MM' m^ ■fi!)h p '^^.. \ A^o ^.:.,s' ^'^• ^^-^c^. ^^ -^o. r'*-. 't.o^ .-{y' . ■ /\ 0° .^^>^% -n^o^ s s A • « 5 \ > * ^^ v-^ ^^o"^ ^°-;^ V\^ c ^oV" .0^ ^oV" ^ -o^^^-/ ^;-B\/ %^^-/ %. ^^. c'^ ^0^'i■ ^ -^ '< -^^0^ '^ -^..^^ ^//^r ^^^^::^^^___ A TOUR OF ST. LOUIS; OR, THE Inside Life of a Great City. BY J. A. DACUS, PH. D., JAMES W. BUEL, Members of the St. Louis Press. PRICE, : : : : Si. 50. PUBLISHED BY THE WESTERN PTTBLISHING COMPANT, JONES & GRIFFIN. ST. LOUIS: 187S. Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1S78, by JONES & GRIFFIN, In the office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington'. R7'1 szfj Printed by Globe-Democrat Job Printing Co., St. Louis, Mo. Strassburgek & Drach, Electrotypers. TO HON. THOMAS ALLEN, WHOSE SCHOLARLY ATTAINMENTS, LIBERAL ENDOWMENTS, BOLD CONCEPTION AND UNDAUNTED EXECUTION OF GRAND ENTERPRISES, HAVE CONSPICUOUSLY PROMOTED THE GROWTH OF ST. LOUIS COMMERCE, AND MADE HIM A TRULY REPRE- SENTATIVE MAN, THIS BOOK IS CORDIALLY DEDICATED. PUBLISHERS' NOTICE. The work which we now have the honor to offer to the public is one which has cost us no little anxiety, labor and expense. "We flatter ourselves that our exertions have resulted in the production of a volume which reflects no dishonor on the city from which it ema- nates, and concerning which it treats. No similar literar}' under- taking has before been attempted for the proud metropolis of the Mississippi Valley. We have taken special pains to describe only the distinctively representative commercial institutions of the cit}', those which reflect the wealth and business of St. Louis, making the description histori- cal in order to subserve the double purpose of preserving the record of our individual interests, and to illustrate the sagacity and indom- itable will which characterizes the West. In carr3'ing out our design , we have met with many diflSculties, and have been compelled to suffer discouragements of no ordinary character. There are features of social life found here which do not exist elsewhere, and which well deserve special examination and delineation. This we have endeavored to do, with what success the public must ultimatel}^ be the tribunal of last resort, and to that public opinion we now respectfully appeal. The inside life of a great metropolis is not easy to describe. There are social developments here as well as elsewhere, a description of which is not alwa;3-s pleasant, and yet such an omission would leave the work incomplete as an account of the actual condition of the people at the present time. But these sombre pictures have been drawn with great care and delicacy, and while the subjects are not all of an engaging character, still the manner of treatment may well commend the work to all classes of the people. It was the purpose of the publishers to present true pictures of the phases of metropolitan life encountered in our times. We believe we have succeeded. In subsequent editions it is the design of the publishers to make such additions and improvements as the changed conditions of the social life of the people of St. Louis may demand. HISTORY OF ST. LOUIS. A little over a century ago the valley of the Mississippi was the possession of France, and bore the general name of Louisiana, though its northern half was known as " Upper Louisiana," or " The Illinois," The seat of the Government, which extended over this region, was at New Orleans. In 1762, D'Abadie, then Governor General, granted to Pierre Laclede Ligueste and his associates, under the name of " The Louisiana Fur Company," the privilege of trading with the Indians on the Missouri and west of the Mississippi River, with authority to establish such posts as they might think fit in furtherance of their enterprise. The next year Laclede set out to explore the country assigned to him, accompanied, among others, by two youths, afterwards well-known citizens of this place, the brothers Auguste and Pierre Chouteau. Having carefully examined every point on the river, not omitting Ste. Genevieve, which had then for ten years been the headquar- ters of a considerable trade in peltry and lead, he satisfied himself that no other site presented the advantages sought for by him to so great an extent as the spot on which now stands St. Louis. It was, at the time when Laclede first set foot upon it, a l.eautiful expanse of undulating prairie, free from woods, save at one point on the river bank, near the center of the present city, which was then embellished by a grove of noble forest trees. He therefore resolved to establish his chief trading post here ; and on the 15th of February, 1764, carried that resolve into execution by taking formal possession of it, and naming it St. Louis. In 1778, being then on his return from New Orleans to St. Louis, Laclede was overtaken by a fatal illness, and [5] 6 TOUR OF ST. LOUIS. breathed his last near the mouth of the Arkansas, There his remains were interred. The exact spot chosen for his final resting-place is now unknown ; but his memory has not been .suffered to sink into the same f orgetfulness . As it is identi- fied with the origin, so it has been associated with the growth, and will share in the future glories of a great metropolis. The establishment of St. Louis was contemporaneous with the "Treaty of Paris," by which France ceded all her pos- sessions east of the Mississippi, save New Orleans, to Great Britain, and all of them west of that river, as well as New Orleans, to Spain . At that time, there were in ' ' The Illinois," several thousand French, inhabiting little villages scattered chiefly along the line of the trail, which connected the settle- ments in that region with the older and more populous towns of Canada. These inhabitants so disliked the British rule that many of them crossed the river to join their brethren in St. Louis, and to found other villages on this side ; such as Caron- delet, established first as Louisburgh, by Delor D. Tregette, in 1767 ; Les Petites Cotes, subsequently St. Andrews, and now St. Charles, by Blanchette Chasseur, in 1769 ; and Flor- isant, for a time called St. Ferdinand, after the King of Spain, which name the township still bears, by Beaurosier Dunegant, in 1776. Among those who, at that time, repaired to St. Louis from Illinois, was St. Ange De Bellerive, once com- mandant of the French military post. Fort Chartres. He came here in 1765, and was immediately invested with civil and military power over "Upper Louisiana,' though, of course, without a shadow of right beyond the acclaim of the inhabitants. To such an extent did he exercise the authority thus assumed by him, that he made numerous grants of land, which were suffered to stand by his Spanish successors, and have since been confirmed by the United States. Even though a body of Spanish troops, under Rios, had, in 1768, made their appearance at St. Louis with a claim of possession for the Spanish monarch, which was peaceably allowed, the au- thority of St. Ange continued in full vigor until 1770. This anomaly may be explained by the condition of political affairs in New Orleans, it not being till 1769, after serious collisions, that under O'Reilly, the representative of the King of Spain, HISTORICAL. 7 the transfer, so unpalata])le to the French, was finally ac- quiesced in at the capital of the country. The first lawful governor of Upper Louisiana was Pedro Piernas, who took possession late in 1770, and was succeeded in 1775 by Francisco Cruzat, who gave place, in 1778, to Fernando De Leyba. To Leyba, in 1780, succeeded Cruzat, former Governor. The Spanish line, continuing through Manuel Perez and Zenon Trudeau, came to an end with Carlos Dehault Delassus, in 1804, with the surrender of the Terri- tory to the United States. In 1769, Pontiac, the events of whose famous history have been dramatized, came as a friend of St. Ange on a visit to St. Louis. While here lie was invited to an Indian feast held near Cahokia, and going, lost his life during the carouse, by the hands of a Kaskaskia Indian, who is said to have been in- stigated by an English trader. The dead body of the mur- dered chief was brought by his friends into this place, and interred not far from a fort which once stood near the present intersection of Broadway and Cherry streets. The conse- quences of this murder were terrible to the Illini nation, who were extirpated by the Ottawas in revenge for the death of their war chief. The next incident of importance in the annals of the place is one of the most memorable, for its being the only instance in which war has been brought to its doors. In 1779, Great Britain, being then in the midst of. our war for independence, and also at war with France and Spain, word came to St. Louis that the English commandant at Mackinaw was plan- ning a descent on the village. In consequence measures of defence were taken by the construction of a stockade, con- sisting of upright posts set in two rows and filled in with earth, and carried round the exterior of the village, with three openings for egress to the " Commons " and the Common Field outside. At either extremity of this stockade was a fort, and the openings were commanded by cannon. The next year fourteen hundred savages, said to have been led by one hun- dred and forty British regulars, were on their march from Lake Michigan, and in May had reached the Illinois shore, opposite St. Louis, where they lay in ambush. Here they had settled 8 TOUR or ST. LOUIS. that the town should be assaulted on the 26th of that month. On the day previous fell in that year the feast of Corpus Christi, a holiday, in which all the villagers were out on the Commons gathering strawberries. Had the attack been made on that day, the town would have been taken and doubtless destroyed. As it was, the 26th found several persons outside the enclosure, in the Common Field, when the enemy appeared on this side of the river. Of these, fifteen or twenty were killed, and some of them after death horribly mangled by the Indians, as is not unfrequently the practice of savage tribes. The assailants advanced upon the town, but met with so de- termined a resistance that, after many ineifectual efforts to force an entrance, and suffering much loss, they were com- pelled to retire. This departure, it has been suggested, was occasioned by the appearance of Col. George Rogers Clark, with five hun- dred Americans from Kaskaskia, who, aware of the danger to which the French at St. Louis — the allies of the Americans then struggling for their independence — were exposed, hud ad- vanced to their reUef. The year 1780, thus signalized, was afterwards known as "-L'Anneedu Grand Coujp " — or, "Year of the Great Blow." We may add that Leyba died that year, it is supposed of mortified feelings, and was buried in the old village church, " in front of the right hand balustrade, having received all the sacraments of our mother, the Holy Church," as set forth by the certificate of interment, signed by Father Bernard, "a Catholic Priest and apostolic Missionary Curate of St. Louis, country of Illinois, Province of Louisiana, Bish- opric of Cuba." This attempt at a surprise of the village, led Governor Cruzat, Leyba' s successor, to the construction of new fortifi- cations. At the river bank, near the spot now occupied by the Floating Docks, there was a stone tower called the " Half Moon," and westwardly of it, where now Broadway and Cherry Street intersects, a stone " Bastion," between which was another stone fort. To these were added, by Cruzat, a half-dozen square or circular stone fortresses, forty feet m diam- eter and twenty feet high, which were connected by a high and stout stockade of cedar posts. These forts were kept supplied HISTORICAL. 9 with munitions of war, and well manned. One of them, at about where Walnut intersects Fourth Street, served after- wards as a court-house and jail. From a point on the river bank, near the Floating Docks already mentioned, through the intersection of Broadway and Cherry Street, this line of stockade swept in a cemi-circular line along the brow of the hill not far from Cedar and Second streets. Fortunately, there avus never any occasion for testing the strength of these fortitications. During the remainder of the Spanish rule, there seems to have been few incidents which were thouo;ht interestins:enouo"h to deserve remembrance. In 1785, there was a great flood, equaled only by its successors of 1844 and 1851, which del- uged the American Bottom, and which gave to that year the name of ^^L' Annee des Grandes Eaux,'' or " The Year of the Great Waters." In 1788, the arrival of a fleet of ten barges from New Orleans, at one time, they having associated and sailed together for mutual protection against a gang of robbers, who lurked about " Grand Tower," was an event surprising enough to confer on that 3'ear the distinction of the "■L'Annee des Dix Bateaux,'' or " Year of the Ten Boats ;" 1792 was the epoch of the honey-bee ; 1799, a year of intense cold, the thermometer having sunk thirty-two degrees below zero, was named "-U Annee dii Graiid-Jdver,'' or " Year of the Hard Winter." The 3'ear 1798 being distinguished by the arrival of some galleys with Spanish troops, under Don Carlos How- ard, was afterward known as " L' Annee des Galeres,'' or " Year of the Galleys ;" and 1801, bringing with it the calam- ity of small-pox, was subsequently referred to as " L' Annee de la Picotte,'" or " Year of Small-pox." But other events of a different character Avere now casting their shadows before. In 1800, Spain, by the treaty of San Ildefonso, retrocedcd Louisiana to France, and France, by Jefferson's treat}^ April 30, 1803, transferred it to the United States ; an empire cheaply bought at fifteen millions of dollars. In October, 1803, Con- gress having passed an act authorizing the President to take possession of the Territory, Upper Louisiana was surrendered to Amos Stoddard, a captain in the United States army, and the agent of the United States, by Don Carlos Dehault 10 TOUR OF ST. LOUIS. Delassus, then Spanish Lieutenant-Governor, on the 10th day of March, 1804. On that day, the keys in the govern- ment house, the public archives and property, were delivered over to the representative of the United States ; the ensign of Spain was lowered, and the flag of the United States run up in its place. Salvos of artillery saluted the stars and stripes as they were flung to the breeze, and the act of transfer was accomplished. It was not a joyous spectacle to most of those who witnessed it, apprehensive as they were that the change of government would disturb the easy routine so agreeable to their nature and habits. By act of Congress, in 1804, all Louisiana, north of the thirty-third parallel, was designated as the " District of Louis- iana." The executive power of the government established in the Territory of Indiana was extended over the Territory of Louisiana, with authority in the Governor and Judges of that Territory to enact laws for the district. General William Henry Harrison, being then Governor of Indiana, this power was exercised by him and his associates. The next year, by another act of Congress, the " District " was changed to the "Territory of Louisiana." James Wilkinson became the Governor, and, with Return J. Meigs and John B. C. Lucas, Judges of the Superior Court, constituted the Legislature of the Territory. They proceeded, from time to time, to pass such laws as were necessary for the public good. This system of legislation was continued for several years, with occasional changes in the persons constituting the Legislature. In 1806, Joseph Browne was Secretary of the Territory and acting Gov- ernor, and J. B. C. Lucas and Otho Shracler the Judges. In 1807, Frederick Bates was Secretary and acting Governor, and the same judges continued in office. In 1808, Meriwether Lewis was Governor of the Territory, and, with the judges last named, continued to exercise the law-making power until 1811. In 1812, there was a further modiflcation, the change now being to a Governor and Legislative Assembly, the upper branch of which, consisting of nine councillors, was to be selected out of twice that number, who were to be nominated to him by the lower branch. At the same time the Territory HISTORICAL. 11 took the name of the Missouri Territory, and had conceded to it the right of being represented by a delegate in Congress. In 181G, the restraint upon the choice of the Council Board was removed, and the members made elective by the people. On the 6th of March, 1820, was passed the act of Congress for the admission of Missouri as a State into the Union. The terms of this act were accepted on the 19th of July following, by the people, represented at St. Louis in a convention, of which David Barton was President and William G. Pettus, Secretary. The first Legislature sat in 1820, at St. Louis, whence the seat of government was transferred to St. Charles, where it remained until its removal to the city of Jefferson in 1826. The first Governor of the Missouri Territory was Wil- liam Clark, and Edward Hempstead the first Delegate. Alex- ander McNair was the first Governor of the State of Missouri. When St. Louis passed into American hands, a line of bluff bank extended nearly the length of the village, overlook- ing the river from the height of twenty-five feet. At a little distance west of this line was a gentle rise, and still beyond this, at about the same distance, yet another ; the first of these being about in the line of the present Third, and the last in the line of Fourth Street. On the brow and eastern slope of the first rose the little village, in a rather straggling fashion, distributed along three streets, the first called La Rue Principale, now Main Street ; the second La Rue d VLglise, where stood a log (Catholic) church — now Second Street ; the third. La Rue des Granges, or Barn Street, now Third. The whole was encircled by the line of fortifications, then, how- ever, beginning to fall into ruins, which had been erected by Cruzat. Beyond, south, were the "Commons;" and west, the " Common Fields" (the last agricultural lands, and owned in severalty, though having a common enclosure.) The num- ber of inhabitants was nine hundred and twenty-five, and of houses about one hundred and fifty, the most of them log buildings, interspersed here and there with a massive stone chateau, the largest of which was on the square which then fronted the Old Market, and being the property of a branch of the Chouteau family, passed to its heirs. On this square was the old Spanish Government-house. The church on Church 12 TOUR OF ST. LOUIS. OLD CHOUTEAU MAXSION. Street was of hewn logs, with a belfry, surmounted by a huge iron cock, which served the purpose of a weather vane. A plan of St. Louis, drawn by order of Laclede, in 1764, and a plan of it as it appeared in 1780, after having been fortified by Cruzat, cer- tified by Au- guste Chou- teau, the companion of Laclede, are now in exis- tence, beino; deposited, we believe, in the ofiice of the Recorder of this county. i\Ir. Wil- liam Russell, a native of Frederick County, Virginia, came to this city early in February, 1804, when the Spanish flag was flying at the Spanish Government Barracks on the first or second square south of the Court-house. Nearly all the town was then south of Market Street. Mr. Russell came out from Virginia on horseback ; visited Cincinnati, Louisville, and Vincennes, and at the latter place was urged by Governor Harrison to remain there. He reached Kaskaskia in Novem- ber, 1803, and soon came up to Cahokia, with the purpose of crossing, but, owing to the running ice, he was obliged to spend the winter in Prairie du Rocher and Kaskaskia, and was not able to cross the river until February 8, 1804, when he reached St. Louis, and gave it preference as his residence to any of the town sites he had seen. Calvin Adams (an American) kept the ferry, then below Elm Street, and the only American tavern. His ferry con- sisted of two pirogues tied together, with planks laid across the top. His charge for bringing over man and horse was two dollars. Adams had a large family, and it is possible that some of his children are still living in this city or vicinity. HISTORICAL. 13 Comegys & Fortune kept store on Main Street, below Market. This was the only American store. William Sullivan, an American serg-eant, discharsred from Captain Stoddard's command, opened a boarding-house, or hotel, on the hill near the Barracks. The principal settlements out of the town were Americans. Bonhomme was almost entirely American. There were only three mills in the county, propelled by other than horse-power. These were Chouteau's, then a small mill, on Mill Creek ; Bergoine Sarpy's, on Riviere des Peres, and Mr. Long's at Bonhomme, all propelled by water-power. The bold rocky shore, perhaps twenty or twenty-five feet high, prevented landing above what is now Pine Street. The landing was below. The nearest post-office was Cahokia, where a one-horse mail arrived once a month ! All St. Louis had to go to Cahokia for their letters, St. Louis being then a small town near Cahokia ! The fur trade, which had been the chief business interest of St. Louis before the change of government, continued to b3 so long after. The French voyageurs, trappers and tra- ders in pursuit of their objects, went far up the Missouri, and traversed the region west, toward the Rocky Mountains. In 1e of the most beautiful and effective pieces of landscape gar- dening on the continent. Its location, on a high piece of land south of Chouteau Avenue, surrounded on all sides by magnificent private residences, has made it the favorite resort of the citizens of St. Louis, as well as one of the sights to be visited by strangers. 