Winona City (part 1 of 2)

Winona City

known as the seat of the United States land office and an aspirant tor future lionors as the coming commercial capital of the southern part of the state. Two years later and the little city liad taken on civic honors, lier first charter election held, and it was manifest that her population was not less than 3,000. Two years more and the product of the grain fields of the state had outgrown the demand of home consumption, and the golden stream that poured across her eastern frontier to find a market in the older east began to be measured. The acreage of wheat that year was 124,792 acres, and the number of bushels harvested 2,874,415. To consume this product there was a population of about 170,000. At the usual estimate of nine bushels per head of the population, the home consumption would be, in round numbers, about 1,300,000 bushels, leaving for export of that year's crop a little in excess of 1,050,000 bushels, and of this amount Winona exported 405,000 bushels. The exports of the crop of 1858 were about one-third of that amount, and of this 130,000 bushels were forwarded by Winona grain-dealers. The returns from year to year show that Winona did not lose her hold on the grain trade of the state. The following carefully compiled table, made by the editor of the "Winona Daily Republican," D. Sinclair, Esq., shows the Winona wheat shipments for a series of years :

The last two or three years' compilation included the entire grain shipments over the Winona & St. Peter railroad, and as it was almost impossible longer to keep the run of the actual shipments from first hands, the compilation was discontinued. In 1868, when the grain shipments reached as per above table, the amount of 2,432,080 bushels, Winona rated as the fourth primary grain market in the Tnited States, Chicago, Milwaukee and Toledo alone leading her in this respect. No pains were spared to center this immense grain trade at this distributing point, and this intelligent effort was crowned with such success that it soon raised Winona to the very front rank of Minnesota cities, and gave her an impetus in the way of progress that has tided her over the shoals of two seasons ol financial depression into the haven of assured prosperity. During the ten days ended July 24, 1875, the shipments of wheat from Winona were 100,000 bushels. Until railway communication was established with the eastern markets, tliat is, for about twelve years from the opening up of the export trade in wheat at this point, all shipments were by river, and the scene along the Winona levee during the months that navigation was open was indeed a busy one. This new industry came most opportunely to Winona, at a time when she was just recovering from the financial depressi(m of 1857-8, and under its impulse and the returning prosperity her population almost doubled in the five years from 1860 to 1865, notwithstanding the nation was involved in bitter and protracted civil war during almost that entire period. During the next five years she more than doubled her population, and was conceded without question the third place in importance and population in Minnesota. As was natural, the growth of the little settlement on Wabasha prairie began along the front of the great river whose current, unused for ages by larger craft than the canoe of the aborigines, had of late years felt the ploughing keels of mightier craft, and borne the burdens of a growing commerce. The dedication of the original plat, among other reservations, for public use and pleasure, stipulated for a levee stretching along the sandy, gravelly margin of the river for about 2,000 feet, from" Walnut street on the east to Washington street on the west, and running back from the river to Front street. The foot of Center street touched this public levee as nearly as possible in the center, as its name indicates. Fronting this levee, almost at its eastern extremity, the cabins of the pioneers and the shanties of the first merchants were clustered in the early days of 1852-3. Later, the warehouses of the grain-dealers clustered around the outskirts of the levee, and the whole face of trade was turned toward the Father of Watei-s, whose broad tide floated the commercial ventures of the growing metropolis of southwestern Minnesota.

The same year that saw the land office established here witnessed the erection of the first sawmill on the river bank east of the public levee, and the following year a planing-mill was added. Following these, in the same year that the city was incorporated. Laird & Norton's mill and Youman Bros' mill were erected, and the lumber manufactures of the city took form. These latter establishments are still in vigorous existence, each year, almost, adding to tlicir facilities and stiti'eiiing- the linancial backbone created out of comparatively nothing by the successful management of the business itself. This interest has grown with the growth of the city, and new enterprises of a similar character multiplied until the manufacture of plain and dressed lumber has attained a value over $2,500,- 000 per annum. The manufacture of flour, a comparatively recent industry, was early begun by the building of the Fogg mill, at the extreme west end of the town plat, in 1856. The mill was not a success, and for nearly twenty years thereafter the great grain market of Minnesota did not manufacture flour for her own consumption. The building of the L. C. Porter mill in 187-1- was the beginning of the milling enterprise of the city, which in the short space of eight years has reached a production of over half a million barrels of flour per annum. The new impetus given trade by the general interest taken in the establishment of manufacturing concerns of all kinds-^ as wagons, plows, carriages, machinery, agricultural implements, harvesting machines - has been most marked during the past four years, within which period the city has more than doubled her manufacturing capital and her manufactured products of all kinds, besides creating new channels for her industries and marvelously multiplying her resources. In all this the citizens, whose business energy and foresight have built up so prosperous a business, have not forgotten the arts of beautifying the city and rendering its exterior pleasant and attractive. As was to be expected, the wisdom that stretched ita constructive hand over the bottomless sloughs and rugged bluffs that environed the city, and made over and across them a highway for the freightage of a vast inland district, that wisdom did not neglect the home necessities of broad streets, good crossings, sidewalks and shade. When the flrst settlement was made at this point there was one solitary tree on the great Wabasha flat. To-day, not thirty-two years later, the city of 13,000 population is literally embowered in shade, and her streets and public parks and private grounds are vast reaches and masses of vivid greenness, tiie luxuriant foliage rustling most [jleasantly in the summer south winds, and shutting out the burning glances of the midday sun, so severely felt in this high latitude. The three parks, Central, First and Third Ward parks, as they are respectively designated, were dedicated to the city by the original owners of the town plat. Central ])ark lies just to the east of Center street, and between Fifth and Broadway streets. It occupies a square of .'500 feet, crossed transversely bj broad paths of hard gravel, the rest ot the ground covered with a beautiful carpet of rich green sod, which is kept close shaven, and with the shade-trees preserved from the hand and foot of vandalism, without being denied a free enjoyment to all civilized beings. The band-stand is placed near the center of the park, and on Friday evenings the square presents a most enlivening appearance. On this evening, during the summer season, an openair concert is given, and the broad, well-sprinkled streets surrounding the park are literally crammed with carriages, as are the sidewalks with camp-stools, promenaders, baby-carriages, bicycles and other indications tliat the city is taking its ease. These concerts are provided for at the public expense, privately arranged for, and are a delightful feature of the summer attractions of the place.

When the great fire of 1862 swept clean the business of the place, and so many presaged the death of the young city, it was in fact but the clearing away of the old wooden structures, that upon their unsightly ruins might be laid the substantial foundations of tlie solid blocks of brick and mortal- that have risen in their place. This work of building has kept pace with the growing prosperity of the city, until to-day whole blocks of solid brick stretch along the main business thoroughfares of the city, and give an air of substantialness and permanency to the trade of the city, thoroughly in keeping with the confidence, everywhere felt by her capital and trade, that this permanency is real. The residence portion of the city is also most creditable to the taste of the citizens, and evidences the pride they feel in the city they have built. Elegant dwellings, spacious grounds, velvet lawns, charming beds of color in flower and foliage are found all along the principal residence streets; and outside these grounds the ornamentation is continued in broad borders of greensward, extending from the sidewalks toward the center of the street from ten to twelve feet, and rising above the driveway from ten to twelve inches. The sod on these borders is kept as closely shaven and well watered as the lawns, and the whole eft'ect most grateful and cooling to the senses as one walks or drives along the thoroughfare in the delicious fragrance of an early summer evening. The public buildings (with the single exception of the court-house, which time will some day remedy) are a credit to the city. The state normal school, erected at a cost of $165,000, occupies two full blocks in a charming situation, well back from the river, and its grounds are most delightfully laid out, unfenced, and always kept green and fresh during the growing season. The high school building and the ward scliools each occupy a full block, and the spacious grounds are kept in most excellent condition. The ample roominess ot these grounds, and the provision made for the comfort of the children, as well on the play-grounds as within the sclioolrooms, are a noticeable feature of the Winona public schools. As in her schools, so in her churches Winona has taken a most commendable pride. The (,'atholics, Episcopalians. Congregationalists, Presbyterians and Methodists have all that could be required in this direction. The Episcopal and Congregational churches are built of solid stone, and the latter of these structures, erected in 1882, is really a poem in stone, an architectural gem in granite. The bend in the river at this point has placed Winona within a ]K)cket in the bluffs, and looking out in any direction your eye rests on the surrounding heights, rising above the spires of the city and overlooking every object of interest. Across Winona lake lies Wof)dlawn cemetery, that beautiful city of the silent, than which no more quiet resting-place, in which to sleep after life's fitful fever is over, can well be found. It lies just within a little upland vale, and encroaching very perceptibly upon the rugged steeps that inclose the little valley on the west. Here the ground has been terraced and sodded, and broken into irregular forms, and in all things made to preserve its character as the dear resting-place for the weary when the di-eamless sleep into which life sooner or later quiets itself shall come. The morning beams salute the faces of the terraces as the sun climbs the eastern sky and peers over the bluff in the orient. The midday sun warms the cool shadiness and penetrates each leafy nook and green retreat, the westering sun retires behind the height up which the terraced mounds are built, and his long shadows fall like the hovering wings of peace, regretful to depart, over the beautiful resting-place of Winona's dreamless sleepers. Turning from the quiet of Woodlawn to the bustling activities of the city, witliout more particularly noting the stages of her growth, her magnificent system of water-works, or aught else connected with her public spirit or private ways, leaving unsaid all so easily inferred, the growing wealth of her citizens, the superior character of her j)ublic schools, tiie intelligence of her people, the social culture of her homes, the health fulness of her atmosphere, the beauty of her surroundings, and the charming views of natural scenery alternating in wood and water colors ; we close this article

