^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^B"

\

\

\. \

'^

\Jv

""^^

\

A FINAN^CIAL GIBEALTAR.

THE NATIONAL BANK OF COMMERCE IN ST. LOUIS.

The printing of this volume had just been finished when the announcement was made, that the Continental National Bank had been merged into the National Bank of Commerce. We speak of these two banks on page 159 and page 172 respectively and will add here, that by this consolidation the National Bank of Commerce has become one of the giant financial institutions of the United States, its capital amounting to seven million and its surplus also to seven million dollars, making a total of four- teen millions. As the new Board of Directors is composed of members of the two former boards and the oflScers remain as before, there will be no change in the policy and management of the institution, which will be conducted upon the same sagacious,, progressive and liberal basis as heretofore.

	hw ^"^"^
	^K Iron
WyiiiJ	^S Mountain
^^^Tm	^f Route
^^B^H A ^^b^^^^Eq	J^P^ KNOWN AS THE.

Great Southwest System

Connecting the Commercial Centers and H/fTCCAf TOf Rich Farms of P1IOOUUKI9

The Broad Wheat and Corn Fields and IT A VC A C Thriving Towns of Aiiiia/iOy

The Fertile River Valleys and Trade Cen- VPRD A Clf A

The Grand, Picturesque and Enchanting Pflf flD A TIH Scenery and the Famous Mining District of \j\i mj\J M\I\U\J f

The Agricultural, Fruit, Mineral and Tim- A PIT A IMC A C ber Lands and Famous Hot Springs of . . ilAIVilllO/lOy

The Beautiful Rolling Prairies and Wood- T1MTIT A 1^ lands of the llll/liiil

^ ^^ ^ TERRITORY,

The Sugar Plantations of LOUISIANA^

The Cotton and Grain Fields, the Cattle XITYAC Ranges and Winter Resorts of 1 JuAr^O^

Historical and Scenic ULD SLTlU

^ ^^ ^ NEW MEXICO

And forms, with its connections, the Pop- A l>I^mM A ^^A ular Winter Route to AKl^^Ull/i 311(1

^ ^^ ^ CALirORNIA.

FOR DESCRIPTIVE AND ILLUSTRATED PAMPHLETS, LAND FOLDERS ETC

ADDRESS COMPANIES' AGENTS.

C. G. WADNEft, DUSSELL HADDIN6, It C. TOWNSEND,

Second Vice-President, Third Vice-Pres't and Gen'l Mgr., Gen'l Pass'r and Ticket Agent

ST. LOUIS. MO.

CITY OFFICE, S. E. COR. 6TH AND OLIVE STS.

MERCANTILE, INDUSTRIALS^ PROFESSIONAL

SAINT LOUIS.

BY

E. D. KARGAU.

ILLUSTRATED

ST. LOUIS, MO.:

NIXON-JONES PTG. CO., PRINTERS.

BECKTOLD PTG AND BOOK MFG. CO., BINDERS.

/

RY

Of

vl

14

'■JD

Entered according to Act of Congress in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, Washington, D. C.

• • ».

■« ♦.»

• *

a * * •

** «

/.:;<

» r fr • • ♦

« «

TO THE

MERCHANTS AND MANUFACTURERS,

THE BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONAL MEN,

Whose energy and ability, enterprise and perseverance have

made our City what it is, and to whom St. Louis owes

its growth and prosperity, its position and

prominence among the great

cities of America,

THIS WORK IS DEDICATED.

\,

\

PEEFACE.

This work, published at the suggestion of many prominent rep- resentatives of our financial, mercantile and manufacturing interests, most of whom have known the writer for more than forty years, makes no pretension to completeness, but it may nevertheless be considered a modest contribution to our local history, a true picture of our development and a faithful mirror of what Saint Louis does in the field of industrj^ and commerce.

The annexed table of contents shows the subjects of which this volume speaks, and a carefuU}' prepared index will greatly facilitate the finding of the desired information. In placing the result of his labor — the work of one since many years deprived of his eyesight — in the reader's hands, the author does so in the hope that it will meet with general approval and give satisfaction to all concerned.

E. D. Kargau.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

[For index see end of volume.]

History of St. Louis 13

The Louisiana Purchase 42

The History of our World's Fair 45

Plan and Scope of the Exposition 52

World's Fair Oflacers, Directors and Committees . 55

The World's Fair Grounds and Buildings S9

World's Fair Architects 82

Eads Bridge and Tunnel 82

Union Station 86

The Merchants Bridge 89

Terminal Railroad Association 91

Merchants Exchange 92

History of St. Louis Mills 97

Milling and Flour Trade 101

Grain and Flour Export and Grain Trade 113

Produce, Fruit, etc 120

Meat and Provision Trade 124

Cotton Exchange 127

The Cotton Trade 128

History of the St. Louis Real Estate Exchange 132

The Real Estate Trade 134

Stock and Bond Exchange 148

Financial Institutions, Banks 157

Trust Companies 180

Fire and Life Insurance 188

Railroads 206

Ocean Passenger Traffic 213

Coal and Coke 215

The Lumber Trade 231

(10)

— 11 —

Sashes, Doors and Blinds 245

Furniture, Office and Store Fixtures 251

Carpets, Curtains, etc 260

Wooden Ware 263

Cooperage 267

Cars, Carriages, etc 270

The Saddlery Trade 275

Agricultural Machines and Implements 277

Metal Industry and Trade 283

Foundries and Machine Works 289

Stoves and Furnaces 300

Butchers* Supplies 303

Hinges, Nuts and Bolts 305

Machine Saws 307

Architectural Iron Works 308

Leather, Tanning and Belting 313

Transmitters of Power — Pulleys . 315

Electric Manufacture 319

Bricks and Tiles 323

Lime and Cement 328

Roofing 329

Street and Sewer Construction 331

Architects 332

Dentistry 337

The Musical Profession 339

Musical Instruments and Sheet Music 371

Commercial Colleges 378

The Paper Trade 380

Booksellers, Printers, Engravers and Binders 384

Publishing Firms 403

Advertising Agencies 406

Dry Plates and Photographers' Supplies 409

Opticians', Artists' Supplies, etc 416

Physicians' and Surgeons' Supplies 419

Drugs and Chemicals 422

Paints, Oils and Colors 434

Mineral and Soda Water 441

The Dairy Industry 449

— 12 —

Bakeries 4ol

The Hardware Trade 459

Cupples Station 462

The Grocery Trade 467

Soap Manufacture 488

Cigar Manufacture 490

Cigar and Paper Boxes 491

The Brewing Industry .' 496

Malt, Hops and Brewers' Supplies 528

Highwine, Liquors and Wine 536

Table Supplies, Restaurants and Public Resorts 550

Florists 556

Dry Goods 558

Cloaks and Suits 565

Watches and Jewelry 577

China, Glass and Queensware 582

Toys, Notions, Fireworks and Rubber Goods 583

Millinery 585

Hats and Caps 589

Embroidery and Embroidery Silks 592

The Clothing Manufacture and Trade 595

Boots and Shoes , , 607

APPENDIX.

Our Congressmen , 609

The Municipal Administration , 613

The Public Schools 633

Washington University 636

Libraries 639

The Daily Press 641

St. Louis Post Office , 648

Index , 651

HISTORY OF ST. LOUIS.

.NE hundred and thirty-nine years is a long time, espe- cially in a country which, in comparison with the old world, must still be considered young. St. Louis is, therefore, one of the oldest cities on the North-Ameri- can Continent, as one hundred and thirty-nine years have elapsed since the first white man set his foot upon the west- ern shore of the Mississippi at a point where the block house was built which became the nucleus of a traders' post, and later on of a small village, from which the fourth largest city in the United States emanated.

It was in December, 1763, when Pierre Liguest Laclede, com- ing up the river, landed here with a few companions and after reconnoitering the terrain, selected the place as a suitable location for a traders' post. A year before the firm of Maxent, Laclede & Co. in New Orleans had been established and the exclusive privilege given them by the French Colonial Government, to trade with the Indians in what was called the Missouri River country. The party remained only a few days, after which they went to Fort Chartres, a French military post east of the Mississippi, for winter quarters. In the following spring Auguste Chouteau, then" a mere boy of only fourteen years, was sent here with a few men by Laclede, his step-father, to make the necessary preparations for the trading post. He built a block house where is now the inter- section of Main and Walnut streets, to which another and larger one was added after the arrival of Laclede, who came a couple of months later. This second house served for adwellinor and ware- house purposes and for Laclede's headquarters, from which he always started on his regular expeditions to the various Indian tribes, with whom he traded. Laclede gave the colony its name in honor of King Louis XV. of France, but young Chouteau is and must be considered the founder of St. Louis, as the former

— 14 —

left everything in the latter's care, reserving to himself only a supervising control. Laclede died in 1788 and from that time on all authority over the settlement and its inhabitants was vested in Auguste Chouteau, who never misused his power, enjoyed the fullest confidence of all and did much for the common good. His death occurred in 1828, in the seventy-ninth year of his life.

The iiihabitants of St. Louis in that period were simple, unsophisticated, good-natured men and women, living together in harmony and peace. They divided the land among themselves, cultivated the soil hy assisting each other, and if one became unable to work his neighbors lent him a helping hand. One of their chief duties, to which they faithfully adhered, was the mutual protection and defense against thievish and hostile Indians. Their principal safeguard consisted in a palisade, which they had erected in the rear of the two streets running parallel with the river. The great value and importance of this palisade was best proven during the attack upon the settlement, made by about fifteen hundred Indians on the 26th of May, 1780. The Indians had crossed the river during the night, fastened their canoes where is now Bissell's Point, and had hidden them- selves in the woods which surrounded the common fields, where a large nuniber of men, wowen, and children worked as usual on a bright summer day, without the least suspicion of the near danger. It was about 10 o'clock in the forenoon, when the Indians broke through the trees with their infernal yell, killing and wounding all who were unable to escape their brutal pur- suers. As soon as those in the village became aware of what was going on, resistance quickly began ; everybody armed him- self with his gun or pistql. Auguste Chouteau and his brother Pierre took command and when the redskins approached they were met on all sides with such a fu,sillade, that they hastily retreated, taking with them their killed and wounded and about thirty men and women from the village as prisoners. Of the villagers nearly forty men, women and children, had been killed, a still larger number wounded, and as only a few of those captured succeeded in escaping and returning home, the fate of the others never became known and caused lifelong anxiety among their families and friends. The Indians had expected to have a walk-over and

— 15 —

were greatly disappointed in being repulsed in such a manner; the result of this was that they never afterwards repeated such an undertaking — the "braves" had found out to their surprise and dismay that there were still braver men in the little colony. Stealing and pilfering was nev^ertheless continued by them for many years, and once in a while a dead Indian was discovered in some yard whose owner had made good use of his rifle.

The French Government had by a secret treaty in 1763 ceded all its territory west of the Mississippi to Spain, but it was not before 1765 that the Spanish government took possession of what was called the Louisiana Territory ; at the end of the century France became once more the owner, but Napoleon the First was always in fear that England would not tolerate the arrangement and make it perhaps a casus belli; and prompted by this appre- hension he entered into negotiations with the government of the United States, which led to the purchase of the Louisiana Territory. The transfer took place in December, 1803, in which month the French colonial government in New Orleans ceased to exist and that of this country became its successor. It was on the 9th of March, 1804, when St. Louis witnessed the lowering of the French tricolor and the hoisting of the stars and stripes, whereupon the French military and civil officers were replaced by Americans. The representatives of the Spanish government who had resided here from 1765 to 1801, had always been on the best of terms with the almost exclusively French inhabitants ; the officers and soldiers of the garrison had never given cause for complaint, and the same was the case with their successors from France, who left in the spring of 1804. The old French settlers were now American citizens and in the beginning more or less displeased with the change, but they soon became reconciled ; they did not give up their manners and customs, retained their mode of living, the social features inherited from their ancestors, and were soon content with the new order of things.

The population amounted in 1804 to about 1000 ; in 1808 nearly 1400; a year later the town of St. Louis was incorporated, fol- lowed by the election of town trustees. The first city charter was granted in 1823, in which year the population had reached 4000. Dr. William Carr Lane, the first mayor, was re-elected

— 16 —

for five consecutive terms, and after an interruption of nine years, for three more, altogether eight times, no doubt a rare occurrence in the history of American cities. The term of municipal oflQcers was at that time limited to one year.

St. Louis was during the first four decades hardly more than a trader's post, but its commerce gained greater dimensions, and this brought an influx of French colonists from Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan, and, by and by, of Americans from the Eastern and New England States. The original French charac- ter of the place remained intact, in spite of this, even during the first quarter of the nineteenth century, and was not entirely lost for many years later. Most of the dwelling-houses were after the pattern of those in the smaller towns of France, one story in height, with a gable roof and a piazza, which often surrounded all four sides ; a garden in front was seldom missing, and that was sometimes quite large. They were built either of rough stones or wood, but from 1815 on brick houses were frequently built, and when all the houses were counted in 1820, the result was as follows : North of Market street, 154 of stone or brick, and 195 of wood ; south of Market street 78 of the former, and 223 of the latter kind — total, 650. The streets ran for a long time only from north to south, or, in other words, parallel with the river ; the laying out of those between east and west was com- menced after Sixth street had been reached.

The growth of the population and the extension of the town brought an outspoken change in the occupation of its inhabitants ; the fields, used for the culture of all sorts of grain and vegeta- bles, had to give way for buildings, so that the woods had to be cleared from time to time, to make room for agricultural purposes. The cultivation of the soil was entirely given up by many to become tradesmen or to engage in other pursuits. Trading with the In- dians was, in course of time, entirely left to the Newfoundland Fur Company, at the head of which the Chouteaus and Johann Jacob Astor of New York stood, and from 1819 on to the Mis- souri Fur Company. The merchants of the early period kept their stock of goods, nearly all of which came from the East, in their residences, and sometimes in large boxes standing in front of them, which were unlocked when a customer came. Think of

— 11 —

a wholesale dry goods merchaat, whose stock was kept in this manner, and the palatial business houses of to-day in the wholesale district !

The means of traffic were of an equally primitive character, and so was the postal service in those days. The first post office, established in 1804, consisted of a small room in the postmaster's residence, northwest corner Third and Elm streets, and was removed later on to South Main street. The "postrider," who brought the mail twice a week from the Eastern and Middle States (mail connection with the West did not exist at all), was

an important person; after his arrival, everybody who was some- body went to the post office to call for letters and newspapers, and after horse and rider had taken the necessary rest and the merchants had handed in their letters in answer to those received, the mail pouch was closed and sent off with the return- ing rider. The list of uncalled-for letters was written out by the postmaster once a month and nailed on the outside of the door; this custom ceased after the establishment of a newspaper (1808), whereupon the list was published every three months. After two more removals, first to the corner of Second and Chestnut, then to

2k

— 18 —

Chestnut between Third and Fourth streets, the building on the southeast corner of Third and Olive was erected by the Govern- ment, and occupied by the Post Office, Custom House and the Fed- eral courts from 1853 to 1884, in which year the transfer to the present quarters, covering the block between Olive and Locust, Eighth and Ninth streets, took place.

♦ It may not be without interest to know how the various pursuits — commercial, industrial and professional — were rep- resented in earher days, and we select for this purpose the year 1820. The town had at that time 4 bakers, 6 butchers, 5 grocers (most of whom sold also wine and liquor), 1 brewery, 46 dealers in products and merchandise of all sorts, 12 tailors, 3 hatters,

13 shoemakers, 2 confectioners, 6 cabinet makers, 28 carpenters,

14 masons, 3 stone-cutters, 10 painters and glaziers, 9 black- smiths, 1 nail maker, 1 locksmith, 4 coopers, 4 wagon makers, 1 tanner, 2 brick makers, 2 potters, 5 watch makers, 4 hair- dressers and barbers, 1 coach manufacturer, 3 soap and candle makers, 3 druggists, 13 physicians and 3 midwives. Legislation must have been rather brisk, as there were 27 lawyers more or less busy all the year around ; there were 3 auctioneers of real estate, 1 bookseller, 3 weekly newspapers, 1 portrait painter, 6 livery stables, a number of taverns (called coffee houses) and inns, three of which were styled hotels. Musicians were in abundance and had a good deal to do, as dancing was much indulged in, balls and parties being the principal entertainment at that time, aside from billiard playing, a favorite pastime, for which five billiard tables were provided in public resorts.

The first church was built in 1770 after the arrival of two or three Catholic priests from Kaskaskia ; it was not a very large blockhouse put up on the northwest corner of Second and Walnut street. The first cathedral was erected in 1818 on Walnut street on the site of the present one, built in 1837. There existed no graveyard before 1776; the dead were buried in the neighborhood of the dwellings, in gardens and yards until the aforesaid year, in which a churchyard was laid out along Second street between the little church and Market street. It remained there till 1828, in which year the coffins were transferred to a new cemetery at what is now

— 19 —

the intersection of Franklin avenue and Twenty-second street. Tlie St. Francis Xavier church, in charge of the Jesuit fathers of the St. Louis University, was built on Ninth street and what is now Lucas avenue, and dedicated in 1843 ; St. Mary's and St. Joseph church, both German, were opened for service in 1844 and 1846 respec- tively, St. Patrick's and St. Vincent's in 1845 and St. Peter and Paul in 1854. These are the oldest Catholic churches in the city. The first Protestants in Missouri were Baptists and their first church in this city was built in 1818 on the southwest corner of Third and Market streets ;this congregation comprised only very few members and dissolved in 1832 principally because their house of worship had partly been condemned by the city, when Market street was widened. The second Baptist congregation was organized in 1835 and bought, in 1836, the Episcopal church on Third and Chest- nut streets ; the third English and the first German of this denom- ination were both built in 1850 on Fourteenth and Clark avenue and Fourteenth and Carr street respectively. The first Methodist Episcopal congregation was founded in 1821, but went out of ex- istence in 1845 after the secession of a part of the members, the split being caused by the dissenting views on the slavery question, whereby the Methodist Episcopal South church was formed. The first Methodist (North) church after this separation was built in 1852 ; the first North Methodist congregation of any conse- quence was organized in 1862 in the former Presbyterian church on Eleventh and Locust streets and had within a short time 400 members. The first Methodist Episcopal church was a rather small building, on Fourth and Myrtle, and replaced in 1835 by a larger one on Fourth street and Washing- ton avenue, where the congregation worshiped up to 1854, in which 3'ear the then completed new edifice, on the northeast cor- ner of Eighth and Washington avenue, was inaugurated. The St. Paul congregation erected a chapel near the Mound in 1838, and the Centenarian church was built in 1844 on the southwest corner of Fifth and Pine streets. The Presbyterians had no church of their own until 1826, the second followed in 1832 and stood on the corner of Fifth and Walnut streets, where now the Temple building stands ; the first Presbyterian congregation abandoned its down- town location in 1847, after building a new

— 20 —

church on Fourteenth and Lucas place, now the Germania The- ater. The first Episcopal church w-as built on the corner of Third and Chestnut in 1829, and was the predecessor of Christ Church Cathedral, on Thirteenth and Locust ; a second one, the St. Paul's, was erected in 1839, on Fifth and Wash streets, where it remained till 1859, in which year the church on Seventeenth and Locust was dedicated. The Unitarians erected their first church, the Church of the Messiah, 1836, at Fourth and Pine, and a much larger one, in 1851, on Ninth and Olive, which was sold in 1879, some time previous to the inauguration of their new church on Garrison avenue and Locust street. The First Congresa- tional church emanated from the Third Presbyterian (organized 1842) in 1852 ; they bought the building belonging to the latter, located on Sixth between Wash street and Franklin avenue, which was vacated after seven years, and a new church on Tenth and Locust substituted in 1860. The Church of the Holy Ghost, the first German Protestant church, dates back to 1834 ; it stood first on Seventh and Myrtle streets, but was soon replaced by a larger one on Eighth and Walnut. The first two Evangelical churches, St. Marks and St. Petri, were built in 1843 on Soulard and Carr streets respectively, and then followed, in 1848, the St. Paul's on Ninth street near Lafayette avenue. The Evangelical Lutherans (Saxons) wor- shiped for several years in a Baptist church, but erected one for their own use in 1842 on Lombard, now Papin, between Third and Fourth streets. This was the Trinity church, replaced in 1865 by the present one, corner of Eighth and Lafayette ; the second, Immanuel's Church, was erected in 1848 at Eleventh street and Franklin avenue ; it was entirely destroyed by fire in 1865, whereupon a new edifice was built on Sixteenth and Morgan •streets. The United Hebrew coHgregation was organized in 1839 and purchased, after worshiping in several rented places, in 1855, the old Benton schoolhouse on Sixth near Locust street and (remodeled it for divine service j the congregation remained here until the new temple, corner Twenty-first and Olive, was finished in 1880. Another Jewish congregation was formed in 1840, •called the Bnai EI; their first temple, on Sixth near Cerre street, was replaced by their present house of worship on Chouteau

— 21 —

avenue near Eleventh street. The reform element in these two congregations seceded in 1868, organized a third and built a temple on Seventeenth and Pine, known as Shaare Emeth, and from this latter emanated in turn the Temple Israel congregation in 1887. The constant growth of the population caused, naturally, the forming of new congregations, and the addition of new churches of all denominations, and their total number amounts now to over three hundred and fift}-. There are two Free- thinkers societies in the city, one in North and one in South St. Louis, the former since 1850, the latter of more recent date, the members of both being exclusively Germans. The Ethical Society was organized in 1887 after the* principles laid down by Dr. Felix Adler of New York, the founder of the first Ethical Culture Society.