46 TOUR OF ST. LOUIS. Miss Hosmer's statue of Benton, the pure patriot of Mis- souri, occupies an honored place beneath the shade of its elms and maples, while another of Washington looks calmly upon a scene, springing up from the republican seeds which he planted in the hearts of the people. Eare and curious plants, mosses and creepers, adorn its beautiful grotto and fountains ; swans glide gracefully on its miniature lake ; while many families date the conmience- ment of their happiness from the day " two hearts that beat as one" began to understand the divine m3'stery of love. The city has expended one hundred and twenty thousand dollars since 1864 in beautifying this temple of nature, which has been repaid many times in the increased culture and apprecia- tion of the beautiful in the lives of its citizens. No descrip- tion can adequately portray Lafayette Park. It must be seen, and then words become useless. During the sum- mer season it is customary to have concerts twice a week in Lafayette Park, and one of the best bands of musicians in the city is engaged for that purpose. On such occa- sions the park is crowded with thou- sands of visitors, who evince their pleasure and ap- preciation by at- tending from all PAGODA-LAFATETTE PARK. partS of the city. The most perfect order is observed, seats are arranged for the comfort of those who need rest, while young and old, for- getting for a time the cares of life, take up unconsciously the gentle lesson whispered to their hearts in the waving of trees, CITY PARKS. 47 the blossoming of flowers, the plashing of the fountains, and return to their homes wiser and better citizens. The time is not far distant Avhen all our parks, especially the larger ones, will have the same advantages of music, etc., now possessed by Lafaj^ette Park. As we advance in knowledge, we are learning more and more the value of that immortal lesson taught by the Bard of Avon, that there are " Sermons in stones, books in the running brooks, and good in every- thing." POLICE HEADQUAKTERS-LAFAYETiE PARK. TOWER GROVE PARK, Containing three hundred and Mty acres, lying on the south- west of the city, is the magnificent gift of Henry Shaw, one of St. Louis' most respected citizens. Under the care of the city. Tower Grove Park is rapidly developing in beauty. Its avenues and roads are the favorite drives of our wealthy citizens, while pedestrians find pure air, rich landscape and country quiet in abundance for their enjoy- ment. The eastern entrance to the park is marked by massive 48 . TOUR OF ST. LOUIS. granite pillars, surmounted by griffins, and two Norman towers indicate its western approach. A number of appropriate buildings are scattered throughout the grounds, and every year adds new beauties and develops new possibilities for the enjoyment of visitors. The park has cost thus far over half a million dollars. The city makes annual appropriations for its improvement. O'FALLON PARK. This park, containing one hundred and eighty acres, is as yet in all the wild beauty of nature ; it is situated in the northern part of St. Louis, and will soon become one of the beauty spots of our beautiful surroundings. FOREST PARK. As soon as the fact was established that Forest Park was to become city property for the benefit of all its citizens, it gave a great impetus to the value of all real estate in its vicinity. Possessing natural advantages offered by no other park in the United States, it was readily foreseen that landed property must largely increase in value. When its grand drives are perfected, its boulevards completed for pedestrians, and its avenues supplied sufficiently with seats and points of rest, this must become by far the most attractive point for first-class residences, and the cost, as in the case of Central Park, New York, will be more than covered by the enhanced value of lands for building purposes, and consequently a much larg-er revenue from taxation. Chauncey T. Bo wen, of Chicago, a gentleman having a thorough knowledge of the subject, says : "Forest Park has the best natural advantages for a park of any in the world." Forest Park, in the extreme western part of St. Louis, is a splendid possession of fourteen hundred acres, as large almost as the celebrated Hyde and Regent's parks of London combined. The river Des Peres winds its way through the grounds, while magnificent forest trees mingled with English walnut, and other European trees, lend their rich foliage to the scenery. As the city's growth shall extend, and eventually surround this district, Forest Park will become to the West what the CITY PARKS. 49 old parks of Paris and Berlin are to its citizens and visitors, viz : great breathing places, where for a while the cares and turmoil of life are cast aside, and old and young can commune with nature, and at times hear her everlasting story Avhispering to their hearts. To Hiram H. Leffingwell and Andrew McKinley the citi- zens of St. Louis are indebted chiefly for this handsome adornment to the city. Their zeal and devotion secured the legislative sanction to the scheme. Besides personal attention to beautifying the grounds, they were public-spirited enough to devote their valuable time without pecuniary reward. The smaller parks, such as Missouri, Jackson, Hyde Park, and others, are situated immediately within the more densely populated portions of St. Louis ; they are each and all beau- tiful, and to those whose occupations are confining, or of limited means, they afford very great benefit, as well as pleas- ure. When the labors of the day are ended, those resorts are crowded by visitors, who appreciate their advantages. It is now an established fact that the presence of trees tends to destroy malarial diseases : not only the eucalyptus, but all other trees, in some degree are advantageous to health. Man and animals produce large amounts of carbonic acid in the atmosphere, and need a large amount of oxygen ; while trees, on the contrary, feed on carbonic acid, and give forth oxygen ; thus the animal and vegetable worlds are counter- parts, and necessary to each other. That trees may thrive, birds are necessary. Years ago, before this fact was recognized, some of the parks in Eastern cities were almost destroyed, owing to the wanton destruction of birds, and the consequent rapid increase of insect life. To remedy this ignorance, a large number of English sparrows have been imported into various city parks, and now, in St. Louis, under a wiser rule than of old, the birds are fed and encouraged, and vegetation becomes healthier and stronger. As Herbert sang two hundred years ago — " All things wait on man ; In every path he finds what doth befriend him ; O mighty Love, man is one world, And hath another to attend him." 50 TOUR OF ST, LOUIS. SHAW'S GAEDEN. Every large city possesses its one object of supreme in- terest. In the Old World it is either some ruined castle of feudal times, some wonderful church or old abbey, erected by the patient devotion of the early saints, or tradition saves some relic of departed heroism, and fondly cherishes it to mark a glory and an age long passed away. But in the United States we are shut out from all such re- sources ; we can only point to an Indian mound, or taking the other alternative, build our own moun- ments, leaving to those who may come after us the task of preserv- ing and glorify- ino: them, Shaw's Garden is esj)ecially an ever - present blessing, as well as a shrine where, m the future, the people may see what one man with a large heart and good judgment may accomplish by the judicious expenditure of money., The grounds of Shaw's Garden comprise about one hundred acres, the most of it surrounded by a high stone Avail, Within the enclosure, the visitor learns what devotion and untiring labor may develope. Flowers and flowering shrubs, so beautiful and varied that the eye wearies at last with their myriad colors. Temperate and tropical regions lavishl}'" show forth their luxury of foliage ; the roses of Cashmere were never half so beautiful, or varied in tint and color ; the lilies of the INTERIOR OF PLANT HOUSE. SHAW S GARDEN. 51 valley which out- shone Solomon, here glory in dis- jDlaying their gor- geous tints ; palms and pines, bananas and firs, the cactus of the desert, and the Victoria water- lily, all find their appropriate care and elements of growth. As an educator in bot- any, Shaw's Gar- den is the best col- lege in the Avorld. The Museum of Natural History is filled with a mul- titude of interesting oIj- jects. The hot-houses and green - houses are all ar- ranged with scientific ac- curacy, and filled Avith the best specimens of rare and curious veo;etation. Mr. Shaw, the proprietor, is an Englishman — an adopt- ed citizen of St. Louis — bringing to his work all the devotion and tender care of a lover ; treating his flowers as a loving parent does his children, and finding in his life-work not only personal pleasure, but that higher and nobler aim, the Avelfare of St. Louis citizens. INTERIOR OF PLANT HOUSE. THE PAVILION. 52 TOUR OF ST. LOUIS. Shaw's Garden is an enduring monument, nobler than "battle-fields of death, sweeter than any man-made creed, and holier than any relic of dead saints or buried treasure. Citizens and strangers have all free admission on proper ap- plication being made. THE MUSEUM— SHAW'S GARDEN. ST. LOUIS FAIR GROUNDS. The grounds occupied by the St. Louis Fair Association at present include nearly one hundred acres. Commencing not many years since, as an ordinary venture in calling together citizens and farmers, for the purpose of comparing and exhib- iting the products of town and country, it has rapidly devel- oped into a magnificent enterprise, holding in October of each year the largest fair on the continent. At first a limited amount of machinery and mechanical products were placed side by side with the handiwork of the loom, the anvil, and the fruits and cereals of the husbandman. At present all civilized nations contribute of their genius to make our annual displays famous. Scores of acres of ground are covered with buildings , ^vhere steam, and heat, and electricity show forth the brain- FAIR GROUNDS, 53 power guiding and governnig modern civilization. Temples to art and literature are filled with the works of the master's hand. The mighty press is represented by newspaper and magazine buildings. There are miles of agricultural imple- ments, thousands of mechanical contrivances for increasino- o home comforts, wonderful displays of silks, laces, and cloths. Every conceivable interest is represented which tends to en- courage advanced ideas, and give the consumer the benefit of the latest improvements. Prize cattle, horses, hogs, sheep and poultry, of ever}' 54 TOUR OF ST. LOUIS. conceivable variety and fancy, breed and blood, are here an- nually collected to challenge inspection and competition with the world. The immense ampitheatre, where a hundred thousand visitors may witness thoroughbred racers and pacers running for victory, stands in the center of the enclosure, while the zooloofical collection of wild animals and birds occu- pies a number of appropriate buildings, erected expressly for their accommodation. It is a gigantic work to superintend and provide for the vast number of exhibitors and visitors who every year throng the place. Most of the prominent restaurant and hotel men attend to the hungry. St. Louis lager and other beverages find plenty of dispensers and patrons, and those who love amusement find all the last wonderful novelties scattered broad- cast for their special pleasure. The inducements held out to meritorious inventions are very great, the association devoting- nearly fifty thousand dollars annually for premiums, in addi- tion to medals and ribbons. _ Many prominent citizens are closely identified w^ith the g-rowth and continued success of the St. Louis fair. The late Arthur B. Barret w^orked most enthusiastically for its welfare, while to the present Secretary, G. O. Kalb, is owing much of its present popularity. The fair season continues one week, but in addition to this the managers commenced last year a grand art and mechanical exhibition, where St. Louis trade and manufactures were especially prominent. The first experi- ment was abundantly successful, and there is every reason to believe succeeding expositions will meet increased support. Thursday, the great day of the fair during fair week, is always an official and public holiday. It is a wonderful scene to ob- serve the thousands of vehicles of all descriptions, from the elegant barouche, with its splendid team of thoroughbreds and liveried coachman, to the huckster's cart, drawn by onephren- sied animal, and driven by a human being equally phrensied,, all rushing to the fair. High and low life come close together on that day. The teacher and taught meet in the common school, the stroke of the engine, the whirling of wheels, the rushing of water, the clicking of machinery, the cries of young children, the sea- FAIR GROUNDS. 55 lion's bark, and the surging of an omnipresent crowd, make a picture once seen never to be forgotten. Life, here and there, and everywhere, The foolish, and the wise, A. feast prepared that each may share, And all bear off the prize. The collection of wild animals at the Fair Grounds is not only choice but extensive. There are several pairs of magnifi- cent lions, splendid specimens of Bengal tigers, leopards, panthers, hyenas, black and grizzly bears. In a huge cistern, built expressly for their use, sea-lions from California disport themselves, and send their wild, melancholy bark forth into the air. The collection of monkeys, baboons and apes is very large and varied, offering a continuous fund of frolic and quaint humor to the large and amused crowd. Among birds there are eagles, black, gray and bald-headed ; African con- dors, cockatoos, macaws, and other beautiful tropical birds. Foxes, wolves, wildcats, ostriches, kangaroos, and a large number of small rare animals. The arrano-ement of the buildino-s for the comfort of the animals, as well as for convenient observation of their habits, is all that could be desired. Additions are being constantly made as fast as accommodations can be provided. Before long the zoological collection at the Fair Grounds will no doubt be one of the largest and finest in the world. THEATRES. There are three principal theatres in St. Louis : The Olym- pic, De Bar's, and the Theatre Comique. THE OLYMPIC, Situated on the southwest corner of Fifth and Walnut streets, is under the management of Charles A. Spaulding, who has been its proprietor and principal business manager for many years. This place of amusement stands among the foremost theatres of the West for the excellence of its stock company as well as for the opportunities it has given the public of seeing our great star performers. There has never been any stint in placing the standard dramas on its boards ; correct costumes, fine and appropriate scenery, and all the usual paraphernalia, have never been found wanting. Forrest and Davenport, Miss Neilson, Booth and Barrett, Barry Sullivan, Florence, Barney Williams, Sothern, have all in turn delighted the public under its roof. The building is well-lighted and comfortably seated ; just the size for witnessing high-class comedy and tragedy. Its seating capacity is about twelve hundred. It is to Mr. Spaulding' s careful management and superin- tendence the public are indebted for the constant good order maintained at the Olympic. Mr. Pat Short, the Treasurer of the Olympic, has been identified with this theatre the past nine 3"ears. He has been of great service to the managers, while the public have always found him obliging and ready to do the best possible for those who patronize the house ; much of the success of the estab- lishment arises from the integrity and efficiency shown in his long- business connection with the theatre. Thomas C. Noxon, the Scenic Artist, has made himself an enviable reputation by his masterpieces in scenic decorations ; [56J THEATRES. 57 he has always been a painstaking artist, true to nature under gaslight, and many of his pictures are valuable works of art. In spectacular plays Mr. Noxon is especially fine, and many a piece owes its reputation in St. Louis more to his brush than it does to its literary excellence. Mr. Noxon's daughter, Miss Libbie Noxon, is the juvenile character actress connected with the Olympic ; she gives promise of a bright and successful career. Charlie Creighton, for thirteen years, has been the efficient and polite door-keeper of the Olympic, and has performed his duties so well as to receive the most flattering indorsement of the patrons who throng the theatre on Charley's benefit nights. DE BAR'S OPERA HOUSE. When the late Ben De Bar, several years since, assumed the management of the Opera House which now bears his name, he had to create a public sentiment in its favor, and to accomplish success by sheer force of good management and genius. St. Louis knows how admirably he has succeeded, so that at present it stands as not only the largest, but one of the handsomest theatres in the country. Ben De Bar himself was a success, and no theatrical enter- prise could well fail where his genius made itself felt or known. The building will seat two thousand people ; the stage is very large and deep, so that any grand spectacle can be appro- priately produced. Its acoustic properties are the best of any building in the city, and is preferable to any other for operas on its ample boards. Among those who have lent of their immortal genius to De Bar's may be mentioned the great Salvini, without exception the greatest actor of any age or country in his peculiar roles. Edwin Booth has won his latest and most perfect triumphs in this theatre. Charlotte Cushman here gave her undying- pictures of Elizabeth, Catherine and Meg Merrilles. Mary Anderson at De Bar's caught the mantle which had just fallen from the shoulders of the dying artist. While De Bar himself, as Falstaff, wore grandly the plume of championship with Hackett, his only rival. 58 TOUR or ST. LOUIS. The stock company at the theatre has always been an excellent one, and the plays produced have equaled in artistic arrangement any theatre on the continent. Mr. John W. Norton, since the decease of De Bar, has become the sole lessee, and under his management the theatre has maintained its high character. Mr. Norton for a long time previously having occupied the position of stage manager, is thoroughly acquainted w^ith all the possibilities of the house. The scenic artist is Mr. John Watson, a gentleman known to every one by the beauty of his paintings and the marvelous effects of his spectacular scenes. "The Treasurer, Max H. Fischer, is a business man of ability, and fills his position to the satisfaction of the public and with honor to himself. Mr. W. J. Slocum is the able door-keeper ; the press and public are too well acquainted with him and his services to need praise from us. Mr. J. C. Brown the second door-keeper is also a valuable and faithful official. The Olympic and De Bar's are fitted with convenient fire- escapes, so that in an alarm of fire the buildings could be emptied in three minutes ; fortunately, their good management hitherto have rendered them unnecessary. THE THEATEE COMIQUE, On Pine Street, and formerly under De Bar's management, is now conducted by Mr. W.'C. Mitchell, who endeavors to bring out the best of that class of artists known as variety performers. The song-and-dance men, clog dancers, trapeze performers, ballets, and character singers find on the boards of the Comique very great patronage and success. The building is large and roomy, and was at one time the leading place of amusement in the city THE GLOBE THEATRE, On Morgan Street, recently opened, is devoted principally to melodrama. On this stage romance and sentiment find full expression, and Indian hunters, wild beast heroes, and wonderful boys, do their daring deeds, eliciting the applause of hundreds of young people who nightly throng its galleries. MUSIC IN ST. LOUIS. Many individual and collective efforts have been made ta elevate the art of music in St. Louis. All have failed, inas- much as the object sought or the mark aimed at was never reached, not even approximately, although the wrecks of each enterprise have left here and there a solitary survivor, a con- scientious devotee. A few such are yet struggling after the unattainable — trying to introduce true music to the people, and to instruct the people to like only the best music, that of the deepest and most lasting sentiment and expression. The Siingerfest was the only great festival. Good music was then purely produced by a full orchestra and chorus, and by emi- nent soloists ; but it was listened to rather sensually, and we may say, fashionably, instead of testhetically or understand- ingly. Its effects were only felt among the Germans. Such a festival annually could not fail in time to produce the very best results, and would be a permanent school for artists and amateurs. The Philharmonic Society, from 1862 to 1870, did good work under the direction of Sobolewski, the eccentric but able director, and also under Egmont Froelich it flourished well. It seemed to die, however, a natural death for want of means. Although our music-loving citizens enjoyed the orchestra of that time, now, since we have heard Theodore Thomas' band, we could not tolerate the old Philharmonic fiddle-scrapmgs, flute-tootino;s and horn blowinos. At the rehearsals of the Philharmonic, the instrumental members were prompt because they were paid. With a few exceptions, the vocalists never attended with the regularity or practiced with the earnestness and enthusiasm necessary for the iine rendition of the best compositions. All wanted to shine at the concert, but all avoided the drudgery of the rehearsal, consequently there [59] 60 TOUK OF ST. LOUIS. "were many failures, many very tedious and dry concerts. However, this society accomplished a great deal for music in St. Louis, introducing, although imperfectly, many works new to us. The Haj^dn Orchestra, composed of professionals, with a few amateurs, flourished a few seasons. It gave amusement more than instruction to amateurs and their friends. They performed many works meritoriously, but failed finally for want of a competent director and funds. The many sanger- bunds and German vereins, such as the Arion and Orpheus, have existed for years and have stated rehearsals and concerts. They generally perform good music in a heavy manner, which is peculiar to most German singers. Theatrical orchestras, from a critical stand-point, have al- wavs been, and are now, abominable. Rarely can one hear a good piece well played. The main reasons for this are, the niggardly expenditure by the theatre proprietors and the care- lessness of directors, who are .competent to do better, even with the contemptible band of six, eight or ten men. Innumerable amateur concerts on the " I tickle you and you tickle me " plan are given every season, and some of the performers do not seem to know we live in the nineteenth cen- tury, and that we have heard Lind and Sontag, Albani, Nils- son, and " the noble army of singers," and that we have in musical libraries all the works of the great masters. Why do they give us the same round of solos, duets and choruses? Can not they give us something new ? Many soirees and receptions have been given to advertise pupils or to flatter teachers, but without efiect in the right direction. Church choirs in many instances have been very poor, and are not now in a good condition, owing almost en- tirely to the inability or indisposition of churches to pay for good music. It must be conceded that within thirty 3'ears the musical taste and knowledge of St. Louis has somewhat im- proved. The obstacles which exist, and have always existed, jDreventing our reaching a high musical standard, are two : the love of money in musical practitioners and patrons, and jealous3^ Honest emulation is healthy, but musicians' jeal- ousy is often a gangrenous ulcer of disastrous character. It MUSIC IN ST. LOUIS. 