PWD Historical Collection Accession 2004.071
This is the first part of a two part collection of clippings collected by Frederick Graff Jr., Chief Engineer of the Philadelphia Water Department during the middle of the 19th century. Conserved, mounted and bound, the scrapbook contains 130 pages of clippings on a wide variety of topics, reflecting Graff’s wide interests and activities. PDF images of each scrapbook page are attached below. PLEASE NOTE that there may be more than one page in some of the PDFs.
To search this index, I would suggest using the “Find” feature of your browser to search for keywords of interest. The scrapbook index is also part of the PWD Historical Collection PastPerfect database, and I hope at some point to include a more user-friendly version on Philly H2O.
In the numbers used in the index (XX:YY), XX is the page number, and YY is the number of the article on that page. In some but not all cases I have noted duplicate copies of articles. If source and date information are not included, then none was included in the scrapbook.
Part two of this collection, covering the years 1858-1871, can be accessed by clicking here.
1:1
Census of the United States, 1850, and of Philadelphia, 1790-1850
1:2 (same as 56:5)
Philadelphia in Olden Times. Dwellings and taxables, 1683-1769; and Dwellings in Philadelphia and New York, from 1850 Census. Credits Philadelphia’s lower person/dwelling ration as the “cause of the comparative health of Philadelphia and mortality of New York.”
1:3
Area of the United States, and Increase of population, 1790-1850.
2:1-2
Public Works of Pennsylvania, their cost and their revenue. Mostly railroads, through 1851
2:3-3:1
Statistics of Philadelphia. Fairmount Water-Works, pumpage and other statistics; City Gas Works; Water and Gas in Spring Garden;
Weather statistics, Locomotives; Machinery; Police. Public Ledger, January 2, 1854
3:2-3
Local Affairs: the Western Trade. Pennsylvania Railroad, description of tunnel through Allegheny Mountains at Sugar Run Gap.
3:4
Schuylkill Water-Works. Statistics, through 1851.
3:5
How to calculate the power of Parker’s water wheel. Article with information from J. Sloan Esq., Sloan’s Mills, Floydsburgh, Kentucky, in Scientific American, Vol. 6, page 336. Also from Franklin Institute report of June 11, 1846.
3:6
Census statistics. Comparing number of dwellings in Philadelphia and New York.
PAGE 4, PAGE 5, PAGE 6, PAGE 7
4:1-7:6
Full text of the Act of Consolidation passed by Pennsylvania Legislature January 31, 1854.
8:1-9:2
Fairmount Water Works. Description provided by Frederick Graff Esq. Historical and current information. January 28, 1840
9:3
Advertisement: County Commissioner’s statement of “value of all property assesses for State purposes, the number of Watches, and the assessment of persons, trades, occupations an professions, posts of profit and emoluments of office, and moneys at interest, as returned by the Assessors of the several Wards and Townships.” February 9, 1854
9:4
To readers and anxious inquirers. Consolidation. Gives extent in acres of various parts of the consolidated city, as well as the debt burden.
10:1-2
The weather No. 1. From 1835 to 1853. Philadelphia.
10:3-5
The curiosities of the census. 1850. Including colored and white; births, marriages, deaths; illiteracy; farms and their improvements; deaf, dumb, blind, insane, and idiotic.
10:6
New York and Philadelphia. Population, dwellings and families. From 1850 census. “The relative comforts of these two cities may be imagined from these figures.”
11:1
Hartford, Connecticut Water Works. Advertisement for pumping engines, pipes. March 1, 1854
11:2-3-4
The Fire Department of London–A Sketch of its Material. New York Courier
[1853]
11:5
The Census of Great Britain. New York Courier [1853]
11:6
To readers and anxious inquirers.History of property at northeast corner of Fifth and Chestnut.
12:1-2
Railway Bridge at Niagara. Designed by John A. Roebling
12:3-13:2
Report of the Water Committee, Water Works, and Assessor and Register of Water Rents, of Pittsburgh. Reports dated January 9, 1854
Clipping dated [March] 20, 1854
13:3
Local affairs. Spring Garden.Profile of this district, incorporated March 23, 1813. April 1854
13:4
Local affairs. The District of Southwark. Profile of this district. [1854]
14:1-3-15:1
On Horse Power. Results of the application of horse power to raising water from the working shafts at Saltwood Tunnel, on the South-eastern railway, in 1842. By Frederick William Simms, M. Inst. C. E.
15:2
Jagger’s Patent Turbine Wheel. Engraving and article. Patented granted October 19, 1852. Probably Scientific American. 1853
15:3
A diving bell. Described.
16:1-18:4
The Weather for 1853 – No. 2., No. 3, No. 4. No. 2: “Miscellaneous memoranda continued from the Inquirer of May 28th, 1853”
Weather highlights and other miscellany from January through December, 1853. Inquirer. 1853-1854
18:5
Fairmount Water Works. Listing of important events relating to the works, 1792-1851.
19:1
Improved Valve Cock. Patented by John Griffiths, of Philadelphia. Engraving and descriptive article. Probably from Scientific American
19:2
Local affairs: Spring Garden Gas Works. Yearly chart of gas meters, 1846-1853
19:3
Science, art and discovery: Ancient and modern water works and tunnels. Original source: Scientific American.
20:1
Bartholomew’ improvement in water closets. Engraving and descriptive article. Probably Scientific American. 1855
20:2-23:2
Water wheels – The turbine – Article 2. Essay on the turbine water wheel by James B. Conger, Jackson, Tennessee. With six illustrative figures. Probably Scientific American
23:3
Meeting in favor of a passenger rail-road and water works. In Frankford section.
23:4
The District of Moyamensing. Profile of this area, just before Consolidation.
24:1
Hartin’s Cylinder Water-Meter. Engravings and descriptive article about this English device. Probably Scientific American.
25:1-2
District of Penn. Profile of this district, just before Consolidation.
25:3
Science, Art and Discovery: Glazing of sheet-iron with glass. Originally in Scientific American.
25:4-26:1
Use of Water in Street Cleaning. Editorial on Philadelphia and need for regular washing of the streets; refutes claims of deficiency of water for this purpose. “…Our streets and courts and alleys should be thoroughly washed daily, especially in the summer season, when they are foul with filth that rapidly infects the air, so that we are made literally to breathe poison three or four months in every year. With this fact before us, need we be astonished that mortality is augmented at a fearful rate, during a period when the thermometer indicates a hundred degrees of heat, and the scorching sun is exhaling from gutters and thoroughfares, filled with putrefying garbage, the subtle agents of disease and death. We have been compelled in the midst of July and August to pass through quarters of the town where the impurity of the atmosphere was so offensive that it seemed we must at every step be inhaling pestilence. Heaps of offal from kitchens and elsewhere, were rotting in the ways, while the gutters were rank with putrid water which had remained stagnating since the last rain. There was no evidence that the scavenger had done his work there, or that the hydrants were ever opened to aid in the vital business of purification. This sort of neglect, so aggravated in certain section, exists to a greater or less extent in all parts of Philadelphia, which, though the cleanest city of its size in the country, is yet not nearly so well cleaned as it might and ought to be….” May 12, 1854
26:2
Description of steam fire engine, possibly from Cincinnati. 1854
26:3
The [West] Philadelphia Water Works Ornamental Pipe. Note from Scientific American regarding the standpipe that the magazine had previously attributed to Wm. H. Howson, for which Birkinbine & Trotter were falsely, the magazine says, trying to claim credit.
26:4-5
Local affairs. The Old Independence Bell. Description of the Liberty Bell.
27:1
The Steam Fire Engine. Trial of the engine, invented by Mr. Shawk of Cincinnati, in Moyamensing Prison. “…If any other proof were required, after the exhibition of Latta’s steam engine, or indeed if any other evidence were necessary, knowing, as the world does, the power of steam, that it may be used more efficiently, steadily, and economically than manual labor, that proof was presented in the action of this fire engine….
May 30, 1855
27:2 (also 36:4)
Advertisement for supplement to an ordinance approved October 30, 1854 entitled “An ordinance organizing the department for supplying the city with water.” Enacted December 26, 1854. Approved by Mayor December 29.
27:3
The West Philadelphia Water Works. Birkinbine and Trotter note to editor, refuting claim by Graff made in report on 24th Ward Works, that inadequate stand-pipe was not the one they had originally designed… 1854
27:4
Lemon Hill and Sedgely Park. Brief note thanking Graff “for his very heat Plan of Lemon Hill and Sedgely Park, Fairmount, and adjoining property.”
27:5
Extract from “Notes on America, –By a British Traveller.”
