whenever it is discovered, will show a forcible objection against it. A row of three
houses on Ontario street, some years ago, were designed by a firm of Chicago architects.
These houses were provided with furnace pits and underground fresh-air ducts. The latter
were so poorly constructed that, before the houses were finished the architects discovered
water in the furnace pit and ordered the sewerbuilder to drain it by a direct connection with
the sewer. What the result would have been had the health department not discovered the
condition of affairs is well-known now to the merest tyro in sanitary construction, and it would
be supposed that such foolish and criminal arrangements would be abandoned in the light of
the knowledge of to-day. Yet, within a year, the Chicago health department has been com-
pelled to reject house plans because of this very provision. If the duct is not supposed to fill
wjth water why was the connection made to carry it off? This connection with the sewer is
not the chief objection, as it is not often made. The joints of the duct are seldom made tight,
or, if so originally, are soon loosened by the percolation of water from the soil. Open joints
permit water to accumulate and become foul, and permit ground air to mix with the fresh air,
especially, as is often the case, the fresh-air flue is tightly closed at its outer end during cold
weather. The surface of the earth is filled with decomposable substances, and whenever air
is confined in any spot in contact with the ground, or any changeable organic matter, it be-
comes saturated with various exhalations which are detrimental to health. The noxious air
generated in cellars, basements, and under floor spaces reaches the inhabitants of the upper
apartments in so small quantities, that, instead of producing any marked and sudden process
of disease, it operates rather as a steady tax on their income of health, so uniform in its de-
pressing effects as not to be appreciated.
The hot-blast system of heating buildings is an improvement on the old furnace
methods. This system is simply the supply of cold air to a chamber above coils of steam or
hot-water pipe and its diffusion thence through the building by means of hot-air flues. Used
in combination with steam or hot water, this system is recommended for its economy even
.':;s INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
as the combination steam aucl hot- water system is recommended. The prompt response of
hot-air flues to the condition of the furnace or steam and water pipes is one of the leading
points in its favor.
The system of heating by hot water must be credited to M. Bonnemain, who, in 1777
brought it near perfection at Paris, France. Almost a century passed away before Ameri-
cans realized the simplicity and utilty of the system, and to-day, only, has Chicago extended
to it any general patronage, although known here in its simplest form as early as 1859.
During the years 1889 and 1890, a numlier of hot- water heaters were introduced, and each
one, the ideal of the manufacturer, was shown to have so many good points that it was diffi-
cult to decide which of the heaters offered was the best. Many of them were tried
and found wanting, a few of that many proved successes in some houses while showing fail-
ure to heat in others. Some of them were so intricate in make-up that it was a marvel how
the water circulated; others were so simple in construction that one wonders where the heat-
ing surface is; some are made to gather round the pipes every particle of dust and soot;
others to repel such particles; yet for each is claimed perfection, and to sustain the claim
nothing less than the heater in actual practice is requisite. With heater radiators and flue
arranged properly, great things come from this system. It is pleasant, healthy and econom-
ical.
Many are curious to know why, in hot- water heating system, the water circulates;
what is it that secures the movement known as circulation ? Water consists of an innumerable
quantity of extremely minute particles, called molecules. These particles have the property
of being able to glide over, under, and to and from each other almost without resistance or
friction. When water is heated in a boiler, the action that takes place is this: As the heat
is applied the particles nearest the heated surface becomes expanded or swollen, and are so
rendered lighter (bulk for bulk) than the colder particles, they are therefore compelled to rise
to the highest point in the boiler; finding an opening in the flow pipe, they travel up this,
also, until the highest point in the system is reached. It will be understood that immediately
the expanded particles left the heating surface, other cold particles immediately took their
place; these become heated in turn, and rise, following the particles that preceded them, and
this goes on continuously. The circulation can l>e described as a stream of heated particles
flowing up one pipe from the boiler, and a stream of cooler particles flowing down another
pipe into the boiler; or it might be described as a means of automatically transporting heated
water from the lower to the upper parts of a building, and providing a down-flow of cold water
to the boiler to be heated in turn. From this it will be seen that the flow pipe should never start
from the boiler in a horizontal direction, as this will cause delay and trouble in the circulation.
This pipe should always start in a vertical direction, even if it has to proceed horizontally
within a short distance from the boiler. Reflection will show that the perfect apparatus is
one that carries the flow pipe in a direct vertical line to the cylinder or tank; this is never, or
but rarely possible, but skill and ingenuity should be exercised to carry the pipes as nearly as
possible in this direction. Many or most of the failures in hot-water heating can be attrib-
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 239
utecl to ;i neglect of the simplest laws which govern the movement of water in pipes, and
those having in charge the erection of hot-water systems, for heating buildings, will do well
to remember that the circulation they expect depends entirely uj>on the expansion of particles
when heated, and that they must avoid, as much as possible, friction, exposure of flow pipes
to a very low temperature, and frequent or numerous short bends. To sum up, let your flow
pipe be protected from external temperature, go direct, vertically, without bends or short
turns to the cylinder or tank.
The editor of the Sanitary Netvs explains the laws governing the circulation of hot water
in the following paper:
" The circulation of the water is caused by unequal pressure on some portion of the
system. The most common system of heating water for circulation is that required in con-
nection with the kitchen range by every modern city house. The reason that the water cir-
culates when heat is applied to the water in the chamber about the firebox, a dilation of the
volume of the water takes place, and it Incomes lighter. The heated water rises in the
chamber, and finds its outlet through the short pipe leading to the boiler. The moment heat
is received by the water and it tecomes lighter, a change in the pressure occurs, and the cold
water, being heavier, begins to flow through the return pipe into the bottom of the water-
chamber in the heater, and this movement continues. Suppose, for the time, that the circu-
lating system includes nothing but the heater and the water reservoir, and that the two pipes
attached to the top of the water reservoir are removed, it will be seen that the hot water will
flow into the reservoir and collect at the top, and the cooler and heavier water will gather at
the bottom and flow down the return pipe to replace the water moving out at the top. There
is nothing more simple than this movement. Persons not familiar with the laws of hydro-
statics, might not see at a glance that the pressure would be even in this system before heat
was applied, when they consider the great difference in size between the columns of water
maintained in the water chamber in the heater and in the one-inch return pipe. The pres-
sure of fluids depends on the hight of the column only, and is entirely irrespective of the bulk.
Therefore, the one-inch pipe exerts as much pressure as the much larger heating chamber.
"If the pipes referred to were entirely disconnected, and the reservoir and return pipe
allowed no heat to escape from the water, the circulation would take place until the water
was of a uniform temperature, which would occur only when no more heat could be received
from the tire, when the circulation would stop. This, however, would never occur in practical
work, for the water is continually losing its heat by conduction and radiation, and a uniform
degree of heat can never occur. The quicker the water loses its heat the heavier it Incomes,
and the more rapid the circulation Incomes. Now to the point where circulation of hot water
throughout the house to different fixtures is desired. For this purpose the pipes are carried
from the crown of the reservoir, the hot -water pipe always leading from the top of the reser-
voir, where the hottest water always is. The cold-water supply pipe empties down in the
lower part of the reservoir, where the cool water is, to avoid reducing the temperature of the
hot water by mixing cold with it.
" It is evident, after the explanation of the pressure-law of fluids, if the hot- water pipe
340 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
and the return pipe are carried to the same bight in a building and there connected, that cir-
culation will always result, as the pipes are a simple elongation of the two original columns
of water. In practical plumbing it is necessary to supply fixtures on different floors, and at
different levels, and the question of securing a circulation becomes an important one. The
main-flow pipe, after leaving the crown of the boiler, is carried horizontally to a point over
the sink. Here a branch is dropped down to the level of the sinkcock. The main-flow pipe
is then carried to the next floor, on which there are fixtures, by as direct and straight a route
as possible. The pipe is lead as near to the fixture as possible and a branch taken off to the
cock. The main flow pipe then continues to the next floor, ou which is the bathroom, prob-
ably. The pipe is connected to the bathcock by as short a branch as possible, and is then
carried around the side of the bathtub to the washbasin. These generally complete the fix-
tures to which hot water is conducted; to complete the circulation the main-flow pipe is con-
tinued directly back, without any branches, to a point underneath the boiler, where it con-
nects with the return pipe leading from the boiler to the fireback. This system, if properly
constructed, will form a circulating system which will work satisfactorily. For convenience
the cold-water pipe is constructed parallel with the hot- water pipe, but it has no return pipe
and comes to a dead end at the highest fixture.
" It is frequently noticed that upon opening the hot-water faucet a large amount of cold
water is expelled before the hot water begins to flow. This need not necessarily be so, and if
it occurs, can be remedied. It is caused by leading a long brancli from the circulating sys-
tem, instead of so placing the circulating pipes that a very short branch would be necessary
to reach the hot- water faucet. Another annoying feature in some hot- water systems is the
belching of air from the hot-water fixtures on the upper floor. This is because the plumber
has neglected to supply an air-vent at the highest point on the system. Vapor is always
present in water. As it becomes heated, the air is expelled from the water and collects at the
highest part of the system. Here a cock is usually placed to allow its escape. In case the
water -pressure in the house is from a tank, the air-vent may be left permanently open, if it
extends above the level of the cistern.
"The pressure exerted in the hot- water system of a house is principally exerted on the
boiler. If the pipe leading from it is thirty-four and one-half feet long from the bottom of
the boiler, and is full of water, the bursting pressure on every square inch of the inner sur-
face of the boiler will be fifteen pounds. The requirement for boilers of a good tested
strength is very apparent. In this apparatus where hot water is continually being drawn off
and is replaced by cold, there will be a greater or less deposit of mineral matter, according to
the degree of the hardness of the water. This is provided for to some extent by the sediment
cock at the bottom of the boiler, yet the pipe which runs through the fireback is often stopped
up with lime. In some localities this deposit is very extensive, constantly requiring the sub-
stitution of new connections.
" Another source of trouble with tirebacks is in their freezing in severe weather. It is
impossible to prevent it in houses which will not withstand the inroads of cold, except by
keeping fire in the stove all night. Drawing off the water at night is futile, because it ueces-
THE BUILDING INTERESTS.
241
sitate.s looking out for air binds, and if there is a dip, even of slight extent, in any portion of
the system, it is impossible to empty the system of water, and it is liable to freeze and to
require the whole plumbing to be torn out to find the stoppage. If there is a suspicion that
the waterback is frozen, it is best to burn a newspaper or two under the connecting pipes.
If water exposed alxmt the room is frozen, it would be desirable to do this anyway. If the
lead pipe is slightly tent, the cracking of the ice inside will determine if it be frozen. If,
after the fire has been burning a few minutes, the upper pipe does not feel warmer than the
lower, the supposition that the pipes are frozen will be always correct.
"There is one cause for the non-circulation of water in pipes which plumbers should be
constantly alive to. It is that the most trivial obstruction, such as a lead shaving, lodged in
the pipe, in a tank system where the pressure is not aided by the pressure from the mains,
may entirely prevent the circulation. This is because the motive power of the heat upon the
water is so small. It is so small that an ounce or even a fraction of an ounce often expresses
it. This small amount of motive power is easily overcome. The velocity of the circulation
is another point in which plumbers are interested. As the movement of the water is depend-
ent upon the difference in temperature of the water in the rising pipe and in the return pipe,
it is evident that any measure to maintain the temperature in the hot-water pipe, such as
packing, etc., and to reduce the temperature in the return pipe, such as doubling it back and
forth horizontally, thus increasing its length, and increasing the amount of heat lost by radi-
ation, will increase the velocity of the circulation, and deliver the water to distant fixtures at
a higher temperature than otherwise would be the case."
A practical illustration of hot-water heating may be based on a boiler showing twenty-
five and eighty-three-huudredths square feet of plain and three and ninety-five hundredths
square feet of extended surface, or a total surface of twenty-nine and seventy-eight-hundredths
square feet with grate area equal to three and four-hundred-and-eight-thousandths square feet.
This supplied nine hundred and forty-three and five-tenths square feet of radiating surface,
including forty square feet of cast-iron pipe, used in the conservatory. It shows one square
foot of grate surface to eight and seveuty-four-hundredths square feet of boiler-heating sur-
face and two hundred and seventy-six square feet of radiating surface. The work performed
by such a heater is shown in the following table:
3|
AJ
"*
c fc.-5
1*1*
gi
ri
r*
*S
.=
11
~ ~ r
i *~ 3
l"d
l 5 ^
| s s
M i5?S
* n
"
O> .
t ~
oo~
'S I =
2<=
His 2
fS|d
FLOOR.
of
c.
*j*j
ft* rt
a;-"*~ u
^3 *"
r. *- :-
- CO
"- S '
=1 .
2 ** Ci
H
^ . "
' c 3 .
S So
" S -y:
Ill
281
gag
I s
5
8-
f 5 "*"
= =-
F ls
|=ll
Basement
8248
5308
126
65
42
076
1.8
3.1
First floor.
13,810
13,810
422
32
32
1 1 .-,*
1.6
6.0
Second floor
lo.:;:
7,491
199.5
5]
37
0.96
1.03
4.5
Third floor
6,861
156
59
in
0.90
1.00
4.2
Total
41 7:'.*
32 860
903.5
46
36
0.77
1.28
4.5
342
INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
Such a system of course does not provide for waste. While the quantity of heat pro-
duced is out of all proportion to the requirements of such space, except on the few extremely
cold days experienced in Chicago, it is safe to make provision for such extremes of cold
without forcing the tire.
A simple method of calculation was presented a few years ago by Charles A. Smith, of
Dubuque, Iowa, who made practical test of the relation between radiating surface and
cubical contents, taking steam heat as a basis.
CLASS OK BU1LDINC.
When heaters are in
same rooms
. (direct system),
cubic feet per square
foot.
When heaters are in
basements
(indirect system),
ruble feet per square
foot.
Dwellings
50
40
Stores, wholesale
125
100
Stores retail
100
80
Banks )
Offices C
70
60
Drug stores . i
Dry goods . . .... ...
80
70
Large hotels
125
100
Churches
200
150
For determining the cross-sectional area of pipes (in square inches) for steam mains
and returns, it will be ample to allow a constant of three-hundred-and-seventy-five-thousandths
of a square inch, plus, for each one hundred square feet of heating surface in coils and
radiators, three-hundred-and-seventy-five-thousandthsof a square inch when exhaust steam is
used, nineteen-hundredths of a square inch when live steam is used, and nine-hundredths of a
square inch for the return. If the cross-sectional areas thus obtained are each multiplied by one
and three-elevenths, and the square root extracted from each product, the respective figures
obtained will represent the proper diameters, in inches, of the several steam pipes referred to.
Years ago the tank or boiler was located at an elevation high enough to supply all fix
tures; long pipes connected it with the waterback, circulating the water when heated. The
first change from this open-head boiler or tank was the construction of what was called the
flue boiler, located in the chimney; the heat from the range fire was carried around the body
of the boiler, the flue being so constructed that all the hot gases would be applied directly
to it; this boiler was close-head, with feed, circulation, and return pipes, connected at the
top, which was exposed. The next was the close-head boiler, located near the range, con-
nected to a waterback or coil, and supplied direct, or from a tank, placed at an elevation
above all hot-water fixtures. This is in existence to-day, but used generally as a hot-water
supplier rather than a house heater. The conduction of heat is its transmission through
the substance of bodies without a mechanical motion being manifested in such bodies. The
laws governing it are illustrated in the metallic bar heated at one end, which nreivcs heat at
the fire and conveys it promptly to the hand which holds it. A piece of wood of similar
dimensions may be held until it burns near to the end without transmitting heat to the hand.
Asbestus, mineral wool, lime and some chlorides are nonconductor* like wood, aud some com-
THE BUILDING- INTERESTS.
243
positions, as well as asbestus, are slow to receive heat in any degree. Against them are the
metals, marbles and burnt-clays which are high conductors. To render this rating of con-
ductivity clearer, let the following table showing the conducting and radiating power of sub-
stances l>e given:
CONDUCTING I'OWKR OK VARIOUS SUBSTANCES Despritz.
KADIATINd I-OWKK OF VARIOUS SUBSTANCES Leslie.
Material.
Conductivity.
.Material.
Radiating Power.
(Jolil
100
07
89
75
56
37
36
30
18
2 4
1.1
0.9
Lampblack
100
100
98
90
88
ai
45
20
10
15
12
12
Silver
Water
Conner
Writing paper
Brass
Glass.
Cast iron
Tissue paper ....
Wrought iron
Ice
Zinc
Tin .
Lead
Polished lead
Marble
1'olished iron .
Fire clay
Gold silver.
Water
Copper, tin
Specific heat is the quantity of heat necessary to raise the temperature of solids and
liquids so many degrees. Thus, to raise one pound of water 1 degree will require the
same heat as the raising of one pound of mercury to about 30 degrees, or one pound of lead to
about 32 degrees.
TABLE OF SPECIFIC HEAT OF EQUAL WEIGHTS OF VARIOUS SUBSTANCES.
Solid bodies.
Wood (fir and pine)
Specific Heat.
650
Liquids.
Water . ...
Specific Heat.
1.000
Wood (oak)
570
Alcohol
598
Ice
504
Acid (pyroligneous)
590
Coal
280
Ether
520
Charcoal (animal)
260
Acid (acetic)
509
Charcoal (vegetable)
... 241
Oil (olive).
309
Iron (cast)
241
Mercurv
.... 033
Coke
201
Limestone
200
Glass
195
Gases
Steel (hard)
117
Hydrogen
3 409
Steel (soft)
116
Vapor of alcohol.
547
Iron (wrought)
111
Steam .
480
Zinc
095
Carbolic oxide
245
Copper (annealed)
0.094
Nitrogen
0.243
Copper (cold-hammered)
0.093
Oxveeu .
0.217
Tin
056
Atmospheric air
237
Lead
031
Carbonic acid
202
Convection is the transfer of heated substances such as water by change of tem-
perature cr.-at.iug currents. The law of convection may be explained by. taking a tube
344 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
full of water. In an attempt to heat it from the top by bringing a heated ball of metal
into contact with the surface of the water several times, the surface-water may be warmed
by its contact, but the water in the lower portion of the tube may be shown not to have
changed temperature, by a piece of ice in the bottom or by an immersed thermometer.
Now, if heat be applied with an alcohol lamp at the bottom of the tube, the heat will be
rapidly diffused throughout the water. If bran, or other substance which sinks but little, be
added to the water, its movement with the currents will show how the water is set in motion
by the heat. These currents of water are termed " convection currents," as by them heat is
conveyed throughout the house. It is by bringing this law of the transmission of heat into
operation, that hot-water circulating systems are brought into successful operation, and that
hot water is made to circulate through a hot-water heating system. These convection cur-
rents are also applied in systems of ventilation, and in heating by hot air. In furnace heat-
ing the tin pipes form columns of air which are supplied with heat at their lower ends. The
wanner air rises and the cold, fresh air from the cold-air duct takes its place, maintaining a
constant current so long as the heat is maintained. To convection currents is also due the
draught of a stove, which is simply a rising of a column of warm air in the chimney and a
rushing in of colder air from the room through the stove to replace it. If the chimney is so
large that the fire is not able to heat the whole of its air contents, convection currents result
in smoky chimneys. If the air is too heavy, as on damp, foggy days, for the heat to raise it ?
back-draughts result. Plumbers are familiar with the action of currents of convection, be-
cause when they extend soil pipes to the roof, and furnish vent pipes to all traps, one of the
objects is to secure ventilation of the drainage system. If the soil pipe has a fresh-air inlet
at its bottom, the warmer air in the pipe will pass up the pipe and out at the top, to be re-
placed by the colder fresh air at the bottom.
Radiation, direct and indirect, is the evidence of the life of heat, the evidence of the
effort made by water or air to reach an equal temperature. The moment a body becomes
warmer than its surroundings, radiation begins, and heat shoots forth in all directions equally;
as a ray of light, lessening as the area increases. The extent of radiation is governed by the
conveyancer, it being understood that a bright or smooth -surfaced conveyancer will not per-
mit so much radiation as a dull-colored or rough one. This idea of dull colors and rough
iron work was the ruling one for years. Only a little while ago, it would seem, ideas were
used in discussing stove ornamentation and stove decoration. At the outset the idea was
altogether new that a stove might be made beautiful, or at least attractive, as well as useful
as a heater. But finally art stoves were produced, and that manufacturer would be considered
crazy to-day who would talk about putting a stove upon the market which is based entirely
upon its heating capacity, and which has no claim whatever to beauty and art excellence. A
little while ago, the steam and hot-water men were entirely content to put their apparatus on
the market without respect to any aesthetic considerations. Coils of pipe were considered
quite good enough for use as radiators, and in many respects it was a machine-shop job
which was introduced into the finest parlors for heating purposes. Just at present art is in
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 245
possession. One or two enterprising and courageous firms, a few years ago, put out radiators
with efforts at ornamentation. They were well received, and one step followed another, until
at the present time, decorated patterns are found in all directions. The general trend is in
the right, and it will not be long before parlors and sittiugrooms, libraries and diniugrooms
can be fitted witli steam or hot-water heating, and have the necessary radiators quite as
artistic and attractive as anything else that is put in the rooms, without interference with
their powers of radiation. What effect art will exert on the indirect radiator is immaterial,
for at best it is only an air heater, being composed of hot water, steam or electric coils,
gathered in one plenum to receive the cold air, heat it by direct radiation, and supply it to
the rooms by convection, as heat from a furnace is transmitted.
