Various - The Bay State Monthly, Volume 3, No. 3
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Various >> The Bay State Monthly, Volume 3, No. 3
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[Illustration: THE PRESENT ANTIQUARIAN HALL.]
Worcester is exceptionally fortunate in its water-supply. This is
derived from two large reservoirs fed by running streams, each about
five miles distant from the city. One of these, called the Lynde-Brook
Reservoir, is situated in the township of Leicester. It was built in
1864, has a water-shed of 1,870 acres, and a storage capacity of
681,000,000 gallons, and an elevation of 481 feet above the City Hall.
The dam of this reservoir gave way in February, 1876, during a freshet,
and the immense mass of water was precipitated, with an unearthly roar,
into the valley below, destroying everything in its path, and carrying
rocks, earth, trees, and _debris_ to a distance of several miles.
The other, called the Holden Reservoir, is in the township of Holden.
This was built in 1883, has a water-shed of 3,148 acres, a storage
capacity of 450,000,000 gallons, and lies 260 feet above the City Hall.
There are also three distributing reservoirs at elevations of 177 to 184
feet above the level of Main street, and supplied from the two principal
reservoirs. Thirty-inch mains connect the reservoirs with the city. The
height of the water-supply gives a pressure in the pipes at the City
Hall of from sixty to seventy-five pounds to the square inch, which is
sufficient to throw a stream of water to the tops of the highest
buildings,--a great advantage in case of fire, rendering the employment
of steam fire-engines unnecessary in those parts of the city provided
with hydrants. The water is of excellent quality, being remarkably free
from impurities, either organic or mineral. The total amount expended on
the water-works from 1864 to December 1, 1884, is $1,653,456, and the
income from water-rates for the year ending December, 1884, was
$107,515. The uneven character of the ground upon which Worcester is
built is favorable to drainage, and advantage has been taken of this
fact to construct an excellent system of sewers, which thoroughly drain
the greater parts of the city. All abutters are obliged to enter the
sewers; and no surface-drainage nor cesspools are allowed. The result is
that Worcester is a very clean city, and few places can be found either
in the city itself or in the suburbs where surface accumulations exhale
unpleasant or noxious odors. To the influence of pure water and good
drainage may partly be ascribed the general good health of the
inhabitants, and the absence, during the last few years, of anything
like an epidemic of diseases dependent upon unsanitary conditions. The
sewers all converge upon one large common sewer, which discharges its
contents into the Blackstone river at Quinsigamond.
[Illustration: THE OLD SOUTH MEETING-HOUSE.]
In Worcester, as in most of the smaller cities of New England, the Main
street is the chief thoroughfare and the site of many of the prominent
buildings. This street runs north and south, and is about two and a half
miles long. Near the north end, at Lincoln square, are the Court-House
and the American Antiquarian Society building. The latter contains a
large number of valuable and rare books, much sought after for reference
by students. Farther on toward the business centre are the Bay State
House--Worcester's principal hotel--and Mechanics' Hall. This hall is
one of the handsomest and largest in the State, and has a seating
capacity of about two thousand. In the centre of the city, bordering
upon Main street, is the Old Common, the original park of Worcester, now
a small breathing-place of the working class, where band concerts are
frequently given in summer. Here stand the Soldiers' Monument, designed
by Randolph Rogers, of Rome, and the Bigelow Monument, erected to
Timothy Bigelow, who commanded the minute-men who marched to Cambridge
upon receipt of the news of the Battle of Lexington, and served
throughout the Revolution as colonel of the Fifteenth Massachusetts
Regiment. At one corner of the Common, facing Main street, is the City
Hall, a small, unimposing structure, hardly worthy of the city. The
question of erecting a new one has been lately agitated. Near by stands
the Old South Church, built in 1763. The business portion of Main street
is well lined with large blocks, and the south end is laid out for
residences.
[Illustration: ELM PARK.]
Upon one of the hills, at the west side, stands the City Hospital, which
is well managed and kept up, and has a visiting staff of the best
physicians in the city. In connection with this institution, a
training-school for nurses has lately been established.