“On walking through the streets of Philadelphia to the hotel the city appeared too formal. The streets are built at right angles, those parallel to the river being called by numbers, first, second and so on; and those intersecting them, by the names of various trees as Chestnut-street, &c.-There are some squares, one of which, Washington, is a fashionable promenade in the evening; and here again the ladies excited my admiration. Some of the trees here have beautiful flowers, as large as our horse chestnuts, but more elegant. No person, not even children, walk off the gravelled walks upon the grass; and this forbearance, so unusual with us, I found general in the States. In fact, respectable society is very orderly, and the lower orders appeared to be less addicted to blackguardism. In general the trees by the causeways, which are paved with brick, are of recent planting. The streets are wretchedly paved; at the crossings they are actually dangerous…”
“The first, the most beautiful and the most useful public works, are the water works at Fairmount…” [Author met Mr. Graff, and says, “I…was much pleased with his urbanity…”] “The neighborhood of the works and views on the Schuylkill are beautiful. I one day took a trip up the river in a small steamboat, a crazy, dangerous looking vessel, built on a peculiar plan, without timbers, and her paddles, behind, with boards over them to prevent a swell, they dip into the water quite straight. She was intended for the canal.-Both sides of the river are beautiful, very much in English style, something like the river near Matlock, and adorned with gentlemen’s seats in excellent taste. The first house is a Mr. Pratt’s, where is a superb garden, the finest in the United States; it may almost be considered as national. It is said that Joseph Bonaparte offered 90,000 dollars for the place. the river, as far as I went, was beautiful, and rendered picturesque by the remains of factories in ruins, the damming of the water having destroyed the falls by which they were worked; and a stone bridge also in ruins having been swept away by a spring freshet. the Water Company purchased the water right for 150,000 and no surface water is allowed to run into the river for several miles. The laws respecting cleanliness and purity of the water are very severe. it would be well if some similar regulations were adopted with regard to the Thames….”
27:6 (also 35:1)
Hereditary Offices. “None die, and few resign.” Letter to Daily Pennsylvanian regretting the seemingly “hereditary” public office holders, including the City Commissioner, who “has actually grown grey in the service of the municipal government;” The Water Works superintendent, Graff, whose “family have held this post from time immemorial;” “The Commissioner of Highways (Mr. Birch,) has been fed at the municipal crib for many years, and it is time he was permitted to retire to his otium cum dignitate….”
28:1
Description of the steamer Ericsson, in a letter from engineer Charles H. Haswell. Letter dated May 30, 1855
28:2
Table showing density of population for U. S. and various other countries.
28:3
Obituary of Thomas Hulme, born September 7, 1777 in England, died Philadelphia May 7, 1855. Manufacturer of porcelain and queensware. “He had rare mechanical and inventive powers, and many of the successful parts of some of the public works of Philadelphia are due to Mr. Hulme’s inventive genius and good sense. Many of the excellences of Fairmount Water Works are due to Mr. Hulme.” Instrumental in construction of Louisville and Portland Canal, along the Ohio River. Member of the Franklin Institute. Philanthropist. Father of John Hulme of Louisville. Obituary originally from the Louisville Journal.
28:4
Advertisement for “Proposals for repair of terraces, and for water-works at the University of Virginia.” Proposals due January 19, 1855.
28:5
Excerpt from report on Councils meeting on the state of the 24th Ward Works, calling the stand-pipe particularly objectionable.
28:6
Signing applications for office. Editorial against this, saying that it makes the applicants forever unfit “for any enterprising, industrious and self-relying occupation.” Advocates that heads of public department should be allowed to choose their own employees, as in private business.
28:7
Supreme Court, April 9. Justices Woodward, Know and Black. Schuylkill Navigation Company vs. Jonathan and Andrew Robeson. Regarding damages to property due to raising of Fairmount Dam. March 10, 1854, In Delaware County, verdict rendered for plaintiffs for $20,900.
29:1-2
Shots and shells.Long article about making of ammunition. Originally from Chamber’s Journal.
29:3-4
Local affairs. The New Gas Works. Description of the Works, in Passyunk (now First Ward). November 16, 1854
29:5
The Gas Works in the District of Spring Garden. Ledger [1854]
30:1
Lemon Hill. Copy of petition signed by about 500 citizens, presented to Councils, supporting the dedication of Lemon Hill as a public park. It concludes: “When we reflect that the measure we propose, will not only be the means of protecting our drinking water from impurities, but furnish the citizens with a large, elegant and central public Park, abounding in natural beauties, with extended lawns, groves, and water scenery, easy of access from all parts of our extended City, we are led to believe the purchase now recommended, and the dedication of the whole connected tract from Fairmount to the northern limits of the grounds of the Spring Garden Water Works, to the public use forever, will be hailed with heartfelt pleasure by all classes of our citizens.”
30:2-3
Pleasure-Sharings; or, Clippings, for the reader, from our Personal Correspondence. Letter “from our brilliant friend LA MOQUEUSE…as to the art and mystery of SHOPPING…” Mentions Broadway. Probably a New York newspaper.
30:4
Science, Art and Discovery. Sharpening edged tools using diluted sulphuric or meiotic acid.Note from a German scientific journal
31:1-2
(See also 40:1-4)
City and District Salaries. Sums paid under the old corporations. Salaries in various townships, districts, and the County government before Consolidation.
31:3
Proposals for increasing the water for the Blockley almshouse, presented to committee of West Philadelphia municipality…
31:4
“Cloud Combination of Steam and Air” used to run three Hoe’s Patent Printing Presses in New York. Report from Wm. H. Shock, Chief Engineer, U. S. Navy, and Horatio Allen.
31:5
Advertisement regarding Camden N. J. Water Works, mentioning engineer Frederick Erdmann.
32:1-2
An ordinance for the organization of a water department of the city of Baltimore. Newspaper advertisement, 1853
32:3
Advertisement, requesting that Philadelphia water rents for 1855 be paid. 1855
32:4-5
A valuable table. Giving capacity of boxes of different dimensions. The Debt of Great Britain, and of France. Areas of States and territories
The Debt of the United States [1854]
32:6
The Opera House. Questions from “An Architect who has built theatres” regarding some perceived problems with the new Opera House [Academy of Music]. Pennsylvania Inquirer
32:7
Advertisement extending the time for competition designs for the American Academy of Music until December 15, 1854.
33:1
Report from Committee of Councils regarding a paid versus a voluntary fire system. Used Boston fire department as an example.
33:2
Brief note regarding “political fever” and defeat of Know-Nothings[?] candidate for Chief Engineer of Waster Department, Frederick Erdmann.
33:3
Coal Wharves at Greenwich Point on Delaware River nearly completed.
33:4
Corner Stone of American Academy of Music laid July 26th, 1855.July 27, 1855
33:5
Science, Art and Discovery. Steam as an industrial agent. Excerpts from lectures of William Fairbain at the Manchester Mechanics’ Institution on “Steam, its properties and application to the useful industrial arts.” Originally from the London Practical Mechanics’ Journal, April 1855
33:6
Experiments by Pennsylvania Railroad determined that bituminous coal produced more steam than anthracite.
34:1
“Anon, the Schuylkill, sacred to the barge of mirth,
Its green banks consecrate to pleasure’s paths,
Winds into sight with many a silvery curve;
And at the breast-work, with a ceaseless voice,
Rustles the music which its waters carried,
On mountain wilds remote, where Carbon’s hills
Hear in their inmost heart the miner’s stroke.
Behold the mound by art and nature reared,
“Fairmount” in whose tall top the waters lie
Lifted as in a great baptismal font;
The height from whence the river deity
Pours, from his giant and refreshing urn,
The stream which slakes a grateful city’s thirst.
But fancy this; for yet no statue there,
Worthy the place, above his liquid task
Stands to the fair winds beautiful and bright,
Gazing upon the city which he loves,
While the glad city gazes back to him.
Oh! wherefore rises not the marble pile
Above this green and consecrated height?
Not one, but many-one above the rest,
Looking like Allegheny oe’r his hills.
Lo, how it bathes unnumbered miles of streets-
A great heart through far crystal veins-
Where, but a few short generations since,
the Indian stretched his lazy, sombre length;
And the red deer stooped undeterred, and drank,
or ‘neath the chesnut or the walnut shade,
Cropped the rank grass at leisure.
34:2
Washing Pavements. Letter to editor, from Comfort, regarding the “nuisance” of daily washing of the pavements. Especially a problem in winter, from ice. Letter dated October 26. Pennsylvania Inquirer
34:3
Reading Railroad Bridge. New stone bridge to replace wooden bridge, over the Schuylkill, below the Falls of Schuylkill. Commenced in August 1853, suspended for a time, now resumed. “…The stone used in this improvement is obtained from the Connecticut, port Deposit, Conshohocken, Leiperville, and Falls of Schuylkill quarries, Adjoining the East end of the bridge the immense piles of rock have, in a great measure, been removed, and that part of the city is much improved. the navigation on the West side has been deepened from 3 to 6-1/2 feet, and for a distance of 300 yards a wall has been built 10 feet high and 4 feet thick. One of Mr. A. L. Archambault’s steam portable hoisting apparatus is used for hoisting stone, mortar and other materials from the ground to the top of the piers and arches, and so admirably does the machine perform its work that many persons go there to witness its operation daily. The machine does the work of more than a dozen men, besides saving an immense deal of time. Another of these portable engines is to be used this week in order to facilitate the workmen in pushing on the alteration.”
34:4
Rule for calculating the weight of a casting from the weight of its pattern. Probably from Scientific American. Letter dated March 1855.
34:5
Trial of the New Fire Engine for San Francisco. Probably from Brooklyn newspaper.