The erection of the pumping-works and standpipe for the water supply of the city, $60,000; the Wisconsin Ferry road, $15,000; churches erected and repairs made, $35,200, of which amount $22,000 was expended in the erection of St. Joseph's (Catholic) church, corner of Fifth and Walnut streets ; school grounds, $7,600; the state normal, $5,000; city schools, $2,000; business blocks, $35,000, of which $12,000 is for the erection of Wakefield's block, corner of Center and Fourth streets. It contains by odds the finest drygoods salesroom in the city. Elevators and warehouses, $25,000; Krumdick & Co. having expended $15,000 for their new elevator, corner Front and Lafayette streets. The expenditures for improvements by manufacturers for buildings and machinery were: Youmans, Hodgins & Brothers, $34,000; Laird, Norton & Co., $21,000; The Winona Lumber Co., $61,000; The Winona Wagon Works, $27,500; The L. C. Porter Milling Co., $14,000; The Bohn Manufacturing Company, $9,000; The Winona Mill Company, $5,500; Empire Lumber Company, $8,000; Schroth & Ahren, $4,000; The Gate City Carriage Works, $3,000; The Winona Plow Works, $2,000; Noonan & Stetwagen, $1,000; to planing-mill and other manufacturers smaller amounts, the whole aggregating $194,000. The number of dwellings erected and substantially enlarged was about 130, while many others were more or less improved. The aggregate expenditures for this work footed $200,000. The finest residences erected being those of Charles Horton and William Garlock, the former costing $10,000, the latter $7,000. The sum of $3,000 was expended in improving the gasworks and extending the mains; $6,000 on railway improvements; $21,000 on suburban, and about $20,000 that it would be difficult to catalogue, making a grand total in building improvement for the year of $622,000, a little more than double the volume of 1881. The bank reports for the same period, 1882, show loans and discounts, $1,009,214; deposits, $1,042,457; interests, $83,581; exchange, $8,754; giving a total of $2,144,006.

Business. Amount 1882. Increase

The summary for the whole - trade, banking business, buildings and improvements, given us for 1882 - is $12,865,053. Increase over 1881, $5,097,251. These figures are supposed to be official and correct, being from tlie Board of Trade report for the current year 1882.

The number of bushels of grain handled here, shipped at or through this point by Winona dealers, or converted into flour for shipment, for the year ending with this summary. May 30, 1883, and estimated for the months of June and July, are :

The proceedings of the city council in most matters of general interest connected with city affairs have been sufficiently indicated in treating of the various departments of this municipality. There are, however, some facts remaining unnoted, or cursorily alluded to, that are of sufficient historical importance to require a place in this record. On November 28, 1868, the city council, by an ordinance passed on that date, and duly published, contracted with the La Crosse, Trempeleau & Prescott railway to deliver to that company the bonds of the city of Winona, to the amount of $100,000, rate of interest and time of maturity of bonds duly specified, as also the conditions upon which the bonds should become payable, with the stipulation that if these conditions were not met, the bonds should be returned to the mayor ot the city and canceled. The material condition on the part of the company was made the construction of a railway from La Crosse, in Wisconsin, to a point on the Mississippi river opposite Winona, and the erection of a railway bridge at this point to unite the tracks of the La Crosse, Trempeleau & Prescott railway with those of the Winona & St. Peter railway in this city, thus affording an outlet to the trade of Winona by rail to the eastern markets. This accomplished, $75,000 of the bonds were to be delivered to the railway company, and the other $25,000 when the railway company should construct a track along Front street, from the depot of the Winona & St. Peter railway to Chatfield street, in the eastern part of the city. The franchises of this railway corporation subsequently passed into the hands of the Winona & St. Peter Kailway Company, and on March 1, 1869, the city council passed an ordinance authorizing the Winona & St. Peter railway to lay down and operate the track on Front street, under certain conditions, which if fulfilled should be accepted as a performance of the previous contract between the city and the La Crosse & Trempeleau company. The time at which the track was to be laid and the bridge built having expired, and the work remaining undone, the bonds were forfeited to the city and returned. This ordinance contained the following section : "Sec. 10. The city council of the city of Winona shall have the right to amend this ordinance at pleasure, and from time to time make such rules and regulations regarding the mode of using and operating said track (on Front street) as they may deem necessary for the safety and good order of the city." Some immaterial amendments were made to the ordinance that same year. The conditions as to time not having been fulfilled, November 4, 1872, the council revised the ordinance and indelinitely extended the time of constructing the track. August 25, 1873, the city council amended tliis railway ordinance by the addition of the following section: "Said track shall on such terms and for such compensation as may be reasonable and just, be subject to the use of any railroad company upon wliich authority for such use may hereafter be conferred by the city council."'' All subsequent amendments to this railway ordinance contain the same provision stipulating for use of tracks by any other authorized railway company. It would appear from this that the qualifying clause restricting the right of the Winona & St. Peter railway to absolutely control the track on Front street was not in the original ordinance of 1869, but in an amendment made thereto three and a half years thereafter. On this point there is a confliction of statement, the city attorney, who drafted the ordinance of 1869, declaring positively that the restricting clause, purporting to be made as an amendment, was in the original draft of that instrument, and was a material part of the ordinance of 1869. To determine this question, which is certainly one of possible importance, a search was made for the original transcript of the ordinance in the archives of the city council, but neither that document nor the book of ordinances, in which it should be found engrossed, can be discovered. For some reason the fu-st volume of the ordinances of the Winona city council has disappeared from the councilchamber, and its whereabouts remains at present unknown.

This history is not as important in itself as it becomes taken in connection with the most important suit at civil law the city of Winona has ever been a party to, and on account of which the city of Winona has ofttimes been charged with repudiating her obligations. This suit, in which the city of Winona was plaintiff, was brouglit to secure judgment against the Minnesota Construction Company in the sum of $125,000 damages sustained by the city on account of the construction company having unlawfully secured possession of the bonds of the city to the amount of $100,000. These bonds had been voted at a special election ordered by the council, and held on April 21, 1870, as ])rovided by act of legislature of March 2, authorizing the issue of $100,000 bonds to aid in the construction of the St. Paul & Chicago railway. On April 23, of that same year, tlie council of the city contracted with the

Minnesota Railway Company to deliver to tliem the bonds of the city to the amount of $100,000, conditioned in effect upon the following terms : Either in their own name, or that of their successors or assigns, or in the name of the St. Paul & Chicago Railway Company, the Minnesota Construction Company were to build and equip a good and substantial railway from the city of St. Paul to the city of Winona, put it into o])eration within three years from the date of contract, and connect at Winona by bridge or ferry with the La Crosse, Trempeleau & Prescott railroad. The agreement thus entered into expressly sti])ulated for the return of the bonds, which were to be placed in the hands of a depositary, if the road was not built according to contract ; it being further provided tliat "in no case shall the said bonds, or any part thereof, be delivered by said depositary to the said Minnesota Railway Construction Company until a truss railroad bridge is constructed across the Mississippi river at Winona, connecting the said St. Paul & Chicago railway or the Winona & St. Peter railway with the La Crosse, Trempeleau & Prescott railroad, at the present terminus of the lastnamed railroad." This terminus was across the river in Minnesota, at a point north of the foot of Washington street in this city. The road was built by the construction company within the time specified in their contract, to a point just within the western limits of the city, where it connected by switch-tracks with line of the Winona & St. Peter railway, over whose lines it reached the terminus of that road near the foot of Washington street. From this point it crossed the river on a Howe truss bridge to the terminus of the La Crosse, Trempeleau & Prescott railroad on the Wisconsin side of the river. The tresslework over the street leading to the terminus of the railroad bridge from the Winona & St. Peter railroad was built by this latter road under authority of a franchise granted by the city council. May 8, 1871. The Minnesota Construction Company having accomplished their work as stated, made ap- ]>lication to the depositary of the bonds, H. Thompson, Esq. (cashier of the First N'ational Bank of St. Paul), for their delivery, and, in order to secure immediate possession of them, covenanted to indemnify the depositary for any loss he might sustain by virtue of their delivery. Upon this, without notifying the city council, the bonds were surrendered by Mr. Thomson to the construction company, and were by them negotiated and sold. The city council refused to pay the coupons maturing, and suit was brought against tlie city by N. A. Cowdrj, in tlie United States circuit court at St. Paul, in May, 1873, for tlie sum of $12,000, Mr. Cowdy claiming to be a bona-iide purchaser of the bonds of city. The city defended the suit, Hon. Thomas Wilson, ex-justice of the supreme court, conducting, being employed as counsel. The verdict was for the plaintiff.