The city's most imposing building is the Worcester State Lunatic Asylum,
which can be seen from the trains on the Boston and Albany Railroad. A
picturesque edifice in itself it crowns a hill about two miles east of
Worcester, and overlooks the blue waters of Lake Quinsigamond, and also
a charming stretch of hill and dale beyond. Were the softening charms of
nature a potent remedy for the diseased mind, speedy cures might be
effected in this sequestered retreat. It contains generally over seven
hundred inmates, and can accommodate more. The building, begun in 1873,
was completed in 1877, is handsomely fitted up throughout, and very
spacious. It cost one million and a quarter dollars.
[Illustration: THE BIGELOW MONUMENT.]
On Summer street is the Asylum for the Chronic Insane. For many years
it was the only asylum, but upon the completion of the new building the
chronic cases were removed there, and it has since been devoted to their
needs only. The Technical School, or Free Institute, is situated on a
pretty wooded acclivity on the west side. Founded in 1865. it was
endowed, through the liberality of John Boynton, of Templeton, with
$100,000, which he left as a legacy for that purpose. This school is
more particularly for mechanics, chemists, and engineers, and is
conducted on the plan of the polytechnic schools of Europe. It is the
aim of the institution to train young men in such branches as are not
usually taught in the high schools, that any mechanic or civil engineer
on leaving the establishment may be fitted in a thoroughly scientific
manner to pursue his life-work. The institution is free to
Worcester-county residents; to those outside of the county the price of
tuition is $150. The number of students accommodated is one hundred and
twenty-six. The Free Public Library, founded in 1859, is one of the best
in the State, has a circulating department of 26,000 and an intermediate
department of 14,000 books; also a reference collection of over 20,000
volumes, bequeathed by the late Dr. John Green. An endowment fund, left
by this gentleman for the latter collection, is used to the best
advantage in procuring a great variety of encyclopaedias and other
desirable books of reference. That Worcester citizens appreciate their
opportunities in this line is indicated by the large daily patronage.
Connected with the Public Library is a well-arranged reading-room,
supplied with periodicals and daily papers, accessible at all times to
the public; also the valuable library of the Worcester District Medical
Society, containing about 6,000 volumes. The able and accomplished
librarian is Mr. S.S. Green, who not only supplies its shelves with the
newest and most desirable books for reading and reference, but is a
fountain-head of information in himself, and ever ready and willing to
answer the many questions put to him constantly by a steady concourse of
applicants.
[Illustration: THE WASHBURN & MOEN MANUFACTURING COMPANY.]
The public-school system has been the occasion of much compliment, and
is regarded both here and elsewhere as a model one. In 1733 it was
voted, "that a school-house be built in the centre half, and that said
school house be 24 feet long, 16 feet wide, and 7 feet stud, and be
completely finished with good chimney glass," This was the first
school-house built in Worcester, and it stood at the north end of Main
street, near the middle of the present street, and there remained until
after the close of the Revolution. In 1740 L100 were granted for the
support of schools. The first Grammar school was established in 1752.
In 1755 John Adams, afterward President of the United States, taught
the Latin Grammar school here, and remained until 1758. There are now
twenty-six different school-houses, including the High School, a large
effective building, situated on Walnut street. Further accommodations
at the present time are greatly needed, the existing houses being
overcrowded. The amount last appropriated for the schools was $184,500
for maintenance, and $20,000 for the purchase of free textbooks. Beside
the public schools there are several large and well-known educational
institutions,--the College of the Holy Cross, the Free Institute, the
Worcester Academy, the Highland Military Academy, the Oread Institute,
the State Normal School, and the Roman Catholic Parochial schools. There
are also several private schools of note. The educational interests of
the city have kept pace with its rapid and astonishing growth.
[Illustration: OLD PAINE HOMESTEAD, LINCOLN STREET.]
Worcester has seven national banks, four savings-banks, and one safety
deposit and trust company.
Among a number of newspapers the chief ones have been the "Spy" and
"Evening Gazette." The "Massachusetts Spy" is one of the oldest papers
in this country, and has been published with unbroken numbers for 115
years. It was established in Boston, in July, 1770, but was removed to
Worcester by its proprietor, Isaiah Thomas, in May, 1775. It was in
those days outspoken with regard to the difficulties between the mother
country and the colonies, and, owing to its urgent appeals for freedom
from tyranny, it became necessary to remove press and paper. Mr. Thomas
was certainly one of the most remarkable men of his day. His patriotism
never waned during the most trying days of the Revolution, and the
"Massachusetts Spy" and its editor are a part of the history of the
country. July 22, 1845, the "Daily Spy" was first issued. The first
number was on a sheet 18 by 23 inches, a trifle larger than the first
number of the "Massachusetts Spy," which was 16 by 20 inches. It has
been enlarged several times. The "National AEgis," published in 1801, in
1833 merged into the "Massachusetts Yeoman," a paper started in 1823.