34:6
The Fire Plugs. Letter from “A Citizen and Heavy Tax Payer” regarding the danger of letting hydrants freeze in the winter. Talks about stuffing the hydrants with straw. Public Ledger
34:7
Science, Art and Discovery. Explanation of War terms. Including “loopholes…small apertures in a work, through which muskets may be fired.”
35:1
(Same as 27:6)
35:2
Local affairs. A Seasonal Invention. Mr. Marshall, lessee of the Walnut Street Theater, introduced recently an apparatus invented by J. R. Barry, for cooling and ventilating, using ice reservoir, fan driven by steam engine. etc
35:3
The Steam Fire Engine. More on demonstration of Shawk’s steam fire engine. May 25, 1855
35:4
Second demonstration of Shawk’s steam fire engine in Pittsburgh.
35:5
Letter, signed “Young America,” about Shawk’s Steam Fire Engine. It concludes: “For small fires, in narrow streets, the second or third-class hand engines are preferable, but in case of a large fire, where a vast amount of water is necessary, the comparison between Mr. Shawk’s steam engine and the first-class hand engine would be about as to compare the steamer Isaac Newton to one of the Troy Horse boats, which the Knickerbocker of Albany once did ridicule so much.” Public Ledger
35:6
Cornish engine at Schuylkill Works completed and tested. Mentions that the works used more than 8 tons of coal per day in 1854. 1855
36:1
City Bulletin. The New Opera House. American Academy of Music under construction. Some facts and figures about it.
36:2 (Same at 63:3 and 67:3)
Advertisement offering $400 premium for best design for the American Academy of Music. October 1854
36:3
Trial of the new New Orleans Steam Fire Engine. Built by the brothers Latta.
36:4 (Same as 27:2)
36:5
Weights of different kinds of coal, area of coal fields in U. S. and Europe, Coal production. Originally from Taylor’s Statistics of Coal.
36:6
The steam engine in Boston. Aldermen ordered new steam fire engine. Also, trials in Louisville, Kentucky.
36:7
Ordinance proposed to reduce salaries of City officers, with long list of officers and their proposed salaries.
36:8 (also 37:5)
In voting for heads of departments, Graff beat Erdmann, 49-45.
37:1
Architecture of theatres. Letter, signed “Call-Boy,” regarding the inadequacy of most architects in designing theaters. Originally published in New Orleans Picayune.
37:2
Political controversy over defeat of Erdmann for Chief Engineer.
37:3
Local Affairs. Want of Water. In some parts of the city, but more particularly the northern and western sections of the Twentieth Ward, and in portions of the old district of Spring Garden, the supply of water is insufficient. Upon some days of the week this is specifically the case, and on Saturdays there is a clean stop of the water. In vain does the patient housewife urge the lever of the hydrant in the yard. If she happens to forget that this is the day for a short crop, or none at all, she is in a terrible plight for want of the means to wash up and fix things for Sunday…. This, however, is not the whole of the evil, The property owners and residents of these sections are not protected against fire. Many of the fire-plugs when opened are as dry as spunk….”
July 28, 1855
37:4 (also 37:8)
Local Matters. Waste of Water. Complaint from Graff about fire plugs that are allowed to run. Some police officers objected to the enforcement of the ordinance allowing plugs opened only in cases of fire. “…There is no city in the world where more water is wasted than in our good city of Philadelphia. If a window is to be washed, the water is turned on and allowed to run into the gutter, both while the servants are holding a long conversation with their neighboring “help,” and long after the glass has been cleaned. It requires in many instances hours to cleanse front door steps and pavements, during all which time the water is permitted to flow with a perfect looseness, without fault being found, yet when the alleys are knee deep with offal, well calculated to breed some horrible disease, fault is found if a plug is allowed to run a few minutes to wash it away and purify the atmosphere, breathed by hundreds who must necessarily live in our courts and lanes.”
37:5 (same as 36:8)
37:6
Mustn’t waste water. Brief note on water waste, and dirty streets… July 29, 1855
37:7
Driven to Desperation. Editorial about repercussions against Know-Nothing party members who voted for Graff.
37:8 (same as 37:4)
38:1
Opening of fire plugs. “…Lieut. Wettmore, of the Ninth Ward, assures us that the use of the plugs is almost indispensable in certain portions of his police division. For instance, the contractor for cleansing the streets of the city has heretofore had the use of the plugs for the purpose of cleaning the market houses, which it is found necessary to wash out from two to three times a week during the summer season. The large quantity of produce for sale along Market st., from Eighth to Broad, causes an accumulation of offal in the gutter, and the use of the plugs to cleanse them thoroughly is indispensable to prevent a stench, and remove stagnated water and filth of various kinds…..”
38:2
A Sad Disappointment. Editorial on election of Graff. Democrats voted for Graff, Know-Nothings “dead set” against him, but Graff won, 49-45. “…Weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth has been the consequence, and much indignation at their defeat is manifested by the “American” politicians. The public, we imagine, will be well satisfied with the result. In capacity, fitness, and practical knowledge, Mr. Erdmann is not to be compared to Mr. Graff, and the removal of the latter would have been regarded as an injury to the public.”
38:3
Artistical and Architectural. Small note on calculating the strength of joists needed for a given space.
38:4
Description of trial “yesterday afternoon” of “the steam fire engine “Young America,” built in Cincinnati, by Mr. Abel Shawk.” Three hundred people out of a lager crowd admitted into the Moyamensing Prison yard to witness the test. Another trail in another area planned “in a day or two.”
38:5
Surveying without Instruments. Excerpts from “Gillespie’s Land Surveying” regarding “Distances by Pacing,” “…by Visual Angles,” “…by Sound.” Originally reprinted in Railroad Record.
39:1-2
Local Items. A stroll through Old Kensington. The Olden Time and the New. The Water Works, &c.
Wonderful description of this neighborhood, including improvements at the Water Works. “…We strolled on Saturday, through the streets so familiar to us in other years, and though “Improvement”-that monster which destroys every link which unites us with the past-has made some strides in its borders, there are still within the Mecca of an “unbroken faith” many points to arrest attention, and many fruitful subjects for earnest thought among those whose hearts are with Philadelphia, and desire to keep her what she is, the Garden City of the American Continent….”
39:3-4
Steam Fire Engine. Letter signed by “Justice” commenting on the trail of Shawk’s “Young America,” declaring it “triumphantly successful.”
Public Ledger
39:5
Trial of the Steam Fire Engine. Report on the second trial, at the foot of Dock Street, of Shawk’s “Young America.” The American Academy of Music. Report of meeting of the stockholders, and election of directors, of whom Graff was one. Report said that the Board was in good financial condition and could enter into contracts to erect the building.
39:6
Trial of Latta’s New Steam Fire Engine. Built by Latta & Co. of Cincinnati, trial in New Orleans, small report on results. June 23, 1855
40:1-4
Local Affairs. Salaries of the Old Corporations. Similar to 31:1 except from another paper, and with slightly different numbers.
40:5
Detailed description of Schuylkill Water Works, “belonging jointly to the Districts of Northern Liberties and Spring Garden.”
41:1
Report on visit of New York Common Council to Cincinnati “to enquire into the practicability of organizing the fire department and changing the present system.” Originally published in the Cincinnati Gazette, July 17.
41:2
Brief editorial complaining about salaries of city officers, and that there are too many of them. Mentions Graff and Water Works, as well as Gas Works.
41:3
Brief note on the history of Congress Springs, at Saratoga, New York.
41:4
The New Chambers of Councils. Description of work to alter the second story of the main building of the State House to accommodate City Councils. Praises the 125-year-old brick work of the original building as “almost as hard as granite.” 1854
41:5
A Steam Fire Engine for St. Louis. Purchased from Mr. Abel Shawk, of Cincinnati. Note at end of description of the engine: “When will Philadelphia take a step forward in a matter of so much importance to the community?”
41:6 (See also 43:6)
Advertisement for bids to erect water works at Easton, Pennsylvania. Adv. dated November 24, 1855. Bids due December 28.
41:7
Brief note on leak in basin of water works at Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
41:8
Report of a meeting of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. One paper read discussed the population of Pennsylvania and Philadelphia, past, present and future (to 1900).
41:9
Cleaning Boiler Flues. Brief report of new invention by John Leinweber, Covington, Kentucky, which allows cleaning without physically entering the flues.
42:1
Filtering the Schuylkill Water.
A proposition was sometime ago made to Councils, to enquire into the propriety and practicability of erecting at Fairmount a filter of sufficient capacity to filter all the water used in the city, before it enters the distributing pipes. It was believed that the increase of manufactories and of population on the Schuylkill tended materially to deteriorate the purity of the water, and consideration for the public health required that the matter should be investigated. This has been done under the direction of competent chemists, who establish the fact very conclusively, that the Schuylkill water has deteriorated in no important respects from its former excellent quality; that from the nature of its small contents of mineral matter, and its unusual freedom from organic matter, it is superior to most waters for domestic and manufacturing purposes; that from the nature and quantity of its mineral contents, it is unnecessary to adopt a system of filtration to improve its quality; and lastly, a comparison of the past and present leads to the inference that no plan of improving the water will be required for many years to come. Mr. Graff, who makes the report, shows that the filtered water supplied to London by the Chelsea Water Company, the purest used in the city, is three times more impure, after being filtered by one of the best filters in London, than the Schuylkill water is without filtration. Mr. G. also shows that the total area of the Fairmount reservoir is insufficient for the purposes of filtration even for the present supply of water. It contains but 322,183 square feet, while a filter bed necessary for the supply of water daily consumed in Philadelphia would require over 358,000 square feet. The expense would be enormous, without any adequate result. Our citizens have reason to congratulate themselves upon the fact that they have the purest supply of water of any city in the world.
