Richardson, The Architect
AND
The Cincinnati
Chamber of Commerce
Building
RICHARDSON'S
LETTER SEAL
Southern Regional
i^ibrary Facility
'•^fmr.
THE CINCINNATI ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
SULLIVAN PRINTING WORKS CO.
CINCINNATI
Il.,>i,,i^l,,„ M, nihil A- I'o I
Richardson, the Architect
and
The Cincinnati
Chamber of Commerce
Building
Richardson's Letter Seal
The Cincinnati
AsTRONdMICAL SnCIF.l V
I()I4
Illustrations
Albany, City Hall 24
Albany. Senate Chamber IS
Ames Memorial Library 18, 20, 21
Ames Town Hall, Xortli Haston, Mass.. 20
Ames, F. L. Gate Lodge 23
Ames. I'". L. Wholesale Store, Boston.. 25
Allegheny County Court House and Jail. 30
Arches, Details of Fourth Street "4
Arches, Details of Vine Street 112
Astronomical Observatory 114
Bank Rooms TS-TS-""^*
Ban(|uet, Fall Festival Directors 86
Brattle Street Church Tower 13
■'Bridge of Sighs," Pittsburgh 30
Brnokline, Drafting Room 39
Brooklino, Richardson's Library 29
Building Committee, B. M. C. . IDMO.S
Business Men's Club Quarters 111(1-1(1/
Cliaml>iT of Commerce Building 36, 40
Chamlier of Commerce. Exchange Hall. 6,'>
Chimney Piece, North Easton Library.. 18
Cincinnati College S0-S2
Corner Stone of Chamlier 62
Construction Views 56. 57, 73
Delegation to Louisville, Ky 86
Drafting- Room, Brookline 39
Eagles, Carved 41, ,S), I0'»
Emblem of B. M. C 99
Entrance to Chamber of Commerce.... 61
Entrance to Fifth National Bank 60
Exchange Hall, 1890 65
Exchange Hall, Banquet 86
Exchange Hall from Gallery 67
Exchange Hall. Record Service 95
Exchange Hall, Rostrum 66
Fifth National Bank, Interiors 78, 7'*
Fourth Street, 1833 and Later.. 43. 45, SO, 51
Fourth and \'ine. Corners, Views. .47-49. 85
Gate Lodge, North Easton, Mass 23
Glencairn Restaurant 76
Harvard Law School. .Austin Hall 26, 27
Hercules, Star Cluster 123
Historic Views, Fourth and Vine 43-51
"In Medieval Garb" Richardson 35
Letter Seal, H. H. R 3
Louisville & Nashville R. R..
General Freight Office 77
Marshall Field Wholesale Store. Chicago 33
Maxwell Tribute 98
Monogram H. H. R 32
Nebula, Great Spiral 116
Xebula, Network, in Cygnus 127
Oak Leaves and .-Xcorns, Carving,
Trinity 17
Observatory Design, Garlier iS: Wood-
ward 6, 114
Ol^lcers Long in Service of 'Change. . .94-96
Puri.s. Scliool of Imuc .\rls 11
I'hocni.x Insurance Olfice, later.
Smith lV Nixon Hall 82
I'ike's Opera House, l''xterior 48, 50
Pike's Opera House, Interior 83
"Pink Milford" Quarries. Milford, Mass., 54
Pittsburgh Court House and Jail 30
Presidents of B. M. C 101-109
Presidents of C. of C 68-72, 87-93
Provident Savings Bank & Trust Co... 75
IJuarries, Granite. Mill'urd. Mass 54
Real Estate Managers 68-72
Record Service, Exchange Floor 95
Reflector, 60-inch, Mt. Wilson, Cal 119
Richardson. Henry Hobson 2
Richardson, "In Medieval Garb" 35
Richardson with Friends at Zoo 53
Richardson's Drafting Room, Brookline. 39
Richardson's Library, Brookline 29
Roof Construction 73
Roof Dormer. Fourth Street 109
Rostrum of 'Change 66
Senate Chamber, Albany, State Capitol, 18
Sever Recitation Hall, Harvard 22
Smith & Nixon's Hall, Exterior 82
Star Cluster in Hercules 123
Store, Wholesale, .\mes, Boston 25
Store, Wholesale. Marshall Field.
Chicago 33
Superintendents of Chamber of Com-
merce 94
Tablet in New Excliange Hall 63
Taylor, William Watts, Portrait 110
Telescope, Photographic 11''
Town Hall, North Easton, Mass 20
Trinity Church. Boston 14, 15
Union Central Life Insurance Co.
Building 8S
Union Savings Bank & Trust Co.
Quarters 75
U. S. Post r)ffice and Customs House... 45
\'ine Street Arcade of Arches, Details.. 112
ArehMecTuTB S8
Urbin Planninc
Library
How Richardson Developed His Romanesque
Style of Architecture.
Hy De I.isi.e Stewart. Pages 9 35
Richardson and the Cincinnati Chamber
of Commerce Building.
By A. O. El/.nek. 36 39
The Building,
Historical Sketch of Its Inception, Its Erection,
Its Dedication, and Its Destruction.
By George Stuart Bradijury. 40-85
Happenings and Activities in the Chamber
of Commerce Building 1889-191 i. 8693
By Charles B. Murray.
Officers Long in the Service of 'Change.
94-9S
The Business Mens' Club Quarters,
1903- 191 1. 99109
The Preservation of the Granite Arches
and W^alls after the Fire. no 113
Thirty Years Progress in the New x'\stronomy,
Plans for the Observ atory and Home of the
Cincinnati Astronomical Society.
Bv DeI.isle Stewart, President. 1 14-128
ILLUSTRATED WITH NUMEROUS PHOTOGRAPHS.
1778942
Dedicated to the
Re-Erection of the Richardson Arches
r
t
^
Design of Observatory, by Garber & Woodward, Architects.
Announcement: The jiurposes of this Bnokict arc
To Provide fur the re-erection oi the i;reat Window Arches and other val-
iiahle parts of the former Chamber of Commerce Building the crowning speci-
men of Henry Hobson Richardson's Romanesque style of Architecture, and
for so many years the pride and admiration of its owners, its occupants and
all residents of Cincinnati.
To Provide also, that these beautiful Arches shall fcjrm the walls of such
Astronomical and .Vstrophysical Obser\atory and Home of the Society as is
now required to carry out the specific jiurposes of its organization and of its
Articles of Incorporation, namely :
"Promoting the study of astronomy and the allied sciences; the
advancement of knowledge in related lines of research; the estab-
lishing and maintaining of astronomical and astrophysical instruments,
equipments, real estate and buildings in the city of Cincinnati or its
vicinity; and for the purpose of securing and administering trust
funds for the permanent endowment of the astronomical and astro-
pliysical researches of the Society and its members."
To Provide further, for the securing the complete eqtiipment of powerful
Photographic Telescopes, Spectroscopes, and all modern aids to scientific
celestial research, for this Observatory.
To Provide finally, the Permanent Endowment Fund, the income from
which shall supplement the General Expense Fund, so that the Society may
conduct its popular astronomical work and its scientific researches upon such
ample, solid financial basis, as the leading American Observatories possess,
a basis, worthy also of the historic astronomical interest of o\er seventy
years on the part of citizens of our City, and in keeping with the new life,
wide-spread interest and wonderful progress of the last few decades in the
ennobling study of the Heavens.
THE CIXCIXXATI ASTROXO^HCAL SOCIETY.
DeLisle STEw^^RT, President.
Wm. C. Cooder, Vice-President.
Dr. C. T. P. Fexxel, Trustee. ^Iurr-W M. Shoemaker, Secretary.
Joseph T. Harrison, Trustee. Dr. C. T. P. Fenxel, Treasurer.
Dr. R. C. Heilebower, Trustee.
RoiiERT C. Johnston, Tmstee.
Alfred Kxight, Trustee.
Clair H. X'ortox, Trustee.
EXPRESSION OF APPRECIATION.
To the Union Central Life Insurance Co., inircha.--crs of tlie Chamber of
Commerce site, and to Henry Harig & Co., contractor.s for the removal of the
walLs, the Astronomical Society is indebted for the gift of the granite arches
and valuable wall material, for its careful handling from the walls, and for
hauling and loading the same on the flat-cars at the Plum Street yards at
their own expense.
To the President of the Chamber, ^Ir. Walter A. IJraper, to the Municipal
Art Society, thru its late lamented President, I\Ir. William Watts Taylor,
and its other officers, to Air. G. H. Gest, Director of the Art Museum, and
especially to Alessrs. Garber & ^^^oodward. architects, who after months of
eftort and repeated conferences with these other officials finally secured the
preservation of this choicest specimen of architecture, we wish here to express
our full appreciation.
To the Cincinnati Frog & Switch Co., who have allowed the Society the
free use of a large storage lot. wc have been and still remain under deep
obligation.
To the Donors, more than four hundred in number, who with the Muni-
cipal Art Society met the total cost of the freight and handling of the granite,
and have joined in the later parts of our plans, we also express our indebted-
ness. Without their timely interest and assistance, the saving of the Richard-
son arches would have been out of the question.
To Mr. A. O. Elzner, pupil of Richardson and Cincinnati architect, to
Air. Charles B. Alurray, Superintendent, and Mr. George S. Bradbury, Chief
Clerk of the Chamber for so many years, whose life-long association with
and deep affection for the old building have added interest and historical
value to important sections of this booklet, the Society can but express its
great obligations. Air. Robert J. H. Archiable. Doorkeeper and Custodian of
Exchange, has aided us effectively in the search for photographs. Former
Presidents and many members have furthered our plans for the preservation
and later restoration of the arches of their old home.
We wish to thank all Officials of the Chamber of Commerce and Business
Men's Club for their assistance and co-operation in the preparation of this
Booklet.
Houghton Alifflin and Company, Boston, \-ery gladl}" granted permission
to reproduce the Portrait of the Architect and other illustrations, from Airs.
A'an Rensselaer's "Richardson and His ^^'orks," from which also the material
for the biographical sketch is largely drawn. "The American Architect" of
New York has also allowed the use of several illustrations of his buildings
from their Alonographs as well as one showing the Exchange floor in 1890.
Our thanks are due to both of these Publishers.
We are indebted to Air. A. O. Kraemer, Rombach & Greene, and Air.
Wm. R. Biddle, and others, for many photographs of historic interest, and
to Garber & Woodward, architects, for designs of the future Observatory.
Special mention should be made of the Cincinnati Process Engraving Co. for
their extreme care in preparing the half-tones, of The Chatfield & Woods Co.,
as dealers in fine papers, and of The Sullivan Printing \\'orks Co. for valued
assistance in publishing this Booklet.
The Cincinn.ati Astronomical Society.
CINCINNATI CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
AND MERCMANTS* EXCHANGE
Caal Oehonct, mg«
Gut m Freed, kdi
■■4'u»LiCi" otn.
eOABO OF DiRECIOfiS
GEOfiGE F DiETEfiLf, pBt". Roberta Colieo. i
William T. JOHNSTON, tacas.
TkOmaiC.ROmIll Aaminh S^hoea
JAMES P. 0«(T.).i
HENflr M, SROuSE. icc'-
IIAfnC tXAAATMCMT
LJICAHAH A a NOI<>
CIUCIN N ATI
June 9, 1914.
L. If MEBBlE. hom.
OVIC 4 INOUSIAIAL OtAT.
eL■:^nAno FREUDENSTETN. MOA
rOAflON DCrARAMtHT
S W COFFMAN. i.TitOA
ruke-asiAO AAEHT
■ elE address COMMERCE"
TO WHOM IT MAY COHCERN:
The Board of Dlreotorn of the Cin-
cinnati Ohamber of Commerce and Uerchanta' Exchange, at a
meeting held on June 2, 1914; passed the following resolu-
tion:
WHEREAS, In former years the Chamber of Commerce caused
the Masterpiece of Richardson's Romanesque Architecture
to be erected as its Commercial Home, and the same re-
mained a prominent and beautiful adornment of our City,
the pride of our members and of all our citizens, until
its untimely destruction; and
WHEREAS, the Cincinnati Astronomical Society has saved the
great outer arches of this former Chamber of Commerce Build-
ing, and now undertakes to re-erect them, virtually un-
changed, as the walls of a building for scientific purposes;
therefore be it
RESOLVED, That the Board of Directors hereby expresses its
hearty approval of a plan, which involves the preservation,
in the permanent form which they deserve, of the most strik-
ing architectural features of the building.
EXECUTIVE SECRETARY.
How Richardson Developed His Romanesque
Style of Architecture.
By DeLisle Stewart.
When, in December, 1884, after years of waiting and careful financial
planning, the Chamber of Commerce of Cincinnati was ready to receive
designs for its new commercial home, one of the architects who was asked
to submit competitive tlrawings for the proposed structure was H. H. Rich-
ardson, of Boston, ^^'hen all the designs were displayed and compared, Rich-
ardson's was accejited. It is proi)er, in beginning the acc(.)unt and history of
this liuilding. to take up briefly the life and career of thi^ man, to whom the
Chamber, through its Real Estate Committee, entrusted the complete planning
of its permanent home.
< )n September 29, 1838. a son was born to Henry Dickerson Richardson
and Catherine Caroline Priestley Richardson, at Priestley's plantation, St.
James Parish, Louisiana. This was Henry Hobson Richardson. Pure English
blood flowed in the \eins of both parents. The father, coming to New Orleans
from Port Royal, Bermuda, at the age of ■sixteen, entered into business as a
cotton merchant with the firm of Hobson and Company The mother was
a granddaughter of the famous Doctor Joseph Priestley, the discoverer of
oxygen, who. a refugee from a mob in Birmingham, England, fled, after the
burning of his house and laboratory, to France in 1791, and later settled in
Pennsylvania. His son, \\'illiam Priestley, moving from Pennsylvania to
Louisiana in 1801. engaged in the raising of sugar-cane and became wealthy,
worth se\'eral hundred thousand dollars: \\ illiam's daughter, Catherine Caro-
line, born at the Priestley Plantation, married Henrv Dickerson Richardson,
and was at the plantation when their first son. Henry Hobson, our future
architect, was born, in 1838.
About a year later, in 1839, Cincinnati saw the organization of its Chamber
of Commerce: for in the Cinciiniati Dailv GiLCcttc of October 14. 18,i9. was
printed the call, signed by seventy-six business men and firms, for a meeting
of the merchants to be held in the hall of the Young Men's Mercantile Library
Association Tuesday evening, (.Jctoljer l^th; <'n that evening and at an
adjourned meeting on the following Tuesday exening. C)ctober 22nd. the
Chamber of Commerce and Bciard of Trade was organized
Boyhood and Education.
The Richardson family li\ecl in Xew i )rle;ins. and Itcnry's boyhood was
spent there ; at seven }ears he attended a public school for a few months, but
after that was sent to the private school nf Mr. George Blackman. where liis
systematic education was carried on until a vear after his father's death in
1854.
A special early aptitude for drawing led his father to phu-e him under the
best drawing master in the city : his exceptional ability in m;ithematics was
a delight to his instructors and ]irophetic of the future.
9
Cincinnati Astronomical Society
We nia\ picture this Louisiana household, of recognized \vorth. honored
in the coniniunil_\- and of ample means, combininiij' the business outlook of the
cotton merchant of New Orleans, with a close touch cm the affairs of great
sugar plantations forty miles or so west of the city, where suninu-r-tinu- and
winter holidays were spent. Four chil Iren, I lenr\-, William, a younger
brother, and two sisters, grew up in tlii-> licune of culture and abundance.
Henry was a healthy, happy lad, fond of outdoor life, excelling in the
sports, later becoming a good horseman and an expert at the foils; he loved
music, playing the f^ute, enjoyed the society of ladies, and was particularly
neat and tasteful in his dress.
An armv life was in prospect at first and a cadetship at West Point sought,
but an impediment in his speech rendered him unfit for military service.
Instead, a year was spent at the I'niversity of I^ouisiana, and he then went
to Cambridge, Mass., to prepare for Harvard under a private tutor. Altho
ahead in mathematics and fluent in [•'rench, he was back in the classics, which
delaved his entrance; he matriculated with the class of '59, His college life
was not unusual ; he did good average work, excelling notably in mathematics.
Fellow-students recall him as unusuallv handsome, of genial, .social nature,
fond of fine ckithes, making friends readily and loyal to tlu'ni, energetic and
Architecture wa-^ his choice as a profession; when he so decided is not
known, tho he inclined toward civil engineering on leaving his .Southern
home for college. In his senior year he was pleased to learn that his step-
father had decided to send him to Europe for a short time to study architec-
ture : right after commencement he set sail with two classinates for a summer's
travel in England, Scotland and Ireland, and liy early fall was in Paris pre-
paring for entrance to the Ecolc des Beaux Arts.
. Studies and Life in Paris, 1859-65.
Entrance to this school is by rigid oral examination ; candidatt-s must
be presented or vouched for by some one of the commissioned artists whose
studios or ateliers are within or close by the school. Richardson joined the
atelier of .M. Andre and almost immediately tried the entrance examinations;
passing in some subjects, but failing in the stiff ciuestions of descriptive
geometry, his entrance was delayed until the next fall. Steady preparatory
work occupied him all this time; of the one hundred and twenty candidates
sixty only were accepted, and he was eighteenth in rank among these. The
examinations were public, entirely in French, and lasted a full month.
The school is so organized that all the students attend the various general
lectures covering the theoretical subjects; but the practical work is done at
the ateliers. Subjects are announced in the main competition room of the
school, but are studied and elaborated in the \ arious ateliers, whose members
compete among themselves; and then the designs from all the ateliers are
shown in general competition in the exhibition galleries of the school. So
a double rivalry is excited — each student against those in the same studio;
each studio against all the rest, to bring prizes and honors to their group, to
their instructor and patron. Self is here forgotten and a generous helping
hand given wherever it will count for success. Into such a strenuous, boister-
ous, rough-and-tumble, yet cheerful and fraternal life Richardson entered in
the atelier of M. Andre ; his choice of architecture as a profession was a serious
Richardson's Romanesque Architixture
one, and he devoted himself to it most earnestly. Money coming in regular
remittances from New Orleans allowed him to live with ease and put all his
etiforts into his studies.
Civil War ; No Remittances ; Self-Support.
The outbreak of the Ci\il \\ ar in .Vmerica hrout'lit about a complete re-
versal of fortune ; remittances became irretrular, then ceased entirely. More
modest quarters were taken and every sacrifice made to continue his studies.
A brief trij) to Boston in 1861, with the ]:>rotests of his many friends against
his going South, and no architectural work in sight in the North, caused him
to return to Paris early in 1862 ; encouraged, also, by the family of Miss Hay-
den, to whom he had become engaged during his college course, he was re-
Mi iij' ■
m
E. I.. D,
lCon)li'';y of A. Lincoln Fechliehner.]
School of Fine Arts, Paris. Ecole des Beaux Arts. Founded in 1648; nationally
recognized in 1793. Reorganized under present name in 1815.
solved to continue his education at the licole des Beaux ,\rts at whatever sac-
rifice, to support himself by draughtsman's work in architects' ofifices, yet
retain his connection with M. Andre's atelier and its ci>ntests as closely as
possible. Thru this teacher Richardson secured a position with M. Labrouste,
one of the chief government architects, under wb-om he designed a very im-
portant Hospital for Incurables, with acconunodations for 2.000 patients, at a
total cost of $2.(X)0,000. This designing was his day work at l.abrouste's
house, and as best he ciiuld he studied and worked evenings with his fellows
at the studio. Two or three times a week he sought instruction in painting
at the studio of M. Leperre to complete that side of his artistic eilucation.
That he met all expectations in this outside employment is certain, as he took
part in very responsible construction work, that of various railroad stations
under Hittorf, as well as the designing of the Legislati\'e Hall, residence for
the Emperor and a palace for the Governor of Algiers. By this stress of
doubled effort, by this practical training, was laid the foundation of future
success ; a maturity of mind, an enthusiasm for and devotion to his profession,
grew upon him, which in his former cnre-free circumstances were unknown.
Cincinnati Astronomical Society
The siege of New Orleans. wIktc liis nidtlK-r ami >istcrs wi-rc. wcit^hecl
very heavily upon him, tlm he was powerless to aid them in any way ; his
mother in her letters heggcd him to stay in Paris and continue his studies.
Three years and a half of this intense struggle for his educatinn and to
meet his expenses brought him to the time for his return home, in ( fctolier.
1865. Instead of a brief six or eight months of study which his stepfather's
letter inentidiied in 1839, Richardson spent six and a h.ilf \ears in preparatii in.
"A Chance" in America.
The Xiirih, and Xew ^'cirk rather than I'oston, was his choice as a start-
ing point. Here he sought work; his tine library gathered at college and in
the early Paris days had already been sold, and he was without money. A
brief partnership with a Piruoklyn liuildcr was dissolved after a few weeks;
with his few books he occupied a small back parlor in a private home, working
on such designing as he found t" dn. .\'e\\ s "\ lii^ mother's death came at this
trying time; fellow artists befriended him: thru it all he was conluleiit of his
abilitv to succeed when the chance shniild cniiie.
A classmate, Mr. Rumrill, obtained permission f(ir him U< --ubmit designs,
along with several well-known architects, for a Unitarian Church tn be built
at Springtield, Mass. Much iip])iisition arose in the btiilding committee mer
entrusting such imiiortant work to an untried man — one v.'ith no independent
practice, no special training in church designing, and no American practical
knowledge of building. Nevertheless the intrinsic merits of his plans carried
the day; he himself was in Springfield, and in hi-- impatience tn learn the com-
mittee's decision, was awaiting it in an outer room. When it was told him he
burst into tears and exclaimed, "That is all 1 wanted — a cluuicc."
And a chance was all he needed. Almost immediately he was commis-
sioned to build the Boston and .\lhany Railroad Station at Springfield and
shortly after the Grace Episcopal Church, West Medford. Mass In January,
1867, he married Miss Hayden and the\- resided at Clifton, Staten Island.
While at work on these fir>t three commissions he occupied a room in the
offices of Mr. Littell, architect, in Trinity Ihiilding, on Broadway In < )ctol)er,
1867, he entered into partnership with Mr. Charles Gambrill, an architect of
well-established reputation, with ot¥ices at '> llanover Street and later at S7
Broadway. In just two years he had reached sell-sujjport, Ijeing then twenty-
nine vears of age. His partner was especially helpful in business experience
and practice, yet the artistic and creative talent of Richardson was not ham-
pered l,)y this association; for ele\en years the lirm name of (kimbrill it Rich-
ardson was employed.
First Traces of a New Style.
"It would not cost me a l)it of trouble to Iniild French buildings that
would reach from here to Philadel])hia, but that is not what I want to do,"
was his frequent remark in these earliest New York days. Completely familiar
with the French styles tho he was. his bold and self-reliant nature chose rather
to work out some style peculiarly and \itally American. Xot all at once, but
step by step, were fotmd the forms and materials for his use.
Altho we may pick out the bold use of rock-faced granite in the Boston
and Albany Railroad Station at Springfield as a hint of that feeling for "big-
ness" so characteristic later ; or cite the novel use of boulders in the walls of
the West Medford Episcopal Church as a proof of his artistic ability ; or see
in the Agawam Bank of Siiringfield a foretelling of his later use of round
Richardson's ko.\iANKs(juE Architecture
arches: or in the Worcester High School, with its many colors of brick and
tile and slate, a reflection of Richardson's love of color and decoration ; yet
it is not initil we come to his Brattle Scjuare Church tower (now First Baptist
Church), Boston, that we realize the direction of his progress.
Brattle Street Tower
In the tower of this church, commissioned in
July, 1870, we find Richardson's first approach to
Romanesque work. This scjuare, lofty tower, re-
sembling an Italian canijianile in outline, rests
upon fotir piers, supporting four great round-
arches; with slightly accentuated corners, and
broken only by a few narrow window openings,
the tower rises well beyond the gable of the
church to very large belfry windr)ws, also round-
arched ; next a slightly projecting cornice, then
a frieze of ^culjituied figures round the finir
sides ; a line of small arches, seven to a side ; a
little space of solid wall. and. over all, the roof
cornice, sloping roof and tall finial. The orna-
mental frieze, after models by Bartholdi in Paris,
was a happv idea of Richardson's, and was carved
bv Italian workmen after the stones were in place.
The joyotis Wedding service, at the moment of
the placing of the ring, shows in the photograph.
The parents bringing their infant fur Baptism.
boys and girls receiving the Coiiiinitiiion. the
peaceful Death of the aged grandfather, are
shown in the other three jianels. Their
material is a light colored st(ine, and the
angel's trumpets are gilded. The r<>nf is of red
tiles. The tower and church are built of a warm
yellow-tinted pudding-stone which is streaked
with darker iron-stains that relieve monotony and
accent the trimmings The ^vhole color effect is
both rich and animated.
.\n arcade of round arches fcirms a \-estibule
adj<jining the ground floor of the tower : the large
church windows are round-arched, ton, making
not less than five separate uses of the mund arch
in the one building.
Besides its importance as the first work
showing Richardson's use of Romanesque forms.
this tower has always been a favorite with the
people of Boston : beautiful and impressive of it-
self, a charm is added in the sculptured frieze.
In the Hamden County Court House, at Springfield. Mass.. several
Romanesque features were employed — the loggia, a balcony, the cornice
pierced as in some Tuscan fortified palace, forked battlements .•uul. with
especially good effect, a strong batter or slope to foundation courses in the
rear. These new features were favorably commented upon, and as a whole the
Cotirt Hottse made a deep imjiression.
13
Old Brattle Street Church Tower
Now First Baptist Ctiurcti. Boston.
Commonwealth Ave.. Clarendon St.
Gained in competition 1870.
CiNCixxATi Astronomical Socikty
in the North Church, his fourth Springfield ]iuilding, begun in June, 1872,
the Romanesque spirit speaks even more strongly Severe siniplicit\ was pre-
scribed from the funds available, so that elaborate ornamentation is lacking.
The ri)und arch is everywhere used — in main windows, roof dormer, tower
openings, doorways and long upen vestibule. The tower changes very neatly
from square to octagonal for the spire; a small round turret attaches itself
to the one free corner of the tower and ends in a secondary spire. Red l.ong-
meadow sandstone gives color to llic cluu\-li and <i)ire as well.
Trinity Church. Boston
Tile I'.rattle Street Church Tower, with its sculptured frieze, had been so
admired and appreciated by the Boston public that when Trinity parish con-
cluded to move from its historic Sumner Street site to Copley Square, Rich-
ardson was selected as one of the architects to submit designs for the proposed
new' edifice. A number of the most distinguished architects of the country
were invited tii coin])cte.
[tv,„;.'-.j. of lloushlo}-. Mifilhi b- Co.]
Trinity Church from the Southeast, near Copley Square, Boston. The Chapel. Brattle Street
Designs accepted in 1872. Completed and consecrated February, 1877. Church Tower.
Yellowish-gray granite ashler, trinuned with red Longmeadow sandstone.
Tower roof red-tiled. Lower roofs gray slate.
The unusual size and costliness of the new Trinity, the conspicuous site
wdiich had been chosen, and the fame of its pastor, Rev. Philliixs Brooks, all
heightened Richardson's appreciation of this opportunity; his designs, pre-
pared with the utmost care, embodied to a very great extent the Roman-
esque spirit, and used wdth particular advantage the irregular form of the
building lot. Their acceptance in July, 1872, was a marked professional vic-
tory for a young man with but five years' practice.
The triangular lot, bounded by three streets, called for a dififerent design
than the usual long nave and dominant entrance-front : instead, a more com-
pact ground-plan, a pyramidal mass, a tower equally conspicuous from all
points of view, were plainly to be desired. The southern Romanesque type
14
Richardson's Romaxes()ui-; Architecti're
which Richardson had been gradually making his own as we have seen, sup-
plied the very design required ; so very skillfully were the different needs met
that Trinity looks as if the situation had been chosen expressly that it might
show up to the best advantage.
In the cities of Auvergne, in Central France, during the Eleventh century,
the central tower had been so developed in size as to become, as it were, the
main church, presenting the general outline of a pyramid, the apse, trancepts,
nave and chapels forming the base to the obelisk of the tower. In meeting the
recjuirement of a tower equally prominent from three sides and thus central
over the bod}- of the church, the Au\ergnese plan was adopted. The tower
was made the prominent feature and the other parts grouped about it as the
central mass.
[Courlfsy ot Houghton, Mi/ftni o^ Co I
Interior of Trinity Church, looking eastward. Frescoes and all wall decorations
by John LaFarge. Woodwork in black walnut.
The Back Bay district is filled ground, and the preparation of this lot
before any of the stone foundation could be laid, called for the driving of piles
thru thirty feet of gravel fill and a quantity of alluvium, down into the solid
stratum of clay. Forty-five hundred piles were driven to permanently sup-
port the foundations. Two thousand of these were driven into the space nine-
ty feet square, under the center of the church, reserved for the tower founda-
tion piers. Concrete was filled in between the tops of the piles to a depth of
two feet, preventing any lateral motion. On stopping the drainage pumps
four feet of tide water covered the piles, so the timbers ought to last indefi-
nitely.
15
CiMI.N.NAll AsiKllNdMlCAI. SoClETY
111 t)ctuber, 1873, the contract was made with Norcross Brothers, Worces-
ter. Mass.. for the masonry and cari)cnter work, and steady progress was made
from that date nnder the constant testing and experimentation of Richardson.
New quarries were opened to get a granite of the correct color and free from
seams in even the largest blocks. P)y the close of 1874 the great granite
pyramids, thirty-five feet square .it tlic l:ase. seven feet square at the top, and
seventeen feet high, for the foundations of the four corner piers of the central
tower, were linished. Four high derricks, also resting on these bases, were
in place initil the last stone of the tower was lai<l in July. 1876. The roofs
were soon put on and the interior work pushed to completion.
An incident of that time, recalled just lately liy Mr. O. W . X'orcross,
illustrates one phase of the architect's n;iturc. During the erection one of the
most prominent men of Boston, who was ;i member of the building committee,
accused Mr. Richardson of changing his mind during the progress of the
building. Richardson replied: "Certainly: 1 will change my mind every five
minutes for a better thing. 'i"h:il is wh;it ynu are pa_\ing me for."
Constantly Improving His Designs.
Richardson kept working over his iik'a> .iml designs, and the original
drawings would hardly be recognized in the ci pnipK-lcd building. In the
centr;il tower ]ierhai»s the greatest variations are found. Its first design had
ne\er really pleased him. and he kept studying o\er its form without finding
a satisfactory solution. One day while ill in bed he was looking over some
photographs sent him by his friend La Farge, for ]X)Ssible suggestions. The
instant he saw the tower of the old cathedral at Salamanca he exclaimed,
"This is what we want." That gave him the idea, and within a short time the
final designs were in the hands of the contractors. ( )iily l)y such incessant,
painstaking revision of design, and by tiie rejection and rebuilding of unsatis-
factory parts until they came up to his ideals, was the success of Trinity
secured.
The compact ground-plan, altho not new in America, had been untried
in so large a church. Trinity showed that great architectural beauty and right
ecclesiastic effect could be secured by its use. (piite as well as with tlie "long-
drawn aisle." In extreme length, west to east, it measures one hundred and
sixty feet ; across the trancepts one hundred and twenty feet : from center to
center t)f the four great piers fifty-twii feet. It has seats for fifteen hundred
people. From the ground line to the highest stone in the building is one hun-
dred and fifty feet, and to the topmost point of the finial is two hundred and
eleven feet.
A Color Church.
To the impression of pleasing nia^siveness and grandeur in jjroportions
is added the element of contrasting colors. Yellowish-gray Dedham granite
laid up in rock-faced ashler contrasts w-ell with the reddish-brown Long-
meadow freestone for trimmings and cut-stone work. Surface decorations of
alternating squares and other geometric figures in dark and light stone, like
the mosaic work of earlier centuries, enliven some parts of the w^alls. The
gray slate of the lower roofs is relieved by red terra-cotta trimmings, and the
tower roof is covered with semi-glazed red Akron tiles. All these colors har-
monize and give brightness and life to the exterior. The panel of oak leaves
and acorns, near the western entrance, gives an idea of the naturalness of the
i6
Richakuson's Romanesque Akchitectire
stone-carvers' work in enriching the exterior. Kvans & Tombs, Boston, were
much encouraged and brought out as modelers and carvers in wood and stone
by Richardson.