The principle of steam and hot-water heating by radiation is comparatively new, being
first defined by the Frenchmen Peclet and Begnault. They determined the standard unit of
heat to Ije the amount of warmth necessary to raise the temperature of one pound of water
from the freezing point, 32 to 33 degrees.
The specific heat is the number or fraction of standard units required to raise one pound
weight, 1 degree of Fahrenheit, or two-huudred-and-thirty-eight-thousaudths of a unit. Thus
one cubical foot of air at 32 degrees weighs eight-hundred-and-seven-ten-thousaiidths of a
pound, and twelve thousand three hundred and eighty-seven cubical feet will be heated to
33 degrees by the application of two-hundred-and-thirty-eight-thousandths of a standard unit
of heat, while at zero a cubical foot of air weighs eight-hundred-and-sixty-four-teu-thousandths
of a pound, and only eleven thousand five hundred and seventy-four cubical feet, or one
pound may be raised 1 degree by the same fraction of a unit of heat.
One square foot of glass will cool one and one-quarter cubical feet of air in a room 1
degree per minute for every degree it varies from the external temperature. Thus if it be 10
degrees outside and 80 degrees inside, one square foot of glass will render eighty-seven and
five-tenths cubical feet of air within 1 degree cooler in one minute, or 70 degrees, the difference
between the interior and exterior air multiplied by one and one-quarter, the cubical measure of
air cooled by one square foot of exposed glass. Where storm windows are used the cooling
capacity of a square foot of glass is three-quarters of a cubical foot of interior air per minute.
Exposed walls exert a strong influence on interior heat. It is ascertained that ten square
feet of an exposed wall, eight to twelve inches thick, will equal one square foot of single win-
dow glass in its cooling capacity, or, one and one-quarter cubical feet of air per minute; or,
eighty-seven and five-tenths cubical feet of interior air will be lowered 1 degree, when the ex-
terior temperature is 10 degrees, and the interior 80 degrees.
A one-foot length of pipe, four inches interior diameter and fourteen inches exterior cir-
cumference, shows a radiating surface of one and one-hundred-and-sixty-seven-thousandths
square feet, The estimated heating capacity of this piece of pipe is two hundred and twenty-
two cubical feet of air to 1 degree per one minute, when a difference of 123 degrees between
the acquired heat of the pipe and the natural heat of the surrounding air exists. Thus it re-
quires one thousand four hundred and thirty-nine standard units of heat for each square
346 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
foot of radiating surface to bring one cubical foot of air from the exterior temperature zero,
to the interior temperature 70 degrees.
The emission and absorption of radiated heat is a question of importance in calculating
the capacity of a heater. Radiators carrying water 160 degrees will emit one hundred and
twenty-six and thirteen-hundredths units of heat per square foot per hour, all of which the
air absorbs. That amount is exceeded by sixty-four units in the heat given off by the human
body in one hour, and by four hundred and seventy-three units by that emitted from a gas jet
which burns one cubical foot of gas per hour.
In March, 1890, the Metal Worker published a valuable summary of views on the rela-
tive value of heating boilers, in steam and hot-water heating apparatus. The specifications
for furnace heating were easily compared, for the possible variations were, comparatively
speaking, few. With steam and hot- water heating, however, there is a large range of choice
as to methods and wide differences of opinion as to details. Though the work of compari-
son in the latter case is much more difficult, the value of the resulting tables and data is
more than enough to warrant the trouble. It is not to be supposed that the averages and
deductions given necessarily represent the best practice, for in such work as steam and hot-
water heating there are no absolute standards formulated as yet. The tables and text are,
however, both interesting and valuable, for they present in a concise form the practice of
many different experts engaged in the practical work of steam and hot-water heating in
various parts of this country and Canada.
Table I gives the general information necessary in order to draw up a specification and
estimate for heating, by steam or water, the house described in the prospectus of the Metal
Worker competition. Tables II and IV give various methods of proportioning and ascer-
taining the quantity of radiating surface, and its distribution on the different floors; while
Table III presents a summary of the estimates. For convenience in comparison the com-
petitors who agree on the several points according to percentages of the whole number are
classified.
In the steam heating competition the methods of heating used were direct radiation only,
eleven per cent.; direct- indirect radiation, twenty -two per cent; direct and indirect radiation,
fifty-five per cent. ; indirect radiation only, eleven per cent. The number of apartments and
halls heated were as follows: Fourteen apartments were heated by twenty-two per cent.; fif-
teen apartments were heated by thirty-three per cent. ; sixteen apartments were heated by
twenty-two per cent; eighteen apartments were heated by twenty-two per cent; the hall on
third floor was heated by eleven per cent., while the hall on second floor was heated by forty-
four per cent, and the vestibule on first floor was heated by twenty-two per cent. The hall
on first floor was heated by direct radiation only by thirty-three per cent, by indirect radia-
tion only by fifty-five per cent, and by direct-indirect by eleven per cent. Twenty-two per
cent heated the butler's pantry, half of the number using indirect and the others direct
radiation. The kitchen was heated by direct radiation by forty-four per cent. From Table
II the average distribution of radiating surface to each floor is fifty-three and seven-tenths
THE BUILDING INTERESTS.
247
TABLE I. SUMMARY OF SPACE, SURFACES, KTC.
FLOORS.
Number of apartments 1
halls, etc.,on each floor. I
a
1
L
sf
H
00
I
Square feet of glass.
Total square feet of glass
on each floor.
X
^3
*
"
3
ill
H
Total equivalent of wall
to glass at 10 to l inch
square feet.
Total square feet equiva-
lent to glass.
I
3
9
Total linear feet of ex-
posed wall on each floor.
Percentage of cubic
space on each floor.
Percentage of equivalent
to glass on eacll floor.
Percentage of linear feet
of exposed wall on eacli
floor.
Third . .
Second .
First, . . .
4
8
10
6189
14082
15909
{ North.
J South..
] East . .
10.5
5.0
14.5
91 5
15 5
116.0
25.0
89.0
22.0
[West .
f North.
I South..
1 East . .
8.0
42.5
45.5
65.0
38.0
80.5
391.5
377.0
77.7
75.7
10.0
41.5
72.5
17
9
20
296.5
31.0
361.0
38.0
l_West .
f North.
1 South..
1 East . .
25.5
66.5
62.0
147.0
178.5
322.0
451.5
1371.0
137.1
315.6
34.0
43.0
144.5
38
35
38
388.5
37.0
433.0
41.0
[ West .
48.0
323.5
370.0
1643.0
164.3
487.8
35.0
156.0
45
56
42
Totals
22
36180
540
3391.0
339.1
879.1
373
TABLE II. STEAM RADIATING SURFACES.
Number of square feet of
surface in radiators to
S5
i
Distribution of surface n radi-
ators on floors.
"
METHODS OF HEATING.
H
i
sn
~
1
fcl.
*~s
*|-
=11
ft S
e -|
jj|
a
is
*rs
5?-s=
I 2 1
111
it^ -
if v en
aS
14 f
B*
E 3
big
'I
S a
Qj
4)
gS 1
Z
r*
'S=l
fl
( 1st
65
Direct radiation only
.469
1.10
1.136
88
\2d
24
J ' vvt
(3d
11
(1st
59.5
Direct-indirect radiation only
.fi(X)
1.41
1.470
08
Ud
81.5
I *p"*
(3d
9
Direct-indirect and direct radiation, 75
percent, of the surface bein; direct-
1st
52
indirect
.B27
1.48
1.538
65
3d
35 5
3d
12.5
Indirect and direct radiation, 87}^ per
1st
35.6
13.5
cent bein r direct radiation
.670
1.58
1.666
60
2d
31.2
3d
19.7
Indirect and direct radiation, 45 J^ per
1st
3.75
56.5
cent bein* p direct radiation . . .
.855
2.02
2.083
48
2d
28.25
3d
13.5
Indirect and direct radiation, 55 per
1st
14.37
31.45
cent beiii"" direct radiation . . .
.921
2.17
2.222
45
2d
29.87
9.27
3d
10.76
4.28
Indirect radiation only . . . .
.771
L86
1.923
52
| Not capable of averaging.
248
INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO :
per cent, to the first floor, thirty-two and fifty-nine-hundredths per cent, to the second floor,
and thirteen and seventy-one-hundredths per cent, to the third floor, the largest proportion
of surface on the first floor being sixty-five per cent, and the least or lowest proportion being
forty-three and thirty-hundredths percent. ; to the second floor forty-one and fifteen-hun-
dredths per cent, being the highest and twenty-four per cent, the lowest, and to the third floor
the greatest proportion given is nineteen and seventy -hundredths per cent., and the least nine
per cent.
In all the specifications fresh-air inlets were provided. While seventy-eight per cent,
provided exits for foul air, twenty-two per cent, omitted any mention of these exits. The
areas in square inches of the fresh-air inlets may be thus given: Eleven per cent, provided
an average area of from nineteen hundred to twenty-one hundred square inches; eleven per
cent, provided an average area of from twelve hundred to fourteen hundred square inches;
forty- four per cent, provided an average area of from six hundred to eight hundred square
inches; eleven per cent, provided an average area of from four hundred to five hundred
square inches; twenty-two per cent, provided an average area of from thirty to two hundred
square inches; the areas of the foul-air exits may also be summarized: Twenty-two per cent,
provided an average area of from eight Irandred to one hundred square inches; thirty three
per cent, provided an average area of from four hundred to six hundred square inches; twenty-
two per- cent, provided an average area of from one hundred and fifty to three hundred
square inches.
TABLE III. COMPARISON OF ESTIMATES.
Cost of pipes and tit-
tings
$180 to $ 185
11
$18 to $20
22
$110 to $115
11
$810 to $320
11
$120 to $125
22
$12 to $13
11
$50 to $55
11
$130 to $140
11
$60 to $80
55
$5 to $7
22
$20 to $30
44
$100 to $110
22
$50 to $55
11
Percentage
Cost of bronzing ami
decorating radi-
ators and pipes
Percentage
Cost of covering
pipes in cellar.
Percentage
$10 to $15
11
$90 to $99
33
Cost of labor, pipe-
fitting
$80 to $89
11
$50 to $55
It
Percentage
Total estimates
Percentage
#1,1)00 to $1,800
22
$1,;i(H> to $1,400
11
$900 to $1,000
33
$800 to $899
11
$7<X> to $789
11
$liOO to $H99
11
In the fresh-air inlets forty-foxir per cent, averaged about fifty cubic feet of space to one
square inch in the foul-air exits to about seventy cubic feet of space in the average of
thirty-three per cent, of all the proposals, or about forty-three per cent, of those who gave
sizes of fcral-air exits. Cast-iron radiators are apparently more generally used than wrought-
iron radiators, as sixty-six per cent, iised the former, while only twenty-two per cent, adopted
the latter, and eleven per cent, offered pipe coils. Forty-four per cent, used one and one-
fourth-inch steam and one-inch return valves on all radiators direct or indirect, while twenty-
two per cent, used one-inch valves on steam and three-fourths inch valves on return on direct
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 249
radiators having less than fifty square feet of surface. Forty-four per cent, gave no sign of
steam or return valves on radiators. The system of piping most generally adopted was that
known as the double pipe, that is, steam and return pipes from all radiators; fifty-five per
cent, used this method, thirty-three per cent, used the same method to the first and the single-
pipe system to the second and third floors, that is, one pipe instead of two to each radiator;
and eleven per cent used the single-pipe system throughout to all radiators, with main steam
and return pipes in the cellar; eleven per cent, used one and one-fourth-inch pipes to the
radiators in the single-pipe system, and the same percentage offered two-inch pipes in the
same system. The main steam pipes were of various sizes, twenty-two per cent, used one
three-inch main, the same percentage had two mains each of two and one-half inch pipe;
eleven per cent, used one three and one-half-inch pipe and the same proportions had respect-
ively two mains, one three-inch pipe and one two and one-half, and the other one two and
one-fourth-inch pipe and two inch pipe. The remaining thirty-three gave no definite infor-
mation relative to the main steam pipes.
A two-inch main return was used by fifty-five per cent, of the competitors, one or two
others used two and one-half inch return main, and the others gave no definite information about
the sizes of return mains. Eighty-eight per cent, placed the main return below the water
line in boiler. Check-valves on return pipes were used by twenty-two per cent., while only
one provided any means to prevent water backing up in radiators. The position and style of
finishing connections were only referred to in a casual way. Twenty-two per cent, mentioned
the use of flange or other unions on main pipes, and only eleven per cent, specified ground
unions or radiator- valves.
Boilers may be enumerated as follows: Wrought-iron boilers were used by fifty-five per
cent., cast-iron boilers were used by thirty-three per cent., and eleven per cent, did not state
of what material the toilers were to be made. Forty-four per cent, had brick-set toilers,
while fifty-five per cent, used those of the portable type. Magazine coal feeders were pro-
vided with forty-four per cent, of the toilers. The following proportions are of interest.
(irate surface provided. Square feet of boiler surface to one of grate surface.
<> and above 5 square feet by 22 per cent. 40 to 50 11 per cent.
5 and above 4 square feet by 44 per cent. 30 to 39 22 per cent.
4 and above 3 square feet by 33 per ceut. 20 to 29 fi(i per cent.
Boiler heating surface. Square feet of riuliatiiis; surface to one of boiler
200 to 210 square feet, by 11 per cent. surface.
1HO to 170 square feet 11 per cent. fi and above 5 44 per cent.
140 to 150 square feet 33 per cent. "> and above 4 44 per cent.
110 to 120 square feet 22 per cent. 4 and above 3 11 per cent.
!IO to 100 square feet 22 per cent.
The use of automatic water-feeders was disapproved of by twenty-two per cent., and the
same proportion of competitors did not mention them, while fifty-five per cent, specified and
used them: sixty-six per cent, used automatic damper regulators and the others did not refer
to tin-in. Electrical thermostatic regulators were specified and used in addition to the com-
mon regulator by fifty-five per cent. Hardwood boards or marble slabs under radiators were
250 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO :
only specified by eleven per cent, of the competitors, and automatic air valves with drip pipes
were specified by fifty-five per cent., the others using hand air-valves or not definitely
explaining what they did propose to use or making no reference whatever to them. The
remaining items in these specifications which attract attention are the varieties of the esti-
mated costs and the differences in the total estimates. The value of the pipes and fittings is
variously estimated, the lowest being $50 and the highest about $185. The cost of decorat-
ing and bronzing radiators and pipes is mentioned as from $5 to $20, a proportion of forty-
four per cent, giving no price. The lowest sum put down for pipe covering is $10 and the
highest $115, and twenty-two per cent, give no estimate on this item. The cost of the labor
connected with the pipefitting varies from about $50 to $320, and the total estimated value of
the job goes from alxmt $600 to $1,800. In Table III the estimates are compared in more
detail.
The hot-water heating competition shows the following methods of heating used: Direct
radiation only twenty per cent. ; direct and direct-indirect and indirect radiation, ten per
cent. ; direct and indirect radiation, seventy per cent. The number of apartments and halls
heated is thus given: Eleven apartments were heated by twenty per cent; fourteen apart-
ments were heated by ten per cent. ; sixteen apartments were heated by twenty per cent. ; seven-
teen apartments were heated by ten per cent. ; eighteen apartments were heated by ten per cent. ;
nineteen apartments were heated by ten per cent. ; twenty-one apartments were heated by
twenty per cent. ; hall on third floor was heated by direct radiation by forty per cent. ; hall on
second floor was heated by direct radiation by seventy per cent. ; vestibule was heated by
indirect radiation by twenty per cent. ; main hall, first floor, by direct radiation only, fifty per
cent.; main hall, first floor, by indirect radiation only, twenty per cent; main hall, first floor,
by direct and by indirect radiation, twenty per cent. The back hall, first floor, was heated by
direct radiation by thirty per cent, and by indirect radiation by ten per cent. ; forty per cent,
heated butler's pantry by direct radiation, and ten per cent, by indirect radiation. The kitchen
is heated by direct radiation by thirty per cent., and by indirect by ten per cent.
From Table IV it will be ascertained that when direct radiation is used, forty-five per
cent of the surface is placed on the first floor, thirty-five per cent, on the second and twenty
per cent, on the third floor, whereas, where indirect and direct radiation is used, the surface is
proportioned to the floors, respectively fifty-three, thirty -one and sixteen per cent. Fresh-air
inlets were provided by eighty per cent, of the competitors, and they gave the number of
square inches in these openings; fifty per cent, had a total area of five hundred and twenty
square inches, and thirty per cent, for the same had one hundred and sixty-three square
inches, making an average of three hundred and forty-one square inches. Only thirty per
cent, gave the areas of the fresh-air openings to each floor, and thest> average one hundred
and ninety-two square inches to the first floor, ninety-seven to the second floor, and forty-four
to the third floor. Foul-air exits were specified by fifty per cent., some of the others referred
to chimney flues as sufficient, while others made no mention of them. The average of the
total areas of these exits is five hundred square inches. Cast- iron radiators were specified
ITALIAN ARCHITECTURE.
ITALIAN-ROMANESQUE DETAILS.
"****
*, I ''
Of ,,
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 251
by ninety per cent, of the contestants, ten per cent, using one- inch pipe coils; twenty per
cent, used indirect pin radiators; sixty per cent, provided coils of one inch pipe for the
indirect radiators; twenty per cent, gave no sizes of the flow and return connections to radia-
tors; thirty per cent. use:l one and one-half and one and one-quarter to indirect and first-floor
radiators, and one-inch to second and third-floor radiators; twenty per cent, had one and one-
quarter, one and three-quarter-inch flow and return on first, second and third floors; ten per
cent, had one- inch connections on all floors, and about the same number had one-inch connec-
tions to first floor, and three-quarters-inch to third floor. The materials used in the construc-
tion of the boilers or heaters were not in all cases described, and some omitted the size of
grate. Forty per cent, specified cast iron, and twenty per cent, wrought-iron tubes in the
boilers.
Boiler heating surface to 1 square foot of grate,
(irate surface provided. 3() to t ^ cen( .
sq. ft. and above 5 sq. ft., by 10 per cent. 15 ^ (mder 20 to t 10 ( . ent
4 square feet 40 per cent. 30 and under 40 to 1 30 per cent.
:! sq. ft. and under 4 sq. ft 80 per cent.
Square feet of surface in radiators to 1 square foot
of boiler heatiug surface. 'V* - '
Boiler heating surface. 7 to \ and under 10 to 1 ^j^dftVient.
110 square feet to 120 square feet, 20 per cent. lo to 1 and under 12 to 1 .... &. 10 per cent,
HO square feet 40 per cent. 13 to 1 and under 15 to 1 20 per cent.
lid sq. ft. arid under 80 sq. ft 10 per cent. j5 to l and under 17 to 1 10 per cent.
17 to 1 10 per cent.
The main-flow pipes can only be compared by the number and a general reference to the
sizes of pipes. Seven-flow pipes were specified in ten per cent, of the specifications, the
largest and smallest of these pipes being respectively two and one-half and two inches; forty
per cent, recommended six-flow pipes, the largest being two and one-half-inch pipe, and the
smallest one and one-quarter-iuch pipe; twenty per cent, proposed five-flow pipes, from two
and one-half to one and one-half inches being the sizes, and twenty per cent, had four-flow
pipes with three and one-half to two-inch pipes as the largest and smallest pipes used.
Some used single mains, but the information is not sufficient to make a comparison of any
value.
Marble slabs under radiators were specified by some twenty per cent, of the competitors,
while thermostatic and automatic regulators were used by about the same number. The
covering of the main pipes was specified by ninety per cent., while sixty per cent, connected
the expansion tank to bottom of return pipe near Ixiiler, forty per cent, connected to the
return pipe of a radiator.
In comparing the estimated costs, it will not l>e possible to make detailed comparisons in
all or the principal items, several having omitted detail prices and included different articles.