42:2
Fairmount Water Works.Some statistics about the use of water during the summer months.
42:3
Securing the fire-plugs. Concern that the fire-plugs need to be protected from frost immediately by wrapping them in straw.
42:4
Railroads in the United States. Statistics from Dinsmore’s Railway Guide, January 1856.
42:5
Schuylkill Water Works. New engine being erected by I. P. Morris & Co., “on the plan used in the mines in Cornwall, England.”
42:6
New Croton Water Reservoir. Letter from president of the Croton Aqueduct Department, dated April 3, 1855, to New York Mayor Fernando Wood.
43:1-4
The Fire Department of Paris. Long descriptive article.
43:5
Science, Art and Discovery. A Universal Steam Fire Engine. Letter suggesting the use of a high reservoir at Fairmount to provide pressure that would throw water higher than any steam engine. Public Ledger
43:6
Same as 41:6
44:1-2
Local Affairs. Commerce of Philadelphia. Statistics for 1855, including items imported and exported. Supply and consumption of water by our water works. For 1855. 1856
44:3
Weather statistics for 1855. As recorded at Pennsylvania Hospital, by Dr. John Conrad. 1856
44:4
Market Street Bridge. The need to guard against fire on the bridge, has led to a better system to conduct water for fighting fires.
44:5 (Similar for 1858 at 108:4)
Names of the Rulers of the World. Along with title, and date of ascension. 1856
44:6
Reduction of City Salaries. Article, originally from Sun, reprinted with “cordial endorsement.” The article begins: “We fear that Councils are falling into the error of saving at the spiggot [sic] and wasting at the bung; indeed we are certain that it will prove false economy, of the most ruinous character, to ostracize talent from official position under the city government, by placing the salaries so low that none but political adventurers, pittifogging [sic] lawyers and black mail operators, will care about accepting any trust under it….”
45:1-4
To find the dimension of wrought-iron tie-rods. Article with formulas to figure this.
45:5
Cohoes Water Works Company. Editorial about this newly-formed company.
45:6
The condensing and Cornish engines. Letter to editor of Scientific American, describing these steam engines.
45:7
Manufacture of Plate Glass.
Newly formed company, Philadelphia Glass Company, making “plate or hammered glass for sky-lights and vault-plates by a process recently invented by this Company.” Warehouse recently opened at 400 Market Street.
46:1, 46:3, 46:5
Excerpt from published Councils minutes, recoding debate over “Ordinance organizing the Department for Supplying the City with Water.” One councilman, in proposing to reduce the Chief’s salary, said that “he considered the office of Chief Engineer a useless one, and if it was only a head that was wanted, a blockhead would answer to the purpose as well as anything else.” Other councilmen “contended that the office was one of the most important in the City.” Salary was reduced, from $3,000 to $2,500 a year.
46:2
The Cold Weather. One degree F. at noon. “…The sufferings of the poor have been great…”
46:4
The cost of gas in various cities. 42 of the largest cities in the United States.
47:1
Table showing governors of all the states and territories. [1855]
47:2
Mortality Statistics. For Philadelphia, New York, Baltimore, Boston. 1856
47:3-4-48:1
City Statistics. Annual Assessment Report of the Secretary of the Water Works. Includes detailed table of assessments by type of establishment. Detroit, June 30, 1855.
48:2
The West Point Chain.Attempts to recover the chain stretched across the Hudson river at West Point.
The New Dome of the Washington Capitol.Description of work to be undertaken.
48:3-4
The West End Water Works. Select and Common Councils invited to the West Philadelphia Water Works by the contractors, Birkinbine and Trotter, for a “collation.” Synopsis of speech by Benjamin R. Miller Esq., and description of the works.
48:5
Opening of the Great Railway Suspension Bridge at Niagara Falls.Union of the United States and the Canadas. From the Buffalo Express, March 10. Description of the first train across the bridge, and the various ceremonies.
49:1-2
Various statistical tables, including: Philadelphia weather in 1854. U. S. population, 1701-1850. Population density of various American and European countries. 1855: Governors of the states and territories, meeting time of their legislatures. 1855
49:3
Summary of the National Finances of the U. S. as reported by the Secretary of the Treasury
49:4-50:1-3
Local Affairs. Water Works-Fairmount. Post-consolidation report of the three works, Schuylkill, Fairmount and Kensington. Various statistics. Gas Works: various statistics. Weather statistics for 1854. Imports into Philadelphia, with totals from each place of origin. City Mortality, weekly reports for 1854. Ledger, January 1, 1855
50:4
Letter from Thomas Jefferson to Dr. James Mease, describing where Jefferson was living in Philadelphia when he wrote the Declaration of Independence.
50:5
Cost of major public buildings in Washington, D. C.
51:1-2
Prevention of Fires
Editorial on proper mode of fire prevention, suggesting that property owners be obligated “to keep a reel of hose contiguous to the cock or valve of the pipe, on each floor, so that in case of fire, the water, at a moment’s warning, could be directed immediately to the fire….” Cites similar editorial in Pittsburgh Gazette of “5th inst.” March 16, 1855
51:3-5 (Same as 58:1-3)
Local Affairs. The Old Independence Bell. History of the bell, with copies of letters ordering it from the foundry that show the inscription “was ordered to be cast twenty five years before the Declaration was signed.”
51:6
Local Affairs. Prevention of Conflagrations.List “material drawbacks” in prevention of fires: “The fire department being deficient in itself, the tardiness of communicating alarms, and other evils….” Advocates similar preventive measure as noted in 51:1-2. Cites same Pittsburgh source. This was advocated as a savings of water, since the water could be directed at the fire.
52:1-2
Christ Church Bells–A Centennial Peal. Historical profile of the bells of Christ Church, cast in 1754. 1854
52:3-4
Trial of Engines.
Fire engine ‘Young America” built by Shawk, competing with local hand engines. Thee steam engine’s showing “exceeded any fire engine ever introduced to the public.” The hand engines then had their trail. One of them burst its air chamber and withdrew from the competition. “Had it occurred to the steam engine…would have jeered and pronounced the “grate skwirt’ an unmitigated humbug….Nobody would have concluded that the hand engine was a humbug because it burst its air chamber, yet such an accident to the steam fire engine would have ruined its reputation forever. “All eyes were not turned to the old Diligent, for there it was asserted no failure could ensue. The Diligent was fully manned, a fine stream of water shot with lightning speed from her pipe. The men worked with incredible spirit and strength, and after two efforts, succeeded in attaining a height of 133 feet. This drew loud acclamations from the crowd. But the effort was evanescent, scarcely beheld before it was lost to sight; bone and sinew could not stand the test of long continued effort against iron and steam, and so thought many who went upon the ground prejudiced against steam engines, but who came away fully convinced of its power and efficacy.” Concludes with good description of how hand engines, by only being able to throw water for ten minutes or so, allow fire to “recover its hold.”
52:5
Weather for first six months of 1854 compared with 1853. Table relating Temperature, Rain and Mortality
53:1-2 (same as 84:4-5, 120:1-2)
The Composition of Our Hydrant Water. In letter from Henry Wurtz, N.J. State Chemist, etc. to directors of [Trenton?] Water Company, dated October 30, 1855.
53:3-4
New York City Gas Works. Long descriptive article in a Philadelphia newspaper. January 5, 1855
54:1-3 (Same as 67:4-68:1)
Letter to Editor of Hartford Times, From Edw. N. Dickerson, dated September 3, 1855, regarding the failure of a Cornish pumping engine, made at Morris & Co. in Philadelphia, that had “fallen far short of its promise….”
54:4-5
Wethered’s Steam and Stame Apparatus. Probably Scientific American.
55:1-3
Local Affairs. Various public buildings of Philadelphia, including: Independence Hall, Custom House, Mint, Merchant’s Exchange, Girard College, etc. Also, statistics regarding locomotives built in Philadelphia in 1854.
55:4-56-3
Extracts from the Report of James Slade, Chief Engineer of the Water Works. Cohoes Water Works Co., August 14, 1855.
56:4
Census of Philadelphia Since 1790 (to 1850) Broken up by municipality.
56:5 (same as 1:2)
Philadelphia in the Olden Time. Taxables and population from 1683 to 1769. Dwellings in Philadelphia and New York.
56:6
An Appeal to the Select Councilmen. To reject confirmation of appointees to posts in the Kensington Water Works. Among the objections: that they were “men who have got their appointment through the influence of foreigners.”
57:1-2
Improved Fire Engine Pump. Designed by “Mr. Ambrose Pierce, of this city.” Engraving with descriptive article. Probably Scientific American
58:1-3 (Same as 51:3-5)
58:4
Handbill.
Order of procession to be observed at the funeral of John Price Wetherill. July 27, 1853
58:5
List of 103 passengers “From Liverpool in the steamship Arabia.”