61 is this which has broken up the choirs, has disbanded the musical clubs and societies. Each and every member seems too greedy of praise, of prominence, of encores, and bouquets. Little or no thought of the correct interpretation or under- standino; of the music is entertained, the rulini^ idea seeming: to be personal vanity. Alas ! this state of things is encour- aged and kept alive by the audiences formed of the little rings and cliques of whic4i each singer is the center. The St. Louis Musical Art Association was organized in February, 1870, with thirty members, of which almost every one was a teacher of music. There were besides a few enthu- siastic amiateurs and music lovers. To the credit of the latter, be it said, they were honest and earnest members ; but the professional members, all wanted to be presidents and directors. The preliminary meetings were well attended. AVhen the constitution was adopted and signed, a few dropped out; and when the officers were elected, the whole thing almost ex- ploded. About twenty presidents and secretaries, etc., left the society. It dragged along until June, 1870, when a little energy was infused into it by the talk of a Beethoven centennial cele- bration. Sobolewski, an honorary member, consented to direct a grand Beethoven concert, but jealousy broke this up ; each one desired the first place. The programmes of two concerts were made, the musicians engaged, hall hired, tickets sold, expenses jjaid and profits divided — all upon paper ; and so it yet remains, all ready for the use of musicians in 1900. Another cause of the present condition of music here is the lack of a first-class music house. We have had many, but not one conducted on a broad guage and a liberal plan. Twenty years ago, five musicians, all members of thea- tre orchestras, met weekly for their own amusement. They played the best chamber music of Spohr, Beethoven, Haydn, and Mozart. Their audience was seldom more than one, and that one remembers to this day the rare occasions. The instruments were all string — three violins, one viola and one cello. Several clubs of five or six members, for the purpose of 62 TOUR or ST. LOUIS. practicing chamber music, have been formed ; but one now exists. These have nearly always been very select in their membership, their selections and their audiences. In these small companies the " sacred fire " has been kept burning, but the lio-ht is too small and too much hidden to do «:reat good. Among the old music teachers we may name Bode, Fuchs, Walther, Eobyn Brothers, Neunstiel and Heuzel. Those prominent at present are Bowman, Gilsinn, E. cS: C. Froelich, North, Mrs. Brainerd, Malmene, Waldauer, etc. Prof. E. M. Bowman, organist at the Second Presbyterian Church, stands hio-h amono- old lovers of o-ood music in the West, and to him very largely is owing the marked improvement in choir music in St. Louis of late years. The others named also contribute much to elevate and ]3urify the public taste. Quite an impulse has been given to organ playing, by the fine performances of Prof. Creswold ; and our young organists are no longer satis- fied with such performances as we have had in the past, but are strivino; to teach a higher standard and greater desiree of ex- cellence. In a similar artistic manner performers on other instruments, and with the voice, could, by their examples, stimulate and instruct us. There are many good pianists, violinists, and performers on other instruments, but scarcely one conscientious artist, not one enthusiastic devotee. There are those who aspire to be such, but fail, owing to lack of time, of early and thorough musical instruction, and to the want of technical skill, (^tech- nique) and theoretical knowledge. The Oratario and amateur operatic societies have rendered barely passable some excellent music. As usual, indiscrimi- nate praise, petty factions and envy disrupted them. The Amphions, a glee club of society young men, flourished for a few years. It has gradually grown weaker in numbers and execution. They lacked very much in musical cohesive force. The Orpheus, male quartette, sang at the old Philharmonic concerts, and later rendered some good pieces quite smoothly and creditably. Their field was too small to wield much influence. By far- the best thing musically that St. Louis has ever MUSIC IN ST. LOUIS. 63 enjoyed, or, we should say, had oi^portunity to enjoy, was Habelmann's German Opera Troupe. At the Apollo Theater, for two years or more, this troupe produced a variety of operas greater than that furnished by all the troupes that ever visited St. Louis. We doul)t if in any city in this country so many of the best works were given. Beethoven's Fidelio, Mozart's Don Giovanni, Magic Flute and Figaro, Auber's Fra Diavolo and Masaniello, Weber's Freischiitz, Rossini's Barbier, Gounod's Faust, Wagner's Tannhauser, Nicholais' Merry Wives of Windsor, Oifenbach's Opera Bouffe, besides many selections from the German comic opera, the French sensa- tional, and the Italian sentimental schools. Over forty differ- ent works were presented, and many were repeated six times or more. The orchestra was never good ; the individual mem- bers never felt the esjprit du corps necessary to a correct and artistic performance. We think their minds were in a contin- ual conflict between art and nature. But in spite of all this the music was a treat and a rare one to hear. Poor Schram, an able, nervous, fiery conductor, wore out his life trying to direct the Apollo orchestra. Schuler took it easy, and Ernesti- noff labored hard. Santa merely wriggled his little baton, and the men played without looking at him, save once when he sat down on his fiddle. These tri-weekly entertainments were patronized grudgingly by the Germans, liberally by the Jews, and hardly at all bv the Americans. A little circle of music lovers, who knew of the treat awaiting them in the small theatre attached to the Apollo beer-garden, visited there often. But it was not in the way of fashion ; it was not pretentiously heralded, pompously and falsely described ; the seats were not held at three dollars and four dollars So, as it was not the fashionable thing to go there, Americans withheld their support, but threw away their dollars freely to every traveling cheat or musical mounte- bank. Yes, the German Opera failed. What a pity ! Our citi- zens know not what they missed, except the few Avho went there nightly. There has never been such a Faust here as Habelmann, and no Mephistopheles like Fraunosch, with the exception of Hermann. Whatra rollicking madcap Mrs. Schuler 64 TOUR or ST. LOUIS. (Yaeger) was in opera boulfe ! What a surprise to sec her excellent performance of the serious part of Fidelio, although laboring under physical disabilities ! Was there ever a more comical fellow than Hubsch? La Fontaine and wife, D'Zuiba, Mrs. Schram, Miss Eoemer, Madame Litchman and Carl Bernard, they all did their parts with a will and a true concep- tion of their work. Occasional mishaps did not mar the en- joyment. The opera was not always a new one, but was always decent, orderly and critical. So much for the past and present condition of musical art in St. Louis. We have endeavored to portray faithfully its past history, and while sharply criticizing much that is bad, imperfect, and unworthy of admiration, we feel desirous of seeing our city become what its size and importance ought to give it : the great center for all that is o-rand and noble in the art. The press has done much to bring artists and music of all grades into notice, and undoubtedly has in some manner aided in the general development of music, with other things ; but it could do much more. It is such a power that it canto- day reform the world, by creating social, political, financial, and religious revolutions. What, then, could it not do with the arts ? ART IN ST. LOUIS. Art in St. Louis may be said to be in a flourishing condi- tion — inasmuch as the enthusiasm manifested l)y those inter- ested in it is very great — and yet backward in comparison with her sister cities in the East. Judging from her popula- tion and wealth, St. Louis ought to be able to boast of more art treasures than she has, and could certainly afford to extend a greater patronage to the fostering of art in our midst. But when we analyze her people, the cause is apparent. Here is a mixed population, mostly foreign-born — many of a low grade socially, having little or no knowledge of art, and very little taste in that direction. But people need to be educated to an appreciation of art ; and as time advances we hope for much improvement. We have been so intent on money- makins: that aisthetic culture has been sacrificed to that end. If the wealthy men of St. Louis will only follow the example of such in our Eastern cities, and in Europe, we believe it will not be long before the mass of the people will take a decided interest in all that appertains to art and the cultivation of the beautiful. In Paris, where the Louvre is open to the public, on Sunday it is crowded with working men. Judging from present indications, we shall see marked improvement in art here within the next few years. Persons outside of art circles little know what strenuous efforts are being made to place St. Louis on an equal footing w^ith other cities. There are gentlemen here who are entering into the movement with an energy and perseverance, which, if helped by the wealthy portion of our citizens, can not fail to bring about the desired result. There is no reason why this city 5 165] 66 TOUR OF ST. LOUIS. should not be a great art center as well as a great commercial metropolis ; and at present there is really more culture here in that direction than is generally imagined. Not a few of our citizens have some tine private collections ; and the following brief sketches of art education at Washington University, the St. Louis Sketch Club, School of Art and Design, etc., with notices of some of the most prominent artists, will give a general idea of the present condition of art in this city. ART AT WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY. We can not give the space to the department of art at the University that it really deserves. Its system is second to none in this country, and is modeled after the various schools of art and design and industrial schools of Great Britain and France. It is in the hands of thoroughly competent masters, who have given those schools careful personal examination, and who have had experience on both sides of the Atlantic. For the past four years this department has been under the direct management of Prof. C. H. Ives, and his indefati- gable energy, together with the material services rendered by his assistants, have raised the school to a degree of proficiency never before experienced. Prof. Ives has twice visited Europe, and intends going again, especially to study the workings of similar institutions there. The pupils receive a course of instruction that will fit them either to follow art as a profession, or an accomplishment — as designers, architects, teachers, etc. Pupils may take any section of the course, either drawing, modeling, ornamenting, painting, designing, or wood engraving. Attention is particularly given to the early training of pupils. They are well grounded in elementary work before being allowed to proceed with the higher branches. In this respect the discipline is most thorough. Throughout the pupils receive systematic instruction in a knowledge of the principles and practice of art and design. Ladies have special class-rooms set apart for them, and enjoy the same advantages as other students. ART IN ST. LOUIS. 67 Wood carving has been lately introduced under the super- vision of Miss Calista Halsey, who has done so much in this department for the School of Design. Connected with the art department is a night class for those who are unable to attend during the day. The instruc- tion is given gratuitously, and it has been well attended, the average number of pupils being sixty. Another worthy feature well calculated to arouse an inter- est in art is the "Art Lecture Course," given before the evening class, the audience varying from one to four hundred. THE ST. LOUIS SKETCH CLUB. Among the latest additions to the artistic circles, and one which has long been wanting, is the " St. Louis Sketch Club " — Mr. J. M. Tracy, President. It is composed of the promi- nent artists and amateurs of the city, and has already acquired a well-merited local notoriety. It is formed for the purpose of encouraging originality, and to give scope to the creative faculties ; also to promote sociability and the interchange of ideas among members of the profession. The club holds its rei^ular meetino-s the first and second Wednesdays in every month. Each member in turn announces a subject to be illustrated, and entertains the club. The sketches, which form a very interesting collection, then be- come the property of the host. As originality is the foundation-stone of its existence, plagiarizing is not permissible ; any member guilty of such a misdemeanor is expelled ; consequently, when the sketches are presented, each member furnishes his or her conception of what best illustrates the subject. In order to become a member of the club, it is necessary to produce an original sketch, either in oil, water color, india ink, pencil, crayon, charcoal, pen and ink, or clay, representing the subject chosen by the club, and should the effort be ap- proved by the directors, the applicant is enrolled as a member. The sketches can generally be found on exhibition the day after the regular meeting, at Harding's Gallery on Olive Street. 68 TOUR OF ST. LOUIS. THE ST. LOUIS SCHOOL OF ART AND DESIGN. The St. Louis School of Art and Design is another evidence of the growth of aesthetic culture in St. Louis. This school is located in the granite building at the corner of Fourth and Market streets. It was incorporated in 1877, and owes its success to the indefatigable efforts of a prominent St. Louis lady — Mrs. John B. Henderson. It may be said tO' be purely a woman's institution, and was organized to encour- age the application of art to industry. It is modeled some- what after the celebrated South Kensington School of Art and Design, in England, which has done so much for the industrial arts of that country. Here puj^ils are taught to draw from the antique, the English school of water-color drawing, painting in oil, wood carving, porcelain painting, modeling,, and decorative needlework. At a late exhibition given by this school in the early part of June of this year, the display was exceedingly fine. The most prominent feature was the exhibit of wood-carving. We noticed in this department a wine cupboard, and also two cabinets — one by Mrs. Henderson, and the other by Mrs. Blaisdell, that merited quite a favorable criticism from con- noisseurs in this line. Certainly this department reflects con- siderable credit both on the pupils and teacher. The workman- ship has been spoken of in the East in A^ery flattering term.'- ; and we would advise St. Louisans, and those in the neighbor- hood, when they wish to adorn their drawing-rooms or parlors with something original and unique in the way of a cabinet, bracket, cupboard, etc., to call at the School of Design. ST. LOUIS ACADEMY OF FINE AETS. To the lately organized "Academy of Fine Arts" St. Louis must look as the only institution in the city capable of success- fully advancing her art interests. What the Chamber of Com- merce has done for her industrial enterprise, the "Academy of Fine Arts" proposes to do for us in all that appertains to art. Such an institution has been needed in St. Louis for ART IN ST. I.OUIS. 69 years, and now that we are in a fair way to have one estab- lished on a firm and solid basis, we may expect that art here will shortly receive an impetus it never before experienced. The prominent business men and artists findino- somethino- was necessary to stimulate art among the masses, resolved to organize the "St. Louis Academy of Fine Arts." They are determined St. Louis shall no longer occupy the backward po- sition she has done heretofore, but shall make a showino- for herself that will redound to her credit and honor as one of the great art cities of the world. It is unnecessary to draw attention to what similar institu- tions have done for the cities of the Old World. The cultiva- tion of the beautiful, and the development of aBsthetic culture, is a necessity in every community. The "St. Louis Academy of Fine Arts" will endeavor to promote our welfare to that end. An article in their constitutioii, which fully expresses its aims, reads as follows : "The object of this Association shall be the advancement of art, in all its departments ; and the promotion of {esthetic culture, by social intercourse, instruc- tion in art, public receptions and exhibitions of works of art." Give them the means and we shall soon be "breathino: an at- mosphere of art." The gentlemen who have charge of this noble work pro- pose to erect a suitable academy building, containing galleries for public exhibitions, class-rooms for instructional work, and the proper equipments for the same ; also, to establish a per- manent art gallery, and an annual exhibition. Over forty members have already become life members, and it is desired to increase the life membership to two hun- dred. All who are lovers of art, and wish to promote so laud- able an enterprise as this, should interest themselves directly in the work. It will certainly, in the end, be one of the finest institutions of which our city can boast. A. J. CONANT. Among the early settlers of this countrj'- Avere the ancestors of the subject of our sketch, who, in 1624, came over from England, settling in Massachusetts. Alban Jasper Conant was 70 TOUR or ST. LOUIS. born in 1821, at Chelsea, Orange County, Vermont. His early life was spent in working on a farm with his father, who was by trade a house and sign painter. Having a great de- sire for knowledge, he eml^raced every opportunity for study, and last became convinced that he was not in his proper sphere of action. At eighteen he entered Randolph Academy. While there he wrote considerable for the country newspapers, and by the numerous sketches he made, and portraits of friends which he painted, first revealed the great talent he possessed. Being filled with the true artistic spirit, the love of the beauti- ful, and that appreciation of nature which an artist only can fully realize, it was a great trial for him to be forced to forego his art studies for want of means. He- devoted himself to teaching music to gain the needed funds. Though he knew but little of artists, and the world of art in which they lived, yet he felt that to be his true vocation, and firmly resolved to pursue it. He went to New York City in 1 844 ; there he studied dili- gently and received much encouragement from friends, among them Henry Inman . After twelve 3^ears of work in that and other cities of New York, he came to St. Louis, where he has done all in his power to create the desire for artistic culture among the people, and interested himself in all plans for art improvement. In conjunction with other artists he established the "West- ern Academy of Art" here in 1860, but, like many similar in- stitutions, it sufiered death during the war, and many of its treasures were lost. Mr. Conant very soon established his reputation in St. Louis as a portrait painter, having no superior in the city, and many of our prominent citizens have sat for him ; among them may be mentioned J. J. Roe, Henry and Edgar Ames, Von Phul, and Wm. M. McPherson. During the war Mr. Conant was in the East, and there painted the portrait of the Hon. Edward Bates, who, at that time, was Attorney-General. He also painted Edwin M. Stanton and Jas. B. Eads, while his celebrated bust portrait of Lincoln won for him fresh laurels. Since the war he has resided in St. Louis, where he occupies ART IN ST. LOUIS. 