The name was changed to the "Worcester Palladium." In 1829 the
"Worcester County Republican" was started, and also merged into the
"Palladium," in 1834. It was a successful paper for years, but in 1876
it was sold to the "Spy." The "Gazette," begun in 1801 as a weekly,
became a daily in 1843, and is now an eight-page paper, the only one in
the city. In 1851 the "Daily Morning Transcript" was issued. Early in
1866 its name was changed to the "Evening Gazette," and it is now the
representative afternoon sheet of the city. There are two able and
well-conducted French weekly journals,--"Le Travailleur," and "Le
Courier de Worcester."
[Illustration: HIGH SCHOOL BUILDING.]
In 1719 the first church was built, near the present Old South Church,
on Main street. Previous to that time the inhabitants had held service
in their different houses, where their prayers were often interrupted by
the presence of hostile Indians, who took the occasion when the people
were absorbed in their devotions to molest them. In 1763 the present Old
South Meeting-House was built. The original dimensions were seventy feet
long, fifty-five wide, with a tower on the north side surmounted by a
spire one hundred and thirty feet high. It was commenced June 21, 1763,
and first occupied Dec. 8, 1763. There were sixty-one large square box
pews and seven long ones on each side of the broad aisle, which were
free. The building committee consisted of John Chandler, Joshua Bigelow,
Josiah Brewer, John Curtis, James Putnam. Daniel Boyden, James Goodwin,
Jacob Hemmenway, David Bigelow, Samuel Moore, and Elisha Smith. The
entire expense of the building was L1,542.
Since the date of its erection there have been many changes and
additions, so that it now presents but little of the appearance of its
former self.
The bell now in use was cast in 1802, and has this inscription:--
"The living to the church I call,
And to the grave I summon all."
In 1786, owing to certain disagreements, a division occurred in the
parish, some of its members leaving and forming an organization of their
own, with the Rev. Mr. Bancroft as rector. This society dedicated its
first church January 1, 1722, and this was replaced by a new structure,
of brick, in 1829, which is still in use. Since this first division new
societies have sprung up and new churches have been built, until to-day
there are forty-eight different houses of worship, among which are
eleven Congregational, eight Methodist Episcopal, seven Baptist, seven
Roman Catholic, three Protestant Episcopal, two Universalist, and two
Unitarian churches.
On account of the encircling hills the climate of Worcester is hot in
summer, but somewhat more temperate and less subject to east winds in
winter than that of Boston.
The surrounding country has all the charms that cultivated soil and
undulating hill-and-valley scenery can give. Good roads run in various
directions to the adjacent towns, and strangers often speak of the many
different and delightful drives to be found about Worcester.
Three miles east of the city is the beautiful sheet of water called Lake
Quinsigamond. It is a narrow lake, about five miles long, with thickly
wooded banks, and its surface dotted with picturesque little islands.
Along its shores the Nipmuck Indians are said to have lived and hunted;
and on Wigwam Hill, a wooded eminence overlooking the water, where one
of their encampments is supposed to have been, are still occasionally
found specimens of their rude house utensils.
A large tract of land bordering on the lake has lately been given to the
city by two Worcester gentlemen, and it is expected that in the near
future it will be cleared away and made into a public park. The only
park that the city now possesses, besides the Common, before alluded to,
is a small affair on the west side, at the foot of Elm street, one of
the principal residence streets.
* * * * *
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
By George Lowell Austin.
There is something eminently satisfactory in the reflection that, when
the new faith, "That all men are created equal," and that "Governments
are instituted among men deriving their just powers from the consent of
the governed," was finally assailed by the slave-power of America, and
had to pass the ordeal of four years of war, a man born and reared in
poverty, deficient in education, unused to the etiquette even of
ordinary society, and untutored in the art of diplomacy and deception,
had been selected by the people of the United States to become the
representative of the new faith, and the defender of the government
established upon it. This man was ABRAHAM LINCOLN, of Illinois, the
record of whose life, at once important, eventful, and tragic, it is
pleasant to recall.