Congress donated, in 1812, to the towns and villages in Missouri, certain sections of government land, the income from which was to be applied to the foundation and maintenance of public schools aside from a school tax to be levied and paid by every taxpayer, but the first school heard of in St. Louis was not created before the year 1833, and even then five more years elapsed until the first mone}^ became available for school purposes, whereupon 4000 dollars were appropriated for the building of two school- houses, one on Fourth and Spruce and the other on Third and Cherry streets (now Franklin avenue). Both were opened in 1838 with one male and one female teacher in each. The present number of public schools is 125, fourteen of which are for col- ored children; and the total number of teachers, 1700. The parochial schools, which the church congregations support, are of an earlier date than the public schools ; the school attached to the Cathedral was the first and followed by other Catholic schools in the various parishes ; and there is a large number of Protestant schools (Evangelical and Evangelical Lutheran) in connection with the respective churches in existence. The first higher educational institute was established in 1819, by Bishop Rossatli, but was kept up only a few years. The St. Louis Univer- sity was founded in 1829 by a number of Jesuit fathers from Bel- gium ; the buildings covered by-and-by the double block bounded" by Ninth and Eleventh streets, Washington and Lucas avenues,

— 22 —

and remained there until 1888, in which year the new building on Grand and Lindell avenues was inaugurated. Professor Edward Wyman opened Wyman's Academy on Fourth and Olive in 1843, and transferred it in 1861 to Sixteenth and Pine streets, changing its name to City University which ceased to exist in 1867. The Christian Brothers College was established in 1850, by some members of the order, who had come here from France at the request of Archbishop Kenrick ; it remained on Eighth and Cerre streets till 1882, when the Brothers took possession of their new building on King's Highway and Easton avenue. The Deutsche Institute, a High School for boys, was founded in the beginning of the fifties on South Thfrd near Elm street and went out of ex- istence some twenty years later. Washington University was founded in 1853 and added in course of time a Law School, the Mary Institute, Smith's Academy, and in 1880 a Manual Training School; it includes now the two Medical Colleges mentioned further on. The Concordia College on Jefferson avenue, a seminary in which young men are fitted out for the Evangelical Lutheran pulpit, was established in 1850, and its adjunct, the Walther College, soon after ; the latter was in 1890 removed to the block between Eighth and Paul, Hickory street and Chouteau avenue. The High School, belonging to the Public Schools, began operations in 1853 in a room of the old Benton School on north Sixth near Locust street, where it remained for only one year, during which an appropriate building was erected on the northeast corner of Fifteenth and

Olive streets, which was replaced in 1893 by the present one located on Grand near Finney avenue.

Our city has a great number of higher schools for girls and young ladies, the oldest of which is the Sacred Heart Convent, established in 1827 by the Sisters of Notre Dame on the con- vent grounds bounded by Fifth and Sixth, Labadie (now La Salle), and Hickory streets, where it remained till 1872, in which year they removed to their new possession, called Maryville, on Meramec street ; a branch institute was opened in 1893 on Taylor

and Maryland avenues. The next oldest, the St. Joseph's Convent in Carondelet, dates back to 1836. The Convent of the Visitation, from 1846 to 1858 located on South Ninth street and from the latter

— 23 —

year till 1893 on Twentieth and Cass avenue, occupies since then its new quarters in Cabanne Place, The Ursuline Sisters came here in 1848 and kept for two years a school in a rented house near the French Market till their convent on Twelfth street and Russell avenue was built. The other convents are of more recent date. The Mary Institute, a branch of Washington University, was es- tablished in 1859, occupied until 1878, a building on Lucas Place near Fourteenth, then on Locust and Beaumont and will soon remove to Lindell Boulevard. Hosmer Hall was for many years located at 2812-14 Locust street and removed some 3'ears ago to 4296 Washington avenue. Forest Park University for women, south of Forest Park, is the offspring or more correctly the succes- sor of Kirkwood Seminary, organized in 1861, and after thirty years' existence followed by the present institution, the first of its kind in the United States.

The Missouri Medical College, the oldest in the city, was founded in 1840 by Dr. McDowell, by whose name it was gener- ally signified ; the building, northwest corner Eighth and Gratiot streets, was his property, and he being an outspoken secessionist, it was confiscated by the Government soon after the breaking out of the civil war and used as a military prison until 1865, where- upon it was again used for its original purpose up to 1874 ; it was then removed to Twenty-third and Locust, later on to Twenty- seventh and Lucas avenue, and in 1899 consolidated with Wash- ington University. The St. Louis Medical College, established in 1847 by Dr. Chas. A. Pope, and for many years called Pope's Col- lege, stood at the intersection of Seventh street and Clark avenue, but was transferred in 1890 to Eighteenth and Locust street and is now likewise a part of Washington University. The Humboldt In- stitute existed from 1859 to 1869, was conducted after thes ystem of medical schools in Germany, and first located on Ninth near Walnut, afterwards on Fourteenth street opposite the City Hos- pital. The College of Physicians and Surgeons. Beaumont, Barnes, Marion-Sims and the Homeopathic Medical College originated in later years.

Up to 1818 a policeman or anything like it was unknown; previous to that time the only preservator of law and order was a one-armed constable. In the year named a nightwatch was

— 24 —

organized consisting of six men and a captain, viho also acted as market master and town register ; tbis very primitive state of affairs remained till 1839, in which year the number of men was raised to sixty; it was their duty to call out the hours, give the alarm in case of a fire by blowing a born, and to arrest everybody found in the street after 9 o'clock in winter and 10 o'clock in summer, who could not give a satisfactory account for being out. Constant patroling was not expected of them, as sentry boxes were provided for their use, in which they could take a rest for a while and find shelter in inclement weather. Day police was still lacking until 1848, when seven oflScers and a lieutenant were appointed for duty during the day ; the oflSce of City Marshal combined with that of Chief of Police was created in 1850, which two oflSces were separated in 1861 by the appointment of a Chief of Police after the or- ganization of the Metropolitan Police Department. The present force comprises 1100 men, divided between a central station and eight districts or sub-stations.

The extinguishing of fires was for more than fifty years left to the neighbors and any one who would help. A fund was raised in 1819 and two hand engines were purchased that year in Cincinnati, and this led to the formation of two volunteer fire companies, one in the northern and one in the southern part of the town, but they dissolved after a few years ; a new company was organized in 1826, and their engine was stationed in the market-house, on Market street and the Levee ; another followed in 1829 ; but both existed only till 1831. The formation of regular volunteer com- panies began in 1832, and there were a goodly number of them in course of time ; the engines were drawn to the place of the fire by long ropes, of which the men took hold, and there was a great rivalry between the companies as to which would arrive first and receive the five dollars premium paid by the city ; fights on this account were of frequent occurrence, the rivalry went even so far as to lead to incendiaries at a certain moment, to enable this or that company to arrive before any other. The first steam en- gine was bought in 1855, and caused such a jealousy among the volunteer firemen that they lost all their former energy and am-

— 25 —

biiion, so that one company after the other went out of service, and all were replaced by the paid fire department, organized by the city in 1858. The department consists now of one chief en- gineer, nine assistants, and a corps of nearly 500 firemen, with thirty-nine engines and hose carriages, asufficient number of coal wagons, eleven hook and ladder apparatus, and two water towers. The salvage corps, an efficient accessory of the department, was organized in 1874, and has now three stations in different parts of the city; its costs are defraj-ed by the insurance companies, and not by the city, and its duties consist in the protection of merchandiee, furniture, etc., against damage by fire and water. Until 1830 fire alarms were given by horn signals and the cry of " fire ; " from that year on by strokes from a bell in the tower of St. Xavier's church, at that time ihe highest in the city, two men being employed for that purpose; the telegraph system for the announcement of fires was introduced in 1858, with forty-five alarm boxes. They number now nearly 1000, with more than 1800 miles of wire. The police telegraph comprises at present 250 boxes, 430 telephones, and 22 operators.

St. Louis became a city in 1823, with a north, middle, and south ward, which were changed into four wards in 1833, with three representatives for each in the City Council. The addition of new wards caused usually a change in the number of new rep- resentatives in the municipal legislature, which sometimes con- sisted of only one body, and sometimes of two branches, which is the case since 1877. In 1870 the city was divided into twelve wards. The present city charter was adopted in 1876 and the separation of the city from the county took place the same year, whereupon Clayton became the county seat of the new St. Louis County. The sum of 18,000 dollars was appropriated for a City Hall in 1828 and a two-story brick building erected on the site of the old market house between Market and Walnut, Main street and the Levee, of which the lower floor was still used as a market house and only the upper story for municipal offices. The city sold this building in 1855 to the Merchants' Exchange, who had it taken down to make room for what is now the old Merchants' Exchange, vacated in 1874. The city offices were transferred into a three-story brick house on the

— 26 —

south side of Chestnut between Main and Second street and again removed in 1863 to the north wing of the Court- house rented for that purpose from the county. The barn-like structure between Eleventh and Twelfth, Market and Chestnut street, now known as the old City Hall, was built at an outlay of 70,000 dollars and was used from 1877 till 1898. The new City Hall, standing on what used to be Washington Square, was com- menced in 1890, but its interior is not completely finished and the two million dollars so far expended will not be sufficient to finish it.

The construction of streets, sidewalks and wagon roads began in 1818. The first city engineer was appointed in 1828 and placed at the head of the street department, which now stands under the control of the Board of Public Improvements, organized in 1877, and embracing the street, water, sewer, harbor and park com- missioners, appointed by the mayor for a term of four years, and a president elected by public vote every six years. The sewer system, whose net of subterranean canals is constantly extended, was commenced in 1849, and is one of the principal sources of the excellent sanitary condition for which St. Louis is justly known. The first water works, commenced in 1831 at Ashley and Collins streets by two contractors, were not completed on account of financial difficulties, so that the city had to pur- chase them in 1835 ; they were finished at a cost of $54,000. More pumps were added in course of time and the reservoirs built in 1846, which furnished half a million gallons water per day. The erection of larger water works at Bisseli's Point began in 1868, for which purpose the city issued three millions in bonds ; these works supplied, in 1872, forty million gallons in 24 hours. Compton Hill reservoir, from which the southern part of the city is supplied, was built in 1868. These works became inadequate and the necessity of larger ones more obvious from year to year, so that the erection of a new plant at the Chain of Rocks was commenced in 1887, whose daily capacity will amount to one hundred million gallons ; a part of them is in operation since 1894, but it will be some time before they are entirely completed. Another reservoir is now in course of con- struction in Baden to supply the entire northwestern part of the city.

a

Eh

— 28 —

The first hospital was established in 1828 by three or four sisters of Charity, who had come here from France ; it was a four-room house on the south side of Spruce, between Third and Fourth streets, but had soon to be enlarged, so that a massive four-story building was erected in 1832, covering more than half the block and known as the Sisters or the Mullanphy Hospital, Mr. Bryan Mullanphy being the donor of the ground and principal contributor to the cost of the building. It re- mained there till 1874 in which year the Sisters went into their new hospital on Montgomery street near Grand avenue. In 1840 the erection of a City hospital was begun on the double block bounded by Lafayette avenue, Carroll, Fourteenth and Grattan streets. The first patients were received in 1846, but as only ninety patients could be accommodated, additions were made from time to time. A fire destroyed all the buildings in 1856, whereupon larger ones were immediately constructed* which again met with total destruction by a cyclone on the twenty-seventh of May, 1896, since which time the former Con- vent of the Good Shepherd, corner Seventeenth and Pine streets, serves as a " temporary " hospital. Quarantaine Hos- pital was, until 1854, on Arsenal Island, was then removed below Jefferson Barracks and is now used by the city authorities as a hospitil for contagious diseases, especially smallpox patients. The United States Government established its Marine Hospital in 1858 ; in the same year two others were opened, the Good Samaritan (chiefly supported by German Protestants) and the Evangelical Lutheran; St. John's, 1861; St. Luke's, 1865 ; the Alexian Brothers', 1870; St. Mary's Infirmary and the City's Female Hospital, 1872, complete the list of the older institutions of this kind ; at present there are thirty-three public and eight private hospitals in the city. The St. Vincent's Insane Asylum on Ninth and Marion streets, opened in 1858, and managed by the Sisters of Charity, was removed in 1895 to new quarters, the property of the Sisterhood, built eight miles from the city on the line of the Wabash Railroad. The county erected like- wise in 1858 an Insane Asylum in the southwestern part of the city near Manchester Road which came into possession of the city at the separation from the county in 1876.

— 29 —

The first market house was built as early as 1812 at the foot of Market street. Wednesday and Saturday were the market days, and the market kept open from sunrise till 10 o'clock in the fore- noon. The City Market was established, 1832, on Third between Morgan and Green streets, now Lucas avenue; it was taken down in 1868 and replaced by the Union Market. The French, or Convent Market, at the junction of Fourth and Jifth streets, was built in 1839 by a private corporation, to which it still belongs. Soulard Market was also established as a private enterprise (1848), but was acquired by the city in 1854, considerably enlarged in 1865 ; the tornado of 1896 destroyed the western half of the building, and it has not been reconstructed. Lucas Market was abolished in 1882 ; it had been erected in 1845, in the middle of Twelfth, occupying the space between Olive and Chestnut streets. Mound Market, on Cass avenue and Fifth street, existed from 1843 to 1868; Sturgeon Market, from 1851 to 1897; Center Market, established in 1856, covered the block between Seventh and Eighth, Spruce and Poplar streets, and was sold in 1882 to make room for Cupple's Station, which b}' this time extended almost to Eleventh street. The Round-Top Market, so called on account of its cupola-like roof, was built in 1857, but is no longer used. Biddle Market was established about 1858 by a private corporation between Biddle and O'Fallon, Thirteenth and Four- teenth streets. The South St. Louis Market belongs to the city since the annexation of Carondeletin 1870. Several small market houses for instance, the Allen, St. George, Washing'ton, Carr, etc., ceased to exist in course of time.

The two oldest parks are the Dakota, for which the town trus- tees of Carondelet destined a part of the common fields in 1812, and the Jackson Place, donated to the town of St. Louis by some land owner in 1816 ; the next oldest are theGravois and the Laclede parks, with the exception of Jackson Place all in the southern part of the city. The new City Hall stands on what used to be Washington Square, in olden times a nice park, which lost all attraction through the neighborhood of the Four Courts. The first appropriation for Lafayette Park was made in 1857 ; it be- longs to the city, but stands not under the control of the Park Commissioner, having a superintendent of its own under the di-

— 30 —

rection of a separate board of three citizens living in the park district, which for many years paid a special tax to assist in its maintenance. The Carr family donated Carr Square to the city in 1842, but it was not laid out until many years later. The ground for Hyde Park was purchased by the city in 1854, but it became attractive only after the end of the civil war. The present Benton Park was originally in part a city cemetery, and work for park purposes began 18G6. The United States Govern- ment gave a part of the Arsenal ground to the city in 1871 for the Lyon Park, and Henry Shaw donated in the same year Tower Grove Park to the city ; the latter bought, 1874, the land for Forest, O'Fallon and Carondelet parks. St. Louis Park, for- merly called St. Louis Place, was donated by the several real estate owners of North St. Louis, but not laid out for a number of years. The city became the owner of the Missouri Botanical Gardens b}^ the last will and testament of Mr. Henry Shaw in 1889, who also left a part of his real estate to the municipality, the income from which to be used for the maintenance of the Gardens.

It was in 1823 that the city authorities forbade further inter- ments within the city limits, which at that time meant east of Seventh street, south of Biddle street and north of the Mill Creek. The few graveyards within this territory were accordingly closed and new ones laid out in the common fields. They were located in various parts of what was at that time called country, but what now and since quite a while constitutes busy thoroughfares and residence districts. Bellefontaine Cemetery was opened in 1851 and Calvary in 1863 ; the latter is an exclusively Catholic burial ground, the former receives the dead irrespective of creed, and both number among the largest and most beautiful cemeteries in America. Several graveyards belonging to Protestant congrega- tions and Catholic parishes are located in the outskirts of the city, likewise the Jewish cemeteries. The crematory in the southwest- ern part of the city, one of the very few so far existing in the United States, was built in 1888 by an association organized for that purpose, which has slowly but constantly grown in member- ship.

— 31 —

The first court house, a very primitive one, stood on Third near Myrtle street and had been built in 1817, later on the house on the southwest corner of Third and Market streets was used for that purpose. Here its offices remained until 1826, in which year a small building was placed upon one corner of the present court house square ; the corner-stone for the present one was laid in 1839, but work was not commenced until 1851, and

COURT HOUSE.

the structure not completed before 18G2, the total cost amount- ing to SI, 200,000. Two Circuit Courts for the whole State were created, with St. Louis as the seat of one of them ; three courts were established in its place in 1840, viz. : The Common Pleas the Law Commissioner's and the Land Court, which in turn were succeeded, in 1865, by three circuit judges, and this number was, in course of time, first changed to five, and later on to

- 32 —

seveu. The Criminal Court was created in 1842, and had a sep- arate judge up to 1895, from which 3'ear on the circuit judges occupy the criminal bench in rotation. The Court of Appeals was organized in 1876 to relieve the State Supreme Court of a part of its duties. The building known as the Four Courts was erected in 1871 by the old St. Louis County, and became the city's property five years later ; it contains the headquarters of the police department, a police station, the Criminal Court, the Court of Criminal Correction, the Police Court and the jail. Until the completion of the building the police headquarters were located on Chestnut between Second and Third streets, the jail and city prison on the site where now the Laclede Hotel stands. The Probate Court dates back to 1807, but was reor- ganized in 1841, serving till 1876 for county and city, since then only for the latter.

The river trade of St. Louis is no longer what it used to be ; its prestige waned when the railroad era began ; it stood at its height in the forties, fifties and sixties, during which period an uninterrupted line of steamboats occu- pied every foot along the landing from Biddle street on the north to Chouteau avenue on the south, and often a boat had to wait for th3 departure of another one before it could approach the wharf. These were the golden times for passen- gers and freight traflic on the Mississippi between St. Paul and New Orleans, and St. Louis was the center of the immense trade of the Mississippi Valley and the western and southwestern country tributary to the city. The steamboat interest was of the greatest prominence ; millions were invested in it and millions made by it. The owners and captains of the floating palaces played a conspicuous role in our commercial circles, but their halcyon days came to an end with the continued extension of the railroad system of the country.

There were no railroads in Missouri during the first half of the century, and it was not before the beginning of the fifties that steps were taken to build them. The Missouri Pacific, the Iron Mountain and the North Missouri (now Wabash West) were put in operation between 1852 and 1855 ; each of them had its own depot until the erection of the first Union Depot

— 33 —

at Twelfth and Poplar streets in 1874. The railroads which oonnected St. Louis with the Eastern, Middle and Northern States terminated on the eastern shore of the Mississippi, and had their passenger and freight depots in East St. Louis until the completion of the Eads Bridge and Tunnel, which were inaugurated on the fourth of July, 1874. Up to that time pa&. sengers and freight were brought across the river by ferry boats. To show what great traffic was carried on in this way we can state that in the middle of the sixties from forty to fifty large buses transferred from 1,000 to 1,500 railroad passengers to and from East St. Louis, about ^00 big transfer wagons took the freight over in both direc'ions and 200 loaded farmer wagons came in on an average •every day across the river. All this became obsolete when the central depot SN^stem went into force. The fiiston Twelfth street was abolished in 1894, in which 3'ear our magnificent Union Station, unsurpassed by any central railroad depot in this coun- try, was opened. The Merchants' Bridge, built in 1889, connects a number of railroads with Union Station by an elevated road. The many tracks running from the exit of the tunnel on Eighth street in a western direction made the building of bridges over a number of streets a necessity, as without them all communication betwe**" north and south, west of Seventh street, would have become in*- possible ; the city erected, tlierefore, with the financial assistance of the railroad companies, a number of bridges, viz., over Twelfth, Fourteenth. Eighteenth, Twenty-first streets, Jefferson and Grand avenuts, and it is only a question of time when additional ones will be needed.

The growth of the city made means of transportation for longer distances necessary and the appearance of the first omnibus in 1844 was hailed with delight; it went up and down Olive between Fourth and Twelfth street from 7 o'clock in the morning till to the close of the theaters, and 'was driven by its owner, Erastus Wells, afterwards president of the City Council and Congress- man ; another omnibus ran on Market street, one on Franklin avenue, and these were soon followed by several others run, ning between the northern and southern part of the city, even as far as Carondelet. This method prevailed for

3k

— 34 —

fifteen years, and was abandoned in 1859, when it was- succeeded by the street railroad cars, the first of which was in operation on Olive street, but not further west than Twelfth. The Marlcet street line was opened the same year to Thirteenth street; the line on Fourth and Chouteau avenue to St. Ange was established in 1860, and in 1865 extended to Lafayette Park. Franklin avenue and Morgan street had car service in 1859, Fifth street resp. Seventh to the Arsenal about the same time. Numerous other roads sprang up in course of time, and eventually the horses and mules were placed on the retired list, making room for the cable, and later on for the elec- tric cars ; to-day there are few large cities in the world with so extensive a system of rapid transit as St. Louis.

For the lighting of our streets, oil lamps did service as late as- 1847, in which year a contract was made between the city and the St. Louis Gas Light Company, by which the latter was to light the streets with gas at fixed rates. It was a great event when the first ^as lanterns replaced the obsolete oil lamps on the evening of the fourth of November, 1847 ; ten years later gas works were erected in Carondelet, and they are still in operation, forming a part of the Laclede Gas Light Company, which latter was organized in 1868, and later on became the purchaser of the older company. The lighting of streets by electricity was inaugurated in 1889, but a large part of the city is still lit with gas.