71 ;i high position in ra-t society. Mr. Conant lectures on mat- ters pertaining to art l)efore colleges, seminaries, etc. He is much interested in scientific subjects, and has made a study of the prehistoric people of this country, with what success the great number of relics contained in his studio will testily, and especially the chapters on archaeology he has recently contributed to the new " Conmion wealth of Missouri." A recent paper on the subject read before the St. Louis Academy of Science, has attracted the attention of foreign societies and has been translated into the German, French, and Danish lan- guages. St. Louis may well feel proud of an artist of Mr. Conant' s ability, standing a,s he does at the top of his profession here, and in his particular line having but few rivals, even in America. GEO. C. EICHBAUM. Mr. Eichbaum is an artist of no ordinary ability. He came here from Pittsburgh in 1859, and has been an untiring work- man in his line ever since. His characteristic modesty and unassuming style has been grouped with a conscientious and zealous devotion to his work. Gradually he has worked his way into a large place among the lovers of art. His studio is room No. 45, Insurance Exchange, corner of Olive and Fifth streets. His specialty is portrait painting, and has at times pro- duced some genre pictures indicating current events of the day. A recent portrait of Miss Josie McKellops, painted in the character of Lady Gay Spanker, has been on exhibition and has gained the warmest approbation from those who have seen it. His "Defeated Candidate" was his first happy hit outside of the line of ordinary portrait painting. It was sent to the National Academy of Design in New York and there sold for a handson)e figure. It received a most flattering notice in the Art Journal as a piece of undoubted merit. The subject was so unique and so true to political life that it was universally admired by those who saw it. Recent portraits of Hon. John B. Henderson and Prof. 72 TOUR OF ST. LOUIS. Reilly have received special attention ; and three portraits of Jos. Garneau's children have done much to l)ring him into public notice as an artist whose talent is worthy of favorable recognition. He is a member of the various art societies of the city, and is about to devote some months abroad among the galleries of the Old World. JOSEPH R. MEEKER. Mr. Meeker, in 1845, began in New York City, drawing from casts, in order to gain a scholarship in the Academy of Design. The drawings were accepted, and that winter found him hard at work in the antique class. At that time, the Nestor of American landscape painters, A. B. Durand, was President of the Academy. It was from studying his works that he formed his style, and he has seldom departed from those sober, quiet effects, which are so gratifying to the educated eye. He also turned his attention to portrait paint- ing, and spent much time in the studio of the great artist Elliot, gaining much valuable information from him. In 1859 he started on a tour through a dozen large cities, to find a better field for art. On arriving at St. Louis, he resolved to set up his easel, finding Wimar, Noble, Boyle, Cogswell, De Franca and Conant all at work, and seemingly prosperous. Mr. Meeker met with considerable encourage- ment until the war broke out, when all professions, especially that of the artist, being at a low ebb, he became a paymaster in the United States navy, which position he retained for four years. It was during this time that he had opportunities for making those sketches of the Southern swamp scenery that have made his name so well known. Since the close of the war, Mr. Meeker has steadily worked at his profession, only leaving the city occasionally during the summer months to get material for new pictures. His works illustrating Southern scenery first brought him into prominence in St. Louis. The taste for art had not been cultivated to any considerable extent here ; but there were a few who were will- ing to give remunerative prices for such pictures. He did not ART IN 8T. LOUIS. 73 confine himself to swamp scenes, but took subjects nearer home, illustrating the scenery of Southeastern Missouri, the fine, blufi" banks of the Osage and Gasconade rivers, and the o-reat lead rccfions of the Southwest. Mr. Meeker's pictures have formed a conspicuous feature in every art exhibition which has taken place in St. Louis during the seventeen years he has resided here. Each succes- sive year has shown marked improvement in his execution and coloring, and each year has brought him new friends and ad- mirers. As the years went on, he chose a wider range of subjects, taking in the Upper as well as the Lower Mississippi, the mountains of New England and the coast of Maine, with the lakes of Wisconsin and Minnesota. His landscapes have gone one by one into private houses both East and West, and contribute their share towards educating and refining the tastes of old and young. JOHN M. TRACY. One of the latest acquisitions to the 'profession in St. Louis is Mr. J. M. Tracy, an American artist of the modern French school. He has been painting for the past ten years in Europe, but has concluded to make St. Louis his home. He is a member of the St. Louis Academy of Fine Arts, Sketch Club, Art Society, etc. After the close of the war he sailed for Europe, and deter- mined to adopt the school to which he now belongs. He was received as a pupil of Adoli)he Yoon, the great painter of bat- tles, and by his advice entered the Ecole des Beaux Arts, and remained under the tuition of j\I. Pils, the historical painter, until the death of that artist. He then entered the studio of Carolus Duran, the greatest of modern portrait painters, where he remained until 1877. Durino; the Franco-Prussian war Mr. Tracy went to California and made many studies of the wonderful scenery of that country. He returned to Paris, and his works were well received at the Salon, and also at the various provincial exhibitions. Of those in America, two of the best are in California. One, the "Battle of Murfrees- boro ;" the other, a " Hunt in the Forest of Fontainebleau ;" 74 TOUR OF ST. LOUIS. both have been greatly admired. In St. Louis there are two large landscapes : "Mt. Diable, Cal.," OAvned by J. P. Colby, and the " Yosemite Valley," belonging to Hudson E. Bridge. His special forte, however, seems to be in historical and landscape painting. His studio, which is always open to visitors, is at 1102 Olive Street, and its walls are covered with sketches made in this country and in Europe. PAUL E. HARNEY. This gentleman is best known here by the following works : The picture of Howard S. Kretschmar, the sculptor, painted entirely in the feeling of the Munich school, and exhibited at the late Loan Exhibition, where it received many well-merited criticisms. Another, "A Fat Friar Returning from a Begging F^xpedition," the property of Hon. J. H. Terry, shows the power of this artist in handling subjects of this class. Mr. J. K. Cummings, of the St. Louis Glass Works, has two or three from Mr. Harney's studio. On exhibition in Harding's gallery is another picture, a ver}^ fine piece of work, called "A Nun at her Devotions." At the time of writing he has on his easel "Two Children in a Street in Rome," a very neat Italian study, full of feeling, which, when finished, will command attention. Another work we can not pass over is a "Street Scene in Cairo," the property of Prof. Ives, of Wash- ington University. Mr. Harney has spent several years of study in Europe, especially in Munich. He is a member of the St. Louis Academy of Fine Arts, has charge of a department at the School of Design, and has interested himself largely in art matters in the city. Mr. Paul E. Harney, well known in art circles, has charge of a class studying from the antique, and judging from the col- lection of drawings exhibited by the pupils, they show the careful training they have undergone through his guidance. The department of oil painting is entrusted to Mr. Roy Robertson, who also instructs a class in the fundamental and more advanced stages of design as applied to carving and ART IN ST. LOUIS. 75 decoration . Porcelain })ainting is quite a favorite study with the hidies, and their productions have been much admired. There are some really very fine specimens of work in this depart- ment that will bear close examination, and others again l)elow the average. We noticed at their late exhibit that the works of Mrs. Henderson, Miss Moffit, and several others, could only have been produced by careful study and perseverance, in addition to a natural talent in this direction. CARL GUTHERZ. His studio is in Washington University, where he has charge of the department devoted to painting ; he particu- larly excels in ideal subjects. The full length portrait of Miss Nellie Hazeltine, by this artist, firmly established his reputation in St. Louis. This picture, when on exhibition at Pettes & Leathe's, was viewed by thousands, receiving at the time most flattering criticisms from the press. It con- vinced St. Louisans that they had an artist in their midst of no mean capabilities, whose work was full of promise, and bespoke a well-merited patronage in the future. FRANK AVINCHESTER. This artist is known for his exquisite cameo cuttings. Mr. Frank Winchester, is one of three who stand pre-emi- nent in this department of art in the United States. His portraits of eminent St. Louisans are marvels of beauty in this respect. In 1850 the Franklin Institute of Philadelphia voted him a gold medal for his contributions to this branch of the fine arts. His works are widely scattered in the hands of connoisseurs, and are highly prized. Since the perfection of the art of photography the work of the artist in cameo portraiture has been greatly advanced, as by the aid of the magnifying glass the most delicate outlines are given, so as to produce startling eftects. In this respect the work of Mr. Winchester surpasses that of all others. As 76 TOUR OF ST. LOUIS. . a branch of art of the highest merit it is strange that so little is really known of its opportunities in St. Louis. Mr. Winchester is so devoted to his work, and withal, so retiring and modest, that he takes no pains to bring his works before the mass of our cultured citizens, and but for this short sketch, few would know that we have in our midst perhaj^s the greatest artist in cameo portraiture on this continent. He may be found at Scholten's, No. 920 Olive Street. W. L. MARPLE. Mr. Marple, lately from California, has already won his laurels here, through his display in the late Loan Exhibition at the Public School Library. His Californian and tropical scenery, and his sunsets, found him many Avarm admirers. Since then he has been very busy executing orders for similar works. HARRY CHASE. . There is one St. Louis artist whom we can not pass over — Harry Chase. He is now studying in Europe, and as a marine painter has as bright a future before him as any artist could "wish. His works have lately been received at the Salon, and judging from the number he sends home, he must be both a hard and earnest worker — one to whom St. Louis will one day point with pride. THEO. RABUSKA, In the "black and white line," has few rivals. Some of the finest charcoal and crayon jjortraits that have ever been pro- duced in this city have come from his studio. This is attested by the large share of patronage that has fallen to him, and the thorough appreciation his pictures have met with every- where. His studio IS at room 53 Insurance Exchange build- in 2:. ART IN ST. LOUIS. 77 HOWARD S. KRETSCHMAR.— Sculptor. Among the artists of St. Louis, none rank higher than Mr. Kretschmar. He early disphiycd signs of great ability in the plastic art, and nearly six years ago, after executing several bust portraits, he was induced to repair to Europe to study his art in the best schools, and from the most famous models. From time to time during his absence news occasionally came which showed conclusively that the early promise Avas fast ripening to the fullness of fruition. About a year ago two marble busts, one of Henry Shaw and one of Dr. John Delaney, were received here and exhibited, both of them receivina: the highest enconiums. His next work of which we have any knowledge was a life-size figure entitled "Painting the Lily," the subject being a young girl gracefully poised, with flower in one hand and brush in the other, contemplating the result of her fjinciful labors. This work was put into marble by or- der of a wealthy San Francisco banker, who saw the clay model in the artist's studio in Rome, and the completed work now adorns the fortunate purchaser's gallery at the "Golden Gate." A plaster cast of this work is now at Harding's, on Olive Street, where also is to be seen "Echo," a delightfully piquant composition embodying the very ideal of feminine archness and vivacity. Here, also, is a bust portrait in marble of the late Father De Smet, which shows powers of the highest or- der. He first entered the celebrated Royal Art Academy at Mu- nich, where his studies were prosecuted with characteristic ardor ; thence he repaired to Italy, where at Rome, Florence, Venice and Milan, he drank deep draughts of that inspiration which can only be found in that classic land. Thus thoroughly saturated with the spirit of the art land, and with a mind ripened and hand and eye disciplined by the closest study and most strenuous labor, he returned last winter to his native city and opened a studio on the southeast corner of Fifth and Olive streets. Here, besides some remarkably spirited sketches, he has just completed a bust portrait, heroic size, of the late Bishop Marvin, which has met with unqualified admiration. 78 TOUR OF ST. LOUIS. ART EXHIBIT AT THE FAIR GROUNDS. The Fair Grounds Association have always given great encouragement to the display of works of art. It has added to its buildings an art gallery, which has become one of the chief attractions during fair week. This effort has done as much as anything else to promote taste for art among our citizens. Last year's exhibit w^as the finest collection of paintings ever seen in St. Louis. They were brought together at a great expense, and consisted of works from some of the most celebrated studios of Europe and America, loaned from pri- vate collections and art dealers all over the country. The display would have done credit to an 3^ city. The citizens of St. Louis have always exhibited a com- mendable zeal in this exhibition, which is given annually. The owners of private collections have not been wanting in readiness to loan the gems in their possession, and the several artists of the city have put forth their best endeavors to make the display promotive of art ideas. LIBRARIES. MERCANTILE LIBRARY Twenty-three years ago the inagnifieent institution known as the Mercantile Library of St. Louis began its existence on a good basis through the important help of Henry D. Bacon, Esq. From that period to the present it has steadily grown in importance and usefulness, until it now plays an important l)ai't in the mental develoi:)ment of thousands of our best informed citizens. [79] 80 TOUR or ST. LOUIS. In 1855 the Board of Directors took possession of their new buildino;, which had been erected at a cost of one hundred and forty thousand dollars. At that time John T. Douglas, Esq., was President, and the other officers and directors were all men of enterprise, \^ ho saw the great usefulness of the institution they were building up. There were in 1855 twelve thousand volumes on its shelves and nearly one thousand registered members, with an annual income of nearly nine thousand dollars. At the present time there are fifty thousand volumes' on the library shelves, a membership of nearly five thousand, with an average of seven thousmid readers. One hundred and forty thousand volumes a year are taken for reading purposes or reference ; the expenditures are more than forty thousand dollars annually, and the value of the property three hundred thousand dollars. In the management of the library the managers have always kept in view the collection of works of the highest merit, among which may be mentioned rare and valuable works on American history ; works on the aboriginal inhabitants, in- cluding those of Squier, Catlin, Las Casas, Priest, Duponceau, and others ; works on medical science, both rare and im- portant ; Shakesperian critiques and commentators ; patent report of Great Britain; works by Napoleon, Humboldt; and a very large collection of illustrated works. The rapid increase of volumes in the library has outstripped the shelf accommodation, every inch of available space being occupied at present and thousands of books not duly placed. In the reading-rooms may be found not only all the prin- cipal magazines and newspapers of the United States, but also those of England, France, Germany, and Belgium. Scientific journals and reviews from all important centers are always to be found at the reading tables. Above the library is the magnificent hall and organ, used for lectures, concerts, etc., and seating two thousand persons. This room is finely lighted and ventdated, and in it are annually given courses of the best lectures and musical enter- tainments by the most talented and distinguished orators and musicians in the world. Edwin Harrison, Esq., is the President, and John N. Dyer, LIBRARIES. 81 Esq., the Librarian; both of these gentlemen are untiring in then- efforts to keep up the institution to its high standard. The Directors represent not only the substantial wealth of the city, but also its enterprise and brains, and to each and all of them the city of St. Louis owes much for keeping up an institution that enlightens and strengthens the l)rains of both young and old among her hve hundred thousand souls strug- <>:ling for " liiore liirht." PUBLIC SCHOOL LIBRARY. Tn the year 1865 the Public School Library, located at the Polytechnic Building, Seventh and Chestnut streets, was first commonced. From small beginnings it has rapidly assumed immense proportions, until at the present moment it contains over forty thousand volumes. The reading-room, which is comfortably arranged, is open from 10 A. M. to 10 p. m. From the moment of opening until closing, great numbers of young and old avail themselves of 82 TOUR OF ST. LOUIS. the advantages it offers for study and reference. The reading- room is free to all visitors, and all the best and most popular magazines, reviews, and journals of the day may be found on its desks. All the leading newspapers are on file, both European and American. Citizens and strangers are freely accorded all the advantages of the li])rary while in the reading- room, but the privilege of taking away volumes is given to members only, who pay three dollars per annum. As a part of the educational institutions of St. Louis, the Public School Library plays an important work. Scholars and graduates of the High School, who devote their lives to special studies, here find advantages which private libraries do not offer ; while to those who require reading matter of a lighter kind the library offers an unlimited amount of the best literature, giving food to the imagination and occupation of a healthy kind to brains that would otherwise be demoralized by the numberless temptations of a great city. The officers of the Public School Library are : Louis F. Soldan, President ; Fred. M. Crunden, Librarian ; F.J. Sol- dan, Actuary; E. Spainer, First Assistant; F. E. Roesler, Second Assistant ; Miss Gussie Campbell, Third Assistant ; together with four assistants. The reading-room is largely patronized, especially by those who have passed through the schools, evincing the fact that the work of education has lieen well begun. The Librarian and his Assistants are always courteous and obliging to visitors and strangers, and the reading-room is at all times occupied by numbers who seem to be impressed with the importance of increasing; their stock of knowledsfe. It is to be hoped the time is not far distant when a library and readins-room will be connected with everv school in the city^ and placed on the ground-floor of an unpretentious building, so that the plain, everj'-day mechanic may find a wel- come spot for instruction M'ithout being overawed by the grandeur of the place, or restrained from that natural freedom of manner which unlettered natures require. If Ave would educate the people we must go dovm to them. The Public School Library is one step in the right direction ; there are many others to follow. PUBLIC SCHOOLS. Thoughtful people in every community are gradually learn- ino- the fact that an ignorant man or woman is the most ex- pensive article that can be raised. Hence, the public school system becomes the more valuable as the creator of civiliza- '^T-'^ ST. LOUIS HIGH SCHOOL. tion. St. Louis is fortunately situated ni regard to educa- tion. The schools have been wisely endowed and ably con- ducted. The annual receipts and expenditures at present amount to three-quarters of a million of dollars, and the number of pupils 1831 84 TOUR OF ST. LOUIS. receiving an education in the schools in 1878 is fifty-two thousand. Some idea of their growth may be obtained from the following figures : In 1841, there were 350 children enrolled : in 1851, 2,427 ; in 1861, 13,380 ; in 1871, 31,087 ; and in 1878, 52,000. In the year 1812, Congress passed an act giving certain vacant lands in the Territory of Missouri, within the district which includes St. Louis and St. Charles, for the support of the schools in these towns. In 1824 and 1831 additional PEABODY SCHOOL. grants were made by the Government ; and in 1833 the first School Board in St. Louis was organized, under a charter giv- ing it complete control of all lands acquired by acts of Con- gress. Formerly the Board of Directors was composed of two members from each ward, who were elected by the people and held office three years. The real estate in possession of the Board was leased, and from the rents derived therefrom, two brick school buildings. EDUCATIONAL. 