Several panels of fish and flowers, painted by John La Farge, were ex-
hibited in 1865. and so admired by Richardson that he exacted from the artist
a promise to do decorative work for him in the first important building at
his disposal. In 1876 La Farge was called on to redeem his promise and
undertook not only to design the interior decorations and supervise the work,
but made himself responsible for all exjienditures. purchasing the colors and
emplo}"ing all assistants. Shortness of time and lack of funds allowed only
the tower and side-walls to be adorned with figures, while the vaulted ceilings
and other parts were plain tinted. With the large unbroken wall spaces at
his disposal, with complete freedom from classical restraints, with true artis-
tic enthusiasm and great self-devotion, it is not strange that the frescoes pro-
duced a decided impression with the public and were thought to be unsur-
passed in this country at that date. The prevailing color of the interior walls
was red. while the four great piers were a dark bronze-green, with gilded
capitals and bases. Oriental decorations of many colors in geometric designs
fill ceiling spaces and form borders about the windows and the numerous
arches. Inside as well as outside Trinity deserves the name given it by its
architect — "A Color Church."
The completed Trinity expresses clearly and properly its religious pur-
pose, with an aspect of dignity and sturdy masculine strength. The whole
structure shows a vital unity and balance in emphasis — the tower does not
crush out the lower roofs but dignifies them. To the beauty of its form is
added the pronounced yet harmonious eftect of contrasting colors. From each
direction the eye sees a different picture, a varied setting for the one central
tower : there is no monotony in the rough-hewn surfaces, every hour their
lights and shadows differ ; a closer look shows details of moderate ornamenta-
tion, elegant and appropriate. However or whenever one might come upon
such a building, it would impress and please him.
On his return from Paris his brother had said he would give him five
years to stand at the head of his profession. In about that lime he had gained
the commission to build Trinity Church in competition with the leading archi-
tects of the country. So his brother's exi)ectation was almost literally fulfilled.
His own architectural ideas became more definite as the walls of Tr.nity
rose. His time of experiments is passed, he has found the forms his eager
brain can fashion and the implements his energetic hands can mold into the
desired shapes. Xow with this completed example of a new type of archi-
tecture to his credit, he stands in advance of his profession. Trinity being
finished, he is a leader.
Richardson moved his home from Staten Island in 1874 to Brookline, a
suburb of Boston, so that he could give his constant attention to this work.
His home became his office also, when in 1877. the partnership with Mr. Gam-
brill after becoming less strict, ceased.
Oak leaves and
acorns.
Exterior
stone can-ings.
i8
RlCHAKnSON's I\()MANI:SQIFIC Architkcture
Advisory Architect, Albany State Capitol.
In 1876 Richardson received aj)pi)intment (in an Advisory Board of Archi-
tects to consider and report ujion the completion of the New York State
Capitol at Albany. Begun in 18()8, it was less than half finished in 1875. and
its completion was impossible under its first architect or on tlie ori_L(iiial plans
which were in a Roman Renaissance style.
This Board consisting; of h'idlitz, Olmsted and Richardson advised its
completion in the Romanesque style and later prepared detailed plan> to that
effect. Altho a return was ordered later by the Legislature, to a modified
Renaissance style, some interior parts wholly after Richardson's designs
deserve mention.
The Senate Chamber as originally planned was one hundred feet long
by sixty feet broad, with a height of fifty feet. By treating the ends as lobbies,
divided ofl:' liy massi\"e arcatles, and placing the visitors' galleries above them,
he reduced the size to one more suitable for the thirty-two senators. These
changes added greatly to the beauty as well as to the convenience of the
Cliamlier. The colijr eftects and rich furnishings comljined with the archi-
tectural scheme make it one of the most individual rooms of modern times.
The columns are of dark red-brown granite, the capitals of whitish marble
and the arches of Sienna marble, (iray marble forms the rails and Sienna
marljle the balusters in the slightly projecting balconies between the columns.
Panels of Mexican onyx frameil in bands of yellow Sienna marble cover the
walls on a line e\en with the balconies. The carved oak ceiling-beams have a
depth of four feet. The use of Romanesc(ue arches for this interior decoration
is noteworthy. It drew the attention of art circles in England at the time and
caused favorable comment. It was finished in ISSl. The go\ernor's room and
the court of appeals room with its gre;it marlde fireplace, are Richardson's
work also. The design uf his great stairway was completed later but he did
not live to see it finished.
The W^inn Memorial Library at W'oburn, Mass., gained in competition in
March, 1877, was the first of se\eral liljraries for small towns. An art-mus-
eum is connected with and partly merged into the larger library, but is under a
separate octagonal pointed roof. Two contrasting materials alternate in the
stones of the arches, and in the checkered or "]Marquetry-work" decorations.
Car\-ed stonework and roof ornaments are abundant. This picturesque exter-
ior shows plainl}- a further study of ;\uvergnese surface-decorations. His
later libraries were more cunipactlv arranged and less ornate.
Ames Memorial Buildings.
A few months later a chance came to design a smaller library at North
Easton, Mass. This is plainer and the parts group together I)etter. An enor-
mous single arch Doorway attracts attention, and with a line of five arches
above it, makes an interesting front. Irregular ashler forms the lower half
of the wall of the wing and is laid up in pleasing \ariety of sizes and rough
surfaces. The sloped foundation walls add strength to the general appearance.
The interior woodwork is in butternut with delicate carving and turned dec-
oration. The carved Fireplace in the reading room is a wonderful piece of
work, displaying native leaves and fiowers, and indicating the Memorial pur-
poses of the building.
'9
CixcrxNATi Astronomical Socikty
Oakes and 01i\cr Ames were leadin.y: sh(i\el manufacturers of Nurtli
Easton and Boston, whcj became interested in 1805 in the buildinjj; of tlie
Union Pacific Railway across the continent. Oakes Ames as a National Con-
iijrcssman from 1863 to 1873, was a member of llu- Cuinmittee i in Railroads.
In 1864 President Lincoln urged Mr. Ames tn put ilirii the rcail. and after
II
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t3 O O
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weighing,' the matter nearly a year he decided ti > Imilil it. He put in a million
of his own money and pledged all tlie remainder ut his resources for that jnir-
pose. His friends in and out of C<ingress were urged to join him. Oliver
Ames became President <if the Railroad and by their united energy and
resources, and finally bv almost the sa'-rilice nf tlieir business, the road was
RiciiAKD'-dN's l\c)\iANi:s(.)rF, Akciiitecturk
pushed to completion. 'I'lic rails !,niin!^' west from ( Hiialia ami coming east
from San Francisco were joined at 1 'romc mtory, L'tah, and tlic last spike was
driven May 10, 1869.
The Union Pacil'ic is their real monnment, yet an enormous tjranite Pyra-
mid was erected in their honor, at Sherman, Wyoming, the highest ])oint on
the line; on two of its faces are medallions, executed hy St. Gaudens, rejire-
sent Oakes and ( )li\er Ames. Richardson designed this monument, the
Library just described, and a Memorial Town Hall as well.
The Town Hall, commissioned in April, 1S79, was erected Ijy the .\mes
family as a second memorial in their native town to these same men. The
lower story is of light-colored Icjcal granite trimmed with the darker Long-
meadow stone, like the Library. The second story is of red brick, with a ])art
of the north end of wood. The arcade of five large arches with unu^u.-illy
short shafted columns, makes an im])osing feature along the front.
The stone balcony projecting out o\ er the end of the arcade, a hav or
semi-tower with stone roof, and round-arched windows make the south end
very attractive. Arches outlined in Ijrick over some second story windows
here take the place of I^ongmeadow trimmings. The minor car\ed st<ine
decorations include lea^■es, flowers, fruit, birds and animal faces, and modest
geometric flesigns.
Massive Arched
Entrance,
Ames Memorial
Library.
Dark Longmeadow
Stone.
[Courtesy of
Anii'rifdii Arfhileci]
The unusual character of the lot on which the Town I lall antl Lilir;irv
are built, \ery une\'en and with numerous granite ledges, brought al)Out
an interesting piece of landscape gardening. By the aid of Mr. F. L. Olmsted,
these natural difficulties were transformed into added attractions. Retaining
walls, flights of steps and sidewalks are kept subordinate, and thus help dis-
play rather than conceal the granite ledges. Richardson did not overlook this
chance to give a novel setting to his building. 1 lis success in this is undoubted.
Octagonal Tower ; Signs of Zodiac in Frieze.
The northeast corner of the Town Hall is its best ; the octagonal tower
starting from a rough ledge of rock with battered foundation, rises thru both
stories and is crowned with a ]>ointed roof of stone. The nearly unbroken
wall of the first story buttresses the arcade of arches and supplies space
within for the ascending stairway. Above, each exposed tower face has a very
tall, narrow window with its u])[ier section round-.arched.
Cincinnati Astronomical Socii-ty
The Signs of the Zodiac form the panels of the Frieze, arranged by Calen-
dar months. The flowing Urn of Aquarins, the Waterman, its wavy sym-
bol ^ , and Jaii'y make the panel close in l)y the roof, 'i'lie li\ely open-
mouthed I'ish of Pisces, its symbol X , and Feb. are next, and join with
the Head of Aries the Ram T , and March, in ornamenting the southeast face.
The angry Head of Taurus, the Bull, H . for .If'ril. and the chubby Boy-faces
of the Twins Castor and Pollux of Ccmiiii. n , and May, follow on the east
side. So from left around to right, thru the circle of the Signs, 55 , Si ,
"i; , ^ _ ti\, , / , we come to the Sea-goat, Capricornus, ^J , for Dec.
Here the frieze reaches the sloping roof again. l'ni(|ue decorations;
vet apjiropriate as typifying the imjjortance of the calendar months in civic
affairs. They may also express someone's personal interest in traditional
astronom^■.
ICilir/.-ty nf Ilnuvh>.<,u. M-f'Iiit i- Co)
Sever Recitation Hall, Harvard College. Commissioned 1878. Deep red brick
with lighter Longmeadow stone trimmings. Dignified massive building.
No strong Romanesque features.
From the street below, this tower forms a beautiful picture, with fore-
ground of rough ashler retaining-wall, stray boulders and weatherworn
ledges. With its setting of arches to left and arched windows to right and
in contrast with the darker brick of the building, it stands out an architectural
gem. Only one with true artistic spirit could compose such a picture.
Sever Recitation Hall, Harvard.
In 1878 l^^ichardson designed Sever Hall, a classroom and recitation build-
ing, located in the college yard along with many older rectangular structures
of red brick and some showy semi-Gothic later ones. Unable without discord
to introduce strong Romanesque features, he contented himself with very few
moderate uses of them.
The material is red brick tending to crimson, with minor trimmings of
lighter Longmeadow stone. The brick is laid up six courses of "stretchers"
to one of "headers," .giving life and variety to even plain stretches of wall.
Richardson's RoMANES(,>iiE Ar( hitectuhk
The roof is of red tiles and the few ornaments are carved in brick of a slightly
different hue. The doorway with its round-arch is only moderately empha-
sized by the roll-mouldings of brick. Two half-towers, midway from center
doorway to either end, relieve the rectangular look. The windows are all
square topped and so grouped as to avoid monotony. It is a well-])lanned,
compact, useful building, not monumental in idea or ornate. Its size and
harmonious colors give a strong impression.
Richardson was particularly pleased that his Alma Mater selected him
for this work. For college ties and friendships seemed intensified with him
thru long absence and struggle, and he often spoke of how college life had
widened his possibilities and enriched him with friends.
Rustic Gate Lodge, for Mr. Frederick L. Ames, at country-seat, North Easton, Mass.
Fantastic field boulders form the walls. Cut stones of many colors make up the great arches.
Gate Lodge at North Easton.
Popular attention was attracted toward a curious rustic Gate Lodge at
the country seat of JMr. Frederick L. Ames, more than to some other of Rich-
ardson's works. One New York architect said he "would rather have had the
credit for having built this Gate Lodge than any other building in this coun-
try." Still another comment on it was, "Fantasy of a Titan." Of all the
boulders that could be gathered together, there were none too big. too rough,
or too abnormal to claim a place in its walls. Porches, alcoves, balconies are
alike odd and irregular. Ashler about the windows and doors is made as
inconspicuous as possible. A refinement is given to the whole building by the
enormous arches that span the roadway. Cut stones of many colors, all of
local origin, make up their graceful curxes. Within are rooms of the lodge
proper, a suite of bachelor apartments and storage rooms for plants in winter.
The owner was widely known for his interest in horticulture, outside of his
manufacturing business.
Cincinnati Astronomical Sociktv
City Hall at Albany.
What an a])t expression of ci\ic aullinrii) ihe great tower of this City
Hall is! J low stron<j in outline, how diLjiiiticd in hearinj^, how simjjle and
plain, yet how beautiful !
1 he commission to builil this was gained in conipetiliun in .\o\enil)er,
1880. The site was a favorable one, with a slope toward the rear of the lot.
The triple arched entrance, with arched balcony alcove, centers the ornamenta-
tion in the front. Tlic front roof dormer shows the checkered and geometric
designs so characteristic of .\uvergnese surfaces. The same contrast of light
i( llUrlCSy "I Iln!t:JUn}t,
City Hall at Albany. Commissioned 1880. Strong, free use of Romanesque
features. Striking contrast in massing of light and dark stone.
and dark stone is brought out emphatically in the tower, whose upper one-
third is of dark material. Two secondary turrets are dark-roofed also. The
lighter mass of the tower, from the suggested clock-faces downward, is made
a very useful adjunct r)f the building as a storage vault for documents and
records.
A covered arched bridge leads from the sei)aratc jail in the rear directly
to the rooms of the court. Foimdation walls show the characteristic batter.
The interior was less ornamented than Richardson wished, but the lack
of funds enough for the completion made this necessary. Throughout there
is shown a strength and natural freedom in the use of Romanesque features.
24
KlCllAKDSON's KoMANKSOrK AkCIIITEC TURE
Ames Wholesale Store, Boston.
Occuiix int;- a broadly rounded ci;)rn(.'r at Bedford and Kint^ston Streets,
Boston, Kicliardson erected a wholesale store for Air. I'rederick L. Ames. It
was a costly l)uilding. matle entirely of Lonqrieadow stone, and so unlike
other commercial blocks as to merit attcntinn. .Xbnut one-fourth of the
structure, to the right, does not show in tlie ]ihotograi)h. It was conmiissioned
in March, 1882.
1 < ^'/trlr^y of Hntisliton. MirTlin c-^ Co \
Ames Wholesale Store
Bedford and Kingston Streets, Boston. Commissioned March, 1882. Longmeadow stone.
Costly and monumental. Resembles in features our later Chamber of Cotmnerce.
The lowest arcade has tivc large arches and three small doorway arches,
and extends two floors in heiglit. 'i'he next arcade has thirteen arches and
also covers two floors. Aljove tiiis is the third arcade of twenty-six small
arches separated by single and grouped columns. Tiic prominent roof-
dormers, a large central one witli three leaser cines at eacli side, shciw striMigly
against the sky-line. Moder.ate car\ings enrich the capitals and arches.
In appearance tlie Jniilding has nmre of the munumental look th;in nt the
commercial. Its resemblance tn nur later Ciiamber of Commerce may be
noticed.
25
Cincinnati Astronomical Sociktv
Austin Hall, Harvard Law School.
A second time Kicliardsdii was called upon by ids Alma Mater to con-
struct a college building, .\ustin Hall was a memorial to Samuel Austin,
creeled bv his brother ivhvard fur the i.;iw School. It was commissioned
in February, 1881.
The central part is of two stories, with plain roof. This has a frontage
of 116 feet, with a depth of 48 feet. A rear two-story section, 80 by 55 feet,
contains the large lecture room below and large reading-room above. One-
story wings 50 by 48 feet are added at each end of the central section for
smaller lecture rooms. These make tiie extreme length of the building 216
feet. The interior needs control the e.xterior form completely.
Reversing his usual plan, Richardson used dark Longmeadow sandstone
for the ashler and trimmed it with a pale-yellow Ohio stone. Blue stone was
also introduced into the mosaic patterns for variety. Sufficient light stone
)/ Amerirtin :\r< hitrct[
Detail of Stone-carving of Entrance to Harvard Law School.
Capital of columns to left of central arch.
trimming was used to enli\en the otherwise severe outlines. Large carved
panels with marquetry work make particularly striking decorations for the
end walls of the lecture rooms, the Harvard seal with significant leaves and
flowers lieing cut in the lighter-colored stone.
The entrance porch, with three large finely carxed arches resting on
multiple columns, draws instant attention. Chiseled scrolls in great variety,
human faces, animal forms and grotesque figures cover capitals atid roll-
mouldings of the arches. A small monogram, H. H. R., interlocked with com-
passes and enscrolled triangle, is placed at the left of these arches. To their
right the half-round tower breaks the straight line of the front. Small arches
give a Romanesque touch to the second-floor windows of the tower and facade.
The liberal use of light-yellow Ohio stone in the triminings puts a con-
trast and life into .Vustin Hall which is not fdund in Sever Hall nearby.
26
l\IIHAKIlS(l.\'s l\0.\l ANICS(,IUE A l< (11 Ili-.CITK K
Pen-Picture of Richardson.
Air. Cass Gillicrt. arcliitcct, was a student at the Massacliusetts Institute
of Technology in the winter of 1879, and tells of his first glimpse of the man:
"I remember one day descending the interminable stairway from tlie attic
of the old Rogers Hall and about half-way down encountering a man of
swarthy complexion and huge proportions mounting the stairs. 1 remember
an impression of a flaming note of color in a large red and yellow necktie that
looked as tho it were trying to escajie from his waistcoat and set lire to the
building. He was a man of such extraordinary appearance that my attention
was arrested at once, and I wondered what he could possibly want in the
building. As we passed he stopped me and with a singularly charming voice
and manner asked some simple question, and I guided him to Professor Ware,
who occttpied a little room in the building adjacent to the library, where I
learned that my companion was the then already famous Henry Hobson
Richardson."
K ■'ttrlt-sy of Amt-ncatt Architecll
Entrance to Austin Hall, Harvard Law School. Commissioned 1881. Dark Longmeadow stone
with light yellow Ohio stone trimmings. Blue stone also used in the mosaic patterns.
House-Office and Studio, Brookline.
The simple old-fashioned dwelling, w ith ,in acre or more of well-shaded
grotmd about it, became his permanent home at Brookline. No idea of a
partnership appealed to Richardson after the New York offices were closed.
First one untxsed front room served as his office ; then that room and the
library-room. With more assistants and draftsmen, a separate office was built
out beyond the library-room ; additions were made to this tending back
parallel to the kitchen-wing of the house, like a series of mere low working-
cells or "coops" opening out into a long passageway. Finally a large and
sumptuous library was added at the far end, and the space included between
house, office and new library was eventually rncifed in and lighted from above,
thus completing the establishment.
27
Cincinnati Astronomical Society
At the very first home and nftUf were inseparable, assistants passinj^ lliru
the livinjj rooms wlieii necessary. Later there was more of separation, but
the ctmgcnial "home-atmosplicrc" remained. Kven when his offices held over
a score of helpers, from boyish novice to tr.iined artists, he was on the most
sympathetic terms with them all. While in Paris he had met with a serious
accident which still caused pain, .-ind dften .ittacks of a clironic disease kept
him at Imnie nv actually contiueil tn his bed. 1 le Ljradually became \ery stout.
and his weight was an obstacle tt) l)odily exertion. These were added reasons
for ha\iiisj his otlice near his home.
His own spirit and eiiert,fy ])er\aded the whole i^rnup of workers, and
each interpreted and embodied his "chief's" ideas, so that the oiUpiit was
clearly Richardson's own. Not like an ordinary office, it was more like those
medieval home-studios of sculptor-])ainters where master and pii])ils worked
together, ^\'hen designs for a com])etitioii were nearly due. work was at the
highest pitch, and men stayed late or even ;ill nigiit to jiiish the tasks thru.
\\'hen a coveted prize had been won, his look of trium])h was reflected in
e\ery face aliout him.
How intensely he labored ! The journeys which he took to see the
progress on his buildings meant nights of traxel in cars and days of dealings
with committees and clients, and in acti\e sui)erinlendence of construction.
European Journey in 1882.
To be away from the multiplied calls of l)usiness, as well as to consult
certain London specialists about his health. Richardson took the one long
vacation of his life in the summer of 1882. W ith Rev. Phillips Brooks, two
other friends and iMr. Jaques, a young man from his own office, he visited
London, Paris, Southern France and the North of Italy. Then the architect
and his pup.il only, took a flying trip thru Central and Northern Spain to study
many Romanesciue monuments away from the lieaten track of tourists.
London ])hysicians pronounced his heart sound and his disease not neces-
sarily fatal. This allayed his fears, and the doctors' minute and careful in-
structions were soon disregarded. Air. Brooks was a tremendous traxeler,
and Richardson would not be outdone. After leaving Paris they visited
thirty-three towns in thirty-two days, traveling day or night as needed to
make connections. Stops of several days were luade at Genoa, Florence and
\'enice. Litense heat forliade a visit to Rome. Richardson's strength and
endurance seemed incredible. They were out for a vacation and intended to
get the fullest enjoyment out of it. The remarkable height of two ol his com-
])anions and his own rotundity excited at times a little loo luuch jjopular
attention — and they told of one day wdien the street urchins asked "if the
dwarfs were not coming too."
The knowledge and mastery which Richardson had heretofore gained of
the Romanesque forms and features had come from the study of books and
jjhotographs. Now in these Southern climes he was seeing how others with
dispositions like his own had embodied these same features, lie was learning
how men from the Kle\enth Century on had worked out ])roblems that he
had thought of as new.
28
Richardson's Romaxesquk Architkctlre
The months of July, August and September were packed full of sight-
seeing, study of all kinds of early and later architecture, visits to artists, curio-
shops, art galleries, and renewing of acquaintances at Paris. He returned
more fully convinced than ever of the value of the Romanesque features to
American architecture. Also he was convinced of the freedom and greater
opportunity- enjoyed by his profession here than in Europe. His health was
benefitted and a real rest secured from the varied experiences of the summer.
An incident of the trip shows the tactful kindliness of his nature: In
one of the Italian studios they saw a piece of statuary which Mr. Brooks
admired very much and yet was reluctant to purchase on account of its
jirice. Air. Richardson urged him to oljtain it, and, determining to do so, he
revisited the studio, only to find that an American had purchased it the day
before. His disappointment was great. Ijut he made up his mind to forget it.
Upon Mr. Brook's return he found the wished-for statue in his lilirary, ]jre-
sented bv his friend. Mr. Richardson.
Richardson's Library at Brookline. Commodious and sumptuous, filled with
books, photographs and beautiful objects. Great table in center, twelve-
feet square. Huge fireplace. "Everything big."
Cathedral Drawings, Albany.
While on his vacation in Eurojie he had agreed to compete in designs for
the proposed Episcopal Cathedral at All)any. Altho ideas and materials may
have been gathered in his summer's travels, it was nearly December Ijefore
the actual drawings were begun. The whole office force then put four months'
work upon the nine very large drawings which were submitted. There was
a resemblance to Trinity in the square central tower and general massing of
the parts, with the many additional requirements of a cathedral fully met.
The expense of carrying out these plans seems to have largely caused their
rejection.
29
J I
\^'^^vm
m
F *T3Mlis
30
Richardson's Romanesque Architecture
The story is told of Imw, when llicsc drawings were being completed, he
asked his chief draftsman what material he was proposing to use for the roof
of the central tower. His draftsman responded : "Stone, Mr. Richardson ;
that, of course, is the finest material." Richardson stood a long time gazing
at the drawing, and doubtless realized that upon his decision rested success or
failure in the competition ; that if stone were used it would probably cause
the rejection of the design on acciiunt of the expense. He was, however, too
true an artist to match his chances of winning against the artistic compromise
that he would have to make in order to win, and so, after a few minutes of
thoughtful consideration, leaning lovingly over the design, he raised his head
and said, "\"ery well, Mr. A., make it stone :" and as Mr. .\. years afterward
told Mr. Cass Gilbert, who quotes the incident, he had no doubt that Mr.
Richardson at that moment realized that the opportunity to carry out the
greatest design of his career had lieen relinquished because of his fiilelity to
the artistic considerations involved.
So thoroughly was he now imbued witli the \irtues of his adopted style,
that it was onlv in the \erv slight pointing of the main arches that he varied
from the precedents of the Romanesque art in these cathedral drawings.
The Pittsburgh Court House and Jail.
On Sunday, [Ma}- 7, 1882, the old Court House at Pittsburgli was nearly
destroyed by fire. The County Commissioners at once planned for a new^
Court House. In April, 1883, they sent letters to many architects with the
printed report on the required liuilding. In Septemlier, 1883, they offered
$2,500 to each of five architects for plans. Richardson was selected as the
fifth architect on September 28th, and immediately began to work on the
designs which were due Januar}- 1, 1884. Thirty days later, on January 31st.
he was selected as the architect and given until July 1 to prepare the detailed
plans of a Court House and separate Jail, to cost not exceeding $2,250,000.
By calling back former pupils to aid hi> full corps of assistants, he had
thirty men in all working on the detailed plans. That no time might be lost
he arranged to have their meals served in the dining-room adjoining, and with
his aids worked day and night to be ready for the letting of the contracts.
The plans were in Pittsburgh and submitted on July 1st. The sealed bids for
construction were ready by August I'lth, and on September 11th, Xorcross
Brothers were awarded the contract for Court House and Jail of pink Milford
granite.
The ground-plan is a rectangle 209 feet frontage by 301 feet in depth, with
an inner court-yard, 70 by 145 feet, having corridors giving access to all the
rooms. The first floor contains the county offices. Eleven court rooms and
the large law-library occupy the second floor. Minor court rooms and clerks'
rooms use the third floor, and some attic s])acc. A requirement of all the light
possible for the offices was met by making the window openings large, and
receiving light from the court-yard as well. Ledges and cornices on which
soot might collect were expressly undesirable, so that the exterior is strik-
ingly plain.
3'
ClXClXNATI AsTROXdMICAI. SoCll-TY
Pure Romanesque features arc used — entrance arches, secuml ami tliinl
story arched-windows, roof dormers, and, doniinatincf all, the f^reat square
tower risintj far above the sloi)inyf roofs. Fi\-c Moors of this tower arc fding-
vaults for ])ulilic docunu-nts. reaolu-cl hy ek'\alors. Altho made n--c of in this
way, the ornamental and artistic \alue of this tower is far beyond its utili-
tarian. It apjiropriatel}- ex])resses the authority of law ,iud ihe place of jus-
tice in the community. It ,s;i\'es a linish to the whole -iructnre. When the
design was sulmiitted, a iiostile critic likened the tower to a "grain elexator"
on top of an otherwise beautiful building, and said it would destroy the archi-
tectural effect. How untrue this criticism ])ro\ed, was >lio\\n in ]io])ular
ap])roval of it and in its being co])ied almost unchanged, in three other places
before its own completion. It conxincingK- shows the creati\e character of
Kich.ardson's talent. It seems a prophecy and forerunner of today's sky-
scr.-qiers in the arrangement of its surface decorations. It rises o\-er 2.50 feet
in height abo\e the street.
A street at the rear of the Court House is spanned by a massise arched
bridge leading to the jail. .More se\'ere in treatment w illi fewer wall o|)enings,
the Jail is strongly Romanesepie — fortress- like in its austerity.
The precarious state of Richardson's health is slmun in an understanding
with the County Commissioners that in case of his death the completion of it
would be put into the hands of his executors and not of strangers.
The Court House w.'is the largest of Richardson's buildings, massive and
imposing, plain and sensible in all its arrangements. Its corner-stone was laid
October 13, 1885, forty-nine \ears after the corner-stone of the preceeding
Court House had been laid. It was dedicated September 24, 1888, on the
Centeiuiial of the founding of Alleghen\- Connt\-.
Marshall Field Building, Chicago.
This wholesale store building was commissioned in April, 1885, and if
com]i;ired with his other business structures shows ])rogress toward sim-
plicity in design. It covers an area .S25 feet l)y 190 feet and has a height of 125
feet. The material is red Missouri granite in the lower parts and red sand-
stone above. The lower arched windows einbrace several floors. Double the
number of arches make the second line. The uiii)ermost i:)i)enings are not
arched but ha\e twice the number below and are eft'ectively grouped. The
roof is not visible. Decoration is sparing vet enough to reliex'e bareness. It
is a massix'e lousiness block and shows well the adaptabilitv of the Romanesque
arch to windijw openings of such buildings. The color effect is very Ijeautifnl.
^^^m^^^^^^^Q^^^^M
ifci;^r.'..:..'3i'5— •.•J..:rJJ,i,'i.;;i,rj;j^
Monogram H. H. R., Harvard Law School. fSee pane 26]
32
Richardson's Romanesque Architi.cture
^«^3iii
11 n II
^M M Aa 21 31 2i ?T i^ 9 ^ .^ -)
[l curtesy of Marshall Field c' Co.]
Marshall Field Wholesale Store Building, Chicago. Commissioned April, 1885.
Red Missouri granite below, rock-faced. Cut red sandstone above.
Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce.
In June, 1885, Mr. Richardson gained by competition the commission to
build the Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce. How the Architect conceived
the plan and had the designs worked out by his artists, will be told in the
next few pages by one of his pupils, Mr. A. O. Elzner, who himself aided in
preparing the sketches at Brookline. Details of the building project and a full
description of the Chamber are given in the Historical Sketch by Mr. George
S. Bradbury, Clerk of the Board of Real Estate Managers during the erection,
as well as Chief Clerk of the Chamber during the entire existence of the
Building. So that it only remains here to speak of the Cincinnati building
as the crown of Richardson's Romanesque work. To its preparation he
brought his ripest experience ; in purpose, there was added to the purely
commercial requirements, the artistic and monuinental possibilities which Mr.
Richardson prized so highly. In his treatment he made central the great and
dignified hall where the merchants should assemble, provided upper and lower
floors for revenue, and clothed it all in an outer garb of beautiful arcades of
arches and massive towers, expressing solidity, repose, symmetry, dignity, and
a moderate adornment : most worthily has it been called a masterpiece of
architecttire.
33
CixciNNATi Astronomical Socikty
In tracing- the (IcxclnpuK'nl nf lii> Ki im:iiK-s(|iR- style in these puhlio
Iniihlintjs, the most important ha\e been described and illustrated. Several
otlier li!)raries. a dozen or more railway stations, mostly on the Boston &
Alban\ Raih-dad, and nxer t\\ent_\- residences were also of his desiy-n. but a
briel' sketch like this cannot include them in detail.
Disease at Last is Victor.
Richardson had a line ])hysi(|ue and \ er_\- strcm^;' cnnstitntinii as a yimiii,'
man. h'^llnwing his return fruin I'aris he was in the best of health for several
\ear.v, ii'ainin^- graduall)' in weight. As a chronic disease developed later, he
was kept at home or even in l^ed at times. Finally he became so very fleshy
that line wondered how he could possibly get abmit as In- did. \\-[ his most
di>tincti\e characteristic was his immense energy and \ italit_\ nnt ahjnc
ph_\^ical, but an intense mental activity as well.
flow he did enjov life! 11 i^ linine was a nn ist hospitable one. I'Viend^
and guests were constantly at his table. "This is the way 1 rest" he used to
sav when his table was filled with guests and con\-ersati(in was at its height.
Mis Monday night dinners for assistants and former ])upils kept all in tnuch
with each other. He was a frequent \ isitMi- in iH.stnn homes, giving great
pleasure and fully enjoying these friendships. J-A en in his many hurried trips
to other cities he planned in advance, to meet old friends.
Yet for several years he had been under the constant care of physicians
and knew that his days might be short. His recovery after serious attacks
was rapid and his full strength returned promptly. In the autumn of 1885,
however, gravest fears were felt, and i m his recovery, journeys and social
visits were forbidden. In March, 188f), a sever attack of tonsilitis came on and
was followed by a renewal of his chronic troulile. Early in .'\pril he went to
New York and on to Washington for a rest "as an itualid" but became so ill
that he returned home. I'nr two weeks he was conlined to his room with great
pain and restlessness, but never lost his spirits or hope, and kept up his inter-
est in the work going on below in the offices. Even on the day of his death,
April 27, 1886, he talked confidently to his doctor of his tasks, and of his wish
to live at least two \ears more to complete the work begun. His passing away
toward midnight was without pain, and peacelul.
The shock to his friends was very great and his loss seemed to the public
like a national misfortune. His chise friend, Dr. Phillips Brooks conducted
the funeral service in Trinity Church, lie had not yet reached the age of
forty-eight, being taken away in the \ery prime of life.
The completion of his unlinished contracts went on without delay in the
hands of his pupils and executors, Messrs. Shepley, Rutan & Coolidge, who
carried out faithfully the plans of their master and teacher. The Pittsburgh
buildings and Marshall Field wdiolesale store, Chicago, were about half fin-
ished. The Chamber of Commerce designs had received their final revision at
his hands, and the first bids for construction were awaited: the old Post-
oflice was still standing, Init its remo\al ])egan about a month after his death.
34
KlrllARDSON's KciMANRS()UE AkcIHTKCTIRK
Stimulus to American Architecture.