58:6
Brief article about sale of paintings belonging to the estate of Charles Graff. Bidding “spirited.” Prices ranged from $40 to $950, with about $10,000 bid in total.
59:1-3
The “City Father” – Long obituary of John Price Wetherill, “late president of the Select Council,” and chairman of the Watering Committee.”
59:4
Respect to the Dead. Report of town meeting held in memory of John Price Wetherill. With text of remarks by Mayor Gilpin.
60:1-3
Report of special meeting of Councils “for the adoption of some appropriate testimonial of respect to the memory of the late John Price Wetherill.” Remarks by Mr. Hagert and Mr. Perkins in Select Council, and in Common Council, Snowden, Diehl, Griscom, and Hinman.
60:4
Bridge to Connect New York and Brooklyn. Suggested by John A. Roebling. A Plan for the Relief of Broadway. Correspondent suggested removing sidewalks to double the width of the street.
60:5
Statistics of London. Brief note on area, gas and water pipes, capital, taxes, etc.
[No page 61]
62:1-2
Capacity and ticket prices for “The new Boston Theatre, along with editorial about it, from a Boston newspaper.
62:3-4
Two articles about the “New Opera House,” the American Academy of Music, describing the design and pace of construction.
63:1-2
Musical. Opening of the Academy of Music. Wonderfully mean critique of the new building, which “opened last evening for a short operatic season.” “The tortuous, elongated, horse-shoe shape of the house…it its principal-its fatal objection. It appears to have been the special devise of the architect to keep every spectator as far from the stage as possible….At least a third of the seats up stairs are…useless for any purpose but that of hearing…”
63:3 (Same as 36:2)
63:4
Musical. Metropolitan Theatre. Review of opera “I Puritani”, with Mme. Grisi and Sgr. Mario, and severe critique of this Philadelphia theatre as an opera house: “There is no equality in the sound; the shrillest always prevails, and in quick movements the echo of one sound rebounding on another of a totally different character produces positive discord…”
63:5
Saturday afternoon. Grand Finale of the Italian opera season. Review of the final performance at Boston’s Opera House, with Grisi and Mario.
64:1-2
The opera House in Philadelphia.From the Philadelphia North American, July 14. LOng article describing the writer’s specific suggestions for the so-called Academy of Music, which had yet to be designed.
64:3-4
Opera Houses.
Long critique of New York opera house, and encouragement to Philadelphia to avoid the same mistakes in the planned Academy of Music.
65:1-3-66:1-3
New York Academy of Music.The new Opera House at 14th Street and Irving Place to be inaugurated tonight. Long article about this and other grand theaters of the time. Writer gives advice to the designers of the planned Academy of Music in Philadelphia.
67:1-2
Hughes’ Atmospheric Trip Hammer. Descriptive article and engraving Patented by Bernard Hughes, Rochester, N.Y. Probably Scientific American.
67:3 (Same as 36:2)
67:4-68:1 (Same as 54:1-3)
68:2
The Weather Since 1790. Table from 1790 to 1847 provided by Mr. Charles Pierce.
68:3
Science, Art and Discovery. Column includes notes on the following: Gas-Making. Facts about Milk. Art of Multiplying Autographs. Corrugated Iron. Watermelon Molasses. Anti-Seasickness berth for steamships.
69:1-3
Local Affairs.Comparative statistics, 1853 and 1854, Fairmount, Schuylkill and Kensington works. Ledger and Transcript, January 1, 1855
69:4
Weather statistics.For 1854, and rainfall 1838 to 1854.
69:5
Thawing the fireplugs.Many frozen four or five feet underground; also, a report of two small fires.
69:6
Paving and Water. Proposes having property owners assume more of the cost of both these improvements.
70:1-2
An important official document: The indebtedness of the City. Shows loans redeemable from January 1855 through January 1901.
70:3-4
Controller’s report for estimated expenditures and receipts for [1855?]
70:5
Ice in a water pipe. Found in a pipe almost five feet below grade.
70:6
Expenditures in 1855, and estimates for 1866, for all city departments.
70:7
Water Department list of property, from Controller’s Statement.
71:1-72:1
Engraving, with journal article, “Description of State-Street Bridge over the Albany Basin.” Journal excerpt also contains articles on cement and quicksand. Possibly ASCE Journal?
73:1
Advertising handbill for: Direct Acting Steam Pump. Throws 3000 gallons per hour. Manufactured by Gartley & Matlack, Hydraulic Machinists, No. 16 Arch Street, Philadelphia. Nice engraving of the pump.
73:2
New Cornish pumping engines. Being constructed for Camden Water Works. Similar to one at Spring Garden Works. Ledger
73:3
What the American Navy has done. List of ships captured during War of 1812, and other naval statistics.
73:4
Water for Brooklyn.Groundbreaking for the Nassau Water Company.
74:1-3
Long article about the Croton Water Company
74:4
Heating buildings.Article about experiments with boilers done by Professor Kirkbride at Pennsylvania Hospital for the Insane.
74:5
List of directors [of the American Academy of Music?] for 1856. Includes Frederic Graff.
74:6
Editorial, from L[ouisville?] Warden, about Philadelphia owning one of Abel Shawk’s steam fire engines but, because of the “selfish policy of petty politicians,” it had not yet been used in a real fire.
74:7
Philadelphia Academy of Music.Report on the first annual meeting of the directors. Urges support of the enterprise. “Out city is growing with great prosperity’ our lines of railroads, perfected and projected, are destined to bring us large numbers from the whole interior, but we cannot hope to keep them here to transact their business, and spend their time with their families, unless we make an effort to afford them the same inducements they find in our sister cities….”
75:1-76:1-6
Various articles on the Cornish engine.
75:2
Pure Water. Editorial from Philadelphia paper about “The Self-Purifying Water Filter.” Good overview of the idea of filtration circa mid-19th century. The editorial ends: “Such an invention is certainly a public blessing, especially at this time, when the attempt to prohibit intoxicating liquors makes it all important that Nature’s bright, sparkling beverage should be made as pure and acceptable as possible.”
75:3
Excerpt from article on Councils meeting, regarding ordinance to protect Fire plugs from freezing.
77:1-4-78:1
Historical Society of Pennsylvania. A sketch of Roxborough and Manayunk. Long paper read by Mr. Horatio Gates Jones, of Roxborough.
Pennsylvania Inquirer. Monday, February 4 [185?]
78:2-3
Business affairs of the Academy of Music. Some facts and impressions from the annual report.
78:4-5
Local Affairs. The Opera House. Good description of the work in progress. August 11, 1855
78:6
Advertisements for bids for pipes, castings, etc. June 8, 1857
78:7
The Water Department. Frost of winter causing some damage to works, such as embankments of reservoirs.
79:1-3
Engravings and descriptions of this patented design by Thomas T. Tasker, of Philadelphia.Probably Scientific American
79:4
Hydrants and pumps. Complains that in areas of the city where conduits are laid, people are still using pumps and well water-the pumps being maintained by the City. In other areas, landlords refuse to connect water for their tenants, and “the latter are compelled to resort to the pumps, or beg or steal from their neighbors’ hydrants and wash-paves….”
80:1-2
Novel Rotary Pump.Engraving and description of this invention by George Denison and D.S. McNamara, part of which was patented April 17, 1855.
80:3
The Philadelphia Water Works.Pumpage, January through July, for the four works.
80:4
Published letter from City Controller’s Office to Samuel Ogden, Chief Engineer, dated June 3, 1857, regarding bills for tallow and oil for the various water works in the city, from Allen, Whetham [Wheatham], and Schofield.
81:1-2
A Stranger in Philadelphia.
Philadelphia, its appearance. The Laboring Classes. The New Opera House, its Magnificence. New Churches. Squares. Fairmount. The Schuylkill and Laurel Hill.
Mentions domesticated deer being kept in Logan Square.”Fairmount is the People’s Park. It was a most fortunate thing for Philadelphia, that Frederick Graff–the immortal architect of these world-famous works, had the good sense to combine a Park for the People, with the supply of a great city…. A tiny steamboat plies from Fairmount to Manayunk, nine miles up the Schuylkill. This is the pleasantest excursion in the vicinity of the city. You pass the cemetery of Laurel Hill, the Falls, and Wissahiccon. The river is perfectly charming. We do not think that the same number of miles of beautiful river scenery can be found in the United States. On our return we stopped at Laurel Hill landing, and walked over the country grounds. This hardly met our expectations. The ground is finely adapted for the purpose, but the area is too limited-only 40 cares. The monuments will not compare with those in Mount Auburn or greenwood, but perhaps it is a good sign that Philadelphia does not expend thousands in ornamenting the tombs of the dead….”
Editorial correspondence of the Daily Wisconsin.May 30, 1857
81:3-4
How the destruction of trees affects the rain.
“…By cutting down the trees upon the mountain sides and ravines, were are inevitably entailing two great evils upon posterity-a scarcity of fuel and a scarcity of water….”