It did not require great prophetic ability to predict even in ear- lier years the future of our city as one of the commercial centers of the United States ; its geographical location, the'waterways of the Mississippi and Missouri and the tributary sections of the country with their vast agricultural products, but especially the supplying of the great western territory, contributed all together to make St. Louis the focus of trade and commerce with the West, South and Southwest ; it became still more so through the constant addition of further railroad connections. To all this came its quick devel- opment as an industrial center ; there is hardly an important branch of industry not represented in our midst, and we occupy a front rank in many, as for instance, the milling, iron and oth^r metals, street car building, furniture, saddlery, boot and shoe, clothing manufacture, etc. The St. Louis flour is celebrated in.

— 35 —

domestic and foreign markets ; our breweries have made the name of this city known in every part of the globe ; among the chemical factories, one is the largest in the United States ; and though the slaughtering and packing trade is no more what it used to be, it still forms an im'portant branch of business, likewise the lumber and the cotton trade. The Merchants Exchange adopted this name in 1850, emanating from the Chamber of Commerce, or- ganized in 1S3G ; the meetings were held in rented localities until 1857, in which year the building on Main between Market and

MERCHANTS EXCHANGE.

Walnut streets, now known as the old Merchants Exchange, was opened. The present one was inaugurated in 1875, is a very im- posing structure, whose only fault lies in its ill- chosen location. One of the principal causes for the removal of the Exchange from Main to Third street was the continued wane of the river traffic and the general exodus of business from the neighborhood of the Levee. The westward march of trade began when the wholesale firms (mostly in the dry goods, clothing and hat and cap line) left Main for Fifth street and afterwards for Wash- ington avenue ; Fourth street was deserted by the wholesale millinery and the retail dry goods houses, which also went further

— 36 —

west; the banks and brokers, who used to be on Third, came to Fourth and made it the Wall street of St. Louis ; Olive street, once one of the favorite residence streets, became the center of our retail trade, and North Broadway underwent a similar change up to Franklin avenue; Lucas avenue, formerly called Green street and Christy avenue, is now the seat of many manufacturing and wholesale firms. Post Office and Custom House followed suit in 1884. The northern part of the city, beginning with Cass avenue, abounds more than any other part with factories of all sorts, particularly in the furniture branch, and it is also the principal location for lumber yards ; the southern part of St. Louis has in course of time developed into a manufacturing district by the establishment of many industrial enterprises of importance, most of which are between the river and Broadwa}^ on account of transportation facilities by water and railroads.

The long list of great calamities, of which St. Louis became a victim from time to time, begins with the flood in 1872, followed by a second one in 1885. Like casualties occurred in 1811, 1823 and 1826 but none of them had such fearful results as the overflow of the Mississippi in 1844, when more than 500 persons had to leave their dwellings and the loss of property was very great. Further floods came in 1851, 1854, 1858, 1863, 1867, 1871, 1875 and 1876, but the damage caused by them was comparatively not very large. The entire Levee stood under water in 1881 and 1883, likewise in 1892, in which year this side of the river suffered only little damage, when to the contrary the loss on the Illinois shore amounted to almost ten million dollars.

Large conflagrations were so numerous in course of time that snention can be made only of those whereby the losses amounted ito 300,000 dollars and more. The most terrible of all of them ihappened on the seventeenth and eighteenth of May, 1849, when the fire broke out in one of the boats in the harbor, other boats were caught by the flames and the Levee being covered with cotton bales, hemp, hogsheads of sugar and all kinds of anerehandise the flames spread soon to the buildings on the Levee and from there further west causing the destruction of dwellings and business houses in fifteen blocks between Locust and Elm, Third street and the Levee with a loss of over six

— 37 —

million dollars. The " City Buildings " on the Levee between Market and Walnut streets burned down in November, 1856, loss $300,000; a loss of $350,000 was incurred by the destruction of Fagin and McQueen's pork house (O' Fallon and Main) in 1873, and the Collier's White Lead Factory on Clark avenue in 1881. Fires in which numbers of large business houses were totally or nearly destroyed happened as follows : On the west side of Main between Pine and Olive, in 1868, with a loss of 750,000 dollars; in April, 1879, on Washington avenue, Broad- way and St. Charles street, loss, 450,000 dollars; in May of the same year on the west side of Broadway from Locust half a block northward; in November, 1891, over a million dollars worth of property was destroyed on both sides of Broadway between Morgan street and Franklin avenue, and exactly the same locality, including both sides of Fourth street even up to Third became the victim of a terrible fire in December, 1899, the losses amounting to several millions; in- October, 1887, business houses on Washington avenue and on Fourth street burned out, causing a loss of 450,000 dollars. Further very destructive fires were those of Anchor Mills, on Twenty-third and Randolph streets, in 1879 (loss $300,000), and in the same year the Greeley-Burnham Grocery establishment ($450,000) ; in 1886 the lumber yard of Knapp & Stout ($380,000), and Shapleigh's hardware store on Main street with $400,000 loss. Richardson's wholesale drug house on Fourth street and Clark avenue burned to the ground on January 1, 1889, loss half a million; in 1891 the establishment of Mansur & Tebbetts, on Spruce and Tenth streets, with 300,000 dollars loss; the dry goods firm of Ely, Walker & Co., on Eighth and Washington avenue, suffered a loss of 750,000 dollars in 1897. The burning of the Mermod-Jaccard Building shortly before Christmas in 1897, was accompanied by a loss of 400,000 dollars.

Hotel fires were less frequent, but some of them caused the loss of many lives. This was especially the case by the burning of the Pacific Hotel, corner of Seventh and Poplar streets, in February, 1858, and of the Southern in April, 1877. The Lin- dell Hotel was totally destroyed in April, 1867, and the St. Nicholas, on Fourth between Morgan street and Franklin avenue,

— 38 —

burned out in January, 1885. The following theaters became the victims of fire : In 1837 the St. Louis, on Main near Locust ; in 1866 the National, on Market street opposite the court house (originally Wyman's Hall), and the Bowery on North Third near Franklin avenue; in 1867 the Opera House, on Fifth near Wash street; in 1880 the Comique, formerly DeBarr's, on Pine; in 1884, the Grand Opera House on Market.

The various boat conflagrations in our harbor have caused a loss, at a low estimate, of over twenty millions ; the most de- structive of them occurred in 1849, 1864, and 1869, with losses of $400,000, $300,000, and $475,000 respectively.

Cholera epidemics appeared in St. Louis in 1832 and 1833 in a mild form, but in a fearful measure in 1849 when 4,140 persons were taken away by the scourge ; 872 died from it in 1850, in the year following 790. The dreadful disease returned in 1866, in which year 684 persons fell as its victims ; sporadic cases ap- peared in the following year, and no more since that lime. A smallpox epidemic visited the city in 1872, causing the death of 1,591 out of 3,759 patients, and nearly 1,900 more died during the next three years ; 1,840 children and adults died in 1886, and 1887 of diphtheria, and in 1892 were 3,642 typhus cases reported, of which 514 proved fatal.

The first tornado occurred in 1833, on the 27th of June, the second came on the 27th of April, 1852, when Carondelet suf- fered most; another one was that on the 8th of March, 1871, and a very severe storm set in on the evening before Easter Sunday, 1872. It will be observed that two of those tornadoes happened on the 27th day of April and June, respectively, and it is there- fore a somewhat strange coincidence that the 27th of May, 1896, brought over our city a similar and at the same time the most terrible calamity that ever befell this or any other of the large cities of this country. The cyclone- of that memorable day de- stroyed within twenty minutes 8,500 houses of all kinds, factories, warehouses, dwellings, either entirely, or in such a measure that their repairing became more expensive than to build them anew ; 138 lives were lost, several hundred persons wounded, and the excitement and terror during that never-to-be- forgotton catas- trophe, made many insane, or at least nervous for the rest of

— 39 —

their lives. The material damage to property, real estate and otherwise, amounted to more than ten million dollars, and a great number of those who had to bear those losses have not yet recuperated from them.

A history of St. Louis, may it be ever so brief, would be incom- plete without some reference to the German element, which played and still pla3's such a conspicuous role, and an important factor in the development of the city. The revolutionary movements in 1848 and 1849 brought a vast immigration from Germany to the United States ; the West received a full share of it, and Missouri, especially St. Louis, attracted many of these newcomers to the western shores of the Mississippi ; they comprised farmers, mechanics, laborers, but the majority consisted of merchants, lawyers, clergy-men, teachers, civil officers, physicians, etc., — in one word, men of intelligence, knowledge and culture, whose presence soon became felt in the communit3^ They devoted themselves to the various professions, commercial pursuits and industrial branches, and it did not take long before the Germao attorneys, doctors, teachers, editors, merchants and manufac- turers formed a prominent part of the population. It is a fact that many of our German fellow-citizens number among the foremost representatives of trade, iudustr}' and science, and that their energy and enterprise have materially assisted in making St. Louis what it is.

Times of lawlessness and disturliances of a very deplorable character furnished some lamentable pages in the history of our city. The discovery of some skeletons in an outhouse of the Med- ical College on Eleventh street and Washington avenue, a part of the St. Louis University, on the 25th of February, 1844, by some boys who had entered the yard, caused a riot and the destruction of a building and its contents by an infuriated crowd, which from there went to McDowell's College, on Eighth and Gratiot streets, with similar intentions, but the professors and students received a timely warning, removed everything from the dissecting room that could have aroused the ire of the crowd ; an inspection of the premises satisfied the ring-leaders that there was no cause for an attack, and no harm of an}'- kind was done. A fight between the members of a volunteer fire company and some

— 40 —

boat hands during the burning of a steamer in June, 1849,. extended into a riot, in which four or five boarding houses and saloons on the Levee were demolished, and many of the partici- pants wounded. The municipal election in April, 1852, caused very riotous scenes around. Soulaid Mai ket and Seventh street^ and Park avenue; bloody combats between German and non- German citizens lasted from morning till evening on electioQ day ; a house, in which many Germans had sought refuge, was set on fire and burned down, and an infuriated mob went late in the evening to the office of the Anzieger des Westens, bound oft destroying it on account of the paper's politics, but a military company protected the building, and the attack was prevented^ The worst of all was the riot in August, 1854, brought on by the Knownoihing party, the native Americans, whose object it waa to deprive the foreign-born citizens of their Constitutional rights ;: this movement was especially directed against Catholics and Irishmen ; their dwellings on the Levee, Second and Morgan* streets, Franklin and what is now Lucas avenue, at that time- called Green street, were attacked by the mob, their furniture- and household goods destroyed, and the inhabitants who did not escape in time, were either badly treated or wounded and many of them even killed. The anarchy thus created lasted two days and nights, and the riot was only quelled by the interference of all the military companies and a posse of armed citizens, who had organized to restore peace and order. The disturbances in connection with the great railroad strike of 1877 produced a few troublesome days, especially in factories^ flour mills, foundries and other industrial establishments, but they came to an end without bloodshed and without much harm to anyone. The strongest contrast to that insignificant inter- ruption of normal conditions furnished the street railroad strike in 1900, which lasted fully three months, causing the greatest in- convenience to the public, indescribable hardship to the striking conductors and motormen, and large financial losses to the con- solidated street car companies. The direct effect of this strike included two other features : the employment of men new in the service and without the necessary ability, and in consequence of that innumerable accidents of more or less serious nature, and this-

— 41 —

condition has lasted during the j'ear following (1901) and still prevails.

The growth of the population is best shown by the following figures: The inhabitants of St. Louis in 1800 numbered 970; in 1810, 1,400; in 1820, 4,000; in 1840, 34,000; in 1850 the population amounted to 78,000; in 1860 it had risen to 185,000; in 1870 to 310,000. It is somewhat surprising, that the census of 1880 places the population at only 350,000, only 40,000 more than ten years before, when the decade from 1860 to 1870, including the period of the civil war, shows an increase of 125 000, but this can in part be accounted for by the fact, that the second half of the sixties brought large numbers of immigrants from Germany and Austria to this country and that St. Louis received a full share of it. The census of 1890 gave the city 451,770 inhabi- tants, and the one taken in 1900 places it at 575,000. This last census makes St. Louis the fourth largest city in the United States.

The foregoing pages show in a concise way the development of St. Louis from a small trader's post to the magnificent city of its present sizd, and the changes which time has brought to the me- tropolis on the western bank of the Father of Waters, the mighty Mississippi.

ST. LOUIS OF TO-DAY.

St. Louis has a population of nearly 600,000 ; it has a river front of nearly twenty miles ; an area of sixty-two and one-half square miles ; 462 miles of improved streets ; over 500 miles of sewers ; it has twenty public parks with an acreage of 2176.59; its waterwork's plant cost thirty million dollars; over five millions are invested in public school property, it has 125 public schools ; fifty-four colleges and academies ; forty-one hospitals ; 328 churches. St. Louis has the largest steel arch bridge in the world, costing ten millions ; the largest and finest railway station in the world ; the greatest electric plant in America; the largest brewery in the world. The Missouri Botanical Garden (better known as Shaw's Garden, after the name of its founder) is the finest botanical garden in the world, and it is said that every flower, tree, plant and shrub on the globe finds a representative within its boundaries.

— 42 —

THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE.

The Province or District of Louisiana was a French possession originally, through La Salle's discoveries in the Seventeenth Century. In 1762, by a secret treaty, France conveyed Louis- iana to Spain. It had been an expensive and troublesome prov- ince, and France was glad to be rid of it. In 1800, nearly forty years later, another secret treaty retroceded the country to France. Our relatiors at that time with both Spain and France were decidedly strained, the free navigation of the Mississippi river being a particularly troublesome question with the former.

President Jefferson saw plainly that we must obtain certain territory on and adjacent to the mouth of the Mississippi river.

No man dreamed of such a thing as the purchase of Louisiana, let alone suggesting its possibility. The vast region ivas virtually thrown at us by Napoleoyi.

When Jefferson began negotiations for the purchase of the desired territory — New Orleans and the Floridas — it was with Spain, which was supposed to own it. When subsequentl}' it was ascertained that Spain had secretly reconverted Louisiana to France, it was a complete surprise to the United States negotiators.

War between France and England being now — 1802 — almost certain, negotiations were transferred to France and pushed energetically, $2,000,000 being the sum our negotiators were authorized to give for the territor}' desired.

Livingston, our Minister to France, was reinforced by James Monroe, a man eminently qualified for his extraordinary mission.

Monroe reached France April 7, 1803. Apparently the stars in their courses fought for us, for on April 30th, the treaty trans- ferring all of Louisiana to us for $15,000,000 was signed, and was at once sent to Washington for ratification. Congress rati- fied it October 17, 1803, and on December 20th following, the French colors came down at New Orleans and the stars and stripes went up in their stead, and the Mississippi ran its course to the sea wholly through American territory.

— 43 —

Before Monroe reached France, Napoleon, with consummate astuteness, had decided to dispose of all of Louisiana instead of the insignificant portion we were trying to buy. To Talleyrand and Marbois, his Ministers of State and Treasur}', he had said : " I know the full value of Louisiana, and I have been desirous of repairinof the fault of the French negotiator who abandoned it in 1762. A few lines of treaty have restored it to me, and I have scarcely recovered it when I must expect to lose it. But if it escapes from me, it shall one da}- cost dearer to those who oblige me to strip myself of it, than to those to whom 1 wish to de- liver it. The English have successively taken from France, Can- ada, Cape Breton, New Foundland, Nova Scotia and the richest portions of Asia. They shall not have the Mississippi, which they covet. * * * X have not a moment to lose in putting it out of their reach. * ♦ ♦ j think of ceding: it to the United States. * * * They only ask of me one town in Louisiana, but I already consider tiie colony as entirely lost ; and it appears to me that in the hands of this growing power it will be more useful to the polic}-, and even to the commerce, of France than if I should attempt to keep it." And again, "I renounce Louisiana. It is not only New Orleans that I will cede, it is the whole colony without any reservation. * * * To attempt to retain it would be foil}'. I direct you to negotiate this offer with the envoys of the United States. * * * j ^ju ]^q moderate in consideration of the necessity in which I am of making the sale." This determination to hasten matters is shown in the words to the Ministers: "Irresolution and deliberation are no longer in season. Do not even await the arrival of Mr. Monroe. Have an interview with Mr. Livingston this very daj-."

When the proposition to sell this vast domain was laid before the American diplomatists they were naturallj^ rather staggered.

They at once rose grandly to the occasion, however. In those daj^s of slow-sailing ships and no cables, they must themselves, unadvised by Jefferson and his Cabinet, assume the responsi- bilities of the moment and act one way or the other — either accept or reject. Like brave patriots they did this, accepted, and closed the bargain.

After a little haggling as to price, the matter was easily arranged,

— 44 —

and thus England was prevented from seizing New Orleans and Louisiana in the great war that immediately followed, and the United States obtained a future empire.

Marbois, a personal friend and admirer of Monroe, and also a warm friend of our country, was an important adjunct in the negotiations.

When Napoleon was informed of the conclusion of the treaty he said: '*This accession of territory strengthens forever the power of the United States ; and I have just given to England a maritime rival that will sooner or later humble her pride.'*

This brief recital shows the important figure cut by the French Emperor himself in the affair, and how, as a matter of fact, we drifted into it without any preconceived intention on the part of Jefferson or any one else.

And what of the country? There was a great uncertainty at the time, and there is now to many, as to what we actually obtained. We did not buy the Oregon countr3\ United States Land Commissioner Hermann gives the area of the purchase as 883,072 square miles, or 565,166,080 acres, an area somewhat less than that of the original thirteen States. Roughl3% the eastern limit followed the Mississippi from its mouth north to the forty-ninth parallel at the Lake of the Woods ; the forty-ninth parallel constituted the northern boundary, which extended to the Rocky Mountains ; the western line ran south along the summit of the Rockies to the head-waters of the Arkansas river in Colo- rado ; thence down the Arkansas to the 100th meridian ; thence south to the Red river ; thence down that river to the ninety-fourth meridian ; south along that meridian to the Sabine river ; down the Sabine to the Gulf of Mexico, which formed the southern line.

The Louisiana Purchase was larger in area than Great Britain, France, Spain, Germany, Portugal, and Italy thrown into one. Out of it have been carved entire Missouri, Arkansas, Iowa, Ne- braska, North and South Dakota, and Indian Territory; nearly all of Louisiana, Oklahoma, Kansas, Wyoming, and Montana, about two-thirds of Minnesota, and one-third of Colorado. la 1890 the population within its limits exceeded twice that of the United States at the time of the purchase. To-day it is the greatest mineral, grazing, timber, and corn and wheat region of the United States.

45

THE HISTORY OF OUR WORLD'S FAIR.

From an address delivered before the Southern Industrial Convention at Philadelphia by Walter B. Stevens^ Secretary, St. Louis World's Fair Company.

The man who wrote the Declaration of Independence in 1776 sat in the White House twenty-seven yeais later and directed the acquisition of what became known as " Jefferson's West," and what was until then called the Territory of Louisiana. The price paid to the Government of France was fifteen million dollars. The money had to be borrowed. Stephen Girard, the Philadel- phia philanthropist, negotiated the loan. The St. Louis World's Fair Company entered upon the period of prepaiation with $15,000,000 already provided toward the cost. It is one of the coincidences that the amount secured in advance for the celebration of this Centennial is exactly what was paid for the Territory. The Territory thus acquired, stands to-day for $6,600,000,000 of taxable wealth. It is seven times as large as Great Britain and Ireland ; four times as large as Germany or France. The genesis of this coming World's Fair was an evolu- tion. A dozen years ago James G. Blaine, speaking of the Louisiana Purchase to the Merchants' Exchange of St. Louis, said : —

" Your growth, gentlemen, is the growth of the Republic." "But," he continued, "I feel I have one reproach against this Trans-Mississippi department. My reproach to every foot and to every inhabitant of the territory of Louisiana is that on its surface which represents a third part of the United States, there is not a statue raised to the honor of Thomas Jefferson."

It was a reproach. The just ground for it was acknowledged. Sentiment for some form of celebration which should emphasize the wisdom of the Louisiana Purchase and glorify the man who made it, has been growing. The people of the Purchase dis- cussed one form after another for the observance of this Cen- tennial. When the thought of a World's Fair was first expressed it received little attention. When, in Februar}^ 1898, a St.

— 46--

Louis member of Congress introduced a bill for a World's Fair at St. Louis in 1903, it passed almost unnoticed. Ten days later the Maine was sunk. The bill slumbered.