The perioil in which he bej^aii his work was (iiie utterly lacking in a style
fit for ])roniiiient or public buildings, and one when the call for such buildings
was especially great. The rapid growth (if towns and cities in America called
for larger municipal buildings, and the few which he Iniilt intliienced the con-
struction of scores, if not hundreds, of others.
The American public was unbiased toward any other style and free to
accept that which he worked out. He did in America what would have been
impossible in Euroj^e. His work touched a popular chord and there was
hardly a town or hamlet intu which his fame had net gone, and his loss felt.
Altho the classic styles have come forward into prominence with passing
years, displacing his tnedieval type, yet the effects of his inspiring career
remain in our national architecture. No man ever came nearer to perpetu-
ating his name in an architectural style than did Henry Hobson Richardson in
his Romanesque style.
The Boston Society of Architects passed resolutions a few days after his
death, which fittingly characterize his life:
"In his brilliant career, which is now brought ti i a close, we recognize
the rare union of well nigh all the qualities on which true success in the prac-
tice of architecture depends. He had the instinct for form, proportion and
color, the genius for orderly arrangement an<l ])icturesque grouping of parts;
and in addition to all this power, he had an extraordinary force and energy of
character, which enabled hiiu to use his gifts to their utmost advantage, to
despise the pain and weakness of an insidious and fatal disease, and to work
with unflagging zeal and efficiency up to the last day of his life.
"His gifts and his courage, brightened by a remarkable intellectual vivac-
ity, made him the most interesting and cmnmanding personality which the
profession in America has ever known. He died in the full maturity and vigor
of his power, but not before his fame was assured l)y the monuments which his
genius had raised on every hand."
His
Favorite Portrait.
'In Medieval Garb."
[Courtesy of
American Architect]
35
Cincinnati Asthonomicai. Sociktv
li "nil' . \' i'f Kid,n!:> Art ('-> , Ctju inuntt]
The Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce, Vine Street view. The fine proportions
and symmetry of the building are shown to advantage in this photograph.
It was taken from the east at the distance of the Harrison building, and across
the sites of the old Pike's Opera House and Seasongood building. Con-
struction sheds of the Sinton Hotel appear in the foreground. Date, 1905.
36
THE OLD CHAMBER OF COMMERCE BUtLDING OF CINCINNATI,
H. H. RICHARDSON, ARCHITECT
By a. O. Elznek
The oUi Clianilicr ni Ciminiorce ISuildiny. which was -lestn ived In- i'lre,
was the work of 11. 11. Richardson, architect, of Boston.
Mr. Richardson died just after the completion of the drawings and speci-
tications — in fact, hefore the bids for the construction were received ; aufi,
therefore, did not live to see the erection of this buildinj^, which has been called
his masterpiece, at least one of se\eral \vhich rank perhaps equally great with
this one.
The story of the conception of this design might be made an interesting
nne: The building committee that was charged with the task of selecting an
architect resorted to competition, having in\ited the leading architects of
Cincinnati, as well as Mr. Richardson, wdio at tliat time had reached practically
the zenith of his fame and was easily accounted the foremo-^t architect of the
countr}'.
^Ir. Richardson at once attacked the problem with his characteristic dis-
regard of precedent. The motif of the design was so bold and so simple, and
yet so stately and dignified, that it challenged to the utmost his ingenuity to
jiroduce a plan which wrndd reconcile the commercial requirements of the
building with the artistic sjiirit nf the design, which was cost upon such a high
plane of excellence that sucli a reconciliatii.m at first seemed almost hopeless.
Some of his friends, fearing that the success of t!ie competition might be en-
dangered by his determined insistence upon sacrificing valuable floor space
to the stern recjuiren:ents of his design, ])re\ailed upon him, in fact to submit
an alternative scheme which, according to their ideas, would more fully satisfy
the demands of the commercial element. This he tlid most reluctantly, and
was correspondingy elated when notified of the acceptance of his real design.
The question in\olved in this imint \\-as one which called for square
towers instead of the Ijeautiful round ones, as well as tiie other one of tlis-
pensing with the strong l)attcr or outward sloping face of the foundations, a
feature wdiich imparted the wonderful sense of st.aliilitv to this massive struc-
ture.
It has been charged tiiat Richardson took the niotit of tiii^ design from
some well-known ancient buildings and was not fairly entitled to the credit
for originalit}-. There is altsolutely no justificati in in tliis cliarge, as there is
no truth in it. There was no building anywhere which couhl lia\c >er\ ed as
a model. In fact, if we were to try to fnid any p.articular -onrce of insjMration
we would be more apt to look among the aqueducts of the ancient Romans,
which stretched across the valleys in m;iiestic -ircides. In these cases tlie
scheme of design chefly consisted of large, massive arches Ijelow, surmounted
by a tier of smaller ones, and these in turn being crowned bv an ;ircaile <if still
smaller arches. Even so, it cannot be strictly claimed th.it the a(|ueduct -served
as an exact model, which, in fact, they did not; their inspiratii>n had chietiv
37
Cincinnati Astronomical Socikty
to do with the sense of solidity aiul dignity and repose, all i>\ which arc <|iiali-
fications demanded by such an organization as a Chamber of Cdnimerce, rep-
resenting, as it does, the solid and substantial business interests of a city.
A t'haniber of Coninierce is an institntiim ciitirch different frum anv
iithers in a niuniciijality : and it was kichardsim's aim, therefore, U> design a
building which wnuhl ha\e an unmistakable indi\idualitv <if its own. reflecting
as far as jjossible llie characteristics of the special uses to \shiih it wnuld serve.
This should be the aim of all good architecture; 'ind it i> unfortunate to note
that it too often ha])]iciis that a design is ad<iptc(! for a public building with-
out reflecting in any way the ])articular characteristics (il its purj)! >>(_■, and that
it might be easily mistaken for any nne nf a dnzen or nmre uses r.athcr than
the one for which it was intended.
Mr. kich.ardson's first skettli Uiv thi' C'li.imber uf Cmnnicrcc was just as
simijle as the design itself, lie used a <)-l'. pencil and d;islu-il (<i( a little free-
hand sketch on a letter sheet. It only took him a few minutes tn do this, and
this was turned o\-er to his designers to develop into the beautiful building
which was finally e\cil\ed. (.)f C(.)ursc. this was done under his cnustant per-
sonal suijervision, and only such men could accomplish this as had been trained
by him in all the wonderful details of the Romanesque style which he made
his own. Many sul)secpiently tried to cupy this style of his and, naturall\ . pm-
duced nothing but weak iniitations. No one e\er succeeded as well as he did ;
and, consequently, after Itis death, this beautiful Richardsduian Romanestpie
was buft'etcd about by a great band nf iniitaturs until it tinallv succumbed and
died from sheer exhaustic m.
As much as we might admire the Kunianesque which Kich.ardson devel-
oped so beautifully, it is not this .ilunc which established his pusitioii nf
supremacy. His great distinction rests iqjun the fact that he went back to
first princijiles in design. It will be remembered that he studied many years
in the world-renowned Kcole des Beaux Arts, in I^aris. When he returned
to this country and Ijegan the j)ractice of his profession in the late si.xties, he
found the architecture in a woeful plight. The pure styles, namely the (ireek
and the Roman, and e\'en the ('.othic, h.ul been used and cast aside. Nonde-
script styles were being exi.iKed, and the so-c;iIlcd Queen Anne was rapidly
coming into fax'or. (irand mixtures of ;ill kinds were producing nothing but
discord and chaos, until finally the jiublic ;ind the architects themselves realK'
did not know wh.it to do next or where to turn for ins])iration. It was at this
juncture that Richardson appeared on the horizon and reasserted the original
princi]des of design which have [prevailed in .all pure styles from the beginning
and will continue to do so. lie showed that they are equally ap])licable to all
styles and demonstrated this by their successful a])plication to the Ivmi.an-
esque.
It was this which lent the great ch.arm to hi< buildings, more so th.in the
actual details of ornamentation \\\t\\ which they were embellished. In f.ict,
his designs were such that as a rule ornamentation could be omitted without
seriously affecting design, a fact which in itself constituted anqjle proof i.if
the great value of fundamental ])rinci])Ies. It is the force of such example
that set architects to thinking and ser\ed as a "beacon light to lead them out
of the wilderness,"' as it were.
38
Dksu'.nixi'. tii:; C'h.\mhi;k hk Commerce
:^hl,ii:. MilfUii >y Co.]
The great Drafting Room at Brookline.
Mr. Richardson seated. Mr. E'.zner drawing C. of C. designs. "The Coops."
In a few years after his death the World's Fair at Chicago presented a
wuiulerful opportunity for architects to utilize and apply the lesson which
Richardson had taught Iheni, namely, that i;i k id design of all kinds is based
upon fundamental principle--. It may be asserted that Intt fur this lessoti, the
World's Fair would ne\ er ha\e achieved the fatne w hicli it did architecturally
til such a proniiunced degree. The influence whiclt tliis h;id. subsequently,
upon the entire artistic dexeh ipment <if this comitry, not only in the field of
architecture, but in all the arts, was s( i w'des])read and so positi\e that one
halts in amazement at the cimtemplatii mi nf the influence which cine man ma_\-
e.xert, single-handed, in the natinn's artistic de\ eli ipment.
That is the position that Richardson occupies, and that is why we should
preserve most reverently the memory of the old Chamber of Commerce lUiild-
ing, which, while it may ha\e failed to a cert.iin extent, as has been claimed,
to serve the strictly commercial requirements, nevertheless rejiresented a
powerful factor in shaping the artistic destinies of the American peoiile.
39
CixcixNATi Astronomical Society
[Photo, by Rombach &* Croenc]
The Chamber of Commerce, 1904. View from the Northeast.
40
The
Chamber of Commerce Building
1889-191 I
An Historical Sketch
The Story of
ITS INCEPTION
ITS ERECTION
ITS DEDICATION
ITS DESTRUCTION
#;
^ % .«3!
Prepared and Compiled Bv
GEORGE STUART BRADBURY
Former Chief Clerk of the Chamber of Commerce, who served as Clerk of the Board
of Real Estate Managers during the Erection of the Building.
Its Inception and Achievement.
The erection of this beautiful edifice, dedicated to the uses of the Cin-
cinnati Chamber of Commerce and Merchants' Exchange, was the crowning
realization, long deferred, of the hopes and aspirations of its members.
For more than twenty-five years before its erection, the spirit of its con-
ception and achie\ement was alert and growing, and activities to this end
were gathering strength and energy, which idtimately crystallized and found
expression in the completion of this noble and inspiring structure.
A history of the building would be incomplete without a passing refer-
ence to the awakening or the inception of the undertaking, which had its
definite origin as far back as the early si.xties. IndeecL the ambitiotis project
of a building and a permanent home, while it was _\et but a dream, long ante-
dated this period, for we read in its charter of incorporation of March, 1850,
the expressed rights "to acquire, hold and possess, occupy and enjoy, by gift,
grant, devise or otherwise, all such real estate and other property as may be
necessary and convenient for the support and transaction oi business of said
Chamber of Commerce," from which we may draw the inference that the
framers of "-he charter of 1850 had the project and the future erection of a Ituild-
ing in their thotights.
41
CiNxiN'NATi Astronomical Society
But let us glance througli the records of tin- t'liamlier of Commerce.
As early as 1866 it is \\rittcii that:
"An acknowKclm'd iicci'ssity for better rooms for the occupancy
of the Chamber of Commerce lias l)eeii a traditional snl)ject with suc-
cessive boards for a long time. Public-spirited members, acting as com-
mittees, devoted a great deal of time and labor in the effort to find a
place for the erection of a suitable building, but their diligent work has
failed at least of present success. It is lioped, iiotwilhstaii<ling the
discouragements encountered, that the matter will not be allowed to
rest here, but that something creditable to the wealth, enterprise and
taste of the members may yet be achieved in the way of a building."
Again in lWi9, when the work >ii obtaining snt'ticient sul)scri])tioiis toward
a building project met w itii f.iiliire, the re])ort of the Hoard of Officers of date
Septemlier S, 1S69. says:
"It is a work, however, which the members of the Board hope
their successors will not lose sight of, and that in due lime we shall
have a place of meeting which will not be a discredit to tlie i)n1)lic
spirit and enterprise of the community which we represent."
On October 20, 1869, a lire in the College lUiilding drove the Chamber of
Commerce to seek other f|uarters, and. s])eaking of tlii^ niisfortnne, the rejjort
of the Board r)f Officers, vSe])tember, 1870, expresses the hojic th.nt
"This calamity, which caused us some temporary inconvenience,
would result in a revival of an effort on the part of our mcml)ers to
provide a Iniildiiig expressly for the use of the Chaml)er which sliould
in every way be adapted to its wants — be in keeping, in style, with the
wealth of our community, and commensurate with the progress of the
times."
Tlf:: Secretary's report of September 12. 1S76, says:
"The imperative and growing need of a Chamber of Commerce
and Merchants' Exchange Building must l)e apparent to all interested in
this body. It is hardly necessary to call attention to the inadequate
proportions and the general imperfections of our present quarters
(Smith & Nixon's Hall) except for the purpose of keeping alive the
interest that has been manifested in favor of a new building. The lease
on the premises now occupied expires January 1, 1880, or within three
. years and four months, and it is to be hoped that active measures will
be inaugurated looking to the erection of an appropriate building at an
early day, and that they will l)e successfully carried out."
And so it is re\ealed by the records that through the inter\ening years
from 1866 to 1S8,\ an eveiitfid, stirring ])eriod in its iiistor\-, when the Cham-
ber of Commerce reached the zenith of its prosperity and influence, the
achievement of a building a permanent home for the organization — was
ever present in the min<ls ;ind hearts of it> members. As the years advanced,
with the growth of the organization, there were increasing activities to this
end, stimulated by its growing need of additional space and facilities for
its dail)- sessions. I''r(_iin l)eing a tenant of leased rptartcrs the Chamber would
l)ecome the possessor of its own pro])erty, an<l these aims and ideals were
marked with a steadfastness of purpose and a spirit of determination which
recognized no failure.
These were the dominating purposes and the cherished hopes which
animated the members througli the passing years, atid gave impetus to the
movement which subsecpiently led to comjdete and triumphant success.
42
History oi-' Chamber oi' Commerce Building
The completed building — a masterpiece of architecture — was dedicated
January 29 and 30, 1889. The architect of the huihlin;^ was the eminent and
noted H. H. Richardson, of Brookline, Mass., and it may properly be called
his postliumous or last important work. His death occurred April 27, 1886,
before the work of erection had begun. The firm of Shepley, Rutan & Coolidge
succeeded to his business and were appointed by the Board of Real Estate
^Managers the architects of the building to carry out Air Richardson's design.
The Chamber of Commerce Building was not erected primarily as a
purely commercial enterprise: while the important matter of revenue was
not disregarded in its construction or design, yet the ciuestion of dollars and
cents was not insistent nor \-ital in either its conception or its purpose. The
dominant motive of its builders and projectors was, first, to meet the necessi-
ties of the Association and to provide the Chamber of Commerce with a per-
manent home which, in its physical and architectural attributes, should be
commensurate with the dignitv and commercial standinc of this great bodv of
[L\'lir!r\^y v' KntnlKjih L^ Groe»e\
Fourth Street, looking west from Vine, about 1833. From an early painting.
Home of Caleb Bates. First Presbyterian Church.
Home of Dr. Shotwell. Home of Reuben Springer. Unitarian Church.
merchants and business men, which then embraced a membership of nearly
2,300. a!id, at the same time, by the blending of art with utilit}-, to con-
tribute to the architecture of the city a structure which should reflect its
purpose and be at once a credit to its builders and a source of pride and admir-
ation to our citizens — and that this was accomplished in its fullest sense and
meaning is a matter of history.
The responsibilities and obligations of an undertaking of this magnitude
were serious and difficult of solution ; the financial program in this, as in all
enterprises of its kind, was a leading question. How it could be successfully
financed, the selection of a suitable location, the character and scope of the
building, were matters of importance which invited careful and intelligent
decision. That these requirements were wisel\- and ably administered is
attested by the results attained ami by the enthusiastic approval of the mem-
bership of the Chamber and the public at large.
43
Cincinnati Astko.nomicai, Sociktv
And iKiw. with tlu' ci iinplction (if l\\\> liiu' edifice, uitli the pride c ii jkis-
sessit)ii in their hearts, the devotion and loyalty of its memljers were rewarded,
and the dreams and amliitions of years had lieconie an acconi])lishetl reality.
The Site of the Building — How It Was Acquired.
Tile ^riiiind u]i<iii which the ImildiiiL;^ was erected was the site nl the old
Post OlTice and Custom House, at the southwest corner of h'ourth and \'ine
Streets, having a frontage of 100 feet on r'"<nirth Street. 130 feet on \ine Street,
and 100 feet on Burnet Street, "being part of lots mnnliered 212 and 21.i on the
original ])lan of said city of Cincinnati, heretofore conveyed t<i the United
States l)y Mary Ward Shotwell, Josej)!! S. I'.ates ;iiid w'fe, and William Con-
clin and wife, in separate parcels by deeds duly recMrih-.! in the land records
of Hamilton County, State of Dhio," This \alualile properly was ])urchased
from th'i United States (knernineiit in 1879 at the \ cry luw price of $100,000,
a valuation fixed by a coniniissioii of prominent citizens ajjpoiiited li\ the
Secretary of the Treasury, Hon. John Sherman, to apjiraise the \ahic ol the
propert;' and rejKirt to him at what ])rice it should he sohl to thi> (."li:im-
ber. This commission was composed of Messrs. Aljihonso Taft, \\ illiani S.
Grocsbcck, Christian Moerlein. William Dennisoii and John W . v'^te])henson.
-Xegotiations with the (jo\enimeiit for the purclirise of this ])roperty
began in Februarw 1879, when tiie .\ssociation on the 14tii day of that luonth,
adopted a resolution, which authorized the api)ointmerit of a committee of
five, which included the President of the Ch.inihcr. t^ \ isit Washington, to
confer with the Secretary of the Treasury, ;uid to procure if possible the
necessary legislation favorable to the sale of the Post Office property. This
committee was composed of President ^\'illiam N. Holjart. M. E. Ingalls,
Richard Smith, Benjamin Eggleston and Thomas vSherlock. Their mission to
Washington ha\ing been successful, and the sale having been authorized by
joint resolution of Congress wdiich was passed by the Senate, February 20,
1879, by the House of Representatives, February 22, 1879, and signed by the
President of the United States, l''ebrnary 27, 1879, and the \aluation of the
property having been appraised by the commission, the negotiations were
thcren])on approved by the Chamber, which on March 17. 1879, passed a reso-
lution authorizing M. E. Ingalls, Richard Smith, Briggs Swift, Theodore
Cook and William .\. ilobart a committee to conclude a contract with the
Secretary of the Treasury in liehalf of the Chamber for the purchase of the
Post CJffice propert}- at a [jrice not to exceed $100,000. (Jf this committee,
appointed to \isit \\ ashingtoii, Messrs. Ingalls, Swift and Cook were unable
to attend, ;ind as a substitute for them .Xmor .Smith, Jr., and S. II. Burton were
appointed. In its negotiations this committee reached an agreement with the
Secretary cif the Trea^ur_\- on the l)asis of $100,000, with the condition .added,
that if Congress, in the meantime, should disajjprove of the sale at the aj)-
praised value, the agreement would become null and void.
As no unfavorable action was yet taken by Congress, the Secretar\- of the
Treasury was notified in vSeptemlier, 1880, that the Chamber was ready to
enter into a formal cijntract, and in December, 1880, I'resident Henry C. Urner
and Richard Smith visited Washingtcpii on behalf of the Chamber, "to aid in the
completion of the contract which, before their return, was signed by the
Secretar_\- of the Treasury, i in the ]iart of the ( ic ixernment. and subsec|uently
by the President of the Chamber of Commerce." Under the terms of this
contract, $40,000 in four-per-cent (jovernmenl l)onds were deposited bv the
Chamber with the Secretary of tiie Treasury in 1881 to lie held as securit\- for
the faithful ])crformance of the contract.
44
History of Chamber ok Commkrck Building
The terms and c(iniliti<in-> of purchase were ex])resse(! in the afuresaid con-
tract, which was dated December 10, 1880 Funnal possession of the jjroijerty
was given when the Government entered ujjon the occupancy of the new Post
Office and Government Ruildini:; in Fifth Street, and a deed was executed to
the Chamber of Commerce 1)\ l);iiiiel Ab-iiiniiiL;, then Secretar\- of the Treas-
ury, hearing date December 12, 1885.
ICopyrri^h! l>l?nlr. hy Rombach b' Croetn-, hy ^f'rdul />(-rwivsiOHl
United States Postoffice and Customs House, corner Fourth and Vine Streets,
Completed 1857, Demolished 1886. Corinthian Style. James R. Wilson, Architect.
In the selection of a .site for the jiroposed building, it may be of passing
interest to relate the activities which antedatcii the purchase of the i'ost ()ftice
property. In August, 1878, a published notice appc.ired in the daily press
that the Board of Officers of the Chamber would receive ])roposals for the sale
or lease of property suitable in size and location for tiie erection of a Chamber
of Commerce building, the retjuirement being th.it the jiroperty offered should
be located within the business territory boiuided 1)\- Main Street on the east,
Plum Street on the wot. Sixth Street on the north, and Third Street on the
south. In resjmnse to tiiis ad\ erti>enient ten proposals were received for sites,
as follows :
45
Cincinnati Astrumimicai, Socucty
Proposals for Site — August, 1878.
No. 1— lohn Shillito— Offers the Premises ;il 1{)M()5 W . I'mirlli
Street, measurino- 70 x 150 feet, valued at .-^i id nilO.OU
Mr. ShillitM will donate Jimido.OO
$ ,S0.(X)0.(X1
Ground rent at ,S4.(K)() ])er ;innuni, valued at 6()()(H).0()
Total $Mo.(H)l)00
No. 2— D. K. Este Estate— S. W. Cor. Fifth and \ine Streets:
100 feet on Vine Street liv S4l/, feet on i'iilh Street $oUU,UUU UU
Additional 40 feet on i'if'th .Street 60.000.00
Total $360,nnn.on
No. .1 — Pike's Opera House — Lease nf Premises for 5 \'ears ;it
per annum ,$ 8..S00.00
Space — 128'/x70j/> and fi>ur (.'unnniltee Rooms.
No. 4 — 1). T. Wright— East side ^f I'lhii and I'.enliani Allev—
UKI X _'t)0 '(20,000 square leet ) '. . .$ 05,UUU UU
No. 5 — Arlington Hotel — Fifth Street between Main and S\-ea-
more, 94J^ x 99>4 (9,384 square feet) ! . . .$ 75.000.00
No. 6 — |. K. Smith — North side of Fourth Street, between .Main
and W alnut, perpetual lease (\?,.\M square feet) $100,000 00
Cash Payment 33,000.00
Total $133,000.00
No. 7— J. H. Barker— S. W. Cor. Fourth and h'.Im Streets, 100 feet
on Fourth, 168 feet on Elm, 135 feet on .\Ici''arland, con-
taining 19,740 square feet $130.()0()()0
No. 8 — National Theatre — East side of Sycamore, north of 'iMiird,
100x204 (approximately 25,000'square feetj.
Lease with privilege of purchase at 8% on Ijasis of. . .$ 75,000.00
Stibject to ground rent, $800 per annum, value 13.333.00
Total $88^333700
nr will sell at ($20,000 ea si i, hal.ince in 10 pay-
ments of $5,000 each ;it 7 per cent i)er annum j.. 70,000.00
Ground rent 13,333.00
Total $83,33100
or will sell .at ($.30,(XX) cash, balance in 5 aimn.-il
])ayments at '> per cent per annum j $ 65,000.00
Ground rent J^3,333.()0
Total $78,333.00
No. 9 — Robert Cooper — S. ^\'. Cor. Seventh ;ind Lodge, 154 feet
on Seventh bv 100 feet on Lodge (ai)proximately 16,000
square feet) .' .' $ 70,000.00
No. 10 1). K. Este Estate — S. \V. Cor. Fourth and Sycamore,
100 feet on Fourth bv 90 feet on Sycamore, annual ren-
tal, $3,600, value ....'. $ 60,000.00
N. W. Cor. Sixth and \'ine Streets, prominently mentioned, but
no proposition made, 100x200 (20,000 s<|uare feet).
Reported term,s — ground rent of $14,000 per annum,
\-alue (withotit jirivilege of purchase) $233, 333. (X)
|6
History of Ciiammi.u hi' C(immi:rct. Building
( )f the foregoing proposals that of tlie southwest corner of Fourth and
Ehii Streets, having a frontage of 100 feet on Fourth Street, 168 feet on F,Im
Street and 135 feet on McFarland Street, at a valuatirni of $1,30,000, met with
the greatest favor, and subsequently, after extended consideration and con-
ferences with the owners, the purchase of this site was unanimously approved
bv the Bnard of Ofificers December 3, IN/X, .-nul rccnmmeiided to the Associa-
tion Januarv 29, 1879. While action on this proposition was pending, the
Post Office site at Fourth and \'ine Streets came into prominence, in view
of its ultimate abandonment by the ('iii\crninent upon completion iif the new
Post Office and Federal l.niilding. A resolution presented to the Chamber
Februar\- 14, 1879, authorized the appointment of a committee of five mem-
bers, including the President, to visit Washington for the jiurixise of opening
{Photo, by Kraenu) 1 < ; (
The northeast corner of Fourth and Vine 1894.
Cincinnati Gazette, 1856, later, Hammond Building to 1902. Present Ingalls Building erected 1003.
the negotiations with the Goxernment w hich ultiniatch' led to the ])urclia'^e ol
the site at Fourth and \'ine Streets, as before related, and superseded the ttu"-
ther consideration of the Fourth and Flni Street site. The action of the Board
in favoring the site at Fourth and J^lm Streets carried with it the appointment
of a committee of leading members ein])owered to consult architects and
secure plans and estimates for a new building forthwith, and sul.isequently
another committee was appointed to prei)are a financial plan and to take into
consideration the legal aspects of the case — whether its present charter g;ive
the Chamber of Commerce authority to purchase land and erect a building
and to finance it by the issuance of stocks or lionds, if the same should be
necessary. From these preliminary steps ma_\- be traced the zeal, the earnest-
ness, the activity and, indeed, the possibility of a building at l-'ourth an<l l'".lm
Streets, which, it may safely be said, was only prexented Ijy ftjrtuitous cir-
cumstances and the wisdom and foresight of influential memlters.
47
Cincinnati Astkuxumic.m. Socikty
After tin- riianiliiT nf (.'kiiiiiutcc liad iuiivliaM.'il the l'«i>l ( )rrKc lot. wliirli
was admittedly the most central, valuable and attractive site in the city, a
Icadiui,^ real estate investor and capitalist had pmposed to erect or remodel a
building on the site at the northwest corner of Sixth and Vme Streets, with
the rights of perpetual occupancy by the Chamber of adequate premises tree
of rent, in exchange for the relinquislimenl and transfer of its contract with
the L'nited States Government for the property at Fourth and \ine Streets.
'Phis proposition was not seriously considered as it was not in li.innony with
the sjjirit which had prevailed among the members in the years past, nor in
strict faith with the Government, which had yielded out of special considera-
tion to the Chamber of Commerce as a semi-public body, representative of the
commercial and industrial interests of Cincinnati and the nhi., V.illry, and
one of the leading and most influential organizations i.if the country.
[ Flwto. hy Krili-nli-r Art Co.]
The southeast corner of Fourth and Vine, 1889. Sprague (1854) later called
Seasongood Building on corner. Pike's Opera House. Chamber of Commerce
rented Pike auditorium from November, 1881 to January, 1889.
The proposal to enlarge the site accpiircd at l''cjurlh and \'ine Streets l)y
the purchase of an additional i5 feet adjoining the property on the west at a
valuation of $175,000 was recommended to the .Association, but this was
unpopular and was defeated by a vote of members taken May 19, 1884.
As an historical side-light upon the growth and prosperity of early Cin-
cinnati, and the value of real estate in the vicinity of Fourth and \'ine
Streets, we quote from the preface of a siuall volume entitled, "Cincinnati in
1826," edited by B. Drake and E. D. Mansfield — Printed by ^Morgan, Lodge &
Fisher. Cincinnati. The preface says —
"The almost unexampled rajiidity with which the late humble village of
Cincinnati has advanced to the rank and oinilence of a city, has excited a wide-
spread and increasing interest throughout the countrw in relation both to its
actual condition and the future prospects."
48
History ov Chamber of Cummkrck Building
The article states that the square l>ouiuled b}- Third and Fourth Streets
and \'ine and Race Streets, upon which Judge Burnet resided, could be
obtained for about $25,000, and advances the opinion that "no one can doubt
that in ten years it may be sold for double that sum."
The population of Cincinnati in 1826 was 16,230.
The Financial Plan.
The nucletis of a building fund originaU-d from the ordinary accumu-
lations, in the ten years prior to 1879, at which date there were assets of
$40,000, invested in U. S. 4% reg. bonds. These were deposited with the
Government in 1881 as security for the purchase of the Post Office prop-
erty, and when, in 1885, the Secretary of the Treasury was ready to execute
Ronihiicli ^' Groeiiel
The northwest corner of Fourth and Vine. 1904. Eckstein Building, Erected 1856,
later called Big Four and Western Union Building. German National Bank erected 1905.
Shadow of Chamber of Commerce shows roof turrets.
a deed for the lot at Fourth and \'inc Streets, the bonds were sold b_\-
the Government and the proceeds, $49,125, apj)Iied to the purchase price.
But it was not until 1882 that a successful financial jilan was devised,
under which an ample fund was raised to begin the ])reliminary and active
construction of the building. By the end of the fiscal year, .\ugust ,il, 1886,
this fund had grown to the generous proportions of $491,649.99, which in-
cluded $100,000 paid for the real estate at Fourth and \'ine Streets.
The financial plan formulated to raise the necessary building ftmd was
devised and prepared by Henry C. Urner, then President of the Chamber of
Commerce, and was based upon the issuance of Certificates of Membership
49
Cincinnati Astr(in(imic.m, Sociktv
t(i all in(li\i(lual members of record who wished to participate in the iilaii.
'i'his ])rovision was incorporated in the constitution as amended March 14,
1882, and, hrietly stated, pro\ idi-d thai ti i ,dl prr-rnl nuMnhers ;it that date wli"
wished to accept the conditions of tiie plan, a Certillcate of .\lend)ershi]) would
be issued uiion the ])ayment of $100, if ap])lied for within two in<inths from the
passage of this amendment : to others admitted tn nicndier^liip brtwecn M.arch
14, 1882, and January 1, 1S8.\ the initiation fee \\i>uld be $250: between Janu-
ray 1, 1883, and January 1, 1884, the initiation fee would be $500. an<l thereafter
$r,ooo.
1 l'lu>l(K hv Hfimbiic'i it Groene]
South side of Fourth Street, near Vine, in 1890. Pike's Opera House, Home of Chamber
of Commerce, 1881-89. Distinctive, cast'.e-like Chamber of Commerce.
The fact that the Certilicates of .\lend)ership thus ])ro\ided for. were trans-
ferable from one ])erson to another, if didy elected, inii)arteil to the certificate
a marketable or salaljle \alue, and gave members the right to sell and transfer
their certificates, if they should wish to retire, and the annually increasing
amount of the initiation fee from $100 to $250, to $500. and to $1,000, gave a
financial advantage to the purchasers of certificates at $100 o\er those who
came after, and this provision was a stimulus wdiich brought into the Chamber
a large number of members. W ith the exce|)tion of a small ntimber, nearl\-
all members of the Chamber at the date March 14, 1882, availed themsel\-es
of the opportunit}- to ])urc]iase certificates at $100. There was a large influx
5°
HlSTOKV OK ChaMHKR OF COMMERCE BtMI.DINX
of new members during the remainder of 1882 at the initiation fee of $250, and
at the increased fee of $500, effective January 1, 188.3, there was a single mem-
ber taken in at that price before the By-Laws were again revised and amended
March 13, 1883, whereb>- the admission to membership I)y the payment of an
initiation fee was eliminated. This, in effect, was a ])ractical limitation of the
membership, as thereafter members were admitted only by transfer of certifi-
cates.
Under this certificate plan the meml)ersliip of tiie Chaml)er f)f Commerce
increased from about 1.175 on September 1. 1881, to a total of 2,275 on March
13, 1883, of which number 2,184 were certificate members ami 91 non-certifi-
cate members. It mu>t be stated the certificate jilan was not com])ulsory.
[I'ho'.n. by Kraemir Art Co.]
Fourth Street, looking west from Vine, in 1Q02.
Through this successful plan, and the accumulations from annual dues
and other sources of re\"enue, the assets and resources of the Chamljer. during
the period of four years, increased from $44,301.22 on August 31, 1881, to
$438,448.77 on August 31, 1885, and $491,(49.99 on August 31, 1886, which
included $100,000 paid the United States Go^. ernmont for the Post Office
property.