Interesting “environmentalist” viewpoint of watershed and forest preservation. Mentions that Humboldt called attention to this phenomenon as early as 1800. The article concludes: “Our own country is yet too new, and our forests are yet, in spite of woodmen and axes, too numerous for the scarcity of water to have become a serious evil. But like causes produce like effects; and unless we change our procedure, our children will suffer from our wanton carelessness. We have no right for our own temporary advantage to desolate the country. No generation has more than a life-interest in the earth, of which it is but the trustee of posterity. Every man who has revisited his early home in the older States, after an absence of a few years, can not have failed to notice the diminution of the streams and springs. There is probably no water in the brook that turned his water-wheel. The springs in the pasture, which he remembers as ever-flowing, are dry; and if a season of unusual drought happens, the cattle must be driven long distances to water-a necessity which never was known in his early years. More especially will this be the case if a railroad or an iron establishment has occasioned a rapid demand for fuel. The trees have gone, and with them the water; and the meadows and fields are dry and parched. In their haste to be rich, the farmers have killed the goose that laid the golden eggs for them.”
82:1-2
Van Dewater’s Turbine Water Wheel. Patented by Henry Van Dewater of Albany, N. Y. Engraving and descriptive article.
Probably Scientific American.
82:3
Chief Engineer Ogden. His Greasing and White-Washing.Editorial about the over-charging for tallow and oil by Schofield, Wheatham and Allen, who supported the Chief Engineer’s re-election.
82:4-5
Proceedings of City Councils.Various petitions and communications relating to water, in particular a communication from “late Chief Engineer” Graff, “calling attention to the settlement of a portion of the Fairmount Dam, which must be remedied to prevent disaster; also to the urgent necessity for an enlargement of the Spring Garden Water Works….”
83:1-2 (same as 98:3)
King Caucus Revisited.
Editorial encouraging people in city government to “resist the tyranny of that imperious monster, Caucus, when his demands are altogether unreasonable and not dictated by any considerations of the public good…. Caucus declared that Mr. Frederick Graff…a gentleman of science and reputation, in whom all have confidence, should be deposed, and that Mr. Samuel Ogden should be elected instead. Mr. Ogden is a practical mechanic, but it has not been asserted that he is a scientific engineer, or that he has many qualifications possessed by Mr. Graff, and which are most necessary for the superintendent of the important works of the city. Yet Caucus declared against Mr. Graff because the latter was not a pure, unadulterated, howling Democrat. He was not a Know-Nothing. The latter party tried hard to displace him last year, but were defeated by a combination of Democrats and old line Whigs….Although Mr. Graff was not elected, those [fifteen councilmen] who stood by him deserve credit for having preferred their duty to the public to the unauthorized attempt made to control them by their associates….”
Sunday Dispatch
July 13, 1856
83:3-4
Raising of the Russian War Vessels at Sebastopol.Boston contractor going to Sebastopol to raise vessels sunken during Crimean War.
March 3, 1857
84:1-2
Contract for the New Grand reservoir…Fairchild, Coleman, Walker & Brown the probable successful bidders. Includes table of bids received, with amounts bid for different aspects of the work, for this reservoir related to New York City’s Croton Aqueduct.
84:3
The Kensington Water.Nuisance exists near Kensington Water Works: offal of catfish, from nine inches to three feet deep.
July 28, 1856
84:4-5 (same as 53:1-2, 120:1-2)
85:1
Improved Measuring Instrument. Engraving and part of article about this device. Probably Scientific American.
85:2
Department for Supplying the City with Water. List of income from water rents, etc. 1856 ca.
85:3
Length of Squares in the City of Philadelphia. Vine to South, River to River.
86:1-2
City Matters. A Day in the Water Department. Outline of activities of major officers in the Department, from Chief Engineer, Water Surveyors, Inspectors, Register of Water Rents, and various clerks. Daily Pennsylvanian
86:3
New Water Mains in the Twenty-third Ward.Committee on Water visited 23rd Ward to look for a site for a new water works for Frankford and vicinity. With cost estimates of proposed works.
86:4
Water Department of the City. Letter to editor, from “Tax Payer,” calls the Water Department “the LARGEST LEAK from the City Treasury.” Claims that Chief Samuel Ogden has padded the payroll, did a private job for one of the breweries which made him $3,000, and that he has repairs done for the Department as his own shop; also, that “sundry members of Councils are furnishing materials to the Department….” Daily News, May 2, 1857
86:5
Local Affairs.City Water Department. Total consumption and pumpage for 1856. Emigrant Travel over the Pennsylvania Railroad. Number of people heading west. January 1, 1857
86:6
Local Affairs.The Philadelphia Water Works. Basins and Fairmount dam affected by severe winter, and repairs underway. May 1857
87:1-5
The Brooklyn Water Works. The great Ponds. The Open Canal and Objections to it. The Conduit. The largest Distributing Reservoir in the United States, &c., &c. Describes the Long Island watershed which will feed the 122 acres of ponds that act as reservoirs for the system, and many other facets.June 9, 1857
87:6
Water Statistics.Operation of the Philadelphia water works for the quarter ending in March.
88:1-3-89:1
Long letter from T. R. Scowden, Chief Engineer, dated March 3 1857, about plans for the Louisville Water Works.
CLICK HERE FOR PDF OF THIS ARTICLE
89:2-5
The Origin and early history of Fairmount Water Works, Schuylkill and Lehigh Navigations, and the introduction of anthracite coal.
By Charles V. Hagner. The Press.
90:1-3
The Water Department.Editorial summarizing the first annual report from Chief Samuel Ogden. This paper seems very supportive, almost sycophantic, toward Ogden.
90:4
Excerpt from City Councils discussion of Water Department budget.Thursday, January 29, [???]
90:5
Want of Water. Residents of 20th Ward, north of Master and west of Eighth, complaining about a lack of hydrant water.August 5, 1856
91:1-4-92:1
Public Health.Sewerage and Supply of Water.Long article regarding need for flushing sewers, and how it might be accomplished. Focuses specifically on sewers in London and Paris.
92:2
Water Permits.Letter from “B. M. M.” regarding problems obtaining permits for water. Ledger
92:3
Excerpt from Councils minutes regarding the election of Department heads. Graff lost to Ogden by 60-37.
92:4
Local Affairs. The Cornish Engine.description of its operation.Ledger
92:5 (same as 99:6)
City Bulletin. “The Right Men in the Right Place.”
Editorial regarding some of the problems of having so many “raw” hands in charge of the City departments. Relates a story about the Spring garden Water Works, where the “novices” were unable to stop the Cornish engine, even after they “ran around and around, like the money is said to have done after setting the beer barrel a-going.” They finally gave up, and left the building, fearing a “blow-up,” Until the new Chief, Samuel Ogden, was “hunted up” and stopped the engine. July 14, 1856
92:6
Doings of City Councils.Kensington Water Works basins cleared of several feet of impurities, including fish offal. Also problem noted with Fairmount Dam. August 8, 1856.
92:7
Natural Know-Nothingism. Letter, signed “Sterescope,” about problems since the inauguration of the Know-Nothing administration. Water purveyor failed to turn on water again after it was shut off to repair a leak; etc. Daily Pennsylvanian.
93:1-4-94:1-4
Rich Disclosures! The Minority Report in the Ogden Peculating Case. Long report from a minority committee of the Councils Committee on Water Works, substantiating the charges against Chief Engineer Ogden. Discusses the “paper” making the charges that mysteriously ended up in the hands of Councilmen Charles V. Hagner, and how it seemed authentic. Subpoena of nineteen men mentioned in the paper, and summary of their testimony. Various charges include Ogden selling iron, hauled from the City’s public yard on Cherry Street to Henderson & Company; Ogden’s delivering stone purchased by the City to another location; overpayments for range of materials; charging for work not done. ]This report could probably be found in the Journals of Councils from that time.] 1857
95:1-4-96:1
Proceedings of City Council.Long report of Select Council meeting, with discussion of the Samuel Ogden fraud accusations. Long report of Common Council meeting, in which Mr. Miller read a lengthy minority report on the affair. (See 93-94 for text of report). Pennsylvania Inquirer July 17, 1857
96:2
Excerpt from Councils minutes with election of department heads. Samuel Ogden re-elected, 67 votes, 20 for Charles Brock, 2 for Graff.
96:3
The Democratic Caucus.”A large crowd, composed mainly of the natives of the Emerald isle, assembled in front of the State House yesterday morning, to see and aid the result of the caucus of the Democratic members of City Councils…determine who should receive the support of the party at the election in the afternoon….” Caucus chose Ogden as their candidate for Water Chief.
96:4
Water, Public buildings, and Highways.Editorial in support of Andrew Miller, in his effort, along with Mr. Hagner, to expose Ogden’ frauds. It concludes: “And yet this man is re-elected! So is AHERN, whose stupid management allows the public offices and INDEPENDENCE HALL to be again and again broken into and plundered. It is disgraceful that the old Hall should be under such charge. McCarthy, the High[way]man, is also re-elected. This is throwing dust in the eyes of our citizens, and scattering mud on their garments. MR. MILLER is getting back, we hope, to his ancient ideas of reform and party purity. Let him keep up the steam-go ahead-and drag corruption and imbecility from its municipal hiding places, and public commendation will be his.”
96:5
Local Affairs. Proceedings of Councils.Excerpt noting the nominations of Chief Engineer for various Water Department positions.
96:6-97:1
More Councils minutes noting the discussions and decisions regarding the fraud accusations against Water Department Chief Engineer Samuel Ogden.