In the summer of 1898 the Missouri Historical Society of St. Louis moved formally in the matter of the Centennial celebration. A committee of fifty men, fully representing the city's interests, was named to consider plans. The deliberation showed that the plans considered at that time were limited to a monument for Jefferson, a building for the Historical Society, or the creation of a memorial park. But none of these was satisfying. Months of consideration brought the conviction that the Centennial called for observance in the form of a World's Fair. To the Governor of Missouri the committee went with the suo^aestion that the States and Territories of the Purchase be called in con- sultation. The Governor formally invited the other Governors of the Purchase to send delegates to a convention at St. Louis, and they did so. The invitation set forth the purpose to be " con- sideration of the form the observance of the Louisiana Purchase Centennial should take." Ever}^ State and Territory in the Purchase responded. The Convention met in St. Louis January 10th, 1899. Organization was effected with the Lieutenant-Governor of Iowa, Mr. J. C. Milliman, as President. Delegates were present from Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Ne- braska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Wyoming. The convention continued during two days. The result of it was a unanimous decision that the Centennial of the Purchase should be celebrated by a World's Fair. In summing up conclusions, the delegates, without a dissenting voice, declared: " We believe that this object can be best accomplished by an Exposition, inter- national in its character, where the products of the labor, skill, genius, industry and enterprise of our country are brought into close comparison with those of all other countries ; where the peo- ples of the earth can have an opportunity to behold and study the mighty impress which the influence of Liberty makes upon the progress of man, and in this great contest, where the world is the field, this wonderful valley, extending from the semi-tropical sea on the south to the semi-frozen regions of the north, will gladly

— 47 —

submit its progress and achievements for the first century of its growth, in friendly competition with the results of many centuries in the older world." The convention recommended that Congress be asked to participate through a suitable appropriation. A roll call of States and Territories for an opinion of the most appropri- ate location for the proposed Exposition, showed sixt3^-nine votes for St. Louis and eight for New Orleans. The Missouri delegation asked to be excused and did not vote. On motion of a delegate from Louisiana, Mr. Calhoun^ ttie selection of St. Louis was made unanimous. The convention then proceeded to organize an Executive Committee composed of three representatives from each State and Territory within the Purchase. This Executive Committee is in existence to-day as an important branch of the organization. The convention further declared its judgment to be that in order to insure success of the proposed international Exposition on a scale worthy of its importance, it would be neces- sary to obtain an appropriation of 85,000,000 from the National Government, conditioned upon a subscription of $5,000,000 by the citizens of St. Louis. Tlie judgment of the Executive Com- mittee was that it would be necessary ^' to ask and obtain the amount of $5,000,000 from the city of St. Louis additional to the $5,000,000 subscribed by citizens."

The people of St. Louis acted promptly upon the decision of the Louisiana Purchase Convention and its Executive Committee. An organization of two hundred citizens was formed, with Pierre Chouteau as Chairman, with David R. Francis, as head of the Ex- ecutive Committee, and with Wm. H. Thompson, as Chairman of the Finance Committee.

In the month following the convention at St. Louis, thirty members of the Executive Committee then formed, representing all parts of the Purchase, visited Washington. The committee- men canvassed the Congressional delegations from their States. They found the responses to the suggestion of a World" s Fair prompt and emphatic. Following the canvass, there was given a dinner, the hosts of which were the Executive Committee of the Louisiana Purchase Convention. The guests were members of the Cabinet, Senators, Representatives and Delegates and members of the United States Supreme Court. Invitations were

— 48 —

limited strictly to those from Purchase States and Territories. The Cabinet was represented by Secretaries Hitchcock and Wil- son. Congress was represented by nearly every Senator and Representative and Delegate within the Purchase. The Supreme Court was represented by Justices Brewer and White. The banquet assumed a most practical aspect. A series of speeches indorsing the decision of the convention and pledging per- sonal effort on the part of the guests to carry out the recom- mendations was made. These addresses were characterized by marked enthusiasm. In the course of his introductory remarks, the chairman, David R. Francis, said: "Such an P^xposition as we are planning will be the scene of competition of the highest mechanism of the world, and the theater for the dis- play of the best thought of the age. The one hundreth anniver- sary of the Louisiana Purchase should be marked by the erection of a monument to Thomas Jefferson in the capital or metropolis of every State carved from the Louisiana Territory. On behalf of St. Louis I am authorized to say — and in this statement I am sustained by substantially all of her progressive, public-spirited merchants, capitalists and laboring men — the men who have made that city what it is — and twenty-five or more of them are seated at this board — I am authorized to say that the city of St. Louis pledges her people to raise at least $10,000,000 toward preparing for such an international Exposition as will fitl}^ com- memorate the Louisiana Purchase, provided the Federal govern- ment will grant its recognition of the Exposition, and will evi- dence its good will and support." The addresses which followed dwelt upon the magnitude of development within the Purchase limits and upon the importance of the Purchase to the whole country. There was not an inharmonious note in that series of talks, continuing far into the night. The Executive Committee and the St. Louis delegation returned to their homes to take up details of preliminary work. Senators and Representatives and delegates who had pledged their co-operation formed an organi- zation to encourage sentiment on the subject in Congress.

The Missouri Legislature entered upon the necessary legislation for the enterprise. In St. Louis the work of raising, by popular subscription, the $5,000,000 which Chairman Francis had prom-

— 49 —

ised at Washington, was undertaken with vigor. At a mass meet- ing held in the great Music Hall, $4,000,000 was pledged. The Speaker of the House, Mr. Henderson, appointed a special com- mittee to consider World's Fair matters. In the House the initial World's Fair bill was introduced by Hon. J. R. Lane, of Iowa. In the Senate a similar bill was introduced by Hon. Francis M. Cockrell, of Missouri. At the hearings before the special com mittee, appeared Governors or other officials of the Purchase States. It was asked that Congress should, through enactment, give assurance of national aid to the amount of $5,000,000. This aid was to be wholly dependent upon St. Louis raising $10,000,000. The committee reported in favor of a vote by the House upon the proposition. Before the session ended a provision in the sundry civil bill committed Congress to this con- ditional aid. Especially significant and gratifying was the absence of any partisanship or sectionalism in the action of Congress. With the leaders of the House the conclusion was that if St. Louis performed its part of the contract the appropriation should be made at the subsequent session of Congress. The contract was fulfilled. At the next election in Missouri, November, 1900, the Constitution of the State was amended, not only to per- mit the city of St. Louis to issue $5,000,000 in bonds, but also to authorize an appropriation of $1,000,000 by the State for its participation in the Exposition. The voting resulted in the passage of both propositions, five-sixths of the total number being in the aflfirmative. Since that election the Legislature has carried out its part, making the appropriation of $1,000,000 ; the municipal assembly has by ordinance authorized the issue of the $5,000,000 in bonds, and the people of St. Louis have subscribed the $5,000,000 in stock.

In February, 1901, Secretary Gage, of the Treasury Depart- ment, was furnished with the evidence that bonajide subscriptions to the full amount stipulated by Congress had been secured and that the bonds had been legally authorized. He certified these facts to Congress. The Special Committee reported the bill pro- viding an appropriation by the Government of $5,000,000. The House passed it by more than a two-thirds majority. There en- sued some days of delay, owing to the desire of the Senate to 4k

— 50 —

attach to the St. Louis proposition appropriations for the Buffalo and Charleston expositions, and owing to the unwillingness of the House to couple these propositions to the World's Fair at St. Louis. On the 3d of March, the Senate receded from its position, and the bill, as passed by the House, was accepted with only ten dis- senting votes, which were cast by friends of the other proposed appropriations. This action of Congress in appropriating $5,000,- 000 to the St. Louis World's Fair making the Government a finan- cial partner to the extent of one-third, was practically unanimous. It constituted the most notable legislation by Congress for exposi- tion purposes. In the act making the appropriation the general government's close relations were clearly set forth. A national commission was provided for. That commission the late President McKinley appointed before the end of April. The nine commis- sioners are four former United States senators, two former mem- bers of the House of Representatives, a former railroad manager, a former State official of New England, and a leading business man of the Southwest. All sections of the country' have represen- tation in this commission.

Following the action of Congress, the Exposition Company was incorporated, and the stockholders elected directors. The direc- tors immediately organized by the election of officers and by appointment of committees. The president of the company is David R. Francis, former mayor of the city of St. Louis, former Governor of the State of Missouri, and a member of President Cleveland's cabinet during his second administration. Wm. H. Thompson, the treasurer, is the president of the National Bank of Commerce of St. Louis. The directors stand for all leading financial, commercial and professional interests of the city.

The second month of corporate existence brought the selection of site to a conclusion, and found a score of committees at work upon the general scope and the numberless details of the exposi- tion. Mention only of the indorsements which this World's Fair proposition has received from industrial and commercial bodies would tax patience. It will not be attempted. But the fact may be recalled that the Southern Industrial Convention which met in New Orleans went on record in strong terms supporting the move- ment. On that occasion it was declared that the delegates and

— 51 —

members of the Southern Industrial Convention " urge not only upon all the States of the Louisiana Purchase, but upon all the Southern States, cities and manufacturers especially, to give to the enterprise their hearty approval, advocacy and co-operation, in order that the industrial development of the South and West may be practically placed before the world's people, and that the grand achievement of the greatest statesman of modern times, Thomas Jefferson, be properly celebrated and his memory crowned."

There is evolution in expositions. The Centennial was a great thing in 1876. Everybody talked about it. Everybody who could visited it. Some statesman at Washington made a speech the following winter, in which he inveighed bitterly against expo- sitions. He told how some of his constituents had sold their winter stoves in summer to get money to go to the Centennial, and were then shivering at their homes in penance for their folly ! The awakenins: of interest in the Centennial was sudden. It came with the opening of the gates, and increased almost to a popular craze. For months after Chicago obtained from Con- gress the legislation to hold the Columbian Exposition, the prop- osition was treated in many parts of the country with incredulity. Six months after the action of Congress, the Government Com- missioners found it expedient to affirm in resolutions that the Columbian Exposition movement was worthy of the serious consideration of the world.

The Louisiana Purchase Exposition enters the field without handicap, with the official indorsement and financial backing of the United States Government. It began the period of material preparation with the good will of the whole country, and with notable manifestations of interest from all parts of the world. The Louisiana Purchase Exposition will surpass all predecessors. How? It is too soon to tell in detail, but that does not detract from the promise. An exposition grows in the brains as well as by the hands of its builders. Out of the wealth of suggestion comes as naturally as germination of seed, the evolution of a World's Fair. Shadows of some phases are being cast before. They indicate no borrowing, no copying. Life, the human activities, it seems, will be a strong feature in the Exposition. A World's Fair of people as well as of things is contemplated.

— 52 —

Enduring features are engaging the attention of the directors. A World's Fair that shall create for permanence is being planned. Processes of manufacture, wherein actual production is shown, will be encouraged, as being of more interest to the people than still exhibits. These and other tendencies will develop that which shall make the coming Exposition characteristic, greater and better than all international expositions which have pre- ceded it.

PLAN AND SCOPE OF THE INTERNATIONAL EXPOSITION AT

ST. LOUIS.

(Official.)

PLAN.

The foundation plan of the St. Louis World's Fair will be that of an exposition both national and international in its character, so that not only the people of the Louisiana Purchase Territory, but of our Union, and all the nations as well, can participate. It will be so projected and developed as to insure the active interest of all the peoples of the world and induce their participation upon a scale without parallel in any previous exposition.

It will present in a special degree, and in the most comprehen- sive manner, the history, the resources, and the development of the States and Territories lying within the boundaries of the Louisiana Purchase, showing what it was and what it is ; what it contained and produced in 1803 ; what it contains and pro- duces now. It will make it plain that the prophecy of 1803 has been more than fulfilled, and show that a veritable empire now lies between the Gulf of Mexico and Puget Sound, within the limits of the territory Jefferson obtained by the Louisiana Purchase. It will show the history, resources and development of the possessions of the United States, including Porto Rico, Alaska, Hawaii, Samoa, Guam and the Philippines. It will embrace in a similar portrayal Cuba and any other country which may enjoy the special and exceptional protection and

— 53 —

guardianship of the United States. It will depart from the plan of all past expositions and make life and movement its distin- guishing and marked characteristics. To this end it will aim definitely at an exhibition of man as well as the works of man ; at the presentation of manufacturing industries in actual conduct as well as of the machines out of action ; at the exhibition of processes as well as of completed products.

It will carefully plan in the location, the construction and arrangement of all buildings and works so as to assure the highest degree of convenience, ease and comfort for visitors who come to inspect the wonders contained within its inclosure. It will make it both easy and comfortable to get to the Exposition Grounds from every quarter of the city and from every railway terminating in St. Louis. It will in like manner make it easy and comfortable to move about the Exj)osition Grounds, and to pass from building to building and from point to point within every building of large area. In short, it will make the transportation of visitors the subject of special study and spare no expense in the solving of this vital problem, so that the St. Louis World's Fair may go down in his- tory as the first great international exhibition which a visitor could inspect without enduring fatigue and hardship.

Finally, it will embod}' and illustrate the latest and most ad- vanced progress in the employment of the energies of nature. It will be up-to-date in the use of all new motive forces, and be fully abreast with science in the utilization of every novel invention or discovery that has practical value.

SCOPE.

In order that the general plan outlined for the St Louis World's Fair may be fulfilled in its actual accomplishments, it will exhibit the arts and industries, the methods and processes of manufacture of the whole world ; it will gather the products of the soil, mine, forest and sea from the whole earth. It will comprehend man in his full twentieth-century development, exhibiting not alone his material, but his social advance- ment. It will show humanity at rest as well as at work, presenting man in his hours of recreation, his exercises, his

— 54 —

games and his sports. It will illustrate the modern home with the infinity of comforts and conveniences that have been brought into common use within the century the St. Louis World's Fair will commemorate. It wiirbring together the wild life of the forests, plains and waters, showing visitors a zoological collection of un- trained and untamed janimals as nearly as practicable with the surroundings of their native state.

The progressiveness of the Exposition will be most especially manifest in the manner and extent of its use of artificial light, both for purposes of illuminating and as a means of decoration. Electric lighting in the latest, most striking and most effective form, as well as all other new and eflScient modes of illuminating, will be so liber- ally employed that the Exposition grounds and buildings will blaze with light at night and their beauties successfully rival the at- tractions of daylight. For the development of the Exposition to the full scope outlined it will provide for the housing and care of exhibits divided into a number of grand sections, each of which will be again divided into departments and subdepart- ments. The principal sections into which the Exposition will be divided will be as follows : Agriculture, Athletics and Outdoor Sports and Games, Chemical Industries, Civil Engineering, Colonization, Decoration, Furniture, etc.. Diversified Indus- tries, Education and Instruction, Electricity, Fine Arts, Machinery, Food-stuffs, Forestry, History, Horticulture and Arboriculture, Liberal Arts, Military and Naval, Mining and Metallurgy, Social Economy, Textile, Transportation, Wild Animals.

\

00

WORLD'S FAIR OFFICERS

President. David R. Francis.

Vice-Presidents. Cor WIN H. Spencer. Samuel M. Kennard. Daniel M. Houser. Cyrus P. Walbridge. Seth W. Cobb. Charles H. Huttig. August Gehner. Pierre Chouteau.

Treasurer. William H. Thompson.

Secretary. Walter B. Stevens.

General Counsel. James L. Blair.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS.

A. A. Allen. James L. Blair. Nicholas M. Bell. C. F. Blanke. W. F. Boyle. A. D. Brown. George Warren Brown. Paul Brown. Adolpbus Buscb. James G. Butler.

James Campbell. Murray Carleton. Pierre Cbouteau. Setb W. Cobb. James F. Coyle. George T. Cram. John D. Davis. Alex. N. De Menil. S. M. Dodd. L. D. Dozier.

— 56 —

BOARD OF

Harrison I. Drummond.

R. B. Dula.

George L. Edwards.

Howard Elliott.

S. M. Felton.

David R. Francis.

Nathan Frank.

A. H. Frederick.

August Gehner.

Norris B. Gregg.

W. T. Haarstick.

A. B. Hart.

Walker Hill.

John A. Holmes.

D. M. Houser.

C. H. Huttig.

M. E. Ingalls.

Breckenridge Jones.

S. M. Kennard.

Goodman King.

W. J. Kinsella.

Charles W. Knapp.

Dr. J. J. Lawrence.

W. H. Lee.

F. W. Lehmann.

Wm. J. Lemp.

J. W. McDonald.

Thos. H. McKittrick.

Geo. D. Markham.

Finis E. Marshall.

C. F. G. Meyer. Isaac W. Morton. F. G. Niedringhaus. W. F. Nolker.

D. C. Nugent. Edward S. Orr. George W. Parker.

DIRECTORS. — Continued.

H. Clay Pierce. Joseph Ramsey, Jr. David Ranken, Jr. Jonathan Rice. Clark H. Sampson. Julius J. Schotten. John Schroers. Isaac Schwab. R. M. Scruggs. John Scullin A. L. Shapleigh. J. E. Smith. C. H. Spencer. Samuel Spencer. W. C. Steigers. H. W. Steinbiss. Walter B. Stevens Charles A. Stix. R. H. Stockton. Geo. J. Tansey. Wm. H. Thompson. Charles H. Turner. ' J. J. Turner. J. C. Van Blarcom. Festus J. Wade. C. P. Walbridge. Julius S. Walsh. C. G. Warner. W. B. Wells. Chas. F. Wenneker. J. J. Wertheimer. Edwards Whitaker.

A. A. B. Woerheide. Wm. H. Woodward. Geo. M. Wright.

B. F. Yoakum.

0/

CHAIRMEN OF COMMITTEES.

Organization : D. R. Francis, ex officio ; C. H. Spencer, Vice-Chairman.

Executive: D. R. Francis, ex officio ; Wv. H. Thompson, Vice-Chairman.

Fi7iance: Wm. H. Lee.

Ways and Means: Festus J. Wade, Thos. H. McKittrick, Vice-Chairman.

Concessions : Geo. L. Edwards, J. J. Wertheimer, Vice-Chairman.

Transportatio7i : Julius S. Walsh, Joseph Ramsey, Jr., Vice-Chairman.

Press and Publicity: R. H. Stockton, W. B. Stevens, Vice-Chairman.

Chief of Press Bureau: Wm. a. Kelsoe.

Foreign Relations: Adolphus Busch, W. F. Boyle, Vice-Chairman.

Supplies: NoRRis B. Gregg, James F. Coyle, Vice-Chairman.

Sanitation : C. P. Walbridge, Alex. N. De Menil, Vice-Chairman.

Police : Harrison I. Drummond, C. H. Turner, Vice-Chairman.

Insurance : Geo. T. Cram, A. D. Brown, Vice-Chairman.

Ceremonies : C. H. Spencer, W. H. Lee, Vice-Chairman.

— 58 —

Grounds and Buildings: W. H. Thompson, S. M. Kennard, Vice-Chairman.

Legislation : D. M. HousER, W. C. Steigers, Vice-Cb airman.

Agriculture: Paul Brown, Festcs J. Wade, Vice-Cbairman.

Fine Arts: Isaac W. Morton, S. M. Dodd, Vice-Cbairman.

Mines and Mining: W. J. KiNSELLA, John D. Davis, Vice-Cbairman.

State Exhibits: C. H. HuTTiG, Edward S. Orr, Vice-Cbairman.

Manufactures and Liberal Arts: Geo. W. Parker, Goodman King, Vice-Chairman.

Electricity : J. E. Smith, Joseph Ramsey, Jr., Vice-Cbairman.

Fish and Fisheries: Seth W. Cobb, A. B. Hart, Vice-Chairman.

Ethnology : F. W. Lehmann, Goodman King, Vice-Cbairman.

Education : John Schroers, R. B. Dula, Vice-Chairman.

History : Pierre Chouteau, Alex. N. De Menil, Vice-Chairmau.

Director of Exhibits: Fredrick J. V. Skiff.

— 59 —

THE WORLD'S FAIR GROUNDS AND BUILDINGS.

The Louisiana Purchase Exposition, in St. Louis, will be the first in the world's history in which hills enter into the composition of the main exposition " picture. " The natural topography of the site prompted this radical departure. The main "picture" of the exposition (the great spectacle to be made by the big exhibit buildings, by water and by sculptures) is to be located entirel}' within Forest Park, the second largest public park in the United States. The use of half of this park, the unfinished por- tion, was granted to the exposition company by the City of St. Louis as an exposition site. This part of the park is hilly. It contains a large level tract of about 400 acres, which formerly supplied space for golf links and a race track. From this level the ground rises on a slope of about 60 degrees to an average height of GO feet. The main exhibit buildings, the big towers, the lagoons, basins, canals and statuar}' groups, occupy the lower level. The Art Galler}' and its by buildings (the architectural chef d'oeuvre of the exposition designed by Cass Gilbert) the United States Government Building, designed by J. Knox Taylor, are te be built on the elevated tract.

In the treatment of the intervening slope the commission of Architects had scope for originalit}-. The difference of elevation constituted the chief problem with which they had to contend. They solved it as shown in the ground plan. Hanging gardens and a series of magnificent cascades fill in this portion of the picture. The main picture of the exposition is roughly in the shape of a gigantic fan, the ribs of which are the avenues of the exposition. At the apex of this radiant composition stands the Art Building on an eminence. Three great cascades that issue from the sides of three hills in the form of a crescent are to course down the hillsides and to empty into a grand basin. The water effects of the picture, radiating from these three cascades, offer a mile of continuous water circuit. From the roughly semi-circular basin into which the cascades plunge, two streams in imitation of a natural river branch to right and left. As they traverse the avenues their banks assume a regular geometrical

\

— 60 —

outline to their debouchure into the grand basin at its lower end. The beautifully wooded areas on the highest levels of Forest Park are to be occupied by the State and foreign buildings. The main entrance to the exposition is to be on the side toward the city where the exposition site abuts the finished portion of the Forest Park. A monumental entrance of magnificent proportions and design, the work of Chief Architect Taylor, will be located here. The two exhibit buildings immediately within this great portal will be crowned by towers 400 feet high which will form a part of the picture of the monumental entrance. The grandest residence street in St. Louis, Lindell Boulevard, will lead directly to the monumental portal. Visitors driving to

LOUISIANA PURCHASE EXPOSITION

Ground Ptan Reuised to Feb. 1st, 1902.