The foregoing embraces the financial program that brought \itality and
success to the building enterprise. Besides the immediate resources here men-
tioned, the funds were materially increased from the earnings and investments
of the accumulated moneys unemployed before the building operations began.
51
Cincinnati Astronomicai, Socikty
In order to make further financial provision for the cwin|)Ktii m of tlic
building-, the Association, at a special meeting held December 24, 1880, author-
ized the Board of Real Estate Managers to issue bonds of the Chamber of
Commerce to an amount of $150,000 to bear four per cent interest, redeem-
able after ten years, and payable in twenty years from date of issue, rnder
this authcjrity, the bonds were issued, bearing date January 1, 1888, and w ere
sold at par, yielding $150,000, and accrued interest. The bonds were issued in
denominations of $500 each, signed by Levi C. Goodale, President, and W il-
liam R. Hutton, Secretary, and bore the countersignature of Henry C. Irner
as the Trustee, to whom the mortgage upon llu- C'li.iiuher of Commerce build-
ing ;ind lot, was executed, as security for the holders of the bonds.
While by the issuance of the bonds, sufficient funds were raised to practi-
cally COm[)lete the building, there yet remained the necessity (^f meeting the
cost of carxing and furnishings, which had not been included in the original
estimates; and to provide for this emergency the Board of Real Estate .Man-
agers, together with the President and Vice-Presidents, were authorized in
March. 1889, to negotiate loans of $75,000, which was known as the I'"lo;iting
Debt.
Additional to the foregoing resources, the building fund was further
increased by a bequest of $5,000 from the estate of the late James A. Frazer,
a \'alued member of the Chamber and a leading merchant of our city. This was
held in trust until the building was begun, and yielded $6,661.35. Mr. Frazer
died July 22, 1879. in recognition of his public spirit and generosity, the
Board of Directors, in 1881, procured a life-sized portrait painting of him,
which for thirty years adorned the walls of the Chamber, it was destroyed
by the fire of January 10, 1911. A similar portrait of Josiah Lawrence, a char-
ter member of the Chamber of Commerce of 1839, and a prominent merchant
and manufacturer of his day, which also hung in the Ivxchange Hall for many
years, was seriously damaged by the fire.
I'rior to this period of financial success, which we have here briefly
re\ iewed, the question of finances and the failures to raise sufificient funds for
the purposes of erecting a building, had been for years the main cause of
repeated discouragement. In the year 1868 a subscription fund was started,
with the ever-present hope of a new building in view, when the aggregate of
$100,000 was subscribed, and here the project was temporarily dropped.
Again in 1869, when the Chamber was rendered homeless by fire, a new
l)uilding was agitated, and a subscription list opened that reached the hand-
some total of $225,000, to which the Chamber of Commerce itself sul)scrihed
$20,000, but this also failed for want of further support.
During the period immediately after the Chamber had purchased the Post-
office property there were several unsuccessful attempts to improve the
financial status, in \-iew of the approaching necessity ot providing funds to
meet the payment of the Ijalance of the contract when it should become due
the Government. In April, 1879, a j)lan was devised for the soliciting of sub-
scriptions from members in amounts not less than $100, each member so con-
tributing to be entitled to an annual rebate of $6 on his dues to the Chamber,
but this plan did not meet with general approval. Another plan was devised
in 1881 whereb}- it was sought to raise additional funds to pay for the Post-
office lot by a form of assessment against each active member, the amount of
$2.50 monthly for a period of eighteen months, but this plan was voted down
by the Association ; and thus it was one failure after another, until the cer-
tificate plan of March 14, 1882, was established and led to ultimate financial
success.
52
History of Chambkr of Commkrck Building
The Competition for Plans.
The securing of designs ami plans lor the lunliling was accomplished by
a conipetitii:>n. governed by uniform speciticatiuns and rec|uirements. Six
architects, all eminent in the profession, were selected and invited hy the
Board of Real Estate Managers to submit plans, for which comjiensation was
made. The selected architects were James W. McLaughlin, .'^anniel llanna-
ford, and A. C. Nash, of Cincinnati; II. H. Richardson, of Brocikline, Mass.;
George B. Post, of Xew York City, and Burnham & Root, of Chicago, to each
of whom $500 was to be paid. Architects from (ithcr cities were admitted to
the competition U])on the same terms and conditions as the selected architects,
with the exception that they were not to be compensated for the ])lans thus
I ( oiir/rsv of Mrs. II. C. Lrnrr]
H. H, Kii-haril-on
O. Von Mohl Pitts H.Burt Eilw . Giiepiier W in.Wortliiiistoii K. J. Hortoii M r. Sliepli'V. Ho.~tiiii
\V.\V. Taylor A. . I. Clark Reubeti H. Wardor Sir A. T."i;oshom
Henry C. (Truer Leopold Markbreit Herman (i<»epi>er .Uihn Chtireh
Henry P. Bnyileii .lohn L. stettinius ciKi-. L. Miti-hell .lohn V. Li wi-
Richardson with Cincinnati friends at the "Zoo" Club House. Annual dinner of
the Hengstenberg Lunch Table, in May, 1885.
submitted, unless selected as the most meritoricius. These architects who
entered the competition were Charles Crapse}-, I'Mwin Anderson, ami 11. E.
Siter, of Cincinnati ; Samuel J. F. Thayer, F. M, Clark, .\. C. l-"\ erett, and E. M.
Wheelwright, all of Boston: Bruce Price, of Xew N'ork City, and .\1. ]■'.. Beebe
& Son, of Buffalo, N. Y.
53
Cincinnati Astroxomkai. Socikty
5*
History of Chambkr of Commkrce Building
There were in all thirteen separate sets of designs and plans entered in
the competitiiin, which clijsed June 1, 1883, of which number two were juint
designs, one submitted by Messrs Anderson and Siter, of Cincinnati, and the
other by Messrs. Everett and Wheelwright, of Boston. All of these designs
were of great merit and uriginality, and, including the successful Richardson
design, were displayed on the floor of "Change f<ir the inspection of members
and citizens.
The scheme and scope of the ci.impetition is expressed in the published
circular issued by the Board of Real Estate Managers, under date December
17, 1884, from which the following extracts are taken.
Besides the general conditions already mentioned, the circular pruxidcil
that the designs submitted shall embrace ground and floor plans, elevations
of three sides of l;)uilding, longitudinal and transverse sections, scale j/^-inch
to the foot, the drawings to be in black lines without shading or coloring.
"Each design must provide for the construction of a building of
fire-proof materials of the most improved kind (except doors, door and
window frames and flooring may be of wood and iron shutters may
be dispensed with), and must include all modern conveniences.
"The total construction, including sidewalks, heating and ventila-
tion and elevator machinery and appliances, must not e.Kceed $500,000.
"The main hall to be as large as possible after reserving space for
corridors, offices and other supplemental rooms. The size of the main
hall is of the first importance.
"All architects who intend to enter into competition must notify
the Clerk of the Board of such intention, on or before the 15th day of
January, 1885, and all designs must be placed under seal in the hands
of the Clerk of the Board, on or before the 1st day of June, 1885, when
the designs will be opened and compared.
"Each design must bear some distinctive mark that will not indi-
cate the name of tlie person submitting it and shall be accompanied by
a sealed envelope bearing the same mark and containing the name of
the author, to be opened only after the Board shall have canvassed
the merits of all designs submitted and made its decision as to which
one is the most satisfactory.
"An explicit description of the proposed building must accompany
each design stating materials to be used, with such other information
as will enable the Board to obtain trustworthy estimates of the cost of
construction and must include a detailed estimate of the cost by tlie
author of the design."
In defining the question of compensation, the circular says:
"If any design submitted shall be approved and adopted by the
Board as satisfactory, tlie person suljmitting the same shall receive, in
lieu of the $500, hereinbefore provided, tlie sum of $2,000 therefor,
or at the option of the Board, he sliall i)e appointed Architect of tlic
building. Should the successful competitor be appointed Architect of
the Iniilding, he shall be paid for performing the duties incident to that
office, the compensation usually paid according to the Rules of the
American Institute of Architects."
The circular closes with this paragraph :
"Except as suggested in the foregoing, the Board of Real Estate
Managers has avoided forming any plan of its own as to the proposed
building, and has no suggestion to make. It prefers to leave the whole
subject to the untrammeled taste and intelligence of the competing
architects. In comparing designs and in reaching a conclusion as to
their relative merits, consideration will be principally given to the
quality, size, appearance and appropriate character of the building for
the purposes for which it is intended; together with its cost and the
opportunities afforded for rentals in the parts not required for tlie
uses of the Chamber of Commerce. The Board will be glad to confer
with any architect intending to submit a design, but such conference
is not obligatory on the part of architects."
55
ClN'CIXXATl ASTRONOMIC.M, SoClKTY
The Richardson Design Selected.
'JMic sck-ctctl ami siK-ccssful design was that sul)niiltcd liy 11. 11. Richard-
son, of Brookline, Mas.s., one of the most renowned and distinijuished archi-
tects of the profession. The selection of the Richardsdii design attracted
considerable professional interest thrcin,<;hiuu the i'ciuiitr\ in architectural
circles, and the buildinj^-, when completed, was the subject dI pictorial articles
and critical study by well-known writers on art and architecture. Of this
design we will let Mr. Richardson himself speak. l''rom a letter to the Board
of Real Instate Managers, which accompanied Mr. Richardson's design and
])lan, in explanation anil analysis of it, we cjuote the following extracts:
Early Stage of Construction, 1887, Showing Great Derricks.
■■>!. riniln.l
"Tlie plan of the building is strictly utilitarian, the aim being to
obtain the greatest practical advantages for its distinctive purposes
that can be had within reasonable limits of outlay. In considering
what is reasonable in this respect, the structure has been regarded as
one of permanent character, and the probal)ilities of an enlarged popu-
lation and an advancing standard of civilized requirement have not
liecn overlooked.
■'.\s to light, tlic object has been to make as large window space
as shall be consistent with due stren.gth of walls, and liy resorting to
special expedients, of which the result will be that the great hall and
all the ofticcs receive Hoods of light, while not a single room in the
building lacks direct ligiu througliout the outer walls, in excess of
ordinary rules.
"As to architectural effect, with the atmospheric difticulties of
the locality in view, the design lias been to provide a building the char-
acter of which should depend on its outlines, on the massing and
accentuation of the main features representing its leading purposes,
and on the relation of the openings to the solid parts. Although,
under your requirement, as great preponderance of openings is neces-
sary, the intention has been to produce that sense of solidity requisite
in dignified, monumental work, l)y a careful study of the piers and by a
perfectly quiet and massive treatment of the wall surfaces.
56
History of Chambkr of Commfrcf. Bi-ri.Dixr,
"The construction is fire-proof througliont. The outer walls are
of Longmeadow brown stone, backed with lirick, except in tlic l)ase-
ment. where the walls are of solid red granite.
"A free treatment of Romanesque has lieen followed throughout
as a style especially adapted to the requirements of a large civic Iniild-
ing: for while it maintains great dignity, together with a strong sense
of solidity, it lends itself at the same time most readily to the require-
ments of utility, especially in the matter of light. To strengthen this
feeling of dignity, and to express the civic character of the building,
the corners have been emphasized, and a monumental treatment fol-
lowed throughout. The drawings are so complete that a further
description of the exterior seems unnecessary.
"An alternative design is submitted whicli has practically the
same arrangement throughout as the first design. This design does
away with the round towers on the corners, and lirings the walls out
to tiie limit of the lot. By this means the area of the great hall is
increased, giving with its lobliy an area i>f 11.184 square feet."
(,. (lurii, I'holo.]
Construction. Completion of the Great Arches, 1887-1888.
It is noted that Air. Richardson's design contemplated the use of Long-
meadow brown stone for tlie tip])er superstructure and red granite in the
basement walls, hut in the sul)>e(|ucnt sijeciticatii iiis X.h\> \va-~ ciianged and
granite was substituted for the exterior walls thrnughout, the "pink Milford"
granite being used instead of the brown stone. In the selection of the pink
Milford granite, the Board was assisted in reaching this decision by a trip to
Pittsburgh to view the new dainty l)iiildings in that cit_\- then being built of
this beautiful granite.
57
CiNCixxATi Astronomical Socikty
111 the altcriiati\ c ili'siLjn referred tn, the ecirners of tlie luiililini;' were
treated in a squared-tower etteet, hut it is known tliat Mr. 1\i>har(lsc)n'.s artistic
preference was for the design witli the round corners, and il was this design,
one of great heauty and liannoiiy, which was cliosen h_\ tiie Hoard of i'ieal
Estate Managers, June 8, 1885, hy unanimous vote.
In his address at the Dedicatory ICxercises, January 30, hSS'^ .\lr. I lenry C.
L'riier, in speaking of tlie Richardson design, said:
"In di-cidin.i; upun the character ijf the IniiUliiig, tlic matter of
first necessity was to provide for the utilitarian purposes to which
it was to be applied. Principal of these was a proper provision lor
a great hall for tlic daily sessions of the Association and apartments
for its other uses. .Spaces were also to lie provided from wliich rents
could be derived. After suitable provision for tliesc purposes had been
made in the design, it was the intention to construct a Ijuildin.y of
enduring materials, wdiich should assure it against the accidents tlial
ofttimes work to the destruction of l)uildings, and to build in such
massive mold that it should resist, as far as possible, the assaults of
time itself. Added to these considerations ivas the desire tliat in its
arcliitectural form and proportions tlie building should lie of noble
simplicity in outline, rich in adornment, suitalde and serviceable in
.genuine vital art. clear in its structural expression, and jiractically
representative of the uses and purposes of the organization wliich built
it, and that it should stand for all time as a suitable contributicju to
the architecture of the city from its chief commercial organization,
whose members had been so largely the cause of tlie city's prv)sperity —
a prosperity in which tliey have abundantly sliared.
"This was the problem to whicli the architect addressed himself
W'ith the enthusiasm and compelling will of genius. In conversation
he many times said to me that tlie designing of tliis building presented
to liim more interestin.g architectural features than had l)een in any
work which he had ever undertaken. He had. he said. desi,gned many
buildin.gs for public use and for private use, but never had he had such
a task ))eforc him of joining those uses, and of constructing an edifice
which should not only be adapted to both, but which should show by-
its exterior its chief inner purpose, which was to be, as he expressed
it, the home of a great civic organization.
"How well he carried out these thoughts, and in what noble pur-
pose they have culminated, the liuilding itself will tell more eloquently
than can any human tongue long after we who today celeiirate its
completion by dedicating it to practical use shall have passed away."
A Short Description of the Building.
A descriptioti of the Intilding from the purely artistic or technical stand-
point will be left to the pen of tlie j)rofessional architect, and in the limits of
this sketch we will make but brief reference to the physical structure, as it
a])peals to the layman and the ])assing admirer.
In its general treatment and etteet it was massive and monumental, with
outer walls of great depth, built of rough hewn granite, rising eight stories
above the street le\el. and terniin;iting in a tall-])ointed roof of red tile, whicli
ascended sharply to a height of 75 feet above the eaves, the rounded tower
ctifects at the four corners of the building being treated iti the same manner
with lower conical roofs. Rising above the cornice were five dormer win-
dows on the Vine Street front, and a single and larger dormer window
on each of the Fourth Street and Burnet Street fronts. The dominating
feature (jf the exterior of the bnililing was the clusters or arcades of .grace-
fully arched windows, three stories in height, a group of five on the Vine
Street elevation of the building, and a group of three each on the Fourth
Street and Btirnet vStreet elevations. These sujierli arched windows were
surmotmted by a dotil.ile story of smaller arched windows, jdaced in pairs over
58
History of Chamber of Com.mkrck Brii.inxG
each of the main arches lielow. and were Hanked (in either side l)y tlie niunded
corner towers, the walls of which, from the second to the fifth floor level, were
void of window openings — a feature which lent to the whole an imposing efifcct
of strength and dignity. The granite of which the building was constructed
was from the quarries of Xorcross Brothers, and was known technically as
Worcester granite, or "pink Milford," owing to its delicate tinge of that color
on its freshlx" cut faces. The building was richly embellished with i-arvings
above the lines of the second floor, mainly on the arches and capitals of the
large window clusters on the Fourth Street and \'ine Street elevations, and also
on the smaller window o])enings above the fifth floor. The large durmer win-
dows on the Fourth Street and Burnet Street fronts were ornamented with
eagles carved in granite, two on each dormer. The stone carving was done by
Evans & Tombs, of Boston {sub-contracti>rs), from original designs by the
architects, and cost in the aggregate $29,780.60. But a description of this
kind, and indeed even photographs of the building, give but an inadequate
and superficial idea of its quiet beauty and impressiveness. It should be seen
to be fidly grasped and appreciated.
Of its interior we will speak but briefly. Below the Fourth Street level
there was a basement, divided into two large rooms, the front room extending
under the Fnurth Street sidewalk, known as the Restaurant, and the rear one,
known as the Bank Room, facing on \'ine and Btirnet Streets. Below this
was the subbasement, in the south half of which was located the power and
electric plant. The main entrance to the building was at the extreme west
of the Fourth Street front, a few steps above the sidewalk, and (ipened into a
roomy corridor 22 feet wide, from the center of which rose the main staircase,
and on either side of which were located the elevators. This main corridor
ran throtigh to Burnet Street by a descending stairway, and was intersected
midway by a broad corridor leading from the \ ine Street entrance of the
building. The first floor was divided into two large rooms, one north nf the
Vine Street entrance and one to the south, both i <i \\hich had interior connec-
tions into the main corridors. On the second flnur v.-as the E.xchange Hall,
the meeting place for the daily sessions of the Merchants' Exchange. This
great room was approximately 65 feet wide by 135 feet long, and a height of
50 feet from floor to ceiling, and to this floor space was added an entrance
lobby or approach 22 by 33 feet. (Jpening frt)m the Exchange Hall, and con-
necting with it, were the executive offices of the Chamber, committee rooms,
lavatories, cloak room, etc., and o\erlooking the whole, through an arcade
of polished granite arches, was a ptiblic, or \isiti.irs', galler_\-. Immediately
over the Exchange Hall were three floors of oftices, frmn the fifth to the sev-
enth floor, inclusive — scxenteen moms on each flcicir, arranged arotmd a
central area or light well, and aboxe these the attic le\el. j\ uniciue feature
of the building was the method <if suspending the three upper floors, including
the ceiling of the Exchange Hall, from iron trusses — fourteen in number —
which carried the interior C(_in>truction of these floors. By this means the
grand Exchange Hall was kejjt cntirelx' free of cohunns or other obstructions.
On top of these trusses, \\hich spanned the building from east to west, was
built the iron construction on which rested the tile roof. The dormer windows
admitted light to the attic, and on the west slope of the roof was a large
glass skylight.
59
CiNXINXATI ASTROXOMICAL SoCIKTY
An open area or li,L;lit well, facing to the west, apprnximatin.i;- 22 l)y 40
feet in size, admitted li,i;lu and air tn the interior ronnis and stairway halls
above the frinrth floor.
The l)nildini4' \\;is steam-heated and ])rovided with an elaborate s\steni
ol \entilation. operated liy ;i lartje rotary Ian in the attic dri\en by an electric
motor, which forced fresh heated air thronfjjh ducts to the main parts of the
building-, 'IMie outside air su])]die(l to the fan was cleaned and i)uriiied by
passing tliron!,di large cloth bags and tlien heated o\ er steam coils.
The Supervising Architects — The Construction of the Building.
The tirni of ."^heijley, Knt.an (!<: Coolidge, of i'.oston, all of whom were con-
nected \vith Air. Richardson's office, succeeded to his business after his death
in April, 1886, and were ap]iointed the official architects of the building, to
carry out Mr. Richardson's ])lan.
[Photo, by Rombiuh & Croene]
Entrance to Bank on Fourth Street, August, 1906.
Mr. .\. I ». l'",lzncr. of L'incinii.ati, at that time in the ser\ice of .\Ir. Rich-
ardson, had much to do with the pre])aration of the working plans and was
appointed by him to sn])er\ ise the erection ol the building. Ujion completion
of the foundations .\lr. h'Jzner decided to enter U])on the practice of his pro-
fession, and was succeeded li_\- .Mr. I). C. Hale, who as representative of the
architects was in constant attendance u])on the work until its coni])letion.
t)0
History of Chamber of Commerck Buildin'g
On the completion of the working plan^ and specifications in January,
1886, proposals for the erection of the biiihling as an entirety and for the dif-
ferent branches of the work were in\ited. and opened May 17, 1886. but as
the lowest of these largely exceeded the estimates, the bids were deemed
unsatisfactory by the Board and were rejected. That the work might jiroceed
without further delay, bids were taken for the excavations and foundations,
including the demolition of the old Post Office building. This wurk was
awarded to Patrick Murray, a local contractor, at SviO.ZSl, which aniovuit was
later reduced by changes in the specifications.
While this work was progressing, proi)osals were again in\ited, and
received December 21, 1886, for the erection of the entire superstructure above
the foundations, and the contract for this work, not including the stone carv-
ing, was awarded under date of Januar\- 1. 1887, tn tlie firm of Norcoss Broth-
ers, of Worcester, Mass., at their bid of $526,446, the contract calling for the
completion of the building in eighteen munths fmni the date they were given
possession.
Main Entrance. To Corridors, Stairways and Elevators.
The active work on the foundations began May 31. 1886, with the demo-
lition of the abandoned Post Office building. This work and the laying of
the massive foundations were completed and ready for the superstructure
about May 1, 1887, when the contractors for this work took charge. The
corner stone was laid June 18, 1887, and fri.im tliat date the work atlvanced
rapidly, and the building was completed and thrown open to the members
and the public on the occasion of its dedication, January 29 and 30, 1889.
The period of actual construction of the building and fotmdations approxi-
mated two years and eight months. There were no serious delays or inter-
ruptions on account of strikes or other disturbances.
6i
CixcixxATi Astronomical Socikty
The Corner Stone — The Copper Box.
The corner stone of the building, aruinul wliich is clustered the seuliincnt
and traditions of the structure, was laid on Saturday, June 18, 1887, at 11 :3(1
a.m. There were no fcjrmal exercises prepared for the occasion. In the
absence from the city of President nicken!("ii)er b'ir^t \ ice-President Levi C.
Goodale officiated as rejiresentative of tlie P.nard of Directors, and Messrs.
llenrv C. Trncr and janu- M. ('.lemi, nicnibcrs (if the Real Estate i'.d.-ird,
and Colonel Sidney D. .Maxwell. Superintendent c.f the Chamber of Cnni-
merce, were the of^ciats in attenrlance.
The corner stone was laid in the extericir wall of the round corner ot the
building, facing Fourth and \'ine Streets, and immediately under the -.ill
stone of the center window, and was just above the sidewalk Ie\el. The stone
measured 4 feet long, 2 feet 8 inches high, and 2 feet 8 inches in the wall, and
into the top of the stone a hole was cut, 14 inches square by 10 inches deep,
to receive the copper box. On the outside face of the stone was a chiseled
panel, into which the date had l)een cut in Kouian lettering.
MHIMPii." " . --W: .'■ l*dir:^
aiP-^.» -^j
^moB(M
urU^^p
H^Q
ivw-'i^HJittHil
^m
J^^^te^Hi^^t.strf-'tM^^iAtflMiHftdidH
1^^^^^
^!ss^^^^*^^
^Hfli^^
The Cornerstone.
Following the tire of lanuary 10. 1911, the Chamber of Commerce ]iarted
with its ownershij) in the pro]ierty. and the building was demolished to make
way for another strncture to be erected upon the site b}- the Union Central
Fife Insurance Company, into which new building the Chamber of Commerce,
bv virtue of an agreement with th.at company dated Julv 15, 1911, took per-
manent quarters tjn the second and third floors, under a form of lease termin-
able at the o])tion of either ]:)arty to the agreement at tlie end of any ten-year
period, upon the pa\nieiit by the lnsur;ince Company to the Chamber of
Commerce the sum of SOOO.OOO, the lixed value oi the leasehold.
']"he corner stone was removed from the walls of the old building Thurs-
day laniiarv 18, 1912. and the copper bo.K imbedded in it for nearly twenty-
live years was taken out intact. The box measures 13j2 by 13>i by 9)-2
inches, and contains annual reports and ])rinte(l documents of the Chamber,
records of an historical character, jiapers and documents of the time relating
to the commercial and linancial ;icti\ities of the city.
62
HisTORV 01-" Chambkk (IF C(iMMi:i«'K BriLiHXG
To preserve this xaluahle relic tdr all time, the eci])per Ixix, with its con-
tents tindisturbed, was subsequently placed in a niche built in the walls of the
present Exchange Hall of the Chamber of Commerce, cm the second floor of
the new building of the Union Central Life Insurance Ccim[)any. where it
now reposes. Its resting place is marked with a brdiize tablet apprdpriately
inscribed.
[Phnln. by L.mglfy]
Bronze Tablet on wall of Exchange Hall. Contains Copper Bo.\ from old Corner -stone.
Design by C. J. Barnhorn.
The Cincinnati Price Current. Mr. Charles B. .Murra\. eilitur .and pro-
prietor, in its weekly issue of Januar_\' 24, 1889. in cunnnentinL; upnn the then
approaching dedication of the building, said :
"Tlie membership of the Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce may
congratulate itself on securing so desirable a place for its business
purposes, as also upon the comparative ease with which the necessary
funds were secured, and tlie moderate encumbrance of indebtedness
remaining to burden the future. Not only is the building an eminently
desirable one for its utility of arrangement, but it is a grand monument
of the progressive enterprise of a thrifty community, and as such
it will lie contemplated with special pride tiy every citizen. The mem-
bership of the Chamber represents every interest of importance in this
great cominercial and manufacturing center, not alone confined to
industrial callings, but embracing the political and economic elements,
art and music, and everything that goes to make it a thoroughly liberal
and representative institution in the community."
63
CiN'cixNATi Astronomical Socikty
l-'oUowing arc the proi^Tains of the dcdicati iry exercises:
Tuesday Evening, January 29, 1889, 8 to 11 O'Clock.
Pronu-nade Concert by tlie C'iiicinnati t'lraiid ( )rchestra, Michael Brand,
Conductor, lleld in the I'.xchan.i,^' ll;ill of the New lUiilding.
Wednesday Morning, January 30, 1889.
Procession of Alenihers frcni I lie ( )ld Exchange to the N'ew Pinilding,
lU O'clock A. :\I.
Musical Program hy the Orchestra, from 10 to 11 O'Clock A.M.
Formal Exercises of Dedication, held in l-'xchange llall.
at 11 O'clock A. Al.
Call to Order By President Thomas Morrison.
.Music.
Prayer By Rev. B. W. Chidlaw. D.D.
Music.
Address B_\- llem-y C. I'rner, on hehalf nf ihe Board
of l-ieal Estate Managers, on |)eli\ering the Keys of the New Building.
Music.
l-vesponse and Reception of the Ke_\s
B\- Thomas .Morrison, President of the Chamljer of Coiumerce.
Dedicatory Hymn (wurds composed by Col. Sidney D. .Maxwell),
.\ir, "Old Hundred" Orchestra and Audience.
( )ration By General I-'.d ward E. Noyes.
Music.
Address of Welcoiue to \'isiting Representatives from i >ther Commercial
Bodies B\ Ih in. Amor ."^m it h, jr.. .\la\ <>r of Cincinnati.
Music.
Addresses by X'isiting Delegates.
Music.
Adjournment.
Wednesday Evening, January 30, 1889.
Banquet at Scottish Rite Cathedral, 8 O'Clock ]'. M.
Program of Toasts.
Toastmaster, C. M. HoUoway.
The Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce
Response by President Thomas Morrison
The Northwest Response by Mr. John Johnston, of Milwaukee
The South Response by Mr. George S. Kinney, of Nashville
The West Response by Mr. Charles H. Dodd, of Portland, Oregon
New York Response by Mr. B. S. Clark, of New York
Chicago. .Response by Mr. George F. Stone, Secretary, Chicago Board of Trade
Baltimore Resiionsc by Mr. William S. Young, of Baltimore
St. Louis Response by .Mr. .Alex. Euston, of St. Louis
After the regular program of toasts, Air. J. C. Kl.itider. being called upon,
extended greetings froiu the city of Philadel])hia. and there were also brief
informal remarks by General Alichacl Ryan, lion. Samnel E. Hunt, Ex-Gov-
ernor R. B. Bullock of Georgia, Col. L. C. \\'eir. Chairman Banquet Com-
mittee, and Air. E. N. Roth, of the St. Nicholas 1 Intel, the b.-mquet caterer.
64
History of Chamber of Commkrce Building'
The Dedication of the Building.
O God. our Father, now we raisu
Our hearts to Thee, in grateful praise,
For all the mercies from above,
Which Thou hast sent us in Thy love.
In all this house, help us to see
How Thou dost frame our destiny:
And let Thy benediction come.
And rest upon this business home.
Within these walls of strength and grace,
Alay honor find a dwelling place;
May justice reign; may truth abide;
May right prevail and wisdom guide.
Hear us. our Father, as we pray
For blessings on our work to-day;
Bless membership and guest, and lie
Our help throughout eternity.
Words Composed by Sidney D. Maxwell.
Exchange Floor, 1890.
lCuurli-s\ of Anu-rkiiii Ai-chiU,t. .V. I'.l
The dedicatory exercise.'^ which marked the completion and opening of
the new Iniilding began with a promenade concert and reception to members
of the Chamber of Commerce and invited guests on the evening of Tuesday,
January 29, 1889, and continued the next day, Wednesday. January 30, with
formal ceremonies of dedication, which took place in the Exchange Hall,
commencing at 11 a.m., this having been preceded by a procession of mem-
bers who marched from former quarters in the Pike Building, headed b\- a
band of music, to the new building. The dedication concluded the s;ime
evening with an elaborate banquet held in the large dining hall of the Scot-
tish Rite Cathedral, on Broadway.
While marked with simplicity and dignity, the dedication of the building,
taken in its entirety, was withotit question the most elaborate and imposing
function of this character which had ever taken place in the history of Cin-
cinnati. At the evening reception and promenade concert a large and notable
gathering of people was present. On this memoraljle occasion the gre;it
65
CixcixNATi Astronomical Socikty
buildiiii^ was lij^hled frDiu within l)y its Ihousaiuls of electric lii,rhts, and with-
out by reflectors and calcium lights placed on the surroundinsf buildincfs. The
entire arrans^emcnts were admirably planned and executed ; the interior deco-
rations and illnminatit)n of the fi;raiul Exchange Hall were brilliant and beauti-
fid. It was an event in the commercial and social life of Cincinnati, a scene of
great animation and beauty, and one which was deepl\- impressed U])on the
memory of those who were present.
The singing of the hymn was an iniprcssi\c e\ent. The air was familiar
to all. It was a grand chorus of two thousand male voices, such an one as is
heard but once in a lifetime. A melody, made sacred by many generations'
use, not only filled the spacious hall and its approaches, but swept in great
volume to the crowded thoroughfares below, and the passing throng paused
to listen, and the windows of the adjacent buildings were suddenly peopled
with interested hearers, as the business men of a great city solemnly recog-
nized God in his dealings with men, and invoked his blessing on the work of
their hands ami <in themselves.
1 lidniiiril. 'i'tmcs ."^Inr.]
Rostrum of 'Change, Chas. W. Roth, Presiding. Lincoln Celebration, Feb. 12, 1909.
The declicatorv oratii.in (leli\ere(l by General Ivdward 1'". Noyes, of Cin-
cinnati, formerly Governor of Ohio — distinguished soldier and diplomat — was
of exceptional beauty and eloquence. His ojjening remarks with reference
to the building and its destiny, had a singular a])pri ipri.nteness to our subject,
and we c]Uote them in full :
"Wc are assembled to formally dedicate to the uses for wliich
it was intended this magnificent Palace of Industry — this Temple of
Trade and Commerce — to be devoted henceforth to the business inter-
ests of Cincinnati. We rejoice in a buildin.a; ample in its proportions,
massive in its structure, perfect in its adaptation, beautiful and .i?rand
in architecture — at once a monument to its patrons and builders and a
pride to all our citizens.
"May the hand of time be tenderly laid upon it, and the fingers of
the years touch it trently; may no earthquake shatter its walls; may no
violence assail it; may it be spared the consuming fires; and may it
remain a joy and a blessin.g to the .generations whose Inisy feet will
pass in and out its portals long after we who are here today shall have
been called to rest with the fathers."