From the separate prices given for the expansion tank, it is estimated as worth from
J&K , ittfi "
$>5 to fit).
The smoke pipe cost is placed as low as $2 by one, and as high as $10 by others. The
estimates of the cost of radiation vary by those who give details from $227 to $570, while an
average of all the prices given makes its value about $380. Pipes and fittings range from
p
INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO :
$43 to $415, but it is possible something else is included in the highest one, because without
it the average cost is $121. The estimated time required to do the pipe fitting is placed at
from five to forty-eight days; an average of all the times proposed gives twenty-one days,
while the cost is stated to \ye from $21 to $280, and when all the costs are taken an average
of $121 is the result. An item in estimating which was very generally omitted was the cost
of freight; only a few mentioned it, and it may be averaged at about $35. The total estimates
varied from $775 to $1,725, and the average was $995, which is probably a fair sum at which
to place the cost of heating such a residence by hot water.
TARI.K IV. HOT-WATEK HADIATINO SURFACES.
METHODS OF HEATINC.
Number of methods com-
pared.
Number of square feet
of surface in radiators
to
Number of cubic feet of
space to 1 square foot of
surface in radiators.
Distribution of surface in radiators on
floors.
1 square foot of
glass, or Its
equivalent.
|1
||
1
"
t
Percentage of di-
rect radiating
surface.
Percentage of in-
direct radiating
surface.
f
lil
Total percentage.
1. Direct radiation
20 %
10 I
0.986
1.351
2.333
3.190
2.453
3.256
41
30
i-< co >-* n
45
35
20
2. Direct, direct-indirect and indi-
rect radiation
31.5
9.5
7.5
2.35
55
31.5
13.5
22
6
Total
48.5
23.5
28
3. Direct and indirect radiation. . . .
Total
70 %
1.243
2.938
3.030
33
en fc 1-1
26.8
13.7
""29.7"
4.2
2.3
53
31
16
63.8
36.2
- - . f
4. Subdivision of No. 3 compari-
son of direct and indirect radia-.
tiou.
49 %
17 %
34 %
1.121
1.113
1.483
2.650
2.631
3.505
2.732
2.702
3.570
36
37
28
Si
Si
Si
89
35.5
16.5
9
48
35.5
16.5
91
9
i;u,s
24
15.2
60.8
24
15.2
39.2
60.8
22"
10.7
22.5
10.5
5.8
51
32.5
16.5
61.2
38.8
The local manufacturers of steam and hot-water apparatus in 1809 were: A. L. Winne
& Co., 114 Dearborn street, advertised their steam and hot -water heating apparatus, giving
E. B. McCagg, Perry H. Smith, the Sisters of Mercy (Wabash avenue), William Bross, E. G.
Hall, Alfred Cowles, Fred Tuttle, S. J. Surdam and N. S. Bouton as references. Each had
the heaters in use.
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 253
Haythorn & Company's steam-heating works were here in 1872. O'Keefe & Clarke, S. I.
Pope & Co., and Wells, Whitmore & Co. were also steamfitters with Baker, Smith & Co.,
Heron, Smith & Mooers, A. L. Whine & Co. and A. A. Clark
The manufacturers represented here in 1891 are named as follows: Backus Portable
Steam Heater Company, Baker & Smith Co., E. P. Bates, A. M. Butz & Co., Caloric Ven-
tilating Heater Company, the John Davis Company, Eclipse Manufacturing Company, Eu-
reka Steam Heating Company. Exhaust Steam Purifying Company, Gorton & Lidgerwooil
Manufacturing Company, Albert Galloway Company, A. A. Griffirig Iron Company, Gurnev
Hot Water Heating Company, William Haythorn, Sooy & Co., George D. Hoffman, Holbrook
& Kane Company, Home Comfort Steam Heating Company, Instantaneous Water Heating
Company, Theo. Jacobs Company, Kroeschell Bros., F. W. Lamb & Co., Michigan Radiator
and Iron Manufacturing Company, D. F. Morgan Boiler Company, National Hot Water
Heater Company, W. D. O'Brien, Gust. Olson, Ordway Heating and Ventilating Company,
W. S. Patterson & Co., Pierce, Butler & Pierce Manufacturing Company, Pierce Steam
Heating Company, Samuel I. Pope & Co., William P. Powers, L. H. Prentice & Co., Rice &
Whitacre Manufacturing Company, Ruttan Manufacturing Company, Ruttan Warming and
Ventilation Company, Safety Car Heating and Lighting Company, Smead Warming and Ven-
tilating, Henry G. Sohn, B. F. Sturtevant Company, and E. J. Woodman.
The Master Steam and Hot- water Fitters of the United States is the name of an associ-
ation chartered by the state of Illinois, April \'2, 1885). On April 17 a preamble to the con-
stitution was adopted in the form of a resolution, showing that the association is organized
for protective, commercial and social purposes, and has for its special object the advancement
of the trade in all the latest discoveries and science pertaining to the circulation of steam and
hot water. The officers named in the charter were: John Davis, president; S. I. Pope, vice
president at large; P. S. Hudson, corresponding secretary; George H. Reynolds, financial sec-
retary; H. A. Kroeschell, treasurer; John Davis, S. I. Pope. P. S. Hudson, A. Galloway, F.
W. Lamb, L. H. Prentice, C. H. Simmons, George H. Reynolds, H. A. Kroeschell, directors;
L. H. Prentice, chairman; C. H. Simmons, F. W. Lamb, John Davis, C. H. Patton, executive
committee; L. H. Prentice, Thomas Kavanagh, H. J. Aliern, James Murray, William Hay-
thorn, legislative committee.
On September 10, 1889, the organization was effected at Chicago and the following-
named officers elected: Charles J. Gillis, New York, president; Samuel I. Pope, Chicago,
first vice president; A. B. Franklin, Boston, second vice president; H. D. Crane, Cincinnati,
third vice president; George H. Reynolds, Chicago, secretary; H. A. Kroeschell, treasurer;
D. F. Morgan, sergeant-at-arms; John Woodman, W. H. Cork, John D. Hibbard, W. D.
O'Brien, G. D. Hoffman, J. L. Cook, Robert Gordon, George B. Cobb, Chicago, and J. O.
Barrett, Joliet, were present with the Illinois members named above. In May, 1890, the
association claimed two hundred and twenty-five members and sent delegates to the New York
convention. The election resulted as follows: Samuel I. Pope, Chicago, president; Albert B.
Franklin, Boston, first vice president; H. D. Crane, Cincinnati, second vice president; E.
254 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
Rutzler, New York, third vice president; George H. Reynolds, Chicago, secretary; Herman
A. Kroeschell, Chicago, treasurer; L. H. Prentice, Chicago; C. H. Simmons, Chicago; F. W.
Lamb, Chicago; John Davis, Chicago; P. H. Hudson, Chicago, execiitive committee.
The Steam and Hot-water Radiator Manufacturers' association is a recent addition to
trade organization. In May, 1800, its membership roll contained the following names:
Michigan Radiator and Iron Manufacturing Company, Detroit, Mich. ; Bartlett, Hayward &
Co., Baltimore; Broomell, Schmidt & Co., (limited) York, Penn. ; A. A. Griffing Iron Works,
Jersey City, N. J. ; Detroit Radiator Company, Detroit, Mich. ; T. C. Joy, Titusville, Penn. ;
Crane Brothers, Chicago; Haxtum Steam Heater Company, Kewanee, 111.; Exeter Machine
Company, Exeter, Mass. ; Gurney Hot Water Heater Company, Boston, Mass. ; A. Harvey &
Son, Detroit, Mich. ; Hopson & Chapin Manufacturing Company, New London, Conn. ; Haver-
hill Iron Works, Haverhill, Mass. ; Mount Penn Stove Works, Reading, Penn. ; Nason Manu-
facturing Company, New York ; George K. Paul, Boston, Mass. ; Pierce Steam Heating Com-
pany, Buffalo, N. Y. ; H. B. Smith & Co., Westfield, Mass.; Walworth Manufacturing Com-
pany, Boston, Mass. The officers of the association are as follows: John R. Reed, of H. B.
Smith & Co., president; Thomas W. Williams, of -A. A. Griffing Iron Works, first vice presi-
dent; George T. Coppin, second vice president; E. A. Sumner, of Detroit Radiator Company,
third vice president; George L. Forman, of Crane Brothers, treasurer, and W. H. Oakes, of
National Hot Water Heating Company, secretary. The executive committee consists of
the president and the three vice presidents, together with Joseph Bond, of Pierce Steam Heat-
ing Company; John B. Dyar, of Michigan Radiator and Iron Manufacturing Company, and
George Bartlett, of Bartlett. Hayward & Co.; Edward Gurney, of the Gurney Hot Water
Heater Company, is counselor.
The possibilities of the house furnace have been increased by the wizard of Menlo Park.
In 1887 he presented to the American Association for the Advancement of Science his ideas
of taking electricity directly from the fuel in the furnace and furnishing it for light to each
room in the house. The machine, named the Pyromagnetic Generator, he completed in the
fall of 1887, and changed what was prospective into that which is historical. It is true, as
Edison stated, that the simple production of a potential difference by means of heat, is as old
as Seebeck and Melloni. The science of thermo electricity thus originated has been devel-
oped by Becquerel, by Peltier, by Thomson and by Tait, and the thermo-batteries of Clamond
and of Noe have found many important practical uses. The results already attained in these
generators have stimulated research marveloiisly, and many investigators have believed that
in this direction lay the philosopher's stone. His fellow-member, Moses G. Farmer, worked
long and assiduously in this field, producing, it is believed, the most satisfactory results, as
regards economy, which have ever been obtained. But even these results were not very
encouraging. He never succeeded in converting one per cent, of the energy of the coal into
electric energy. Quite recently, Rayleigh discussed the law of efficiency of the thermo-
battery, from the standpoint of the second law of thermo-dynamics, and he concludes that
for a copper-iron couple, working between the extreme limits of temperature possible for
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 255
these metals, a conversion of not more than one three-hundred! hs part of the coal energy can
be hoped for. While, therefore, as a heat engine, the thermo cell appears to follow precisely
the law of Carnot, and hence may have a theoretical maximum efficiency equal to that of the
reversible engine of this eminent philosopher, yet, in practice, its efficiency falls very far
below this theoretical maximum.
The effect of heat on the magnetic metals, such as iron, nickel and cobalt, has been
demonstrated by M. Becquerel. The metals named lose the power of being magnetized at
various heats, iron losing it at a deep red heat, cobalt at a white heat and nickel at 4(X)
degrees. Thus, if within a magnetic circuit an iron core be placed, and the magnetic capacity
of that core varied by lowering or raising its temperature, an electric current may be gen-
erated through the wire encircling the iron core. The utilization of the variation in this
magnetic capacity by heat is the problem which Edison solved by use of electro-magnets, in
lieu of permanent magnets in the motor machine.
The new machine consists of eight distinct elements, each consisting of the two legs of
an electro-magnet somewhat far apart (twelve inches actually), having at one end the ordinary
yoke, and at the other a roll of corrugated sheet iron five-thousandths of an inch thick, called
an interstitial armature, this armature having a coil of wire wound upon it and separated
from direct contact by means of asbestus paper. The eight elements are arranged radially
about a common center, and are equidistant, the eight interstitial armatures passing, in fact,
through the iron discs, which constitute the common pole piece of all the electro-magnets.
The coils wound upon the interstitial armatures are connected directly in series, the whole
forming a closed circuit. Through the center of these discs a hollow vertical shaft passes,
carrying at its lower end a semicircular plate of fireclay called a guard plate, which, when the
shaft is turned, revolves close to the lower ends of the sheet-iron armatures and screens off
half of them from the access of heat from below. The shaft carries a cylinder of insulating
material having metallic contact pieces let into it on opposite sides, the line joining them
)>eing parallel to the straight edge of the guard plate. Upon this cylinder eight springs
press, each of these springs being connected to the wire of the closed circuit above mentioned
midway between the coils. The length of the metallic segment is so proportioned that the
following spring touches it just as the preceding one leaves it. The springs themselves are
so adjusted that each of them comes into contact with its metallic segment just as the preced-
ing coil of the pair to which it is connected is uncovered by the rotation of the guard plate.
Upon the same shaft, and above the cylinder just mentioned, a pair of metallic rings are
placed, insiilated from the shaft, to each of which one of the metallic segments is connected.
Brushes pressing upon these rings take off the current produced by the generator.
The entire machinery now described is placed upon the top of any suitable furnace, fed
by a blast, so that the products or combustion are forced up through those interstitial arma-
tures which are not covered by the guard plate, and raise them to a high temperature. The
field magnets, when charged, magnetize, of coiirse, only those interstitial armatures which are
cold, i. e., those beneath the guard plate. On rotating this plate, the interstitial armatures
256 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
are successively uncovered on the one side and covered on the other, so that continually dur-
ing the motion four of the eight armatures are losing heat, and the other four are gaining
heat. But those which are losing heat are gaining magnetism, and vice versa. Hence, while
currents are generated in all the armature coils, since in all the magnetism is varying, the cur-
rent in the coils beneath the guard plate will be in one direction, while that in the coil
exposed to the fire will be in the other. Moreover, whenever an armature passes out from
under the guard plate, its condition at once changes; from losing heat and gaining magnet-
ism it begins to gain heat and lose magnetism. Hence, at this instant the current in its coil
is reversed, and, consequently, the line connecting this coil with the one opposite to it consti-
tutes the neutral line, or line of commutation, precisely as in the ordinary dynamo. Indeed,
the action of the interstitial armature coils of the pyromagnetic dynamo resemble strongly
that of the ordinary armature coils of the Gramme ring, not only in the manner of connecting
them together, but also in their functions, the change of direction in the current as the mag-
netism of the field changes sign in the latter case, corres|>onding closely to the change of cur-
rent in the former case due to the direction of the temperature change. But it will be
observed that while in the Gramme ring the loops between the armature coils are connected
to commutators segments equal in number to that of the coils, upon which commutator two
brushes press, in the pyromagnetic dynamo the loops between the armature coils are con-
nected to an equal number of brushes (in this case eight), while the commutator segment are
only two in number, so that the functions of the commutator and the brushes in this gener-
ator are, in a certain sense, reversed as compared with the ordinary dynamo.
The potential difference developed by this dynamo will obviously depend (I) upon
the number of turns of wire on the armature coils; (2) upon the temperature difference in
working; (3) upon the rate of temperature variation, and (4) upon the proximity of the max-
imum point of effect. No advantage will be gained, of course, by raising the temperature of
the interstitial armature above the point at which its magnetizability is practically zero: nor
will it' be advantageous on the other hand to cool it below the point where its magnetism is
practically a maximum. The points of temperature, therefore, between which for any
given magnetic metal it is most desirable to work, can be easily determined by an inspection
of the curve showing the relations between heat and magnetism for this particular metal.
Thus, the points of temperature at which the maguetizability is practically zero, as above
stated, are a white heat for cobalt, a bright red for iron, and 400 degrees for nickel. On the
other hand, while at ordinary temperatures iron has a maximum intensity of magnetization
represented by thirteen hundred and ninety, its intensity at '220 degrees is thirteen Imndred
and sixty; and, hence, no commercial advantage is gained by cooling the iron below this
temperature. Nickel, however, whose maximum intensity of magnetization at ordinary tem-
perature is eight hundred, has an intensity of only three hundred and eighty at 220 degrees.
Hence, while this metal requires a lower maximum temperature it also requires a lower mini-
mum one; but it may be worked with much less heat. The rate of the temperature variation
is determined by the rapidity with which the guard plate revolves; and this in its turn is
THIS BUILDING INTERESTS. 257
dependent upon the rapidity with which the interstitial armature can be cooled and heated.
That it may take up and lose heat readily, the sheet iron of which it is made is very thin
(only five-thousandths inch thick even when its durability is increased by enameling or
nickeling); it is corrugated and rolled up so as to expose a large surface (about sixty square
feet for the eight armatures), and hot and cold air are alternately forced through the arma-
ture. Experiments already made show that the guard plate can probably be made to revolve
one hundred and twenty times a minute. Since the jxrtential difference is proportional to
the number of lines of force cut per second, it is evident that by doubling the speed of rota-
tion, twice as many lines of force would flow across the generating coils per second, and the
output of energy would be quadrupled. Exactly what thickness of metal is the most suitable
for the purpose, what the relative volume occupied by metal and by air space in the inter-
stitial armature should lie, what is the best diameter for this armature, or even the test metal,
what the best limits of temperature and what the best speed of rotation to produce the maxi-
mum potential difference, all these are questions which must be decided by experiments made
upon the generator itself.
The results thus far obtained lead to the conclusion that the economy of production of
electric energy from fuel by the pyromagnetic dynamo will be at least equal to and probably
greater than that of any of the methods in present use. But the actual output of the dynamo
will be less than that of an ordinary dynamo of the same weight. To furnish thirty sixteen-
caudle lights in a dwelling house would probably require a pyromagnetic generator weighing
two or three tons. Since, however, the new dynamo will not interfere with using the excess
of energy of the coal for warming the house itself, and since there is no attendance required
to keep it running, there would seem to be already a large field of usefulness for it. More-
over, by using the regenerative principle in connection with it, great improvement may be
made in its capacity, and its practical utility may very probably equal the interesting scien-
tific principles which it embodies.
In his work on warming buildings, Hood gives a fair duty for hot-air furnaces, three
hundred and twenty-two thousand feet of air heated 1 degree Fahrenheit, with a pound of
coal. This represents a utilization of about six thousand eight hundred heat units per pound,
or an efficiency of fifty per cent. He also mentions a practical case where five hundred and thirty-
six thousand feet of gas were heated 10 degrees Fahrenheit, with two hundred and twenty-
five feet of coal gas without a flue. The quantity of coal required to do the same work was
sixteen pounds. Without the flue the gas did about half the above work, or two hundred
and twenty-five feet represented eight pounds coal.
The air in a room can be warmed with an incredibly small consumption of gas, particu-
larly if the required quantity is burned rapidly and the products of combustion are not per-
mitted to escape: whereas, in order to warm the whole building and provide for heat lost by
radiation and ventilation, the consumption of gas would be so great that only a nominal
price could be afforded.
Investigations in regard to radiation of heat at high temperatures have shown that the
358 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
rate increases enormously with increase of temperature. By applying a formula that has
been found rigidly correct up to temperatures of about 000 degrees, Box estimated that while
the radiation at 1,680 degrees was represented by three hundred, the loss of heat at 2,580
degrees was forty-six hundred. Now, since the flame temperature of water gas is considerably
higher than that of coal gas, it is not unreasonable to expect it to develop a higher rate of
practical efficiency.
One-quarter of a foot of common coal gas contains energy enough to boil a pound of
water. The work can be done in practice with half a foot; while to start a fire and do it
with coal, probably not less than a pound of it will be required. The heat energy of the
coal is fifty times that of the gas, and the gas would be cheap at the cost of a corresjwnding
quantity of coal.
On the other hand, if a ton of water were to be boiled with gas, it would be difficult to
increase the rate of efficiency above seventy-five per cent., or to use less than seven hundred and
fifty feet, whereas fifty pounds of coal, costing seven and a half cents, would be sufficient.
In generating steam with natural gas as fuel, the evaporative duty, under favorable
conditions, has been as high as a pound of water for one and thirty-tive-hundredths feet of
gas; or an efficiency of eighty per cent, of the energy of the fuel. With coal an evapora-
tive duty of twelve pounds of water per pound is not at all uncommon, and eight to ten
ought reasonably to be expected.
An average of twelve different trials with common boilers, mentioned in Box's treatise,
gives seven pounds as the quantity of water evaporated to steam at working pressure per
pound of coal consumed. This represents an efficiency of about fifty per cent.
What the future has in store for househeating can not be determined. Electricity may
prove its capabilities in this matter. The inventor who succeeds in making such a practical
application will not be at a loss to find abundant employment for his device. Although nearly
all the inventors along this line have sought to make an electric heater which would primarily
be suitable for the heating of railroad cars, there is no reason why a successful heater of this
kind should not have a much wider application, and come into general use. When the time
comes, and it surely is coming, when electric heat can be developed for heating buildings at
a cost comparable with other methods of heating now employed, the commercial distribution
of electric heat will become an industry second only to that of electric light and power.
When offices, parlors and drawingrooms can be warmed with no other effort on the part of
occupants than the turning of a switch, when meals may be prepared on an electric cook-
ing stove men shall have reached a point of maximum utility, convenience and cleanliness
in heating as they already have in arrangements for lighting. The abolition from dwelling
hoiises of the ordinary bulky stove with its attendant coalbin and ashheap is as much to be
desired as is the absence of the kerosene lamp. Just as the introduction of the electric light
has made the danger from fire much less than with other methods of lighting, so the replace
ment of fire in stoves by the electric heater would reduce still further and indeed almost
abolish the danger from within of destructive fires.