GOVf/fMtNT nSH COMMISSION

liberal arts

Mines andMetallvrg'^

6 MAlWFACTU/^£'5

6 Textiles

7 ART gallery

8 VARIED /NDOSTR/ES

9 tLECTR/C/TY AND MACHINERY

10 MACHINEFiY

11 TRANSPORTATION

12 ToRESTRY AND nsH AND Game

13 tDUCATJON AND 50C/AL ECONOMY

14 /IDM/N/STRAT/ON

15 PHY3/CAL CULTURE

■

GROUND PLAN.

the site out Lindell Boulevard, will traverse a thoroughfare on which are some of the handsomest homes in America. The main exposition picture covers over two-thirds of a square mile. The avenue in which lies the Grand Basin is 600 feet wide. The other avenues are 300 feet wide. From the main entrance to the apex of the radiant picture the distance is over three-fourths of a mile. The buildings are on the same heroic scale. Those in the main picture are to be : —

/

— 61

BUILDING.

ARCHITECT.

Art Building, with two PaO vilions, each J

Liberal Arts Building

Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building

Electricity Building

Varied Industries Building . . .

Mines and Metallurgy Buiid'g

Textiles Building

Machinery Building .

Government Building, with Fisheries Pavilion and Ord- nance Pavilion

Cass Gilbert. BarnettjHaynes & Barnett

Carrere & Hastings. Walker & Kimball. Van Brunt &, Howe. Theo C. Link. Eames & Young. Widmann, Walsh & Bois- selier.

J. Knox Taylor.

The Agricultural Building, the largest structure in America, 700x2000 feet, to be designed by Chief Architect Isaac S. Tay- lor, will not be included in the main picture.

Another problem solved by the architects was in the composi- tion of the Art Building. This is to be a fire-proof permanent structure, and for that reason cannot be as ornate as the show buildings of staff, which form the rest of the main picture. To eliminate a discordant note which might enter in the juxtaposi- tion of a subdued building with the more ornate exhibit buildings, the summit of the hill whence the cascade torrents gush will be crowned by a mngnificent colonnade or peristyle which will close the main picture and exclude from the grand view the more subdued main art galleries. The colonnade will be terminated at either end by the pavilions of the Art Building.

UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT BUILDING.

The United States Government Building will occupy the most easterly site of the several large exhibit buildings. It will be upon an eminence sixty feet above the water level of the Grand Lagoon and will command a view of the main transverse avenue of the exposition " picture." The west frontage of the build- ing will be marked by great colonnades on the Corinthian order. The appropriation for this building is $250,000, but since the

— 62 —

sketch has been finished by the architect the government board has declared that the space afforded by the structure is insuffi- cient and an effort will be made to make the building larger without materially altering the design. The site affords ample space for the proposed increase of size. The building is from designs by J. Knox Taylor, supervising architect of the treasury. He has introduced in the design a central feature which gives a

^

■> a^PKAdM've-

wmm'

"'^ i

GOVERNMENT BUILDING.

well balanced and effective facade. The style of architecture conforms happily with that adopted for the other exhibit build- ings. The area to be covered by this building, if present plans are followed, is a little more than two acres, being 400x250 feet. Back of the main structure is to be a large building for the United States Fish Commission exhibit.

THE MISSOURI STATE BUILDING.

The Missouri Building at the World's Fair, is the main building in the group of buildings to be erected by the Missouri World' s Fair Commission on the grounds of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in Forest Park. The site of the building was recommended by the Commission after a careful survey of the ground. Ready accessi- bility and prominence among the buildings that surround it are both admirably subserved by the location. The building will be erected

— 63 —

on the high ground south of the big main picture of the Fair. The building nearest to it will be the United States Government Build- ing. The Missouri Building is to be almost in the geographical center of Forest Park and is therefore near the eastern boundary of that part of the park to be used for the Fair. It will be easy of access from north, south and east. The grounds to the south are nearly level to the border of the park at Clayton road. To the north the approach is precipitous, which adds beauties of per- spective, while at the same time the declivity is not so great as to render it inaccessible for pedestrians. The Intramural Railway which will traverse the grounds of the Fair has been laid out to pass in the immediate viciLity and a handsome station will be located near the Missouri Building. All the sewer, water and elec- tric service lines will be brought to the building. The site selected is now heavily wooded with oak, hickory and other forest trees and not a single tree will be molested except where the necessities of foundations and walks compel. The majestic old trees will be kept to serve as a background and a foil for the architectural beauties of the edifice. The Missouri Building will face the north, looking directly toward what will be the main entrance to the Exposition grounds. The Lindell pavilion, located near this point, is even now and will be after the Fair, the central gateway on the north side of the park. The style of architecture of the building is a free treatment of the French Renaissance, which is the characteristic style selected for the Exposition. It is in the shape of a long parallelogram with a center wing extending to the rear. It will be two stories in height and will have a basement story also. The center is a symmetrical square design with the two side and rear wings joining same. The two side wings of the three which branch from the main rotunda, will have a center corridor, the full length of the wing with rooms on either side — large and spacious and capable of being used either as reception or exhibit rooms. The present intention is to divide the space into compartments for use during the Fair. Afterward it can be thrown into one compartment to serve such uses as the building will be put to after the Fair. The height of the stories allows the rooms to be thoroughly hghted and ventilated, and gives them a monumental appearance. A great dome crowns the center and

— 64 —

the second story is formed into a balcony opening the view from the level of the first story floor to the ceiling of the dome. The visitor entering the building will be struck at once with the size of the rotunda and the wide sweep of the dome. Sixteen columns will carry the balcony of the second floor and, following the plan of the dome, will carry the perspective from the floor line to the vault of the dome. The ceiling of the great dome and the walls of the corridor will supply work for the mural painter in the representation of incidents in the history of Missouri and in genre representation of incidents of the life and work of its citizens. These genre paintings will represent life and action of the present

MISSOURI BUILDING.

day in Missouri, and will in a short time to come be of great historical interest. It is the intention to have these paintings represent a court scene ; a marriage scene, civil or church ; a baptism scene, and other every-day events of the present time.

Large, wide, easy flights of stairs lead to the second story. The sides of the main entrance are decorated with massive stone columns and the entablature, broken into the shape of an arch, makes the front light in construction and graceful in appearance. This form also guarantees light and ventilation in the main ro- tunda at all times. A magnificent carving in stone of the coat of arms of the State of Missouri will hold a place here, over the

— 6o^

main entrance of the building. This will stamp it through coming years as one of the possessions of the State, no matter to what use it is turned after the exposition. In the rear wing is a large assembly hall on a level with the first story floor. This hall is 25 feet high in the clear, capable of seating 1,000 persons. At the sides are retiring rooms. The hall is designed not only for speech-making but also for such balls and entertainments as the Missouri Commission may give during the exposition. A large gallery crosses the hall at the northern 'end. Under the

■.^■«*-'-<: ■ '•.^■•

.-r~;"=*3*r ■' -j-xz'xiJ..'

ADMI>fISTRATIONr BUILDING,

hall, in the basement, are toilet and storage rooms. This com- partment also contains the heating and ventilating apparatus. Above the hall are two large rooms which can be used advan- tageously for exhibit purposes. Two flights of iron stairs lead from the basement to the second story. These are placed back of the rotunda and afford easy access to all parts of the building. 5k

— 66 —

None but Missouri materials will be used in the building. The Commission is satisfied that Missouri can supply everything needed for the erection and equipment of even so elaborate a structure as this. The basement of the building is to be of Missouri granite. Above this, to the top of the ballustrade course, the material will be of cut stone. The exterior of the dome will be covered with Missouri lead or zinc. The rotunda is to be finished in the marble and onyx so abundant in Missouri. The most delicate materials can be used in this position, as there will be perfect protection from the weather. There will be no plastering in the rotunda. Walls, columns and dome will show the original materials in their most highly finished condition. The purpose is to get a perfectly har- monious effect of color and texture, but at the same time give all the vast building resources of Missouri a show place in this struc- ture for all time to come. In the finish of the interior the beau- tiful woods of Missouri will be exclusively used. The wood will be finished and polished, but in natural color. Oak, walnut, elm, sweet gum, yellow pine, maple, ash, and many others, will be used. The chandeliers will be of Missouri iron. The floor of the rotunda of Missouri marble. The building will be fire- proof throughout, and from foundation to dome will be a credit to the State, and what it is intended to be — an exhibit within itself of the building material resources of the State.

Isaac S. Taylor is the architect of this magnificent edifice.

TEMPLE OF FRATERNITY.

It is very gratifying to the promoters of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition to have accorded them such a cordial spirit of co-oper- ation as the fraternal societies of the United States have shown. Very substantial results are to follow the efforts of these societies, which will take the form of a magnificent Temple of Fraternity costing $200,000, to>e erected on the site of the World's Fair and to be a prominent part of the Exposition. This temple will be erected by the World's Fair Fraternal Building Association under the auspices of the Missouri Fraternal Congress, which repre-

2:

■*^^

e ',*1i

i»-

sents the various fraternal societies operating in Missouri. This is the first time that the fraternal orders have united in such an enterprise. The congress includes Masons, Odd Fellows, and other fraternal and beneficiary orders having a combined member ship of more than three millions. Every member of all these orders will be made to feel at home in this building. As each one will participate to a greater or less extent in its erection he will feel a proprietary interest in the building and will be attracted to the World's Fair. It will be the meeting and resting place for all members of these societies, where their interests will be well cared for.

The Board of Directors will consist of Noah M. Givan, Presi- dent; W. R. Eidson, 1st Vice-President ; W. H. Miller, 2nd Vice- President; Theo. A. Huey, President of the Missouri Fraternal Congress, and C. F. Hatfield, Secretarj'. Mr. Wm. H. Thomp- son, President of the National Bank of Commerce, and Treasurer of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Company, is also Treasurer of the Fraternal Association. The Finance Committee will con- sist of W. R. Eidson, Chairman; Charles F. Wenneker, Sam'l M. Kennard, Corwin H. Spencer, W. H. Woodward, C. H. Hut- tig, A. S. Robinson, and J. T. M. Johnston. Thus it will be seen that six of the principal directors of the World's Fair Company are unofficially indorsing this building, A press and publicity com- mittee will also be organized, of which Mr. W. F. Bohu has already been appointed Chairman. The plans for the building, designed by Mr. Thomas J. Prosser, architect, show a structure 300 by 200 feet in size. The building is to be an adaptation of the famous Parthenon of Athens, the standard of Greek Archi- tecture. Immense Doric columns will surround the building on all its four sides, inclosing sixteen foot verandas, which will surround the building on both the ground and second floors. There will be eighty rooms, all of which will have an abundance of light and air, all being outside rooms, and running from these outside verandas to an interior court, which is to be, itself, surrounded on both floors by broad galleries. The interior of this court is to be made attractive with fountains, foliage, flowers, etc. There will be four entrances, one on each side of the building, leading through magnificent corridors to the central

— 69 —

court. Many conveniences will be provided such as a free dispensary for the sick, both men and women, under a medical commission ; a branch post-office, telephone service, check-rooms, writing, reading, smoking and lounging rooms, ladies' parlors, and, in fact, every convenience which will insure the comfort and enjoyment of members of the fraternal societies visiting the World's Fair. It is designed that the building shall be placed upon an elevation, rising in two terraces from the main ground level. The Director of Construction and Maintenance, Mr. Isaac S. Taylor, has assigned a very satisfactory and eligible site 500 by 600 feet.

MINES AND METALLURGY BUILDING.

The Mines and Metallurgy Building forms part of the east wing of the fan-like general ground plan, and is the last building on the south side of the esplanade leading to the group of Govern- ment buildings, which are to stand on a higher level. It will have a rich background of hillside foliage toward the southeast. Considered as part of the general scheme it plays a rather un- important role in the spectacular display of the Fair, and for this reason no attempt has been made to force attention to it by such means as towers, domes, or similar architectural devices. The outside dimensions are 525x750 feet and the interior is divided into eight oblong parts, almost equal in area. The division is accomplished with glass covered and ventilated arcades from 30 to 50 feet wide, which makes it possible that each division receives abundant light from every side, and that no skylights are neces- sary directly over any of the exhibition spaces. At the inter- section of the two principal arcades through the main axis a colonnaded rotunda is shown. The ground floor will furnish an exhibition space of about 265,000 square feet, and about 150,000 square feet may be gained by the introduction of galleries. A subdivision of each department into numerous alcoves is suggested. The walls of the building are set back from the facade 18 or 20 feet, forminoj a covered loffsria which surrounds the entire building. The facade of the building in

I

— 68 —

sents the various fraternal societies operating in Missouri. This is the first time that the fraternal orders have united in such an enterprise. The congress includes Masons, Odd Fellows, and other fraternal and beneficiary orders having a combined member ship of more than three millions. Every member of all these orders will be made to feel at home in this building. As each one will participate to a greater or less extent in its erection he will feel a proprietary interest in the building and will be attracted to the World's Fair. It will be the meeting and resting place for all members of these societies, where their interests will be well cared for.

The Board of Directors will consist of Noah M. Givan, Presi- dent; W. R. Eidson, 1st Vice-President ; W. H. Miller, 2nd Vice- President ; Theo. A. Huey, President of the Missouri Fraternal Congress, and C. F. Hatfield, Secretar3\ Mr. Wm. H. Thomp- son, President of the National Bank of Commerce, and Treasurer of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Company, is also Treasurer of the Fraternal Association. The Finance Committee will con- sist of W. R. Eidson, Chairman; Charles F. Wenneker, Sam'l M. Kennard, Corwin H. Spencer, W. H. Woodward, C. H. Hut- tig, A. S. Robinson, and J. T. M. Johnston. Thus it will be seen that six of the principal directors of the World's Fair Company are unofficially indorsing this building, A press and publicity com- mittee will also be organized, of which Mr. W. F. Bohn has already been appointed Chairman. The plans for the building, designed by Mr. Thomas J. Prosser, architect, show a structure 300 by 200 feet in size. The building is to be an adaptation of the famous Parthenon of Athens, the standard of Greek Archi- tecture. Immense Doric columns will surround the building on all its four sides, inclosing sixteen foot verandas, which will surround the building on both the ground and second floors. There will be eighty rooms, all of which will have an abundance of light and air, all being outside rooms, and running from these outside verandas to an interior court, which is to be, itself, surrounded on both floors by broad galleries. The interior of this court is to be made attractive with fountains, foliage, flowers, etc. There will be four entrances, one on each side of the building, leading through magnificent corridors to the central

1

I

4

t

— 69 —

court. Many conveniences will be provided such as a free dispensary for the sick, both men and women, under a medical commission ; a branch post-office, telephone service, check-rooms, writing, reading, smoking and lounging rooms, ladies' parlors, and, in fact, every convenience which will insure the comfort and enjoyment of members of the fraternal societies visiting the World's Fair. It is designed that the building shall be placed upon an elevation, rising in two terraces from the main ground level. The Director of Construction and Maintenance, Mr. Isaac S. Taylor, has assigned a very satisfactory and eligible site 500 by 600 feet.

MINES AND METALLURGY BUILDING.

The Mines and Metallurgy Building forms part of the east wing of the fan-like general ground plan, and is the last building on the south side of the esplanade leading to the group of Govern- ment buildings, which are to stand on a higher level. It will have a rich background of hillside foliage toward the southeast. Considered as part of the general scheme it plays a rather un- important role in the spectacular display of the Fair, and for this reason no attempt has been made to force attention to it by such means as towers, domes, or similar architectural devices. The outside dimensions are 525x750 feet and the interior is divided into eight oblong parts, almost equal in area. The division is accomplished with glass covered and ventilated arcades from 30 to 50 feet wide, which makes it possible that each division receives abundant light from every side, and that no skylights are neces- sary directly over any of the exhibition spaces. At the inter- section of the two principal arcades through the main axis a colonnaded rotunda is shown. The ground floor will furnish an exhibition space of about 265,000 square feet, and about 150,000 square feet may be gained by the introduction of galleries. A subdivision of each department into numerous alcoves is suggested. The walls of the building are set back from the facade 18 or 20 feet, forming a covered loggia which surrounds the entire building. The facade of the building in

14

— 70 —

question may be likened to a screen bearing the same relation to this structure as do the colonnades of the adjoining buildings. The base of this screen consists of sculptured panels illustrating in bold relief the progressive stages of civilization in symbolical representations, the background to the sculptured figures being of a rough golden-colored glass which will be illuminated at night and show the figures in silhouette. The figures are more than life size. Being a part of the greatest " show " ever at- tempted it undoubtedly should be novel, striking and full of life. The style of architecture which it represents has been a source of much speculation.

" Some have attempted to classify it as an example of the 'Nouveau art,' '* says Mr. Theo. C. Link (of St. Louis), the architect of the Mines and Metallurgy Building, " but when I recently noticed an English art critic say, in protesting against its invasion of Great Britain, that this ' Nouveau art ' is ' a mal- ady, the pernicious virus of which becomes more acute the farther it travels,' I feel a strong personal solicitude for a properly con- ducted baptismal ceremony. Let us, therefore, name it ' Seces- sion Architecture.' Perhaps I will have to explain what ' seces- sion architecture ' is, if the name should not make it quite clear. It means architectural liberty and emancipation, with a strong plea for individuality. It is a breaking away from convention- ality in design ; it is more an architecture of feeling than of formula."

LIBERAL ARTS BUILDING.

The Liberal Arts Building, another of the monster struc- tures which makes up the great picture of the Exposition, was designed by Barnett, Haynes and Barnett, an architectural firm of established repute in St. Louis. It is the closest of the big exhibit buildings to the open-mesh wire fence which will separate the exposition site from the finished part of Forest Park. It is the most easterly of the buildings and abuts the pavilions of the United States Government Building, which will be used for fish and ordnance exhibits. The Liberal Arts Building will be built of staff and the estimate of its cost is $500,000. Although

— 71 —

following the prevailing style of architecture of the exposition — the Renaissance — it adheres very closely to classic lines. The long facade, especially, shows a magnificent entrance, which is almost pure Corinthian. Here is what the architects say of their structure : —

" The style of architecture is a severe treatment of the French Renaissance for the exterior facades. In fact, the treatment embodies rather a feeling of the classic than of the Renaissance. It has been the endeavor of the architects to depend largely on sculpture in the decoration of the building, refraining from the over-use of stereotyped architectural ornamentation. The main facade will be 750 feet long and will be made interesting by the use of a center pavilion and of two end pavilions. The center

i

r

aiyi'iift miji litfiiiwi if fli ift ;

^IfpM Its JilipM

^^.iaS-^,eoiMii^i'*tMiit^ ■ ,

LIBERAL ARTS BUILDING.

pavilion is brought somewhat above the connecting buildings which unite it with the pavilions on either side. Each of the three pavilions, on the fronts, forms an elegant entrance to the building. On the main facade are three entrances and on the 525-foot facades are two entrances, one in each of the end pa- vilions. One of the most beautiful features of the plan will be the internal court, which is to be carried out in strictly Roman feeling. The court is treated with arcade develop- ment, which incloses the court, forming a cool, shady walk entirely around it. The court is diversified with architectural fountains, statuary and vases. It is the idea that these vases and

— 72 —

statuary shall be reproductions from old Italian and Roman mas- ters. In the loggia of the court will be mural frescoes on old gold backgrounds, which will add subdued color to the enchanting pic- ture. Vines and flowers will be employed in a garden walk at the attic story line. The lower court will be carried out in the form of gardens and fountains. One of the most beautiful treatments of the exterior will be the broad allegorical, processional frieze on the interior walls of the exterior loggias. These mural paintings will be executed on a background of *old gold. The main en- trance will be in the form of a semi-cycle with circular colon- nades. The ceiling of this semi-cycle will be frescoed on a back- ground of old gold. The decorations and ornaments will be brought out in relief. The plan is conspicuous for the perfect simplicity of its arrangement and the practicability of its exhibit spaces. The ten main entrances of the building intersect the ex- act centers of the exhibit spaces, the axial lines of these entrances running through the centers of the exhibit spaces from east to west and from north to south. The building is to be construc- ted without interior columns, the exhibit space being spanned in one truss. The internal court can, if necessary, be used as an overflow exhibit space. The exhibit space is adapted to any kind of an exhibit and the building will be ventilated and lighted by an abundance of windows, both in the exterior walls and in the clear- story. ' '

ELECTRICITY BUILDING.

The Electricity Building is the work of Walker & Kimball, of Boston and Omaha, who were chief architects of the Omaba Exposition. The structure is located on the main central avenue, and is one of the leading elements of the main Exposition pic- ture. It will have a frontage toward the north of 650 feet, and toward the east of 525 feet, facing the main lagoon. The design is a bold columnated treatment of the Corinthian order. The columns are carried well down toward the ground to give height to the facades. The facades are well accentuated by elevated pediments and tower effects over the four main entrances and at the corners. Over the accentuated places, as well as over the twin columns, which form

— 73 —

a pleasing variation of the treatment of the facades, opportunity for ample sculptural decoration is supplied. The fenestration is bold and appropriate, giving ample light and substantial wall treatment. On two sides of the building are loggias which add pleasing effects of light and shadow. There are numerous open- ings on the facades, such as exhibitors always seek in selecting their exhibit space. The plan of the building is simple and well treated, showing an effort to supply as much exhibit space as is possible with the 350,600 square feet of floor space. The exhibit space is compact and symmetrical. An extensive balcony sweeps around four sides of the building, supplying 100,000 square feet of additional exhibit space.