97:2-5
Long editorial refuting a letter to the Daily News of August 9th, and defending Samuel Ogden’s role in cleansing the basins of the Kensington Water Works. An excerpt from the Daily News letter, which took offense to a Board of Health commendation to Ogden for his work at Kensington: “In order that the public may understand how well merited were their thanks, it will be necessary to state briefly, what was actually done when the water became so filthy that the people could no longer drink it; when the increased sickness and mortality in the upper part of the city, consequent on its use, called loudly for something to be done, Mr. Ogden proceeded to the field of action. The disgusting hell-broth (compared to which, the potion of MacBeth’s witches was nectar,) was emptied from one basin through the main pipe into the Delaware. So far, well. When the water was all out, there lay exposed a bed of black and putrid mud many inches thick; this was scooped up and wheeled out. During the time this was being done, the catfish essence in the other basin lay in a state of rest for several days, festering under fervid sun and becoming daily more intolerable in its stench, more firm, more loathsome. On it the spectator held his nose and gazed, until to his sickened vision the plague-fiend seemed to hover over its slime and dip its obscure wings into its putridity before it soared away to its work of death!!!”
Daily News writer continued by asserting that the water of the second basin, rather than being dumped into the river, was emptied into the first basin. This editorial pointed out that this was impossible, and that the second basin was similarly emptied and cleaned. The editorial also took offense to the writer’s urging Mr. Ogden to “return to the Reading Railroad, and in the humble office which he there filled of running a coal train, find some respite from the pangs of a guilty conscience,” pointing out that Ogden had previously been Chief of the Spring Garden and Northern Liberty Water Works. August 25, 1856
97:6-98:1
Loco Foco Consistency. Editorial about the defeat of Mr. Graff for re-election. Cites the Pennsylvania as the organ of the Loco Foco party.
Daily News July 12, 1856
98:2
Text of Graff communication to Councils, written July 10, 1856, concerning the settling of a portion of Fairmount Dam, and encouraging the enlargement of the Spring Garden Water Works. Evening Bulletin July 11, 1856
98:3-4 (same as 83:1-2)
98:5
Thawing Frozen Fire Plugs.Experiment with portable steam boiler and tank to insert steam into the frozen plug. January 13, 1857
98:6
Bad Water in Kensington. Water so bad that “citizens yesterday were drawing their water for domestic purposes in casks from the river and having it carted to their residences.” Meeting held today at King’s Hotel “to see what measures are necessary to remove the origin of this impurity.”
98:7 (Same as 104:7)
Scarcity of Water. Small summertime not remarking on general complaints about lack of water. July 20, 1856
99:1-3
Another copy of Council minutes with Miller’s minority report on accusations of fraud against Water Department Chief Samuel Ogden.
99:4-5
Letter, dated August 3, 1856 and signed “Some of the Sufferers from that Day of Horror,” about the cleansing of the Kensington Water Works, and accusing Water Department Chief Samuel Ogden of various acts refuted by a later editorial in another newspaper (see 97:2-5 for details of this letter and the refuting editorial). Daily News, August 9, 1856
99:6 (same as 92:5, see)
100:1
Printed letter from John. C. Cresson, Engineer and Superintendent, Philadelphia Gas Works, announcing that he is starting a business to design gas works for other localities. His assistants are listed as Dr. Charles M. Cresson, R. H. Gratz, and William E. Hitchcock. Nice PGW letterhead, with engraving of the works at the top. January 1, 1854
101:1
How Philadelphia is Governed.
Editorial concerning the reputation of the city as a “den of murderers and prize-fighters.” The policemen, it seems, are too busy working for the renomination of Mr. Vaux (Mayor) and “Molly McGuire’s pets” to enforce any of the city’s ordinances. Samuel Ogden is named as one of Vaux’s “harpies and plunderers.” Also a good, if exaggerated, resume of crimes of the day: “Vice and wickedness flourish within the vestibule of every hotel, and on the gangway plank of every steamboat, men and boys peddle obscene books and prints that would be loathsome amid the foul malaria of Liverpool or Marseilles. Our local reporter can furnish Mr. Vaux with the location of eighty-three lottery policy shops, within two squares of the Mayor’s Office. It is well known that notorious thieves and pickpockets infest our streets, markets, and places of public resort. It is equally notorious that, in certain neighborhoods, the public streets are given up after nightfall to the shameless commerce of lust and licentiousness, and that abandoned creatures converse with policemen while virtuous passers-by are jostled and insulted, so much so that many families are obliged to extend the routes to and from their homes to avoid disgusting exhibitions. We need only mention the vicinity of Washington Square, or Ninth and Spruce streets, as instances….” Times, September [25? 21?], 1857
101:2-5-102:1
The Know Nothings. Abstract of the Oaths and Principles of the Mysterious Order of Know Nothings. More Light on a Dark Subject. A Flood of Light. (From the Richmond Examiner, Aug. 8) Long article in a local Philadelphia paper about this new political group. [1854]
102:2-3
Our New Opera House. Article about the Academy of Music, then under construction.
102:4
Our Water Works. Short note about damage to various works, from winter and from spring freshets, and about the repairs now underway.
May 1854
102:5
Trouble in the Wigwam. Democrats asking for newly appointed city officers to resign. “It is safely surmised that the officers will decline to the request of their Democratic friends.”
102:6 (same as 107:7)
Fairmount Park.Letter from Frederick Graff to Theodore Cuyler, encouraging control of the Schuylkill shores for the sake of the purity of the water supply. Retaining Sedgeley park considered of “utmost consequence.” Letter dated October 12, 1857. Public Ledger, Oct. 20, 1857
103:1-2
Report on the explosion of the steam fire engine “Joe Ross” by a committee of the City Council of Cincinnati, read at City Council January 2, 1856. February 21, 1856
103:3
The Water Works of this City. Same report as in 102:4. 1854
103:4
The Kensington Water. Fairhill Reservoir to be cleaned because of complaints about bad water, and in the meantime the area to be supplied from other works of the city.
103:5-104:1-3
West Point During Encampment. Description of the Parades. Instruction of the Cadets in Field Fortification. Hops. “Stag Dances,” &c.
104:4-105:1-5-106:3-5-107:1
Rowing and Sculling. Article about the techniques of rowing and sculling.
104:5
City Matters. Laying Water Pipe.On 19th, from Green to Thompson, to supply sufficient water to various neighborhoods, especially that part of the 15th Ward known as Bush Hill. Daily Pennsylvanian.
104:6
Brief article noting regret at the removal of Chief Engineer Frederick Graff. Pennsylvania Inquirer
104:7 (Same as 98:7)
106:1
The following rates have been fixed by the Watering Committee. Rates of water rents in the city and districts…. Four-page folded sheet with various annual charges. Date: January 3, 1853.
107:2
Public Parks.Editorial asserting that the park lands around Fairmount are already sufficient, and the controversy over the purchase of Sedgeley Park “to keep the Schuylkill water pure, that is all moonshine. The Schuylkill water is as pure as any water in the world, and the scheme for keeping it pure by preventing any other improvements upon its banks than public parks, would involve the purchase of both sides of the river up to Manayunk.”
107:3
Advertisement for bid proposals for Washington Aqueduct. March 8, 1858
107:4-5
Kensington Water Works.A letter from “Observer,” who asserts that “the Delaware water is as pure as any water that flows,” and that hydrants should be opened every few days to allow water in Kensington basins to be changed and not become stagnant. “An idea having obtained in Kensington that the basin was full of skins and entrails of catfish, (a ridiculous story,) the people resorted to the pump-water, and in this way allowed the water in the basin to become stagnant….” Public Ledger
107:6
Repairs of Fairmount Dam.Work now commenced.
107:7 (Same as 102:6)
107:8
Entered Bail. Samuel Ogden allowed one of his Water Department employees, George Esher, to resign his position to serve as an election officer, and once the election was over, Esher was immediately reappointed to his post by Ogden.
107:9
Fairmount Dam. Outline of planned repairs. August 15, 1856
108:1
The Delaware Water Works. Letter from correspondent in Trenton reporting how that city got rid of the fishy smell and taste in its water supply. Editorial comment that same can be accomplished at the Kensington works. Letter dated: July 30, 1857
108:2
Boston Theatre to be Sold. At public auction. Table listing various debts.
108:3
The Buzzards on Flour Barrels. Editorial about the “Board of Buzzards,” possible the Board of City Property? Recounts some votes about purchases of flour barrels, and “the Steward’s” insistence that he not be required to provide a statement of money paid for barrels. “To understand all this, let it be recollected that old materials, such as barrels, iron, tallow, brass, &c., make a very considerable portion of the property at the disposal of the board of Buzzards. When sold to advantage, they realize considerable sums of money. It is well known what a handsome thing Chief Engineer Ogden has made of the old materials in his department. From him, or from the late Portage Railroad, or from their own selves, the Buzzards have gotten a new idea, and accordingly strike upon a new vein of plunder. The Steward has evidently been bagging the proceeds of old materials. President Brown [of the Board] tries to run him down and smoke him out. But the Buzzards instinctively interpose. They reason thus; “it won’t do to throw light upon this matter; firstly, because come of us may have pocketed some of the old material, and secondly, because there will probably be chances for pocketing more, and the less light the better the chance….”