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 259
The question of transforming all fuel into gas and supplying this gas to the home, store
and factory is now settled. The system is in force in a few factories, and its extension awaits
enterprise.
The nature of fire is a question which bears on the subject of heating. Few persons
could answer the question off-hand, although the phenomenon of combustion is perfectly
familiar to every one. The ancients considered fire to be one of the primitive elements, like
earth, air and water all of which last we know to be compound and not elementary sub-
stances and this idea of an elementary fiery principle survived under the name of phlogiston,
caloric, etc., down to the time of Lavoisier, and was not entirely overthrown until after the
l>eginning of the present century. Fire is a phenomenon, It is not a sul>stance; it is not
even an immaterial force, like light or heat, but, as generally understood, is simply the sensi-
ble phenomena of light and heat resulting from an intense reaction, generally, but not always,
a process of oxidation. You may dissolve a piece of zinc in sulphuric acid by itself, or do the
same when it forms the pole of a galvanic battery, or, you may heat it until it bursts into
flame. In all these cases the process is a similar one, that of oxidation, but fire accompanies
the process only in the last. There the oxidation takes place so rapidly that the heat set fret-
is only sufficient to l)e detected by the nerves of sensation, but the resulting particles of zinc-
oxide are heated to such a degree that they become luminous. So, if finely divided metallic
iron is exposed to the air, it gradually absorbs oxygen and is converted into rust. But if the
same iron is ignited with a match it takes fire, becomes luminous, smoulders away like a glow-
ing coal and is soon converted into a similar oxide or rust. Just as much heat is set free in
one case as in the other, the only difference being in the rapidity of its development, which
determines whether or not it shall become evident to our senses. When hydrogen and oxygen
gases are burned together, as in the oxyhydrogen blow pipe, the resulting flame, although one
of the hottest known to us, is almost invisible, and to the eye alone there is no appearance of
fire; but introduce a piece of metal or a lump of lime, or other refractory substance, and the
brilliant, luminous phenomenon at once indicates the intensity of chemical combination which
is taking place.
Fire is not always dependent upon a process of oxidation. A mixture of iron filings
and flowers of sulphur is readily ignited, forming ferrous sulphide, and sodium, potassium,
copper and some other metals rea:lily burn in the vapor of l>oiling sulphur, giving rise to the
same ingenious manifestations as when they combine with oxygen. Nitrous oxygen or laugh-
ing gas also supports combustion, although the reaction is one of true oxidation, the same as
with pure oxygen or air.
A very important distinction must be drawn between fire and flame. The latter is merely
an incidental manifestation of the former. Burning charcoal simply glows and wastes away;
there are no combustible gases formed, and chemical reaction takes place only on the surface
of the coals. With wood, oil, wax, billow, etc., the heat produced from the oxidation sets
free from the uncoiisumed portion a large quantity of hydrocarbon gases, which take fire and
burn at a distance from the original burning Iwdy, exactly as the gas which we burn in our
260 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO :
houses is driven off by heating the coal at a distant gas works. If we burn a piece of
magnesium, flame is apparently present, but it is only the incandescent particles of oxide as
they fly off into the air at a white heat. A similar artificial heat may be made from charcoal
itself, by finely pulverizing it, throwing the dust into the air and igniting it. Serious explo-
sions have occurred by dust igniting in this manner, but such phenomena are not, strictly
speaking, true flames, which are only produced by the combustion of gases.
A word should be said in reference to electric lights, which are simply masses of carbon
heated to an excessively high tsmperature. There is no true fire or oxidation about them, but
a transformation of electric energy into heat and light. There is an oxidating process at the
foundation however, and the heat of the oxidizing carbon in the furnaces under the steam
boilers which furnish the power to drive the dynamo machines is just as truly transferred
through the wires to the distant electric lights as the water from the pond or stream is trans-
ferred through the pipes to the dwellings of the city. In one case it is the transference of
energy, in the other that of matter.
The knowledge of fire is a distinct attribute of mankind. No ape, however intelligent,
lias been found but what regards it with terror, and no race of men with, perhaps, one or
two doubtful exceptions but what enjoys its numerous benefits. It is hard to say how it was
first brought to the knowledge of mankind. The Greeks considered it a direct gift from the
gods, but, disregarding that belief, the lightning stroke, the volcano, an accidental spark from
the striking of a stone falling upon dry leaves, or even, as has been suggested, by a drop of
gum exuding from a tree acting as a natural burning glass, any or all of these causes may
have introduced this useful but dangerous servant to mankind. Once discovered, the knowl-
edge seems to have been carefully preserved, and the art of producing fire has advanced
through the fire sticks and drills of the savage to the flint and steel and friction matches of
latter times, until, in this modern age of electricity, a touch of the finger is sufficient to pro-
duce an electric spark which will instantly ignite the fireaiid gas lights of the largest building,
or, if desired, those of an entire city.
In houses where gas is not wholly used, it may be made an efficient aid to coal tires. In
the present competition between gas and electric lighting laudable efforts are being made to
extend the use of gas for heating purposes, and among these its application to the domestic
fireplace has been attempted on a somewhat extended scale. The usual plan is to abolish
the ordinary firegrate and to substitute a special apparatus in which jets of coal-gas mixed
with air are allowed to play on pieces of asbestus or pumice stone, which, after a time become
heated, and so radiate off heat into the room. About 1880 the late Sir William Siemens,
whose name is so eminent from his wonderful heat inventions, took up the subject as one of
great public interest. It was first described by him in an article in Nature, November 18,
1880, having the title of "A new cure for smoke.'' In his later years he was constantly
urging the use of gaseous fuel, and after describing the advantages he had realized with it in
manufactures, he said: "There seems no a priori reason why analogous results .should not
attend it-s application on a smaller scale, even down to the means of heating our apartments,
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 261
which, although a small application in each individual instance, amounts in the aggregate to
the largest of all the uses of mineral fuel.'' He had, of course, studied the gas fires above
alluded to, but he remarked that they were very expensive, both in construction and in gas
consumption, gave insufficient warmth, were cheerless in appearance, produced heat of an
unpleasant character, and often gave out disagreeable smells. His thoroughly practical mind
and great experience led him to go upon a different tack. He saw that a far more likely plan
to succeed was to retain the general plan of the ordinary fireplace and fuel, but to bring in gas
as an adjunct to it, and he accordingly devised a plan for this purpose. It should be
explained that at that time the smoke abatement movement was active, and as the title of his
paper showed, he made his invention conform to that object. He proposed to construct a
grate in which jets of ordinary coal-gas should play among coke, the combustion of the two
going on together, and being supplied by a peculiar contrivance with heated air. Thus was
formed a smokeless fire of great heating power. Many were made under the inventor's
directions which answered perfectly, and it is strange that enterprising manufacturers have
not thought it worth while to promote their sale more generally.
The hot-air provision requires an entire reconstruction of the lower part of the fire-
grate. This is rather expensive, and good housewives object to the mess and trouble of such
changes. Moreover, the arrangement offers some obstruction to the free removal of the
incombustible residue of ash, which, with ordinary gas-coke, is sometimes very considerable,
and the retention of which impedes combustion and spoils the brightness of the fire. The
simplified plan leaves the grate exactly in its original state, just as made for an ordinary
fire. Then all that is to be done is to put at the front of the grate, between the two bottom
bars, a piece of iron gas-tubing pierced with a few holes pointing obliquely upward, so as
to throw, when supplied with gas, jets of flame into the body of the fire. This is an exceed-
ingly simple thing, and, if gas be already laid in the room, a gasfitter may do it in a few
hours and for a few dollars, without giving any trouble whatever. The holes may be about
the size of a knitting-needle, and one and a half inches apart. And there must, of course,
be a cock placed in an accessible position to turn the gas on or off or to regulate it at
pleasure. This is Siemens' gas-aided domestic fire, for it is really in every respect an ordi-
nary fire, only with the power of aiding it when desired by Siemens' gas flames. Now, let
it be seen what this aid is worth.
In the first place, it enables coke to be used. This is a better fuel in many respects
than raw coal; it makes a steadier, more compact and more enduring fire, and gives out no
smoke or soot. It is difficult to keep coke alive in an ordinary grate, unless the burning
mass is large and the draft powerful, but with the addition of the gas it burns perfectly in
any quantity, and in fact, as is well known, the gas resupplies to the coke the hydro-carbons
which had been abstracted in the gas-works and so restores the original elements of the
fuel, but in an improved and refined form. It is found, however, that it is advantageous to
have a small supply of coal to use in addition to the coke, by which the use of the gas may
be much lessened, and, indeed, often stopped altogether, as the mixed fuel will make an
262 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO :
excellent, pleasant and economical tire without it. A little experience will soon give instruc-
tion on this point. It is worthy of notice that the coal when burnt in combination with the
coke and the gas makes nrach less smoke than when alone. This is easily accounted for.
The cause of the production of so much smoke from the coal in an ordinary grate is the low
temperature at which its decomposition is effected; here the particles of coal are enveloped
in hotter surroundings, and the combustion is more complete.
The reduction of smoke from the tire is not only a contribution to the general smoke abate-
ment movement, but it is an advantage to the householder himself. It diminishes the spread
of dirt in the room (for it is seldom that all the products of the tire go perfectly up the
chimney), and it either abolishes, or at least much lessens, the frequency of the great nui-
sance of chimney-sweeping.
The gas gives the facility of lighting the fire at any moment without the usual laying
of wood and paper. This laying is ordinarily an enormous domestic trouble, involving the
previous emptying and cleaning of the grate, and it is often most annoying, when a tire is
unexpectedly wanted, to have to wait while the operation is being performed. It is often a
chance, too, whether the tire will ignite or not, and if it does not, it has to be laid over again.
But with the gas, nothing need be done but to put fuel in the grate and turn on the gas,
when the lighting of the fire is speedy and certain. A very common case, when this power
proves of great advantage, is when a little fire is desired in a bedroom on going to bed at
night, and again on getting up in the morning. After the night's use, the ordinary fire must
be laid again before it can be lighted the next day, which is so great a trouble as usually
to forbid the practicability of the arrangement. But with the gas addition, nothing can be
easier.
With this plan a fire never need go out; a little of the gas aid will suffice to check this
proverbial natural tendency, and the fuel will go on burning until exhausted, and even then
the gas will keep the grate warm. Hence stirring or poking the fire becomes a work of
supererogation, or, at least, is only wanted at long intervals to help the exit of the dead ashes
through the bottom grating.
With this arrangement, the grate need never be emptied, except occasionally for house-
wifely cleaning. With the ordinary fire, it is ciistomary to empty the grate before every new
laying, when a great deal of valuable fuel, in the shape of cinders, goes to the dusthole.
With the gas arrangement, all that is necessary is to rake out the incombustible white ash,
leaving the carbonaceous cinders behind to be burnt with the new fuel. This is a great
source of economy.
The gas gives altogether a new power over the fire, namely, that of its regulation accord-
ing to what is wanted. This with an ordinary fire is impossible, except in a very imperfect
and extravagant way, but only experience can give an idea what an admirable and delicate
power of adjustment is given by the little gas-tap. It is not so much the gas itself that is
regulated as the influence of the gas upon the fuel. It acts as a sort of blow pipe; when full
on, the combustion is highly active, but the stimulus can be lowered to any extent or entirely
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 263
withdrawn. The combined use of coal and coke greatly facilitates this power of regulation.
If this fire is required to be steady for a considerable time, a judicious mixture of the two
fuels, with just a soupcon of the gas to prevent any tendency to go out, will give a far
steadier and more durable fire that the ordinary one; but if it is wanted only for a short time,
and then to be lowered, it should be chiefly coke and gas, which will be more sensitive. Sup-
pose, for example, the case where a room has to be left for some hours, the fire not l>eing wanted,
the gas can be turned so low that the fuel will scarcely consume at all, but still will remain
so hot that on coming to the room again and simply turning on the tap, in a few minutes the
fire will be fully restored. For bedrooms, in cold nights and most especially in cases of sick-
ness, such a convenience is invaluable. A low fire burning steadily all night, with a kettle of
water on the trivet, would often be found a great blessing. And there are numberless other
cases where a small fire, which will burn for a long time without attention and without dan-
ger of extinction, would be most desirable. This can not be obtained at all under the ordinary
regime, but with the Siemens' and similar arrangements it is the simplest thing possible.
The gas arrangement may be made of great use even without the fire. In winter, when
several fires are burning and doors and windows are closed, the whole atmosphere of the
house becomes subjected by the action of the fires to a slight exhaustion, and every chimney
where there is no fire is liable to have a down-draft into its room, bringing with it dirt, foul
air and smells from adjoining chimneys. The usual remedy is to shut the register, if there
be one, but this is only an imperfect provision, as it is never anywhere near tight. In this case
a slight use of the gas alone will keep a proper current up its own chimney and give a gentle
warmth in the room at very little cost and no trouble to anybody.
Then, even in summer, the gas is still useful. Everybody knows that a chimney is the
ordinary and often the only ventilator for rooms; but in summer when there is no fire, the
chimney having no motive power to give it a current, does not act. In this case, as in the
last mentioned, the gas may l>e used to give a current up the chimney, a screen being pro-
vided and hung on the front of the grate, like a fire-guard, to prevent the heat radiating into
the room. This arrangement accompanied by a window open an inch or two at the top will
insure a gentle but most healthy change of air being constantly kept up in the apartment
night and day. Moreover, the gas is then at hand, always ready for any accidental heating
purjwse that may l>e required.
It seems to me that a fire which has all these capabilities becomes an object more worthy
of intelligent care and attention than formerly. An ordinary fire is considered a rough, coarse
thing, only tit to be left to the clumsy treatment of housemaids, except when the authorities
may choose to amuse themselves by poking it, either from the bottom or the top, as the sex
may determine. But in this contrivance there is really something interesting to observe,
and something intellectual to do, which will well repay a little thought and skill; while at the
same time there is no compulsion in the matter, and if it be not done the house is no worse off
than before.
It will naturally be asked at what cost all these advantages can be gained. As already
264 INDUSTRIAt, CHICAGO:
stated, the outlay for the construction is exceedingly small. There is only a word or two to
be added about the current expenditure. In the first place, this must naturally be much less
than for the asbestus or pumice-stone gas tire, in which the whole heat must be furnished
by the gas, seeing that in the plan here recommended the coal and coke form the efficient
fuel, to which the gas is only a subsidiary aid. In a grate of moderate size the six jets when
blazing fully on will consume about twenty cubic feet of gas per hour; but this is only ex-
ceptionally necessary, to light or quickly to strengthen the fire. The gas is often shut off
entirely, and it may be estimated that ten feet make an ample average. This will cost alxnit
one and one-third cents per hour.
This would not be a very high price to pay for the advantages named, but it must be
recollected that there is a large set-off to be made for savings. In the first place, there is
the use to a large extent of coke, which is more economical than coal, and then there is much
economy in the saving of the cinders, in the easy regulation of the fire, according to demands,
particularly in keeping it low, and still more in the power of extinguishing it when not
wanted, with the option of lighting it again at a minute's notice. These savings can not be
put in definite money value, but they will certainly reduce materially, if not cancel entirely,
the cost of the gas. Some people have thought that the small holes would soon be stopped
up by fine ash. Experience negatives this fear, and it would seem that generally the current
of gas through them suffices to keep them fairly open. It is, however, desirable to have a
bent pick at hand, by which they can be cleared in a moment, and the tube itself should l>e
connected by a screw so that it may be removed occasionally to be cleaned, or may be replaced
when burnt or worn away. To sum up, the addition of the gas aid to the fire has many great
advantages for cleanliness, convenience and usefulness in domestic economy. It is no patent,
no monopoly ; it requires no new grate, but only a small addition to the ordinary one which
any good gastitter can fix quickly and at small expense. It does not interfere with the use of
the grate in the ordinary way. The increased expenditure for gas is very small and is
largely compensated for by increased economy of fuel in many ways.
House ventilation is as necessary to health as house heating is to comfort and conven-
ience. The ventilation of buildings antedates civilization, for the barbarians of the earliest
ages understood its value as they did that of light and heat. It is true that they did not dis-
tinguish to a nicety between ventilation and air currents, they simply appreciated fresh air
and obtained it without regard to science or art, just as the Massachusetts man does. He
says the way to ventilate is, to ventilate, and all fine theories and elaborate scientific median
ism for bringing within reach of the lungs the fresh air that he;iven bestows in such measure-
less quantities arc of little value without ventilation, until people let the outside ;iir come in
and the inside air go out, a change that will take place fast enough whenever there is a chance
for it. A broken window pane is not the worst kind of a ventilator if it happen to be at the
farther side of the room, and of all sleeping apartments for moderate weather none are better
than the attic chamlier, where you can not only listen to the patter of the soft rain on the
roof, but through the chinks of which you can see the stars shining when the human shadows
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 265
have dispersed. Doubtless, there is a choice of methods, but the thing to be done is so sim-
ple and plain that it need never be misunderstood. The science of ventilation, as applied to
inhabited interiors, Ijelongs to the moderns, and was little understood or practiced until com-
paratively recent times.
Although several cities in Greece were preserved diiring a pestilence by Hippocrates, and
great cures were effected by Varro, by ventilating the houses through opposite apertures
and the ancient Romans were adepts in regulating the temperature of the Laconicum, or
sweating stove, of their baths, by placing an opening at the highest point of the ceiling, and
regulating the. exit of air from this opening by means of valves, they were far from the idea
which now obtains in the great centers of the United States, or even in Rome at the close of
the fourth century of the present era. In 1800 the Normans introduced a system of ventila-
tion into England. This system resembled an inverted funnel in the roof of churches and
halls, and six hundred years after Christopher Wrenu introduced a similar contrivance in the
public buildings designed by him after the great fire of London.
So far as appears, the sole motive power depended upon for inducing velocity of
upward discharge in these short truncated cones was the warmth contained in the products
of respiration and combustion, as they rose to the ceiling of the house, and no means seem
to have been provided in the outlet apparatus for insulation and prevention of condensation.
It is not surprising, therefore, that the action of the pyramidal funnels, when their valves
were opened, was found to be frequently the reverse of what was intended, and that the
current, instead of moving in an upward direction, and thus carrying off the used and viti-
ated air, turned downward, causing showers of cold air, mixed with refrigerated impure air,
to descend, to the discomfort and danger of those who sat beneath. No special provision
appears to have been made for introducing the fresh air, which was left to be supplied on
the system, or absence of system, still widely prevalent, by open or imperfectly fitting doors
and windows. This and similar expedients, then and subsequently brought into extensive
use, were crude and far from satisfactory means for renewing the atmosphere of inhabited
interiors, but they were a great improvement on the previous total absence of ventilation;
while the advantages we possess in advanced knowledge of chemical analysis, quantitative
and qualitative, and of the science of atmospheric law and kindred subjects were not at the
service of the authors of these crude methods, nor of those following them for a long
period.
The growth of ideas of ventilation has been rapid within the last decade. A hundred
devices for the introduction of live air and the expulsion of foul air have l>een brought into
notice, and the work still goes forward.
The Courier of Medicine, St. Louis, in noticing a new system of treating and ventilating,
describes it thus: "There are placed in the basement of the building large heaters, or, more
properly, air warmers, varying in number according to the size of the building. These are
built of heavy iron, so as to be durable, and are patterned after the locomotive boiler,
tubular, so as to furnish a large radiating surface and retain the heat of the burning fuel as
26fi INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
long as possible. To them the outside air is fully admitted. It is heated to a temperature
of about 1 25 degrees, and rises through brick flues to the schoolrooms above, entering through
ample registers. These are so arranged that the teacher can, by simply moving a hand upon
a dial, regulate its admission to this extent. She can admit the hot air as it comes from the
heater, or can partially or wholly shut off the hot air and admit an equivalent amount of
cold air, but she cannot lessen the influx of air into the room. The fresh warm air rises to
the ceiling, gradually forcing downward the air contained in the rooms, and out through ven-
tilators placed under the windows. This position is chosen for the ventilators because there
is always more or less downward movement of air there, as the windows are never completely
air-tight, and the air in contact with them is cooled from the outside. This air, now con-
taminated, but still at a temperature of 00 to fi5 degrees, passes directly under the floor,
which is laid on furring strips on purpose to afford space for this. This keeps the floor
always dry and warm. In the basement there are foul-air gatheringroorns, from which the
air passes to the ventilating flue built in the smokestack. Another feature of the arrange
ment for this school is the disposal of the closets. These are placed between the foul-air
gatheringrooms and the ventilating shafts, and are so arranged that the warm, dry air passes
through the closets over the deposits on its way to the ventilating shaft, and as it sweeps up
the big chimney, carries with it all the moisture and bad odor of the excreta, leaving behind
it only a small quantity of inodorous material, which may readily be thrown upon the tire
in the furnace and burned, without causing any bad odor or characteristic smell at all.
