Madison County, Ohio - Chapter 19: Town of London, 1915 (part 2 of 2)

There were three wells driven. Well No. 1, from which the temporary supply of water for testing the mains and standpipe was taken, is seventy feet deep and flows within three feet of the surface. This well was tested to the capacity of eight hundred thousand gallons daily with no apparent decrease in the volume of flow. Well No. 2 was the startling wonder, spouting water in a large stream twenty-seven feet above the surface. It is one hundred and fifty-six feet deep, and is supplied with a sixteenfoot screen to prevent sand from mixing with its flow. Around it is built a stone reservoir, with cemented bottom, thirty-one feet in diameter and sixteen feet deep, with a capacity of one hundred thousand gallons of water. Over this was placed a twelve sided building with a pagoda roof. Windows give a good view of the flowing well and cistern. Well No. 3 flowed 'six hundred thousand gallons of fine water daily when tested. Its depth is one hundred and sixty-five feet, and flows a five-and-one-half-inch stream twelve feet above the surface of the ground. A mammoth cistern forty-three feet in diameter and twenty feet deep, with a capacity of two hundred thousand gallons, stores the water. This cistern was covered with a water-tight floor, except in an eighteen-foot building supported on iron pillars. On the inside of this structure was placed a three-foot walkway supplied with railing and balcony, from which visitors can see the wonderful and capacious cistern.

The pumping station is a neat, brick building built on a ten-foot stone foundation, forty feet square, with an ornamental slate roof and practically fireproof. The smokestack is sixty-five feet high, built of octagon pressed brick. 'The power is supplied by one complex-compound pumping engine of one million two hundred thousand gallons daily capacity and one duplex engine of eight hundred gallons daily capacity. These pumps are of the Gordon make (Hamilton, Ohio), and were furnished by the Boughen Engine Company, of Cincinnati. The boiler-room has two fifty-four-inch, twelve-foot steel boilers, filled by a strong pump of the same manufacture as the others. Armstrong Brothers furnished the boilers. The pumps are so arranged that one or both can be' used, likewise the boilers. Ordinary service pressure is generated by the stand-

Failure Of Municipalization Plan

. The waterworks plant was opened on Thursday, December 12, 1890, by a big celebration, consisting of a long parade, showing the various industries of the town. The board of trade presented John P. Martin, the builder of th: plant, with an Peony goldheaded ebony cane.

At an adjourned meeting of the council on. the aight of ibacainy: Deceniner 16, 1890, a proposition was presented to that body and un ordinance passed looking toward the purchase from John P. Martin of the water-plant just completed, with all its appurtenances for the sum of one hundred and forty thousand dollars, subject to the approval of the voters at a special election called for Monday, January 12,,1891. If the proposition was approved by the people, the clerk and mayor were to issue one hundred and forty bonds of one thousand dollars each, payable in thirty years from date, with five per cent. interest, and redeemable in ten years in blocks of twenty thousand on

_ six months' notice. The rules were suspended and this ordinance was read three times and passed, every member of the council but one voting for it.

At once a great popular "howl" arose, and a mass, or indignation, - Sentiives. was ealled for the following Wednesday evening in Toland hall, at which meeting-S. W. Durflinger presided as chairman. The members of the council met the same evening and made a move toward undoing their action of the night before. A.resolution was introduced repealing the ordinance calling for a special election. It was given one reading and adjournment was taken until Thursday night, at which adjourned session the ordinance was given a second reading and was laid over until nine o'clock, Friday morning, January 19, 1891, at which time it was repealed.

The waterworks people took steps to force the mayor and council to call the special election, but their application for a: writ of mandamus was overruled by the court.

Another artesian well was driven in September, 1894, by John Calkins, of Newton Falls, Ohio, to the depth of one hundred and seventy-five feet, of eight-inch pipe. It tested eighty-five thousand gallons capacity for twenty-four hours. In June, 1895, another well was put down.

About 1897, a fire broke out in the Gould planing mill that threatened to wipe out the whole village. The firemen claimed they were almost powerless to resist the flames, because of the very low pressure in the water mains. At its next meeting following the village council notified the water company and later refused to use the water from the fire plugs or pay the water bills. In 1900 the water company sued the corporation for water rent and damages. After a hard-fought period of litigation the case was compromised with a judgment against the village in favor of the water company. On August 23, 1901, an ordinance was introduced before the council to sell seven seventhousand-dollar bonds to pay the claim. This ordinance was passed and the bonds were sold on October 18, 1901, to M. H. White, of Shepherd, Michigan, at a premium of six hundred and ninety-seven dollars. Other bonds were issued later to cover the remainder and the judgment was paid off.

In 1899 C. P. Fisher was made the superintendent of the London waterworks. In April, 1905, the waterworks at Washington C. H., owned by the same company, was also placed under his charge, and Mr. Fisher is at present superintendent of both of these plants. .

approaching when it will be necessary to make provision for the lighting of the village of London by some artificial means, and as the present rate of gas is exorbitant in price, therefore be it

"Resolved, That a delegation of this council, including the mayor, be appointed 'to visit Circleville, Pickaway county, and examine the improved incandescent Edison light 'and determine as to its cost and practical utility."