Pending the result of a rehearing of this suit in the higher courts. Judge Wilson advised the city to acknowledge its liability for the bonds, and bring suit against the construction company for damages in fraudulently converting the bonds to their own use ; the city claiming that in no sense within the meaning of the contract had the road been built to make a continuous connection between St. Paul and Chicago, through the city of Winona, as was the understanding of the city when she issued her bonds as a consideration for such continuous railway" connection. The suggestion of the counsel for the corporation was taken, and suit for damages to tlie extent of $125,000 begun. The parties to the suit mutually agreeing to have the case tried where a more impartial hearing might be had than in either Winona or St. Paul, the case was called before Judge Samuel Lord, of the fifth judicial district of Minnesota, at Owatonna, Steele county, June 25, 1876. The case was argued before the court only, the counsel mutually agreeing to dispense with a jury, and the decision was for the plaintiff. Motion was then made by the attorneys of the construction company for a new trial. This motion was overruled, whereupon an appeal was taken to the supreme court. Case came before the supreme court October 17, 1877, and an opinion rendered by Judge Cornell, reversing the decision of the lower court and ordering a new trial. The grounds on which this decisio:^ was rendered not being co.nsidered fatal to a successful issue of the case, Judge Wilson prepared for a new trial, and asked leave to amend his pleadings. Motion to amend was granted, an appeal from that decision taken to the supreme court, who sustained the order to amend, and the case came up for trial before Judge O. P. Stearns, (if Duluth, whom Judge Lord liad requested to try the case, there being no jury empaneled. The trial began March 4, 1879. and as ably argued as it could be by the most distinguished counsel in the state. The case was taken under advisemeiit l)y the judge, who rendered his decision on July 29 of that year, in favor of the plaintiff. Motion for a new trial was made by defendants before

Judge Stearns -T motion denied, and appeal taken from the order of the court, denying new trial, to the supreme court, which aiiirraed the order. Plaintiff then entered judgment for the amount of damages with costs, and defendants appealed from the judgment. The supreme court affirmed the judgment. Defendants then moved for a reargument of the whole case before the supreme court. The motion was granted; the case argued before the supreme court, who reaffirmed the judgment of the lower court. The amount recovered by the city in this action was $182,650, and included bonds, interests and cost of suit. By this decision of the supreme court all accounts for payment of bonds by bona-fide purchasers were rendered unnecessary, the city paying the bonds as they were presented, the Minnesota Construction Company having returned the greater part, which had never been negotiated. In the amended pleadings above alluded to the counsel employed by the city alleged additional nonfulfilment of contract by the construction company, in that, while the contract called for the building of a Howe truss bridge across the Mississippi river, to connect the railway tracks on the Minnesota and AVisconsin shores of the river, so much of the bridge as carried the railroad tracks above the sandbar in front of the city was built on piles. From after developments the conclusion seems justified that the Minnesota Construction Company were hardly acting in good faith with the city, and that the bridge contract was more in the interests of the Winona & St. Peter road, and the system of lines of which it afterward became a part, than in that of the St. Paul & Chicago road; or, if not that, that this latter road, having in prospect the iDridging of the Mississippi river at North La Crosse, and a continuous road through that city from St. Paul eastward, had only availed themselves of the tracks of the La Crosse, Trempeleau & Prescott railway, and the Winona & St. Peter's lines within the Winona city limits as a temporary expedient for which the building of the bridge was a necessity. (For history of the railway construction see railway article.)

By act of the city council May 22, 1883, an ordinance was passed granting to T. T. Hayden, John A. Mathews, Royal D. Cone, C. H. Porter, Charles Horton, and their associates, successors and assigns, the exclusive right and authority, for a term of twenty - five years, from June 1, 1883, to lay down, maintain and operate lines of street railway within the corporate limits of the city, along such streets, alleys, etc., as the city should permit, and to operate them by other ])Ower than steam, subject to certain conditions, the more important of whicfi were, substantially, that the tracks were to conform to the street grades as now or hereafter established; that the rails should be laid in such manner as to otter the least possible obstruction to carriages crossing them, and the street crossings planked on both sides of the rails and between them wherever required by the council; that these -rails should be laid as nearly as possible in the center of the streets and alleys traversed, and the track be of such width and laid in such manner as that ordinary road wagons and carriages could run upon them most readily; that over all bridges having double roadways there should be a track laid in each roadway, if required by the council ; that over paved streets the track within the line should correspond to that on both sides thereof, and that the city should not be liable for damages on account of stoppage of travel during the repairing of streets, alleys, bridges, etc., construction of sewers, gas or watermains, unless the same was unreasonably delayed. A license fee, to be determined by the council, was to be paid into the treasury of the city on or before June 1 in each year, for every car put upon the tracks and operated by the company, and in case of non-payment a penalty was to attach. The company were furthermore required to place a sufficient number of cars upon their lines to accommodate the traveling public, the night cars to carrj' signal lamps and the animals used to have a bell attached. The maximum rate of speed was fixed at seven miles per hour, and the maximum cost of fare five cents over line and its extensions within the city, except when cars are chartered for a special purpose. The city guaranteed the company against obstructions and interference in running their cars, by giving them prior right of way over all their tracks, and imposing a fine of from $5 to $50 and costs of prosecution for every violation of this stipulation. It was also provided that in case the company tailed to operate any of their tracks or extensions, or to lay down new lines on such streets as the council should require, then such failure of the com])any should be a forfeiture of the whole of the neglected line and its extensions, and the council might grant authority to others to build new lines or o])erate the neglected one, as the case might be. The company were given five days from the date of the ordinance to file their acceptance of the conditions, and a certain number of miles of track were to be laid before the close of the present year. The track to be laid this year was to be from the point where the

Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railroad now crosses Fifth street to Chatfield street, and another line running from the present passenger depot of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul road to the depot of the Chicago & Northwestern road. The first-named line will traverse the city from west to east, along such streets as the city council shall designate, that from the Winona Wagon Co's works in the extreme west of the city to some terminus one block east of the macadamized road leading to Sugar Loaf Bluff, a total distance of about two and a half miles. The line connecting the railway depots will intersect this first-mentioned line at right angles, traversing the city from north to south, a distance of one and a quarter miles. It will obviate all necessity for farther reference to this matter to add that the day following the passage ot the above ordinance the street railway company promptly filed their acceptance of the conditions and limitations expressed in the ordinance with city recorder, and entered upon the construction of their lines.

Watek-Works Department

The Winona water-works, though of recent establishment, are a just source of pride to her citizens, and have called forth the most eulogistic approval from as competent authority on hydraulics as is to be found in the United States. The friends of the movement, however, had a hard up-hill fight, lasting for a period of ten years, before they were able to accomplish their object and secure the needed supply of water for fire protection and street and domestic purposes. A brief sketch of these efforts will very properly preface a description of the present water-works system of the city.

Early in the summer of 1869 the question of an adequate water supply for the city was a subject of general discussion, and in August of that year a joint committee of citizens and members of the common council had the matter committed to them for examination and report. This committee called into existence by act of the city council was formed August 13, 1869, and, having fully considered the whole question involved, made their report to the Winona city council January 3, 1870. The members of that committee on behalf of the council were John A. Mathews (mayor) and aldermen Ball, Ealphe and Garlock ; citizens, W. H. Laird, E. D. Williams and J. J. Randall.

and after discussing the relative merits of the "Holly " and " Reservoir "" systems, pronounced in favor of the former and recommended its adoption. En the meantime the Winona board of trade had been resuscitated, after tliree and a half years of practical non-existence, and while the question of water-works was under discussion in the city council, the board of trade throttled the project, and condemned it by a vote of thirty to ten. This action was followed by a resolution declaring as the sense of the board that "the city charter be so amended as to prevent the city council from incurring any indebtedness exceeding the sum of $10,000 for any one purpose, without first submitting the question to a vote of the people." This quietus was rendered additionally effective by a further resolution of the board of trade, adopted two weeks subsequently, " That no system of fire protection other than that now in use is necessary." Buried under these accumulating resolutions the question of waterworks died out of the public consideration at least for that time. A little more than three years passed, and on the 23d of February,

1873, the legislature of the State of Minnesota authorized the city council to issue water-works bonds to the amount of $80,000, provided, of course, the requisite vote of the citizens could be obtained. By ordinance of the council of the city of Winona, passed May 18,