There are, in my judgment, at least four men associated with the period
of the civil war, who, in their early lives, their struggles, their
training, and their future callings, ought forever to command the
admiration of this people: Lincoln, the lowly, the exalted, the pure
man in rude marble, the plain cover to a gentle nature, the giant frame
and noble intellect; Grant, the defender of the Federal Union, the
unflinching soldier, around whose dying couch a whole nation now
lingers, whose light will shine down through future ages a warning to
conspirators, to freemen a pledge, and to the oppressed a beacon of
hope; Stanton, the lion of Buchanan's cabinet, the collaborator of
Lincoln, the supporter of Grant, gifted with the far-seeing eye of a
Carnot, spotless in character, incorruptible in integrity, great in
talent and learning, and a fit object of unhesitating trust; and John
Rogers, the American sculptor, who has offered, in his beautiful and
famous group of statuary, "The Council of War," an undying tribute to
these three great leaders in American history, and is himself worthy
to be grouped with them in our remembrance.
"Leaves have their time to fall,
And flowers to wither at the north wind's breath,
And stars to set; but all--
Thou hast all seasons for thine own, O Death!"
If we could have looked into a rude log-cabin in Hardin county,
Kentucky, on the morning of the 12th of February, 1809, we should have
seen an infant just born,--and with what promise of future greatness?
Looking ahead ten years, we should have discerned this infant, Abraham,
developing into youth, still living in the old log-cabin, with neither
doors nor windows, with wolves and bears for neighbors, with a shiftless
father. But his mother was dead! Still this mother had left her impress,
and she had become in that boy's heart "an angel of a mother." She made
him what he afterwards proved himself to be. Follow Abraham Lincoln
where we will,--from the cradle to the grave,--and we shall find honesty
and kindness ever distinguishing him. In his boyhood, among boys, he was
always fighting the battle of the offended and the weak; in manhood, he
was always protecting the fugitive from an angry mob; as a lawyer,
saving the widow's son from the gallows, and declining the rich fee of
an unrighteous cause; as a public debater, the fairest ever met in the
political arena; and as president of the republic, honest in his
convictions and kind to his bitterest enemies.
Let us not forget the difficulties which it was his lot and his good
fortune to surmount. He never was six months at school in his life; and
yet, by the use of a single book and the occasional aid of a village
schoolmaster, he became an expert surveyor in six weeks! At the age of
twenty-one he accompanied his family to Illinois. One morning, when
seated at the breakfast-table of his employer, Lincoln was told that a
man living six miles away had a copy of an English grammar. He left the
table at once, and went and borrowed the book. During the long winter
evenings that followed, in the light of the village cooper's shop, he
pored over the pages of that book,--studying the science of language,
the theory of human speech, and qualifying himself to become the author
of one of the three great State papers of modern times, by the light of
burning shavings!
But we leave that early life of his, which, in rude simplicity, repeats
"the short and simple annals of the poor."
In 1832 Black Hawk, the celebrated Indian chief, then in his
sixty-seventh year, crossed the Mississippi to regain the Rock River
valley,--the scene of his early trials and triumphs. His coming meant
war upon the pale-faced stranger, that had ventured to possess the
hunting-grounds of the red men. Several companies of volunteers were
raised to meet him, and Abraham Lincoln served as captain of one of
them.
When the war was over Lincoln returned to New Salem, his home in
Illinois, and shortly afterwards began the study of the law. He was
still poor in purse, his clothing was threadbare, but his ambition was
immense. He often pursued his study in the shade of a tree. One day
Squire Godbey--a very good man he was, too, so we are told--saw him
seated on a pile of wood, absorbed in a book, when, according to the
squire, the following dialogue took place: "Says I, 'Abe, what are you
studying?'--'Law,' says he. 'Great God Almighty!' says I." Studying law
astride of a wood-pile, probably barefooted, was too great a shock for
the squire's susceptible nature. He continued to study, then to practise
a little without fee, and finally was admitted to the bar in 1836.