85 costing each three thousand dollars, and accommodating three hundred and fifty pupils, were erected. Up to 1846 six school buildings had been erected, and that before city taxes for school purposes had been levied. In June, 1849, a tax of one mill on the dollar was voted for the support of the schools, and the rents from leases, etc., amounted to fourteen thousand dollars. The population of the city amounted, at that time, to seventy thousand, and the first mill-tax collected, in 1850, amounted to eighteen thousand four hundred and thirty-two dollars. Since that time the growth of the school system has DES PERES SCHOOL. been rapid. During the rebellion the taking unlawfully of the school funds by the State authorities necessitated the payment of a tuition fee ; but smce 1865 the schools have been free, and in growth and fullness have exceeded the fondest anticipa- tions of the people of St. Louis. There are now engaged in the schools over seven hundred able teachers, carefully selected ])y the Board and the Superin- tendent, Hon. William T. Harris. The last named has been untiring, able and discriminating in making our schools not only of benefit to the children, but a credit to the State. Between the District and the High School there is a period 86 TOUK OF ST. LOUIS. of seven yeiirs, during which the pupils acquire a symmetrical development, admirably adapting them for the solid instruc- tions given in the finishing or High School. Out of the fifty thousand pupils enrolled about 2^ per cent, enter the High School. The feature of German-English instruction has of late 3^ears become popular, and the number of pupils in this department has increased from 450 in 1864 to 10,246 in 1872. The phonetic system of learning to read Avas introduced in the primary schools in 1866, and was attended with the most gratifying results. The whole number of schools now conducted by the Board of President and Directors is seventy-one, and the value of the property held by the Board is $2,886,000. The number of school- ho uses has been more than doubled in the last ten years, and the seating capacity more than trebled. The offices of the School Board and President are located in the Polytechnic building, at the southwest corner of Seventh and Chestnut. The meetings of the Board of Directors are open to the public, and the Superintendent, Mr. Harris, is al- ways ready to accord any information in his reach to all in- quirers. Mr. Harris has recently been re-elected Superinten- dent, the citizens of St. Louis having full confidence in his ability, as manifested in his past management of such a vast and important cause as that of the education of the commu- nity. THE KINDERGARTEN. The growth of the Kindergarten, or Froebel sj^stem of education in St. Louis has been a marked success. From the modest beginning of one room, two teachers and a few pupils, it has grown to forty distinct Kindergartens, one hundred and fifty teachers and fifteen hundred pupils. The growth has been gradual and steady each year, shov/- insr an advance in numbers and interest. In 1873 the Board 88 TOUR OF ST. LOUIS. of Public Schools inaugurated the experiment, Miss S. E. Blow and an assistant takino- charo;e of the first Kindergarten, in the Des Peres buildins; in Carondelet. At the conclusion of the first year unprejudiced educators of St. Louis and the parents of the children submitted to the experiment, declared unanimously in favor of the new education. Three teachers were taught the Froebel system during this year by Miss Blow. In the fall of 1874 two of these teachers were placed in charge of Kindergartens, one at the DivoU School and the other at the Everett School. Cynics had said of the Carondelet experiment, " Tliis is all very brilliant, no doubt, but these are all picked children of educated parentage, and the teacher, an exceptional char- acter, possessed of unusual talents." The success of the DivoU experiment among the wealthy, and the Everett among the poorer classes of societ}^ and under the guidance of young ladies who were simply con- scientious workers, proved to every thoughtful mind that in the system itself was the secret of its success, and this judg- ment is reached by every individual who earnestly and practi- cally studies Froebel' s method. In each of these Kindergartens several young ladies were received as assistants, their only compensation being the privilege of learning. Miss Blow personally superintending their theoretical training. It is one of Froebel' s principles that normal training should be given through actual practice in the school-room under the guidance of an experienced teacher. This fact of apprentice- ship is one of the fundamental distinctions between the old education and the new. The following year, 1875, there were ten Kindergartens and about forty teachers, and, as yet, no pronounced failures. All varieties of social life had now come under the influence of difierent grades of teachers, and still the Kindergartens grew, an increase in the averao-e attendance being decidedlv perceptible. The next year twenty-eight Kindergartens were enrolled, with a corps of one hundred and twenty teachers, the average EDUCATIONAL. 89 attendance in each Kindergarten being about forty ; the pres- ent year the average is about fifty. Previous to the opening of these public and free Kinder- gartens their sphere was limited to the wealthy. The train- ing alone cost the teacher three hundred dollars, besides all other expenses. Of course, her future pupils had to pay for this expense. Under such circumstances good Kindergartens were few and far between. For the diffusion of this knowl- edare the entire nation is indebted to St. Louis and her Board of Education . That in this city the work is appreciated none can doubt, save among those who, having eyes, see not. Avery vigorous attempt made by the opponents of Kindergarten education to repress it roused a "perfect fever of excitement, and the names of thousands of tax-payers were on the petitions which went to the School Board protesting against the movement. A good cause must have its martyrs, and the advocates of the new idea may still burnish their armor ; but when an acorn has grown into an oak it is difficult to uproot, and the Kinder- garten has gained the parents' hearts through their love for their children. Some one has happily called the Kindergarten the "Paradise of Childhood," an appellation by no means undeserved. UNIVERSITIES AND COLLEGES. WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY. Washington University, located at the corner of Seven- teenth Street and Washington Avenue, is a handsome brick building, four stories high, and occupying nearly three-fourths of the Washington Avenue front on that block. The University owes its existence to the public spirit of Hon. Wayman Crow, who in 1853 drew up the charter for Eliot Seminary. It was incorporated in that year, with Rev. W. G. Eliot as President. He preferred a change of name, and the accidental date of its charter, the approval being on the twenty-second of February, suggested its present title. The University was formally inaugurated in 1857, an oration being given at Mercantile Library Hall by Edward Everett Hale, and other appropriate ceremonies at Academic Hall. The advanced scientific school Avas also opened at that time. By an article incorporated in the charter, and placed beyond the power of any future directors to change — "No instruction, either sectarian in religion or partisan in politics, shall be allowed in any department of said University " — and no religious or political test shall ever be allowed in choice of professors, etc. The University comprises five distinct departments. I. The Academy, Denham Arnold, Principal. II. The Mary Institute, in charge of Prof. C. S. Pennell. This is a female seminary under the University charter, offering the same advantages of high intellectual culture to young ladies as are received by young men at the University. It was founded in 1859, and has since occupied a building erected for the pur- pose in Lucas Place, but the increasing patronage has neces- sitated greater accommodations, and a fine building is now beino; erected at the corner of Beaumont and Locust streets, [90J EDUCATIONAL. • 91 which will be occupied during the next school year. III. The College, Prof. M. S. Snow, Kegistrur. IV. The Polytechnic School, Prof. Calvin M. Woodward, Dean. The studies hi this department comprise courses ni civil and mechanical engineering, chemistry, mining and metallurgy, building and architecture ; also, a special course in science and literature. Rooms are lifted up with apparatus and all necessary appli- ances, thus artbrding the students opportunities for practical work and experiments in the different departments. The collection of minerals, rocks, fossils, etc., number Over twelve thousand specimens. V. The Law School, also known as the "St. Louis Law School," was established in 1860, but on account of financial and general depression during the war it was not opened until 1867. George M. Stewart is Dean, and during its ten years of existence it has risen to such a high standard of excellence as to be unsurpassed in the United States . The University library has two thousand volumes, and is constantly being increased. During the vear frequent courses of lectures are given on scientific, literary or historical sub- jects, to which the general public have access, and a lecture fund of $27,000 has been given to the University by W. H. Smith. The endowments and property owned by the institu- tion are estimated at $750,000. There is a fine Observatory in connection with the Univer- sity, and very complete instruments for scientific observation and experiment, under the management of Profs. Woodward, Nipher, Snow, and others, and to those gentlemen the citizens of St. Louis owe much for the care and attention paid in the accurate training given to the numerous pupils under their care . Courses of lectures on all branches of science are given annually, open to the public at very small cost, and any young man desiring advice or counsel, secures from the professors of Washington University every assistance in their power to bestow. The liberal constitution of the College has given it a national reputation, as one offering the broadest culture and most thorough training of any in the United States. KDITCATIONAL. 93 ST. LOUIS UNIVERSITY. This orrand institution of learnino; ranks amonof the oldest in the State. It stands upon the northwest corner of Ninth Street and Washington Avenue, fronting on Ninth Street and extendhig one hundred and thirty feet upon Washington Avenue. It is three stories high and built of elegant pressed brick in an uno1)trusive but substantial style. In 1863 its grand frontage was extended north some eighty feet, immediately adjoining St. Francis Xavier Church on Christy Avenue. This last addition is forty feet deep and four stories in height. The first three stories are used as class-rooms, and the fourth floor contains dormitories for the senior students, and also the Philalethic Hall, where debates are conducted by the students under the supervision of the professors. The College building proj^er contains a chapel for the senior students on the ground floor. The second floor contains the museum and librar3^ and on the third floor is the grand exhi- bition hall. The hall is noted for its beauty and taste in ornamentation. It possesses most excellent acoustic projjcr- ties, and has been regarded as one of the finest in the cit}'^ for public exhibitions. The library of the college contains over twenty-five thous- and volumes. Its range includes the ancient classics, Eufrlish literature, travels and history, the best of English and French fiction, philosophy, arts, science, and theology. Many of the rarest books in the world are found here, and students from all quarters of the land have had occasion to consult its treasures. Its collection of Indian curiosities and skulls, also of coins, stones, carvings, pictures and mementoes are among the most rare and instructive relics known any- where. This institution is well fitted to give a liberal education to its pupils. The studies cover a wide scope, well fitted to im- part a thorough education. The management is in the best of hands and the professors are known as among the first educa- tors of the land. EDUCATIONAL. 95 ST. LOUIS SEMINARY. This is a private select school for young ladies, situated at Jenniiiir's Station, on a commanding summit overlooking the city of St. Louis, remarkable for its beauty, its healthfulness, and its removal from all disturbing influences. The proximitv of the Seminary to the city (thirt}'^ minutes only reipiired to reach the heart of the city from the Seminary) secures to the young ladies all the advantages for improvement offered by St. Louis, and yet it is surrounded by all the (juiet and seclusion of a rural neighborhood. The elegant and well- arranged edifice stands in the midst of a beautiful, shady lawn of six acres, surrounded by pure air and abundantly supplied with pure water. The grade of scholarship is high, and the instruction thorough, only the very best text books being used. The Principal, Prof. B. T. Blewett, A.M.,LL.D., who has an experience of twenty-five years, devotes his entire personal attention to class instruction, and is assisted by an able corps of teachers. Besides the thorough literary course, everj^ de- sirable advantage is offered in the departments of instrumental and vocal music. Drawing, s^ketching from nature, painting in oil and water colors, wax-work, and whatever else ai)per- tains to the ornamental education of a young lady, are skill- fully taught. MRS. CUTHBERT'S YOUNG LADIES' SEMINARY. This school for young ladies is pleasantly located on the corner of Pine and Sixteenth streets, in a building that was for many years known as the City University. When that insti- tution relinquished the field and liquidated, ]\Irs. Cuthbert found in it a most suitable locality for her Seminary for young ladies. The corps of teachers employed are good, the range of studies is quite extensive, and everything is done to pro- mote the good education of those coming under the care of the Seminary. The domestic arrangements are ample, M^th the best influences to secure a thorough education. Mrs. Eugene Cuthbert is the Principal. EDUCATIONAL. 97 THE VISITATION FEMALE ACADEMY. More thuii :i ]ia]f a century ago the Sisters of the Visitation estabhshecl at the ancient town of Kaskaskia, Ills., conducted one of the most popular seminaries for the education of youjig ladies then in existence in the West. When the memorable flood of 1844 swept over the valley of the Mississippi, the low grounds on which the Visitation Convent at Kaskaskia was situated were completely inundated, and the inmates were compelled to take passage on a steamboat for St. Louis. Arriving here in July, 1844, the kindly sympathies of the people were excited in behalf of the unfortunate ladies, and Avhen soon after the foundation of a new and larger establish- ment Avas laid, the Sisters had the active support and assistance of the entire community, irrespective of church relations. In due time the extensive buildings on the north side of Cass Avenue, al)ove Twentieth Street, Avere completed, and the Sisters opened the sessions of a seminary for the education of young ladies, which has grown in popular esteem with every succeeding year, and is at this time in a flourishing condition, and regarded by all as one of the institutions of which St. Louis people may avcU feel proud. It is generally admitted that the ladies belonging to this order of religion are eminently qualified by thorough mental training and moral discipline for the duties of instructors of those who are soon to take the leading positions in society. This opinion, so extensively entertained, serves to supj^ly the academy with pupils. Accordingly it is not a matter of sur- prise that every year a larger number of young ladies from distant States and Territories are gathered into this temple of learning. The refinement and varied acquirements of the nuns offer a complete guarantee that the intellectual, social and moral aptitudes of those placed in their charge will be developed to the fullest possible extent. The situation of the institution is pleasant and retired, though in the midst of the populous city. The buildings are extensive and well ventilated ; the grounds are of sufficient extent to permit the enjoyment of out-door recreation. The course of study is thorough ; the discipline excellent ; the 98 TOUR OF ST. LOUIS. moral atmosphere pervading the institution unexceptional, and the opportunities for a quiet and earnest devotion to study which are offered at the Visitation Academy can not be sur- passed within the walls of any institution within the city, or indeed anywhere in the "West. About one hundred and forty pupils were enrolled during the spring term of 1878, repre- senting several States and the Territory' of New Mexico. In every respect the Visitation Academj^ is commended to parents as a first-class educational institution, one in which young ladies are strictly guarded and cared for by ladies of the highest character for intellectual and moral qualities. JONES- COMMERCIAL COLLEGE. Prominent among the great educational institutions in the West for the past thirty-seven years is Jones' Commercial Col- lege, which has been the leading factor in shaping the destiny of a large majority of our wealthiest and most prominent citizens. Its record is a noble one and well worthy of perpetuation, de- serving a proud position in the most valuable archives of our great city. The institution was established in St. Louis by R. M. Bart- lett & Co., in 1841, on Main, between Green Street and Wash- ington Avenue, at that time the most eligible location in the city, for Fourth Street had not yet been paved, and the busi- ness all centered on Main and Second streets. For the first four months after opening the college did not receive a single scholar, but before the year expired forty-five had matriculated for the course. Among the first applicants for admission were Com. C. K. Garrison, Isaac L. Garrison, Theodore Laveille, J. H. Mait- land, Edward Tracy, and Nicholas Wahl. In 1843 Jonathan Jones, who is still the proprietor, assumed the management of the college, which prospered rapidly, and EDUCATIONAL. 99 finding the trade of the city shifting he removed to the corner of Fourth and Chestnut streets, M'hcre he remained eleven j-^ears. Among the hundreds who graduated from the college while located in this place may be mentioned Com. John A., Wm. H. and Charles Scudder, Hon. E. O. Stanard, Robert D. Patterson, Henry Haarstick, John P. Keyser, Edgar Ames, the late John S. McCune and Kapoleon Mullikin, Hon. Wm. H. Stone, Wm. and Henry McKee, H. C. Yaeger, H. Seuter, Hon. J. H. Fisse, Felix Coste, Henry Hough, Conrad Fath, Daniel G. Taylor, Capt. Chas. W^arner, and many others of equal j^i'ominence. In 1854 another change of location was deemed desirable, and accordingly the college was removed to the southeast cor- ner of Third Street and Washington Avenue, where it re- mained until 1866, when Mr. Jones leased the Odd-Fellows' Hall, corner of Fourth and Locust streets, and continued there until 1869, when the college was removed to the Lucas building, corner of Fifth and Olive streets, and in 1877 removed to its present location, occupying the third and fourth floors of Nos. 309 and 311 North Fifth Street. In 1869 Mr. Jones received a paralytic stroke in the right arm, wdiich so disabled him that he was compelled to leave the city, going into the interior of St. Louis County, where he followed agricultural pursuits for several years, and after- wards spent four years in mineralogical researches in the mountains wdiere he entirely recovered. During his absence the college was run by a managing principal ; and in 1877 Mr. Jones returned and entered again upon the active discharge of his duties with renewed visfor. The college under the present admirable arrangement is one of the most complete and thorouijh institutions for o-ivinsr a full course of commercial instructions, including book-keep- ing, i^enmanship, mathematics, phonography, commercial law, etc., in the L^nited States. A large room on the right hand side of the second floor is devoted exclusively to the instruction of ladies. The floor is elegantly caqDcted, the walls hung with fine drawings and beautiful specimens of ornamental pen- manship. Everything comports with a cultivated feminine taste. The principals in this department are Mrs. Mary 100 TOUR OF ST. LOUIS. Prather and Miss ]\Iarv Baunigartncr. On the left-hand side of the hall are two luaiiuilicent rooms, one for mathematics and the other for penmanshi[), the former department heiiig nnder the charge of Prof. J. AV. Ellis, and the latter presided over by Prof. J. H. r>ohmer and Mrs. S. D. Havden. The fourth iloor is reserved for instruction in book-keeping for gentlemen. It is a grand room, fronting on Fifth Street, forty-six by iifty- six feet in dimension, well ventilated and perfectly lighted; Prof. David Allan is the principal of this department. In ad- dition to the rooms enumerated there are several other depart- ments ; one for commercial law, under Mr. Jones ; another for phonography, under Pri)f. A. A. Oldtield ; another for orna- mental penmanshii), under F. W. Wiesehahn, unquestionably the best penman on the globe ; and another for the rudimentary branches, reading, spelling and grannnar. Every teacher is letter perfect in their respective departments, and the student who enters Jones" College is taught the practice of book-keep- ing and can obtain as thorough instruction in mathematics as in Yale or Harvard Colleges. ]\Ir. Jones' supervision is seen in every department, and his attention to detail is such that every- thing about the college, with its three hundred and tifty stu- dents, progresses without a jar. No better present can be given to any 3''oung man or lady than a siholarship in Jones' Commercial College, a course through which prepares them for every important duty in life. EDUCATIONAL 101 MISSOURI MEDICAL COLLEGE. The educational advantages of St. Louis compare ftworably with those of any other city, either in this country or Europe ; ]>ut, unfortunately, a prevalent belief has obtained in America that a finished education can only be procured by a long course through Oxford, Heidelburg, Berlin, or some of those foreign universities whose chief advanta2:e is found in the sinsfle fact that they are four thousand miles aAvay from home. In medi- cal knowledge the most profound discoveries have been made during the past score of years by Americans, and our medical institutions are now looked upon with far greater favor by for- eign scientists than they are hy those whom every proper con- sideration should make their strongest supporters and patrons. The strange anamoly is likely to be soon realized of European candidates matriculatinir in American colleges, and vice versa — 102 TOUR OF ST. LOUIS. a consummation born of that indefinable impulse which draws its inspiration from strange people and unfamiliar lands. While the knowledge which enables us to accumulate, and which furnishes the motive power for great purposes, is an im- portant factor in the evolution of society, it is subservient to that knowledge which enables us to live and dissipate the suf- fering ailments of the body. The establishing of a medical college, notwithstanding the honorable profession, the ranks of which it is intended to recruit, is a most ditficult under- taking, the reason of which is not readily apparent. The fol- lowing history, therefore, of one of the most successful insti- tions of this character in the United States, especially since St. Louis is entitled to the honor of its location, is of special interest and importance to readers generally throughout the country : In the winter of 1839, Joseph N. McDowell conceived the idea of founding a medical college in St. Louis, and to give basis to his plans he conferred with Dr. John S. Moore, one of the young but most prominent physicians in Tennessee. The result of the communication was the coming of Dr. Moore to St. Louis and the founding of a medical department of Kemper College. The charter being obtained without delay, and a faculty organized, in six months from the date of the first letter between Drs. McDowell and Moore, the first session of the new college was inaugurated by a public lecture deliv- ered by Dr. Moore. The first faculty comprised the following gentlemen, the most of whom have long since fallen into that sleep which ne'er awakens: Joseph N. McDowell, M. D., Professor of Anatomy and Surgery, and Dean of the Faculty ; John S. Moore, A. M.,M.D., Professor of Obstetrics and Dis- eases of Women and Children : J. D. Wolff, A.M., M.D., Pro- fessor of Chemistry ; Joseph W. Hall, M.D., Professor of the Theory and Practice of Medicine ; H. A. Prout, Professor of Materia Medica and Therapeutics. The first session was held in a building on the corner of Ninth and Cerre streets, opening on the 1st of November, 1840, with a class of thirty-seven, three of whom were candidates for graduation and received their diplomas at the close of the session, which occurred on the 1st of March, 1841. Among i:ducational. 