The dedication of the building was attended by rejaresentatives from the
leading Chambers oi Commerce and Boards of Trade, and by delegates from
cities and States, besides many eminent and distinguished guests. Numerous
letters and telegrams of congratulation were received, froin the President of
the L'nited States, the President and X'ice-President-elect. Cabinet members,
66
History ok Chamkek ok Commkrck Biiujixc
Senators. Congressmen, (rovernors of several Stales. Ivxcliange officials,
absent friends, and distinguished civilians from all parts of the comitry.
Great credit must be gixen to the Executive Committee in general charge
of the dedication, as well as to the sul)-c(immittees, fcir the success and eclat
of this notable occasion. The Executive Cnmmittee was composed cif the
following members: Charles 11. Flach, Chairman.
L. H. Brooks. Luther Parker.
.\. T. Cidshorn. Thomas Morrison.
W illiam Henr\' Davis. Lowe Emerson.
Charles Fleischmann.
C. M. Holloway.
R. .\. Dvkins.
S. F. Dana.
Earl \\'. Stimscin.
L. C. Weir.
M. E. Ingalls.
Richard Smith.
Henrv C. L'rner.
Richard Dymond.
Brent .Arnold.
Sidney D. ATaxwell.
Courtcsij. D,ni. li. a,
'Change as seen from Visitors' Gallery
Looking toward the South Windows. About 1905.
While niit specially emphasized, there was a dual character tn the dedi-
catory exercises in that, as well as celebrating the comjiletion and opening of
the new building, they also marked the virtual comjdetion of the fiftieth aimi-
versary of the founding of the Chamber of Cnmmerce, which traces its origin
to the'year 1839.
A special feature, planned by the Incal railroad companies for the enter-
tainment of the invited guests and members, was an excursion over the local
terminals and around the city to points of interest on the various lines, and
included a visit to Covington and Newport, recrossing the river over the newly
finished bridge of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway, thence to Ivorydale and
return U_) the city.
67
ClN'CIXNATI ASTKONO.MICAI. SoClKTV
|K. jS. Corel
John Carlisle.
Elected 1883. Re-elected 1886.
Served seven years.
I'hiito by Landy]
John Kyle "Captain"'.
Elected 1884. Re-elected 1888.
Served to date of death, March 20,
1889. Total service, four years,
six months.
W. W. Peabody.
Pres., 1883-4, 1884-5. Pres.Ex-officio
of Board. Served two years.
The Board of Real Estate Managers.
Tlie ISoard of Real J'^stalc .Managers wa.s
iTcalfd under the cude of Jj_\-I<aws of the
Chamber of Cmnmeree adopted March 1.5.
1SS.1. The Board was composed of five mem-
)ers, and included the President of the Cham-
)er, whii was ex-ofiicio the ])residing officer
I 'I tlu- r.iiard during his term of office, and four
"ther nieniliers. elected for a term of four }ears.
iiiK- inenil)(,r being elected annually In lill
\acancies as they occurred.
To this P>oard was entrusted ami delegated
(By-Paws, Article \'I), the
"General snpcrvisii)n, manaMCiuent and
control of all matters pertaining to the real
estate that is or may l)c owned Ijy the Asso-
ciation and the buildiiifr to lie erected there-
on (except, after constrnction. snch parts
i>f said bnilding as may be occupied by the
Association for its own uses), and of tlie
Real l*'.statc and Building Fund."
It was further enipi iwered
".At its own discretion to procure and
a|)prove plans lor. and estimates of the cost
I if, the construction of the bnilding to be
erected upon the real estate that is or may
be owned by the .Association."
And if the estimate of the cost of the btiild-
ing exceeded the amount of the Building l-'und
it was the duty of the Board to devise some
tinancial ])lan for raising the aninunt necessary
anil submit the same fur the appro\;il (if the
Assi iciatii 'ii.
In other words, the entire cuntrol and man-
agement of the real estate, the securing of
plans and selection of an architect, the making
of contracts, the erection nf the building, the
tinancial affairs of this department, and the
])ermanent care of the structure after its erec-
tion were all vesteil in the Board of Real Estate
Al.anagers. Each member of the Board was
tmder bond in the sum of $50,000 and served
without compensation.
.Vt the annual election in September, 1883,
the first Board of Real Estate ^Managers to
take hold under the newly adopted By-Laws
was elected. Tliis an<l the subsequent Boards
from 1883-84 to 1890-91. inclusive, were com-
l)osed as follows :
68
History of Chambi-r of Commkrce Building
The Members of the Board by Years.
1883-84
W. \V. Pcab.Kly. President.
Henry C. L'nier (fi:>ur years).
John CarUsle (three years).
A. Hickenlooper (two years).
Seth C. Foster (one year).
1884-85
W. W. Pealiody, President.
John Kyle (four years).
Henry C. Urner (three j-ears).
John Carlisle (two years).
A. Hickenlnnper (one 3'ear).
1885-86
Edwin Stevens, President.
James M. (ilenn (four years).
John Kyle (three years).
Henry C. Urner (two years).
John Carlisle (one j'ear).
1886-87
A. Hickenlooper. President.
John Carlisle (four years).
James M. Glenn (three years).
John Kyle (two years).
Henry C. Urner (one year).
1887-88
Levi C. Goodale, President.
Henry C. Urner (four years).
John Carlisle (three years).
James M. Glenn (two years).
John Kyle (one year).
1 888-89
Thomas Morrison, President.
*John Kyle (four years).
Henry C. Urner (tliree years).
John Carlisle (two years).
James M. (ilenn (one year).
1889-90
Lee H. Brooks, President.
Samuel Bailey, Jr. (four years).
C. M. Holloway (three years).
Henry C. Urner (two years).
John Carlisle (one year).
t 1890-91
Lowe Emerson. President.
John Grubb (four years).
Samuel Bailey, Jr. (three years).
C. M. Holloway (two years).
Henry C. Urner (one year).
*John Kyle died March 2(1, 1889,
C. M. Holloway elected to lill the
vacancy April 23, 1889.
fBoard of Real Estate Managers
abolished May 20. 1891.
6q
1 H'-njiimin Stitilin]
Henry C. Urner.
Elected 1883. Re-elected 1887.
Served eight years.
[ Hi'ujiiyniti Studio]
James M. Glenn.
Elected 1885. Served four years.
Andrew Hickenlooper.
President, 1886-1887. Elected 1883.
Served two years. President Ex-
officio for a year. Total service of
three years.
ClXClXXATI ASTKONOMK'AU SllCIKTV
[ liiniiimi)! Stlliiio]
Captain C. M. Holloway,
Elected April 23, 1889, to fill vacancy
caused by death of John Kyle.
Served two years, five months.
John Grubb.
Elected 1890, four-year term. Serv-
ed one year, to the time when the
Board was abolished.
Edwin Stevens.
President, 1885-1886. President Ex-
officio for the year.
After the liuililiuL;' was ci uniilcU-d and U-n-
aiitcd, it was the opinion of the members of
the J'.oard of 1890-91 that its mission haviny
been fidTdled. and its duties performed, there
was no lonj^'er an_\' imjjortant reason for the
further enntinuance nf the i'mard d Keal
Instate Manaffers, iK.tw ith^landinj^- llie \>y-
Law.s gave the I'.M.ird a iiermanent existence.
Ibnvever, on its own reeommendation, the
.\ssociation, at a s|)ecial election held May 20.
1891. voted to amend the By-Laws, wherel)y
the P.oard of l\e;il l-'.statc Managers wa.s there-
after alnilislu'd and its ofliciai existence ended.
I )f the \ariou> Hoards of Real Estate Man-
agefN which served through the ])eriod of
nearly eight years, from ISS,^ to 1891, it is Imt
justice til reciird tlie iiuahiable ancl distin-
guislied serxices rendered the Cliamber of
Commerce by the officials and nieml)ers who
coiu])osed these Boards. 'i'Jieir i)ainstaking
and conscientious labors in the interest of the
Associatimi were marked witii rare fidelity and
de\-otiiin ti' the trusts and responsii)itities
which rested ii]iiin them.
in the exacting .-ind difficult work of the
Hoard, with its multiplicity of intricate details,
the greatest h.irmony and unanimity of
thougjtt and action prevailed. No body ot
men O'ldd lia\e been actuated by fmcr moti\es,
;ind none more loyal and <le\'oted to the work
which had l)een confided to them. They were
indeed wortlix' of the large measure of jiraise
and a])])recialion wliich they received.
('.i\ing ])ul)iic expression of its thanks and
appreciation of tlie great services of this Pxiard,
the Chamber of Commerce, at a special meet-
ing of the membership held .May 21. 1891,
adopted by unanimous vote the following pre-
amble and resolution:
iriiii-i'tis. The Cincinnati Chanilicr of
Commerce and Merchants' Exchange, ))y a
vote of tlie .Association on the 20th instant,
so amoiuU-d its By-La\ys as to terminate,
on its own recommendation, the existence of
the Board of Real Instate Managers; tlicre-
fore,
Resolved, That the Cincinnati Chamlicr
of Commerce and Merchants' Exchange de-
sires to publicly recognize the ability, fidel-
ity and courage, with which the various
Boards of Real Estate Managers, since tlie
organization of the same in 1883, have per-
formed their responsible, laborious and dili-
calc duties.
Rrsdivcd. That this .Association tenders
its profound thanks to Henry C. Urner, John
Carlisle, John Kyle, James M. Glenn, W. W.
I'eabody, .\. Hickcnlooper, Seth C. Foster,
Edwin Stevens. Levi C. Goodale, Thomas
Morrison, Lee H. Brooks, Charles M. Hol-
loway, Samuel Bailey. Jr.. Lowe Emerson
and John Crubb, who, either during the
entire existence of the Board, or in part,
have lieeii memluTS of the same; together
70
Hisnmv ok Chamukk oi' Commkucf. Builuinc
with Mr. George S. Bradbury, tlie cainiUIe
and faithful clerk of the Board, for the self-
sacrificing labors througii which this body
has been provided with a l)usincss lionic
W'hich, in its arcliitectural Ijeauty, usefulness,
and appointments, is consiiicuous among the
great commercial l)uililings ol the world.
The Personnel of the Board ; an Appreciation.
Of the personnel nf tjie Buard of Real
Estate Managers, most of whom have ended
their life's work, we make hrief nientiim,
mainly for the jnirpose of iloiiig honor to the
meinory of those members of the Iloanl whose
names are intimately associated with the his-
tory of the bnilding.
Conspicnous in the erection of the bnilding,
from its inception to its completion, stands
the figure of Henry C. Urner, who was a mem-
ber of the Board of Real Estate Atanagers dnr-
ing the entire period of its existence. From
the initial steps toward the erection of the
building, through years of uncertainty and dis-
couragement, Air. Urner was a loyal friend
and worker for the success of the enterprise.
When a fund was needed to erect the building,
after the Chamber had accpiired the site, it was
Mr. Urner's genius and resourceful mind
which deviserl and formtilated the financial
plan, by the issuance of meml)ership certili-
cates, which plan established a financial stand-
ing and iTiade possible the early completion of
the building.
Mr. Urner was a man of high ideals, of
cominanding ability and force, of rare artistic
temperament, and an earnest, aggressive work-
er in the many important duties and responsi-
bilities of the Board. He took a deep interest
and personal pride in the Chamber of Com-
merce Building, and brought to his task a lo^■e
and devotion to this great undertaking which
was so close to his heart. The name of Henry
C. Urner is indelilily written upon the reccjrds
of the Chamber of Cijmmerce and its building.
In fitting recognition of his distinguished
services to the Chamber, Mr. Urner was unani-
mously elected to honorary life membership
September 14, 1888, and in the issuance of
Certificates of Membershi]) in 1S82, which
formed the basis of the financial prograni
which he originated, he was presented \\ith
the first certificate issued under that system,
"Xumber 1," in appreciation of this \aluable
service.
Mr. Urner died A])ril 17, 190S. in the se\-
enty-ninth year of his age.
Mr. John Carlisle, who served as a niemhcr
of the Board of Real Estate Managers from its
organization in 1883 to 1890, a term of se\ en
years, through the active period of iirep;ir,-ition
Seth C. Foster.
Elected member of Board 1883.
Served one year, 1883-1884.
Levi C. Goodale.
President, 1887-1888.
President ex-officio for the year.
[ lifujtiwitl Stiiilio]
Lowe Emerson.
President, 1890-1891. President ex-
officio for one year.
Cincinnati Astronomical Socikty
;/• .1/ .s,,m.
Thomas Morrison.
President, 1888-1889. President ex-
officio for one year.
Lee H. Broolcs.
President, 1889-1890. President ex-
officio for one year.
I Bt'Jijiimitt ^ttiiiiv]
Samuel Bailey, Jr.
Elected 1889 for four years. Served
two years until the abolition
of the Board.
ami construction, was tlie titular Secretary of
the Board ilurint,^ that time. Mr. Carlisle was
a geiitlenian of ripe judgment, of the highest
business ability and qualifications, faithful to
his trust, an earnest, con.scientious worker in
this field of activity and usefulness. He was
highly esteemed and resjiected, and recognized
as a most valuable and efficient member of the
Board, (jreatly lamented by his friends and
associates, Mr. Carlisle died .\ugust 31, 1903,
aged 66 years.
Mr. James M. Glenn became a member of
liie Board of Real Estate Managers in Septem-
ber, 1885, and served with distinction for four
years, throughout the active period of the
intilding's construction to its final completion.
Mr. (ilcnn was an earnest, painstaking, indus-
trious menil)cr of the Board, who brought to
his work an enthusiasm and energy which was
inspiring. He was a man of unusual resource
and commanded a fund of technical and prac-
tical inforiuation of building affairs, which
pro\ed of great advantage and value in the
erection of the liuildiug. ]Mr. Glenn's services
to the Chaml)er and the Board were notable
and jiraiseworthy and reflected great credit
u|)on the Association as well as upon himself.
.\s a mark of gratitude and appreciation not
only for this ser\ice, but for a long and con-
spicuous identity with the affairs of the Cham-
ber and the city, he was elected in 1907 to
honorary life membership. Ripe in years,
greatly respected as a member and a citizen,
Mr. Glenn pas.sed away December 4, 1911, aged
82 years 8 months.
.\mong the members of the Board who
ser\ cd continuously during the active erection
of the building was Captain John Kyle, wdio
entered the Board in September, 1884, and
served through one term of four years and had,
been re-elected to a second term in Septeml)er,
1888. when he was taken away by death March
20. 1889. surviving but a few brief months after
the building was completed. Captain Kyle was
a sincere, able member of the Board and took
a just pride in the work to which he had been
called. He was a wise counsellor, a man of
fine business attainments, a loyal and faithful
friend of the Chamber, to which he rendered a
service worthy of deej) appreciation.
Of the other members of the Board, all of
whom served the Chamber of Commerce with
honor and distinction, we pay our tribute of
resjiect to the names of Andrew Hickenlooper,
Seth C. Foster. W. W. Peabody, Edwin Ste-
vens, Levi C. Goodale, Thomas Morrison, Lee
H. Brooks, Samuel Bailey. Jr.. C. M. Holloway,
Li_)we I'jnerson and John Grubb.
72
lo. \ju.t'i, rnuto.\
The Iron Framework Supporting the Roof. Rises 75 Feet Above the Granite Walls.
Iron Roof Trusses, From Which Three Floors Were Suspended.
Cincinnati Astkonomicai, Society
The Cost of the Building.
Contracts for Building and P^)undalions (Carving $29,780.60) $590,414.8o
Architect's Fees and Incidental Expenses 37,072.30
l'\irniture and Decorations (Sundry Contracts) 17,594.70
l'',lectric l,ii,dil I'lant and Wirin.tf of Buiidiuij: (Contract and ivxtras) 10,941 89
Cas and Electric l""i-xtures ( Contract and ICxtras ) 10,650.27
Cost of Building and I'.<|uipnient $672,674.05
Real Estate (Post Office Lot ) lOO-OOCUX)
Tcital Cost — Lot. r.uildinu and L(|nipnicnl $772,674.05
SI
^ff'^^^i'^"^"^^^^
^
\Plitjlo. by Longlcy. ion]
Fourth Street Window Arches, showing details of stone-carving.
LOCAL AND FOREIGH CONTRACTORS. SUB-CONTRACTORS, ETC.
Contractors — General Contractors, N'orcross Bros., Worcester, .Mass.; Excavating and
Foundations. Patrick Murray; Electric Light Plant and Wiring, Brush Electric Co., Cleve-
land; Gas and Electric Fixtures, Dodd, Werner iS; Co.; Furniture, Fixtures and Decoration,
Roht. Mitchell Furniture Co.; Carpets, Rugs, Curtains, John ShillitoCo.; Chairs, G. Henshaw
&: Sons; Stained Glass, \'ollmer iS; Tomoor; U. S. Mail Chute, Cutler Mfg. Co., Rochester, N'.V.
Sub-Contractors under Norcross Bros. Plumbing, Gasfitting, J. G. Murdock & Co.;
Marble \\ Ork, James McDonough, Joseph Foster; Plastering, Lawrence (Jrace; Passenger
Elevators, Hale Elevator Co., Chicago; Steam Heating, Ventilation, F. Tudor, Boston, Mass.
Boilers, McUvain & Spiegel; Furnaces, Murphy Iron VVorks, Detroit, Mich.; Pumps, Laidlaw
\- Dunn Co.; Sidewalks, Sidewalk Lights, Chas. Kuhl .Art. Stone Co.; Tiling (Floors), Eureka
Foundry Co.; Carving (.Stone and Wood), Evans tV Tombs, Boston, Mass.; Speaking Tubes,
Electric Bells, .\. Becker; Skylights, Witt iV Brown.
Sub-Contractors Who Furnished Material — Iron-Steel Work, Trusses, Carnegie Co.,
Pittsburg, Pa., .Mitchell, Tranter Cv Co.; Brick, Blair I5rick Co.; Glass, Wm. Glenny &• Co.;
Building Hardware, J. li. Schroder lV Co., Burditt \- Williams,
(Elevator Screens), Fred. J. Meyers Mfg. Co., Covington, Ky.;
Lightning Rods, Cincinnati firm.
74
Boston, Mass.; Brass Work
1- ireprootiing, Chicago firm;
History of Chamber ok Commkrcf, Building
The Debt Incurred on Account of the Building.
The principal obligation of the Chamber directly connected with the erec-
tion of the building was the bonded debt of January 1, 1888, for $150,000
Chamber of Ccmimerce bonds, which were issued by authority of the Associa-
tion, under resolution adopted Decem1)er 24, 1886. They were 4 per cent
bonds, in denominations of $500 each, and were redeemable at the option of
the Chamber after ten years from date and payable in twenty years from date,
or by January 1, 1908; the interest coupons were payable semi-annually on
January 1 and July 1. The bonds were signed by Levi C. Goodale, President,
and William E. Hutton, Secretary, and were secured by a first mortgage upon
the property at the southwest corner of Fourth and \'ine Streets, executed to
Henry C. Urner as Trustee for the bondholders. The entire issue was sold to
Albert Netter, banker, of Cincinnati, at jiar and accrued interest.
\Cimr!t-,y ..' Th,,>. B. Collicrl
Bank Room Corner Vine and Baker Streets.
The Union Savings Bank & Trust Co. May 10, 1890, to January 1, 1901.
The Provident Savings Bank and Trust Company.
Leased January 1, 1901, for ten years. Moved to Seventh and Vine, Sept. 1010.
To defray the cost of car\-ing and furui^hinL; of the building, whicli were
not included in the original estimates and for which no financial provision had
been made, authority was given by the Board of Directors in March, 1889. to
increase the indebtedness by temporar}- loans not to exceed in amount S75.000.
the members of the Board of Real Estate Managers, together with tlie Presi-
dent and Vice-Presidents of the Chamber, to give promissory notes in their
individual capacity for this amotnit, which were to be liquidated out of the
surplus income of the Association as rapidh' as ]ios>ible. This obligation was
known as the floatinsj debt of 875,000.
CixcixxATi Astronomical Socikty
On August 31, 1889. the outstanding lial)ilitics of the Chamber of Com-
merce were :
Chamber of Commerce bonds of January 1, 1888, total issue 8150,000
Floating Debt (Call Loans) 75,000
Total Debt $225,000
After this date the floating debt was reduced by amounts of 525,000 in
1890 and S30,000 in 1891, and paid off by the balance of $20,000 in 1892.
On August 31, 1892, the remaining liability of the Chamber of Commerce
was the outstanding bonds of January 1, ISSS, §150.000. And this was the
only burden of indebtedness left for the future to care for, against which was
the new building and the lot on which it stood, a property authoritatively
valued at one million dollars.
The Glencaim Restaurant.
The Misses Stewart, Proprietors.
The North Basement Rooms.
The Fire of January 10, 1911 — The Destruction of the Building.
A Valedictory.
For twenty-two years the building stood, an elucjuent, glowing expression
in stone of all that is beautiful and dignified in architecture, a credit to the
enterprise and the spirit of its builders, a monument to the genius of the great
architect who designed it.
Overtaken by an untimely fatality, with a destiny unfulfilled, this beauti-
ful structure, the achievement of years, was partly destroyed by fire and col-
lapse of the interior, on the night of Tuesday, January 10, 1911, and in an
incredibly short space of time lay prostrate in ruins.
For an account of the disaster we quote from the annual report of the
Secretary dated January 16, 1911 :
"The fire originated on the seventh floor roar, in the kitchen
quarters of the Business Men's CU;1>. tenants of the Ijuilding, and was
discovered about 7:30 o'clock p. ni. Before tlie Fire Department could
respond, the fire spread rapidly and communicated with the attic or
eighth floor, which was also partly occupied by the club. In some
manner the fire here came in coiUact with the vita! parts of the struc-
tural iron trusses, which held the upper floors of the building in sus-
76
History of Chambkr oi- Commkkck Buiuhxg
pension, and, according to the theories advanced, the trusses, under
the effect of the great heat to which they were exposed, bent and con-
tracted sufficiently to draw away from their wall bearings and fall in
collapse, carrying all before them, seven of the fourteen trusses going
down in the destruction, together with the roof and the greater part
of the interior construction. The entire exterior walls, with the excep-
tion of two dormer windows on the V'ine .Street front, were left
standing intact. Happily, the office and library of the Chamber,
located in the Fourth Street end of the liuilding, were untouched
by fire, and all the important records and valuable collection of books
and pamphlets were preserved.
"A deplorable result of the fire was the loss of six lives. Two
men in the employ of the building, three connected with tenants of the
building, and one a reporter on a morning paper, were all caught
in the tailing structure and went down to their doom.
"The Chamber of Commerce has suffered a heavy financial loss,
which has not yet been calculated. The building was of magnificent,
substantial fireproof construction, and the prol)abiIily of its destruc-
[Coiirtt.i!/ o; Brent Anioltl]
Office of General Freight Agent, L. & N. R. R.
Seventh Floor, Northeast Corner, No. 39.
tion by fire unthought of. As a result the line of insurance was
relativelj- small compared to the loss suffered. The insurance carried
on the building was $90,000, on furniture and fixtures $5,000, and on
boilers and machinery §10.000, an aggregate of $105,000. and the
destruction of the building will represent a total loss from an insur-
ance standpoint.
"The Chamber of Commerce Building was the pride and admira-
tion of all Cincinnatians. and no local disaster in years has lieen
accompanied with such universal sorrow and regret as the burning
of our beautiful building. Its destruction came as a shock to the
whole community. It was a noble structure, built of enduring granite,
graceful and massive in outline, enriched with carvings; greatl)'
admired for its architectural charm, it was acknowledged one of the
most beautiful and impressive edifices in the country."
Immediately following the fire the work of removing the wreckage in a
search of the bodies buried there, went on uninterruptedly, day and night.
until the last bodv was taken from the ruins the twelfth dav after the fire.
77
Cincinnati Astronomical Socikty
The adjustment of the insurance, based updii a report of experts a]i|Hjiiitc(l
to jointly represent the underwriters and the Chanil)er in estimaiinn' thi' proi)-
erty loss, was soon eiTected a> a total loss, and the full .inioinil of tlu- insur-
ance, $105,000, collected.
Our story is now soon ended. FolUiwinj;^ the rejiort of an .\d\isory Com-
mittee, to which had been referred the several (|uestions whicli confronted the
C'hamher after the fire, as to the final ami wi^csl disposition to he made of the
property, several alternative propositions were ])repared by this Committee
and submitted to a referendum xote of the membership, which resulted in an
expression faxoraldc to the leasinii: of the iiro])iTty, on stipulated terms, to such
financial interests as would erect a new imildiufi^ u])on the site and provide for
])erm;incnt ((uarters therein of the Chamber of Commerce, and this was the
disposition of the properly as finallv eiVected and briefiy rt'l;itcd elsewhere in
this sketch.
[From an old Photograph]
The Fifth National Bank, 1893-1904.
West half of ground floor front, sublet from C. H. & D. R. R. Whole ground floor
occupied as Joint Railway Offices under management of C. H. & D., 1889-1894.
In the carrying out of this a.Ljreement the old building was demol-
ished to make way for a new one: the stroni; and graceful walls of granite
were removed, and in a few short months, liy the end of Fel)ruar\-, 1912, the
Chamber of Commerce Building was no more.
While in this disposition of the property the (|uestions of finance and
expediency were strongly emphasized and ]da}ed an imj)ortant part in the
final determination, yet there was a well defined opposition to the course
adopted, many members favoring the rebuilding of the structure on modern
lines, which was held as feasible and pr;ictic;ible from lioth an artistic and
architectural, as well as a commercial, standpoint.
History of Chamber ok Commerck Building
By many members of the Chamber of Commerce and citizens of our city,
the tearing down of the old building, was jjrofoundly deplored. In the o])inion
of many loyal members, its removal was considered unnecessary and unwise —
a seeming disregard of the time-honored traditions of the body, which found
expression and lodgement in the building, around which clustered the pride
and affection of its members.
And thus the Chamber of Commerce P.uildini.;- pa>>ed inlw lii-~tiir\-.
A Sketch of the Origin of the Chamber of Commerce: Its Meeting Places.
(1839-1889.)
Tlie Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce had its origin at a meetintr of
merchants who assembled at the rooms of the Young Men's Mercantile
Library Association on the evening of October 15. 1839, in response to a pub-
lished call, signed by seventy-six firms and in(li\'i(luals, a])pearing in the
Ciiiciiiiiati Pailv Gaccttc of the previous day. '^hi^ wa^ the initial meeting.
[Photo., Roniback a^ Grm-tu-]
The Fifth National Bank, August, 1906.
The bank occupied entire front room on ground floor after April, 1904. Quarters
remodeled and elegantly finished in marble.
out of which grew the Cincinnati Chamljer of C\)mmorce. At this meeting a
temporary organization was eft'ected, and Robert Buchanan. F,sq., was made
Chairman and Charles Dufifield Secretary. A Committee on Organization
was appointed, which presented resolutions faxoriiig the formation "of a
Chamber of Commerce and Board of Trade, tor the purpose of establishing
uniform regulations and unison of action in the promotion of its mercantile
interests," and recommending the appointment of a committee of fifteen "to
draw up a code of regulations for the government of sucli a body." This
resolution was adopted, and an adjourned meeting was held on Tuesday even-
ing, October 22, 1839, at 7 o'clock, at which the first Constitution of the
79
CiN'cixxATi Astronomical Society
Chamber was adopted, and on the 29th of October, 1839, an election for the
first ofificers of the newly formed body was held, which resulted in the election
of Griffin Taylor, President: R. G. Mitchell, Peter Nef¥, S. I'.. iMudley, John
Reeves, Thomas J. Adams and Jacob Strader, Vice-Presidents; Henry
I'tockcy, Secretary, and B. W. llewson, Treasurer — these ofificials to serve
until the regular annual meeting to be held in the January following. At a
meeting on the evening of Tuesday. November 5, 1839, by-laws were adopted,
and the newly fledged Chamber of Commerce was now fully organized and
ready for business. The first regular annual meeting \\;i> held Januar_\ 14,
1840, when the foregoing Board of Officers was re-elected, with ilie exception
of Jacob Strader, who was succeeded l^y Samuel Trevor.
Tile \'iiung Men's Mercantile Library .Association, furmed .\pril 18, 1835,
started the ni(i\enient which establi-~liecl the Chamber of Commerce. Men
must ;u'ti\i' in the ijl)rar\-, fcinneil the cipmniittce en the preamble an.d resolu-
\Frnm an nJd Painting]
The Old Cincinnati College Building.
Erected 1815, Mr. Isaac Stagg, Architect. Burned to the ground January 19, 1845.
On the Site of the Present Mercantile Library Building.
Chamber of Commerce organized in Library Rooms here in October, 1839.
Merchants' Exchange Room opened here May, 1844, by Library Directors.
tidii. which being signed and pub]i^hed in ()ctciber, 1839, cnnstitutcd the call
fur tliat lir-t meeting in the l,ibrar_\- rcKims. Tiie Chaml)er of Commerce thus
organi.'ed. held monthly and cjuarterly meetings, l)ut no dailv sessiotis.
.\ Mc.Tch;iiU>' E-xchange Room where steamboat arrivals and departitres,
freight nunements by river, canal and railroads, arrivals at the leading hotels,
could l)e recorded daily in books kept for the ])itr]KTse, was urgetith- ref|uested
Ijy ntimerous merchants in the winter of 1843. The Library directors under-
took the entire management, securing enough subscribers to defra\- tiie added
expense. May 1, 1844, the Exchange Room was opened in the Library.
Regular dail}- 'Change hours were not maintained in the next two vears, but
the records of cominerce were consulted by the indi\idual stibscribers during
library hours, and were regarded of such high statistical \alue that they were
8o
HisTnK\ UK Chamber of Commf.rci; Buildinx
maintained by the directors until September 1. 1846. when thev were trans-
ferred to the Chamber of Commerce. At this date both bodies had jtist re-
turned to the Cincinnati College, rebuilt after the fire.
The first name adopted by the newly organized body was "The Cincin-
nati Chamber of Commerce." By its charter, under an act of incorporation
dated March 23. 1850. the official title and name of the organization became
the "Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce and Merchants' Exchange." and this
has remained unchanged to the present day.
[I'lii'lo.. Romb<2th C-' Groi'iif]
The Cincinnati College. Built 1846. Tom down September, 1902.
On site of Mercantile Library Building, Walnut Street.
Home of Chamber of Commerce July, 1846 to October, 1869.
Additional charter privileges were granted by act of the Legislature,
April 3, 1866, and the provisions of the Revised Statutes of Ohio relating to
boards of trade and chambers of commerce (Sections 3827 to SSM. inclusive.)
were accepted by the Association March 12. 1883. by which acceptance the
Chamber virtually abandoned its previous charter and became a corporation
under the laws and constitution of Ohio ; a cojjy of this acceptance was duly
certified to and filed with the Secretary of State.
Closely related to this sketch of the formation of the Chamber is the
story of its various meeting places through a jieriod of fiftv vears. from its
infancy in 1839 to its achievement of 1889. when its members marched proudlv
into their own home and building.
8i
CiNcixxATi Astronomical Society
'I'hc early meetings of the Chamljcr during- the peridil ni h> forniatinn
in 1839 and 1840 were held in the rndins of the Young AlenV Mercantile
Library Association, in the Cullege llnilding, <n\ the east side nt Wahnit
Street north of Fourth, the Chamber sharing with the Library in the occu-
pancy of these rooms by the ])ayment of one-third nf the annual rent of $300.
Here the Chamber remained until lanuary 19th, 1845, wlu-n the College
Building was destroyed by fire, -\fler the tire the Chamljer took refuge with
the Mercantile Library Association in tem])cirary quarters on the east side of
Sycamore street, north of Fnurtli. where it remained until tiie re-erecti<in cif
the College Building, to whicii it reninvcd July 2i. 1846, again occup\ing
jointly with the Library the fmnt rooms on the second floor, overlooking
Walnut Street, to which space the Young Men's Mercantile Library Associa-
tion had acquired perpetual lease by the p,'iynu-nt nf .$10,000 to the Trustees
of Cincinnati College. Tn recognition nf the friendlx- and close relationship
of these organizations, the Library .Xsscicialinn granted tn the (.'hamlier nf
Commerce tlie use nf the north half nf this room for five years at the nu-rely
nominal rental of one dollar ])er ;innum. and here it remained until July 7.
1851. when it moved into a large rear rnmn of the College Building, on the
fescr' V:
Cincinnati College Building in 1857.
/",■.,!
Chamber Entrance, 1869-81.
Now 124-130 E. 4th St.
seconil floor. This move was made necessar_\- l)y the increasing demands of
the Library for more sjiace, and here the Chamber of Commerce remained
until the College Building was again partially destroyed by fire October 20,
1869, when it took cpiarters in Iloj^kins Hall, at the southwest corner of Fourth
and Elm Streets, where it remained temporarily until December 27, 1869.