During the summer months a free circulation of air is secured by small furnaces built in the
base of the smokestack."
Gas jets may be made important auxiliaries to ventilation. Inserted in the Ijottom of
air shafts, they establish active currents which withdraw the vitiated air, and may be made
especially useful on occasions when apartments are unusually crowded. It has been proven by
experiment that one cubic foot of illuminating gas can be utilized so as to cause the discharge
of one thousand cubic feet of air. and as a common gasburner will consume nearly three feet
of gas an hour, it would extract from an apartment three thousand cubic feet of contaminated
air during that period. By suitable contrivances also, the gas lights, which usually are such
active causes of deterioration, may not only be made self- ventilating, and carry off their own
impurities, but also aid materially in keeping pure the air of inhabited apartments. Inventors
have made successful contrivances for ventilating the burners of chandeliers, but they have
hitherto not received the attention they merit.
From the " Annals of hygiene " supported by other authority it is learned that in each
respiration an adult inhales one pint of air. A man respires sixteen to twenty times a minute,
or twenty thousand times a day; a child twenty-five to thirty-five times a minute; while stand-
ing, the adult respiration is twenty-two, while lying, thirteen. The superficial surface of the
lungs, i. e.. of their alveolar or cell space is two hundred square yards. The amount of un-
inspired in twenty -four hours is ten thousand litres (about ten thousand quarts). The amount
of oxygen absorbed in twenty-four hours is five hundred litres (seven hundred and forty- four
COLONIAL ARCHITECTURE.
T flOUJSE.
ANNE OBNAMENT.
n <
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 267
grains), and the amount of carbonic acid gas expired in the same time, four hundred litres
(nine hundred and eleven and five tenths grams). Two-thirds of the oxygen absorbed in
twenty-four hours is absorbed during the night hours from 6 p. M. to 6 A. M. Three-fifths
of the total carbonic acid is thrown off in the day time. The pulmonary surface gives off
one hundred and fifty grains of water daily in the state of vapor. An adult must have at
least three hundred and sixty litres of air an hour. The heart sends through the lungs eight
hundred litres of bloo.l hourly, and twenty thousand litres, or five thousand gallons daily.
The duration of inspiration is five-twelfths, of expiration seven-twelfths, of the whole respir-
atory act; but during sleep inspiration occupies ten-twelfths of the respiratory period.
The report of Drs. Sequard and d'Arsonval to the Academic des Sciences, at Paris,
on their discovery of poisonous principles in water condensed from respired air proves the
value of thorough ventilation. They have shown that this poison, be it simple or multiple,
which accompanies expired air, is able, in small quantities, to kill even without being directly
injected into the blood. This toxicity is not due to the presence of microbes in the pulmo-
nary liquid, for the same effects are produced by it after having been subjected \o a tempera-
ture of 1 00 degrees Centigrade in a closed vessel. Many experiments Save been made to deter-
mine the action of the pulmonary poison as it exists in respired air mixed with pure air,
the results of which have completely confirmed what has been learned respecting this poison
by other methods. An apparatus has been used for this purpose, which, while showing the
poisonous property of respired air, has also permitted it to be demonstrated that the carbonic
acid of this air has nothing to do with its toxicity.
The apparatus consists of a series of metallic boxes connected with each other, but shut
off from the outer air by sealed joints. An aspirator connected with a gas meter draws a
measured current of air through the series of boxes one after another. It consequently fol-
lows that an animal shut up in the first box breathes pure air, while others inclosed in succes-
sive boxes must breathe air more and more vitiated. Every care is taken to provide for the
drainage of the boxes. It was found that animals shut up in these boxes died sooner or
later, according to their distance from the fresh-air box, although the proportion of carbonic
acid never became more than two or three per cent, of the air which proved most deadly.
Pure carbonic acid in the proportion of twenty per cent, of the air was breathed by the same
animals with impunity. Also when the pulmonary poison was arrested by passing the air
containing it through a washing chamber charged with concentrated sulphuric acid, which
would not have any effect upon its carbonic acid, the toxic quality disappeared. Hence, it
may be deduced that the atmosphere of all badly ventilated rooms occupied by men or warm-
blooded animals, is charged with an unknown active poison which would kill all the inmates
if they remained long enough under its influence, and even in a short time affects their
health.
The smokestack and fuel-consuming system of Chicago were designed for the benefit of
laundry owners, druggists, physicians and painters. It is a system of indirect robbery, dis-
guised under its own ckrads, an insinuating enemy of cleanliness and health, which even the
Q
268 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO :
law can only master after its most severe application. Andrew Young, writing in July, 1891,
says: " I observe tbat the smoke inspectors of this and other cities are proceeding legally
against those who continue the smoke nuisance. This is right, arid should be sustained by the
citizens in every way possible. If there were no means of abating the smoke, or if stich means
were costly or of such nature as to work a hardship, then it might be indefensible to proceed
hastily against the offender. But happily this is not the case. It has been demonstrated to
the satisfaction of intelligent men that smoke can be prevented by processes at hand and
economy practiced at the same time. There can be enough smokeless furnaces, smoke-pre-
ventive and smoke-consuming devices, etc., provided right here in Chicago, to render every
city in the United States free from this easily avoidable nuisance. So when such devices are
right at hand, and when their use is of direct benefit to the users, it is just and right that
legal means should be employed to compel producers of smoke to comply with the strict
letter of the law. A natural gas expert in an article on the decrease of that fuel states that
its use has established the fact that the future fuel will be gas. I do not see that this is
necessarily the case. The use of some such gas would solve the smoke problem at once, but
at what cost none can yet say. If such a fuel is to take the place of the natural product
lying in plenty in our mines, it must be cheaper and more desirable with a constant and
limitless supply. But at present the cheapest fuel nature produces is soft coal, and the
present genius of invention is turned toward its consiimption in an economic and cleanly way.
The near future may and may not produce a fuel undreamed of to-day, but nature has so
bountifully supplied us that present thought and enterprise are largely turned toward im-
proved methods of combustion in its use. Invention and mechanical skill have met the
necessities of the times, and the problem has been solved. Improvements will go on, and new
devices will be produced in the development of the principle of perfect combustion.
" The enterprise of conducting natural gas from the- fields in Indiana to Chicago is
again on foot. To what extent this gas will be used as fuel is at present unknown, but
it would not seem reasonable that men would go to the expense of providing the means of
obtaining and using a fuel of so uncertain a quality. It has stopped at many places; Pitts-
burgh is preparing to relieve that city of smoke consequent on the return to coal, and in
Indianapolis the supply has been limited and shut off from certain consumers. It is still a ques-
tion whether gas can be pximped such a distance, but if it can, this will not solve the other
greater problem of its continued and reliable supply. The cost of this gas has not been
made known, but it is believed devices are now at hand which will prove satisfactory in an
economic sense and a sanitary point of view, which will render the use of a fuel of uncertain
supply unnecessary. It has been stated by superficial observers that the virtue of smoke
preventing devices was largely found in the" careful tiring which attended the tests, and that
stokers would probably be more careful with such new devices. In the first place the obser-
vation is not correct. These tests are given under ordinary circumstances, and the object is to
test the device and not the skill in firing. But supposing the remark to be true, does it
matter greatly by what means the end is accomplished? One great virtue in tooth powders
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 269
is the inducement they afford for the use of the brush. If smoke-consuming devices induce
sufficient carefulness in the firemen to prevent smoke and secure perfect combustion, is the
end not well enough accomplished, and does not the virtue lie in the device after all ? The
truth, however, is, that careless firing and its consequent waste and evils called into existence
these devices, in order that, these evils and waste might be remedied, and that they serve this
purpose is excuse enough for their being. The enforcement of the law to the extent of secur-
ing the use of these devices will prevent the smoke nuisance despite careless stoking, for the
stoker will have to become competent to do his work just the same as any mechanic or pro-
fessional man."
The municipal laws, hitherto given, make provision for the ventilation of city houses,
the disposition of smoke, the admission of cold air, and, in fact, the regulation of everything,
connected with house building, conducive to public health and safety. All this is necessary
in a great city. Other ordinances, such as one establishing building lines in the suburbs and
otherwise regulating the limits to which ignorant neighbors may go, are wanting. The rela-
tion of the municipality to the individual, and of the latter to the municipality, is not so well
understood here as in older and less cosmopolitan cities. Liberty is license in too many
instances, and the ordinances are necessary in such cases. The loyal citizens they who
desire to obey the statutes of the state and city have nothing to fear from the laws. They
are formed to control the vicious citizen, and without them chaos would prevail where order
is now enforced. Education occupies too many years in helping the ignorant and vicious to
a knowledge of their duties, so that the application of the law is the only remedy. But one
of the most noticeable drawbacks to the enforcement of law in great cities is the determina-
tion of some to avoid or disobey it, and the willingness of friends not only to condone the
offense, but also to assist in the violation. There is scarcely a city ordinance that is not
thus either avoided or violated. So long as laws made for the general good are thus openly
or covertly disregarded, so long will civilization appear to be more or less of a failure. It is
the enforcement of law that makes it beneficial and sacred, or reveals its faults, and thus leads
to its repeal. Kindness or friendship should not stand in the way of a good law, or hesitate
an instant in securing the repeal of an odious one.
270 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
GAS AND ELECTRIC LIGHTING.
AS as a lighting medium in Chicago dates back to September 4, 1850, when the gas
was turned into the Lake street pipes and thence flowed into the unlanterned lamp
posts on each side of that street, as well as into the gasoliers of private consumers.
The Chicago Gas Light and Coke Company was incorporated February 12, 1849. H. L.
Stewart, Francis C. Sherman, W. S. Bennett, P. Page and P. L. Updike, corporators, who
had the privilege of being sole suppliers for ten years. In October, 184'J, George F. Lee,
a Philadelphian contractor, entered on the work of placing mains and connecting pipes.
This contract was completed in August, 1850, and simultaneously the houses and reservoirs
on the south side of Monroe street near Market street were reported complete. On Sep-
tember 4, above written, the officials, President H. T. Dickey, Directors Dyer, Keen, Lee,
George Smith, Skinner, Blair and Williams, Secretary Jerome Beecher and Treasurer J. K.
Burtis, inaugurated the works and thus laid the foundation of the great gas interests of the
city. Fires were started the last of August, preparatory to the grand initial illumination.
On September 4 the gas was first lighted. From the Gem of the Prairie, dated Septem-
ber 7, the following account of the illumination is taken:
" Wednesday marked an era in Chicago. At about 2 o'clock p. M. the gas pipes were
tilled, and the humming noise made by the escaping gas at the top of the lamp posts indi-
cated that everything was all right. Shortly afterward the fire was applied, and brilliant
torches flamed on both sides of Lake street as far as the eye could see, and wherever posts
were set. The lanterns not having been affixed to the posts, the bright, gaseous flame
eddied and flickered in the wind, sometimes apparently disappearing, but anon shooting up
as brightly as ever. The burners in Reed & Co.'s (drugs) and in Keen's (books) were
lighted about the same time, presenting a steady golden flame. We believe these establish-
ments had the honor of first lighting up with gas. In the evening the lamps were again
lighted."
Of this notable event the Journal said: "Some of the stores on Lake street, particu-
larly those devoted to California ware, made a brilliant appearance, and the gas lent an addi-
tional glory to refined gold. But the City hall, with its thirty-six burners, is the brightest
of all, night being transformed into day.''
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 271
There were about six miles of mains laid, about fifty laborers being employed in the
work. The works had a capacity of sixty thousand cubic feet each twenty-four hours.
There were six benches of three retorts each. The gasometer held sixty-five thousand cubic
feet. The price charged the city was $2.50 per one thousand feet, and private consumers,
$3.50 per one thousand feet. The works cost $149,000, only $90,000 in stock being issued.
Of this stock, residents of Chicago held about $30,450. The remaining sum of $59,000 was
paid in bonds, Lee taking all at seven per cent.
The gasfitter is not a plumber, but the plumber may be a gasfitter. When the neces-
sity for gasfitters first arose in Chicago, the tinners or plumbers accomplished the work; but
as the town grew into a city, so did the tinner's trade branch out into three divisions, which
are to-day distinct in lines of labor, remuneration and organization. That the tinner was not
a gasfitter, at least in 1850, is illustrated in the story told of the wreck of Burches' bank, 125
Lake street. Let it be understood that this financial concern was not financially wrecked.
The gas inspector came around with a lighted candle to locate a reported leak, and did locate
it so effectually that nothing of the inspector, leak or bank office remained, except its site at
the corner of Clark and Lake streets.
The first master gasfitter of Chicago was Matthew Newman, a Philadelphian, who
placed the gas fixtures in the Tremont house and completed his contract October 1, 1850.
He returned to Philadelphia that year. E. L. Comly, with his brother-in-law, Baker, estab-
lished themselves here in 1850, in a shop within the Tremont house building, fronting on Dear-
born street and the alley. Their journeymen were Henry Lamparter, of 205 Dearborn avenue,
William Street, of 232 North Franklin street, old residents of the city, with David Brainard, J.
A. Carroll, J. Dodge, James Mooney, William Pitney, A. Book, L. Scougall and Henry Seuthle-
ben. Thomas P. Bryne became a partner of Comly, in 1855, and at 170 Lake street carried on
business until the new partner established a crockery and glasshouse in 1858. In 1869 E. L.
Comly retired.
In 1851 S. Lockwood Brown, a settler of 1835, and N. P. Wilder, were lamp and
crockery dealers, and in 1855, gastitters. James McGinley had charge of their gasfitting
department and shops at 45-47 Wells street, (Fifth avenue) until 1860, when they retired.
Henry Lamparter established his gasfitting shop at 47 North Clark street, in November,
1853. In 1859 he sold to Rose & Bassett, but in 1860 resumed ownership, and carried on
business at the northwest corner of Clark and Michigan streets until October 9, 1871. After
the fire he built a three-story block on that corner, and in 1883 sold his business interests to
Best & Dunn. The Chicago Steam and Gas Pipe Works were in existence as early as 1854,
with William C. Hubbard, manager. In the advertisement which this firm had placed in the
directory for 1854 the agent states that they are manufacturers of welded-iron pipes, boiler
flues, brass valves, cocks and gauges, and every description of steam and gasfittings. They
also called the attention of the public to the fact that their firm in Boston (formerly Wai-
worth & Nason) were the originators of the plan of warming buildings by steam through the
means of small wrought-iron pipes. They also did hot- water fitting. They did not do
272 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
plumbing, but carried a line of fittings for plumbers' use. In 1855 the office was moved to
233 Lake street. Joseph P. Hayes came to Chicago this year and went into the office. In
1857 Messrs. Hubbard & Hayes had been admitted into the firm as resident partners, the
name being changed to Walworth, Hubbard & Co. In 1861 the firm had moved to 181 Lake
street. In 1864 they had moved to 225 Lake street, on the corner of Franklin. In 18656
the firm was changed by the death of Mr. Hubbard, and the entrance of Gustav E. Buschick.
Augustus F. Buschick became superintendent of the work. The factory was at the corner of
Michigan and Franklin streets. In 1867 Buschick had gone out, and the firm was changed to
Walworth, Twohig & Furse, W. J. Twohig and John Furse having been admitted. This part-
nership continued until 1871, when Twohig dropped out of the firm, leaving it Walworth, Furse
& Co. In 1872, after the great fire, Furse retired also, leaving James J. Walworth alone at 243-
245 Lake street. In 1872 Frederick Brooks was admitted to the firm, and the name became Wal-
worth, Brooks & Co. This firm remained intact two years, when, in 1875, the business was in-
corporated, being called the Redfield, Bo wen & Walworth Co., the salesrooms being at 112-
1 16 Lake street, and the works on Kinzie, Michigan and St. Clair streets. James J. Wal-
worth, of Boston, was president; George Snowden Redfield, of Chicago, vice president; Frank
A. Bowen, treasurer, and J. M. Colbath, superintendent. In 1878 this company was suc-
ceeded by the National Tube Works, and, with this metamorphosis, the character of the busi-
ness, which had been gradually growing away from the steam-heating and fixtures trade,
grew more into the manufacture of tubes for gas, water and steam supply. In 1879 a removal
was made to 159-171 Lake street, and in 1884 another move was made to the commodious
building at the corner of Clinton and Fulton streets, where they still remain.
Gerould Bros, established a gasfitting shop at 78 Wells street, in 1856. In 1858 they
moved to 75 South Clark street, and on the death of J. H. Gerould, in 1859, Henry M.
Wetmarth, the firm's book-keeper, in 18569, continued the business. B. Munson was also a
gasfitter, at 233 Lake street, in 1856, but did not continue in business here more than one
year. Henry M. Wilmarth established his gasfitting house in 1859, and continued in busi-
ness until his death in 1885. The fire of 1871 destroyed his store at 167-169 Lake street,
but, immediately transforming his parlors at 222 Michigan avenue into a storeroom, business
was carried forward until he purchased the building, known as the Church of the Messiah, on
the corner of Hubbard court and Wabash avanue, and con verted it into a gasfitting establish-
ment. In 1874 he moved to 191-193 State, and that year purchased the lots 225-227 State,
and erected a building thereon.
The leading gasfitters of 1869 were Harry Byrne*. J. S. Bassett* & Pattison, H. M. Wil-
marth*, E. W. Foster & Co., James McGinley*, The Peoples' Gas Company*, Central avenue,
near Twenty-second street, and the Chicago Gas Light and Coke Company*, were here in 1 872,
with I. P. Brown & Co., G. P. Costigan & Co., Behncke & Co., William H. Hacket, Lane &
Murphy, J. L. Pattison & Co., Jeremiah Scanhm, W. S. Shepherd and J. Wingrave, Jr.,
David Humphrey and Perkins Bros., were gas and gasoline fitters; Bennett & Mackoy, J. T.
Duff and Henry Lampartner, gas and steamfitters.
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 273
The gasfitters of 1879 included J. L. Pattison & Co.*, H. M. Wilmarth, Edward Baggot*,
J. S. Bassett*, Phillips & Phillips, Crane Bros. Manufacturing Company, A. J. McDonald,
H. T. Lally & Co., S. I. Pope & Co., D. Humphreys and M. B. Derrick & Co.
The individuals and firms marked thus * in the list of 1879 were here in 1891, together
with the Wilmarths. In the list of plumbers for 1891 the great majority of gasfitters find
mention.
From the humble beginnings of 1850 the gas interests grew prodigiously, and in 1887
the Chicago Gas Trust Company was organized for the purpose of receiving the titles of and
holding shares of stock in several separate gas companies then occupying the streets of the
city with their mains and supplying gas to the municipality as well as to private consumers.
These separate gas companies were the Chicago Gas Light and Coke Company, the Peoples'
Gas Light and Coke Company, the Consumers' Gas, Fuel and Light Company, and the Equit-
able Gas Light and Fuel Company. After making arrangements to acquire a majority of the
controlling interest and wielding, in fact, the entire stock in these four companies, the syndi-
cate which had bought up the stock placed upon the property, franchise and plant of each
separate company mortgages running into the millions. These mortgages were ostensibly for
the purpose of securing bonds of the separate gas companies, which bonds sold at a high
figure. The four gas companies had original shares and nominal capital as follows: Chicago
Company, one hundred and ninety-nine thousand three hundred and sixty-eight shares,
amounting to $4,904,200; Peoples' Company, forty thousand shares, amounting to $4,000,000;
Consumers' Company, fifty thousand shares, amounting to $5,000,000; Equitable Company,
thirty thousand shares, amounting to $3,000,000, or a total of $16,964,200. Of these
holdings the syndicate purchased of the Chicago Company one hundred and eighty-nine
thousand three hundred and eighty-three shares, amounting to $4,734,575; Peoples' Company,
thirty-four thousand six hundred shares, amounting to $3,460,000; Consumers' Company,
twenty-nine thousand eight hundred and eighty-one shares, amounting to $2,988, 100; Equit-
able Company, twenty-nine thousand seven hundred and forty-seven shares, amounting to
$2,974,700, or a total of $14,157,375.