103 the earliest graduates of the college still living and practicing are Dr. ^X . S. Edgar, editor of the tSt. Louis MedicalJournal ; Dr. Illinski, a prominent physician of Illinois; Dr. Willing; an,d Dr. Murison, one of the leading plijsicians of Memphis, Tenn. These are but a few of the many successful, and prom- inent graduates of the "Medical Department of Kemper Col- lege," and are recalled from memor}^ all the early records of the institution having been destroyed during the war. The second session opened with a class of forty-two, but directly thereafter an unfortunate difficulty arose between the faculty, resulting in the withdrawal of Drs. Hall and Prout, who organized the St. Louis Medical College, generally known now as the Pope School, which drew away some of the students. The third class, however, was so large as to assure success to the enterprise, and inspired the faculty with such high hopes of the future that they determined upon the erection of a mag- niticent college building. The determination, however, was not accomplished until 1849, when the l)uilding which now stands as a shattered ruin on the corner of Eighth and Gratiot streets was conipleted, and stood acknowledged one of the grandest structures in the Mississippi Valley. The reputation of the college spread at a rapid rate, and every session was opened with a largely increased class, fulfilling the most san- guine hopes of the faculty and friends of the institution. In January, 1;eventeen jearH with signal ability and satisfaction. He knows every member entitled to the privilege of the floor, and with uniform urbanity has won the confidence and esteem of those who daily frequent the hall. The lower part of the building is occupied by banks and insurance oiEces, which, with the rent of the Exchauire Hall and offices through the building, form a handsome revenue to the Chamber of Commerce Association. THE BRIDGE. No structure upon the American continent deserves any more unqualified praise for practical utility and architectural beauty than the great steel Bridge that spans the Mississippi River at St. Louis. It is a standing monument to the ability of the great minds who conceived and carried it forward to final completion. St. Louis has always Avanted a bridge that would bring her into more intimate relations with the great State of Illinois, and render herself more accessible to the great trading region east of her, that looked for supplies from this point. The railway companies have long urged the scheme that travel and traffic might be better handled and promoted. But the unsettled question of a suitable foundation, the jealousy of rival interests, and other hindrances, which clustered about the completion of so important an undertaking, retarded the march of progress. The new era the Bridge brought to St. Louis is not easily portrayed. It must be felt and experienced by all the branches of trade and commerce ; the increased comfort in travel ; the cheapening of freight, and the enlarged intercourse it affords. All these items enter into the credit due to its generous bene- factors. The cry has been heard often by opponents that it would obstruct the riyer; that St. Louis would be only a THE BRIDGE. 127 way-station on the great highway ; that freight and passengers would pass through, and we get no benefit. St. Louis, among the great cities of the continent, could not stop to put an embargo upon any project looking to the Ijromotion of a common good. The highwa}' of the nation must be unobstructed by any n;\rrow, selfish, or local interest, so that the world's tratfic shall reach its destination with all speed. St. Louis, with all her highways of steel and iron penetrating every section of this great land, with her water- path to the sea, can and will assert herself, and secure, as she has in the past, that share of commerce she rightfully claims. She bids for business, and is willing to take her chances with competing centers that struggle to outrival her ; but she is not willing to be tardy in those enterprises which promote public interests. The extreme length of the Bridge, including approaches, is 6,220 feet, and its extreme width is 54 feet. The Bridge proper with its three spans, including abutments, is 2,046 feet. The three spans are formed with ril)bcd arches made of chrome steel. The center span is 520 feet, the two end ones are 502 feet each. The Bridge, including the tunnel under the city, is 11,000 feet in length, finding its terminus in the Union Depot. The tunnel extends from the Bridge, running under Washington Avenue to Eighth Street, thence south, passing the new Post- office and Custom-house. Connection is made with this new building bj'^ means of side-tracks, for the convenient handling of the mails. The entire cost of the Bridge was over ten million dollars. The tunnel cost about one million dollars. The rail- way passages run beneath the carriage-ways and are each about fifteen feet in the clear and eio;hteen feet hio;h. The Brido;e is illuminated always at night. Tasty gaslamps adorn the struc- ture, with other ornamental fio-ures that sive it an air of eleijance and beauty. Captain James B. Eads was Chief Engineer, and Col. Henry Flad the Assistant Chief Engineer. To these gentlemen and those who came forward with their means to promote the scheme, the city of St. Louis owes eternal gratitude, while the structure itself is an enduring monument to the skill and enterprise of those intimately iden- tified with its construction. THE UNION DEPOT. THE PAUSING PLACE OF THE WANDERERS. St. Louis is a center toward which the great highways of travel converge from the distant North, the far East, the o:leaming Soutli, and the wonderful "West. The Union Depot on Poplar Street, is the grounds Avhere the various railroads cen- termg here find a common meeting place. Here the wan- derers may rest. The Union Depot often presents striking scenes and incidents in travel. They are ever coming and go- ing. The thousands who pass that way, and pause at that fo- cal ponit every week, represent all the races of mankind. Dusky wayfarers from the far Orient, from Jed- do and from Pekin, from Java and from India, pass that Avay, and pause on their journey. Emigrants from the valley of the Don, and the [128] UNION DEPOT. 129 Kubanka en route to Kansas ; commercial travelers, hale and careless fellows, -who know a good deal of the ways of the world, and carefully hold on to their " grip-sacks ;" unsophis- ticated youths from out-of-the-way counties, on their way to visit grandpa for the first time ; coy country girls, who have caution, courage, and discretion hidden under their coyness, traveling to visit a sister married out West ; in fact, experienced and in- experienced people, l)lack, red, yellow, and white men, from Europe, Asia, Africa, and the wilds of America, all pass the Union Depot, and pause for a moment in their flight. And then, the citizens, intent on earning a few nickels by transporting passengers and baggage, join in the clamor and add to the confusion. The arrival of trains containinsf emi- grants from the East always excites a curious interest on the part of the sj^ectator. The scenes incident to such arrivals are illustrated in the cut below. ARRIVAL OF EMIGRANTS. And so the tide of life ebbs and flows, and for the great arteries the Union Depot serves as the heart. "We see a great throng pass through to-day. To-morrow some of those who are in Union Depot now will be in Texas, some in Tennessee, 130 TOUR OF ST. LOUIS. ^ some in Arkansas and Kansas, while some others will be hurry- ing to the East through Indiana and Ohio, and still others will breathe the fresh air which sweeps over the bosom of the Northern lakes. They are here to-day together, but to-morrow will see them a thousand miles apart, and hurrying, still hurrying on — far toward the utmost verge of the continent. The eyes that meet to day will meet no more. What a picture of the life of our age can be examined and studied at the meeting of the ways in Union Depot ! Here the streams meet ; for a moment whirl and toss about, then divide ao;ain and flow on and on till whelmed at last in the ocean of oblivion. Such is life. THE RAILWAY TUNNEL. Next to the great Steel Bridge, St. Louis may well rejoice over the achievements in the Railway Tunnel that links the Bridge with the Union Depot. How to bring the many railways centering at this point into one grand meeting-place from which all arrivals and departures could be effected and at the same time avoid the smoke, noise and confusion incident to such immense travel, was a question long discussed. It was a happy conception to place the approach into the city so far below the surface as to avoid the inconvenience attendant upon the running of trains through the business portion of the city. The Tunnel commences at the west end of the Bridge and runs as far west as Seventh Street, where it makes a curve and continues south in the line of Eighth Street as far as Clarke Avenue ; taking a curve westward at this point it finds a level with the Union Depot. RAILWAY TUXXEL. 131 As it passes along Eighth Street, connection is made by side tracks with the new post-office, Avhereby the greatest possible facility will be afforded for handling of all mail matter. The total length of the Tunnel is four thousand eight hun- dred and eighty-six feet. Its construction was conducted by an open cut, which gave the workmen the greatest possible advantage in building it. Its road-bed is firmly ballasted, and carries a doul)le track. The great arch is supported by mas- sive brick walls, and is pronounced a triumph of engineering skill and a credit to those who ])rought it to perfection. The advantage to the traveling public to have all our rail- ways centering at one grand depot is simply incalculable. Untold expenses in hack fare, loss of baggage, inconvenience in changing from one road to another, to sav nothinf^ of bun- dreds of other attendant evils that would otherwise occur. These annoyances are saved, and the Tunnel takes its meed of credit as one of the tactors in promoting comfort hi travel. Economy in the expenses of the railways centering thus is no inconsiderable item also to be considered, besides the increased facilities that are afforded to the immense traffic incident to a great city. The cost of the entire structure was somethino- over one million of dollars. *1 HON. THOMAS ALLEN. The desire universally felt to learn something of the per- sonal history of those men who have acted, and are acting, a more or less prominent part in the affairs of a great country, is certainly natural, and can scarcely be esteemed improper. An extended or eulogistic biography of the living, however, ex- cept in rare cases, seems to be premature and out of place. It may be set down as a general truth, under such circum- stances, that either a strong personal regard will tempt the writer to exaggerate the picture he is to draw, and to add here and there some flattering touches ; or else the want of that intimate and actual knowledge which can penetrate to the hid- den springs of the M' hole character — at the same time that tes- timony no longer biased by personal feelings is not yet within his reach — will leave only imperfect and distorted lineaments, where a full and true likeness is demanded. To deal with personal topics, relating either to the living or to the dead — but more especially to the former — requires a great deal of delicate discretion ; for the false and too partial estimates of a friend are scarcely less to be avoided than the open attacks and studied depreciations of an enemy. In the present instance, accordingly, we wave the formal office of biog- rapher, and shall aim simply at a brief record of what we be- lieve will most interest the reader respecting our subject. Hon. Thomas Allen comes of a family of historic reputa- tion in Massachusetts. His grandfather, whose name he bears, was a respected minister of the tow^n of Pittsfield — indeed he was the first pastor to have charge over the spiritual interests of the inhabitants of that place. •* The Rev. Thomas Allen w^as ordained in 1764, ten years before the revolutionary agitation assumed a threatening as- pect. But the stern old pastor was not lacking in sympathy [133J HON. THOMAS ALLEN. 133 with the people of his native land, nor in patriotism when the cause of liberty called for the services of the sons of the soil. The Rev. Mr. Allen became one of the most earnest and zeal- ous of the defenders of the cause of American Independence. When at length hostilities were commenced between Great Britain and her revolted colonists, Mr. Allen left his charge and went into the field. He served as chaplain in several reg- iments, and, according to tradition, had no aversion to taking- part in the conflicts and sharing in the dangers incident to the position of a combatant. When Burgoyne was advancing from Canada, to co-operate with the British forces in New York, in crushing the patriot army, the brave minister aroused his people at Pittsfield, and with musket in hand marched with them to share in the dan- gers and honors of Bennington. This action acquired for him the soubriquet of the Fighting Parson of Bennington Fields. When peace came at last, the minister returned to his charge at Pittsfield ; and while he was faithful in ministering in the Word, and in doctrine, and in admonitions, yet his patri- otic impulses led him to take a deep interest in the political welfare of his country, and he became noted as an able politi- cian, adopting as his own the Jeffersonian principles as applied to government. Rev. Thomas Allen, having passed a long and stainless life, died at Pittsfield in ISll, leaving numerous descendants to perpetuate the name. He was succeeded in the Pittsfield pas- torate by his son, the Rev. William Allen, who subsequently Taecame president of Bowdoin College, and was quite well known as an author in New P^ngland half a century ago. Nine brothers and three sisters constituted the family of Rev. Thomas Allen at the time of his death. All of these were persons of high social standing and more than ordinar}' intellectual attainments. Jonathan Allen, father of the subject of this sketch, was a man of no little force of character. Several times he repre- sented his native county in the lower branch of the Massachu- setts legislature, and also in the upper house. During the war of 1812, he was a quartermaster in the army, and was stationed at Pittsfield, where at that time was maintained a large recruiting 134 TOUR OF ST. LOUIS. station and prison depot. Subsequently he was one of the founders of the Berkshire Agricuhural Society, which proved to be the model for most of the agricultural societies in this country, and which still maintains a high rank as one of the most noted of the societies organized to promote the interests of the farming class. Of this society Mr. Allen was several times made president. As early as 1809 he became interested in the improvement of American flocks, and was one of the first importers of fine wool sheep. To carry out his design in this matter he made a voyage to Euroj)e and visited Lisbon, where he purchased a select invoice of fine merinos from the famous flock of the Count of Montaco. Mr. Allen was a man of considerable cul- ture, and his essays and occasional addresses which have been preserved show him to have been a gentleman of no little vigor of thought. Jonathan Allen was twice married. His first wife was Elizabeth Marsh, who was a grand-daughter of Col. Israel Williams, noted as a loj^alist during the revolutionar}^ war. Col. Williams in his day was the most distinguished member of a family which in ante-revolutionary times had been famous for its long array of divines, jurists, and soldiers. This union resulted in two children. By the death of this lady Mr. Allen was left with a family yet in infancy, and reason and policy alike suo-o-ested another alliance. Accordino-ly he united him- self with- Eunice Williams Earned, daughter of Darius Earned, of Pittsfield and grand-daughter of that Col. Williams already mentioned. Of this union eight children were born. Hon. Thomas Allen, the subject of this sketch, is the third child of Jonathan and Eunice W. Earned Allen, of Pitts- field, and was born August 29, 1813. At this time the parents of Thomas Allen resided on the glebe of one hundred acres, which, with other lands, had been assigned in accordance with provincial law to the first minister of the town. The Allen homestead was situated not more than two hundred yards from the center of the villai2:e. The scenery about Pittsfield is charming, with hills and dales and mountain slopes, and purling brooks, with here and there meadows and farms, and groves of ancient elms, and HON. THOMAS ALLEN. 135 venerable farm-houses surrounded by gardens and orchards, which altogether presents a picture of beauty and loveliness well calculated to make those who constantly ga/e upon such a landscape stronger, nobler, better. It was amid such scenes as these that Mr. Allen passed the days of his childhood and early youth. When of a suitable age he attended the " Academy" of Pittsiield, for a short time, when his course was cut short by the removal of his father and family to a farm some miles from the village. The old method of common-school instruc- tion still prevailed, and the opportunities of advancement in scholarship in a country school were exceedingly limited. In winter the neighborhood school was presided over by a master who laid down the ferule with the coming of the spring-birds, and found more congenial occupation in cultivatmg the growing crops. In summer, a ma'am ruled in the country school. It would be unreasonable to expect the best educational results under such circumstances. Yet it was in schools so conducted that Mr. Allen laid the foundation of the solid scholarship and extensive information w^hich is so prominent a characteristic of the man. It is undoubtedly true that much of the progress in learning made in these youthful days was due to the refinement and culture w^hich pervaded the home of the Aliens. Into that home guests were welcomed whose conversation must have been lessons to the younger members of the family. The Allen farm lay along the ])anks of the charming Hou- satonic ; and here, it is probable, the subject of this article acquired that taste for rural pursuits and pastimes, which is still a predominent feature in his character. His father's meadows in summer time was his Arcadia. The trout in the brook, the woodcock that nestled in the alders, quails and snipes, in turn became a prey to the youthful sportsman. He became an excellent marksman, and a skillful angler. But Hon. Thomas Allen, even as a bo}^ had higher aspirations than to make hay, .shoot woodcock in the meadows, or capture the sportive, speckled trout. In the midst of this dreamy, yet active life of youth, an event happened at Pittsfield Avhich doubtless has exerted a marked influence over the subsequent 136 TOUR OF ST. LOUIS. career of Mr. Allen. Professor Chester Dewey, having resigned his chair at Williams College, established a seminary, since become quite famous, known as the Berkshire Gymnasium , at Pittsfield. Perhaps this circumstance confirmed the already expressed purpose of the elder Allen to give his son a liberal education, and, accordingl}', Thomas was entered as a student in the Berkshire Gj^mnasium, where he completed his prepara- tory course. It was while a student in this institution that Mr. Allen acquired a taste for literary composition, which has in no small measure influenced the whole course of his life. The youths at that institution published a weekly paper, of whiclj Mr, Allen was an editor and contributor. A file of this old-time amateur journal is still preserved in the Berkshire Athenpcum. Havinof been fitted for colleo;e, Mr. Allen entered a student at Union College in 1829, having attained his sixteenth j'car but a few days prior to the commencement of his first term. He maintained a good standing in his classes, and graduated in 1832. In consequence of his having left the college a few days before that fixed upon for conferring the graduation honors he received no award of honors from the faculty. He was elected to the position of a valedictorian to the class by the Philomathean Society, and delivered an address on the occasion, which obtained for him much applause. Mr. Allen commenced the study of the law a short time before his term at college had expired. He resolved to pursue that study with all diligence, but was compelled to flee from Albany on account of the approach of the Asiatic cholera scourge, which raged with great virulence there. Before he could resume his studies his father had sufliered heavy pecu- niary losses, which rendered it impossible for him to proceed as before. Mr. Allen was thus thrown upon his own resources at the age of twenty 3''ears. His father gave him twentj^-five dollars, and he set out for New York, determined to win for himself a place in the ranks of the men of the metropolis. He arrived in that city on the ISth of October, 1832, and took lodging at a private boarding-house, at the corner of Broadway and Wall Street. His stock of funds was not sufficient to allow him to HON THOMAS ALLEX. 