Leaving Hopkins Hall, the Chamber of Commerce leased quarters in the
premises known as Smith & Nixon Hall, on the north side of Fourth Street,
between ]Main and Walnut, and here it remained until November 23, 1881,
when it moved into larger and more convenient quarters on the second floor
of Pike's Ujiera House, on the south side of Fourth, between Walnut and
\'ine Streets, these quarters Ijeing the auditorium, corriflors and adjoining
rooms t)f that theater, made adajjtable to the uses of the Chamber of Com-
merce. And here it remained until the completion and dedication of the new-
Chamber of Commerce Building, Tuesday, January 29, 1889.
82
History of Chamber of Commkrcf, Building
The Primitive Chamber of Commerce of 1835-1837.
While the organization known as the Chamber of Commerce, the suljject
of this sketch, is technically the only body of that name and had its actual
origin as here related, yet, from the testimony now available, it was not,
historically speaking, the first business organization of the kind established
in Cincinnati, and it seems proper, as an addenda to our story of the present
Chamber of Commerce and its liuilding, to refer briefly to the formation of
that other organizatidu which [ireceded 1839 by several years. That there
was a trading exchange prior to that year seems from the evidence, which is
accepted as trustworthy and credible, to have been a fact.
A letter from the pen of R. ^^'. Lee, dated Sunnyside, Ky., vSejiteniher 19,
1866, reviews this subject in an interesting manner and throws li,ght upon the
history of the older organization which seems well authenticated. Mr. Lee
came to Cincinnati in 1827 and became identified with the pi>rk l)usiness. He
conceived the necessity and usefulness of an organized business body and
called a meeting of the packers of that day to consider the formation of a
Chanilier of Commerce.
Interior of Pike's Opera House.
Quarters of the Chamber November, 1881, to January, 1889.
The meeting was held in the counting room of Miller & Lee, corner of
Sycamore and East Court Street, in 1835, and was attended by John C. (iroes-
beck, Aaron G. Gano, William Thoms, 1. X. Row en, William Irwin. Charles
Duffield, Charles Clark.son, S. S. Schooley, K. J. Aliller and R. W. Lee. Mr.
Lee relates that the plan was well received at this and subsequent meetings,
but the project met with difficulty in finding a suitable meeting place in the
upper part of the city, in the neighborhood of the canal, which in those earlv
days was an important means of transportation, and the center of the packing
industry. Mr. Lee reviews the efforts made to secure quarters on the second
floor of a building occupied by one John Thompson, and used as an oyster
house, at the northwest corner of Main and North Court Streets, and this
room, measuring 25 by 90 feet, Thompson agreed to let the pro])osed organi-
zation use for its meeting place witlmut charge, looking to an enlarged
patronage of his oyster house as sufficient ci im])ensation .
8',
ClXClXN'ATI ASTROXOMICAL SoCIKTY
From Mr. Lee's letter we (|unte the following;:
"At the ad.ioiinu-d niortiiiK; at Mr. Cirofsl)(.-cl<'.s CDiiiUing room
I handed in my report recommending the establishing a Chamber of
Commerce, with books of record of arrival of boal.s, their cargo and
prices of produce, etc. The report was seconded and adopted, and
the name given to the organization was the "Canal Produce F.xchange.'
"A subscription paper was opened, and over one hundred mer-
chants joined, each paying $3 per year. This fund furnished news-
papers and prices current and paid other expenses. Reports were
made of arrivals of steam and canal boats and their cargoes, arrival
of hogs, flour and whisky, with sales and prices — in other words, a
regular Chamber of Commerce was establislied.
"1 am under the impression that Robert lUichanan, Esq., was our
first President after we organized; of this 1 am not entirely certain.
Jones Dulfield, brother of Charley, was our first Secretary.
"Thus was established the first Chamber of Commerce of Cin-
cinnati. This organization was kept up during the years 1835, 1836
and a part of 1837, when the merchants down town thought the place
of meeting too far north and too far up-town. Mr. Thompson took
charge of the room, its papers, etc.. collected money to pay ofif all
demands against the Chamber, and then it ceased to act."
Carved Eagle.
The four granite eagles, from the Fourth Street and Baker Street roof dormers,
were presented to the Park Commission. They are now mounted on piers in
Eden Park, where the main drive passes under the concrete bridge.
Whether uur present Chamber of Commerce was tlie direct outgrowlli
of this earlier body is not defitiitely asserted, although from a similarit\- ni
names and interests it seems highly probable that, if it was not a direct suc-
cessor, it was at least closely related to it. From close observation of condi-
tions it may be safely concluded that out of the "Canal Produce Exchange"
was evolved that organization of broader scope, of larger interests, of more
enduring material— the CINCIXN.\TI CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND
MERCHANTS' EXCHANGE.
History of Ciia.mhi;u m' Cummkrci'; Building
CASS GILBERT
Architect
11 East Twenty-Fourth Street
New York
Richardson was a man of l)ig
mind and big figure; everything
al)Out him was big, but with it all
his manner was so genial and
kindly and delightful that visitors
involuntarily yielded themselves to
his infectious enthusiasm. He v/as
one of the greatest personalities
that I remember to have met.
Few men have left such an im-
pression upon their day and gen-
eration. Trained in the most
formal architectural school in the
world, his work always evidenced
a high sense of organized plan-
ning and yet was expressed with
freedom and vitality which was
anything but academic.
Richardson's memory is held in
reverence in England and in
France, particularly in England, as
it is in America, and Cincinnati
does wisely to preserve such frag-
ment as it possesses of the expres-
sion of liis genius.
Very trul}- yours.
CASS GILBERT,
Tanuarv 26, 1914.
Tliis luiidern skyscraper, a repro-
duction of the Italian Rennaissance
style, erected on the site of the
former Chamber of Commerce,
represents the progress of Ameri-
can building methods and business
requirements during the past three
decades. •
Associated with Mr. Cass Gilbert
in the erection of this building, was
the firm of Garber & Woodward,
Architects, of this city.
,/■
11
[Courtesy of Union Central Life Insurance Co.]
The Present Home
of the Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce
and Merchants' Exchange.
Quarters Dedicated June 26, 1913,
Union Central Life Insurance Building.
85
Testimonial Banquet to the First Fall Festival Directors, October 16, 1900,
Exchange Hall, beautifully decorated.
[Courtesy of Capt. Thos. P. Egau\
Large delegation from 'Change and Business Men's Club starting for Louisville,
Ky., to attend the Fourteenth Annual Convention of the Ohio Valley Im-
provement Association, October, 1908.
86
Happenings and Activities
in Chamber of Commerce
1889-1911
Bv Charles B. Murray
Superintendent of the Chamber iSgi-igi 1
Fur the ])urposes nf the nii:i\eineiit and
oJiject which have furnished occasion for scmic
mention of happenings in the Cincinnati Cham-
ber of Commerce, to appear in connection with
specific statements concerning the Xew Home
of the organization, which the Association
came into possession of in January. 1889, it i-
deemed sufficient to limit the record to the
period covered b}- the life or existence of the
Building, which came to an unexjiected ending
in January, 1911. This structure and its par-
ticular meaning in this community represent
the prime features of the efifort which this work-
contemplates.
The Chamber of Commerce Building had
an individuality of character, among the special
charms within our city. Not only in its struc-
tural cliaracteristics, hut in its ]iurposes and
uses, it stood apart from other notable features
of the locality. Its purposes represented pro-
vision for pri.imoting deeds of enterprise and
impetus ti) the ambitions of the citizens, includ-
ing advancement of developments in the shap-
ing of affairs in earlier days. Its uses were
for accomodating and promoting such pur-
poses— notably as an Exchange for trade
operations, with facilities for securing knowl-
edge of market conditions and of other features
aftecting the interests of those having relations
to current acti\ities, locally and ntherwise;
and also the collection, recording and dissemi-
nation of information relating to productixe,
commercial and financial interests in whicli it^
members were specifically concerned, and at
the same time contributing to the general w el-
fare. Its membership, through deliberations
and actions of its officials and otherwise, cum-
manded a position of influence in passing upon
matters of public nattire. It ser\ed in adjust-
ment of disputes and dift'erences arising be-
87
'Thrn. C .l/,ir,,vn<|
Joseph R. Brown.
President, 1891-1892.
[ /i(' )ijii m i n St It ilio \
Brent Arnold.
President, 1892-1893.
I Bcnjiimiii Studio
Michael Ryan.
President, 1893-1894.
CiNXiNNATi Astronomical Society
\ f^crijnmin Studio]
James M. Glenn.
President, 1894-1895.
I l>f->i!u>nin Studio]
Maurice J. Freiberg.
President, 1895-1896.
[ Benjamin Studio]
J. Milton Blair.
President, 1896-1897.
UvccMi its mcnihcrs ami cithers. It acted in
t'stal)lishiii,<;- ajjjiropriate rules and regulations
t^nverning business operations, and in efforts
\i <r the protection of local interests against con-
ditions of discrimination in transportation fea-
tures and otherwise affecting this market and
locality. Its influence was applied to ijronio-
tion of ])roi)er legislation of nonpolitical nature
and against ini worthy measures. Its con-
scrvati\-c stand in all such matters, and readi-
ness to jcjin in movements calculated to
adxancc the general welfare, brought the
C"haml)er of Commerce into high recognition
and respect among the influential liodies of our
Country.
The l'',xcliangc I (all in the majestic Building
erected by the Chamber of Commerce afforded
an assemliling j)lace for discussion upon public
(|uestions of ])articular importance, and of
actions incident thereto. It alscj ser\-ed as a
rcce])tion hall for eminent visitors, whom our
citizens were delighted to have among them.
In this Building were elements in the nature of
uses which promoted fame for our city, encour-
aged the spirit of progress among our people,
turni^hed power for inspiratinn in further aims
in exaltation of industrial endeavors, helped in
the attainment of a higher ])osition of all the
essentials which ct.indiine tn create attractive-
ness in a locality cjf centralization of citizen-
shi]). and in securing betterment of the moral
tone of the generation.
On the completion of the Chamber of Com-
merce Building our citizens realized the sig-
nificance of the event, and made an impressive
and memorable celebration incident to its dedi-
cation and opening. This occasion was one of
the most notalde of puldic aft'airs in our city.
Xo public demonstration in its history has e.x-
cellcd it in interest, in signiticance, and in bril-
liance of action in connection with a celebra-
tion. In this instance jiractically all our citi-
zens had an interest.
To speak of happenings within the Chamber
of Commerce and of incidents connected with
its efforts and influence, including considera-
tion of propositions and actions taken, during
the twenty-two years of occupancy of its Home
Building, it is neccssar\- in this connection to
Happenings on 'Chanuk. 1889-1911
be governed by limitations which dn n(jt admit
of fullness of specification of such details, not
all of which would be interesting to introduce.
but enough can be offered to indicate the com-
manding position of the organization in such
particulars.
From year to year many conventions in
promotion of the public welfare were attended
by representatives duly appointed by the
Chamber of Commerce. As occasions arose
for co-operation with other bodies in mo\ e-
ments of worthy nature, actions were taken
accordingly. Attention was given to calls for
relief of suffering humanity in a generous man-
ner. Recognition was given to the principle
of arbitration in adjustment of international
disputes. The great w^ork of the Lake Mohonk
Conferences in this cause was highly com-
mended, and the accomplishments of the Peace
Congress at The Hague were cordially en-
dorsed. The Chamber of Commerce took the
initiative in many propositions of a progressive
nature. The Miami and Erie Canal, from
Toledo to Cincinnati, was the subject of con-
sideration at different times, and a sur\ey of
such waterways within the State was urged.
The abandonment of the canal within the cor-
poration limits of Cincinnati, and its conversion
to a driveway, was advocated. The local water
supply was recognized as a question of special
importance, and plans for needful improvement
were considered, the ijbject in view being
finally accomplished in a highly satisfactory
manner by the city. The matter of privileges
to railroads upon the Public I^anding was a
subject of deep interest and active considera-
tion. Among other aff'airs of public nature
receiving consideration from time to time were
a memorial to Congress to take measures for
compelling carriers to adopt tmiform bill> of
lading and uniform classifications of freight :
questions relating to the interests of the muni-
cipality in the Cincinnati vSouthern Railway
lease; protest of citizens against outrages suf-
fered by Jews in Russia, permitted by that
government ; tribute to Air. E. A. Ferguson, in
recognition of his wise and effective devotion
to the work of securing the construction of the
Cincinnati Southern Railway; endorsement of
the plans of the Greater Park League for secur-
ing to Cincinnati an extension of the park sys-
tem in a manner to bring enlarged attractions
89
l''t'u'himnt Slititi<
William McCallister.
President, 1897-1898.
/'• ■: '■'. nun Studio]
Robert H. West.
President, 1898-1899.
IF. -\; v
John H. Allen.
President, 1899-1900.
yttfrs]
ClNClNXATl ASTRONOMICAI, SoClKTY
!/■. M. .Sowers)
James T. McHugh.
President, 1900-1901.
1 I^t)ir<i7nin Studio]
W. W. Granger.
President for 1902.
[Jirnfiimhi Studio\
J. F. Ellison.
President for 1903.
and l)i.'nL'li!> in such essentials; i-nlertaiimu'iit
'il a (k'k'jiatiiin nf S<intli Americans visiting
|)riiK-i|)al cities of nnr C(jnntry inider guidance
111' (ifticials of tlie 1 Miiladeliiliia Commercial
Museum, an institution recognized as of high
degree of worthiness to iiuhistrial interests in
ils permanent exposition nature and organized
service in tnniisliing commercial inlormation ;
resolutions ia\oring reciprocal comiuereial
relations with other countries; commendation
of the \v(jrk of the ( )hio X'alley lm])r<i\enient
\ssociation in the interest of betterment of
the Ohio l\i\i'r for navigation pin-])oses. tliis
organizati<iii lia\ ing had its origin in the
Chamber of Commerce; action favoring the
Ciood Roads .Moxement; ado])tion of i)rotest
against enactment of any bill i)r(jviding for
sale or abandonment of canals of the State,
with reci iinniendatii m that a --inily ' if the canals
as to a(l\isal)ilit_v of enlargement to ]jrovide
for barge trans])ortation between the Northern
Lakes and the ( >hio l\i\er. X'arious other
all.'iirs 111 juiblic coiiccni recei\ed consider;iti<m
from time to time. The mnniluent contribu-
tion of half a million dollars for erection of a
-suitable building for the pur])oses of the (Jhio
.Mechanics' Institute by Mrs. Mary .M . l"",mery
was noticed in exjjressions of high apprecia-
tion. Incident to the coming to oiir cmmtry
of a large delegation from Japan, designated
a-- llonorary Commercial Commissioners rc])-
resenting that country, who made' a tour of the
I'liited States in the latter part of 1909, the
(.'hanibcr of Commerce had a rejiresentative
accompanying it in a large ])art of its move-
ments east of the Rocky Mountains, and this
body of representative business men was
ap]iro]iriately recei\'ed and entertained when
reaching our city by the (.'hamber of Com-
merce.
The Cincinnati Chamber of C'ommerce in
.ill its years has acted ])ronii)tly in its efforts
lor securing relief for suffering humanity from
disastrous consequences of an unusual nature,
not only in our own country, but in foreign
lands. Such actions within the period frcnii
1SS9 to I'Ml include the following instances:
1889. — .\.t Louisville, Ky., incident to a
c\ clone, occasioning great loss of life and prop-
erty, financial ;iid was declined, but other .aid
rendered,
1894. — In Louisiana, for relief of unem-
ployed, helpless and destitute people, from
devastating storms among islands and marsh-
lands below Xew ( )rleans.
90
Happenings on 'Chance. 1889-1911
1895. — Suffering among coal miners in the
Hocking \'alley region, in (Jhio.
1895. — Relief of needy farmers in Nebraska
and Eastern Colorado, from crop failures.
1897. — Relief of flood sufferers in the T.owcr
Mississippi \'alley.
1900.— At Galveston, Te.xas, relief of suft'er-
ers from a (lulf storm of very great violence
and losses.
1901.— At Jacksonville, Florida, for suft'er-
ers from a great conflagration.
1902. — Earthcjuake suft'erers in the Islamls
of Martinique and St. \'incent.
1903. — At Topeka, Kansas, and elsewhere
in the ilissouri \'alley, sufferers from floods.
1906. — Southern Italy, sufferers from eruj)-
ti(_in of ]\Iount Vesuvius.
1906. — Suft'erers from storms in Alabama
coast regions.
1906. — At San Francisco, Cal.. from earth-
fjuake and conflagration conditions, and conse-
quent losses great in extent, inviting aid for
suft'erers in exceptional degree. The Chamber
of Commerce contributed a liberal stun to the
general fund which it received from the citi-
zens of the city and region and forwarded to
authorities in charge, in money, large in
amount, and additionally great quantities cif
material.
1907. — For local relief of ( )hio River flood
suft'erers.
1908. — For earthquake suft'erers in Italy.
During the existence of the Chamber nf
Commerce Building its grand Exchange Hall
received and welcomed a large number c:>f visit-
ors of prominence and distinction in the
world's activities and endeavors, covering a
wide extent of interests and of connection with
affairs of civilization, in this and other coun-
tries. These incidents aft'orded features >>{
entertainment and of instruction for member-
of the Association and of the community. It
was a meeting place for discussion of ])ublic
questions and measures, particularl_\- such a~
had relation to the interests of the locality ami
its people. It served in plans of commemora-
ti\e nature, and social functions. Its most
distinct instance of this latter kind was incident
to the completion and dedication of the Build-
ing. Another, the grand public demonstration
and banquet in celebration of the founding of
the city of Cincinnati as an incorporated muni-
cipality. The banquet and testimonial to the
Fall Festival Directors in 1901 was a brilliant
aft'air.
Samuel Bailey, Jr.
President for'l904.
titiJio]
H. Lee Early.
President for 1905.
[ l^tnjaTniti Studio]
L. L. Sadler.
President for 1906.
91
Cincinnati Astronomicai, Socikty
1 lirni.ntlin Slu,lto\
W. A. Bennett.
President for 1907.
Thomas P. Egan.
President for 1908.
; liciljattiu: Stiuli'
Charles E. Roth.
President for 1909.
Members of the Chamber of Commerce
have not been devoid of enjoyment of occasions
furnishing opportunities for fun and frolic.
I pini (le]jarture from the Smith & Nixon Hall
t(i the Pike Building, in 3881, dignity and
(k'Cdrnin were set aside. The doings inside the
hall were at a high pitch when the writer
arrived at the street entrance, where he was
greeted by a member who had just emerged
from within, s;i}iiig, "If you go in }'ou will be
siirry, and if \i>n don't you will be a coward."
Later the memljers formed in procession for a
march to the new (luarters, being decorated
with Hour and dihcr e\idences of unusual
nature. Departure from the Pike Hall for the
New Home, in 1889, w^as orderly, under s])ecific
arrangements. At the close of each year there
was generally an irrepressible and uncontrol-
lable impulse for frolic on 'Change, excepting
111! occasions where orderly entertainments
were arranged for. These instances were
minierous, and generally of entertaining nature.
« In some occasions printed programs were
furnished, and the jiroceedings somewhat
elabdrate and fiin-])ri Mlucing. (Jtiite a niiniljcr
I if such arrangements and frolics occurred in
the Exchange Plall of the Chamber of Com-
merce Building.
As an illustration of some year-end doings
in tlie Chamber of Commerce, it may lie men-
tioned that at the close of 1908, the younger
members effected plans for an entertainment,
in tile Kxchange Ilall, which included music,
roller-skating, and other features of di\'ersion.
At the opening of the jiroceedings, and actitig
in accordance with the jdans of the committee
in charge, some remarks were offered by the
su])erintendcnt, in which, among other things,
he said :
'A\'c have reached the joy season of the
year, which impels us to take notice. And
there is nothing in the doings of the human
family that outranks in merit that which i^-
done by one for the joy of another. It is also
the season for forgetfulness of lines of distinc-
tion between youthful days and those over on
the declining side of life's career. It is the sea-
son when persons old in years may throw off
for tln' time being the mask that Old Time has
jilaced upon them — so that men and boys may
mingle and join, come together, in spirit and
otherwise, all as boys, in sharing in those
tilings which belong more especially to the
92
Happi-.vixcs on 'Chancf., 1889-1911
sphere of the l)ii_\-s. hut \vh(jse tentacles never
reach a time of relimiui^hment imtil the day
of final accounting. * * *
"We are citizens of a city and localit}' cum-
bining so much of those elements which pro-
mote enjoyment, health, and prosperous re-
ttirns for industrial effort, that we ha^'e a right
to regard such features of the situation as
unexcelled in the entire breadth of our great
country, ilen with life objects in view are
attracted toward our city, and when once es-
tablished here rarel_\- remove to other locali-
■^-■1p^ -^ H* ^
"We are ncjw- assembldl in the liall of the
Chamber of Commerce, an exchange room in
\\hich important activities of men are dailv
centered, and which is the home of a bodv
whose standing for dignity, for influence in the
aftairs not only of the membership, the citv,
and locality. 1nit of the State and of the Nation,
takes rank with the best of organized bodies,
anywhere. * * * Its service in the gen-
eral welfare has been distinctive, and will so
continue. Its characteristics of soberness, of
earnestness and eliecti\"eness of purpose, its
solidity, and its position of dignity among the
influential bodies of the region and of the
country, are typified in the massive walls and
impressi\-e architecture of this home, which
the membership has created. This liuilding: is
a monument to tlie spirit of enterprise and
commercial integrit\- displayed by men wiser
and broader in their understandings of the
pri\-ileges, ptirposes and infltiences r)f life's ef-
forts than are those who measure the value of
results only by the <lollars that can lie secured.
It is an object lesson, serving to promote an
uijHfting influence tipon the entire commun-
ity. * * *
"It has become the pr(.i\'ince iif tlie speaker
to give greeting to all who are present, with
the hope that the pleasure which the ]iromoters
of this plan for joy have experienced in effect-
ing the arrangements may be equalled Ijy that
which will result to those wIkj will share in
the features of this occasion. It i>. therefore,
my agreeable privilege to announce that the
gates to the held of entertainment will now
open, and the fun witliin these walls will surely
find its way gratefully to the hearts of all who
are here — we will not say, be they old or
young, for the old are young for the moment,
and the voung are as old as the old.'"
[Benjitmiu Sttuiio]
James J. Heekin.
President for 1910.
Walter A. Draper.
President for 1911-1912-1913.
[ 1^' 'ijiimin StHtiio\
George F. Dieterle.
President for 1914.
93
Cincinnati Astronomical Socikty
OFFICERS LONG IN THE SERVICE OF 'CHANGE.
[L,L,ul,, l'h„l„
William Smith.
Superintendent, 1854-1871.
Sidney D. Maxwell.
Superintendent, 1871-1891.
Tlu- \\v>\ superiiitfmk'iit wa.s .\li'. .V. i'calnuly, who served Iruiii 184() to
1849. .\lr. Kichard Smith was superintendent and secretary also from 1849
to 1854, when his Ijrothcr, William, liecamc tlic superintendent. Mr. William
Smith was re-elected tn this (irfui- idr sexcntccu successive terms, scv iii;.; until
Novemljer 1. 1871.
Mr. Sidney 1). Ma.wvell, hiwyer. a ne\\>pa])er c(irres])on(lent and military
secretary durins.'; the war, liecame assistant city editor on the Ciiiciiuuiti Cia;:cttc
in 1868. In 1871, Col. Maxwell was chosen .sui)erintendent of the Chamhcr,
and was so successful in cunductins^ its affair,s and in advancing jjuhlic enter-
prises, that he was honored with re-election for twenty consecutive years.
In addition to tiie endless detail and statistical work of his office, he entered
fully into the ])roject of the Richardson Imilding, to the sarrificp of liis
health, and an ox'erstrain resulting therefrom le<l h> his \ciliintary retirement
in No\ember, 1891.
The tribute, which the Chamlier. thru a s]iecial committee prepared anil
caused to be beautifully engrossed in cokirs by a lijcal artist, and presented
to Colonel Maxwell on his retirement, so truly and clearly sets forth the honor
and influence c;)f the superintendent's positinu in general, as to merit ])nb-
lication in fidl.
Charles B. Murray.
Superintendent, 1891-1911.
{ F^<tii'imi): Stndio]
William C. Culkins.
Superintendent-Executive Sec'y.
Elected 1911.
94
Officers I.dnc in thk Skrvicf, of Change
.Mr. Chas. B. Murray, with ten \oars' experience as a ])riMhK-e commission
merchant, followed by o\-er nineteen ^-ears as editor and [iroprietor of the
Cincinnati Price Citncnt, also secretary of the Chamber, 1882-86, received the
unsolicited appointment as superintendent, because of his expert knowledge
of commerce, trade and crop re]Hjrtings. Fortunate ancl wise was their choice.
For twenty years he lalmrcd unceasingly, ci intributiii^ his utmost efforts to
the upbuilding of the Chamber and to its good name at Imme .and abro.ad. His
duties closed May 15, 1911.
With the physical changes which the year 1911 brought, fnllcjwing the
loss of the Chand)er Building, have ci.mie (ither changes in the broadening of
activities and in ci\ic ser\ice, typified in the natne Executive Secretary, ]jy
which Mr. William C. Culkins, tho superintendent as well from 1911, is now
preferably designated. With him are now associated no less than fourteen
separate heads of de])artments. Experiences of a score of years in newspaper
work and in civic awakening and betterment. ha\e prcjjared Mr. Culkins for
leadership in this historic, influential Chamber of Ccminierce.
ICuiirltsii "i <'lf<ix. li. Minnnil
The Record Service, northwest corner Exchange Hall. Earlier on fourth floor,
rear. Iron railing was formerly about open area on upper floors.
Mr. John R. Morton entered the ser\ice of 'Change in lS(i9, ;is clerk in
charge of the Department of Finances and Accounts. I lis sor\ ices were
invaluable thruout the period of large investment of surplus, for the building
project. His lal)ors were unbroken for o\er twenty-three years, up to his
death November 4, 1891. at the age of seventy-five years.
Mr. George S. Bradbury entered the Chamber of Commerce service as
of^ce assistant in September 1882. Clerk of the Board of Real Estate
Managers, 1883 to 1890. Promoted to the chief clerkshiji. November. 1891.
Resigned from the Chamber of Commerce, March 1, 1913, .after a continuous
service of more than thirt\- vears.
'-)S
Cincinnati Astronomicai, Society
John R. Morton,
Chief Clerk, 1869-1891.
\)'iiiiiti; c-* ('(irl\
George S. Bradbury.
Chief Clerk, 1801-1913.
.Mr. Rcihcrt |. II. .Vrchialik- hci'anic mcssenj^er Ixiy at llci]ikiiis llall,
I'lHirth and l'",lni, Novcmljcr 2^. lSfi9, (lurinsr the lirief .stay of the Cliaiiiber
there, lie heeanie cloorl<ee])er at Smith anil Nixon's Hall in 1876, servint.':- five
years there, eiyht years in the Pike's 0])era House, twenty-two years in the
Kichardsoii Building, and today is to he found at his desk in the new quarters.
Mr. (iustav G. Wisser entered the messenger service of 'Change in
November, 1876. He became recorder uf cotton .statistics in 1881, continuing
to 1891 in that capacity. .Mimiu 1894 he became clerk of statistics and with the
reorganization of departinent> in 1912-1,1, Mr. Wisser became chief clerk in
charge of the statistics.
In 1882, .Miss Margaret .\. Daly entered the office as stenographer to
Superintendent Maxwell, at whose suggestion she had learned shorthand
from Benn Pitman. Ftjr six years at the Pike's Opera House location, and
during the entire existence of their own building, she remained a \alued
assistant in the office, answering the constant stream of inquiries, taking care
of all ordin;iry corresjinndence and the orderly filing of records. To the Com-
mittees of .\rl)itratiim and .\ppt-als. wlmse hearings, awards and findings she
reported for years, her accurate knuwledge of the by-laws and methods of ])ro-
cedure made her services itnaluable No one is more deserving of mention
here than .Miss Daly, who, tlm never a designated official, served the Chamber
with marked ability and faithfulness, with rare tact, ever cheerfully, for more
than thirt\- \ears. She resigned in 1914.
[Vouiii; c-' Carl]
Robert J. H. Archiable.
Doorkeeper and Custodian of Ex-
change. In the service from 1869.
96
{Vonug ir-* Carl]
Gustav G. Wisser.
Chief Clerk, Statistical Department.
Entered the service 1876.
Offici-.rs Long in the Service of Change
CINCINNATI CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND MERCHANTS EXCHANGE
To THE President of the
CiNcixNATi Chamber OF Commerce Dec. 7th, 1891.
AND Merchants' Exchange.
The committee honored by yciur a|ii>' lintniciit ti 1 prepare a ])a])er ai)pro-
priate to the resignation of Culimel Sidney IJ. Ma.xwell fmm !iis pusition as
superintendent, respectfully su1)mits the following report ;
.\lthough Colonel Maxwell was an appointee of the board of directors,
honored by their selection for twenty consecutive terms of service, yet liis
relation to,' and intercourse with, the members of the Cham.ber has necessarily,
in the discharge of his varied, exacting, perplexing duties, been so close and
his work so acceptably performed that it is singularly proper that the sever-
ance of those relations should be noticed by the memlier in a formal wav
For one who is in an onerous, responsible position an(' ]jerforms his
duties faithfully, mere money pay i-- nut always full compensation; the ex-
pressed approbation of those'for whom the services are rendered becomes his
larger, better, more appreciable ci iii^ideration.
It is therefore most pleasant to embody in a few words an expression of
the estimate of the labor that Colonel Maxwell has so efficiently rendered the
Chamber of Commerce and Merchants' l^xchange and thrnugli it the business
world at large.
When twenty years ago he accepted the position then vacated by one who
had long filled it fa'ithfully, he brought to it habits of work, acquired in trade,
in study and in journalism, fortified by a high sense of its responsibilities, he
properly appreciated the opportunities for usefulness the place aflforded,- —
especially as it related to the current history of the commercial and industrial
progress of our city, and entered upon his duties with conscientious purpose
to sustain and promote, so far as came within the scope of his undertakings,
the high reputatiijn and influence nur association had.
This ptirpose embodied a sense of the dignity of the i>osition. ^\•ith its oft-
times judicial characteristics; a steady ]mrsuit of a non-partisan course in
executing the by-laws of the Chamber governing the Exchange ; a fixed intent
to make the material aflforded by a well-organized system of statistics useful
in showing the standing and growth of our city in art, industry and commerce
— in short a determination to do that which he could in accordance with the
sentiment so well expressed in the following verse from the appropriate hymn
he contributed to the dedicatory exercises of this beautiful commercial home:
"Within these walls of strength and grace
May honor find a dwc'.ling place:
May jnstice reign: nu'V truth alndc:
May right prevail and wisdom guide."
That he has aimed to act up to the inspiratiim of this sentiment iii the
discharge of his duties in our behalf needs no declaration from your committee,
not only is each memlier of the Chaml)er his witness, but there have come to
him from many directions — from lousiness men at home and abroad, from sta-
tisticians, from political economists, from legislators, from consuls — testimon-
ials of high appreciation of his work, which must be not only truly acceptable
to him but a gratifying assurance that his labors in our midst in the interests
of commerce, have been well performed.
In bearing this tribute to the ;iccept;iliility of the ser\ ices of our retiring
su])erintendent, there reiuains for us to s;iy that his record is ours, and to
extend our thanks and best wishes for his future ])rosperity, together with
hopes that our Chamber will not flag in ettorts tn sustain the st.anihird for
usefulness to which he has contributed so iiuportant a part.
See next pape -
97
o
5 -o
^19 2
o J: .»- ^ —
■*-. (A
^ - ^ *2
^'^'^^
q8
°^c/N■^^^^^'
[F. .4, Xeuhuiter. Artist]
The Business Men's Club Quarters
1903-1911 ,
THE DEDICATORY POEM.
By J anus A. Grccii.
Like to the poet's ship of pearl,
Which still outgrew its narrow walls.
.So we expanding year by year.
Kind liere at last these lofty halls.
They rise in beauty and in strength,
-Adorned to please the artist's eye.
With all exacting taste could choose.
And all unstinted cash could l>uy.
******
Xo pent-up Utica for us!
Plenty of elbow room to spare.
Plenty of room in which to grow.
Abundance both of light and air.
.\bundance. too. of other things
That to the inner man are dear;
Hunger and thirst are banished quite
And in their places rules King Good Cheer.
This splendid place a symbol is
Of progress all along the line;
Xo bushel hides our beaming lights —
Undimmed forever may they shine.
Our past is full of good deeds done.
Our future's full of hope and clieer;
Oh, may we fight for civic right
Through every day of every year.
May, 1903
99
The Rotunda of Business Men's Club, 1906.
The Lounging Room.
loo
Business Men's Club Quarters, 1903-1911
Club Beginnings.