MANUFACTURERS AND LIBERAL ARTS BUILDING.

The Manufacturers and Liberal Arts Building, designed by Carrere & Hastings, of New York, is one of the leading structures in the big Exposition picture. It is located in the picture sym- metrically with the Mines and Metallurgy Building. These two buildings will stand one at each side of the first view of the pic- ture of lagoons, cascades and hanging gardens, which the visitor will get as he enters the grounds by the main entrance. At the northern end of each of these buildings a gigantic tower, some 400 feet high, will be reared, and will close the picture much as the colonnade of the Art Building will close the picture at the southern end. These two big buildings have been designed re- spectively by Walker & Kimball, who were chairman of the Board of Architects of the Omaha Exposition, and Carrere & Hastings, who were chairman of the Board of Architects of the Pan- American Exposition, so that the northern end of the St. Louis Exposition picture will have a working relation with the most recent great expositions held in this country.

Isaac S. Taylor, Chairman of the Commission of Architects, furnished the following discussion of the structure: "The Lib- eral Arts Building, by the well-known American architects, Carrere & Hastings, of New York, is a noble composition devel- oped in the Corinthian order of architecture. It lies in the main picture, being one of the buildings on the entrance to the main boulevard or central spacing. The structure has a

— 74 —

frontage to the north of 1,300 feet, with a depth of 525 feet on the main boulevard. The architects have designed noble and im- posing entrances at the centers of the main facades and have composed a tower some 400 feet high to stand at the angle of the main facade facing north. This prominent feature gives an appropriate balance with a tower of corresponding height on the Mines and Metallurgy Building immediately west. These two towers will balance the main front of the general layout of the important buildings constituting the fair. The architects have arranged corner entrances into this building. Entrances at the corners of buildings are difficult to so design as to be in perfect harmony with the architecture of the building in general. Without skillful treatment, such en- trances would not be acceptable from an artistic standpoint, but such entrances as Carrere & Hastings supply will please both the layman and the expert. Graceful groups of sculpture will orna- ment and accentuate the four main entrances on the sides. The architects have developed a most skillful arrangement of the roof lines. They give light and ventilation and at the same time avoid the extensive and troublesome skylights frequently used on struc- tures of this kind. The design of the facades of the building, employs the open Colonnade treatment which is very acceptable in a climate like that of St. Louis. This affords both a passageway for visitors and offers the shadow relief that will enhance the beauty of the design. The interior of the building has been laid out with courts of simple and pleasing proportions, with suffi- cient decoration to break the monotony of the walls. Oppor- tunity for mural decoration is given on the outside walls back of the column treatment. The cost of the building is to be $850,000."

THE BIG TOWER OF MANUFACTURES BUILDING.

Carrere & Hastings, of New York City, architects of the Manufactures Building, have sent to Director of Works Taylor a perspective drawing of the big tower which will stand at the southeastern angle of their building. The plan of the building consists of two trapezoids slightly inclined towards each other about a central axis. The tower stands at the end of this axis*

— 74 —

frontage to the north of 1,300 feet, with a depth of 525 feet on the main boulevard. The architects have designed noble and im- posing entrances at the centers of the main facades and have composed a tower some 400 feet high to stand at the angle of the main facade facing north. This prominent feature gives an appropriate balance with a tower of corresponding height on the Mines and Metallurgy Building immediately west. These two towers will balance the main front of the general layout of the important buildings constituting the fair. The architects have arranged corner entrances into this building. Entrances at the corners of buildings are difficult to so design as to be in perfect harmony with the architecture of the building in general. Without skillful treatment, such en- trances would not be acceptable from an artistic standpoint, but such entrances as Carrere & Hastings supply will please both the layman and the expert. Graceful groups of sculpture will orna- ment and accentuate the four main entrances on the sides. The architects have developed a most skillful arrangement of the roof lines. They give light and ventilation and at the same time avoid the extensive and troublesome skylights frequently used on struc- tures of this kind. The design of the facades of the building, employs the open Colonnade treatment which is very acceptable in a climate like that of St. Louis. This affords both a passageway for visitors and offers the shadow relief that will enhance the beauty of the design. The interior of the building has been laid out with courts of simple and pleasing proportions, with suffi- cient decoration to break the monotony of the walls. Oppor- tunity for mural decoration is given on the outside walls back of the column treatment. The cost of the building is to be $850,000."

THE BIG TOWER OF MANUFACTURES BUILDING.

Carrere & Hastings, of New York City, architects of the Manufactures Building, have sent to Director of Works Taylor a perspective drawing of the big tower which will stand at the southeastern angle of their building. The plan of the building consists of two trapezoids slightly inclined towards each other about a central axis. The tower stands at the end of this axis.

I

I

I

I

_TaWER GN-MAJS£^rACTURE.5_BUn_^^ _

— 76 —

This tower is symmetrical in the picture with a similar tower holding a similar position on the Varied Industries Building, designed by Van Brunt & Howe, of Kansas City.

The tower rises 375 feet above the ground. It has an observ- ation platform 300 feet above the grade of the building. The platform is reached by a staircase and two elevators. The tower consists of a plain square shaft with a large spreading base. In this base is a monumental doorway giving entrance to the main axis of the building. The observation platform is a great loggia beyond a colonnade of the Ionic order, which is located immediately below the principal cornice of the tower. Above the cornice is a heavy pediment, forming the base of the surmounting lantern. The lantern is composed of an octagonal basement story supporting four loggias with Corinthian columns, between which, and the angles, are allegorical figures set upon bracket plinths. The top story of the lantern is an octagonal attic with torches at its base. This attic is capped by a small gilded dome, on which stands a winged figure.

The motion to be taken by the sculptures is suggested in considerable detail by the artist who has drawn the perspective. Sculpture is used in profusion in the pediments, in the cornice and in the angles beside the pediments. In the tower along the roof line of the building a small balcony is located, which can also serve for observation.

Carrere & Hastings have sent to the Director of Works their general drawings, including plans and sections, and the force of draftsmen is now engaged in developing them.

ART BUILDING.

The Art Palace and its by-buildings, designed by Cass Gilbert, of New York and St. Paul, the architect of the New York Custom House and of the Minnesota State Capitol, will be the crowning construction of the St. Louis World's Fair. The art palace will stand on a natural elevation rising some 60 feet at an angle of about 60 degrees from the level on which will be located the other big main exhibit buildings. It will close the picture as much as the big electric tower at the Pan-American Exposition closed the pic- ture there and as the Peristyle at Chicago closed the Court of Honor

— 7/ —

picture there. The Art Palace will consist of a main permanent gallery, 600x300 feet, in which will be housed the priceless paint- ings gathered from all parts of the earth ; two pavilions, each 200x300 feet which will be used for housing exhibits of art ob- jects produced in the course of industrial pursuits; and a gigan- tic colonnade connecting the pavilions and spanning the entire upper end of the exposition picture. The main art gallery will be a permanent fireproof structure.

In the main art gallery will be two courts which it is the inten- tion of the Art Department to use for the exhibit of sculptures under as nearly as possible the conditions under which they were designed for exhibit. The Art Palace and its by-buildings will cost $1,000,000.

TEXTILES BUILDING.

Messrs. Eames & Young, St. Louis architects, have designed the Textiles Building. They have selected the Corinthian order of architecture as being most in keeping with the purpose of the

TEXTILES BUILDING.

structure. The Textiles Building is situated to the left of the main Lagoon, and this, and the Electricity Building are the only two buildings facing the Grand Basins with the cascades and approaches to the terrace crowning the hill on which the Art Building stands. While the building is not the largest in area, its position makes it one of the most conspicuous one, in what has been called the "Main Picture" of the Exposition. Tiie build- ing fronts 525 feet on the main thoroughfare of the Exposition. The principal entrances are on the axes of the building and some-

— 78 —

what resemble the well known form of the triumphal arch. At each angle of the building is a pavilion, forming a supplementary entrance, and these are connected by a colonnade of monumental proportions. The four elevations are similar in character, varying only as required to accommodate the design to the irregular shape of the ground plan. A liberal use of architectural sculpture lends a festal character to an otherwise somewhat severely classical ex- terior. The screen wall back of the colonnade, gives opportunity for a liberal display of color as a background for the classic out- lines of the Corinthian columns, affording liberal scope to the mural decorator.

The interior court will follow the general outline of the build- ings in form and style, and will be laid out in the form of a plais- ance or garden of a formal type. It is also suggested that this building, the roof of which is practically on a level with the terrace of the Art Building, could be successfully utilized as a promenade with a roof garden and restaurant attachment. It is estimated that the cost of this building will be about $600,000. It will be wholly temporary in character, and will be constructed of staff, or other similar material.

MACHINERY BUILDING.

The Machinery Building, which is the product of Widman, Walsh & Boisselier, of St. Louis, has a number of peculiarities that distinguish it from the other buildings of the main Exposition picture. From the southeast corner a big square is cut, forming a re-entering angle. The reason for this was that a big hill entered into the side at this point. The building is peculiar, also, in that it is crowned by eleven towers. Two of these, each 265 feet high, flank the northern entrance. Five are located one on each of the main corners of the building. Each of these is 185 feet high. Four lower towers, each 100 feet high, are located on the south front of the building. The building is peculiar, also, from the fact that it will house the big electric light and power plant to be put in by the Westinghouse Electric Company, con- sisting of four units of 2,000 kilowatts each. Coupled with this plant is a switch board 107 feet long, from which the electricity is to be distributed to all parts of the grounds. This switch

— 79 —

board stands in a gallery at the eastern end of the building. The wires carry the current from it and reach the sub-way through two great towers, each 8Jxl8 feet. These towers are to be fire- proof and to be built of tiling and iron. Another peculiarity of the building will be the fact that two lines of railway track will be run through it, from east to west, properly equipped with turn outs and switches. These tracks will be used for conveying material to the building during construction and will be left in place to aid in installing machinery later. The building will contain altogether 3,000 feet of railwa}' track. The floor is to

			Jr
			%. '
			J _.

•"^

MACHINERY BUILDING.

be laid " flush " with the top of the rails, and the people are to walk over them. For the passage of railway cars, there will l)e at the western end big sliding doors 13x18 feet. Like the Elec- trical Building, this building will be equipped with a traveling crane. That in the Electrical Building will have a span of 60 feet and will carry 30 tons, while that in the Machinery Building will have a span of 80 feet and will be able to carry a weight of 40 tons — a larger span and greater power. This crane will run the entire length of the building. The building will be one of the giants of the Exposition picture. Its dimensions are to be 525x1000 feet.

— 80 —

VARIED INDUSTRIES BUILDING.

The Varied Industries Building is a magnificent structure on the outer perimeter of the picture representing the main view of the Fair. It is one that will strike the beholder immediately after passing the main entrance gate. It will present a facade of 1,250 feet on the north and 525 feet on the east, giving 656,250 feet of exhibition space on the first or ground floor. It is a col- umnated design, free treatment, of the Ionic order. There is an increase of size of column treatment at the main entrance, but in such style and taste as to not interfere with the general design. On the main 1,200 feet will be a center tower 400 feet high with flank-

• BVILIMNC • OF -VARIED- INDVSTRIES • •LOVISIANA- PVRCHASE - EXPOSITION

• 1803 • ST- LOV113 ■ MISSOVR}- 1903 •

VW BiWNT K HCftrfE ARCWTBrrs KANS« OH MliOVBI.

VARIED INDUSTRIES BUILDING.

ing towers each about 200 feet high. In the large tower there will be a magnificent electric clock. These towers afford ample space for electrical display and illumination. Numerous entrances are to be on the facades, exclusive of the main entrance in the center. A specially featured entrance will be made at the center of the south front, this entrance being thrown back and a magnificent colonnade formed on either side. The colonnade construction on the main fronts will afford protection for pedes- trians from both sifn and rain. In the center of the struc- ture will be two large courts, affording light and ventilation to the building. Graceful iron sheds, or canopies, will be erected in the courts and used for exhibits. The kiosks to be used as

81 —

toilet rooms, will also be placed in the courts. The building is so designed that it will have a magnificent corridor or passageway through the center from north to south. A gallery, constructed with a view to architectual beauty, will nearly double the exhibit

T. p. A. BUILDING.

space in the building. The size and grace of this building will add materially to the beauty and attractiveness of the group build- ings forming the main picture of the Fair. Van Brunt & How of Kansas Cit}^ are the Architects of this building.

USE OF UNIVERSITY BUILDINGS.

The magnificent buildings erected for the new Washington University on the terrain adjoining the World's Fair grounds have been leased for Exposition purposes and will greatly add to the beauty and grandeur of the Louisiana Centennial Exposition. One of them will constitute the Educational Building, another will serve for the Social Economy Exhibit, a third will be occu- pied by the various offices of the World's Fair Administration, and all will be utilized to the utmost advantas^e. 6k

— 82 —

COMMISSION OF WORLD'S FAIR ARCHITECTS.

The following Architects constitute the Commission : — Isaac S. Taylor, St. Louis, Chief Architect. Fames & Young, St. Louis, Textile Building. Theodore C. Link, St. Louis, Mines and Metallurgy Building. Widman, Walsh and Boisselier, St. Louis, Machinery Building. Barnett, Haynes and Barnett, St. Louis, Liberal Arts Building. Cass Gilbert, New York and St. Paul, Fine Arts Building. Carrere & Hastings, New York, Manufacturers Building. Walker & Kimball, Omaha and Boston, Electricity Building. Van Brunt & Howe, Kansas City, Varied Industries Building. Isaac S. Tajior, St. Louis, Missouri State Building. J. Knox Taylor, Washington, D. C, Government Building.

EADS BRIDGE AND TUNNEL.

The necessity of a bridge across the Mississippi river between St. Louis and East St. Louis, connecting Missouri and Illinois, wns keenly felt long before such a bridge was built. The first official step towards the erection of one consisted in an instruc- tion, given by the city council of St. Louis in 1865, to the city engineer, Tiuman G. Homer, to prepare plans and estimates for such a structure, but when the required outlay was set down by him at three and a third million dollars, the intention was sum- marily given up. A charter in the name of the St. Louis and Illinois Bridge Co. had, in the meantime, been secured from the Missouri legislature by Norman J. Cutter and a number of "St. Louis capitalists, followed by a charter issued to him by the authorities of Illinois, both documents granting the erection of a bridge between the two States, but the Illinois charter contained certain unacceptable conditions, and a committee went to Spring- field to have them amended. Before this committee succeeded in its mission a Chicago syndicate procured from the Illinois legis- lature a charter creating the Illinois and St. Louis Bridge Com- pany as a rival, and in opposition to the St. Louis Company^ which, in consequence of this unexpected action, had to encounter all sorts of obstacles, legal hindrances and embarrass-

> o

o

— 84 —

ing delays lasting several years. At last an agreement was reached and the difficulties were settled by the buying out of the Chicago Company, leaving the field to the St. Louis organization, whose board of directors appointed an executive and finance committee, with Dr. Wm. Taussig as its chairman. One of the principal duties of this committee was the securing of the neces- sary funds, and the success in this direction was chiefly due to the exertions of Dr. Taussig, who, after the completion of the bridge, became the general manager, and soon afterwards the president of the Bridge and Tunnel Company and of the St. Louis Terminal Railroad Association.

The bridge is called the Eads Bridge, in honor of Capt. James B. Eads, who was the chief engineer of this gigantic work, which stands unsurpassed in beauty and grandeur. The corner-stone was laid on the western shore of the Mississippi, at the foot of Washington avenue, on the 2oth of February, 1868, and the inauguration took place on the 4th of July, 1874, fully six years having been necessary for the construction of one of the greatest bridges of the world. The imposing structure connect- ing not only Missouri and Illinois, but the entire East with the great West, consists of three arches, tbe center one being 520 feet in clear span, and 55 feet above high water; the two side arches measure 502 feet each, with 50 feet above high water ; the rise of the middle arch is 47 feet, and that of either side span is 43 feet 8 inches. The total length of the bridge is 1,627 feet between abutments ; the western abutment has a base of 49 feet in length and 62 feet 8 inches in width ; the west pier is 82 feet long and 48 feet wide at the base, and 63 feet by 24 feet at the top, being 172 feet 1 inch in height, with its foundation 61 feet 2 inches below extreme low water. The east abutment measures 83 by 70 feet 6 inches at the base, and the east pier is 82 feet by 60 at the bottom, 63 by 24 feet at the top, with 197 feet and 1 inch in height, the foundation standing 86 feet 2 inches below extreme low water. /From the abutments on either bank of the river the two roadways are carried across the Levee, a dis- tance of 240 feet, on an arcaded structure of stone-masonry of two tiers of arches, the lower roadway or railway floor being sup- ported on the lower tier consisting of a series of five masonry

{W

[

— 85 —

arches of 27 feel span each ; the upper or highway floor is sup- ported on the upper tier which contains 21 arches. The length of the bridge, including the two arcades, is 2,107 feet, and from Third street, where the tunnel commences, to the east end of the east arcade, is 3,000 feet.

The masonry of the two piers below the surface of the water had to be done by way of caissons and cofferdams, within which the workmen performed their not easy task, fresh air being con- ducted into the caissons and the foul air pumped out by power- ful machines from above, without which precaution the workmen would not have been able to remain in the caissons any length of time. The ingenious contrivances and the whole apparatus brought to use were admired by engineers from all parts of the globe, who came here to witness the progress of the work ; but an object of still greater admiration was the superstructure with its gigantic net of steel tubes, ribs and posts, which serve as support for the roadbeds. Each piece of steel or iron, used in the construction of the bridge, was subjected to a most scrupulous test and promptly rejected if not coming up to the required conditions. The steel and iron parts came from the Keystone Bridge Co., of Pittsburg, and the William Butcher Steel Works in Philadelphia. There the tests were made before the shipment to St. Louis took place and they were repeated here. Several machines were expressly invented for this purpose by Col. Henry Flad, the first assistant of Captain Eads, after- wards President of the Board of Public Improvements and later on a member of the United States Commission for the improve- ment of the Mississippi. The calculations were principally the work of Mr. Chas. Pfeifer, who afterwards became Street Com- missioner, then Harbor Commissioner, and Chief Engineer for the building of a bridge over the Manongahela in Pittsburg. The late Chancellor of Washington University, Prof. Chauvenet, assisted in the mathemetical calculations, which formed such an important part of the work.

The men who planned and conducted the erection of the bridge and in whose hands the financial management rested, were fully aware, that an enterprise of such dimensions would not be free from obstacles and disappointments, but they hardly expected

\\

— 84 —

ing delays lasting several years. At last an agreement was reached and the difficulties were settled by the buying out of the Chicago Company, leaving the field to the St. Louis organization, whose board of directors appointed an executive and finance committee, with Dr. Wm. Taussig as its chairman. One of the principal duties of this committee was the securing of the neces- sary funds, and the success in this direction was chiefly due to the exertions of Dr. Taussig, who, after the completion of the bridge, became the general manager, and soon afterwards the president of the Bridge and Tunnel Company and of the St. Louis Terminal Railroad Association.

The bridge is called the Eads Bridge, in honor of Capt. James B. Eads, who was the chief engineer of this gigantic work, which stands unsurpassed in beauty and grandeur. The corner-stone was laid on the western shore of the Mississippi, at the foot of Washington avenue, on the 25th of February, 1868, and the inauguration took place on the 4th of July, 1874, fully six years having been necessary for the construction of one of the greatest bridges of the world. The imposing structure connect- ing not only Missouri and Illinois, but the entire East with the great West, consists of three arches, the center one being 520 feet in clear span, and 55 feet above high water; the two side arches measure 502 feet each, with 50 feet above high water ; the rise of the middle arch is 47 feet, and that of either side span is 43 feet 8 inches. The total length of the bridge is 1,627 feet between abutments ; the western abutment has a base of 49 feet in length and 62 feet 8 inches in width ; the west pier is 82 feet long and 48 feet wide at the base, and 63 feet by 24 feet at the top, being 172 feet 1 inch in height, with its foundation 61 feet 2 inches below extreme low water. The east abutment measures 83 by 70 feet 6 inches at the base, and the east pier is 82 feet by 60 at the bottom, 63 by 24 feet at the top, with 197 feet and 1 inch in height, the foundation standing 86 feet 2 inches below extreme low water. ./From the abutments on either bank of the river the two roadways are carried across the Levee, a dis- tance of 240 feet, on an arcaded structure of stone-masonry of two tiers of arches, the lower roadway or railway floor being sup- ported on the lower tier consisting of a series of five masonry

-- 85 —

arches of 27 feet span each ; the upper or highway floor is sup- ported on the upper tier which contains 21 arches. The length of the bridge, including the two arcades, is 2,107 feet, and from Third street, where the tunnel commences, to the east end of the east arcade, is 3,000 feet.

The masonry of the two piers below the surface of the water had to be done by way of caissons and cofferdams, within which the workmen performed their not easy task, fresh air being con- ducted into the caissons and the foul air pumped out by power- ful machines from above, without which precaution the workmen would not have been able to remain in the caissons any length of time. The ingenious contrivances and the whole apparatus brought to use were admired by engineers from all parts of the globe, who came here to witness the progress of the work ; but an object of still greater admiration was the superstructure with its gigantic net of steel tubes, ribs and posts, which serve as support for the roadbeds. Each piece of steel or iron, used in the construction of the bridge, was subjected to a most scrupulous test and promptly rejected if not coming up to the required conditions. The steel and iron parts came from the Keystone Bridge Co., of Pittsburg, and the William Butcher Steel Works in Philadelphia. There the tests were made before the shipment to St. Louis took place and they were repeated here. Several machines were expressly invented for this purpose by Col. Henry Flad, the first assistant of Captain Eads, after- wards President of the Board of Public Improvements and later on a member of the United States Commission for the improve- ment of the Mississippi. The calculations were principally the work of Mr. Chas. Pfeifer, who afterwards became Street Com- missioner, then Harbor Commissioner, and Chief Engineer for the building of a bridge over the Manongahela in Pittsburg. The late Chancellor of Washington University, Prof. Chauvenet, assisted in the mathemetical calculations, which formed such an important part of the work.