108:4-5
The Rulers of the World for 1858. (See 44:5 for similar for 1856). Legislatures of the States. Times and Places of Meeting. Governors of the States and Territories for 1858. (See 49:1-2 for similar for 1855)
109:1
Fire Yesterday Morning. A Word about the Water Department. Narrow Escape of Three Human Beings. Fire Plugs Frozen.
The article concludes: “Just such developments as the above make people feel insecure when retiring to bed at night, not knowing whether fire plugs are frozen or not. Firemen themselves may hasten to scenes of conflagration, risk their lives, &c., and perhaps, after all, have to stand idle and see the property of their fellow citizens fall a prey to flames, because of the neglect of the Chief Engineer of the Water Department.”
109:2
Anthracite Coal Trade. Table showing quantity of coal sent to market annually from various Pennsylvania mines, 1854-1857.
Pennsylvania Inquirer 1858
109:3
- City Improvements.Table showing monthly breakdown of building permits issued. 1857. Fires. Table showing breakdown of the 336 fires in the city in 1857. Arson was cite din 159 fires. Table gives fires per district, with amount of loss and insurance.
109:4
Steamboat Accidents in 1857. In the entire United States. For 1856 and 1857. With killed and wounded.
109:5
Railroad Accidents during the Year 1857. For United States. 1856 and 1857. Table also lists killed and wounded.
109:6-110:1-2
The Boston Theatre. Before and Behind the Scenes. (From the Boston Bee, Nov. 9) Article about the financial troubles of the theatre, with table showing a breakdown of expenses for the threatre’s first three seasons, 1854-55, 1855-56, 1856-57; and receipts vs. expenses.
109:7
- The Weather and the Rain. Compiled by B. J. Leedom. Monthly statistics for 1856 and 1857. Annual rainfall for 1840-1857.
110:3
The Coal Trade of Pennsylvania for 1857. The Coal Trade of the United Kingdom. Statistics taken from the Miner’s Journal.
110:4
Comparative mortality of the largest cities in the Union.
110:5
Advertisement for Lambert’s Patent Water Waste Preventer and Self-Regulating Valve-Cock, especially adapted for water-closets.
Patented by Thomas Lambert and Son, Short-Street, New-Cut, London.
111:1-2
List and Table (same information from two different newspapers) showing the 30 operas performed at the Academy of Music, and the number of performances for each, between the hall’s opening on February 25, 1857 until April 14, 1858.
111:3-4
Promises of Before. How They Have Been Kept. Number 6. Letter to editor from “Populi,” regarding the charges against Water Department Chief Engineer Samuel Ogden. Mentions that the majority and minority reports of the committee, along with testimony, can be found in “The Appendix to the Journal of Common Council from May 11 to November 13, 1857.” Mentions Loco Foco and Democratic reformers. Says the writer of Democratic reformers: “This immaculate party, which makes such boasts of the reforms which it has effected, reformed Frederick Graff out, in order to reform such a person as Samuel Ogden in. Had Mr. Graff retained possession of the office whish his father and himself had held for so many years, and had discharged its duties in a manner so economical and so satisfactory to the community, members of the Water Committee perhaps would not have had their relatives provided for.”
112:1-3
Description of the new Covent Garden, being rebuilt. April 28, 1858
112:4
Advertisement from H. Messchert denying his connection as a director with the Bank of Pennsylvania. Letter dated November 1, 1857
Sunday Dispatch
112:5
[Description of one of the world’s largest pumping stations, being erected for the Brooklyn Water Works by the Brooklyn Water Department.
113:1-3
The Leviathan Afloat. (From the London Post Feb. 1) Large steamship built in London finished. Long description.
113:4-6
The Opera in Great Cities. Interesting Statistics. Paris, London, New York, Milan, Vienna and Berlin.
113:7-114:1-2
Editorial including the reasons of Common Councilman Andrew Miller for voting against Sedgeley Park interest payment. Long letter with various justifications. Letter mentions Fairmount park, Graff, etc. Letter dated October 15, 1857.
114:3-4-115:1-2
Strangers Guide in Philadelphia. Traveller’s Guide. For the benefit of strangers and others who may desire to visit any of our public institutions, we publish the annexed list. Includes railroad lines and steamboat lines.
115:3-6
Summer Festivals at Rome. Correspondence of the New York Tribune. Rome, July 2, 1857. Long description of fireworks, architecture, etc.
116:1-4
Water Pipe at West Philadelphia.Engraving and descriptive article on the stand-pipe constructed for the West Philadelphia (Twenty-fourth Ward) Water Works, designed by H. Howson of Camden, New Jersey. Scientific American
116-5-6:117:all-118:all
The Great Work of the Age.Telegraphic Union of the Old and New Worlds. Long article with various illustrations about describing the work involved in laying the transatlantic cable.
119:all
Herculaneum and Pompeii. Long descriptive article about these two cities.
120:1-2 (same as 53:1-2, same as 84:4-5)
120:3-4
St. Peter’s Church.Descriptive article about this Philadelphia church. Evening Bulletin June 17, 1856
121:all
Railways for the Colonies and New Countries.With illustrations of various rail types.
122:1
Eastern Counties. Season Tickets. List of fairs for various British localities in 1856 and 1857, and article about a meeting of season ticket holders.
122:2
Metropolitan Water and its Inhabitants.Detailed illustrations of various micro-organisms that live in the Thames and other waters supplied to London. “We have seen a report on microscopical examinations of the Thames and other waters supplied to the metropolis, which might alone induce all mankind to boil their water before using, or to form an anti-water-drinking association….Here is a portrait of one of those beings of the deep for which the public pay. This is the Stentor Mulleri, somewhat larger than life-magnified, indeed, by 150 diameters, but an ugly affair under any circumstances, and a horrid Nimrod among the animacules. We place beside M. Mulleri the Vibro fluvialis, magnified in the same proportion, because it was found very general among all the London waters….” And etc., in this same vein.
122:3-4
Railway Accidents.To the Editor of the [London] Times
123:1-3
Instrument for measuring the velocity of ships, currents, etc. Built by James R. Napier, of Glasgow. Illustrations and descriptive article.
123:4
London General Omnibus Company. Report of the company for the year 1856, when it was founded. “600 omnibuses, having 5,879 horses to work them, formed now the working stock. They embraced the best routes comprising 63 lines….”
123:5
Things in New York.October 1, 1858. Cunard steamer “Asia” left for Liverpool, with 104 passengers, including “Frederick Graff, of Philadelphia.” “Specie on board, $950,695.35.”
123:6
Advertisement from Andrew Miller responding to advertisement in the Sunday Transcript “yesterday” claiming that Miller has a “bitter animosity” against his neighbor, Joshua M. Raybold. “Prior to his first appointment in the Water department, I was consulted, and my reply was, that I had no objections to his appointment to a clerkship-that he would do as a clerk if he could be kept at work. I did oppose his appointment as Register of Water Rents, because, knowing him well, I believe that the peculiar qualities he possesses are not adapted to the position of a collector of the public revenues….”
123:7
Excerpt from Councils minutes about report from Chief Engineer of the Water Department for new reservoir at Schuylkill Works.
124:1-2
Gas and Gas meters. Letter to Editor, from John C. Cresson, Engineer PGW, dated March 13, 1858, discussing the many complaints of irregularity in gas bills, and the reasons for the irregularities.
124:3-4
Breaking Ground for the New Grand Reservoir. The first spadeful of earth turned by Myndert Van Schaick. Addresses by Hon. Luther R. Marsh, Myndert Van Schaick, Mayor Tiemann and others. Eighty-sixth Street reservoir in New York City, for Croton Aqueduct Company.
1858
124:5
Hydrant. Notice of invention of new hydrant, by John Parham of Philadelphia and S. P. Parham of Trenton, that will not freeze.
124:6
Excerpt from Councils minutes accepting proposals for various materials for the water works, with prices given for pipes, pig lead, fittings, stop cocks, fire plugs, brass castings.
125:all
Race & Matthews Improved Oscillating Pump [and] Hydrant. Engravings and descriptive article of the invention of Washington Race and S. R. C. Matthews, of Seneca Falls, N.Y. Probably Scientific American.
126:all
Andrews’ Centrifugal Pump. Engraving and descriptive article of this pump, invented by W. D. Andrews of New York City.
127:1-2
Purifying and Filtering Water. “As the period is now approaching when greater necessity exists for the filtration of water than during the winter season, anything new on the subject deserves attention….” A. P. Mailard, of Paris, recently secured a patent for using wool-shearings as a filter material. Article also gives method of rendering hard water soft.
127:3
Illustration of “Furnace Chimney, Manchester, Mr. Worthington, Architect.”
128-129
Graff’s handwritten index.
130:1
Doings of City Councils. Highly interesting debate on the Moyamensing Hose Company. Consideration of the ordinance making an appropriation to the School Controllers.A long talk–Fun in the Select chamber. Excerpt that features letter from Graff reporting on the settlement of Fairmount Dam, and the need to enlarge the works supplying Spring Garden, Northern Liberties and Penn.
Evening Bulletin July 11, 1856.