Twenty-four j-ouiig men. not one of them over
twenty-two years of age, gathered for their first
called meeting at the Grand Hotel, Saturday, Novem-
ber 26, 1892, and there founded the "Young Men's
Business Club" of Cincinnati. An Executive Com-
mittee of six j-oung men, Frank G. Rush, Andreas K.
Burkhardt, Robert H. AIcGee. J. E. Zimmerman.
Frank F. Dinsmore, and J. E. Poorman, Jr., ap-
pointed at a preliminary meeting, November 12tli.
with Frank G. Rush, chairman, had met on Novem-
ber 19th, and had already outlined plans of organiza-
tion. On November 26th, all those interested met.
formed the Club and elected permanent officers. On
December 10th, the first monthly dinner, held in the
Convention Hall of the Grand Hotel, was attended
by over si.xty young men and was addressed b\'
prominent speakers.
"It is our object to imite the representative young
men of Cincinnati and vicinity, engaged in the vari-
ous mechanical, commercial and professional pur-
suits, for the purpose of becoming better acquainted
by frequent association; of rendering assistance to
one another in many ways; and of having discussed
at our meetings, b}' prominent citizens, such sidijects
as will lead to our future success, and prepare us to
take the places destined for us, hereafter, as leaiHng
citizens,"
Thus reads the first letter inviting other 3"oun,g
business men to co-operate in the founding" of the
Club. The originators, who became the first perma-
nent otflcers. were, Frank G. Rush. President; An-
dreas E. Burkhardt, first Vice-President: J. E. Poor-
man. Jr., second Vice-President; Robert H. McGee.
Corresponding Secrefary; Frank A. McGee, Record-
ing Secretary; J. E. Zimmerman, Treasurer; Execu-
tive Committee: Frank F. Dinsmore, L. C. Goodwin.
Millard W. Mack. Dr. C. G. Smith. R. H. Rahe,
Chas. T. Greve.
The Grand Hotel was the place of meeting from
November, 1892. until October, 1897, when head-
quarters were changed to the Pike Building. From
April 1, 1898, to August, 1899, the Hotel Emery was
the Club home; from August 24th to November ,50.
1899, the Pike Building was again used; the Her-
schede Building tlien became headquarters until
May, 1903, when the rooms in the Chamlier of Com-
inerce were ready for occupancy. At first, no men
over thirty years of age were eligible for member-
ship. In 1896, the Club incorporated "to promote
the best interests of Cincinnati," and in July, 1899.
the name was changed to "The Business Men's CIul)
of Cincinnati."
George Puchta.
President, 1901-1902.
Edwin C. Gibbs.
President, 1902-1903.
; HiHsm.lh I'liolo]
William P. Deppe.
Chairman, Building Committee.
101
ClNXlNXATl ASTKONCIMRAU SciClKTY
\ Studio Grand I
H. n. Crane,
Building Committee.
[SliHli<i CrdHill
Harvey E. Hannaford,
Building Committee.
( Benjamin S(iidio\
Harry T. Atkins,
Building Committee
Larger Quarters Needed.
.SiHin aft(,'r llu' flcrsclu-ilc liuililiiiM Ijccanu- the
Clul) home, the growth in nicniborship made ihc
search for larger quarters necessary. In President
Cluircli"s administration, 1900-1901. exhaustive study
of the question of a new home was made, I'Vom the
very start of Mr. George I'uchta's Presidency, the
Building Coniniiltee, with Mr. W. P. Dcppc chair-
man, began its search for the most favoralile location,
l-'roni over thirty ])ro])ositions, covering both exclus-
ive Club ])roperty and leased premises, tlie Commit-
tee recommended tlie upper floors of the Clianiber
of Commerce Building. In March, 1902, negotia-
tions were opened and terms agreeable to both par-
tics were soon reached. The Board of Governors
sul)mitted the question of removal to a vote of the
membership on .\pril 17th. with favorable results.
The Board proceeded to secure subscriptions to the
Club bonds, after whicli tlie lease with the Chamlier
was signed on July 22, 1902. .Actual work was de-
layed until (_)ctober by legal proceedings in the
Chamber questioning the validity of the contracts.
The decisions favored the Clul). Labor troubles
prevented progress in December and January. How-
ever, the rooms were complete and ready for the
dedication exercises May 12 and 1.3. 1903. The
Building Committee consisted of Messrs. W. P.
l)e]ii)e, chairman; H. D. Crane, Jas. .\. Collins, H. 1- .
Hannaford. K. F. Du Brul: with the later addiliMii
of Mr. J. G. Wright, and Mr. H. T. Atkins, who re-
placed Mr. Du Brul, whom prolonged absence from
the city caused to retire. These men, with tiie
Boards of Governors under Presidents Puchta and
Gibbs, brought the new quarters to completion.
Dedication Exercises, May 12-13, lPli3. A recep-
tion to members, their wives and guests, took place
Tuesday evening, 7 to 12 p. m. Two thousand at-
tended, and took part in the promenade walk about
the rooms, just finished and profusely decorated with
flowers. Light refreshments were served in the
main dining room. Wednesday morning, at 11
o'clock, the procession, marching in four divisions,
left the Herschede Building and. preceded by a corps
of police and the Club's band, reached the floor of
'Change. Here Captain Ellison, President of the
Chamber of Commerce, welcomed the Club ofticially
and personally in a few words: "First, as business
men, for the reason that we believe that in your
Club we have secured a most desirable tenant in part
of our building for a long terin of years, a tenant
that will l)e beneficial to this .Association; second,
and always and above the first reason, we welcome
you as friends and as brothers, striving in your or-
ganization, as we (111 in i>urs, for all that stands for
the good <'l Cincinnati's prosperity and business
iiite'.;rit\'."
I'rrsiclciii I'.ihviii C. Gibbs relumed he.irtkit
th:iiiks |i> President Kllison's warm and cordial wel-
come: "We fully appreciate the kind sentiment
whicli causes you to extend to us the right hand of
good-fellowship on this occasion, and we gratefully
grasp that hand. How ])eculiarly fitting it is that
the two foremost commercial bodies of this city
should thus stand hand in hand. To me the omen
is most significant, and most clearly predicts the
forging of a strong bond between us. With mutual
respect and confidence, we can boldly face the fu-
ture, feeling assured tlial, as we work together in
harmony, the increased growth and usefulness of
each organization must follow. Concerted action on
the part of two such bodies will accomplish the most
momentous results.
ICourU-sy nf Wm. R. fSuldle]
The Ladies' Dining Rooms.
The Banquet Room.
'03
The BilUard Room.
Courtesy of Henry Gnukiach. Jr.]
[Courtesy of IVm. K. ISiddlc]
The Business Men's Club Office, 1906.
104
BusixEss Mkx's Club Quarters, 1903-1911
"We are truly happy to find a permanent home
in this great building, and sincerely trust that in the
verj- near future the other commercial organizations
of that city may also find lodgment under your
broad and hospitable roof.
"We are grateful for this reception, and extend
to you a cordial invitation to now proceed with us
to our new quarters in the floors above, and join us
in our dedicatorj- exercises."
The dedication e.xtrcises began at 12 o'clock witli
prayer by the sole honorary memlier of the Cluli at
that time. Rev. Charles Frederick Goss:
"Our Father, we have climbed above the war of
traffic in our city streets to make a silence in our
hearts. We have been prompted to do this by that
impulse which is common to humanity at all criti-
cal events, because we are about to take possession
of a new home for this Business Men's Club, and
enter upon a new era of its existence. * * * *
"We desire to see great palaces of industry and
a reign of temporal prosperity; we long to see com-
mercial supremacy of the Queen City of the West,
but more than this and better than this, our hearts
desire to see that day arrive when Justice may be
enthroned in our courts. Integrity receive the scep-
tre in our marts of trade. Righteousness be supreme
in our city government, and Virtue crowned in our
homes. To these great ends, first, last, and always,
we pray that these business men may be consecrated;
and to them and through them we dedicate these
rooms, praying that Thou wilt help us to lie true to
the great trusts of human life. .\men."
After music. Mr. Deppe, for the Building Com-
mittee, delivered the key of the new quarters and
sketched the different steps in the securing of these
rooms, calling special attention to the proud fact,
"that the new quarters are the production of our
own citizens, from the architect to the artists who
placed the finishing touches on the walls."
President Gibbs then accepted the key on behalf
of the Board of Directors. After commenting on the
faithful work of the Committee, the architects and
contractors, and on the obstacles overcome, said:
"Gentlemen of the Club, in accepting, in your
name, these beautiful rooms, I most heartih' con-
gratulate you. I feel assured that you will use them
profitably and enjoy them to the utmost; here —
"May honor find a dwelling place;
May justice reign; may truth abide;
May right prevail and wisdom guide."
"The opening of these quarters marks an import-
ant era not onlj' in the life of the Club, but in that
of our city as well. Xine 3^ears ago, ten young men
associated themselves together to discuss, at stated
times, matters relating to the general interests of
Cincinnati. The wildest dreamer of those ten men
would not have ventured the prediction that, in nine
years, the seed thus planted would grow to a menir
bership of one thousand, and that the modest room
105
[HrlLimilh I'l,„l„]
J. Gano Wright.
Building Committee.
^::, ::,: Grand]
James C. Hobart.
President, 1903-1904.
■ '>l!ttiio Grand]
Thomas J. Moffett.
President. 1904-1905.
Cincinnati Astronomical Sociktv
C7^(ZH(/|
Albert Bettint;cr.
President, 1905-1906.
,ii,d\
Edward E. Shipley.
President, 1906-1907.
\Stu<iio Grand\
Frank H. Shaffer.
President, 1907-1908.
tliat tlun iiKi all lluir wants wmild expand tu such
palatial ]>r(ipiirti(ins. Anil yi-t tln' j^rowth of our
dull has (inly lifcn in unison with the development
of (luf city, and thriuiL'.h the puri.ils of our new home,
winch \\ r toda_\- loi'niail\' open, I can see for us a
licld of broader usefulness. Cincinnati is on the eve
of a most glorious dawn. The warm sun of civic
pride and progrcssivcness will rise ami shine as
never before, and those who have been the archi-
tects of the jiast will become tlu- builders of the
future."
After another piece of music, the V'ice-l'resident,
\li II. I, \tkins, responded to the motto, "For the
lloiioi" and ('.lory of Cincinnati." .\fter referring to
the artistic beauty of their new home, he s.'ii<l:
"lint .greater and .grander tb.in all these material
surroundings is the sjiirit of ci\ic |iride that
protnpted and upheld these labors from bcgitming
to end. This spirit is the bond of our strength and
union; it has made all our trinttiplis possible — cul-
minating in the one thought, that no better motto
could t)e inscrdK'd upon our C'lub b.inner than 'bor
the Honor and C/lorx' of Cincinnati.'
" i'he love for our city has ever been the inspira-
ticni of every effort. Xo call to duty lias been too
great; no bLbor to Ik- performed too severe in earnest
eii(lea\'or \\<v i<\n city's welfare.
"When another decade of our Club's history shall
havi- passed and the history of unr city shall be
written, let us hope that a greater Cincinnati, beau-
tilied ,inil glorilied, sh.ill have reached a higlier
pl.iiie. because a thousand good fellows, a tlKuisand
willin.g hearts, a thousand l.>usiness men, at this
dedication of their new home, as lovers of their city,
dedicated not only iheir new quarters, but the very
best of their servici' and .ability 'For the Honor and
Clory of Citicinnati.' "
-\ new nation:il song, dedicated to the Club, was
then read by its author. Prof. W. H. Venable, and
accottipanied liy a brief patriotic address, national in
its scope. Then followed the Dedication Foem, com-
posed and read by James .Albert Creen.
Moll, Julius h'leishtnatm, Mayor of the city, in
welcoming other commercial Ijodies, spoke of the
loyalt}' of the Club t.j the highest interests of the
cit\', of its share in the recent civic awakening and
toruard tnovement, and the propriety of celebratin,g
in this |iublic w'.i\'. the occupation of its new qtiartcTS.
The or.ation of the day was given by Lieutenant-
C.overnor Harry 1,. Gordon. He spoke of the civic
awakening in all great .American cities and of the
way in which our city is making phenomenal pro.g-
ress. He urged the Club to be at the front in every
battle for the city's upbuilding, as in the past.
.\fter the bancpiet in the evenin.g. ju<l.ge D. D.
Woodmansee spoke on "The City of Cincinnati";
Hrin. Theo. E. Burton on "The State of Ohio"; Hon.
John B. Castlem.in on "The State of Kentucky."
lo6
The Grill Room.
\Cn,(rl,-iy nf llm, K Hidille\
ClNClXXATI ASTROXOMICAI. SoCilCTY
|V(,„/,„ (,v„ii,;|
C. H. M. Atkins.
President, 1908-1909.
A. J. Conroy.
President, 1909-1910.
Mlclu, t,>,iii,/i
Walter J. Wichgar.
President, 1910-1911.
Hon. J;>lin I., (irillhlis. ni In(li:ni;ip(ilis. in re-
sponding to the toast, "The State of Indiana," spoke
in praise of the architect of the new quarters:
"I want to congratulate the Business Men's Club
of Cincinnati upon its magnificent new home. There
is something in splendid architecture which always
appeals to us. Tlic architect is too often forgotten.
He seldom finds his reward in popular applause, liut
in the consciousness of work, beautifully and sin-
cerely, and serenely and enduringly done. I want to
pay my tribute to Mr. Hannaford, who conceived
tliesc noble rooms, and wlio has made his concep-
tion so instinctive with beamy and charm."
His characterization of the people of these mid-
(\\v Western States, and his eulogy of Abraham Lin-
coln were unusually fine. He defined the kind of
patriotism needed in times of peace as that wliich
will rule our l)ig cities without corruption, specula-
lion and exploitation.
".\merica should stand for justice and trutli, for
mercy and valor, for high resolve and lofty achievc-
nuiit. It should stand for the purest ideals in priv-
ate life and public service, asking no questions,
making no l^argains, and striking no lialances to
ascertain what a thing will pay, Init anxit)us, only,
to know if it is right."
With a unanimous rising vote of tiianks to the
speakers of the evening, the Business Men's Club
adjourned.
The Iiigh purpose and resolve manifested in the
Dedication I'.xercises, given quite in detail above,
reflect tile real life and spirit of tlie organization
from its very beginning. The enlarged quarters
meant increased activity for public good and civic
betterment. Hundreds of acts, recommendations,
journeys, deeds of encouragement, relief and sacri-
fice, to the credit and good name of Cincinnati, fol-
lowed from the day the Clul) took possession of its
Home in the Chamljer of Commerce Building.
-\ synopsis of the leading events in the Roster
for l911 shows an average of about one important
matter a week on which the Club declared itself, or
in wliich it participated.
Sinking b'und trustees, provided for by an amend-
ment to the by-laws. September 8, 1905, to receive a
specified sum from the quarterly dues of members,
were cancelling in October of each year, a one-
tenth ]iart of the Club bonds, issued to furnish the
new quarters, the sum of $4,850 a year. By January,
1910, the membership was increased from 1,000 to
l.ilKI.
In 1910, plans for a merger with tlie Chamber of
Coninierce. which h.ad been in the air for several
years, took the definite form of a proposition worked
out by the two boards of directors in conference.
The combined .Association, with a membership lim-
ited to 3,000, was to have the name "Chamber of
Commerce and Business Men's Club," taking over
loS
Business Mf.x's Club Quaktkks. 1903-191]
the property and assuming the assets and indelitc-d-
ness of both organizations. On April 5, 191(1, the
Chamber of Commerce directors approved the plan.
A vote by the Business Men's Club stockholders un
June 14th, gave 809 in favor and 47 against tlie
merger. Following public meetings on 'Chan.yL-
June 16th and 17th, a special election by ballot was
set for June 30th. The campaign was one of wide-
spread interest and excitement among members tit
the Chamber of Commerce, and ended with tlie de-
feat of the proposed merger by a vote of 228 in favor
and 324 opposed. Total vote, 552. Following this
decision, on July 1st, the Business Men's Club ap-
pointed a Committee on New Quarters.
"It is easy to see, hard to foresee," said Ben
Franklin. While about 200 members and guests oi
the West Cincinnati Business Association were hold-
ing a banquet in the rooms of the Club, Janu.iry 10,
1911, a flame flashing up from meat broilers in tlie
kitchen, set fire to greasj' soot in the flue. The
fierce heat communicated in some way to light
wooden partitions on the eighth floor and to very
combustible materials and supplies stored thirt-. and
in a very few minutes was beyond contrcil. Word
passed to the banquet room warning everyljody to
leave the building, was fortunately heeded and every
guest reached outdoors in safety. Almost witliout
warning, the hundreds of tons of weight of the sus-
pended floors caused a giving away of the iron truss
work, heated by these sudden flames in the attic.
Twenty minutes after the fire began, came a col-
lapse of the south half of the interior, carrying down
everything from roof to basement, but leaving the
north half almost intact. That six lives on!}' were
sacrificed, was a marvel, whereas had it happened
during certain business hours many hundreds niiglit
have been caught bj- the unforseen danger.
So January 10, 1911, closes the history of these
quarters of the Business Men's Club, as tiie turn of
later events proved. While the loss to the Club,
above insurance, was about $35,000, the loss to the
Chamber was far greater, possibly, $400,000, besides
making" the sacrifice of the entire structure with its
incomparable architecture and its wealth of associa-
tion, a possibility. On February 3rd, the Clul) passed
resolutions of sympathy with the Chamber over the
loss of their building. Xearly eight years of tlu-
Club's life and activity center about the upper floors
of the Richardson Chamber of Commerce. Despite
the unforseen ending, ma}' the memory of those
years be ever pleasant !
^^P"^^!
^H>/^H
[ lU-njafttht Stttitw
William E. Hutton.
President, 1911-1912.
Fourth St. Roof Dormer Details.
Eagles.
lOQ
CiNCixxATi Astronomical Socikty
iriu.ln. ;.v R„ym„ii,l\
William Watts Taylor.
1847-1913.
"Master of Rookwood."
MUNICIPAL ART SOCIETY OF CINCINNATI
.\pril 10, 1913.
Mk. \ )]-.], \^].v. Stewart, President.
Cincinnati A.'itroiiomical Socict}',
City.
Dear Sir:
In response to your suggestion I write tn assure you that the .Mnnici|>.-il
An ,Si)cietv continues its interest in the jiroject tn use the arche> and nther
material from the former Chaniher of Commerce in the erection of the pro-
posed < )l)>er\ atcir\ . ( )nr contrihntion In that rml, made some time ago. mani-
fested our interest in this matter and oiu' \ iew of the desirahility of ])reser\ ing
Sfi important a ]iart of this representatix e work of a great architect.
We are glad to know that the preliminary e\]>ense to linally seriu-e thi-
material has heen met, and exjiress our cordial interest in your ellorts to carry
the project to completion.
It would embody in ;i new structure the most distinctive decoratix'e
features of the original building and would constitute an important addition
to our iHiblic architecture here. Yours very truly,
W. \\". Tam.ok, Pn-sidriit.
THE PRESERVATION OF THE GRANITE ARCHES
AND WALLS AFTER THE FIRE.
In the intcr\al hulwcen t!ie ?a'e of the L'hanihcr of C'unimcrcc [iroiuTty
to the L'nicin Central IJfe Insurance Co. in jiil>', 1911, ami the clearinji; oft' (}f
the site for the new skyscra])er, many attempts were made to have the outer
walls preserved for re-erecti<in. Amonjj the projects considered were their
use for a new Y. .M. C. .\. building at I laniiltun, ( )hio, where it was found that
smaller construction units were recjuired ; a museum in the form of a medieval
castle in ruins, in the valley apjiroachinsj Eden Park, which failed to secure the
appro\al i>\ }Jr. Kessler and the Park P)Oard ; Oherlin College, thru Air. Cass
Gilbert, investigated their adaptation for one of its new Iniildings, Ijut their
great dimensions and the transportation cost prevented their use : sketches
were drawn for an entr;incc office at the Zoo constructed fmrn the h'nurth
Street arches and corner towers, and careful estimates had been made of the
cost for Mr. Draper and officers of the Alunicijial Art Society; some interior
jHilished marble bases, ccilunnis and arches were also lieing sought by the Art
Aluseum; several good suggestions appeared in the public pres--, but the
difficulty in all cases was the financial one.
By November, 1911, fiu"tlier delay in reniip\ing the walls l)ecame impos-
sible, and Harig & Co. found no alternati\'e but to have the upper parts of the
stonework hauled ti) the Big-Four Railway, to use for purposes of track bal-
last on their Indianapolis Division.
About November 20, consultations were begun by officers of the Cincin-
nati Astronomical Society, with Harig & Co., Garber & Woodward, the Union
Central Life Insurance Co., Air. W. ^Y. Taylor and Mr. Gest of the Mtmicipal
Art Society, and Mr. Draper of the Chamber of Commerce, with reference to
placing all of the great arches and 'ither valuable ])ortions i if the Iniilding, at
the disposal of the Society for later use as the walls nf an .\stronomical
Observatory.
Search for downtown vacant lots for storage gave no results except high
rental prices and risk of cjuick removal in case of sale of the lots. Cost of
drayage from Fourth and \'ine Streets was first inclndcil in the estimated cost,
but later Harig & Co. agreed to assume this expense and place the material
free on board the B. & O. flat cars at the Plum Street yards. This reduced
the estimated cost from $5,000 or $8,000 down to a much smaller figure, more
within the range of i)ossibility. The wreckers had by this time reached the
tops of the largest arches at the southeast corner, and no time could be lost
Finally, at a meeting (jf the ( )ptiniist L'lub, ."Saturday, 1 )ecember ind.
Mr. \V. \\ . Taylor, wdio could not bear to see the fine .arches di>appear witlmut
a last appeal, made an earnest plea for their preservation, and made an offer
on the part of the Municipal Art Society to subscribe $300 frcim their accumu-
lated funds, toward the cost of jilacing the material mi a storage Int. In
response to this offer and ajjpeal, members of the ( )ptimist and Uueen Cit_\-
Clubs added about $400 more to this <iffer at that time. Except for Mr. Tay-
lor's timely effort, the plan to store the material would h,i\e failed.
The Cincinnati F^rog and Switch Co., thru .Mr. Ivl. lleit/.man, manager,
oft'ered the use of a couple of acres .f their land and of their railro.ad switches,
thus completing the ]ilan. < 'n l)eccniber 4th, llarig & Co.'s proposition to
deliver the granite free on board car.- on the tracks of the B. & (). R. R. in the
?I2 I ; '■'!'
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o
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o
Preservation of Granite Arches and Walls After Fire
city, was accepted on behalf of the Cincinnati Astronomical Society by its
president, the stone to be shipped to Oakley and arran.o-ements made for i)lac-
ing it back on the land. Two carloads n\ arch material, alreadv sent to the
Big-Four R. R.. were recalled from Lawrencebiirg Junction, thru the efl'orts
of G. P. Smith, chief engineer, and re-shipi)e(l to (Jakley. From December 4,
1911, to March 15, 1912, 120 carloads of arch and wall material were handled
and placed on the lot. This was about two-thirds of all the granite in the
building.
To cover the cost of this work, the donations alxjve mentioned were sup-
plemented by liberal help from 400 individuals and firms, who were .glad to
see the fine arches taken care of and plans made for their later re-erection.
Letters of endorsement were given to the project bv the jiresideiit and directors
of the Chamber of Commerce, the I'.usiness Alen's Club, and the Cincinnati
Chapter of the American Institute of Architects. These letters and the promi-
nent names of early subscribers, heliied decidedlv in securing the entire cost
of preser\-ing the granite.
CINCINNATI CHAPTER
AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF ARCHITECTS
CINCINNATI. OHIO
Resolution Adopted by the Cincinnati Chapter, A. I. A., May 19. 1914.
Whereas, the old Chamber of Commerce designed by 11. 11. Richardson
was considered one of his masterpieces and embodied a beautiful arcade of
arched windows on the main floor, and,
\VherEas, it appears that the Cincinnati Astronomical Societv secured
the material which was saved from the removal of the old building, including
these arches along with a sufficient amount nf the ashlar facing surn luiiding
the same, with the object of inc(jrporating this material in a future building,
which will be erected for the purpose of an Observatory, the design of which
is arranged to incorporate and preserve this arcade \ery much along the lines
of the original design :
Therefore, be it Rcsolz'cd. That the Cincinnati Chapter of the A. I. A.
heartily approve and indnrse this project, which, if executed in the proposed
manner, will serve to restore and perpetuate this beautiful design by so emi-
nent a master, and be useful and instructive at all times as a splendid piece of
architecture, ser\'ing as a model for students in the !\(iinanes<|ue st_\ le in which
this \vork was conceived.
The old Chamber of Commerce was in its day and gener.-itinn CMUsidered
bv far the finest example of pure architectural design in the Rumanesque
school in this country. The Chapter is gratified to know that Cincinnati is
placed in a position to be able to pdint to at least a partial restoration of this
work as embodied in the plans nf the Astrtinimiical Society.
******
I am sending you herewith a cojiy of the resolutinn adopted b}' the Cin-
cinnati Chapter of the American Institute nf Architects at their last regu-
lar meeting. _ Yours very respectfully,
Jos. G. Steinkamp, Secretary
Cincinnati Chapter, .\. 1. .\.
Wednesday, June .\ 1914.
"3
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114
Thirty Years Progress In the New Astronomy
Plans for the Observatory and Home of
the Cmcinnati Astronomical Society
Bv DeLisle Stewart, President*
"Contemplated as one vast whole, astronomy is the
most beautiful monument of the human mind, the noblest
record of its intelligence. — Laf'Iacc.
When Galileo, in 1609-10, turned his newly-made telescope toward the
sky and found mountains and valleys on the moon, dark spots upon the sun.
as also that there were visible discs to the planets hut not to the fixed stars:
that Venus showed phases like our moon ; that Jupiter had four revolving
satellites and Saturn a perplexing- tri])le furm — he opened up an epoch in
astronomy and in human thought and history. His first "optick tul.ie" had
about the power of a good opera glass of today, and his best glass later had
a magnifying power of aliout 32. But larger k-n>e> and l)etter instruments
followed rapidly, and in varying form and with numerous devices fur e.xact
measurement, the telescope has continued to re\-eal more details of the forms,
motions and distances of the hea\-enly bodies. For two centuries and a half
the human eye at the telescope served as the sole means of recording astro-
nomical data. The record of its discoveries and triumphs is truly marvelous!
The refinement with which the ])Ositiiins of the heaxenly bodies are deter-
mined, their past motic;>ns known, antl their future positions predicted by
mathematical analysis, is almost beyond belief.
But the human eye is not perfect. Xo two observers have eyes just
alike; the right and left eye are unlike in alnmst e\ery jicrson; the state of
health, amount of fatigue or wcjrry, age, strained jiusitinn in uliserving, all
are factors in the correctness of one's \'isual rcci ird. A\'onderful as is the
retina of the human eye, astronomers long Miught a sul)Stitute for it in a
better recording medium for astronomical data — this substitute was at last
fc.iund in the sensitive chemical film of the photographic plate.
From the very first announcement of Daguerre's discovery in 1839, astron-
omers attempted to make photographs of sun, inoon and lirighter stars, and
with good success, considering the slowness and inconveniences of the
early processes. But it was not until the perfecting of the gelatine dry-plate,
in 1876, and its coming on the market ciimniercially, that the full ad\ antage
of photography was revealed.
Celestial Photography a Success with Dry Plates.
The wonderful comet of 188J. which is remembered the world ii\er for
its brightness and extensive tail. \\a> photographed at the Cape of Ciood
Hope, South Africa. Its Ijrilliance was so great in sciuthern latitudes that
Sir David Gill had a local photographer, Mr. Allis, strap his camera to the
Observatory telescope and, by keeping the clockwork going, while sighting
thru the eyepiece on the head of the comet, gi\'e a half-hour exposure. Th.at
"President's Address before the Hh AiiiumI MfOting. -May 15. 19H. at Cincinnati Sufiety of Natnral History
'15
ClNl-lNNAll ASTKONOMICAI. SoClKTY
was encouraging; so he next tried an exposure of three hours. 'J'he resulting
negative showed the CDUiet uji fuiely, and in addition showed mjriads of
sharp star-images, from whicli Dr. Gill got the idea of charting the sky
by lihotography. lie immediately undertook the charting of large regions
of the southern sky by this new process, measuring the jjositions of the
stars directly from the plates, and later publishing catalogs of their position
and brightness.
Copies of the comet picttire which he sent to Europe were seen by the
Henri Brothers, of the National Observatory at Paris. The\- were just at
that time re-charting some majis nf the zodiac near the Milky ^^'ay, where
the stars are so plentiful. The}- resoK'ed to try ])h(it(>Lrrapliy instead of
visual methods of registering the positions, and fnuud it a cumplete success.
In 1SS7. so successful had the new
])lii itogra])hic method jiroved that an
International Astro-phott)graphic As-
sociation was fnrmcd by eighteen lead-
ing obserx'atories of the wurld. tn
co-ojierate in ])hotogra])liing the wlmle
sky and cataloging tlie stars from these
])lates. v^uitable telesco])es were de-
\ised. measuring instruments perfected
and formulae for reduction worked out,
so that the results wotdd form a har-
monious and accurate census (jI the
stars.
As truly as Galileo began an epoch
with his little telescope, just as surely
did the entrance of the ])hotographic
plate into astronomy inaugurate an-
other epoch — a .\'rri' /:")'(;.
Great Spiral Nebula
in Constellation of the Hunting Dogs.
Photo made by G. W. Ritchey
with 60-inch Reflector, Mt. Wilson, Cal.
Total exposure of 10 hours, 45 minutes.
April 7-8, 1910.
Advantages of Photography in
Astronomy.
The pliotogra])hic ])late lias Ijeen a
most valuable assistant to the astron-
omer in his researches for over thirty years because of certain very distinct
adxantages which it possesses. These advantages deser\e mention.
1 The e\e tires after a \'ery short time of steady loc iking at any section
of sky. Not so the plate ; it is tireless ; in less than an hour it records all
tliat the eye can see in that same telescope. With each additional hour's
exposure on the same region still fainter detail is adde<l, until with exposures
of four, six, or even ten or twelve hours, objects absolute!}- invisible to the
human eye are constantly being revealed. This cumulative power is one
ad\-antage of the sensitive lilm.
2 Only a very small section of sky is seen at a time as one looks thru the
eye])iece ; but the ])hotographic plate frecjuently covers many scjuare degrees
of sky area in the one exposure. In this way vast regions of the Milky Way
have been photographed and studied; nebulae of vast extent have been
discovered which were unsuspected thru the eyepiece. Thousands of stars
ii6
Thirty Years' Progress ix tiik Xi;\v Astronomy
are recorded in a few hours' work, which would have cost months or years of
effort by the older methods. In one exposure of five hours in the Bruce
Photographic Telescope at Arequipa, Peru, fully 400,000 stars recorded their
impressions on the plate, beside large expanses of nebulous matter in won-
derful detail. The astronomer's recording power has been increased more
than a hundredfold by the photographic process.
3 Between Mars and Jupiter have been found several hundred minor
planets, or asteroids. The largest is nearly 500 miles in diameter ; they
vary from that down to a diameter of just a few miles. The visual search
for them required the mapping of all the stars along the zodiac to form
charts, and the locating of these moving asteroids among the fi.xed stars
involved very great labor. For over twenty years this work has fallen to
the photographic plate, for the moving planets show as "trails" or lines
among the round images of the stars, and so are readily detected. Even
when an accurate ephemeris of an asteroid's path is at hand, time is saved
by having the regii m jilmtographed. It is a ccimmmi experience to search
several evenings with a visual telescope and finally have to call in the aid
of the camera, which picks up the asteroid readily in less than an hour's
exposure. From ten to fifteen asteroids can be obser\ed in one night on
the plates, whereas from one to five oidy could be located and measured
visualh'. Their positions are now measured directly from the plates.
Facility and Quickness of Making the Record.
This facilit}' w'nh which asteroid charts are taken i-^ but one instance
of the quickness with which \aluable records are made. In the study of
sun-spots, with their rapid changes, exposures of a few thousandths-of-a-
second record the details over the whole disc of the sun ; the numerous
craters, mountain ranges and flat sea-beds on the moon are readily photo-
graphed in from one to five seconds. The pencil, no matter how skillful,
is unequal to this task. The labor has lieen very greatlv reduced bv the
photographic method and records accumulated on plates such as would
have been impossible by former methods, or would have required centuries
to merely record.
4 Far from being a mere plaything, the sensitive film has proved itself
a most reliable and accurate instrument of research. Fear was early expressed
that the gelatine film might shift slightly on the glass in the processes of
development. This fear has proved groundless : measures taken after repeated
immersions in the chemicals and prolonged washings show that the film
returns on drying to its former position, and that such distortions of the
film are not greater in amount than the one-thousandths part of a millimeter.