On March 20, 1885, an ordinance was introduced before the council and read once, providing for the lighting of the streets by the Thompson-Houston Electric Light Company. However, it was voted to renew the contract with the Gas Company for gas lighting and the contract was approved on August 14, 1885. 'This settled the' question of street lighting for five years and the electric-light agitation remained quiet until June 14, 1889, when the council gave a ten-year contract and franchise to J. C. Winchester, of the London Electric Light and Power Company, at an annual cost of three {thousand four hundred and forty-five dollars for sixty-five posts. On December 13, 1889, another contract with the same J. C. Winchester was rushed through the council, calling for forty lights at eighty dollars per light or totalling thirty-two hundred dollars, and repealing the old contract with the same party. Members of the old gas company incorporated as the London Light and Power Company and hoped to claim the contract and franchise made by the council, and a long legal battle followed.

- On January 17, 1890, Winchester contracted, with the Thompson-Houston Electric Light Company, of Boston, for the putting in of an electric-light plant within sixty days. The plant was to consist of two dynamos - a fifty and an eighty - and one one-hundredhorse-power engine. Winchester proceeded to erect his poles and was stopped by an injunction issued by Judge David D. F. Pugh, of Columbus, Ohio, applied for by "The London Gas Light Company," plaintiff, against John C. Winchester and his associates under the name of and style of "The London Electric Light and Power Company, of London, Ohio." On March 22, the council by its attorneys, Badger & Murray, and Winchester, through his attorney, G. W. Wilson, filed an answer to the injunction.

In the latter part of May, 1890, another light company was formed in London organized by J. R. Atchison, Ed. Armstrong, Will Cartzdafner and D. C. Badger, which ciaimed to be connected with neither of the two contending firms and hoped to be able to receive the contract and franchise. On May 30, the council considered an ordinance providing for the people of London to vote on the electric-light question and repealing all other ordinances previously passed. The section calling for an election was dropped and the ordinance as finally passed, on August 1, simply repealed the contract made with Winchester. At the same meeting at which this step was taken the contract with the London Gas Light Company was renewed for the period of one year, at eighteen dollars per light yearly - moonlight .schedule - and one dollar and fifty cents per thousand feet for private consumption. The officers of the gas company at that time were: William Jones, president; G. G. Green, Woodbury, New Jersey, secretary; George Van Wagener, acting secretary; directors, E. R. Florence, S. W. Durflinger, and Toland Jones, not more than ten shares being owned in London.

On October 31, 1890, an ordinance was read by the clerk giving ihe gas company a ten-year franchise and contract at one dollar and twenty-five cents per thousand cubic feet. This ten-year contract was voted down on December 5, 1890.

An ordinance providing for the lighting of the village of London by artificial gas for the period of five years from August 18; 1891, was presented on October 2, 1891. The ordinance called for the lighting of the street at eighteen dollars per year per lamppost, with a rate for public and private buiidings of one dollar and twenty-five cents per thousand cubic feet. The contract was to hold for a term of five years and gave the

A number of London citizens, in April, 1893, organized the Madison Electric Light and Power Company, with a capital stock of ten thousand dollars for furnishing light and power for private and public consumption. This was the result of steps taken by the waterworks company to ask the council for a franchise to erect 'poles and supply private houses with electric power. The waterworks company's request was tabled.

Municipal Lighting Plant

City Solicitor Bruce P. Jones, on February 15, 1895, submitted a report on the necessary steps to be taken toward a municipal lighting plant. A resolution to issue and sell twenty-five thousand-dollar bonds for the purpose of erecting an electric light plant and submitting the question of issuing and selling the same to the voters of the town at the following spring election was introduced and read. This was passed. on March 1, 1895, and the result of the election was as follows:

On September 27, 1895, the clerk was instructed to advertise for bids on the purchase of fifteen thousand-dollar electric-light bonds. On November 12, 1895, at a special meeting, the council hired Frank B. Rae of Chicago, to superintend the erection of the light plant. The bonds were sold to Seasongood & Mayer, of Chicago, at a premium of one thousand three hundred and seventy-six dollars and twenty-five cents, November 9, 1895. The plans and specifications submitted by Engineer Rae for the construction of a plant, the erection of lines and poles, etc., were actepted December 5, 1895, and the contract for the installation of poles, lines, etc., was given to the Electrical Installing Company, of Chicago, for three thousand nine hundred and sixty-five dollars.. Bids onthe remainder of the work were rejected. A lot was bought of J. C. Bridgman for three hundred dollars, near the Pan-Handle tracks, in the southwestern part of town, the railroad company agreeing to put in a siding and to pay for its light. January 3, 1896, the sale of five thousand dollars more in bonds was advertised, and on January 10 the contract for the dynamos was given to the Ft. Wayne (Indiana) Electric Corporation for five thousand nine hundred and sixty dollars and fifty cents. On January 17, 1896, the contract for the construction of the brick power house was sold to Core & Kulp, of London, for two thousand seven hundred and ninety-three dollars. The contract for the engines. etc., went to the Buckeye Engine eo eens. of Salem, Ohio, for two thousand seven hundred and thirty dollars.