These were the outside figures. Stock brokers and their clients know full well that
of the nominal shares and capital stock of the several companies, on an average sixty per
cent, were really paid up, and a similar ratio was accordingly purchased by the syndicate, in-
volving an actual transaction of >8,4<I4.525. The syndicate then turned over its holdings to
the Chicago Gas Trust Company, of which C. K. G. Billings, Charles Counselimm, E. C.
Benedict, E. J. Jerzmanowski, Henry J. Davidson, W. L. Elkins, C. R. Cummiugs, S. A. Kent,
Henry Fitzhugh, C. F. Dieterich, P. A. Widener, John Sloane and William H. Gebhard were
the directors and officers and are yet, to all practical intent and purpose. Billings, Counsel-
man, Cummings and Kent are Chicago capitalists; the balance represent Philadelphia capital.
The gas trust immediately proceeded to issue capital stock to the amount of $25.000,000,
divided in two hundred and fifty thousand shares at $100 each. While the Chicago Gas Trust
Company had been incorporated under the laws of the state, private citizens as well as semi-public
274 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
organizations became at once convinced that such incorporation was fraught with the greatest
public danger, and litigation was begun by both factions. The Citizens' association retained
Ex-attorney-general J. K. Edsall to test the validity of a monopoly formed under the state
laws. A bill was filed in the Circuit court, to which the gas trust filed pleas claiming the
lawful right of consolidation as a trust. The case came to a hearing before Judge Baker,
who overruled the demurrer of the Citizens' association to the pleas of the trust, and prac-
tically held that the Chicago Gas Trust Company was a legal corporation. The Citizens'
association appealed to the Supreme court, and this appeal resulted in the complete overthrow
of the Gas Trust Company and a reversal of Judge Baker's decision. The Supreme court
decision, written by Justice Magruder, holds, briefly stating, that under the general incorpora-
tion act, no corporation can be organized for the purpose of holding stock in any other cor-
poration, and especially can this not be done if such holding creates a monopoly nefarious in
character and against public policy. The case was consequently remanded for further pro-
ceedings in the Circuit court. Judge McConnell presided, and his rulings during the earlier
stages of the rehearing were favorable to the trust. The latter claimed that it had dispos-
sessed itself of the greater portion of the shares of stock in the various individual gas com-
panies by a transfer of these shares to the Fidelity Insurance Trust and Safe Deposit Com-
pany of Philadelphia, and that the trust then held only a certain number of shares, far less
than a majority. To this plea the Citizens' association demurred so effectively that Judge
McCounell finally held, in pursuance of the Supreme court opinion, that the Chicago Gas
Trust Company had no right whatever to hold any shares in any gas company or in any
other corporation, and he entered final judgment of ouster against the gas trust. The latter
was ousted from the right to hold any shares of stock in any corporation, and a nominal fine
was imposed to give effect to this judgment. From the latter the trust again appealed, in
November, 1890, to the Supreme court, who dismissed it, leaving the trust without legal rec-
ognition.
The Mutual Fuel Gas Company of Hyde Park inaugurated their plant in September,
1890, supplying illuminating and fuel gas to residences of that division of the city at fifty
cents per one thousand cubical feet. This was done under authority of the village of Hyde
Park. The officers of the company here are George M. Bogue, president; J. B. Robertson,
vice president; C. H. Randle, secretary, and J. J. Mitchell, treasurer. Among the fifty or
more stockholders are L. Z. Leiter, Edson G. Keith, A. E. Smyth, S. W. Allerton, T. E.
Wells, H. N. Higiubotham, Clarence Buckingham, A. A. Sprague, A. C. Bartlett, C. J. Blair,
Eugene Gary, W. H. Mitchell, Ferd W. Peck, N. B. Ream, Joseph Sears, Jesse Spalding.
When the Mutual company found itself ready to commence operations, it purchased a site at
Fortieth street and Langley avenue, but the residents in the neighborhood protested so
strongly that a gas plant there would be a nuisance, the company surrendered. It next
found a proper location in the Town of Lake, at Forty-sixth street and Stewart avenue, and
applied to the Chicago council for permission to lay a main from that point to the center of
State and Forty-sixth streets, there to connect with the system of mains in Hyde Park. The
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 275
council refused the permission. Later an ordinance was introduced in the city council, giv-
ing the company the right to lay pipes in the city, conditioned that it should supply fuel gas
at forty cents and illuminating gas for seventy cents per one thousand feet. Subsequently
that gas company offered to light the street lamps of the old village at $2 per lamp less
than the city was paying; but the Chicago council is not a prompt actor when such a
public boon is offered. As a fuel this gas seems to be unsurpassed, and its advocates claim
it will heat the stoves and furnaces of the future. As a heating agent it is without smoke,
and a piece of porcelain can be held iu or over the flame without being blackened. The
amount and character of heat the gas creates is so intense that it will burn a hole through a
thin sheet of platinum. A piece of steel or iron held in the burning jet of ordinary gas soon
becomes covered with soot; if then transferred to the flame of the new gas the soot is rapidly
consumed and the iron becomes clean again and white with heat. When used as fuel the gas
emits no light, but when used as an illuminant, iu connection with an incandescent attach-
ment called a comb, it becomes all light and presents not a particle of dark surface.
The Hyde Park Gas Company is a much older institution than the Mutual Gas Com-
pany, and observes the older schedule of charges, or $1.25 per thousand cubical feet. Hall's
gas plant was inaugurated July 22, 1891, in the buildings of the Kelly Barbed Wire Company
in rear of Deering depot.
The other companies in the field are the Calumet Gas Company, the Indiana Natural
Gas and Oil Company, the Lake Gas Company, the Suburban Gas Company, the Chicago
Smokeless Fuel Gas Company and the Chicago Economic Fuel Gas Company. The Fahne-
jelrn Incandescent Gas Light Company, Globe Light and Heat Company, Pintsch Com-
pressing Company, the International Gas and Fuel Company, the Hutchinson Water Gas
Furnace Company, and the Backus Gas Fire Place and Mantel Company are all connected
more or less with the gas manufacturing industry of this city.
The Welsbach incandescent gas lamp dates back to 1887. The invention is that of Carl
Auer, a pupil of Professor Bunsen, of the Breslau university, and the light from the lamp is
produced by the heating to an incandescence, or white heat, of a filament made from refrac-
tory earths or oxides, which it is not necessary to use in a vacuum, as the carbon filaments
are used in making the incandescent electric lights. The necessity for using the vacuum is an
expensive one, and Carl Auer a few years ago began a series of experiments to produce a
filament which could be used in the open air. The result was the discovery of the Welsbach
burner, which he named after the patent of nobility granted to him for his scientific discov-
eries as Von Welsbach. The light is successful because the oxides are produced in an
extremely thin or attenuated form, whereby the minimum of heat will produce the maximum
of light. There are three principal elements used in the manufacture of the solution in
which the cotton cylinder or mantel is dipped the oxides of lanthanum, zirconium and
yttrium. These are produced respectively from the minerals cerite, zircon and samarskite,
which are found in large cjuantities in Norway, Sweden, Ceylon, the Ural mountains, and in
North Carolina and elsewhere.
276 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
The presence of water in gas has a most important bearing on that illuminator, where
certain conditions do not render it objectionable. Water or water vapor is one of the prod-
ucts of the combustion of coal gas. This product is brought about by the combination, at
the point of consumption, of the oxygen in the air and the hydrogen in the gas.
In large cotton spinning and weaving mills this characteristic of the gas flame is of the
utmost utility. While not deleterious to the health or comfort of the workpeople, it improves
the quality of the work, by enabling the yarn to be spun and woven with fewer breakages
than is possible in a dry, hask atmosphere. In short, this method of illumination, because of
its moisture-producing quality, will always commend itself as being the most suitable and
natural under such circumstances.
The first useful part water fulfills in the process of gas manufacture is the work
which it does in the ashpans and under the retort furnaces. Raised to a boiling point by
the glowing coke, it gives off steam in a considerable volume, and this rising underneath and
between the furnace bars contributes to the durability of these by keeping them in a state
of comparitive coolness. At the same time it tends to prevent or mitigate the soldering to-
gether of the fused portions of the fuel. In its passage through the hot coke, the steam is
decomposed into its constituent gases; the hydrogen adding to the furnace fuel, and the oxy-
gen promoting combustion. A tidy fire about, with the ashpans charged with water and
reflecting the bright fire between the bars, is one of the characteristics of good stoking. In
the absence of this, though the settings were composed of gold and diamonds, the best re-
sults would not be obtained. Dirt and disorder are indicative of general bad working.
In the slaking or quenching of hot coke, water is a necessity. It is true that if the
coke be drawn from the retorts into iron barrows, and a close cover placed over it, the con-
fined gases in the absence of atmospheric oxygen will smother and gradually arrest combus-
tion in the mass; and some managers resort to this method of dealing with the coke with a
view to abating the nuisance of the escape of steam, charged with sulphurous vapors, from
the retort house, and to preserve the coke for sale in a dry and bright condition. Where the
production of coke is great, however, as in the case of large works, this is an inconvenient,
if not an impossible method of dealing with the material. It is to be noted further that the
quantity of water absorbed by the coke when it is slaked in the ordinary way is compar-
atively small, not exceeding on the average fourteen per cent, of the weight of the coke in
the first instance, and the bulk of this evaporates when the coke is deposited outside the
retort house in the open air, about three per cent, being permanently retained.
The water which is found in the hydraulic main is due to the condensation of the vapor
or steam which, coming from the retorts, is carried up the ascension pipes along with the per-
manent gases and the heavy hydrocarbons, the latter being deposited as tar. The presence
of this water is accounted for by its previous existence in the interstices of the apparently dry
coal. It is also produced synthetically by the combination, brought about by the heat of the
retorts, of a portion of the oxygen and hydrogen, two constituents of the solid coal. The
quantity of water thus yielded varies with different coals, but the average yield may be set
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 377
down at sixteen gallons per ton. A portion of the steam from wet coal is decomposed in the
hot retorts, being resolved into its constituent gases. It will be seen, therefore, assuming the
correctness of this hypothesis, that two opposite processes are being carried on simultaneously
in the retorts, the analytical and the synthetical, and this apparent inconsistency may be
explained by the original character of the substances acted upon, the steam in the one
instance and the gases, oxygen and hydrogen in the other, and their proximity to, and period
of contact with the hot surface traversed by them. It is, in fact, another case of blowing hot
and cold witli the same breath.
The strong affinity which exists between this water and the ammonia impurity in the
crude gas causes the absorption of much of the latter by the former; and hence the ammoni-
acal liquor, which is, roughly speaking, a solution of ammonia. This, again, by reason of its
affinity for sulphureted hydrogen and carbonic acid, absorbs a proportion of the gases named,
reducing the amount of these impurities in the gas; and thus is produced the complex liquid
designated ammoniacal liquor. In all well-regulated works, the ends of the dip pipes in the
hydraulic main are sealed with this liquor in preference to tar, which not only offers greater
resistance to the passage of the gas, but robs it to some extent of its richest illuminating
substances, the volatile hydro-carbons, which would otherwise be retained in the gaseous con-
dition. This liquor performs similar functions in the washers and scrubbers, where, in the
finely-divided state, its quality of absorbing ammonia, sulphureted hydrogen, and carbonic
acid is still further utilized.
In hot climates the crude gas can best be reduced to the temperature necessary to admit
of satisfactory purification, by causing water to trickle down the exposed surface of the con-
denser. In the slaking of the oxide of iron and the lime with which the purifying vessels
are charged, water again is indispensable, giving porosity to the materials, and largely con-
tributing to their power of absorbing the carbonic acid, sulphureted hydrogen, and other
sulphur impurities. The value of the water seal for the lids of the purifying vessels, in the
hydraulic valve, in the station governor, in the gasholder tank, in the cups of telescopic
holders, in the wet gas meter and in the water side pendant is evident. The simplicity and
efficiency, as well as the indispensability of its application in these different directions is
obvious.
The shop rules governing gasfitting are of recent origin. In 1890 a written code
appeared to be necessary, and the work was undertaken by E. Baggot, with a view of facili-
tating business in his own shop. As originally prepared, they are here presented:
First. Gasfitters, when beginning the work of fitting up a building, should read the
rules of the gas company, and see how many outlets are allowed on each size of pipe.
Second. When running extra pipe or making alterations in new buildings after the
original work is completed, the fitter should put on the guage and test before, and also after,
the alterations are made.
Third. Fitters must put in drops with bends instead of elbows, according to the gas
company's rules.
278
INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
Fourth. Be careful in locating the meter. Risers should not be ran on the outside
wall, for if they are, the gas will condense in winter and cause the light to flicker.
Fifth. When running service pipe, be sure not to trap the pipe. Always put alcohol
cock when it can be got at conveniently, in case of freezing in winter. When the service is
completed, test it by blowing into the alcohol cock; then close it and allow the pressure to
stand five or ten minutes; then open the key, and if there is sufficient back-pressure, the
piping is tight, if not, it leaks, and must be remedied.
Sixth. In making alterations in old buildings, before making any extensions, the fitter
should disconnect the meter and cap the riser, put on his gauge and see whether the work is
tight. Also prove it when the work is completed.
Seventh. Drops should be fastened properly by putting in cleats between joists.
Eighth. In parlors, one-half-inch drops should be put in. When running pipe for
bracket light, fitters should be careful when there are two or three in one room, to put them
the same hight from the floor, and see that they extend just the same length through the
plaster, so as to make an even finish for back plates.
Ninth. In leaving openings for fire logs, they should be one-half inch in fireplaces, and
for gas stoves they should not be less than one-half inch, and for large ones, three-quarters
of an inch.
The following is a table of diameters of house drainage with various grades and for sizes
of different lots capable of discharging two inches of rain per hour, when running three-
fourths full.
SIZE OF LOT IN FEET.
Fall per loo.
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
3.0
4.0
5.0
Diameters In inches.
20x150
3^
3%
4
4M
4K
5%
5%
6
6^
*X
3^
3^
m
4
4M
*H
$
S8
5%
6
3
3M
3M
3%
3%
4
iM
4%
4%
BU
5^
5M
2%
3
3%
8
3M
4
4
4%
4^
5
5M
5^
2%
3
3J4
3^
8g
f
%
^
sy*
2%
m
3
3M
3^
8*
3%
4
%
4
2^
2M
3
3V,
3%
*%
8*
3%
4^
4*8
4
4%
25x150. . .
30x150
35x150
40x150
45x150
50x150
60x150
70x150
80x150
90x150...
100x150
The Economist, in reviewing this table says: "By an inspection of the table, we see
that a four-inch main drain is ample for any ordinary condition of service, even if roof-water
be admitted, the discharge of house sewage proper being only a very small percentage of
the total volume. A smaller size than four inches is not to be recommended, however, for the
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 279
reason that although it may be ample so far as estimated carrying capacity is concerned, it is
more liable to obstruction. Under some circumstances, it may be advisable to increase the
size of the main drain to five or even six inches diameter; this limit should not be exceeded,
however. If one drain of this size be not ample, it is better to increase the number."
Tenth. Fitters should not run risers across the floor under the tile of the vestibule in the
main hall.
Eleventh. In placing one or more fixtures in a house, fitters should always smell of the
joints and see if there be a leak; after turning on the -gas they should watch the meter and
see whether the hands on the dial move; if so, there is a leak. These are matters which
are ignored by fitters altogether and cause a great loss of time.
Twelfth. Fitters should examine the brackets of fixtures after the gas is burning, for very
often the nozzles have sand holes in them, and the fitter does not screw his burners up tight
and does not put them on properly. He thinks that because it is tight to the key that is
sufficient.
Thirteenth. In all new work, such as houses, offices or stores, the fitter should put on his
pump before he puts the fixtures on, and if there be a leak and he cannot find it in the caps, he
should report it to the foreman, and the parties who first put in the work will be notified and
they will have to find it; but should the fitter put on the fixtures without testing, and if there
should be a leak afterward, we would be held responsible for it, and would have to make it
tight. After the fixtures are all up and tested, we should report to the gas office in the district
where the work is completed.
The pump and gauge should be brought back to the shop, and also all caps that have
been taken off.
Fourteenth. Relates to cutting pipe.
Fifteenth. For some reason or other the average amount of pipe put in by fitters in my
shop is below the average of any other shop in Chicago. A strict account will be kept on each
man on new work, and if he can not make a fair average he will be discharged. No excuse
will be taken from the hangers or fitters that they were not able to get all the goods from
the salesman, or that he is behind in his account, unless he reports to me promptly.
Sixteenth. Fitters should notify the timekeeper in the back part of the store when he
will be ready to go out with his goods, and also when he wants a wagon, that he may not
be asking for it when he knows he can not get it.
Seventeenth. Fitters will not let fittings lie around on the floor, but put them back in
the bins. Each fitter must have a separate cup and brush, and also a bottle of ether, prop-
erly corked, and not use a piece of paper or wood as some do. Fitters should also keep
their tools in good repair and in the proper place, so that they will not be compelled to
look for them every time they go out on a job, as this causes much delay and annoyance to
the foreman.
Always see that the gauge is in good order before taking it out of the shop, so that it
will not be necessary to come back to the shop to get a new glass or fix the key. All step-
280 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
ladders taken from the shop must be returned, and ladders borrowed while on the job must
be returned l>efore leaving the job, or they will be charged to the persons who disregard this
rule. Foreman will report any fitter or boy who does not understand these rules, or who does
not comply with them.
These rules convey a fair idea of what is required from the working gasfitter, but the
details of fitting are numerous and serious. In W. B. Gray's "Practical gasfitting" such
details are given, and from his papers the following is taken : " When the different lots of pipe
have been carried to their respective floors the fitter should, if he has not already done so,
blow through each piece to prove that it is not clogged with cuttings, dirt, or an imperfect
weld, and test them by extracting the air with the lungs, in the same fashion that the tongue
can be sucked into a bottle. If the tongue stick firm for five seconds on short and small
pieces, they may be considered tight. Large and long pieces will require more time to
extract the air, and a proportionately longer time for the test, because the larger the space
that is void the longer it will take a small hole to restore the internal pressure. Pipes that
are too large to be filled with the tongue may be covered with the lips. New pipe can be
exhausted very quickly by drawing the air into the lungs instead of drawing a mouthful at a
time, but it is bad policy to test old pipe containing rust or gas deposits in that manner.
Any pieces that seem defective should be tried a second time to be sure that the helper was
holding the end firm. Leaks discovered in this manner may usually be traced to a defective
weld or a weld strained by cutting. Any bend or offset that is required should be made
before the pipe is screwed in, that it may be tested to avoid cutting it out should scales clog
it or the weld split. There is some difference in the opinions advanced relative to the posi-
tion that ought to be given to the weld when making a cold bend. The writer believes that
if there be any choice of positions it is the neck of a bend. For offsets the weld should stand
half way between the neck and side of the first curve. In cases like the following, we would
not venture to say that one particular place was better than another for the weld. We once
had a boss who invariably commenced the day by drinking several 'eye openers' and telling
us that we should obey orders if it broke the master's. One morning we informed him that
we could not make a certain 'coil' because the mandrel was loaned. He ordered us to bend
it around the telephone post. It is there yet, because the company will not remove the cross
arms that we may lift it off.
" When the fitter is sure that every piece of pipe is clear and sound, the next step is to
take the plan of the floor he happens t l>e on and call off the sizes and lengths of the pieces,
while the helper, by the aid of the rule and measuring stick, finds the pieces and places them
where the fitter directs. When the pieces are all placed the fitter may screw several pieces
together loosely and hold them in the exact position they are to occupy, while the helper
marks the joists to lie sawed. It is better to mark the joist by the pipe itself, for then there
is no rewriting to make fittings match, etc. All drops for center lights nmst be screwed up
in cement to prevent them from unscrewing when caps or fixtures are removed. Lines of
pipe between joists should be well supported to prevent sagging. Any pipe that can not be
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 281
given a fall to the riser should have a fall to the fixture. All pipes should be low enough to
allow the floor to go in place without bearing on the fittings. Pipes for lights showing on
partitions not yet in place give more trouble than anything else in a new house. If they are
left standing the carpenter usually breaks them off while placing his studding. Probably
the best way is to put in stubs that will stick above the floor and lengthen them after the
partition is in place. Time can be saved by running the newel light after the post is up.
Assuming now that all the pipes are put together, we will give our attention to fastening the
drops and bracket pipes. Some wedges that will not split easily (white pine), and of the
proper shape, are the first things needed. They should be. about two inches wide by three
and one-half inches long, and from one-fourth inch to five-eighths inch in thickness. The taper-
ing part or point of the wedge should be only about an inch long, and if the grain of the
wood converges at all the point shoiild be at the converging end. Wedges should never be
placed in the upright seam on a chimney jamb near the corner, because the corner brick will
push out and allow the pipe to get loose. Wedging into flue walls should be done very care-
fully. Nails driven across the grain (screws are better) do not split the wedges so easily, and
the pipe can not become loose unless the wedge pulls out. Bracket pipes ought not to be
pulled in with hooks, because the pipe will crack the plastering if the hooks get a little loose,
By fastening the fitting very firm there need be no fear that the pipe will crack the plastering.