Such accurate star-positions are now derived from the plates that new
attachments have been devised f<ir meridian circles to eliminate the trouble-
some "personal equation" affecting all transit observations, and bring them
again up into equality with the photographic results.
The micrometer, which formerly was used only at the eye end of the
equatorial to measure the directions and distances of stars in the field of
view, now forms a part of the specially devised jNIeasuring Instrument, with
which the precise positions of stars and nebulae are read off from the plates.
So faithfully and accurately are the objects found to be registered on the
plates, that the precision of the results is limited by our own lack of >kill
in measurement, rather than by any errors in the plates.
Cincinnati Astronomical Sociktv
5 The i)Iatcs form a permanent record and liislory nf the sky. Ivicli plate
is numbered, the exact times and all the nther conditions of the exposure
are recorded. A card-index makes every ])late accessible lor examination,
and frequentlx a luuidred or more plates, taken durinji^ the past thirty years,
can be compared to trace the history of some new star, some strikinj"^ \ariable.
some j)eculiar asteroid, or a newly discovered satellite of Saturn or Ju])itcr.
While some discoveries are made from the immediate examination of a i)late,
yet by far the greater ])art result from its later study. Some negatives taken
l)y Rutherford from 1870 to 1880 on wet-plates ha\ e been measured, after st)
many years, at the Columljia Uni\ersity Observatory with extremely \ aluable
results.
6 Photographv allows the fullest possible use to be made of all clear
weather in the taking of exposures. It avoids largely the making of difilTCult
measures under physical discomfort, and tran>fers that w i irk to the comfort-
able obser\atory measurement-room and laboratory. I'.conomy of ctTort
also restilts, for parts of the examination work are handled by day-workers
with regular office hours, and other part^ 1)\ the night-observers during spells
of clotidv weather. Many women are occupied with this careful examination
and measurement of plates who could not endure the >train of night-work.
Deserved fame has come to some of these women who have made s])ecial
studies of new or \arial)le stars, or in classifying s])ectra and I'ataloging the
stars.
So Completely ha\e these many ad\ant;iges been realized among astron-
omers that nearly all of the old-established observatories ha\e adopted the
l)hotograpbic methods. New observatories, made ]Kissil)le thru a revival of
interest in the science, have been eipiipped in ,iii unexpectedly liberal niamuT
with the newest, most improved and largest |)hotographic telescopes and
cameras that opticians and instrument makers could dc\'ise. We could not
now return to the ])urel_\' \isual nietliod. if we wished, an_\ more than we
could now be satisfied with ("..ilileo's ]iriniitive telescope.
The Spectroscope and a New Science — Astro-Physics.
The same qualities which ha\e made the >ensiti\ e film so \;iIuabK' in
recording the positions and relative brightness of the stars, ha\e made it
indisi)ensal)le in the new science of .Astro-l'hysics. .\bout 1850 it was ])osi-
ti\'ely declared by August Comte that it would be impossible for us ever
to determine the nature of the heavenly bodies: that, whether compcjsed of
matter like that which forms the earth or of some difi'erent kind, we might
si)eculate Ijut we ciiuld nexer know. In 18<i0 Kirchhofi' identified the bright
rays of terrestrial substances with similar dark lino in the si)ectrum of the
sun, and. with Bunsen, he inaugurated spectrum analysis. So the light Ironi
sun and distant star has lieen made to yield its secrets, on passing thru a
simple wedge of glass, anil the bouiKJle^^ nni\i.Tse has become one with our
earth in its known elements. Chemistry, physics and astronomy h;i\v all
found in the spectroscope a powerful weai)on of research. New element-
have revealed themselves in our miner.als. in our atmos])here. .•ind in the
light of the stars thru its use.
Astronomy, up to this point, had, of necessity, been concerned with tlu-
positions of the stars, their motions under the laws of gra\itation, and with
the study of the form and structure of the universe — the W 1 lb", 1\ 1'. and
ii8
Thirty Vkars' Prik'.rkss in tiik Xi:\v Astronomy
WHITHER of the star^ ; nnw came its first cliance to determine tlie nature
of the heavenly bodies— WHAT the stars RlvMJ.Y ARK. That which had
remained secret and had seemed past finding out, now began to be revealed.
For this spectroscope, which sorts out the colors of light and arranges them
in order by their wa\-e-lengths, cares not whether the light-source be in the
close-by laboratory, or, across the span of millions of miles, in the sun, or
even that it has journeyed hundreds of years to reach us from far-distant
stars or nebulae: all it asks is that the sample of light be enough to analyze.
The 60-inch Reflector of the Mt. Wilson Observatory.
Photographs taken with this telescope have revealed details of nebulae, star-clusters
and sky-regions, hitherto unknown.
So rajjidly did this new lield de\elo]i that the phrase, "the
new astronomy," came into use as reflecting the rejuvenatin
1(1 and the
effects of
Astro-Physics. Several Astro-Physical observatories were planned l\v the
new scientists and built l)y wealthy supporters to whom these new lines
appealed; new periodicaN, like "Astronomy and Astro- I'liysics." later "The
Astro])hysical Journal." arose to keep pace with the jirogress ; our own
countrv was foremost in its investigators, in their equipment, and in their
financial and jiopular support: to our largest, most active and representative
body of specialists in these fields belongs tiie name "The Astronomical and
Astro-Phvsical Societv of America."
Cincinnati Astronomical Society
Photographic Plate Again Proves Its Value.
Just as i1k- photographic ])latc registers all the stars o\cr a large area in
one exposure, so it records all the detailed lines of the spectrum when put in
the place of the eyepiece of the spectroscope. Thus hundreds of lines rc])re-
senting the various wave-lengths of star-light arc caught on the tilm, and
alongside of them are recorded lines made by light from some one of our well-
known metals for comparison, and this plate serves for accurate measures
of the star-spectrum in the same way that chart plates serve for positions.
Special microscopes for measuring spectra are now made by several instru-
ment makers, and are in use in many oljscrvatories.
To the spectroscope erjuipped with the recording iiholograjihic plate-
must be credited some enormous advances made in these recent decades. It
used to be that only during the total solar eclipses could observations be made
of the solar jirominences and other phenomena. Total eclipses continue to
be observed, even at the expenditure of months of time, journeys of thousands
of miles, and with all kinds of telescopes, cameras and spectroscopes. The
wonderful corona requires all the observation possible and full ijhotogra])hic
records, for no two artists sketch its streamers alike. But some of the obser-
vations, as of prominences, are now made on any clear day with a spectro-
heliograi)h, which combines the telescope, the i)anoramic camera and the
spectroscope. Mono-chromatic light, coming from some one prominent spec-
trum line, alone reaches the plate. Tlius one substance, like hydrogen or
calcium, can be singled out and the ])latc made to record the location of that
substance wherever it occurs on the sun's surface ai that instant of exposure.
By adjusting the spectroscope for a line from some other substance that, too,
can be taken by itself. The sun has been studied as never before, and the
advance in solar physics is marxclous. W'liat we learn ai)out the sun helps
in the study of the stars, whicji an- but more remote suns.
Star Colors and Their Spectra.
The more conijjlcte mapping of the stellar spectra upon ])lates contirnied
the earlier classification by star colors and showed up a mass of detail w hich
the eye could not grasp. The eye's range of sensitiveness from red t(j violet,
was extended into the ultra-violet by the normal drv-plate, and \-arious dyes,
added to the film, permitted the red section of the spectrum to be recorded.
The color qualities of the plates themselves were carefully studied and
exhaustive tests applied.
\\liite and bluish-wdiite stars, like \'ega, Rigel and the Pleiades, showing
a strong helium spectrum, and like Sirius with hydrogen lines, form the first
type; yellowish stars, like our sun Caijcllu, Arcturus and Canopus, with many
fine metallic lines as well as the hydrogen, form the second type; these two
types include over ninety per cent of all the stars. Orange-red stars, like
Antares and Betelgeuse, showing heavy aljsorption bands, form a third t\j)e.
They are few in number and include some variables. Some very faint dee])-
red stars, showing dark bands due to carljon alisorption, form a fourth type.
Nebulae, unmistakably gaseous, precede the star t}pes. Detailed comjiarison
shows about twenty subdivisions to all these groups, with nian\- ])ecidiar stars
requiring minute study.
I'Vom the brighter stars the classification has l)een carrieil to tjie fainter
ones and studies made of the distriliution of the various types and their loca-
tion near to or away from the Milky Way. The Harvard Observatory has
made this one of its special fields of stud\- Needless to say, visual observa-
tions have largely ceased, and entire dejiendcnce is now placed on the photo-
graphic records. So has the light of each .'•'tar been made to tell us the secrets
of its constitution and physical state.
120
Thirty Years' Progress in the Xkw Astronomy
"Motion-in-the-Line-of-Sight" Radial Velocity.
Another triumph has been scored l)_v the combined spectroscope and ])late,
called ui'w the spectrograph. It is knowti tliat in sound the pitch of an
approaching locomotive whistle is higher than of a receding one. More sound
waves per second beat upun the ear as the whistle comes toward one than
when it is going away. So with light. As a star is approaching, more vibra-
tions reach us in a given time and the whole spectrum is shifted toward the
violet end ; or shifted toward the red end when the star is receding, as fewer
vibrations per second then reach us. This shifting can be detected <mi the
negative and accurately measured. How rapid the increase in acctiracy has
been is shown in the statement of Dr. Frost, Director of Yerkes Observatory,
that while the uncertainty of any one determination was five miles in 1888-89,
in 1912 it was about one-sixth of a mile If a velocity has been stated in
1888-89 as fifty miles a second, it w'as really anywhere between 45 and 55
miles ; now, if stated as fifty miles, it is somewhere between 49.8 and 50.2
miles, an increase of thirty times in accuracy. This uncertainty is equivalent
to one ten-thousandth of an inch on the plate. The idea of being able to
detect a motion to us or from us is wonderfu' enough in itself; Init to reach
such refinement in accuracy is convincing proof of the value of the photo-
graphic plate in scientific research.
In 1895 Dr. Keeler, of Allegheny Observatory, showed by the spectri_>-
scope that the rings of Saturn are composed of separate meteoric particles and
not of solid sheets of material. The spectrum lines declared by their displace-
ment that the outside of the ring was moving 10 miles per second, wdiile the
inside moved 12'.) miles per second. If solid the outside would, of course,
move the faster. Keeler's discovery verified the mathematical theory in a
novel way and took rank among the important steps in astronomical progress.
The varying velocities of all parts of the sun's stirface and the clottd belts of
the brighter planets are now investigated by this method.
(jrowing out of these "motions-in-the-line-of-sight," or radial velocities,
of the stars has come the discovery of spectroscopic binaries, a type of close
dottble-stars with one star in rapid rotation about the other. They were dis-
covered thru an alternate widening and narrcjwing of the lines of the star-
spectrum — widening when one star is coming and the other receding, narr(_)w
when one star swings past the other across our line of vision-. \Miere the
components are imequal in brightness the broadened lines are brighter first
on one side, then on the other. If one passes directly in front of the other, an
eclipse occurs twice in each revolution and the star is a variable. Algol, "the
Demon Star," known to vary in brightness, but unexplained for over a century,
was foimd to have a dark or in\isible companion, which passed in front of
the bright component and dimmed its light partly for nine hotirs out of a
complete rotation period of sixty-nine hours. The radial motion of the visible
star was thus led to betray the presence of a companion mass which gives off
no light of its own. Nearly all these binaries recjuired the spectroscope for
their discovery, for the com])ijner.t stars could not be separated visually.
New Light on Old Researches.
From the time Avhen Edmun.l Halley suspected the "proper motions" of
some of the brighter stars, previous to 1718, the subject has been one of large
interest to all astronomers. Such motions coidd only be detected by exact
measurement of the angular distance from neighboring stars, and finding that
these distances were changing. The Cincinnati Observatory has devoted its
energies largely to this research for many years. The motions thus fotmd
were in dift'erent directions on the celestial sphere and all at right-angles to
the line drawn from the star to us. Xo motion toward us or from tis was
discoverable by the "proper-motion" observers ^^"hen that most remarkable
achievement of modern science the measurement of radial velocities, was
effected by the spectroscope, the resulting motions along the line drawn from
ClNCr.N.NATl ASTRONOM ICAt. SllCIKTY
the star U' us, lUtcd in witli tlic "])ni])cr-iui itiMiis" already ulilainccl, and cuni-
hined witli them to give the actual motions in space. Thus a l)y-i)ro(luct nl
spectroscopy has proved of inestimable help in completing the older pro1)leni.
From these combined results, giving the actual motions in space, discov-
ery has been made that the moving stars fall into two main groups or star-
streams, coming from widely separated regions of infinite S])ace, anil ahnul
alike in chemical composition and in their motions.
Still more recently it has been found that the dilVcrciit >])ectral ty])es
jiavc different velocities, as the helium stars move thru space at the rate of
four miles per second, hydrogen stars six miles, and solar stars about twelve
miles jier second. Thus the hottest young stars ap])ear !■• \U'i\c slowest. ,ind
cooler and older stars more ra])id.ly. That s])eed seem> in dexelop witii tlu'
increased age of the star leads tn new s])cculations and place-- an iniTcased
\'alne upim the sjicctrnscnjjic results.
The Stereoscope. Zeiss Stereo-Comparator.
The stereoscope is now applied to the examination of chart plates. Two
negatives on the same region taken several years apart are placeil in the Zeiss
".'^tereo-comparator" and the star images brought into coincidence so they
match. All the stars form one common held except such as have moved —
the excejnional ones showing motion appear ])rojected in front or to the rear
by the stereoscopic action. Their displacement can then be measured directly,
without the need of reducing the positions of the thousands of stars which
have no motion. The whole solar system is known to be inoving away from
Sirius and in the direction of \'ega in Lyra at the rate of about a million miles
a day, or twelve miles a second. Chart jjlates, taken on the same regions
tweh'e to fifteen years apart, can now throw light u\>"\\ tlii^ problem of the
solar motion when examined stereoscopically. Here aNo ph' itogra]ihy has
come to aid in the solution of a very old |)rol)lem.
Comet Photography and Halley's Comet.
The lield-glass is ii>uall\ more satisfat'tory to use in looking at a comet
than a very ])owerful telescope. It takes in a large area of sky and shows all
of the comet at one time. The large telesco])e shows but one ])art at a time
and is best for a study of details, as of the nucleus. In the same way the
camera or photographic telescope has i)ro\ed its sujjcriority in depicting
comets, because of the large area covered by the pl.ate. The telescope "fol-
lows" on the comet itself, and tlie stars come out as trails, as the comet is
moving among the stars, .since 1<S,S2 exery ])Ossible chance to secure comet
negatives has been utilized, and much progress made in the study of the rajiid
changes in the tails, and in their com])osition as re\ealed thru the spectroscope.
Some comets, faint to the e}e, are strong in actinic rays and photogra])h finely.
J^opular interest has always been aroused by the discovery of a new comet
or the return of a periodic one. Dr. E. E. Barnard, now of the Yerkes Observ-
atory, has been especially ]irominent in comet photography.
The changes are so ra]iid in the shape and in the condensation of a comet's
tail that plates taken in succession show large <lif'ferences, and those on suc-
ceeding nights often show complete transformations. In planning to secure
all possible observations of Halley's comet on this recent return the fullest
co-operation was urged ujion ol)ser\ers the world over. Often the whole time
for taking the plates at any one >tation was only twenty to thirty minutes
between the rising of the comet and tlu- dawn, which would log the plates:
so that to secure an uninterrupted record of its changes would have required
sixty or more stations around the glol)e. each taking a plate daily. The advan-
tage of numerous instruments well distributed is self-evident. As a result
there were very few hours in those months of its close proximity to the sun
when some camera was not being exposed on the comet. It was lorighter, had
a greater extent of tail, and was longer \ i^ihlc than in 18,vt. FJe-discovered at
Thirty \'i:ahs' Phuc.kkss in the Xi:\v Astkonumv
Heidelberg on Wolf's photographic plates, Ilalley's cnmet was iiiiilcr ohscrxa-
tion over four months earlier in its journey than in 1835, owing to the ])hoto-
graphic method and the present superior telescopic equipment, i'riccless
records were tiuis secured which are being studied with care and patience.
Cyanogen lines were re\ealed by the spectroscoiK'. Recent discoveries in
radiation pressure and enianatinns gixe special \aluc tii all C(pnu-t phennniena.
I /Vic. /I. . G. II'. R,hil,-y\
The Globular Star-Cluster in Hercules.
Over 60,000 separate stars show in the original negative. Total exposure of eleven
hours on three nights, June 6, 7, 8, 1910.
N
Stellar Photometry and Variable Stars.
A rapid sketch nf the New Astrnnomy wnuld be incumplcte without a
menticiU of studies in the brightness of the stars. As sunn as photographs
began to be taken of sky regions the \alue nf the plate as a recorder of the
relative brightness of stars was ap;)arent. The brighter the star and the longer
the exposure, the larger its image is on the plate, luirly measures of bright-
ness were based on the diameters of these images. Refractors and reflectors
presented separate problems in the character of their star images. It was
immediately recognized that the plate, with its sensitiveness to color so difier-
ent than the eye, called for a photographic scale of magnitutles. Such a scale
has been gradually perfected and connected for comparison with visual stand-
ards. Some errors affecting visual observations ha\e met their solution thru
the minute study of this photographic magnitude problem. \\'e know more
about the human eye today because of these comparisons with the plates.
In the study of variable stars the plate has proved of inestimable value.
Up to 1885 there had been only al)out 250 such stars discovered visually.
Since that date not less than 1.500 have been detected on the photographs.
By bringing together several ]dates on a region and carefully examining them
1^1
CixciNXATi Astronomical Socikty
ni.iiiy chans^cs in brightness have ai)])eare<l. I'^nmi the s])ec-tra showing bright
hydrogen lines Mrs. Fleming discovered over 125 long-period variables on
IJarvard plates, and on gl<>l)nlar-cluster i)hotograi)hs IVofessor Bailey has
found over 500 stars whose l)rightness changes regularly. A\'ithin a few
hours some cluster variables go thru an increase and decrease of from two
to six times in brightness. Hundreds of new variables connected with nebulae
are now known, the variation of each l)eing checked on several different ])lates.
While most stars shine with constant light, these variables form the
exceptions. Many can be ohserxed \isually with small telescopes. A variety
of photometers have been devised for accurately measuring their changes in
brightness. By means of a polarizing eyejiiece or a sliding wedge of neutral
tinted glass the light of the star is made to ecjual a coni])arison star (ir an arti-
ficial point of light in brightness. .\ graduated circle rjr scale attached is
read oft' and the figures reduced to decimals of magnitudes. The light-curve
and period of each variable is worked out with exactness, and studies made to
account for the light-changes. X'ariable star discovery has helped to add
new life and interest to our science. The sun has even been foimd to be vari-
able in its radiations to the amount of ten ])er cent, and within a ])eriod of a
few days. \'ariable star research, visual anrl jihotographic, ])hotometric and
spectroscopic, seems to have only begun. It is a field of great ])riiniise
Satellites of Saturn and Jupiter Discovered.
In 1898 several plates of Saturn were taken at Arequipa, Peru, on which
\\ . \[. Pickering discovered a ninth satellite, which he named Phoebe. Allho
lost track of for a few years, images of this satellite were found on over forty
plates later — its existence confirmed and its orbit found to be retrograde.
Evidences were wholly ]}hotogra])hic. until it was seen b\^ Dr. Barnard in the
Yerkes 40-inch. In 1905 a tenth satellite was found on the same Saturn plates
by Mr. Pickering.
On ])lates taken at Lick Observatory Mr. Perrine discovered, in 1904-05, a
sixth and a seventh satellite of Jupiter, both faint and remote from the jilanet.
An eighth satellite of Jupiter was discovered on plates taken at Green-
wich Observatory in 1908 by Melotte, making the fifth new satellite whose
discovery- and observation was due solely In the photographic plate.
Planetary Detail and Double Stars Still To Be Mastered
The eye still serves best in depicting the surfaces and feature^; of the
planets. To magnify the image enough to give a good size on the plate and
secure the finer details meets with this oljstacle — lack of the planet's li.ght.
The disturbances in our air al.so cause frequent blurriness alternating with
instants of good seeing. Speci.il devices for eliminating the times of dis-
turbed seeing and exposing the plate only during instants of great steadiness
have been tried by Ritchey and others. Some jirogress has resulted, but com-
plete success is still lacking.
Micrometer measures of close doul)le-stars is still visual work. The size
of all star images being greater on the negative than in the eye-piece makes
the close pairs merge into a single image. ,\n enlarging lens near the focus
causes loss of light and unduly prolongs exposure. For the present this work
is well left to the visual observer.
Observatories South of Equator. Desert and Mountain Stations.
.\ development in branch stations of old-established observatories is an
interesting phase of recent years. Of the 225 principal observatories of the
world, we find about 130 in pAirope and 65 in America, mostly near large
cities where the science has recei\ed most encouragement and has found
governmental or private support. Stars within forty or more degrees of the
South pole of the sky could not be studied except by going to South Africa,
124
Thirty Years' Progrkss ix the Xew Astroxomy
Australia or South America. So observatory parties, supplied with instru-
ments, have erected temporary stations on those continents or chosen perma-
nent sites after careful tests of climatic conditions. About 20 observatories are
now located in the Southern Hemisphere. Harvard has the Arequipa Station,
in Peru, and one in Eg>"pt. Lick has its branch near Santiago, Chile. The Car-
negie Institution has its work at San Luis, Argentine. Ann Arbor, Mich., has
a joint director with the La Plata Observatory, Argentine, using similar instru-
ments at both stations. From these stations, located at high altitudes and in
desert climates, are sent home the develoijed jjlates which form the basis for
research and measurement. A slightly different form of co-operation is shown
in the reduction of Lick Observatory plates on Eros by Mr. Hinks at Green-
wich. At Helsingford, Finland, in 60 degrees north latitude, plates are being
taken of the north pole of the sky for measurement at the Columbia Universitv
Observatory, Xew York. Dr. ^Barnard, of Yerkes Observatory, spent several
month in Southern California photographing the ]\Iilky-\\'ay with the Bruce
doublet whose permanent location is at Lake Geneva, ^^'is. The instances
cjuoted show how observers living in less promising regions are able to com-
plete their researches with plates made under the choicest climatic conditions
elsewhere.
!More and better astronomical work can be done in any localitv what-
ever with the help of the photographic plate than can possibly be done without
it. Wherever it has been given a fair trial it has met the requirements, and
nowhere could the critical tests applied have been more severe than in the
researches of the Xew Astronomy. In addition to the better results obtain-
able by photographic instruments used locally, there is the advantage to be
derived from brief expeditions with the instruments for special material, as
well as the opportunity to secure plates for comparative study from obser\-a-
tories in the most fa^•ored climates in the world.
Why This Review of Astronomical Progress?
In brief, we have seen that the photograj>hic plate is an untiring recorder
of starlight ; that it maps large areas at a time : that myriad stars, the nebulae
and the comets are quickly recorded ; that moving asteroids and satellites make
trails which are readily detected ; that the sensitive film forms a basis for the
most accurate and exacting measurements : that the plates form a permanent
record and history of the sky ; that photography secures fuller advantage of
all clear weather and a more economical division of observatory labors.
The new-born science. Astro-Physics — made possible by the combined
spectroscope and sensitive jilate — reveals the unity in composition of stm,
far-off star and nebula with our own earth ; the spectro-heliograph has created
a new solar-physics : the varying colors of the stars signify the stages in their
evolution : radial motions are discerned and accurately measured ; actual
motions of stars in space are thus derived in combination with ''proper motion"
results ; hence, star-streams are discovered and velocity in space mcreasing
with star-age : further, the stereoscope has been adapted to detect the motions
of stars, and to assist in the comparative study of plates.
Separate, yet related, liranches of the new science are comet study : dis-
covery of nebulae, spiral or of great extent ; Milky-Way photography and
study ; photometry and extensive variable star discovery ; novae, or new stars ;
eclipse expeditions ; southern and mountain stations ; plate measurement with
special instruments ; constant temperature devices for mirrors and spectro-
scopes : chemical and physical related researches ; co-operative plans, between
observatories or world-wide. Almost without limit these new sriecial ■sections
have arisen in the past thirt)- years
Why this review? With all this wonderful progress in astronomy and
Astro-Physics going on in all parts of our own country, has not the time come
to establish some branches of the photographic and spectroscopic astronomy
near Cincinnati? It is a matter of pride and admiration that in all of these
new researches American astronomers and astro-physicists have been in the
125
Cincinnati Astkono.mkai. Sociicty
forefront. Many of these researches are hut hcLiun, and lu-w (lc|iartnu-iits are
constantly arising. Is not Cincinnati to ha\e its jiarl with other localities in
extending astronomical study with instruments of these most modern designs?
The Cincinnati Astronomical Society, in presenting this hrief review of prog-
ress in the New Astronomy to the men and women of this city, feels certain
of an affirmative answer to these questions
Localities differ in their way of encouraging the new .--cience, as a glimpse
at the I<ick Observatory, Chicago, .Allegheny, Washington, Harvard anil Mt.
Wilson and other places shows. Old institutions encourage it in some places
and new ones are formed in other cities. It was thought that the local
Obserxatory could extend its ])recise star-position W(irl< into ])hotograpliic
plate measurement, as a natural dexelopment. But in 1910, the decision was
reached by those in charge of the city Observatory that nothing whatever of
the photographic or newer lines was to be undertaken or encouraged. This
decision was definite and fiii.il and ,ill chance for a reconsideration was abso-
lutely refused. T'"ortiniatel_\-, with this decision of the existing Observatory to
limit itself to work largel\- computational and in continuance of its historic
programs of proper-motion in\estigation, an entirely separate and independnit
basis was found on which to conduct these new researches.
Popular Astronomical Society for Unoccupied Fields.
The Cincinnati Astrcjnoniical Society, to bring togetlier those interested
in the science, was thus planned It was soon organized and became duly
incor]Kjrated in 1911. In all its efforts froiii the beginning it has kept con-
stantly in \iew the establishment of these newer branches of astronomical
activity in this vicinitv. W'hh entire freedom to undertake such researches
without encroaching in the least on the present work of the city institution,
there is every good reason why the plans of the Society should receive careful
consideration, and why such encouragement should be given as will am])ly
])rovide for the establishment .and proper ni.aintenance of the ])roposed new-
Observatory.
.As the present CJbservatory, maintained by city taxation since 1872, has
not in over forty years been the recijnent of any large endowments, it is con-
fidently believed th.at there is room for a separate privately endowed Astron-
omical Observatory in this vicinity. Especially when, as in some other
cities, an active Society is maintained in close touch w^ith the general ])ublic
and working in lines of general interest. .Among the descendents of the
hundreds of members of that early Cincinnati .Vstronomical Society, in exist-
ence from 1842 to 1872. there certainly are to be found many men and women
of means to whom Astronomy appeals. Some wdio hesitate about giving
endowments to a municipal institution, will no doubt decide favorably in
regard to an independent association, incorjiorated under the laws of the State
of Ohio for these definite jiopular ;ind scientific purposes.
Popular Features of Society Work.
Having its lieginnings in a series of illustrated .-\stronomical talks at the
rooms of the Cincinnati Society of Natural History, the monthly meetings
ha\e always included illustrated talks or papers on the programs. The in-
formal meetings promote the acquaintance of those interested in our science,
and a freedom to ask questions and relate interesting and helpful experiences
has grown year by year. An increasing number of members \-olunteer to
prepare papers and illustrate them with slides.
Popular public lectures have been secured and have proved an interesting
feature. Dr. E. E. Barnard displayed his beautiful Comet and .Milky-Way
photographs at the Christ Church Pari-h llou-^e. Miss i\lary Proctor gave
"Other Worlds Than Ours" in the gymnasium of the Ohio Mechanics' Insti-
tute. Dr. John .A. Brashear gave his "Photography of the Heavens" in the
Emery .Audilorinni. Mr. B. R. Baumgardt has given "An Evening with the
12C1
Plans kuk Sociktv OBSKl<v.\Tl)l(^■
Stars" at the EmerN- Audili iriuni. and a year later at the Cliainher of Com-
merce Hall. 'J'hese lectures ha\e been most enjoyable events in the life of
the society, and ha\e acquainted us with the wonderful pros.^ress made by
our American Ol)servatories in the new astronomy. vSimilar lectures </iven
before prominent clubs, organizations and churches accjuaint an increasin<< cir-
cle of Cincinnati people with the new phases of our science. With a larger
lecture fimd more popular lectures and talks can be given in clul)s and schools.
The Great Network Nebula in Cygnus.
Made with 60-inch Reflector, Mt. Wilson, Cal. Exposure, 10' , hours, July 2, 3,
4, 1910. Filaments of gaseous matter amid countless suns in the Milky-way.
A large number of our members own telescopes and keep track of the
constellati<:)ns and the motions of the planets, watch for sunspots and look up
comets. Some have even made telescopes for themsehes and have descrilied
before the society the processes of grinding the lenses and mirrors, ha\e told
how the mirrors are silvered, and liow the mountings were constructed. (Jthers
have been encouraged tn purchasL- telescopes by the Committee on the Mak-
ing and Purchase of Instruments. Each telescope generouslv shared with
friends and neighbors, forms a center of interest in our stu<ly of the star-.
Facilities for instrument making by members will tind ])lace in our new build-
ing, where under the direction of the experienced committee, greater progress
can be made than by each member wdrking se])aratel}'.
127
Cincinnati Astronomical Society
Choice of Permanent Location. Meteorological Conditions
The first consideratinii in selecting a permanent site for astroiKniiioal
work near Cincinnati is to take adxantage of the prexailing winds. Westerly
winds — due west, sotithwest and northwest — accompany nearly all of our clear
weather, blowing the smoke, dust and fog eastwardly. Whenever, on the
other hand, the wind blows strongly from the east the "seeing" is almost
without exception poor. So that such times are ])ractically worthless for
observation. The choice of location thus takes us un<iuestionably to the
west of the city — to the district of the AX'estern Hills h'ogs in the Ohio River
valley would prevent the choosing of a tract too close to the river. A site
somewhat north of west will thus present the most advantages on meteorologi-
cal grounds.
A Protective Zone.
The second consideration for permanence is the securing of a large area —
100 acres or more — so protected Ijy the natural features of the location, as
to a\iiiil later encroachment 1)}- residences and made streets, which with their
lights aiul dusl, would injure the astronomical value of any location. This is
of the utmost importance : the eye at the telescope must often be shaded
from the light before it can catch the faint details of comet or nebula, which
it is to measure. So also the photographic plate, so sensitive to faint star-
light, mtist be shielded fmni all rays of electric and incandescent gas lights.
Detrimental as city illumination is to visual work, it is fatal for the photograph
researches. A protective cone, furnished by the topography of the locality
and the large size of the tract, is absolutely necessary. Kntire control of all
lighting within this zone must be retained by the society Such observatory
reservation commanding a broad view of some beautiftil valley will become
one of the attractions of Hamilton county. In these times of rapid transit
and auto travel, a few miles out of town will not mean isolation, but will in-
volve less than an hour's trip by machine or traction to a magnificent \iew-
point, to a building unique, architectically and historically, and to the open
and hospitable home of an inspiring science.
Knowing the wonderful recent developments in our knowledge of the
stars, thru the photographic, spectroscopic and similar methods, every one
who has at heart our local scientific advancement will gladly and effectively
encourage the Cincinnati Astronomical Society in establishing some branches
of the new astronomy in this vicinity. The formation of the society, the inter-
est in its regular meetings, and its successful popular lectures would all have
been impossible without public encouragement. In a far larger way, our
plans for a home for the society, the choice tract of the ground for a perma-
nent site, the very best obser\ator_\- possible here, adequate instruments of
modern type, and funds by wdiich these will be maintained and fully utilized,
deijend upon public a])preciation and eftective encouragement.
The beautiful arches and walls frdui the most notable piece of architecture
our city has e\-er had, now await re-erection, after a period of temporary
storage. As the crown and masterpiece of Richardson's Romanesf|tie style
in .\merica, they deserve permanent preservation in this tiseful and inspiring
form. We are confident that the thousands of Chamber of Commerce mem-
bers and merchants who sought livlihood and gained fortune within its walls,
the many prominent business men who made their club home beneath its roof,
together with the host of citizens who admired and loved its beautiful arcades,
its rough hewn foundations and massive towers, and whii pointed them out
with just pride to guest and stranger alike — that all these will join with the
Cincinnati Astronomical Society in re-erecting the arches as the walls of
our new Astronomical and Astro-physical Observatory.
128
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V'JL^»'
Socieiy ^^ 737. ^SCS*
Date Due
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J t.. X
FEB"
1357
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DEC 2
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JAN 4
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Library Bureau Cat No 1137
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