1874, the creation of a department of water-works for the city was declared, and the question of issuing bonds to establish pumpingworks and lay water-inains was ordered submitted to the people at a special election to be held some weeks subsequently. This action of the city council was rescinded of their own motion, in so far as deferring the election indefinitely was concerned, the committee having the matter in charge reporting that the citizens were not prepared to vote u]>onthe question. The agitation, however, continued. A committee of the city council, of which Prof. W. F. Phelps was chairman, was instructed to prepare a report on the advisability of constructing water-works for fire protection and other i)urposes, to embody in their report the approximate cost of constructing the same, and submit the report in full detail to the common council for their action. The committee reported, and their report was unanimous in favor of the Holly system of water-works. Elaborate speeches in support of the report were made by Prof. Phelps, Hon. E. S. Youmans and others, and the opinion expressed that there would be no opposition to the movement, once it was fully understood by the citizens. In the meantime the report was ordered printed while awaiting action of council, and on the 17th of November of that year, 1874, the city council declared itself in favor of the prosecution of the work, and ordered a special election to be held December 7 next ensuing, at which time all who desired the establishment of the works should vote yea and those opposed nay. Tlie day of election came ; polls were opened, and the returns showed that the project had been literally snowed under by a vote of 775 nays to l-tl yeas. Thus ended the second chapter in the history of water-works enterprise in the capital of southeastern Minnesota. This action ot the citizens was most unwelcome to the more considerable property-holders of the city, particularly to those whose interests and possessions were in the business center of the city, as it was only too apparent that they were at the mercy of circumstances should a fire once break out and gain headway in the business portion of the city. The danger which thus threatened the commercial interests of the place was doubly menacing to the manufacturing industries, which were principally lumber, and specially liable to destruction by fire. To effect their own self-protection, the lumbermen on the levee had connected heavy force-pumps with their engines, laid water-pipes in their mill yards and provided hose ready to be attached at a moment's notice. Feeling comparatively secure on their own account, and seeking some way of turning this security to the advantage of the business circles of the city, the two principal lumber firms opened correspondence with the city council. This communication came before that body July 27, 1875, and was a proposition from Youmans Bros. & Hodgins and Laird & Korton and C. H. Bohn to connect the water-works of their several establishments by a water-main running through the business portion of the city down Third street, with a view of furnishing "better protection against fire to the business houses, sprinkling the streets and supplying water for domestic purposes. The proposition was laid before the council by his honor the then mayor of the city, A. Hamilton, and the assurance given that should the offer of the firms, as ab(we cited, be accepted they would undertake to keep steady pressure in the mains and provide ample power for forcing water wherever desired along the proposed route. The proposition as thus submitted did not assume any definite shape, but was simply presented as a suggestion that might lead to practical results. The scheme appeared feasible upon the face of it, and the city surveyor, J. B. Fellows, was instructed to visit Clinton, Iowa, examine the recently- erected water-works at that point and submit a carefully digested report to the city council. Tlie visit was made in company with city recorder Schrotli, and included an examination of the pumping works at Davenport and Rock Island as well as Clinton. The results of their observations were duly incorporated in a report and presented to the city council, together with the length and estimated cost of pipe necessary to connect the works of Messrs. Youmans Bros. & Hodgins, Laird & Norton and Conrad Bohn. From this report' it appeared that the total length of pipe required to make the connections with various mills, including L. C. Porter's grist-mill, and lay the mains, would be 1,44:0 teet of twelve-inch pipe, 6,^50 feet of ten-inch pipe. The estimated cost of pipe, weight and thickness of metal scheduled, was placed at |9,970.74. This report was ordered printed (we have not been able to secure a copy of it) and the recorder directed to correspond with pipe manufacturers with reference to price of pipe. Bids for the supply of pipe according to specification were opened September 7, 1875, and contract for a limited number of feet awarded to Dullard & Hayes, of Buffalo, New York. This action taken, bids were solicited for digging mains and laying pipe, and the finance committee of the council directed to make a temporary loan of $10,000 for water-works expenditures. Thus it was that after six years' working and waiting the first actual step was taken to supply this long-felt want.

Before the close of the year 1875 there had been laid one mile one hundred and thirty-nine rods and seventeen feet of pipe ; of which 1,582 feet were 12-inch pipe, 4,000 feet 10-inch pipe, 2,000 feet 6-inch pipe, and 150 feet 4-inch pipe. These pipes were laid at a depth of seven feet, and through them connection was made between the water pipes of Youmans Bros. & Hodgins, Jat the intersection of Fourth and Wilson streets, and the pipes of Laird, Norton & Co., on Second street, also with the L. C. Porter Mill Co., on Front street. Thirteen Mohawk hydrants were set that year, and eight stop-gates. The work as done was quite satisfactory; there was no trouble from freezing that winter, and no friction other tlian was easily remedied in the working of the hydrant's shut-off. Tiie entire cost of the work to the close of that year, 1875, was $11,632.05. The work was finished so late in the season that no water-rents were collected. The pipes as laid extended through F()urth street from Wilson street to Laird street, through Franklin street from Fourth street to Porter's mill, and through Kansas street from Fourth street to Laird and Norton's, on Second street. Work was resumed in the spring of 1876, and during that year there were one mile and one hundred and sixtyfour rods of pipe laid ; seventeen Mohawk hydrants and four new stop-gates set. Tlie entire cost of construction for the year was $13,881.03, and the water-rents collected aggregated $443.03. The pipe laid during the season was distributed as follows: on Fourth street, 1,180 feet; Broadway, 740 feet; Second street, 1,826 feet; Laird street, 1,464 feet; Kansas street, 392 feet; Winona street, 320 feet; Johnson street, 708 feet; Wabasha street, 1,140 feet; Center street, 56 feet; and hydrant connections, 160. The construction of mains was rapidly pushed during 1877, during which season nearly five miles were put down. Of this amount 3,716 feet were of 12- inch pipe; 3,786 feet of 10-inch pipe; 5,425 feet of 8-inch pipe; 12,616 feet of 6-inch pipe; and 360 feet of 4-inch pipe connecting mains with hydrants. There were 35 Holly hydrants and 18 new stop-gates set during this year, the whole cost of construction for the year being, with interest on drafts unpaid, $32,235.90. Waterrents received for the year, $1,572.33. This work as thus scheduled was performed under the directions of city surveyor John B. Fellows, and the total length of pipe laid (mains and hydrant connections), during the years 1875-6-7, was seven miles three hundred rods and two feet, at a total cost of $57,889.60, including repairs to that date. The connections between the pumps in the Laird & Norton and Youmans' Bros. & Hodgins mills, and the mains on Second and Fourth streets, proving insufficient, measures for increasing their capacity were adopted in the spring of 1878. The mains on Second and Fourth street were the leading arteries of the water supply at that time, and were constructed of 10 and 12 inch pipe, while their connections with the pumps were made through 6-inch pipes, thus entailing the disadvantage of working through small pipes into large ones instead of through large pipes into small ones. The work of remedying this defect was begun in April, 1878, city engineer John B. Fellows, under whose directions an 8-inch pipe was laid from the corner of Liberty and Front streets, connecting witli Laird & Norton's pumps, south a few feet across the railroad track, thence west parallel to the railway tracks to Market street, thence south on Market until an intersection was made with the 12- inch pipe on Second street, thus affording an additional outlet of eight inches from Laird & Norton's pumps into the 12-inch main

OTi Second street. On this line was set one 8-inch valve in Laird ife Norton's engine-room, and three Holly hydrants at various points. At Porter's mill the 6-inch main was intersected with a cross 6x6 and 8x8, and a 6-inch valve set to shut off the water from the mill in case of emergency, and turn the whole force of the pumps through the city mains into the hydrants. At the same time there was laid a 6-inch pipe from the west end of the 10-inch main on Fourth street, running north from Fourth on Wilson street to the north line of Second street, and thence through Youmans Bros. A: Hodgins' millyard to tlie new puni]) in the sawmill of that firm. There was also a branch line from this pipe, extending westward along Third street to a 6-inch connection with the pump in Youmans Bros. & Hodgins' planing-mill. This gave the 10-inch main on Fourth street a double connection with the pumps of Youmans Bros. & Hodgins, through two separate pipes, and was considered to afford the city all the water they could possibly need for some years to come. The cost of the work for 1878 was $4,851.53; water-rents for the year were $1,689.30, and the additional number offset of pipe laid, 2,987 feet.