Judge Davis, once on the Supreme Bench of the United States, a man
spotless alike upon the throne of justice and in his daily walk, was
upon intimate terms with Lincoln for upwards of twenty years, and during
more than half of that period sat upon the judicial bench before which
Lincoln most frequently practised. No one is abler than he to speak of
Lincoln as a lawyer,--a lawyer who became one of the first of the
Western bar,--a bar that can proudly point to its Carpenter, its
Trumbull, its Ryan, and its Davis. He says:--
"The framework of Lincoln's mental and moral being was honesty; and a
wrong cause was poorly defended by him. The ability which some eminent
lawyers possess of explaining away the bad points of a cause by
ingenious sophistry was denied him. In order to bring into full activity
his great powers it was necessary that he should be convinced of the
right and justice of the matter which he advocated. When so convinced,
whether the cause was great or small, he was usually successful.
"He hated wrong and oppression everywhere; and many a man whose
fraudulent conduct was undergoing review in a court of justice has
writhed under his terrific indignation and rebukes. He was the most
simple and unostentatious of men in his habits, having few wants, and
those easily supplied."
In 1837 Mr. Lincoln removed to Springfield, Ill., where he entered into
partnership with his old friend, John T. Stuart; and this partnership
continued until 1841. In 1834 he had been elected to the Legislature,
and after his removal to Springfield he was again chosen to that body.
It was during this period that he found the nerve, when it did require
courage, to express and record his protest against the injustice of
slavery. Twice as a youth he had made a trip to New Orleans,--in 1828
and 1831,--and on his second visit had for the first time observed
slavery in its most brutal and revolting form. He had gone into the very
centre of a slave mart, had seen families sold, the separation forever
of husband and wife, of parent and child. When we recall how deeply he
always sympathized with suffering, brute as well as human, and his
strong love of justice, we can realize how deeply he was affected by
these things. His companions on this trip have attempted to describe his
indignation and grief. They said. "His heart bled. He was mad,
thoughtful, abstracted, sad, and depressed."
The years which Mr. Lincoln passed in Springfield were the preparatory
years of his future greatness. From this time onward he was ever a busy
man.
He was once associated with Mr. Swett in defending a man accused of
murder. He listened to the testimony which witness after witness gave
against his client until his honest heart could stand it no longer;
then, turning to his associate, he said: "Swett, the man is guilty; you
defend him: I can't." Swett _did_ defend him, and the man was
acquitted. When proffered his share of the large fee Lincoln most
emphatically declined it, on the ground that "all of it belonged to Mr.
Swett, whose ardor and eloquence saved a _guilty_ man from
justice."
At another time, when a would-be client had stated the facts of his
case, Mr. Lincoln replied: "Yes; there is no reasonable doubt but I can
gain your case for you. I can set a whole neighborhood at loggerheads.
I can distress a widowed mother and her six fatherless children, and
thereby get for you $600, which rightfully belongs, it seems to me, as
much to the woman and her children as it does to you. You must remember
that some things that are _legally_ right are not _morally_
right. I shall not take your case, but will give you a little advice,
for which I will charge you nothing. You appear to be a sprightly,
energetic man: I would advise you to try your hand at making $600 some
other way."
I turn now to another phase of his nature, and recall that he had not
grown up to manhood without the usual experiences of the tender passion.
It was while he was yet living at New Salem that his heart opened to a
fair, sweet-tempered, and intelligent girl, with the romantic name of
Anne Rutledge. They were engaged to be married as soon as he should be
admitted to the bar of the Supreme Court. But in August, 1835, she died.
Her beauty and her attractions and her early death made a very deep
impression upon him. We are told that he idealized her memory, and in
his recollections of her there was a poetry of sentiment, which might
possibly have been lessened, had she lived, by the prosaic realities of
life. With all his love of fun and frolic, with all his wit and humor,
with all his laughter and anecdotes, Lincoln, from his youth, was a man
of deep feeling. We have it on the authority of the most reliable of his
biographers, that he always associated with the memory of Anne Rutledge
the poem which, in his hours of despondency, he so often repeated:--
"Oh! why should the spirit of mortal be proud?
Like a swift fleeting meteor, a fast flying cloud,
A flash of the lightning, a break of the wave,
He passeth from life to his rest in the grave.
"The leaves of the oak and the willow shall fade,
Be scattered around, and together be laid;
And the young and the old, and the low and the high,
Shall moulder to dust and together shall lie."
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