" Fastening drops is so simple that it is hardly worth time to speak of it. Where they
come between joists cleats can be nailed on the joists one inch more than the depth of the run-
ning pipe from the tip. A strip one inch thick can then be placed under the pipe near the
drop and rest on the cleats. When the drop is beside a joist it can be secured by rabbeting
a block and nailing it to the joist. Practically there are but two things to be remembered
when fastening drops, viz. : Make them hang perpendicularly and fasten them firmly.
" The last and most interesting part of a gasfitting job is testing the pipe. The test
should be just as rigid whether an inspector's certificate be required or not. There are two
kinds of test pumps, the spring gauge and mercury gauge. The reader can see a cut of
them by turning to any catalogue of gasfitter's tools. The mercury gauge is the more suit-
able, because it is more sensitive than the other. The glass may be placed nearly at the
lx>ttom of the cup, in order to use as little mercury as will give the required pressure; then
should an accident occur there will not be much lost. A column of mercury two inches high
is equal to about one pound pressure. Eight inches is ample bight for the mercury column
when testing illuminating gas pipe, as there is at most only a few ounces' pressure on the
mains at any time. The pump for testing may be placed at any convenient opening, and
after allowing a moment for the mercury to settle, it should stand fifteen minutes without
even getting flat on the top of the column. Very small houses may be passed with a ten-minute
test, as the leaks will show sooner. If the mercury fall gradually the leaks are either con-
siderable or very near the pump. If it stand for several minutes and then drop suddenly,
the leak is very small and usually very remote from the pump. If the pump prove that the
pipes leak, the pressure may be let off and a little sulphuric ether poured into the opening
282 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
for the purpose, or into the barrel of the pump. Then pump up the pressure again. A
large leak may be smelled and heard too, as soon as you get near it, but the nose will have to
be placed close to a small leak to detect the smell of ether; a little soapy water can be used
to advantage in hunting gas leaks. If the suspected place be painted with it, the air will
make a bubble, showing exactly where the leak is. Split pipe and fittings should in all cases
be removed. If the fitter have any time to spare when the job is finished, he can employ him-
self by loosening the caps while the pressure is on, to see that no pipe is clogged.
" The preceding paper described the work of piping an ordinary dwelling house at the
time of its construction. This pgints out the method of piping a house already constructed.
In every city and suburban district there are many of the better class of dwellings that are
without gas, and in which the lighting does not meet the requirements of tenants or owners.
This state of affairs causes constant changing, extending and fitting of gas pipe in houses al-
ready built. To fit a finished house with gas, some ability and aptitude is required on the
fitter's part other than that necessary for ordinary fitting. He may have to remove the fur-
niture, take up and replace the carpets and floors, as neatly as a carpenter and carpet-layer
could, in order to give satisfaction. The fitting should be very carefully done, especially in
cases where the family occupy the house while the work is being carried on, as each room
should be completely finished, except the hanging of gasaliers, before another is commenced.
This method of working makes it less inconvenient for the household, but gives double trouble
in locating and remedying defects. In houses not occupied, where carpets, furniture and
floors may be left in disorder until the pipe work is completed, all over rigid precaution may
be economically dispensed with, because the time consumed in trying to avoid possible leaks
is usually greater than that required to stop the leaks, which may be avoided by extra pre-
caution, when the pipes are all accessible at the time of testing.
" The following is a list of the indispensable tools for such work: One ratchet brace; one
twisted- point gimlet, three feet long; one twisted-point gimlet, short; one one-inch auger bit;
one gouge, preferably of three-quarter octagon steel (hand made); one framing chisel, two
inches wide; one floor chisel, with blade shaped like a hatchet blade; one hand saw, one very
thin blade compass saw, one plumb bob, one tape line, one pocket rule, one cold chisel, one
hammer, one oil can, one reversible vise, one chisel and one stone drill. The fitter may use
his judgment as to what dies, taps, wrenches, etc., he may need. All chisels used to force up
flooring boards should have round edges, causing them to mash rather than cut into the
edges of the adjoining Ixmrd.
"The first thing to be done is to center the rooms. A stick ten feet long marked in
feet and fourths of feet is better than a line to measure with, as no help is needed, and the
helper may set the vise while you center, first the floors, then the ceilings by means of the
plumb. Itooms having plaster or fancy paper centers need no center marks, because the
drop must come exactly throiigh the center of the piece. Many rooms have neither paper
nor plaster center pieces; such may have the drop exactly in the center, unless a joist is in
the way, and in that case one inch either way to avoid the joist will not look bad. The posi-
m
JJ S: _
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a
a
a
a
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THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 283
tion of joists above paper or plaster surface ceilings may be known by the light stripes
directly under them. The stripes are caused by the ceiling being drier under the joists than
at any other place, consequently soot and dust does not adhere as readily. The titter should
be very particular about centering rooms with bay windows. Such rooms, when without
center pieces to govern the location of the lights, can be more uniformly lighted from the
center of the space if the window is large in proportion to the room. When the room is
large in proportion to the window it should be lighted from the center of the square. All
irregularly shaped rooms, with the irregular-shaped part of the ceiling divided from the
main part by a border, must be lighted from the center of the square.
"After the rooms are centered, place the long gimlet in the brace (be sure it is well
secured, because the brace may slip off and break when left hanging from the ceiling), and
bore through the ceiling and floor above. There need be no fear of damaging the carpet,
as the gimlet will lift it six inches before pushing through, which is enough to mark'/ty.^* tJ*S
The carpet should be marked at the point over the gimlet to show which side is most t qoiTveh-
ient to put the pipe under, as all rooms upstairs do not correspond with those downstairs,
either in size or location. The gimlet hole in the floor shows which board to take up.
When boring plaster or paper center pieces which have caudle or oil chandeliers pending
from them, select some crevice in the pattern which will leave the gimlet hole in the shadow,
then measure to the center and note the direction when cutting the floor above. In paper
center pieces bore near enough to the center to allow the ceiling plate to cover the hole. By
following this method the chandeliers may hang until the last moment. It also leaves a cen-
ter for the bit where the chandelier hook is screwed into the joist or into a bridge that can
not be moved. A leather shield should be placed over the gimlet near the brace when bor-
ing ceilings, to prevent plaster from getting into the working parts of the brace. It seems
needless to mention that when there is no other way of locating a joist that it must be done
by sounding, or by driving a needle through the plaster and finding it by removing the
floor above. The fitter will often find chandelier hooks from six to eight inches long, and
will succeed easier by plugging the holes left by such, when he is compelled to use them as
centers for the bit. It will be suggested to the reader who may find occasion to do so, that he
place the bridging for chandelier hooks, independent of the laths arid plaster, and in such a
manner that it can be removed without injuring the ceiling. Also, that in no case place a
joist directly over the center of a room.
" The interior partitions of such houses as this class of work will bring the reader into are
usually of wood, which affords many places to conceal gas risers. One of the following
places can be found in any house: First. Beside a sliding door, which gives more room to
lower a light and a better chance to bore through or remove the brace between the studding.
The writer almost invariably drives down one end of the most convenient brace. Second.
Place the riser which is so located for either one or both of the following reasons: First.
Because the riser may be placed by lowering through the second floor doorway if there be no
cellar immediately under it. Second. Because the stringer over the studding can be cut
284 INDUSTRIAL OHIO AGO :
with much less labor. Any but the best carpets will look a little loose and shabby after
being relaid in the same place, and an inexperienced man will pull the wrinkles out until he
comes to an angle, when he finds that the carpet has stretched about two inches. Of course
it has to be loosened again. To avoid such mishaps, drive larger tacks in the same holes, fasten
the principal points first, and divide the slack or mark the carpet and floor in several
places along each edge before taking up. Tacks well driven in heavy carpet can be removed
easiest by pulling the carpet. But a tack puller must be used on frail or old carpets,
because the carpet will either tear or allow the tack heads to pull through. To remove a
floor board neatly the fitter should know on which side of the board the groove is, to avoid
splitting too deep, as a board can be forced up from the groove side without damaging any but
the part under the groove, and there are no nails on the groove side to contend with. The
groove side of a board may be discovered in several ways. The first board laid when putting
down a new floor is always full width and has the tongue on the outside, while the last board
laid is usually cut to tit, and is sometimes narrow at one end, as the last boards of a floor
seldom run perfectly parallel with the wall opposite the starting point. The last board is
always nailed through the face instead of being toed through the tongue.
"Floors that are used without carpet should not be marred by chisel and hammer marks.
The writer uses an old putty knife, or something of similar shape, to open the crack between
boards wide enough to admit a very narrow thin blade compass saw. In fine floors always
saw the tongues on both sides of the board to be removed. If near an end wall, remove the
board to the base; by this means the crack where the board is sawed can be closed by pulling
the board forward. Where a pocket (two or three boards) is to be cut out, both ends and
the tongue on one side of the first board to be removed should be sawed first, then drift the
board over, that the tongue may be sawed on the other side to save reducing the face as much
as possible. Saw all boards a little beveling, to prevent the ends from splintering when they
are forced up. All boards covering gas pipes should be screwed down. Under lx>ards from
two to three and a half inches wide, cut the notches under the tongue side of the board.
When fitting houses that have deadened floors, place as much pipe parallel with the joists
as possible. Once in a while the good appearance of a floor may be saved by drilling the
wall from the outside, instead of cutting up two or three boards to get a long piece of pipe
under them.
" Parlor fixtures of the better class are usually hung by ball joints, the lowest part of the
fixture being about seven feet from the floor. Ball joints are made of brass, and are not un-
like the ordinary unions, except that the collar threads are gas-tight, and that the collar has
a set-screw to secure it, after it is screwed tight. The tail-piece is screwed to receive the stem
of the fixture, and has au extra large flange, which is ground into the collar in such a manner
that it can be moved in any direction as much as 30 degrees from the center line. The advan-
tages of the ball joint are: The fixture will hang perpendicularly, whether the drop be
perpendicular or not; should anything strike the fixture it will recede instead of breaking off;
when cleaning globes or fixtures, it may be turned instead of moving the ladder; if a burner
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 286
does not burn properly, the best burner may be turned in the direction where the most light
is needed, until the burner is repaired. Fixtures swinging by ball joints should always
be turned from the person with the right hand, to prevent any possible chance of the fixture
unscrewing.
"Other appliances are often used instead of ball joints. However, ball joints are the best.
A swing joint made in the following manner is excellent: Take a piece of white rubber hose
which will fit tight on the stem of the fixture, slip it on about three inches and secure it with
a hose band; then slip the cailing plate over the drop, and measure the length of the hose re-
quired to slip up to the plate, allowing plenty of hose, to prevent buckling when the fixture
swings; cut the hose the proper length, and secure it to the drop witli a band. This appliance
is used in foundries, furniture factories, etc. Another fitting, used in any place where the
fixture must be lifted or removed, in order to remove, handle or set up certain work, has only
a vibrating movement and is very easily strained, unless the drop be perfectly true, and will
leak then if pushed in any but the proper direction.
" There should be at least two sliding fixtures in a house, one in the library the other
in the diuingroom. There are many forms of slide fixtures, such as packing sockets,
in which the packing is compressed tight enough to hold the fixture in any desired position,
and fit only for use on light single and double pendants; others, with packing sockets and
weights to counterbalance the fixture. Wedge and spring- joints and friction-ball cases, in
fact, all slide fixtures, depend upon the packing socket, except the water slide, or, as called
more properly, the hydraulic gasalier. The water-slide fixture should be hung by a ball
joint. The fixture is held in position by weights made heavy enough to balance the fixture
while filled with water. Persons having water-slide fixtures can tell when the water is low
by the fixture creeping up. because the fixture alone is not heavy enough to balance the
weights. The bottom or moving part of the fixture has two tubes. The central tube con-
nects to the gasvvay of the fixture arms. The outer tube has a belt shaped upper end, with
proper loops for the weight chains, and is fastened to the base fitting, so as to make a uniform
annular space between it and the central tube, in which the stationary drop pipe stands.
The weight chains must be short enough to prevent pulling the slides entirely out of place.
The objections to water-slide fixtures are that they look clumsy, and if not watched, the
water will evaporate enough to break the seal.
"Persons owning such fixtures should make it the duty of one particular person to keep
the slides filled. The writer recommends that a stopcock be placed above all water slides,
in order to avoid the risk of leaving the gas on during the summer months, while the family
are at the watering places or summer resorts, and only the servants have charge of the house.
All fixtures should be cemented together with the best quality of cement, especially rope-arm
fixtures, because the creases in the rope imitations are deeper than the threads. Parts that
cannot be heated with the torch without damaging the finish may be heated by screwing a hot
nipple into the threads. Fixture lengths should be obtained by measuring from the floor to
the bottom of the drop. When hanging fixtures, those drops that are too long to allow
280 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
the fixture socket to hold the plate against the ceiling should have the extra space covered
with casing of the same finish as the fixture. Factory fixture stems that are too short should
be replaced with one piece the proper length, which makes a neater looking fixture when
cased. When a slide is not used in the diningroom, the fixture may be placed as low as six
feet four inches from the floor. Those who can not afford a slide fixture for the library may
use the common drop with movable shade. The style of drop goose neck, which hangs inside
the globe and through globe holder, is best.
"Hall fixtures should be placed about seven feet from the floor of small dwellings. Large
halls may have the fixtures according to the hight of the ceiling. Other dwelling fixtures,
not mentioned here, may be placed six feet eight inches unless otherwise requested. Dress-
ing-case brackets should be of the universal pattern, which can be raised or lowered to suit
the person dressing. More satisfaction will be derived from the use of that class of universal
brackets which depend upon the friction of the joints to hold them in any desired position
than from the use of those that have racket wheels or set-screw attachments, because force of
habit will cause those familiar with common brackets to break a racket by a sudden pull when
they are not thinking, and persons who are not familiar with gas often think such brackets
naturally work hard, and pull until they break them.
"As all gas employed for general lighting at present gives off more or less carbon,
smoke bells and plates are used to distribute it (not absorb or destroy, as some people seem to
think), thereby making the effect less visible. The shape of bells is only a matter of taste,
except that the bell will hang plumb when it is a little heavy on one side, while the plate
tends to the heaviest side, however slight the difference may be. The writer prefers to have
smoke bells or plates hung from arms screwed into a frame, which, when slipped over the
stem of the fixture, forms a break in the casing. There is not always a support over the
center of a burner, and when bells are hung from high ceilings, the heat causes them to
swing too much, but if hung near the support, their swinging is limited, and the distribution
of the soot more effectual. Bells may be hung from twelve to eighteen inches above the jets,
according to the fitter's judgment."
The future of gas is apparent Coal, oil and wood will continue to be converted into
gas, but it will be only fuel gas employed in the production of electrical force, which force
will supply light and heat and power generally in the near future, as it now does in special
cases. The Chicago Tribune, in an editorial based on Engineer Swinburne's recent paper
on this subject, speaks of the perfection of the system in France and its introduction in Eng-
land. An arc and incandescent installation at Lisle, France, supplied with current from a
dynamo driven by a gas engine, was recently put in place and its workings investigated by a
well-known electrical engineer, who thus reports to the Comptes Rendus: Sixteen arcs and
seventy-one glow lamps were compared with the gas burners employed in the illumination of
the same locality. They gave fifteen per cent, more light than the gas lamps, a fact ascer-
tained bv comparative measures of the illumination of the floor surface, and the gas engine
consumed seven hundred and fifty -two cubic feet per hour, while the gas lamps consumed
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 387
nine hundred and twenty -seven feet. The gas used as a motive power for driving a dyiiaino-
supplying current to electric lamps gives a saving of seventeen per cent, in quantity with
much more light than if it be consumed directly at the burner. The advantage is so great
that it would seem the test must be regarded as conclusively in favor of the dynamo and as
warranting a rapid extension of its use in Europe, which is said to be in progress. A simi-
lar plant, to supply four thousand incandescent lamps, is now being installed at Alicante,
Spain. It is claimed that though at its best a steam engine may work with three pounds of
coal per horse-power per hour, yet in practice the consumption is generally over ten, and
may rise to nearly twenty pounds, when run in the irregular way required to supply current
illumination. This lavish expenditure is only in part avoided in exciting electric force with
the use of an accumulator to store up power during those hours of the day when it is least
wanted. But the gas engine is less expensive, and can be started and stopped without trouble
when desired. It may be so constructed also as to be supplied with compressed air and
compressed gas, thus becoming simple in form and giving a double output; that is, explod-
ing at each stroke instead of every second stroke, as at present. And the compressor need
not become uneconomical during the day, as it would then run more slowly but witli the same
economy as when working at full speed. The system compares favorably with the steam
engine in first cost, taking up less room, making no smoke, and being far cheaper in running.
It is said that many engineers still look on the gas engine as little better than a toy, and as
unprofessional, suitable only for hoisting and the running of printing machinery, and this
because it has hitherto been limited to the production of a small amount of power in each
instance.
Electricity is an invisible, subtle power, as old as Time himself, but little understood even
by the people of the present. Centuries before the Christian era philosophy dealt with it,
and years ago, before Gilbert or Boyle or Newton or Franklin, experimented with this
unknown quantity, Italian, French and Spanish philosophers had a knowledge of its pecu-
liarities. The telegraph and the electric light belong however to modern thought, and the
motor to a still later age of thought. The telegraph has been carried beyond the bounds of
civilization and under the ocean. The increase in the use of electric lights and electric
motors is shown by the Electrical World to be even greater during the past few years than
most people probably imagine. The number of electric lighting companies in the United
States and Canada operating central stations at the beginning of 1886 was four hundred and
fifty. This number had increased at the beginning of 1887 to seven hundred and fifty, at the
beginning of 1889 to nearly twelve hundred, and at the beginning of 1890 to twelve hundred
and seventy-seven, including twenty-five in Mexico and Central America. Meantime two hun-
dred and sixty-six gas companies engaged in electric lighting, so that the total number of
companies engaged in electric lighting at the beginning of 1890 was fifteen hundred and
forty-three. The number of isolated or private incandescent and arc light plants at the begin-
ning of ,1887 was about ten hundred each. In January, 1890, there were thirty -nine hundred
and twenty-five private plants in the United States, one hundred and seventy-five in Canada,
and two hundred in Mexico and Central America, making forty-three hundred in all.
288 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO :
The number of arc lamps in use iu 1 882 was six thousand. This number doubled each year
for four years, and has since grown rapidly until there were two hundred and thirty-five thou-
sand arc lamps in use in January, 1890. The number of incandescent lights increased from
five hundred and twenty-five thousand in November, 1886, to three million in January, 1890.
The number of electric motors in operation in the country at that time was estimated at fif-
teen thousand, many of them from fifteen to fifty horse-power. There were nearly two hun-
dred electric railways in over one hundred and twenty-five towns and cities, which had in
operation or under contract one thousand eight hundred and eighty-four cars on one thousand
two hundred and sixty miles of track. These motors find their greatest application in con-
nection with electric light plants. Extraordinary improvements in apparatus and phenome-
nal expansion in the use of electricity, in all forms, mark the years 189091. The cottage,
where electric call bells were hitherto unknown, now boasts of a system which enables the
housewife to bring her servants to their senses in the wee sma' hoiirs. Electricians, however,
look for a great development of electric motors for railroads of all kinds during the next two
years. Electric light and electric power for mining is a new development of considerable
promise. The electric tramway and electric power for pumping, drilling, cutting, etc., have
already been adopted to some extent with good results, and that it will succeed coal, water
and steam as a house heater is anticipated.
Electric lighting has been a wonderful stimulant to business of many kinds since it was
first reduced from a phenomenon of the laboratory to an adjunct of every- day life. Not
only have engine-building and other essential industries been greatly stimulated, but an in-
calculable benefit has been derived from the rapid spread of electric lighting by the greater
mechanical precision called for in the manufacture of the necessary apparatus. A higher
order of skill and, of course, an increased modicum of intelligence have been required from
mechanics employed in this direction. The average engines built in the United States to-
day are better by far than they would have been with all our progressive ideas and in-
ventive genius if electric lighting had not played such an important part with us in the
last decade. The magnitude of the electrical industry is shown by the estimate made,
presiunably by persons well informed on the subject, that some two hundred and fifty
thousand persons are now engaged in business in this country depending solely on elec-
tricity.