During tlie years 1879-80 comparatively little work was done in the way of laying additional pipe, and no changes were made in the operation of the work of supply. The pumps were doing all that their capacity enabled them to do, and the water service of the city was performed as satisfactorily as it could possibly be under the existing order of things, but it had become apparent to those best acquainted with the situation of affairs, that the employment of additional power at the pumps, and an independent system of water supply for the city were only a question of time. The city had now, 1881, about nine and a-half miles of mains laid in the streets, and ninety-two hydrants for tire purposes. To meet the expenses of this work the bonds of the city were issued to the amount of $40,000. These bonds were to bear interest at seven per cent ])er annum, and run for a period of ten years. The actual cost of laying pipe and maintaining the water supply of the city to this date had been somewhat in excess of $60,000, and this excess of $20,000 had been met by drafts upon tlu' city treasury. The new lease of life taken by the city in 1879, as evidenced by the rapid multiplication of her iiiamifacturing industries, and the effectfive work of stimulation performed by the Winona board of trade since its recreation in 1879 had led the capitalists of the city to indulge in brighter hopes of her future. The years 1880-1 gave promise of an assured growth, and under the new incentive thus given to trade and manufacturing industry, public spirit seemed to revive, and among other works of a public character the establishment of such a system of water-works as would eifectually settle the question of adequate water supply for decades to come was seriously entertained. The project took form in the winter of 1881-2, under the administration of his honor H. W. Lamberton, mayor, and was put into immediate execution. The council's committee on water-works was at that time composed of J. L. Brink, Wm. Noonan, Wm. Garlock and John Dotterwick, the first-named gentleman ' chairman. Every conceivable system of water supply, that gave promise of answering the end designed, was duly considered, and after a thorough canvass of all, and careful examination by committees and experts into their practical workings, cost of construction, economy of service, steadiness of supply, etc. etc., the city council in February, 1882, decided in favor of the standpipe system. The issue of $60,000 water bonds had been previously authorized, and the issue was made July 1 of this year, 1882. These bonds were negotiated at par, have twenty years in which to mature, and bear annual interest at five per cent. The character of the work having been decided upon, G. C. Morgan, manufacturer and mechanical engineer, of Chicago, was employed to draw plans, make specifications and superintend construction of the whole work, his salary for all services rendered being fixed at $2,500. The plans presented by him and adopted by the council were for constructions as follows: one well, one boiler-house, one pumphouse, one standpipe. The work thus begun by the city council was not intermitted when their successors came into office in April, 1882. H. W. Lamberton was re-elected mayor, and the water committee was constituted as follows : A. W. Gage, chairman ; Wm. Garlock, C. H. Lamberton and Fred Bauman ; Messrs. Brink, Noonan and Dotterwick being no longer members of the council. The super vision of the work from April, 1882, until the pumps of the new works were started on the first of the following December, at which time the city relieved the Messrs. Youmans Bros. & Hodgins and Laird, Norton & Co. from all responsibility in supplying the mains with water, was committed to the chairman of the council's committee on water-works, A. W. Gage, a prominent contractor and builder in the city. Mr. Gage devoted almost his entire time to the service of the city during the months intervening from April to

December, and the manner in which that work was performed is abundantly a])proved in the result. During the nine years that the firms of Youmuns Bros. & Hodgins and Laird, Norton & Co. had been pumping for the city the cost to the corporation aggregated from $3,000 to $5,800 per annum, and the work was most satisfactorily performed ; but, as before stated, the wants of the city had outgrown their capacity to supply, and the erection of the works had become a necessity. The well from which the pumps draw water is of solid masonry, fifty feet in diameter and twenty-eight feet deep. The walls are laid up with stone and cement, and are practically water-tight. All the water that comes into the well filters through the sand u])on which the walls rest and rises to the level of the river surface through the well bottom. The excavation for the well is made thirteen feet below extreme low-water mark, insuring at least thirteen feet of water at all times. This water, creeping through its natural sand filter, rises in the well and reaches the mains as clear as crystal. Pure water being one of the ends sought, the well has been carefuU}' protected against all filth or vermin from whatever source, and being covered with a fire-proof roof may be considered a permanent fixture. At a distance of twenty feet from the well on the east, at the foot of Johnson street, stands the boiler-house. This is a substantial brick structure, 34 X 34 feet, resting upon a solid stone foundation, with a chinmey sixty-five feet in height, the stone foundation of which is twelve feet square. In the boiler-room are two non-explosive Firmanich boilers, with a Baragwanath heater and a Worthington duplex feed-pump for forcing water into the boilers. These boilers are the invention of Firmanicli, whose name they bear, an old sugar-refiner of Buffalo, New York, and are rated at a capacity of seventy-five horse-power each. Adjoining the boiler-room on the east is the pumping-room, built of brick and stone, as is the boiler-room, both of them covered with a good slate roof.

The pump-room is 34x46 feet, and is supplied with two Worthington pumps - one high pressure and the other a k'W pressure pump. The high pressure pump, designed for fire use exclusively, is of duplex construction, with 29-inch steam cylinders, 16-inch water plungers, and a 24-inch stroke. This pump has a maximum capacity of 3,000,0(>0 gallons of water in twenty-four hours. The low pressure engine for domestic purposes is a compound duplex, its low pressure steam cylinders 24|-inches in di- ameter, its high pressure steam cylinders U inches in diameter, with 14-inch water plungers, and 18-incli stroke. This pump has a capacity o! 2,000,000 gallons per twenty-four hours, and the two an aggregate of 5,000,000 gallons, or 160,000 barrels every twentyfour hours. The steam cylinders and chests ol the pumps are handsomely jacketed with black walnut, oil finished, and banded with brass. ' The water cylinders are painted in lake colors, nicely varnished, and modernly ornamented with gold. The pump-room is very tastefully fitted up. The floors, where not covered with oilcloths and mattings, are painted in imitation ot tessel work, and this, with the ornamental work of the cylinders, the bright chandeliers and the stands of flowers, gives a very pleasing variety of color and a cosy cheerfulness to the place, which make it quite an attraction. The credit of this adornment, in great measure, is due to T. H. Botham, chief engineer, and his assistant, H. C. Higgins. An electric fire-alarm connects this building with the headquarters oi the tire department in the city hall. Still east from the pump-room, a distance of 70 feet, rises the standpipe to a height of 210 feet above the cast-iron base and collar on which it rests. The standpipe proper is a wrought-iron tube 210 feet high, 4 feet in diameter, and varying in thickness from seven-sixteenths of an inch at its base to three-sixteenths of an inch at the top. The sections of which it is composed were solidly riveted together as it lay upon the ground, and the whole raised to its place by Captain Woolverton, formerly ot the United States navy, who achieved considerable notoriety in some gunboat operations on the lower Mississippi river during the late war. It was quite an engineering feat to raise that hollow tube of iron, 210 feet long, from a dead level to a living perpendicular ; but the work was skillfully accomplished without accident and the great bore solidly anchored in its upright position September 29, 1882. The foundation upon which it rests is a solid substructure of wood, stone and iron. The excavation is made in the sand to a point below extreme low-water mark, and at this depth the first course of timber is laid. These timbers, 12x12, 6X8 and 3X12, are laid transversely, sohdly bolted together, and being below low-water mark, will be constantly covered, air excluded and decay prevented. Upon this timber foundation the masonry of massive stone is built up. Some of these blocks of stone are of immense size, from 16 to 25 inches in thickness, and all nicely fitted and solidly bedded together. This stonework is carried up a height of 17 feet 8 inches above the timber substructui*e on which it rests, and stands about 6 feet above the natural surface of the ground. Upon this massive stone foundation, and firmly ancliored to it, rests the standpipe, from which the pressure upon the mains is supplied. From this foundation also rises the inclosing masonry work of stone and brick surrounding the standpipe, yet leaving a space of 2 feet and 8 inches between the inclosing wall and the iron tube. This space is filled with a spiral staircase of iron leading to the top of the standpipe, which is decked over and guarded with an iron railing. The extreme height from the ground to the railing above is about 218 feet, and the view from this elevation is one of the finest conceivable. The first 58 feet of the inclosing wall are of rustic rockwork with cut-stone trimmings, the balance of brick trimmed with cut stone. The standpipe is connected with the street mains by a 20-inch pipe, and by its steady, uniform pressure relieves both mains and machinery from the shock of the recoil caused by opening and shutting the hydrants when under great pressure. Of the 20-inch pipe there was laid in the fall of 1882 a total distance of 434 feet, and of 16-incli pipe a distance of 762 feet. This pii)e was laid in Johnston street, and through it connection was made with the 12-incli pipes on Second and Fourth streets, which are the main arteries of the water supply to the east and west ends of the city. At the time this connection was made with the city's pumping-works, a 16-inch gate was put in on Johnson street, just south of Second street, and a 12-inch water-gate on Second street, east side of Johnson. During this year, 1882, there were laid, in addition to the pipes already mentioned, 3,333 feet of 8-inch pipe, through which connection was made along Fifth street to the wagon-works in the west end of the city. The entire length of the city mains as now constructed, April 1, 1883, is within a small fraction of 11 miles, and through them are supplied 102 hydrants belonging to the city, and 15 others, which, though considered private property, are under control of the city for fire purposes. The actual requirements of the city per day of twenty-four liours is about 500,000 gallons on an average, only one-fourth the capacity of the low pressure pump. A test of the standpipe pressure shows a force of about 96 pounds to the square inch in the vicinity of the ])ipe when it is full. At a distance 1^ miles from the pumps the pressure drops to from 80 pounds to 85 pounds per square inch. This latter pressure is estimated to main- tain from twelve to fifteen streams of water, if forced through an inch nozzle, to the height of from 100 to 125 feet. The entire cost of the pumping will be about $54,000, and the expenditures of the city for all purposes of water-works construction will not fall much short of $150,000. O. H. Clark is the present water commissioner for the city.