The men who planned and conducted the erection of the bridge and in whose hands the financial management rested, were fully aware, that an enterprise of such dimensions would not be free from obstacles and disappointments, but they hardly expected

— 86 —

that they would have to encounter so many great hindrances of various character, as they actually did. These men were the two engineers, Eads and Flad, and the chairman of the finance committee, Dr. Taussig, but they had sufficient confidence in the ultimate success of their undertaking and did not falter in bring- ing it to completion. They overcame all difficulties and had the satisfaction to see their arduous labors and prolonged cares triumphantly crowned and rewarded, when this wonderful work of bridge architecture was finished and the first railroad train made its way across the Father of Waters.

The quantity of steel for the arches amounted to 4.788,000 pounds, the wrought iron weighs 6,313,000. The total costs, including all expenses, approached ten million dollars.

The work on the tunnel, connecting the bridge with all our railroad lines, was commenced in the fall of 1872 and completed in June, 1874. The tunnel begins west of Second street and goes from Third to Sixth street in a straight line under Washing- ton avenue, makes a curve from near Seventh under St. Charles and Locust to Eighth and Olive and thence below Eighth to its mouth between Spruce and Poplar street, where its two tracks connect with our whole railroad system. The tunnel has a length of 4,880 feet or 1,623 yards, equal to one mile. It consists in fact of two parallel running tunnels, separated by a massive wall ; this was done not only to secure the necessary safety for the immense traffic of passengers and freight trains, which thereby run only in one direction in each of these two tunnels, but also on account of safer construction and greater solidity of the un- derground masonry work. The laying of tracks was completed on the 9th of July, 1874, and the first train was soon afterwards sent through the tunnel and over the bridge.

UNION STATION.

The (old) Union Depot on Twelfth and Poplar streets was established simmultanously and served its purpose during twenty years ; the constant extension of traffic, especially of the freight trade, made the purchase of additional ground necessary from time to time, but all this proved inadequate and led to the erect-

o

en H

>-^ O

•feyte

— 88 —

ing of Union Station, in which all railroad lines center. The Depot building by itself faces on Market street and occupies the two blocks between Eighteenth and Twentieth street, a length of 606 feet. The plans were made bj' the St. Louis architect, Theo. C. Link, and the building executed under his supervision, but it is chiefly due to the wisdom, the energy and the untiring exertions of Dr. Wm. Taussig, that St. Louis possesses the finest, best equipped and most practically arranged railway depot in the United States, and that all Europe can boast of only one which is its equal — the Central Bahnhof, at Frankfort on the Main.

The New Union Station, as it is still called, though it has been inaugurated in September, 1894, is a massive, imposing structure, just as elaborate and beautiful in its exterior as in its interior. The principal waiting hall forms the ^^lece de resistance in size and elegance and is not surpassed by an}^ waiting room in this or any other country. All other parts of the immense building are likewise admirably arranged and the comfort of the public is taken care of in every imaginable waj^ The electric light and the heat- ing is furnished from a separate building, standing 1,800 feet distant, by a system of underground pipes. The building costs over 800,000 dollars and it is contirmed b}^ the best authorities of America and Europe, that it is worth fully that sum.

The train sheds of the Union Station cover more area and more tracks than any existing train shed. The structure is 700 feet long by 606 feet broad, and contains 30 passenger tracks. The area included in the train shed is 424,200 square feet, or nearly ten acres. The trains of 22 railroad companies are to be found on its tracks.

The shed is lighted by 150 direct-current arc lamps distributed along the platforms and in the Midway, which latter sepa- rates the shed from the main building. This Midway reaches from Eighteenth to Twentieth street, is 50 feet wide, under a roof of corrugated glass, which admits light to the waiting- rooms of the first floor. The movement of all trains is regulated by an interlock system furnished by the Westinghouse Company, and operated by electric pneumatic power, for which the com- pressed air is produced in the same building in which the dyna-

— 89 —

mos and heating apparatus stand. The interlock system is controlled from a tower on the top of the power-house, where it faces the station and the entire track system. The successf al operation of the station depends upon the rapid and safe move- ments of trains and engines, and when it is stated that, by actual count, 250 distinct movements of trains and engines are made in one hour while handling the regular daily traffic, it will be seen that the selection of the most suitable system of interlocking was a weighty question.

An idea of the territory covered by the Union Station property may be obtained when it is stated that the building, the Midway and the train shed, occupy an area of 497,092 square feet or 11.1 acres : the orround south of the train shed and between it and the power-house contains 465,970 square feet, or more than twenty-two acres. There are nineteen miles of tracks in the system, of which three and one-half miles are located under the train shed. To show the reader, furthermore, the immensity of the traffic within the aforesaid terrain the simple statement will be sufficient that 236 passenger trains, aside of freight trains, arrive and depart every twenty-four hours. The total outlay for real estate, buildings and all other improvements, tracks, etc., amounted to six and a half million dollars. The general offices of the Bridge and Tunnel Company and of the St. Louis Terminal Railroad Association occupy the upper floors of the Union Station Building.

The latter association will soon commence extensive prepara- tions in view of the coming World's Fair, and the multitude of travelers which during that period will throng the station and whose >afety and comfort will be taken care of in the same ad- mirable manner which has signified the entire management since the opening day of Union Station.

THE MERCHANTS BRIDGE.

The second bridge spanning the Mississippi at this point bears the name Merchants Bridge from the fact that some members of the Merchants Exchange were its promoters. Two companies were oraanized : the St. Louis Merchants Bridge Company and

— 88 —

ing of Union Station, in which all railroad lines center. The Depot building by itself faces on Market street and occupies the two blocks between Eighteenth and Twentieth street, a length of 606 feet. The plans were made b}' the St. Louis architect, Theo. C. Link, and the building executed under his supervision, but it is chiefly due to the wisdom, the energy and the untiring exertions of Dr. Wm. Taussig, that St. Louis possesses the finest, best equipped and most practically arranged railway depot in the United States, and that all Europe can boast of only one which is its equal — the Central Bahnhof, at Frankfort on the Main.

The New Union Station, as it is still called, though it has been inaugurated in September, 1894, is a massive, imposing structure, just as elaborate and beautiful in its exterior as in its interior. The principal waiting hall forms the piece de resistance in size and elegance and is not surpassed by any waiting room in this or any other country. All other parts of the immense building are likewise admirably arranged and the comfort of the public is taken care of in every imaginable way. The electric light and the heat- ing is furnished from a separate building, standing 1,800 feet distant, by a system of underground pipes. The building costs over 800,000 dollars and it is contirmed by the best authorities of America and Europe, that it is worth fully that sum.

The train sheds of the Union Station cover more area and more tracks than any existing train shed. The structure is 700 feet long by 606 feet broad, and contains 30 passenger tracks. The area included in the train shed is 424,200 square feet, or nearly ten acres. The trains of 22 railroad companies are to be found on its tracks.

The shed is lighted by 150 direct-current arc lamps distributed along the platforms and in the Midway, which latter sepa- rates the shed from the main building. This Midway reaches from Eighteenth to Twentieth street, is 50 feet wide, under a roof of corrugated glass, which admits light to the waiting- rooms of the iirst floor. The movement of all trains is regulated by an interlock system furnished by the Westinghouse Company, and operated by electric pneumatic power, for which the com- pressed air is produced in the same building in which the dyna-

I

— 89 —

mos and heating apparatus stand. The interlock system is controlled from a tower on the top of the power-house, where it faces the station and the entire track system. The successf a! operation of the station depends upon the rapid and safe move- ments of trains and engines, and when it is stated that, by actual count, 250 distinct movements of trains and engines are made in one hour while handling the regular daily traffic, it will be seen that the selection of the most suitable system of interlocking was a weighty question.

All idea of the territory covered by the Union Station property may be obtained when it is stated that the building, the Midway and the train shed, occupy an area of 497,092 square feet or 11.1 acres ; the ground south of the train shed and between it and the power-house contains 465,970 square feet, or more than twenty-two acres. There are nineteen miles of tracks in the system, of which three and one-half miles are located under the train shed. To show the reader, furthermore, the immensity of the traffic within the aforesaid terrain the simple statement will be sufficient that 236 passenger trains, aside of freight trains, arrive and depart every twenty-four hours. The total outlay for real estate, buildino^s and all other improvements, tracks, etc., amounted to six and a half million dollars. The general offices of the Bridge and Tunnel Company and of the St. Louis Terminal Railroad Association occupy the upper floors of the Union Station Building.

The latter association will soon commence extensive prepara- tions in view of the coming World's Fair, and the multitude of travelers which during that period will throng the station and whose f^afety and comfort will be taken care of in the same ad- mirable manner which has signified the entire management since the opening day of Union Station.

THE MERCHANTS BRIDGE.

The second bridge spanning the Mississippi at this point bears the name Merchants Bridge from the fact that some members of the Merchants Exchange were its promoters. Two companies were organized : the St. Louis Merchants Bridge Company and

f

— 90 —

the St. Louis Merchants Terminal Company. The construction of the Merchants Bridge began in 1887 and was finished in 1889. It is a railway bridge and has a double track ; its four piers sup- port three main spans, the center one of which measures 523.5, each of the two others, 521.5 feet. The height above high water is 52 feet. At either end of the main bridge are three approach deck spans of 125 feet each in length. The bridge proper is 1,366.5 feet long, the total structure including the steel approaches, 2,422.5 feet. The en- tire superstructure is of steel except tlie pedestals and ornamen- ted posts, which are of cast iron ; the total weight of steel is 10,470,940 pounds. The eastern approach has a length of 4,740 feet and crosses the tracks of the Chicago and Alton, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis and the Wabash Railroads in the north end of Venice and terminates in the town of Madison, from this point to Granite City, two and a half miles distant, a double track railway connects with the above railroads, and the St. Louis, Chicago & St. Paul Railroad. At the western end of the bridge approach connection is made with the Wabash Rail- road, the Keokuk lines and the St. Louis Transfer Railwa3^

The tracks of the Merchants Bridge Terminal Railway com- mence west of Tenth street near the tracks of .the St. Louis & San Francisco Railroad, and are carried on a double track ele- vated structure, 8,160 feet long, from Seventh street to the levee and along the levee northwest to Carr street ; from this point the tracks continue northward along Main and Hall streets to Bremen avenue, where they meet the western approach at the bridge. At Bremen avenue a branch extends across the grounds of the city water works, and thence along McKissock avenue to Bircher street and Broadway.

The cost of erection amounted to 1,800,000 dollars. Mr. C. C. Rainwater has been the President of the Merchants Bridge Ter- minal Railway Co. since its organization. The oflSces of the company are located in the Union Station Building.

- 91

TERMINAL RAILROAD ASSOCIATION.

The Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis, organized in 1889, is the offspring of four older companies, which had been established at different times since 1874. The first two of them, the Union Railway and Transit Company of St. Louis and the Union Railway and Transit Company of East St. Louis, chartered by the States of Missouri and Illinois respectively, were organized for the purpose, to enable the Bridge and Terminal Company to run passenger and freight trains between East St. Louis and St. Louis, as the charter of the latter company contained no pro- vision granting such privilege.

Soon after their formation these companies organized, under the direction of the bridge management, a complete service, pur- chased locomotives, erected machine shops and freight ware- bouses, and laid connecting and storage tracks for the handling of freight. But tliis served exclusively for freight traffic and it became necessary therefore, to found another company, to take care of the passenger traffic ; this was done under the name of the Union Depot Company of St. Louis, by which the (old) Union Depot on Twelfth and Poplar streets was built ; it was opened for traffic in June, 1875, and served until September, 1894, when it was superseded by the present Union Station.

In 1880 the capital of the two Transit Companies had become exhausted and as the traffic had increased lo large dimensions and more ground was needed for expansion of terminals, two new auxiliary companies were formed, the "Terminal Railroad Com- panies of St. Louis and East St. Louis " for exactly the same pur- poses as those of their predecessors. Thus there were five sepa- rate companies in existence, but all five operating under the direction of the St. Louis Bridge and Tunnel Company. The General Manager and afterwards President of the latter company. Dr. Wm. Taussig, conceived already in 1882 the plan for the con- solidation of the principal railroad lines centering in this city into a united terminal system, but it took years and years before his plans went into effect. The contracts with the four companies had expired in 1886 and when Dr. Taussig communicated his ideas to Mr. Jay Gould, who in the meantime had become the lessee of

90 —

the St. Louis Merchants Terminal Company. The construction of the Merchants Bridge began in 1887 and was finished in 1889. It is a railwa}^ bridge and has a double track ; its four piers sup- port three main spans, the center one of which measures 523.5, each of the two others, 521.5 feet. The height above high water is 52 feet. At either end of the main bridge are three approach deck spans of 125 feet each in length. The bridge proper is 1,366.5 feet long, the total structure including the steel approaches, 2,422.5 feet. The en- tire superstructure is of steel except the pedestals and ornamen- ted posts, which are of cast iron ; the total weight of steel is 10,470,940 pounds. The eastern approach has a length of 4,740 feet and crosses the tracks of the Chicago and Alton, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Cbicago & St. Louis and the Wabash Railroads in the north end of Venice and terminates in the town of Madison, from this point to Granite City, two and a half miles distant, a double track railway connects with the above railroads, and the St. Louis, Chicago & St. Paul Railroad. At the western end of the bridge approach connection is made with the Wabash Rail- road, the Keokuk lines and the St. Louis Transfer Railway.

The tracks of the Merchants Bridge Terminal Railway com- mence west of Tenth street near the tracks of .the St. Louis & San Francisco Railroad, and are carried on a double track ele- vated structure, 8,160 feet long, from Seventh street to the levee and along the levee northwest to Carr street ; from this point the tracks continue northward along Main and Hall streets to Bremen avenue, where they meet the western approach at the bridge. At Bremen avenue a branch extends across the grounds of the city water works, and thence along McKissock avenue to Bircher street and Broadway.

The cost of erection amounted to 1,800,000 dollars. Mr. C. C. Rainwater has been the President of the Merchants Bridge Ter- minal Railway Co. since its organization. The oflSces of the company are located in the Union Station Building.

— 91 —

TERMINAL RAILROAD ASSOCIATION.

The Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis, organized in 1889, is the offspring of four older companies, which had been established at different times since 1874. The first two of them, the Union Railway and Transit Company of St. Louis and the Union Railway and Transit Company of East St. Louis, chartered by the States of Missouri and Illinois respectively, were organized for the purpose, to enable the Bridge and Terminal Company to run passenger and freight trains between East St. Louis and St. Louis, as the charter of the latter company contained no pro- vision granting such privilege.

Soon after their formation these companies organized, under the direction of the bridge management, a complete service, pur- chased locomotives, erected machine shops and freight ware- houses, and laid connecting and storage tracks for the handling of freight. But this served exclusively for freight traffic and it became necessary therefore, to found another company, to take care of the passenger traffic ; this was done under the name of the Union Depot Company of St. Louis, by which the (old) Union Depot on Twelfth and Poplar streets was built ; it was opened for traffic in June, 1875, and served until September, 1894, when it was superseded by the present Union Station.

In 1880 the capital of the two Transit Companies had become exhausted and as the traffic had increased to large dimensions and more ground was needed for expansion of term'inals, two new auxiliary companies were formed, the "Terminal Railroad Com- panies of St. Louis and East St. Louis " for exactly the same pur- poses as those of their predecessors. Thus there were five sepa- rate companies in existence, but all five operating under the direction of the St. Louis Bridge and Tunnel Company. The General Manager and afterwards President of the latter company. Dr. Wm. Taussig, conceived already in 1882 the plan for the con- solidation of the principal railroad lines centering in this city into a united terminal system, but it took years and years before his plans went into effect. The contracts with the four companies had expired in 1886 and when Dr. Taussig communicated his ideas to Mr. Jay Gould, who in the meantime had become the lessee of

— 92 —

the bridge, this gentleman approved of them without hesitation and authorized him to take the necessary steps for the consumma- tion of the project. The final result of this was the formation of the Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis in 1889 by the following companies: The Ohio & Mississippi ; Cleveland, Cincin- nati, Chicago & St. Louis (the Big Four) ; Louisville & Nashville ; Missouri Pacific and Wabash Railways.

Under the agreement made by these companies they became the owners of all the property held at the time by the five auxiliary corporations and perpetual lessees of the bridge and tunnel. The new association immediately elected Dr. Taussig its president, which office he occupied until his voluntary retirement in 1896, whereupon Mr. Julius S. Walsh became his successor.

The formation of the Terminal Association, which at the outset required a capital of five millions and later on five more, gave St. Louis the largest, most compact and perfect terminal system in the United States and there is none in Europe which could bear comparison. A further result of this gigantic association was the establishing of the largest, completest and best arranged Central Railway Depot in the world, our unsurpassed Union Station, which affords the means of the most practical ingress and egress to twenty-two railroads.

The association owns in St. Louis in fee and under lease over ninety-five and in East St. Louis nearly eighty-four acres of ground, operates here thirty and across the river twenty-eight miles of tracks, with thirty-eight locomotives of the latest and heaviest type, and furnishes freight facilities, storage yards and warehouses for all the vast tonnage that the various roads bring into and out of St. Louis. Its number of employees is over three thousand, all its appliances and appurtenances are of the most modern character, and its passenger accommodations have no rival in this or any other country.

MERCHANTS' EXCHANGE OF ST. LOUIS.

The Merchants' Exchange of St. Louis, now and since many years one of the most important institutions of its kind in the country, had its inception in a small debating club, established

— 93 —

in 1836 by about twenty-five merchants, who came together once a mouth after business hours, to discuss business and other mat- ters of interest to themselves and the city at large. They had no room of their own but met in the oflSce of the Missouri Insurance Company on the east side of Main between Pine and Olive streets. These monthly gatherings were soon attended by a larger number of merchants, and the offer of a more spacious room in the printing house of the Missouri Republican^ in the same block was therefore gladlv made use of. Later on the meetings were held in the basement of the Unitarian Church, corner Fourth and Pine, at that time considered ratlier distant from the center of trade, that is from the Levee and Main street, and this fact shows how insignificant the organization must have been at its beginning. It adopted the name of Chamber of Commerce and received a charter from the State Legislature in 1837. Most of its members were commission merchants or boat owners and the deliberations were therefore principally devoted to these two branches of business. It was not until 1848, that the members resolved to occupy more adequate quarters, to meet every day at a certain hour and to get market reports, quotation and ship- ping news by telegraph and have them posted in their rooms. A suitable locality was found on the second floor at the northeast corner of Main and Olive streets ; the daily papers of other large cities were kept on file and accessible during the whole day and various other facilities were procured.

The growing importance of the milling trade led in 1849 to the establishing of a Millers' Exchange on Main and Locust streets, where samples of grain and flour could be exhibited from day to day and producers and dealers were invited to congregate there for the transaction of business ; owners and captains of steam- boats and barges and their agents found it likewise in their interest to appear regularly at this Exchange as well as at the Chamber of Commerce and both bodies became more and more important. The Millers' Exchange was in fact the first Grain Exchange in the country and may be called the Pioneer Corn Exchange of the United States. Before a year had elapsed, plans for a consoli- dation were submitted to both bodies and immediatly adopted, arger accommodations secured on Main near Locust street and

— 94 —

the St. Louis Merchants' Exchange, which name had been agreed upon, was opened for the first time on January the 7th, 1850. The constant addition of new members, the extension of trade and the requirement of still better accommodations caused a general desire to substitute an appropriate building, its own property, for the leased quarters, and the erection of what is now called the Old Merchants' Exchange Building on the east side of Main, between Market and Walnut streets, was the result of this desire, but the intention of becoming the owner of the building was abandoned and the renting of the second floor for twenty-five hundred dollars per annum preferred. The inaugural of the Exchange Hall took place on June the 8th, 1857, and everything went on satisfactorily and harmoniously until January, 1862, when diverging sentiments in politics caused a rupture among the members. They were divided on the vital question of the day, the intact preservation of the Union, — and the outcome of these differences of opinion was the secession of the Unionists ; the}^ let the Southern 33'm- pathizers in possession of the hall on Main street and established themselves under the name of the Union Merchants' Exchange in the then new building directly south of the Post Ollice on Third and Olive streets, owned by General Frank P. Blair. The most influential members of the Exchange had affiliated with the new body and this was keenly felt by those from whom they had sep- arated and with whom many of them had been united by ties of a lifelong friendship.- But the separation did not last long, harmony was restored before the year expired, the Union Merchants' Ex- change was closed and its members returned to the old quarters in November, 1862, all being glad and rejoicing over the recon- ciliation.