137 lead a life of ease. He was compelled to sustain himself while he carried out his original design of preparing himself for the practice of the law. Fortunately, the law student found a place in the office of Messrs. Hatch & Caml)releng, attorneys at law, Wall Street. His position was that of a clerk, with the privilege of reading the books, and the duty of doing much work, for all of which he received the sum of three hundred dollars per annum. In 1834 Mr. Allen became the editor of the Family Maga- zine, an illustrated monthly journal published by J. S. Red- field. The duties of this position were performed during momients snatched from the intervals of other employments. About this time, Mr. Allen was enijac-ed bv the leadinof law- book publishers of New York to assist in preparing a digest of the laws of that State from the earliest times, which service he performed to the satisfaction of those who employed him, and received, after a year's labor, a small but select law library as his co'.npensation. Mr. Allen was admitted to the bar of the Supreme Court of New York in 1835. The same year he received from Union College his degree of Master of Arts, and was elected a mem- ber of the Phi Beta Kappa of New York. In 1836, Mr. Allen, by speeches and articles in the public journals, supported Martin Van Buren for President. In 1837 he visited Illinois, to look after the real estate interests of his uncle. General E. W. Ripley. Previous to this time he had been stopping in Washington; and at one time, negotiations had been entertained by him to become one of the editors of the Globe, which, however, resulted in no understanding mutually satisfactory. The Illinois land investigating tour of Mr. Allen suddenly terminated on his arrival at Peoria, where he first learned of the general suspension of payments and the great financial dis- tress of the country. He at once, in answer to the earnest solicitation of eminent persons, set out for the East. The prospectus of the Madimnian was soon issued, and in a short time Mr. Allen was at his post in Washington, where, on the IGth of August, 1837, the first number of the new organ was issued, with Thomas Allen as editor. The position of the 138 TOUR or ST. LOUIS. editor may be briefly summed in a sentence, "A mixed cur- rency is essential to a highly civilized commercial State." The sub-treasury scheme of President Van Buren was not agreeable to th4 views of the editor of the Madisonian, who had already announced his position on the currency question, and determined to maintain it still. At an election by Con- gress for public printer, the candidates were Gale & Seaton of the National Intelligencer, and Blair & Rives of the Globe, and Thomas Allen of the Madisonian ; the last-named, after a warm contest of three days' duration, was named public printer. The Madisonian became the chief opposition organ during the Van Buren administration. In 1840, Mr. Allen's choice for President was Hon. William C. Rives, of Virginia, a moderate Democrat. But when Harrison and Tyler received the nomination of the Whigs, Mr. Allen, still being opposed to the Van Buren party, gave them his unhesitating and ardent support. In 1840, on the 11th of April, the office of the Madisonian was destroyed by lire, but the paper was imme- diately re-established. During the short presidency of Har- rison, Mr. Allen's position was one of distinguished influence, and was maintained during the first years of Tyler's adminis- tration. The unsatisfactory phase assumed by national politics, dur- ing the early part of President Tyler's administration, induced Mr. Allen to consider the (juestion of a removal to the West. His relations with the President, and with the leading states- men at the Capital were of the most friendly character, and Mr. Webster offered the services of his great intellect and able pen to Mr. Allen if he would remain in Washington and con- tinue the Madisonian. The prospect of a long and bitter po- litical struo;o;le was not asfreeable to the feelings of Mr. Allen, and he resolved to abandon a field where abundant success had attended his efforts. In the spring of 1842 the subject of this sketch arrived in St. Louis with a view of making it his jjermanent home. On the twelfth day of July in that year, he was united in marriage with Miss Ann C. Russell, daughter of William Rus- sell, Esq., of this city. HON. THOMAS ALLEN. 139 Mr. Allen at first opened ii law office in St. Louis, but, in 1843, when his business affairs at Washington were closed, he found himself in a position to choose his pursuits without ref- erence to immediate necessities. He soon closed the law office which he had opened in St. Louis, and began to devote his attention to public interests, with abilities and zeal which have produced great results for himself, as well as for the city and State of his adoption, and which are not confined within State limits. For a few years he contented himself with the publication of a few papers on general subjects, and pushing some local projects for the good of the city, including the establishment of the St. Louis Horticultural Society, of which he became president. He also made a thorough study of the physical geography and resources of the Mississippi Valley, and in 1\'th, RAILWAYS. 169 hut its success has l)oen unparalleled in the history of Western towns, and it looks forward confidently to a still brighter future. The distance from St. Louis to Kansas City is two hundred and eighty-three miles. The city is the metropolis of West- ern INIissouri, and is the great objective point for travelers to all parts of Kansas and the far West. Between Sedalia and Kansas City the principal towns are Knobnostor, Warrensl)urg (near which place is obtained the finest building stone), Holden (a junction point for the road to Ilarrisonville and Paola), Pleasant Hill (from which point a road is built to Olathe and Lawrence), Lee's Summit and Independence. Radiating from Kansas Cit}^ are the roads to southern Kansas, to Omaha, the Black Hills and California ; to Denver, the Rocky Mountains, the San Juan country, southern Colo- rado and New Mexico. Beyond St. Louis it is the great dis- tributing point for the whole country lying between the Missouri River and the Pacific Ocean. Across the Kaw River into Kansas, Wyandotte comes next in order; then Leaven w^orth, one of the principal cities of the State, and near which is located the military reservation and Fort Leavenworth, an old established Government post. Winding northward, the road runs along the banks of the *' Muddy Missouri" until it reaches Atchison, forty-seven miles distant from Kansas City, and three hundred and thirty miles from St. Louis. The road is officered l)y Commodore C. K. Garrison, Presi- dent ; Oliver Garrison, Vice-President ; A. A. Talmage, Gen- eral Superintendent ; Frank E. Fov/ler, Acting General Pas- senger Agent; J. A. Hill, General Freight Agent; Charles G. Warner, Acting Auditor; O. L. Garrison, Cashier. INTERIOR OF ST. LOUIS NATIONAL BANK. BANKING BUSINESS. THE ST. LOUIS NATIONAL BANK. The business of banking belongs almost exclusively to modern times. Money changers and coin depositories were, to some extent, known to and patronized by the nations of an- tiquity ; but the banking business as now recognized and carried on throughout the civilized world is, for the most part, of very recent origin. The development of the world's great natural resources, the enormous increase of the products of the soil, and the growth and spread of commerce, have created a necessity for all the branches of the modern banking business. It is certainly difficult now to conceive the possibility of a large, cultivated, and industrial population existing without a bank ; and it has been argued that much of the political sub- serviency of ancient times was caused by the very want of independence which the absence of such an institution made necessary. The banking system has been improved from time to time, until it has now become well nigh perfect. The carrying- on of the late war necessitated a uniformity of system in the banking operations of the country, and to Salmon P. Chase, the then Secretary of the Treasury, the people are indebted for the introduction of our present system of banking — a system which, according to the expressed views of many approved financiers, is a marked improvement on that which has obtained for so many years in England. The national banks invest their capitals in the bonds of the Government, and by deposit of these in the hands of the Treasury, receive a proportionate amount of their value in notes, countersigned and issued by the department, and thus provide for the circu- lation among the people of an issue which is guaranteed by the [171] 172 TOUR OF ST. LOUIS. credit of the National Government. Thus the unity and uni- formity of the currency, together with its stability, have been secured. National bank bills now circulate freely without question, and at par, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and the business industry of the country is no longer liable to the annoyance and danger of loss which formerly were the logical accom]3animents of the unsafe, unstable, irresponsible currency furnished by the banks of fifteen or twenty years ago. A great reform was thus accomplished in the matter of banks of issue, as well as a coherence of organization in the divided and isolated portions of the country entirely in accordance with the present progressive era of the world, wdiioh tends towards introducing union and the mutual sympathy of a common destiny among mankind, in the place of the jealousies and isolations which have hitherto marked the progress of humanity upon the globe. There is no actual necessit}^ however, of any extended general review of this subject in a work of this character. It will suffice, that banks are universally recognized by all civilized communities as indispensable institutions, and as St. Louis contains several great and influential banking houses, it w411 be entirely apropos to introduce to the reader a leading representative of them — one of the foremost of these institutions in the West. A visit to the St. Louis National Bank, and a brief description of it, its history and the volume of business it transacts, will, therefore, not prove uninteresting to the general reader. On the northwest corner of Chestnut and Third streets, in that conspicuously grand building and triumph of architecture, known well throughout the West as the "Merchants' Ex- change," is situated the equally well-known St. Louis National Bank. A few steps up the solid stone stairway, and a short turn to the left brings the visitor to the portal through which he enters the spacious and handsomel}'" appointed main apart- ment of the institution. Everything in this large and elegant room seems adapted in taste and utility commensurate with the high character of the bank and its legion of patrons. The numerous long, high desks, each with its quota of busy Accountants, piles of books and pyramids of canceled checks, BANKING BUSINESS. 173 drafts and other papers, afford at once an impressive and interesting spectacle. Added to this scene, the long counter fronting the entrance is lined with customers during banking hours, each transacting his business or waiting his turn, pass- book in hand, whilst others are engaged at outside desks filling out checks or tickets of deposit. All are busy ; all are in a hurry, and vast Avealth is constantly flowing in and out over the counter, yet everything moves along easily, quietly and systematically. Conspicuously in the corner of the front room near the entrance, easily acceptable to all, sits the Cashier, Mr. John Nickerson, busily attending to his official business, but never too closely occupied to note the wishes of his patrons or courteously answer their questions pertaining to any business matter of nmtual interest. He bears no resemblance to the unapproachable, ornamental class of officials, unconscious of everything except their own importance, Imt manifests by word, as well as deed, that he understands the functions of his position, and exercises them with accuracy and promptness, and to the satisfaction of all concerned. On the desk of the Cashier an electrical machine prints or stamps upon endless strips of white paper the gold and stock telegrams w-hich are almost constantly passing over the wires, thus furnishing reliable information respecting all classes of securities in London and New York. Passinij throuirh the crowds waitino- in front of the windows of the "receiving teller," the "paying teller," the "note teller," etc., the Directors' Room in the rear of the bank is reached. It is ample in its dimensions, well ventilated, and elaborately furnished in every respect, impressing one with an idea of elegance, yet maintaining a utilitarian, business-like air. In this room is to be found during all business hours, the Avidely-known and popular President of the bank, Mr. William E. Burr, who, like the Cashier, is alwaj's employed, yet always ready to turn toward the door and greet his visitors with a pleasant and encouraging salutation. He keeps himself con- stantly informed regarding the business of his bank, and knows its entire scope and magnitude day by day and week by week. The St. Louis National Bank was founded in 1857, and at 174 TOUR OF ST. LOUIS. that time was called the '• Bank of St. Louis." It was then .located on Chestnut Street between Main and Second streets, and was well patronized from the beginning. It was changed to the St. Louis National Bank in 1864, and removed to the building on Olive Street, opposite the Post-office. Having sold that building, it moved in 1875 to its present commodious quarters. The bank has a capital of half a million of dollars, in addition to Avhich it has a cash surplus of |100,000. It handles more than two hundred and fifty million of dollars annually, and has the most extensive country ])usiness of any bank in the city. The Government funds collected in the city and in a large extent of surrounding country are all deposited in this bank. All the collections of the Internal Eevenue Office, as well as those of the Post-office and the Bankrupt Courts, are placed in this bank, and swell its deposit account to an enormous extent. The first President of the bank was Mr. John J. Anderson, who w^as elected in 1857, and served until 1860. His suc- cessor was Mr. R. P. Hanenkamp, who served until 1863, when Mr. Burr was elected, and has retained the office ever since. The following-named gentlemen constitute the present Board of Directors : Wm. E. Burr, Nathan Cole, J. G. Chap- man, S. H. Laflin, F. Mitchell, I. M. Nelson, J. G. Priest, J. L. Stephens, J. H. Wear. During the severe financial troubles of 1873, the St. Louis National Bank increased its volume of business to a wonderful extent. Its stability being well known, new customers flocked to it by hundreds, and it was enabled to loan several hundred thousand dollars to some of its less fortunate contempo- raries. When the failure of the National Bank of the State tied up for the time being the deposits belonging to the Bank- rupt Courts, the St. Louis National promptly came to the rescue, and advanced upon its own responsibility, nearly a hundred thousand dollars in cash.. This liberality so clearly entitled it to the deposits of the Bankrupt Courts, that its well-earned claim could not be disputed. Great as the business of the bank has been during the past twenty years, it is still augmenting with unexampled rapidity, and in another decade it will have attained a business truly collossal. BANKING BUSINESS. 175 BROADWAY SAVINGS BANK. The Broadway Savings Bank, one of the staunch and popular moneyed institutions of the AVest, has made a success no less than remarkaljle, as its history will show. The bank was first organized March 4, 18(39, with a subscribed capital of $oOO,000, twenty per cent, of which was paid in, giving a v.'orking capital of $()0,000. It was located on the corner of Broadway and Carr Street, where it still remains, in the center of a large commission business and convenient for the horse, mule and cattle trade. The institution was organized upon a non-divi- dend declaring basis, by which the profits have been added to the surplus until its actual working capital has lieen swelled from $60,000 to $285,000 in the short period of nine years. Few banks can show so favorable exhibit, and wherever it can be done the officers are entitled to the fullest meed of praise. During the great panic of 1873 and later in 1876, the Broad- way Savings Bank met the shock Avithout a sign of trepidation and retained the confidence of its depositors. The officers of the bank, who have held their positions since its organization, are : L. S. Bargen, President ; J. P. Krieger, Sr., Vice-Presi- dent ; J. P. Krieger, Jr., Cashier ; II. Grass, Assistant Cashier. Mr. Baro-en is an old citizen of larofe means and unblem- ished character, worthy of the most important trust and con- fidence. Mr. Krieger, Sr., was among the first to propose the organization of the bank, and he has utilized his extensive acquaintance, large fortune and ability, in promoting the interests of the bank. His son, J. P. Krieger, Jr., now in his thirty-fifth year, has been entrusted to a large extent with the management of the bank, and displayed a business knowledge and adaptability possessed by few of our commercial men. In addition to his arduous duties as cashier of the bank he is the treasurer of the St. Louis Public School Fund, in which position he has given the most perfect satisfaction. The growth of the bank has been rapifl and uniform, until its deposits now aggregate $1,200,000. This favoraljle show- ing not only reflects honor upon the officers, but upon the directory also, and gives proof of its stability and bright promise for the future of the bank. 176 TOUR OF ST. LOUIS. P. F. IvELEHER & CO. Among the prominent brokers of the West, as well also as favorably known throughout the money centers of the country, P. F. Keleher & Co. stand conspicuous. A confidence, born of the vicissitudes of many years, constitutes the mainspring of their successful business, and a large and ready capital, with a credit balance of ripe experience, make their services valuable to patrons and profitable and honorable to themselves. The firm is composed of P. F. Keleher and Wm. C. Little, both gentlemen of large banking experience, having received their earliest education in the leading financial institutions of St. Louis. The firm was first established by Mr. Keleher in 1870. He afterwards became connected with Mr. Asa "W, Smith, under the firm name of Keleher, Smith & Co., which association was dissolved in 1874. Shortly afterwards Mr. Keleher removed to No. 307 North Third Street, where he formed a copartnership with Mr. Little on May 1, 1876. Their business increased rapidly and it was soon evident that to transact the increasing volume it was necessary to extend their facilities by removing into more ca- pacious quarters. Accordingly the building No. 305 Olive Street was refitted and changed to accommodate their business, into which they removed June 1, 1877. The increase, how- ever, still continues, imtil now the firm of P. F. Keleher & Co. are second to none in St. Louis. Li 1877 the volume of their business was double as^reat as it was in the year 1876, and the transactions thus far in the present year show a cor- respondingly gratifying exhibit. Their facilities are not surpassed by any house in the West, and they stand prepared to operate in anything pertaining to finances. Their drafts in all parts of Europe are j^romptly hon- ored, and their experienced services sought by dealers generally. Messrs. Keleher & Co. are now making a specialty of buy- ing, selling or adjusting defaulted bonds, and compromising the indebtedness of counties, cities and towns of this State. They deal, however, in all kinds of bonds and securities, and persons entrusting business to their care will have their inter- ests efficiently and honestly cared for. BANKING BUSINESS. 