Police Department

The administration of the department of police for the city as now conducted is of comparatively recent date, the very office of chief of police being one of which the city charter makes no mention, nor ever has. The office of marshal, created by the original act of incorporation, in 1857, and recognized in all subsequent changes, revisions and amendments of that instrument, is the only office to which is committed the execution of the orders of the council in matters pertaining to the public peace, good order and cleanliness of the city, and all other matters usually falling under the head of police regulations. Reference, it is true, is occasionally made in the charter to police officers, but only in the most general terms, although the city ordinances make frequent allusions thereto, and specially define their duties. From a careful perusal of the city charter and amendments thereto, and the various ordinances passed by the council bearing upon this subject, it appears that the city marshal is the sole responsible head of the police department of the city, and by virtue of the ordinance of September 12, 1872, is ex-officio "acting chief of police," with power to appoint a deputy chief of police, said appointment subject to the approval of the council. This ordinance of September 12 was supplemented with one bearing date October 7 of that same year, but in neither of these instruments is there any reference to the method by which the members of the police force are to be selected, whether by vote of council, or by appointment of chief, with or without the approval of council. The present mode of procedure is for the city marshal, acting as chief of police, to make such nominations from the several wards as are in judgment most fitting, and present the same to the city council for their iipproval or rejection, the vote of the council being final in that matter. The list of successive city marshals elected or appointed, just as the demands ot the charter at any particular date required, will be found in the tabulated list of city officials given in a former chapter of this work. Tracing the police history of the city during the twenty-six years of its existence - from that beginning in which one marshal had all the leisure necessary to health, to the establishment of tlie force upon its present basis as a department of the second class, there is nothing of general interest to demand record. The police department, like all others, has simply grown with the growth of the city, until a more perfect organization of the force was required, the patrol of the streets in regularly established beats, at least upon the more public thoroughfares, and in the vicinity of the saloons, having become a necessity. This, being determined upon by the city council in the spring of 1882, was effectively carried into operation by city marshal W. W. Miller, in his capacity as chief of police. As now existing, the police force of the city consists of a chief, a deputy, a captain, twelve ])atrolmen and six special policemen. The city is districted into eight regular patrol beats and a night patrol assigned to each. The special police are stationed one each at the Central, Madison, Washington and State Normal school buildings, and one each at the passenger depots of the Chicago & Northwestern and Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railways. These special police are also employed as night watchmen, the expense of maintaining the depot watchmen being largely borne by the companies in whose interest they are employed. The headquarters of the police department is in the city building on Lafayette street, between Third and Fourth streets, and within two blocks of the center of the city. The rooms occupied by them are the chief's office and an outer office, 12x16 feet, out of which the chief's office opens on one side, the city station on another, and the engine-room of the city fire department on still another. The chief's office is a comfortable room, 11x12 feet, provided with two desks, gas-jets, carpeted, connected with the depo*:s, school-buildings, telegraph-offices, and principal business-houses of the city, through the city telephone exchange, and with the pumping-room of the water-works by an electric fire-alarm. The station-room, for taking care of those run in by the police until duly disposed of according to law, is a solid brick roouj about 20x26 feet, has four cells and a corridor, and can accommodate from twenty to twenty-eight persons over night. The cells are of wrought iron, after the latest and most approved plans of construction. The work of the department of police for the twelve months ending March 31, 1883, may be summarized as follows: Arrests made during the year were 653, of which number 312 were tramps or vagrants, who were given a night's lodging in the station-house and against wliom no criminal complaint was lodged ; the remaining 341 were drunk, disorderlies, criminals, et Id genus omne. Of these latter about five per cent were what are usually termed the dangerous classes, and were subjects for state's prison, upon conviction of the crimes charged. The collections made for the benefit of the city treasury during the year by the police department, arising from licenses, fines, etc., aggregated $9,800, itemized as follows: Fines, $1,685; licenses collected for sale of liquors, $7,200; hall licenses, $265 ; auctioneer's license and per cent of sales, $225 ; circus license, $265 ; and peddlar's license, $160. The present officers of the force are: chief of police, W. W. Miller; assistant chief of police, L. K. Esty ; captain of police, Louis Hoffenbecker. The salaries of the officers and men composing the department are: chief, $1,000 and fees, equivalent to $1,800 per annum; assistant-chief, $65 per month and fees, equivalent to $1,100 per annum ; captain, $60 per month; and patrolmen, $50. The special police at the various school-buildings act also as janitors of the buildings, and receive from the city treasury the sum of $55 per month each. The special police at the passenger depots of the railways are paid $5 each per month from the city treasury, *and the balance of, their salary is paid by the companies employing them.

Fire Department

At the time of the incorporation of the city, Winona was entirely unprotected against damage and destruction by fire. There was not at that time even a bucket brigade or an organized effort of any kind, or any volunteer association having for its object the prevention of loss by fire, although the population of the city was fully 3,000. The first attempt to aftbrd the city the much-needed protection was made by the city council in the summer of 1857, a few months after the city was duly incorporated. Acting under the authority of the council, two companies were formed, and for their equipment engines were ordered from Boston, hose purchased, engine-house erected, reservoirs for water supply dug, appropriations for firemen's uniform made, and the fire department formally established upon a very respectable basis, the outlay of the city for fire purposes at that time aggregating about $5,000. The first company organized was known as the ''Fire King," of which 0. S. Richardson was foreman, the other officers of the company being

J. C. Fuller, H. S. Terry, H. B. Cozzens, H. B. Upman, Sam. Melvine, J. E. Gable, R A. lloxtluill, M. M. Barker, J. C. Laird, D. Redenour and M. S. Gordon. The organization of the second company followed hard upon the heels of the iirst, and it is not unworthy of note, that of the committee of three who drafted its constitution and by-laws, one (W. H. Yale) was afterward lieutenant governor of the state, and one (W. Windom) became United States senator and secretary of the treasury. The engines ordered for the fire department by the city council were of the well-known Hunneman patent, and were considered at that time the best hand fireengine manufactured, but they were heavy of draught, and by the time the firemen had lugged them a few blocks, through the heavy sands of the city streets, they had little strength or breath left for ' ' manning the breaks " and keeping the pumps at woi-k. The agent employed by the council for their purchase was Mr. C. L. Richardson, foreman of Fire King No. 1, and he was restricted to an expenditure of $1,600 for the engines and $1,500 for the hose, the terms of payment to be one-fourth cash u])on the delivery of the engines in Winona, and the balance at the expiration of eight months. The engine-house built for their reception was located on north side Second street, between Center and Main, and was burned in the great fire of 1862, at which time the department had all its hose burned, and only saved their engines with the greatest difficulty. From Second street the engines were removed shortly after the fire to the old city building, corner of Fourth and Lafayette streets, now known as the Library building, and this was headquarters for the fire department until the present city building on Lafayette street was erected, in 1870. In 185T the city council ordered the construction of a large cistern or reservoir at the intersection of Second and Center streets, which was followed not long afterward by tlie construction of several others in various parts of the city - one being located at the northwest corner of the high school grounds, another on the west side of the gasworks block, another at intersection of Winona and Broadway, another at the corner of Washington and Sanborne, and still others in the western part of the city. These have long since been superseded by the watermains, as have the old engines by the new fire steamer and the hydrants of the water-works. The old engines themselves were recently sold, and the proceeds, $275, turned over to the city treasury. One of them is now doing duty at Sleepy-Eye, having been purchased by the authorities of Sleepy-Eye lake, in October, 1881, and the other by the city fathers of Waseca, in the following February, 1882. The organization of the fire companies was soon followed by that of the hook and ladder company, and these were supplemented in 1862 by the formation of bucket companies in the several wards. These bucket companies had quite a numerous membership, and that in the first ward had quite an elaborate drill. Each member was bound to provide himself with a bucket of a given make, so as to preserve uniformity in the brigade, and attend drill at specified times, and report with his bucket at the first firealarm.

These brigades were all formed early in 1862, but there appears to be no record of their services in the disastrous fire of July following. That calamity was a very unwelcome yet conclusive demonstration of the inadequacy of the fire department as it was then equipped, and its utter inability to stay the progress of any fire once it was fairly under way. It was, therefore, only a question of time for some more efficient means of protection against fire to be afforded to the city. This came in a measure five years later, in 1867, when the new steam fire-engine was procured, and more fully with the increased means of protection afforded by the city waterworks so recently completed. The new steam fire-engine. City of Winona, No. 1, built by Silsby & Co., of Seneca Falls, is an engine of the second class, and cost at the time of its purchase, in connection with the three hose-carts then furnished, the sum of $10,000. The fire department of the city as now conducted is in the main as it was instituted by the ordinance of 1872, and it will be sufficient for the purjooses of this article to present the department as it now is. The present equipment is one steam fire-engine, five hose-carts (three of them two-wheeled carts, and two four-wheeled), all hand-carts ; one hook and ladder truck, furnished with one sixtyfive feet extension ladder, one forty-five feet, one twenty-four feet, one sixteen feet and one twelve feet ; and about 4,000 feet of hose. There are six organized companies : Turner Hose Company, No. 1 ; Mystic Hose Company, No. 2 ; Live-Oak Hose Company, No. 3 ; Crystal Hose Company, No. 4; Alert Hose Company, ISo. 5 ; Excelsior Hook and Ladder Company. The Turner, Mystic and Live-Oak hose companies and the Hook and Ladder company have their quarters in the city building, which is the headquarters of the city government, containing tlie rooms of the city council, office of chief of police, and the rooms of the fire department. This building is a substantia] brick, 40x60 feet, with a tower rising eighty feet above the foundation, and furnished with a fire-bell weighing 2,500 pounds. The ground floor of the building is occupied with the engines, carts and furniture of the companies as above specified, and their hall for the transaction of business occupies a portion of the second floor. Crystal Hose Company No. 4 occupies what is known as the Jefferson school building in the first ward, and the Alerts are (puirtered in a building belonging to the department situated in the fourth ward. The hall of the firemen in the city building is 18x40 feet, and has been very tastefully fitted up by the department at an expense of about $000. A rich brussels carpet covered with ducking to protect it, elegantly upholstered chairs and sofa, chandeliers, ornamental dais, walls adorned with engravings and paintings,, together with the dress parade and presentation regalia of the officers, give the hall a most inviting appearance and speak volumes for the pride the firemen take in their surroundings. The officers of the fire department are a chief and two assistants, elected by the members of the several companies and confirmed by the council, and a secretary and treasurer elected by the board of directors, the board being constituted of one representative from each company and the officers of the department. Each company manages its own affaii'S, subject only to the general rules and regulations of the department. For some years past the department has received a stated sum annually from the city treasury. The amount at ])resent derived from that source is $1,500 a year, appropriated to the several companies, each of which receives $250 per annum. Of this sum ten per cent, $25 per company, goes into the general treasury of the department, the balance is the property of the companies, to be expended by them as they shall determine. All other revenues of the dejiartment are derived from the membership fees, which are $3 per member per annum, and from fines and the initiation fees of new members. The department is purely voluntary, the members providing their own caps, shirts, some of which are individual property, some the property of the companies, and all maintained at comparatively trifling cost to the city treasury, from which special appropriations are occasionally made.