On July 29, 1896, Engineer Rea reported the plant completed and in excellent shape. On August 1, 1896, the council hired H. Herser, formerly of the Ft. Wayne Electric Corporation, as electrician; William Placier, of London, as engineer and fireman, and Charles H. Harper, of London, as lamp cleaner and carbon placer. On August 14, 1896, two thousand dollars more in bonds were sold, making a total issue of twenty-two thousand dollars.

The electric plant was run on a money-losing basis for a few years, at the end of which time a board of trustees was created to govern it. This board was created in 1900 and consisted of Charles Butler, William Cartzdafner and S. P. Trumper. 'These trustees met on September 25, 1900, with the council and asked for two new boilers of one hundred and fifty horse-power, one engine of two hundred horsepower, one incandescent light machine, with a capacity of from fifteen hundred to eighteen hundred, totaling about seven thousand dollars in improvements. This meant another bond issue and a resolution was passed on September 28, by the council to submit the question to ihe voters of the village, which was done and voted favorably upon. Six one-thousanddollar bonds were sold to Feder, Holxman & Company, Cincinnati, and one more to the Madison National Bank, of London. This new equipment was put in and the plant put on a paying basis, which the trustees have managed to maintain to this day.

On March 31, 1893, the London village council voted six hundred dollars to pay Frank Snyder for the work of preparing plans and specifications for a sewer system. What these plans consisted of or what detail was carried out according to instructions is not revealed by the records. 'The mayor's report for April 12, 1895, says that former councils had spent seven hundred dollars on sewerage, and that the board of health had resolved to sewer the town. Evidently very little was accomplished.

An ordinance declaring it necessary to provide for the construction of a sanitary sewer and a sanitary-sewer system and a sanitary sewage-disposal works and to acquire a sanitary sewage farm for the village of London, was introduced to the village council on November 10, 1904, the sewage-disposal farm to be located on the land of Jane T. Butler. Highty per cent. of the whole cost of the improvement was to be borne by the property holders and was to be assessed per front foot on all lots or lands abutting, assessments to be levied in five equal annual installments, with interest on deferred payments at five per cent., the remaining cost, including appropriations, proceedings, damages, etc., to be paid by the village. The council appropriated four and forty-three hundredths acres of land belonging to Jane T. Butler in surveys Nos. 8446 and 9500, on March 31, 1905.

At the same meeting the council passed an ordinance "to improve by constructing a sanitary sewer and sanitary-sewer system and sanitary-sewer disposal works and acquire a right-of-way for said sewer and acquire a sanitary-sewer farm for the village of London, Madison county, Ohio." The plans and specification accepted called for two inain sewers - the first main to have three lateral and five sub-lateral mains; the second main to have five lateral and four sub-lateral mains.

The building of the sewer system was supervised by City Engineer Herschel McCafferty. The disposal plant was constructed by D. E. Sullivan & Son, of Columbus. The system was accepted by the council, on the recommendation of the city engineer, in April, 1907. Few changes, with the exception of a few lateral mains have been made in the system since that time.

The council provided, April 1, 1905, for an issue of thirty-five bonds for sixteen hundred dollars each, totaling fifty-six thousand dollars, at five per cent. interest. According to the report of the city engineer the sanitary-sewer system, outside of the disposal plant, cost forty-six thousand, four hundred and sixty dollars and thirty-one cents. With the disposal plant the system cost about seventy, thousand dollars.

London Postoffice

More than one hundred years have elapsed since the first mail was handed out by a postmaster in London. The honor of being the first postmaster falls to Robert Hume, who was appointed by President Madison on February 12, 1813. The complete list of London postmasters since that time, with the dates on which they assumed the office, follow: John Moore, September 4, 1815; Pazzi Lapham, October 10, 1834; John Rouse,

There are now eight rural routes radiating from London. The dates of their establishment are as follow: Route 1, August 15, 1900; routes 2, 3, 4 and 5, September 2, 1901; routes 6 and 7, December 15, 1903; route 8, December 15, 1905. The carrier of route 5 takes a sealed pouch daily to Sedalia, the only postoffice in the county so served. City delivery in London was established on December 1, 1911, with three carriers and one sub-carrier. At the present time there are four daily deliveries in the business section and two in the residential section. In addition, there is also one early morning collection of mail. It is interesting to note that London has seventeen incoming and outgoing mails each day.

The London office was raised from fifth to four class in January, 1865; and from third to second class on July 1, 1902. The postal savings department was established on September 19, 1911, but has never been very liberally patronized here. The local office force now consists of the postmaster, assistant postmaster and three clerks. The present assistant, J. B. Emery, has held this position since he first entered the office, on December 27, 1890. The office has been at the present site since 1902; prior to that year it had been located for many years in the room now occupied by B. F. Wildman.