Electricity, if such a word may be applied to a reality, has come to stay. Professor
Lodge in his work "Modern views on electricity," states that after all enquiries which
have been made as to what is electricity, the answer may have to be: There is no such
thing. The words electric and electrification may be retained, but the word electricity may
have to be dropped, as it does not stand for a reality. It may be difficult for one who looks
at the phenomena rather than to the relations involved in the phenomena to imagine that
electricity is not some sort of an entity, and may be described if one knew how, as one would
describe any other something.
It would certainly be curious if it should turn out that the reason no answer has been
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 289
forthcoming to the question, What is electricity ? is that there is no such thing and the
question is an improper one, as if one should ask, What is odor, or brightness, or zero ?
Historically there are several parallel cases. A hundred years or more ago heat phenomena
was attributed to phlogiston or caloric, each supposed to be an entity of some sort. The
latter term is still retained for convenience, but it has ceased to have any significance as a
something that gives origin to heat phenomena. When it was discovered that such phe-
nomena were due to atomic and molecular vibrations, or what is now often called a mode
of motion, both the above words ceased to have any meaning; in other words, there was no
such thing as phlogiston or caloric.
Again, light was once thought to be an entity; now we know that light is a sensation,
and properly does not exist independent of the eye. What was treated as light is now
called radiant energy or ether waves. Though the term light is retained, it has lost
the significance it had when it was supposed to be a created something. The physiologists
for a very long time explained the phenomena exhibited by living things, both vegetable and
animal, as due to vital force something supposed to be utterly unlike and not necessarily
related to other forces in nature a force that could control the others in a living organiza-
tion. Now that has been altogether abandoned. No biologist of any repute now believes in
vital force, and the question, What is life? which has baffled every one in his attempt to
define it, now turns out to be an improper question, as it is reducible to complicated molecular
notions and not to an entity. As magnetism is known to be due to the position of molecules,
as cheiuism may be explained as due to the other pressure, it really seems as if all along the
line of knowledge of the physical universe what have been called forces as peculiar some-
things, having individuality as matter has, have no existence at all, and that matter and ether
and motions of one sort or another are all factors in phenomena. The Professor's statement,
then, has a degree of probability added to it by the antecedents in the history of physics.
The science of electricity is as old as human learning. In the remotest times Greek and
Arabian philosophers had something of the present electrical knowledge. Last century was
full of work of pure electrical knowledge, but what was most remarkable was the tremendous
development it had received since 1819. In 1837 the electric telegraph came into existence.
The great scientific discoveries of Faraday, which were prepared almost deliberately for the
purpose of allowing others to turn them to account for the good of man, had been going on
for about fifteen years, when a young man took up the subject with a profound and penetrat-
ing genius most rare in any branch of human study, and perceived relations with mechanical
power which had never been suspected before. Joule' saw the relations between electricity
and force, and his very first determination of the mechanical equivalent was an electrical
measurement. His communication to the British association, when it met in Cork in the year
1841, pointed out for the first time the distinct mechanical relation between electric phenomena
and mechanical force. Joul6 was not a mere visionary, who saw and admired something in
the air, but he pursued what he saw to the very utmost practical point of work, and he it
was who determined the mechanical equivalent of heat. Afterward he thoroughly confirmed
290 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
the principle of his first determination of the mechanical equivalent of heat. Both in elec-
tricity and mechanical action he laid the foundation of the great development of thermo-
dynamics, which -would be looked upon in future generations as the crowning scientific work
of the present century. It was not all due to JoulS, but he had achieved one of the very
greatest monuments of scientific work in the present century. For an institution of electrical
engineers it was interesting to think that the error relating to one of the most important
electrical elements, the unit of resistance, now called the ohm, as determined electrically in
the first place by a committee of the British association, and by purely electrical method,
was first discovered by Joule's mechanical measurement. It was Joul6's mechanical measure-
ment which first corrected the British association unit and gave the true ohm.
The contribution of Thomas A. Edison to the North American Review of November, 1889,
on the dangers of electric lighting, contains much that is instructive, outside the subject
proper. He says: "So much has of late been said and written upon the subject of high-
tension electric currents and their probable or possible danger to human life, and so many
different opinions have been advanced by men whose positions serve to surround their utter-
ances with an atmosphere of knowledge of the matter under discussion, that the mind of an
unscientific public has been unable to come to any definite conclusion upon the basis of
expert testimony. It is most unfortunate that a practical demonstration in support of the real
facts of the case could not have been made in a less tragical manner than was witnessed a few
days ago in New York by several thousand people ; and yet if the martyrdom of this poor victim
results in the application of stringent measures for the protection of life in the future, if the
lesson taught is appreciated to the full extent of its fatal meaning, the sacrifice will not have
been made in vain. With the increase of electric lighting (which to-day is used only to a
very limited extent as compared with its inevitable future use) and the multiplication of wires,
these dangers which exist now in one thousand different parts of the city will be manifolded
many times. In fact the opportunities for repetitions of the accident referred to above will
be practically unlimited. I can write upon this subject only as one convinced. I cannot
discuss it otherwise. The public would scarcely be interested in the details leading up
to the position taken by myself and the conclusions to which I have come, for the reason that
it would involve a mass of matter such as they have been attempting to digest during several
months past; and, instead of explaining, I might succeed only in adding to the present con-
fusion of popular ideas. But I may say that I have not failed to seek practical demonstra-
tions in support of such facts as have been developed, and I have taken life (not human life)
in the belief and full consciousness that the end justified the means.
"The currents used for electric lighting at the present time may generally be divided into
four classes: First. The low-tension continuous current, with a pressure not exceeding two
hundred volts, used for incandescent lighting. Second. The high-tension continuous cur-
rent, with a pressure of two thousand volts and over. Third. The high-tension semi-con-
tinuous current, with a pressure of two thousand volts and over. Fourth. The alternating
current, with a pressure from one thousand to three thousand volts and over. The first is
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 291
harmless, and can be passed through the human body without producing uncomfortable sen-
sations. The second is dangerous to life. Momentary contact with a conductor of the third,
results in paralysis or death, .as has frequently occurred, and the passage of the fourth, or
alternating current through any living body, means instantaneous death.
" These are simple facts, which can not be disproved. There is a record of nearly one
hundred deaths, which furnishes an unanswerable argument in support of these statements.
Discussion and controversy may serve the questionable purpose of delaying popular faith in
them, but they cannot change them, and the sooner they are accepted and acted upon, the
less liability will there be of a recurrence of the late horror, which is still fresh in the minds
of all those who witnessed or read of it. It has often been asked why the number of acci-
dents of this nature is larger in the city of New York than in any other city. The reason is
that New York has a greater number of wires to the square mile than any other city in the
United States. The percentage of deaths in other places will reach that of New York when
wires are strung in like numbers, but if electric lighting under its present conditions extends
in the latter city proportionately, its death rate will have been greatly multiplied by the time
other cities reach its present high percentage. Many suggestions have been made as to the
best way in which to remedy the existing evil, and the popular cry seems to be, 'put the wires
underground.' But, instead of diminishing, this will increase the danger to life and property.
There is no known insulation which will confine these high-tension currents for more than a
limited period, and when they are placed beneath the ground, with the present system of con-
duits, the result will be a series of earth contacts, the fusion of wires, and the formation of
powerful electric arcs, which will extend to other metallic conductors in the same conduit,
and a whole mass of wires made to receive this dangerous current and convey it into houses,
offices, stores, etc.
" It is thus evident that the dangers of such circuits are not confined to the wires which
convey the high-tension currents, but other wires conducting harmless currents are liable to
be rendered as deadly in effect as the former. It is evident, also, that a single wire carrying a cur-
rent at high pressure would be a constant menace to the safety of all other wires in the same
conduit. Even though these dangerous wires be placed in separate tubes in the same conduit
with other tubes, the risk is not diminished. Several instances are on record, and one I have
particularly in mind, showing the possibility of serious accident through the crossing of wires.
Near the corner of William and Wall streets, New York, the underground conductors of the
Edison Illuminating Company became crossed, and the current which was passing through
them at a pressure of only one hundred and ten volts melted not only the wires, but several
feet of iron tubing in which they were encased, and reduced the paving stones within a radius
of three or four feet to a molten mass. This system is so arranged that consumers are not
affected by such accidents as this. They may and do mean expense to the company, but the
public are entirely free from any possibility of danger. The crossing of wires in this way
means the concentration of several hundred horse-power of energy in a small space. What
would have been the effect of such a cross as I have described had the pressure been two
292 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
thousand instead of one hundred and ten volts ? And what also might be the effect were it to
occur in a conduit in close proximity to hundreds of telephone wires and those of other electric
lighting systems? The risk, too, is greatly increased by the fact that consumers who are
supplied with currents from a low-tension system are accustomed to handle their electric
appliances freely, knowing them to be harmless. If these are to be rendered at any moment
dangerous to life, the result will be appalling. I say nothing of the injustice in vendors of
harmless supplies of electricity.
"So far, the deaths which have occurred from this source have been chiefly confined to
employes of electric lighting and telegraph companies, men whose duties have required
them to work in close proximity to the conductors of these death-dealing currents. It is true
that a number of accidents, many of them attended with fatal results, have occurred to pedes-
trians on the streets of New York and other cities through the medium of fallen wires; but
the risk incurred by the general public with the present system is really less than it would
be if these dangerous conductors were placed in closer proximity to the ground. As the
earth is approached, the danger is multiplied. The connection and crossing of two wires by
a line of moisture or liquid contact are just as effective as the contact of one wire with an-
other when overhead. That this error of judgment is not confined to the public, but is
shared in by the officials of the city of New York, is made apparent by a resolution of the
mayor offered at a meeting of the board of electrical control on Monday, October 14, and
which is reported in the following form : ' That the numerous deaths caused by the electric
light and power wires within the last thirty days, and the shocking manner in which they
have occurred, furnish ample and sufficient proof that such wires are not being placed under-
ground with a speed sufficient to insure the safety of the lives of people of this city,' etc.
The logical inference here is that the lives of the people will be safe as soon as the wires
have been placed under ground. If a nitro-glycerine factory were being operated in the
city of New York and the people desired to remove the danger, no one would suggest put-
ting it under ground. When it became necessary for the protection of employes and of the
public to regulate boiler pressures in the city, the authorities proceeded on lines entirely dif-
ferent from those which are being followed in connection with electric pressures; and yet the
cases are parallel, and the course of reasoning which resulted in a perfect system for the
limitation of steam pressure and the periodical inspection of boilers should be retraced, and
the principle applied, to secure safety from a pressure which, uncontrolled as at present, is
far more dangerous than the former was before steps were taken to render it harmless.
" The insulation of a wire carrying a high-tension current in the most perfect manner
known may insure temporary safety; but time is bound to develop defects as the result of the
action of the current the insulating material, of a change in the molecular structure of the
material itself, and for other reasons. The pulsations or vibrations in an electric conductor
cause corresponding vibrations in the insulation. So powerful is this effect that the insula-
tion gives off a sound corresponding to the oscillation of the current. So long as the insula-
tion retains its original elasticity, the current is confined; but the influence of the air or of
THE BUILDING INTERESTS. 298
gas and other agents, tends to change the elasticity, and the billions of vibrations to which it
has been subjected finally render it very susceptible of being pierced by a spark of static elec-
tricity. Thus an avenue for the ingress of moisture is formed, not only in one spot, but in
many, through which the current may be communicated to any conductor of electricity near
enough to make physical contact, or a circuit may be completed between the two by a line of
moisture or the formation of an electric arc, with its subsequent destructive action. The
numerous accidents which have occurred in the city of New York during the past year show
to a very large extent the operation of time upon the insulating material which surrounds
these wires. When first erected, the current was, to a certain extent, successfully confined,
but the air is doing its work, abrasions are more easily made, and, without the adoption of
genuine methods of control, accidents may be looked for in larger numbers as time goes
on, due not only to deterioration of insulation, but to the multiplying of electric circuits to
supply the popular demand for electric light.
" The public may rest absolutely assured that safety will not be secured by burying these
wires. The condensation of moisture, the ingress of water, the dissolving influence of coal
gas and air-oxidation upon the various insulating compounds will result only in the transfers
of deaths to manholes, houses, stores and offices, through the agency of the telephone, the
low-pressure systems, and the apparatus of the high-tension current itself. I have no inten-
tion, and I am sure none will accuse me, of being an alarmist. When the possibilities of the
future are viewed in the light of recent developments, it must be apparent to every one that
the time has come when those in authority should adopt proper and adequate measures for
the protection of life and property, and my familiarity with the subject enables me to see very
clearly the only true remedy which can be applied, namely, the regulation of electric pres-
sures. Once these pressures are reduced to a point which is harmless, the public may retire
in security and leave electricians to discuss the merits or demerits of various methods of insu-
lating, the defects of which will only concern those interested in the commerce of electricity.
There is no plea which will justify the use of high-tension and alternating currents, either in
a scientific or a commercial sense. They are employed solely to reduce investment in copper
wire and real estate. For instance, in arc lighting it is customary to put forty lamps on
each circuit; each lamp requires a pressure of fifty volts; therefore the total pressure on the
circuit is two thousand volts. Now if, instead of using only one wire for all these lamps,
four circuits of ten lamps each were to be established, the pressure on each wire would be
only five bundled volts. The weight of copper necessary for these four circuits of ten lamps
each would be two and one-half times greater than for one circuit of forty lamps, a question,
as I have said, simply of investment.
" The alternating current under high pressure and direct current high-pressure systems
are also employed, as I have intimated, to save investment in real estate as well as copper.
If a certain district is to be supplied with electric light, the natural point from which the
currents should be distributed is the center, with wires radiating toward the circumference of
the circle of supply : and if, instead of including in any one of these districts an area so large
294 INDUSTRIE CHICAGO:
that resort must be had to high pressure in order to reach its limits, the distributing power
of a single station be confined to a capacity consistent with safety, and other centers sought
from which to furnish current to other areas, the necessity for high electrical pressure
vanishes. But real estate in such centers as these is expensive, and the promoters of electric
lighting enterprises which spring into existence with the growth and stability of the mush-
room, cannot afford to consider permanency, the security of the public, the requirements of
small consumers, or any such questions, which would incidentally involve the investment of
larger sums of money; but, seeking the outskirts of a district, where land is cheap, or some
abandoned building available for sheltering a few dynamo machines, they run small wires to
the area of supply, enormous pressure being necessary to force the current through these
small conductors over such long distances.
"In the last issue of the Electrical World, page 254, is recorded a series of experiments
conducted by M. d'Arsonval, a member of the French Academy of Science, showing the effects
of continuous and alternating currents on animals. He says: 'A living being is, above all,
sensible to a variable state of the current, from which it follows that at a mean equal pressure
alternating currents are more dangerous than continuous currents; and with a battery of four
hundred and twenty volts (continuous currents) death is only caused by long repeated inter-
ruptions of the current.' In other words, the continuous current of the above pressure could
not be made to cause death until it was interrupted or made discontinuous, or perhaps a
better expression would be semi -continuous. By a variable state of the current is meant a
fluctuation of pressure between different extremes of voltage. The human nerve system, up
to a certain limit of pressure, cannot detect the flow of a continuous current if the voltage be
perfectly constant. This constancy is obtained by multiplying the number of commutator
bars on the dynamo. The brushes which are set upon the revolving commutator, and conduct
the current from the machine to the outside system, rest alternately upon the different bars
of the commutator. The greater the number of bars, the less will be the fluctuation of the
current, which may be likened to a wave motion, rising and falling, and producing that vari-
able state referred to by the French scientist.
" Nearly all dynamo machines used for arc lighting are constructed with an insufficient
number of commutator bars to produce a steady continuous current. The ranges of variable
pressure are not, however, nearly as great as in the alternating system. With respect to the
latter, M. d'Arsonval says: 'An alternating Gramme machine caused death when above one
hundred and twenty volts mean potential.' This is a small unit to contemplate after the glib
manner in which it has been recently stated that this current is harmless at a pressure of one
thousand volts. I have myself seen a large healthy dog killed instantly by the alternating
current at a pressure of one hundred and sixty-eight volts. It is a simple matter to calculate
the ranges of variable pressure in this system. The dynamo machine has no commutator.
The armature or bobbin is wound in such a way that the whole of the current under a
pressure (say) of two thousand volts, is sent out on the wire first in one direction, then
is reversed and sent out at the same pressure in the other direction, or passes through the
TUB BUILDING INTERESTS, 295
wire in the opposite direction; and these reversals are generally made about one hundred
times in each second.
"The variable state of a continuous current at a pressure of two thousand volts means
ordinarily a rise from zero point up to two thousand; after which, owing to the action of the
commutator, it varies between (say) seventeen hundred and two thousand, while the variable
state of the alternating current means a fluctuation from two thousand volts above the zero
point to two thousand below it, or a difference of four thousand volts. The danger to life is
probably proportionate to the fluctuation of pressures. When an alternating current of fifteen
volts is applied to a human being in the most effective manner, the effect upon the nerve
system is so violent and the pain produced so great, that it is absolutely impossible for any
one to stand it. As I have said before, the only way in which safety can be secured is to
restrict electric pressures. The continuous current should be limited to six hundred or seven
hundred volts, with a variable range not exceeding a few volts. As for the alternating cur-
rent, it is difficult for me to name a safe pressure. Its effect upon muscular action is so great
that even at exceedingly low voltage the hand which grasps a conductor cannot free itself,
and it is quite possible that in this way the sensitive nervous system of a human being could
be shocked for a sufficient length of time to produce death. The electric lighting company
with which I am connected purchased, some time ago, the patents for a complete alternating
system, and my protest against this action can be found upon its minute book Up to the
present time I have succeeded in inducing them not to offer this system to the public, nor will
they ever do so with my consent. My personal desire would be to prohibit entirely the use of
alternating currents. They are as unnecessary as they are dangerous. In the city of New
York there are many miles of conductors beneath the streets conveying a harmless continuous
electric current to thousands of consumers, the maximum pressure on this vast system never
exceeding two hundred and twenty volts, which will force so weak a current through the
human body that it can barely be detected. Furthermore it is found to be commercially suc-
cessful, and I can therefore see no justification for the introduction of a system which has no
element of permanency and every element of danger to life and property.
"This is no argument in favor of monopoly. If ever there is to be a monopoly of electric
lighting in the United States, it will be neither delayed, prevented nor circumnavigated by
such subterfuges as these alternating systems, and their use can not be justified on that score.
I have always consistently opposed high tension and alternating systems of electric lighting
(although perfectly free to use them), not only on account of danger, but because of their
general unreliability and unsuitability for any general system of distribution. In contem-
plating the efforts of the officials of the city of New York to remedy the evils connected with
electric lighting, I have been impressed in a way which must have impressed other onlookers.
I refer to the apparent difficulty of determining where the authority to take action rests.
The hands of those who wish to act appear to be tied, which is unfortunate, considering the
exigencies and urgency of the case. In England they handle these matters better. The
electric lighting act of 1882 provides in section 0, 'that the Board of Trade may from time to
296 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
time make such regulations as they may think expedient for securing the safety of the public
from personal injury or from fire or otherwise, * * * * and any regulations so made or
amended by the Board of Trade shall, from and after the date thereof, have the like effect in
every respect as though they had been originally inserted in the license, order, or special act
authorizing the undertaking.'
"This same section also provides that 'any local authority within any part of whose dis-
trict electricity is authorized to be supplied under any license, order or special act, may, in
addition to any regulations which may be made under the preceding provisions of this section
for securing the safety of the public, from time to time, make, rescind, alter, or repeal by-laws
for further securing such safety; and there may be annexed to any breach of such by-laws
such penalties, to be recovered in a summary manner, as they may think necessary. Provided,
always, that no such by-laws shall have any force or effect unless and until they have been
confirmed by the Board of Trade and published in such manner as the Board of Trade may
direct.'
" Thus, to a responsible body is given discretionary power for the protection of the public,
and local authorities (by which is meant any municipality) have the right to apply to this
board for relief from any danger which they believe to exist in connection with electric
lighting systems. Certainly, the responsibility for the protection of the people of our city
should be as definitely placed, and those to whom such authority is given should adopt rigid
rules for the restriction of electric pressure. Perhaps police control would be even more
adequate than the English system. I am not altogether familiar with the details of the
system of boiler inspection which prevails in New York, but I- believe it is very efficient and
would serve as an excellent model for the case under discussion. When the authorities require
electrical pressures to be kept within the limits of safety, and when there is an efficient corps
of inspectors, as in the case of boilers, to see that the rules adopted are carried out, the
security which the public demand will be attained; but until then nothing better can be
looked for than a multiplication of the casualties of the 