The report of the chief engineer of the department to the city council for the year just closed, April 30, 1883, shows the number of active firemen connected with the department to be 132. Tlie engine is reported in good order, with the exception of suction hose, and all other equipments ready for effective service. The department has 4,000 feet of hose, 3,000 in good condition, and the report recommends the immediate purchase of an additional 1,000 feet. Mention is also made of the necessity of the department owning a team for hauling the hook and ladder truck and engine, a want sensibly felt by the members of the department, and which if supplied would A-ery materially increase its efficiency. This with an electric fire-alarm connecting the central station with the hose-houses in the first and fourth wards would very materially facilitate the prompt arrival of the hose companies at whatever point their services might be required, and also obviate the necessity of unnecessarily rousing the citizens by a general fire-alarm. The total number of fire-alarms responded to by the department for the year was twent^^-six. Of these eight were false alarms, four fires that resulted in no loss of property, and fourteen with loss, aggregating $7,750, upon which there was an insurance of $16,000. The officers of the department for the year beginning May 1, 1883, are : Chief engineer, A. W. Fuhrman ; first assistant engineer, Jos. Edwards ; second assistant engineer, W. T. Gage ; secretary, E. A. Ramm ; treasurer, John Von Rohr ; foreman of hose company No. 1, F. A. Moebus ; foreman of hose company No. 2, L. Koelmel ; foreman of hose company No. 3, T. Chappell ; foreman of hose company No. 4, M. Hanley ; foreman of hose company No. 5, M. Mackey ; foreman of hook and ladder, W. T. Gage.

Destructive Fires

Like all other cities, Winona has felt the effects of the ever-to-bedreaded "fire fiend." And yet, notwithstanding that her entire business quarter was at one time swept clean, it is a question if she has not been on the whole much more fortunate in escaping loss by fire than the average city of her class and character of business. The lumber interests of the city have always been a leading consideration, and the mills of this class, with their yards for piling lumber stretching along not much less than two miles of river front, of which they occupy at least two-thirds, have rendered the city peculiarly susceptible to destruction by fire, and yet it is certainly no exaggeration to say that $20,000 would cover all the loss sustained by the mills or to property in their vicinity from fire. For the first ten years of the actual settlement on Wabasha prairie there were no fires of sufficient magnitude to require specific mention, but the city had a rude awakening on the morning of July 5, 1862. The previous day, ''the glorious Fourth,'" had been celebrated with great enthusiasm ; the concourse of visitors from the surrounding country had been immense ; the streets were literally crowded all day ; the fireworks disjday in the evening was brilliant, and tlie city laid down to rest at a late hour, congratulating herself on having had a really successful celebration. Shortly after 1 o'clock on the morning of the fifth the cry of "fire" rang out on the air, quickly followed by the ringing of the alarm-bells. The flames, doubtless caused by the fireworks of the previous evening, were found to proceed from the rear of Clapperton's bakehouse on Center street. This bakery stood on the east side of the street, just north of the alley between Second and

Third streets, where the Merchants Bank now is. The fii'e-engines were promptly on hand, but the compactly-crowded wooden structures, among which the fire originated, were dry as tinder, and before the engines could be brought into use the fire had passed beyond control. The wind was blowing freshly from the south and east, and the fire was swept rapidly down the wooden row of buildings toward the corner of Second and Center streets, the very business center of the cit}^ In this vicinity there were a dozen families occupying rooms in the second and third stories of buildings, and many of these had barely time to escape with their lives, destitute even of sufficient clothing to properly cover them. The wind increased in strength as the fire spread, and despite all effort to confine tlie flames to the block in which they originated, they were driven across Center street and tlie block on the west side was soon in flames. Tliis occurred about half-past two o'clock, or a little over an hour from the time the fire was discovered. By three o'clock the fire had crossed Second street on both sides of Center, and the entire section of the city lying between Lafayette street on the east. Main street on the -west. Third street on the south and the river on the south was absolutely swept clean of buildings. Within these limits were comprised four full blocks of the most conij^actly built structures in the city and fully nine-tenths of its business houses and stocks of merchandise. To the heroic exertions of the bucket companies was owing the preservation of that section of the city lying west of Main street. The fire was checked at Main street a little after daylight, and the morning broke upon a scene of utter desolation.

The smoldering ruins of the principal business houses of the city told their own tale of loss irreparable to the trade of the young city. The piles of goods and merchandise scattered on the" levee and streets, some of it burning, much of it spoiled in the act of removal, told too plainly of ruined merchants and wrecked mercantile hopes. In tlie short space of from three to four hours 110 buildings were reduced to ashes and a much greater number of persons bereft of places of business, dwellings, goods, clothing, household efi'ects, etc., and in their place was left a scene of desolation only to be imagined, not described. The office of the daily and weekly "Republican " was wiped out with the rest, only the subscription and account books saved. The losses reported and published in the "Republican" of July 9, four days after the fire, which was printed at the office of the St. Paul "Press," shows an aggregate loss, as scheduled, of $299,- 875, upon which there was an insurance of $78,200. This schedule, as was to be expected, was most incomplete, and after investigations showed that the actual computable loss was about half a million of dollars, upon which there was not more than eighteen per cent of insurance. No loss of life occurred, nor is it known that any permanent injury resulted from such minor accidents as happened. The heaviest loser was IST. S. Wickersham, druggist, whose loss was placed at $20,000, upon which there was not one dollar of insurance. The losses ranged from $50 up to this amount, and was particularly disastrous in that so many small dealers were burned out, and those just commencing business totally broken up in trade, the losers of $5,000 or upward only representing seventeen per cent of the whole

Some time during the following September (date not accurately preserved) the old sawmill built by Wyckofi" & Hylands, afterward known as the Porter, Garlock & Van Gorder mill, caught fire from the smokestacks of the Laird & Norton sawmill, and was burned. The loss was $5,000, no insurance, and its destruction is referred to simply because it was the first mill of any kind ever erected in this city, having been built in the fall and early winter of 1855.

Standing just alongside of this sawmill was the planing-mill of Grant & Stevens, which narrowly escaped destruction at the same time, Mr. Grant remarking afterward that the "greatest luck he had had in connection with the mill was saving it under such circumstances," This satisfaction was short-lived, and the planingmill, also an old landmark, the first planing-mill built in the city, did not long survive the sawmill. This latter tire occurred July 27, 1863, at about half-past four in the afternoon, and in half an hour the mill and stock were totally consumed. The loss was about $7,000, upon which, as in the former case, there was no insurance.