The continued expansion of trade, the multiplicaiion of mem- bers, general prosperity in all commercial and industrial branches soon after the end of the war, renewed the demand for another Exchange which would be worthy of and in keeping with the city's greatness, the volume of trade and the position occupied by our mercantile community. Another cause for a removal lay in the fact that the march of trade in a western direction had already set in ; that many Arms, banks and insurance companies had left Main street, and the transfer of the commercial center to the

95 —

streets further west bad become obvious. A proposition made by George Knapp in behalf of himself and other prominent men, to erect a suitable and appropriate building for the use of the Merchants' Exchange on Third street, reaching from Chestnut to Pine, was therefore accepted ; the Chamber of Commerce Association organized with Rufus J. Lackland as its President and Geo. H. Morgan as Secretary, and work com- menced in the spring of 1874. The ground and buildings occupy- ing the site were bought at a cost of 561,700 dollars and one and a half millions were expended for the imposing structure whose dedication and opening was duly celebrated on the 21st of DC-

merchants EXCHANGE.

cember, 1875. After the old hall on Main street had been closed the same day with appropriate ceremonies. The new building be- came afterwards the property of the Merchants' Exchange. The purchase took place in 1892. The Exchange hall proper has a length of 222, a width of ninety-two and one-half feet, and the ceiling is sixty feet above the floor. It is well adapted for its specific purpose, receives light and air from three sides, and con- tains all facilities in the way of telegraph and telephone connections, including pneumatic transmission of dispatches to and from the central offices of the Western Union Telegraph Company.

— 96 —

During the many years of its existence additions and diminutions of membership were of frequent occurrence, but neither the one nor the other ought to be taken as a criterion of business transactions or trade conditions, as such fluctuations are brought on by various and in most cases personal reasons. The largest membership, 3,566, was reached in 1883, the smallest was that of 1863, tliere being only 518 names on the list; the number varied mostly between 2,500 and 3,500 and averaged in the last five or six years about 2,200. It is not the quantity, but the quality of the men, who constitute sucli a body, tbat gives it its prestige and it can be said with the fullest justification, that the members of the Merchants Exchange of St. Louis have no superiors in any of the other commercial centers on this side of the Atlantic. They are the bone and sinew of the commu- nity, the foremost promoters of all important enterprises and of everything tending to the development of our commercial and other public interests and to the welfare of the city at large.

The men who, in the course of time, oflSciated as president of the Exchange, form an array of the best known names, represent- atives of business and industry, unsurpassed honor and integrity, and so were and are their co-workers from the time of the organization of the Exchange till to-day.

The oflScers for the year 1902 are as follows: —

President. Geo. J. Tansey.

First Vice-President. J. R. Ballard.

Second Vice-President. Wm. a. Gardner.

Secretary and Treasurer. Geo. H. Morgan.

First Assistant Secretary. D. R. Whitmore.

— 97 —

Second Assistant Secretary. H. R. Whitmore.

Attorney. R. F. Walker.

Directors for 1902.

Oscar M. Whitelaw. James S. McGehee.

Henry Wollbrinck. Christoph Hilke.

S. A. Whitehead.

Directors for 1902 and 1903.

Wm. T. Haarstick. T. H. Francis.

L. B. Brinson. Otto L. Teichmann.

John H. Dieckmann.

HISTORY OF ST. LOUIS MILLS.

My Dear Kargau :

You ask me for a brief review of the flour mills of St. Louis. This involves a large draft on memory for nearly fifty years, and without printed or written records to refer to, I will have to rely on personal recollections entireh^

When I came to St. Louis in 1850, the mill of August Chouteau, up to that date run by water power from Chouteau pond through Mill Creek, west of Seventh street, at about the present Poplar street, was abandoned as a mill and converted into a stone saw mill ; later the picturesque Chouteau pond was filled up to make ground for the past and present Union Depot and the numerous tracks, warehouses, including the Cupples block, now the location of the heavy wholesale grocery, transfer and man- ufacturing industries of this busy city. The first wheel- barrow load of dirt was dumped into the pond by Mayor Kennett, in the absence of Senator Benton, with pomp and ceremony to inaugurate the beginning of the Pacific, our first railroad. The Chouteau residence was an imposing Gre- cian structure on the present site of the jail and Four Courts, and 7k

— 98 —

Mr. Chouteau and the white horse he rode to the mill daily added to the picturesque features of an attractive landscape.

The Star Mill on Levee and Elm streets was built bj Daniel D. Page, of whom it was told that he used to stand out on the levee and count the puffs of steam and remark that the profit was a " dollar a puff." As the engine was slow and he could buy wheat at his own price and sell flour on the same terms, the profits were, of course, large, and helped to form the great banking hou^e of Page & Bacon, which became the financial backer of our first railroad to the East, the Ohio & Mississippi, to Cincinnati. Smith & Watkins succeeded Page in the ownership, and after running the mill a few years it was dismantled and converted into an iron foundry, now feed and ha}" warehouses.

The Union Mill at Main, Levee and Florida streets, was built, owned and run by James and Edward Walsh, which firm also owned and run several fine steamboats to New Orleans. After partially freighting at the Levee, these boats would go to the mill and take on one thousand or more barrels of flour for the trade South. The Walshes descended from J. & E. occupy the high- est positions in business and societ}" circles in the cit}'. Capt. Gorman, sometimes wheat buyer for and manager of the mill, and also captain of one of the boats, was killed by a rebel shell while commanding the steamer Henry Von Phul. After the Walshes sold the mill it passed through several changes of owner- ship, until torn down to make room for the Merchants Elevator.

The Phoenix Mill, on Barr}" between Sixth and Seventh, built and run by the Pilkington Bros., was Grant's resting-place on his way from town to the farm, the pile of bran sacks affording fine opportunity^ for " forty winks." This mill, after changing ownership several times, was finally dismantled, and the remnant of it is now used as an annex to a planing mill. The O'Fallou Mill, at junction of Fourth and Fifth, now Broadway, was built and torn down and rebuilt by Jos. G. Shands,and operated under several succeeding owners until bought with other properties by the Gould railways for right of way to connect the Iron Mountain and Pacific roads by surface tracks, but the city refus- ing the necessary grant, the connection was not made ; meantime, however, the mill was torn down. The Nonantum Mill was built

— 99 —

opposite the Convent Market almost over the Mill Creek Sewer, by S. G. Sears and his associates, and run successfully for sev- eral years and was then dismantled and became in time a beer and boarding-house.

The Planters Mill, on Franklin avenue, west of Fourteenth street, was one of the reputable old-time mills which have passed. When I first knew it William Stobie and associates had it. It passed to successive owners until abandoned. The first Anchor Mill was farther west on Franklin avenue ; was burned and rebuilt, burned again and then rebuilt at Twenty-first and Clark avenue, burned and rebuilt, all under the ownership of Henry C. Yeager and his associates; passed to Jno. W. Kauffman, and burned again, and then abandoned. The Park Mill at Fourteenth and Market, owned by Thomas A. Buckland and Weller, afterwards by John F. Tolle, succeeded by John W. Kauffman ; burned in a Fourth of July celebration ; the city was sued for the value of the property, suit decided in favor of the city ; mill was not rebuilt. Cherry Street Mill, corner Cherry and Collins, was run by Osborne and Tolle, later John F. Tolle ; had a fine reputation and profitable trade up to the death of Mr. Tolle. Empire Mill, Broadway and LaBaume streets, built by Goodfellow and Robinson, passing through Hazard, Benson & Co., Alex. H. Smith & Co., and Empire Mill Co. until dismantled, and is now used as a carriage repository. The Jefferson Mills, on North Market street, built by the Sessinghaus Mill Co., continues to be one of the few suc- cessful mills now active. The Missouri Mills, Seventh and St. Charles, a beautiful structure, which was burned soon after com- pletion and not rebuilt ; Powell Bros, were the proprietors. The Pacific Mills, Third and Cedar streets. When I first knew it Pomperoy was proprietor, after him Col. Chas. L. Tucker, suc- ceeded by Kehlor until it burned ; a pickle factory now occupies the site.

The Atlantic Mills, corner of Main and Plum streets, was built and run by Ball & Chapin until sold to Rhodes, Pegram & Co. and Henry Whitmore, succeeded by Bain & Pegram, later on Fusz & Backer, under the name of Regina Mill ; it was totally destroyed by fire twice and rebuilt. Plants — all the old resi- dents will remember this old landmark on Franklin avenue, be-

301314

— 100 —

tween Fifth and Sixth, from whence it had supplied flour for fifty years, until the new Plants was built at Main and Chouteau ave- nue ; this new mill was burned and rebuilt and is now much the largest mill here ; the old one was converted into stores. The Laclede Mill, Ninth and Soulard, built by Elbridge Goddard and S. G. Sears ; last owner, Kehlor, burned several years ago, and was not rebuilt. The United States Mill, corner Second and Rutger, built by E. Goddard and Sons, destroyed by cyclone and fire ; partially rebuilt, but not completed. The Victoria Mills, built by Alex, H. Smith and his associates, now owned by Wm. D. Orthwein and the estate of Chas. F. Orthwein, are con- stantly in successful operation. The Gamble Street Mill, corner of Gamble and Twenty-first, built and operated by Buschman & Co., until sold to Anchor Mill Co., and dismantled to make room for the new Anchor Mill. The Pearl Mills, on Rocky Branch in North St. Louis, built and operated by Horatio N. Davis until dismantled a few years ago. The Saxony Mills, Lombard, be- tween Third and Fourth streets, built and operated by Leonhardt & Schuricht, dismantled and rebuilt by Mr. Leonhardt, and are now successfully operated by his sons. St. George Mill, Nos. 1 11-1919 South Third street, built, remodeled, rebuilt and op- erated by Henry Kalbfleisch, was bought a few years ago by Flannagan & Co., and converted into a corn mill. Eagle Mills, Main and Bates street, built and operated successfully by Dennis Marks, until sold to Sam Plant, sold by him to E. O. Stanard, present owner.

Buss Mills, North Broadway, opposite Bellefontaine, a strictly up-to-date modern mill, built and operated by John B. Buss Milling Co. Hezel Mills, East St. Louis, built by Hezel Mill Co., totally destroyed by the cyclone in 1896, rebuilt on another site and continually in successful operation. Venice Mills, owned by Kehlor until burned. Kehlor Mills, East St. Louis, built by Kehlor Bros., the largest mill here. This was badly damaged by the cyclone of 1896 ; speedily restored and continuously in suc- cessful operation. Meramac Mills, Eighth and Clark avenue, built and operated by H. B. Eggers, is a strictly up-to-date, suc- cessful mill. The United States Mill, Seventh street, south of Poplar, built and operated by Aaron W. Fagin until burned

— 101 —

down without insurance ; was not rebuilt. Camp Spring Mill at Twentieth, south of Market street, built by Eickerman & Wulze^ remodeled by the Camp Spring Mill Co., Mr. John B. Woestman, president, was sold to the Terminal Co., and now part of the Union Station.

From the brief resume it appears that of the twentj^-nine mills mentioned, twenty have ceased to exist, and the busy, energetic proprietors have passed away in about the same proportion. If space admitted, I would like to indulge in pleasant reminiscences of these departed friends, but must close with the general sum- mary, that they were all honorable, useful citizens, who, in their day and generation, contributed much to the prosperity of the city. Alex. H. Smith.

MILLING AND FLOUR TRADE.

There was a time, and it lies not at all very far behind us, when the flour trade of the United States looked to St. Louis for its chief supply. Our city was, for many years, the actual center of milling, and the wheat flour produced here was of unsur- passed quality, and considered the best in home and foreign markets, and this reputation is still held by it. The prestige of the St. Louis flour, milled here as in the country mills owned by St. Louis millers, is based upon the fact that the wheat regions, from which these mills draw their supply, is of superior quality, and that the mills are equipped with the most approved and modern machinery ; the grain and flour inspection regulated by the St. Louis Merchants Exchange, and conducted by its sworn officials, is, furthermore, a guarantee and safeguard to the pro- ducer and miller as well as to the dealer and consumer, and of the greatest advantage to each of them. Fourteen mills were in the city as early as 1847, twenty-two in 1850, and the number reached even up to twenty-seven in the first half of the seventies. At present only fourteen are here in operation, but to these must be added a like number of mills located elsewhere owned and operated by St. Louis firms. Aside from supplying the domestic markets, very large sales are constantly made to foreign coun-

— 102 —

tries, especially to Great Britain, France, Belgium, Holland, to Mexico, Central and South America, to South Africa, Mediter- ranean points, and during the last two years the West Indies were added to the list. The flour export began in 1872, and was inaugurated by the late Geo. Bain, at that time the owner of the Atlantic (now known as the Regina) Mills, with the active and valuable co-operation of Mr. Henry C. Haarstick, the president of the Mississippi Valley Transportation Company, whose barge lines form an important factor in the export trade of the city.

J. F. IMBS, President. J. J. IMBS, Vice-President.

A. V. IMBS, Secretary. M. A. RUST, Treasurer.

J. p. Imbs /T\illip($ <5o..

proprietors of

/Hills - \T) - lllipois.

120 apd 122 Sotitl^ (Hail? Street,

sj. couis, /no.

B^ll, /I\aii7 988m. l^iploel?, fiSl^'

— 103 —

EGGERS MILLING COMPANY.

Bell Main 202m. Kinloch A1071.

The various brands of flour produced by the Eggers Milling Co. from the best winter and spring wheat are widely known for their excellent quality to dealers as well as consumers. The most popular of these brands are the Imperial and Good Luck, Patent Leader and Fancy Pacific, all great favorites in house- holds, hotels, restaurants, with confectioners, bakers, etc. The Eggers Mills occupy substantial buildings on the northeast cor- ner of Eighth street and Clark avenue, and have a daily capacity of over six hundred barrels, being equipped with the most ap- proved machinery and all appurtenances for the production of a perfect article. The firm was established in 1883 by H. B. Eggers, who in course of time admitted his two sons, F. W. and H. B. Eggers, Jr., into partnership. The company was incorporated in 1895. Mr. H. B. Eggers is President and Treasurer, Mr. H. B. Eggers, Jr., Secretary, and Mr. F. W. Eggers has charge of the sales. These three gentlemen form the Board of Directors. The firm makes the city trade a specialty ; enjoys a well-earned reputation for fair dealing, attention and promptness, and its members stand high in the esteem of our commercial and social circles. All three are members of the St. Louis Merchants' Ex- change. Between twenty-five and thirty hands are generally employed in the mills.

ENGELKE & FEINER MILLING CO. — Southern Roller

Mills.

Bell Main 2036A. Kinloch D325.

The mills of the Engelke & Feiner Milling Company were built in 1859 and were enlarged by additional buildings from time to time, covering now more than half a block between Gratiot and Papin, Fourth street and South Broadway. They were originally owned and operated by John Engelke and Frank Deister, but the latter' s interest was purchased in 1861 by Mr. Frank Feiner. The partnership of Mr. Engelke and Mr. Feiner terminated in 1889 by the death of the former, whereupon the

— 104 —

latter bought the interest of his late partner. The mills were for many years known as the Southern Roller Mills, they being the first in this city in which rollers were introduced for the manufacture of corn-meal and other corn-products, as for instance hominy, grits, etc. They were partly destroyed b}' fire in 1883, but immediately rebuilt on a much larger scale and have since received several additions, so that the plant is now one of the most extensive of its kind in the West. The substantial buildings contain a full equipment of the most approved machinery and the newest inventions are made use of, so that the highest grade of perfection may be reached in the various products of the establishment. The immense quantity of corn required by the company comes mostly from Missouri, Illinois and Nebraska, and only the best grades are bought. The output of the mills is sold to all the Western States but especially to the South where the consumption of corn meal is larger than in any other part of the country. Very ample means, long experience and unsurpassed facilities for manufactur- ing and shipping enable the firm to place not only a superior prod- uct on the market, but to give their customers the best condi- tions and to fill all orders, even the largest, with unequaled promptness and care. The capacity of the mills averages two thousand barrels per day and it is often necessary to operate them day and night. The officers of the company are: Frank Feiner, President and Treasurer ; W. Klinger, Vice-President, and F. C- Brockmeier, Secretery ; Eugene J. Feiner, Assistant Treasurer, and George W. Feiner, Superintendent, — the latter two are the sons of the President. Mr. Frank Feiner hails from Baden, Germany, and came to St. Louis in 1852, but soon after went to California, to gain a share of the newly discovered gold in that region ; the hardships of the gold miner in those days were not spared him, but energy and hard work overcame them and when he returned to this city in 1861 he possessed what he considered in those days quite a fortune, and that he made good use of it by the invest- ment of his capital in the business, whieh he has conducted for the last forty years, is clearly shown by the results of his enter- prise; his well-deserved success is the fruit of strictness, hon- esty and fairness in all his transactions, and these qualities are sharedbyhis sons and his partners. Mr. Frank Feiner, Mr. Brock-

— 105 —

meier and Mr. Eugene J. Feiner represent the firm on the floor of the Merchants' Exchange and all the gentlemen named in this article number among the best-known citizens and members of our commercial community.

FISCHER FLOUR COMPANY.

Kinloch Ao52. The Fischer Flour Company-, established and incorporated in 1891, by Messrs. J. C. Fisclier, Frank Eppelsheimer and Julius G. Hollmann, is on^ of the leading firms in the milling and flour trade of St. Louis. They are the proprietors of the Cane Mills at St. Genevieve, whose product — '• Success Patent " and " Cane Mills" — are justly celebrated for superioi- quality and strength and especially preferred by the cracker manufacturers all over the United States and in Canada. The mills are equipped with the most complete and best machinery and embrace a floor spAce of 75,000 square feet. They are also the agents and represen- tatives of the Pillsbury & Washburn Mills of Minneapolis, Minn., a large part of whose output is sold by them to bakers and grocers, particularly Pillsbury Best and Gold Coin, two favorite brands. The firm possesses ample means, has a a very extensive trade in the city and vicinit}' as well as in the different parts of the Union and Canada. The salesrooms and office were first at 220 and 222 South Main but are now in the recenth' erected large building on the south-west corner of Second and Market streets. The directors and officers of the compan}' are as follows: J. C. Fischer, President ; Frank Eppelsheimer, Vice-President and Treasurer, and Jul. G. Hollmann, Secretary. Messrs. Fischer and Eppelsheimer have been identified with the St. Louis flour trade during the last thirty-five j'ears, from 1866 to 1880, with the well-known house of Meyer & Gu^-e, whose existence termin- ated b}' the death of both partners, and from 1880 to 1891, as shareholders in the firm of Mauntel Borges & Co. Mr. Fischer was born in Nauvoo, Ills., to which place his parents had come from Switzerland ; Mr. Eppelsheimer hails from the old Rhenish cit}' of Ma3'ence, and Mr. Hollmann is a native of St. Louis. The firm enjoys an enviable reputation in the commercial community and its members are highly esteemed in mercantile and social circles.

— 106 —

KEHLOR BROTHERS.

City Office: Bell Main 1050; Kinloch D1537. Mill in East St. Louis:

Bell Bridge 656; Kinloch B943.

This firm may justly be called the foremost representative of its branch in this part of the West, being the owners of two of the largest mills in the United States, the Kehlor Mills in East St. Louis, and the Rex Mills in Kansas City, with a combined capacity of nine thousand barrels of flour per day. They use exclusively thebestqualitiesof winterwheat, and the flour produced by them stands unsurpassed and without a rival in domestic and foreign markets. (Their patent roller flour was awarded a medal at the Pan-American Exposition held in Buffalo in 1901.) Both mills are equipped with the best of machinery. The Rex Mills are considered the finest in the whole country, and frequently visited by millers and mill builders from all parts of the world, who have heard or read of them, and want to see their interior arrange- ments. Mr. James B. M. Kehlor, the founder, and since many years sole proprietor of the firm, is a native of Scotland; came to America when only eighteen years old, and brought with him the proverbial Scotch industry and perseverance, the characteris- tic qualities of the men from that country. His first enterprise consisted in a paper mill in Wisconsin, to which later on a flour mill was added ; after disposing of his property in the Northwest he came to St. Louis in 1864, and established, in partnership with George W. Updike, the commission house of Kehlor and Updike in New Orleans with St. Louis as princi- pal shipping point, the headquarters of the firm being in New Orleans, where Mr. Kehlor took up his residence. The business at the latter place was given up in 1869, whereupon Mr. Kehlor returned to St. Louis, where the firm continued operations until 1873. They purchased the Laclede and afterwards the Pacific Mills, both of which ceased to exist years ago. Mr. Updike sold his interest in 1873 to Mr. Kehlor, who then admitted his brother^ John Kehlor, into partnership under the style of Kehlor Brothers. The mills in East St. Louis and Kansas City became the property of the firm in 1892, and gives employment to about three hun-

— 107 —

dred and fifty hands. Their output is sold all over the United States and largely exported to South America, Europe, South Africa and Australia. Mr. John Kehlor was only for a short period associated with his brother, and died years ago, but the firm remained unchanged. Mr. James B. M. Kehlor is one of the most active, energetic business men of St. Louis, largely interested in various important enterprises and a very prominent member of our Merchants Exchange and also of the Kansas City Board of Trade. The office of the firm occupies a suit of rooms in the Merchants Exchange Buildincr.

H. W. BECK,

FEED and Sl^ED WAREHOUSE,

2001, 2003 and 2007 Pine Street.

Bell, Main 1164. Kinloch, D51.

H. W. BECK & SONS,

FEED AND SEED CO.,

HAY, GRAIN, SALT AND FLOUR.

5701 to 5709 Manchester Av.

Linden 724. Kinlocb, C1609.

— 106

KEHLOR BROTHERS.

City Office: Bell Main 1050; Kinloch D1537. Mill in East St. Louis:

Bell Bridge 656; Kinloch B943.

This firm may justly be called the foremost representative of its branch in this part