On Sunday morning, March 12, 1865, another destructive fire visited the business portion of the city. This fire was just west of the section burned over in 1862. It originated in the west end of tlie Hubbard block, corner of Main and Second streets. Three storerooms in Hubbard's block and three other business houses with dwellings or offices overhead were destroyed. The progress of the fire was ra]>id, but the wooden building in which it occurred being fianked by brick structures on Main and Second streets, and tlie wind being in the east, not driving the flames across Main street to the wooden buildings there, the tire was circumscribed in its limits and burned itself out in about two hours, the disorganized condition of the fire department and the unserviceableness of the engines aflfording no relief in that quarter. The total loss was $50,000, divided among nearly a score of people. One-half this loss fell upon

5. D. Jackson & Co., who were damaged $25,000. one-half covered by insurance. Tliere were some narrow escapes, and some of the occupants of the upper rooms would doubtless have perished in the flames but for the timely assistance rendered ; most of these escaped in their night-clothing, losing all their eft'ects. The entire amount of insurance was $22,100.

manufacturing industries was destroyed ; this was the old gristmill erected in 1850, at the west end of town, on the corner of the block, diagonally across Second street from where Youmans Bros. & Hodgins' lumber office now stands. The alarm was sounded early in the evening from the whistle of Youmans Bros' sawmill, and it was at first supposed that the fire was in that mill. The gristmill was originally erected by one Fogg, and passed into the possession of H. D. Huff shortly afterward. It was never a successful venture, and after several attempts to keep the stones running it was suft'ered to lie idle. It was a strongly built two-anda-half story structure, and should have had a more kindly fate as the ]3ioneer flourmill in a city since noted for its successful milling operations. The mill was valued at the time of its destruction at about $12,000, upon which there was an insurance of about $7,000. Youmans Bros' mill had a very narrow escape and was on fire several times, but the efforts to save it proved successful. On the afternoon of Sunday, June 20, 1875, a fire broke out in the shaving-room of Mr. Conrad Bohn's mill on the levee, foot of Laird street. The wind was blowing from the south across the river, and the water-works pipes connected with Laird & Norton's mills did splendid service, effectually preventing the spread of the flames to the piles of lumber in the vicinity, and avoiding what might very easily have become a general conflagration. The fire originated in the boiler-room, where the engineer and watchman had been engaged in cleaning boilers, and had just started a fire a short time before the smoke was seen by the watchman, who was at that time at work in the upper story. The engines were immediately tried, but as there was not a pound of steam up the mill was left to its fate, as the pumps could not be worked. The internal arrangements for quenching fire were admirable, iron pipes running all through the mill, and had the pumps been supplied with steam the extinguishing of the fire would have been easily effected. As it was, only the safe, patterns, books, accounts, and some stock in the wa} of glass, tools, etc., were saved. The building was new, had been erected the previous season at a cost of $35,000, in addition to which loss there were several carloads of valuable lumber, among them some choice black-walnut, a large amount of finished work ready for delivery, and some expensive full glass fronts, glazed and stored in one of the upper stories. The entire loss footed up about $45,000, upon which there was a small insurance of" $6,000. The loss was more tlian personal ; it ert'ected ])uilding operations and threw a large number of persons out ot employment. Early in the morning of April 28, 1876, quite a destructive lire occurred on the corner of Main and Second streets, in a row of wooden buildings erected there after the great tire of 1862, and which had such a narrow escape when the Hubbard block was burned in 1865. The tire was contined to the four buildings on the corner, and only made no further progress because a substantial brick tirewall had been built in the rear of the buildings, and also on the east, in anticipation ot just such a catastrophe, and pending the erection of brick structures. The entire loss was fully covered by the insurance, $11,650. Here again the new waterworks ]>rove(l effective.

Three daj'S later a tire broke out on the levee in an old building known as the Riverside Hotel, an ancient city landmark erected by Taylor, Bennett & Co. and L. D. Smith & Co. in 1856. It stood near the corner of Lafayette street, and at the time of its erection cost about $6,500, and was the tinest building the city boasted at that time. It had a history. Was at one time tlie headquarters of the Transit Railway Company, now the Winona & St. Peter, who had their general offices in the building; was the United States land office, when L. D. Smith was receiver of that office in the flush days of Winona's early jn'osperity. It was afterward used as a high school building; then was i-etitted as a hotel, in which latter cai)acity it was not a success. At the time of its destruction it was owned by Mr. John Kendall, the wholesale druggist, and was rented and occu})ied. As some attempts had previously been made to tire the building, the general voice declared the act incendiary by which it was tinally destroyed. Mr. Kendal's insurance was about $2,500. carried by companies for which he was himself agent. The wooden block on the southwest corner of Center and Second street, in the very heart of the burned district, had been replaced by a substantial three-story brick, with stone basement, known as the Simpson block. About 1 o'clock a.m. on Sunday, January 14, 1877, tire was discovered in the boot and shoe store of Mr. Blanchard, on the tirst floor of the block. The alarm was immediately given, but the fire had gained too great headway to be arrested, and the entire block was doomed to destruction. There being no brick partitions, the fire swept through the entire structure from front to rear and from basement to topstone. The first flo(^r was occupied by S. Friend & Co., clothiers; J. L. Brink & Co., drygoods, and L. F. Blancluird, boots and shoes. The second story was occupied by various parties, as oifices, dressmaking and millinery rooms, etc. ; and the third floor was fitted for society halls, and occupied by the I.O.O.F., Sons ol Temperance and Temple of Honor. The principal loss fell upon the owner, Y. Simpson, Esq., and the merchants on tke main floor. Mr. Simpson's loss was $25,000, insured for $16,000; J. L. Brink, loss $12,500, insured for $15,000; L. F. Blanchard, loss $12,000, insured for $11,- 000, and S. Friend, insured for $11,500, which will much more than cover all his loss, as most ol his goods were removed. The entire loss was summed up at about $70,000, upon which there was insurance to the amount of $55,000. Damage was done some buildings on Center street, in the rear of the block, but not to any serious extent. The entire block, save the walls, which through the exertions of the firemen were preserved from injury, was immediately rebuilt at a cost of $40,000.

Two years later a fire broke out in the block on the east side of Center street facing Second, also within the old burned district of 1862, in a brick building occupied by A. Moses as a billiard hall and liquor store, and owned by Otto Troost. Adjoining this building was the wholesale crockery house of A. S. Gregory & Co. The fire was discovered early on Tuesday morning, or about midnight of Monday, March 3, 1879, in the basement of the Troost building, where Mr. Moses had stored a large stock of wines and liquors. The efiective work of the fire department saved the building from total destruction, but the damage by water, smoke and fire was so great that nothing of value remained. The loss to Gregory & Co. was largely from water and smoke, the floors being flooded and the roof burned away. Mr. Moses, loss was $10,000, insured for $4,500. Gregory & Co. were insured for $14,300, and the loss was about thirty i)er cent of that amount. Mr. Troost was insured for $4,000, which would probably cover the loss. Since this date there has been no fire in the business portion of the city of any magnitude.

Two fires that have occurred at the car and machine shops of the Chicago & Northwestern Kailroad must be briefly mentioned, and these will close the list. The first of these fires occurred in the car shop, a two-story brick building 140 feet long, 80 feet wide, engineroom 25^X27 feet. There were two planers, three saws, a matching machine, mortising machine, lathe, and some cars undergoing repairs, on the first floor, aTid the upholstering rooms and pattern rooms and some clioice lumber on the second floor. It originated in the attempt of the night-watchman to kindle a fire in the boileiroom with a too free use of turpentine, about six o'clock in the morning of October 21, 1881. The loss, as reported by master mechanic W. A. Scott, was about $10,000, and he pronounced it the result of gross carelessness. The explosion which followed the ignition of the turpentine occurred so close to the fire apparatus that before water could be turned on or pumps started the fire had gained too great headway to be controlled, and the building witli all its contents was a total loss ; no insurance.

The second fire at the Chicago & Northwestern machine shops occurred on the morning of April 11, 1883, at about three o'clock, and the cause of its origin is not accurately known. It was first discovered near the partition between the tinshop and the roundhouse, and spread with great rapidity. The size and character of the buildings are noted in article found elsewhere. The means at hand were insufficient to check the ravages of the flames, and the nearest fire-plug being at the wagon-works one thousand feet distant, some delay was experienced in getting the steamer to play upon the fire, the machine-shops lying outside of, the district reached by the water-mains. There were seventeen locomotives in the roundhouse at the time the fire started. Six of these were run out safely, the rest were more or less damaged. The roundhouse, machine-shop, blacksmith-shop, engine-room, boiler-house and tinshop were burned. The railmill, office, storeroom and carshop (rebuilt from the fire of 1881) were all saved. The direct loss was about $40,000. The indirect loss in patterns for shafting, etc., has no computable estimate. Before the fire the railway compan_y had determined to make some changes, enlarging their capacity and increasing the number of their workmen. This work was promptly undertaken as soon as the fire occurred, and tlie preparation of plans begun. The improvements, which will be pushed to completion as rapidly as possible, are, in brief, these : The old machine-shop will be rebuilt as a blacksmith-shop and boiler-shop ; the former blacksmith-shop will be rebuilt as a coppersmith-shop and engine-room. A new machine-shop will then be built on the south side of the main track, just west of the old machine-shop, one opening into the other. The new structure will be 222 feet long and 96 feet wide. There will be also a new oil and store room, 60x40 feet. The estimated cost of these improvements, and the machinery to equip them, will be about $80,000. When completed the mechanical force of the shops will be increased about thirty per cent.

Winona Postoffice

There is, perhaps, no one fact more significant of the almost immeasurable chasm that bridges the distance between the Winona of thirt}'^ years ago and the Winona of today than that which, according to "Nasby," is "postoffis." From the date at which Elder Ely was popularly said to have held the office in his hat, and which was perhaps much nearer the literal truth than is nowadays imagined, until today, is not quite thirty-one years, and yet what changes !

The first appointment of postmaster for the ofiice, now known as Winona, was made in July, 1852, at which time the ofiice was officially designated as Montezuma. The appointee was George S. Baker, who, being a non-resident, was ineligible, and never assumed the duties of the ofiice.