177 BANK OF COM]MERCE. This old and reliiil)le Imnk presents a showing in its last semi-annual report which entitles it to a leading position arnono; the solid hnancial institutions of America. Being non-dividend declaring, its strength is constantly increasing by a rapidly enlarging reserve, giving it a basis of unquestioned solidity. C. B. Burnham, Esq., the President, is an officer whose repu- tation as a banker and citizen is such as to o-ive him the ini- bounded confidence of every St. Louisan. Hon. Nathan Cole, now member of Congress, is Vice-President, and J. C. Van Blarcom is the Cashier. The following is the report of the condition of the Bank of Commerce at the close of business for December 31, 1877 : RESOURCES . Cash, .... Sight Exchange, . U. S. Bonds and Premium, Missouri State Bonds, Bills Receivable, Exchange Maturing, Real Estate, Furniture and Fixtures, Suspended Debt, $483,552 79 281,0(57 80— $764,620 59 56,256 70 286,735 00— 342,991 70 1,680,438 83 844,808 56— 2,525,247 39 35,292 90 9,112 09 54,004 65 $3,731,269 32 LIABILITIES. Capital, Reserve Fund, Due Depositors, Due Banks and Bankers, . 632,153 09 — Guaranty Fund, net profits for 1877, $ 300,000 00 . 739,046 57— $1,039,046 57 1,961,609 54 2,593,762 63 98,460 12 3,731,269 32 12 178 TOUR OF ST. LOUIS. BANKING HOUSE OF BARTHOLOW, LEWIS & CO. St. Louis has l^een noted for the past half century for the solidity of her banks and commercial institutions : her neigh- bors, however, charge her with conservatism, as though it were a crime ; but if conservatism is the vital, elementary principle of cautiousness, which it undoubtedly is, St. Louis can admit the charge with a pride which puts to l)lush those cities whose capital has rested upon an uncertain basis since 1873. Among the many staunch banking houses of our city, that of the Banking House of Bartholow, Lewis & Co., located at No. 217 North Third Street, is worthy of historical notice. It was established as a private bank in 1866, under the man- agement of Thos. J. Bartholow, Avho conducted the business until 1872, when the liank was incorporated under the title of the Banking House of Bartholow, Lewis & Co. The management of the institution has always been noted for its liberal policy towards correspondents, and its business has been gradually increasing, until it is now regarded as one of the most important moneyed institutions of the city. The well-known character of one of the original members of the firm, now the principal stockholder, has made the bank popu- lar with the interior banks of the West, and from the date of establishment it has transacted the l)usiness of a large number of banks having to carry balances to their credit at this point. Its foreign exchange business is speciall}^ noticeable on account of its extensive correspondence on the Continent and England, as well, also, as a large personal acquaintance with many of the heaviest bankers in Europe. Mr. Jno. D. Perry, the President, is one of our oldest and most esteemed citizens, who was one of the original stockhold- ers in the old firm. His large experience and excellent judg- ment have made him a successful banker, and his character is of such sterling value that he enjoys the confidence of business men not only of the city but the entire State. The directory of the bank include some of the wealthiest and best merchants of the West. Mr. Iglehart, as Cashier, is well adapted to the duties of his position. He is a gentleman of unchangeable courtesy, EXPRESS BUSINESS. 179 always ready to do an accommodating service, ever present at his post of duty, and discharges his important offices with the most perfect satisfaction to the board and patrons of the ])ank. Notwithstanding the stagnation of the times and the small demand for money, the Banking House of Bartholow, Lewis & Co. have done, and are still doing, a profitable business, which fact attests the popularity of the bank and the estima- tion in which it is by St. Louisans. THE EXPRESS BUSINESS. One of the most important modern advances made is the establishment of the express lousiness. It is in keeping with the telegraph, the telephone, and kindred improvements to expedite l)usiness transactions. We give but a brief mention of the three leading companies. Adams Express. — Their office is located at No. 212 North Fifth Street, C C. Anderson, long and favorably known, is the local manager. His thorough business life, coupled with courteous manners, has given him a large place in the esteem of our business community. He is an express man in the fullest sense, and handles his office with skill and satisfaction. American Express — Is conveniently located at No. 501 North Fourth Street. Edwin Hayden is its efficient agent. He has not been behind any one in practical ideas for giving the public every facility for the rapid transit of goods. He is an approachable gentleman, and a prompt and reliable business man. He has won the respect and confidence of the business men of St. Louis, United States Express. — Its office is No. 500 North Fourth Street, with D. T. Parker as its local agent. The im- mense business done by this company is handled by him with skill and promptness. He is always accommodating and ready to facilitate the business of his ComjDany to the convenience of those havins: business with the office. miik DRY GOODS BUSINESS. SAMUEL C. DAVIS & CO. The character and extent of the commercial houses of a city largely indicate its business thrift and solidity. To the several American cities containing the old, wealthy and influential estab- lishments whose firm names are familiar to all parts of the coun- try, this remark is especially applicable. The great dry goods concerns of this country have always wielded a most potent influence, and as culture and taste and refinement become more and more the leading characteristics of communities, that in- fluence will continue to grow and expand. In this important respect St. Uouis has for many years been extensively adver- tised, and no where in the West or South is there a dry goods house of more wealth, prominence and commercial influence than the long established firm of Samuel C. Davis & Co. The business of this well-known firm is co-extensive with the Western States and Territories, and many of the leading States of the South, as well as the Territories of the Southwest. It is the oldest representative of the dry goods trade of the city — an establishment that has passed through all the varying phases of the growth of the great commercial metropolis of the Mississippi Valley, and that has borne a leading and conspicu- ous part in the transaction of the most important trade of the city. A house of such a fame — earned through decades of time — may well merit, in a city's history, something more than a passing notice. It is nearly half a century since this mammoth business house was founded ; and it now occupies the best dry goods building in the United States. This grand and elegant struct- ure is situate on Washington Avenue and Fifth Street. It is [181] 182 TOUE OF ST. LOUIS. five stories high, with fronts in iron ; Italian style of architect- ure, and bearing even with massive strength a light and grace- ful appearance, which arises from the single sheets of plate glass that form the windows, and which cost thirty thousand dollars in sold in Paris. The erection of the building was commenced in August, 1871, and it was occupied in March, 1873. This fine specimen of architectural strength and beauty has a frontal of one hundred and seventy-five feet on Fifth Street by one hundred and twenty-five feet on Washington Avenue, and contains, including the basement, six floors. In the rear of this immense building there is a broad, well-paved area left open to insure a sufficient light, as well as to facilitate the reception and delivery of the enormous quantities of goods which are daily handled by the firm. Passing from the imposing exterior to the interior, the promise from without is more than fulfilled in the wide view and perfection of detail that meets the eye. Kunning through from front to rear, at a distance of about twenty-five feet apart, are rows of iron columns with Corinthian capitals, supporting the floors above. Light is amply provided for, being admitted from three sides — on the east and south the windows being only separated from each other by the iron work which forms the two fronts. On tables arranged with something like math- ematical precision, are to be seen the goods that belong to the departments represented on this floor. These are foreign and American dress goods, including silks and prints, in fact all varieties belonging to the entire dry goods line of business, to an extent impossible to enumerate here. From the basement to the uppermost floor of the building, extend four separate elevators, each of wliich, unlike the majority of elevators in other business houses, has automatic doors that close the hatch- way or shaft at every floor as the elevator passes through, so that safety against a fall down the shaft is assured. These elevators work quietly and efiectively. One of them carries up goods in original packages ; another carries goods upon trucks to be distributed on the various floors ; a third conveys goods down that are prepared for shipment, and the fourth is used only for passengers. Everything proceeds without the DRY GOODS BUSINESS. 183 slightest irregularity or confusion, and the work of many hands goes on day by day silently yet systematically. It is a marvel to witness the amount of merchandise taken in and out by way of the basement of this commodious build- ing in one day. The engine, another adjunct worthy of special notice, is situated in a cosy room in a corner of the basement, is of forty-horse power and does its work quietly and well. It is an elaborate and beautiful piece of machinery, similar to the one which carried away the premium at Philadelphia during the great Centennial exhibition. . The basement is made to extend under the sidewalk of the streets, and is fully lighted through the thick glass set in iron-work overhead. It is also provided with fire-proof vaults, in which the old books and accounts of the firm are preserved. The preparations made by this firm for the extinguishment of fires are as extensive as they are ingenious. Each floor is provided with fifty feet of best rubber hose and nozzles, the same in size as that used by tlie city ; the power to force the water being furnished by afire pump in the engine room of greater capacity than any of the city fire engines. In case, however, the fire should originate at a time when there was no steam in the boilers, connection is provided on the outside, to which any of the city engines may join their hose and throw water through the hose belong- ing to the firm upon any floor or into any apartment of the buildino;. It is impossible, in a comparatively brief notice, to furnish anything like a full or even fair description of the contents of the various floors of this immense establishment. Mention in general terms can only be made. The sixth floor comprises the large apartment where all the packing is done. All goods sold come up to this room, and are so arranged in separate parcels, invoiced, la])eled, packed and weighed, that mistakes of any kind are of rare occurrence. The fifth floor comprises the " notion room " of the house, and a view of it can not fail to be of lively interest to the beholder. Well nigh an acre of tables is presented, covered with all manner of fancy and use- ful articles, embracing jewelry, rubber goods, perfumeries, Avil- low-ware, stationers' articles, besides a thousand other things in the "notion" line, aesthetically grouped and systematically 184 TOUR OF ST. LOUIS. classified and assorted, so as to require the least time in mak- ing selections. The fourth floor is stocked with furnishing goods, hosiery, linens, gloves, etc. The third floor is devoted to ladies' dress goods, silks, cassimeres, cottonades and cloths of every description in astonishing quantities, show- ing the tremendous stock which this firm carries in order to supply the demands of their patrons. It must be admitted that no ordinary degree of ability, experience and promptness of action is requisite in the head of the house to so handle this vast quantity and variety of good^ as to secure a profit out of the business. The dry goods market is subject to great fluctuation, and the danger of carrying an}^ considerable stock of such goods over from one season to another is far more imminent than the uninitiated suppose. It is now verging on half a century since Samuel C. Davis, the senior partner of this firm, first came to St. Louis from Brookline, Mass., and entered into the business of that day in a little store at Market and Commercial streets, then the busi- ness center. His partner was J. R. Stanford. Their trade, like all other trade of the day, was barter as well as sale ; but it was profitable nevertheless, and, what is of more conse- quence, it grew steadily with the city. As the first stocks comprised each department of trade, so, too, as the business increased, a large jobbing trade was conducted by the same house in dr}^ goods, boots and shoes and in groceries. Changes in the firm from time to time occasionally occurred, but the controlling interest always remained with Mr. Davis, and his active and sagacious mind directed the operations of the business. Mr. Stanford retired after a short time, and John Tilden and Eben Richards became partners. The great fire of 1849, the most sweeping conflagration that has ever visited St. Louis, just stopped short of their house in its de- structive course. In 1857 the business was removed to Nos. 8 and 10 North Main Street, where it remained many years, and where it assumed proportions that made it the pride of the city. In 1867 both Mr. Tilden and Mr. Richards retired, and t\ie personnel of the firm became that which at present exists,^ viz: Mr. Samuel C. Davis, Mr. Andrew W. Sproule and Mr. John T. Da^ds. The departments devoted to boots and shoes DRY GOODS BUSINESS. 185 and to groceries increased with the general business and soon demanded separate houses for themselves, and they were ac- cordingly removed to No. 12 North Main Street. It was, however, found that the departments outside of the dry goods detracted from the concentration and order of management that Mr. Davis had always regarded as so desirable. The grocery department was, therefore, sold in 1872, and the boot and shoe department in 1873. In March of the latter year, as already stated, the magnificent building now occupied was first opened for business, and each year since has shown an enormous increase in sales. The number of employees is now about ninety in the house, besides those whose duties are out- side. The management that has carried forward so successfully this grand auxiliary of this city's groAvth and wealth is no less entitled to commendation than the facilities which they have provided for concentrating trade in St. Louis. Their trade extends all over the Western States and Territories, and grows rapidly and surely with each new opening of communication. It stretches into Nevada, Montana, Utah, Indian Territory and New Mexico, as well as throughout Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Ar- kansas, Louisiana and Texas. This most enterprising house is pushing the trade of St. Louis with a healthy and vigorous energy and a success that is fully evidenced by the present conspicuous and influential commercial position it occupies. DODD, BROWN & CO. DRY GOODS BUSINESS. 187 DODD, BROWN & CO.,— Wholesale Dry Goods. St. Louis, favorably situated as she is in the great basin of prolific resources, is nevertheless largely dependent upon her wholesale jobbing interests, particularly that of dry goods, which has been one of the prime factors in our improvement, with an influence of growing importance and centralizing power. The history of our great dry goods jobbing houses, like that of Dodd, Brown & Co., is therefore an insejiarable part of the biography of individualized St. Louis, and is no less interesting as an article than it is valuable as a historical record. Li January of 18G6, Samuel M. Dodd and James G. Brown associated themselves, under the firm name of Dodd, Brown & Co., in the wholesale dry goods business. They located on the corner of Main and Locust streets, in a four- story building, twenty-five feet wide by one hundred and twenty long, and well filled with what was then considered an immense stock. Their sales the first year aggregated one million two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, giving them, almost at once, a front rank in the trade. The firm continued business at the original store until 1869, when they were com- pelled to secure a larger building to accommodate their largely increased trade. They accordingly removed to No. 217 North Main Street, where they remained until their business outgrew the capacity of the building and forced them a second time into more capacious quarters. At this time the bridge was in process of construction, and the foresight of the firm pictured Washington Avenue, and Fifth Street in the vicinity, the great business thoroughfare and central mart for the city's jobbing trade. When Dodd, Brown & Co. announced their intention of having an immense building erected on the corner of Fifth and St. Charles streets, into which they proposed to move their business, it was thought by many to be too radical a change. But the plans of the firm were carried out, their removal into the new building being made in the year 1871. This mairnificent edifice is five stories in height, with an immense basement, well finished, the area of the entire build- ing covering about sixty thousand square feet. Their move 188 TOUR OF ST. LOUIS. proving successful, they were directly afterwards followed by every wholesale dry goods house on Main Street. The advan- tages of their removal were twofold, and can now be well appreciated. Main Street was too narrow and dark to permit of the rapid handling or favorable inspection of goods — two drawbacks which operated seriously against the trade, and reflected correspondingly upon the general trade of the city. How well their judgment has been verified is attested by the enormous increase of the dry goods jobbing business in St. Louis, and that of Dodd, Brown & Co. in particular. An imperfect idea of the magnitude of their trade may be gained by a knowledge of the following facts : Their sales, as before mentioned, aggregated a million and a quarter the first year they were established, but these sales were made at prices nearly three hundred per cent, above the prices asked for the same goods now, making one dollar now the equivalent of the purchasing power of three dollars then. Last year their sales amounted to five million dollars, and their trade this spring is fully twenty-five per cent, larger than ever before, consequently they must handle twenty times the goods now that they did in the year 1866. Such an enormous business gives the firm a great leverage of advantage over competition, as it permits them to sell goods at closer margins and yet secures for them a satisfactory aggregate of profits. The building is provided with all the auxiliaries necessary to facilitate the business, having three large elevators, two of which handle freight and the other is used for passengers. Throughout the entire year five or six regular buyers for the house are in the Eastern and foreign markets securing addi- tions and supplying deficiencies in the stock, and at the store there is one almost constant stream of goods arriving and going out. The commercial fiugers of this great house hold in their grasp a trade which extends from the Gulf to the British Possessions, and from Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee and Alabama, to the Pacific — a wide domain, but in which the ramifications of Dodd, Brown & Co.'s business are seen in almost every town of any importance. To attend properly to such a trade requires a system of the most complete thoroughness, and a knowledge of business both natural and DRY GOODS BUSINESS. 189 polished by a long course of education. Every department must be separate, superintended by a competent head, and yet the whole must be under an organization which blends the entire business as perfectly as the prismatic tints of the rainbow. This perfect system is not only profitable to the firm, but gives advantage to their customers. Dodd, Brown & Co. is one of the leading representatives of St. Louis interests, and their name has become co-extensive with the country as a house of immense capital, superior stock, admi- rable foresight and judgment, and indomitable pluck and enterprise. J. H. WEAR, BOOGHER & CO.— Dry Goods. The dry goods trade, which is invariably the great interest by which the importance and prospects of a city are measured, has few better representatives of its wealth commanding power in the "West than the firm of J. H. Wear, Boogher & Co., now recognized as one of the best wholesale houses in the Mississippi Valley. While wealth is one of the elements of success, it is a resultless ingredient without the combination of business sagacity, which acts as a governor in the regula- tion of the force which capital impels. In the history of the rise, progress and development of this great dry goods house we find an illustration of the part which ability plays in the stages of prosperity, and the subordination of capital to adaptal)ility and enterprise. J. H. Wear embarked in the wholesale fancy dry goods business with a small stock in the year 18G3, associating with him Jno. W. Hickman, under the firm name of Wear & Hick- man. Their original location was on the corner of Main and Chestnut streets, where they remained until 1865, when they removed to a more convenient building at No. 319 North Main. Here the firm did a prosperous business under the stimulation of the excitement consequent upon the close of the war, when J. H. WEAR, BOOGHER & CO. DRY GOODS BUSINESS. 191 high prices and general extravagance were the chief character- istics of our people. In the year 1867 Mr. Hickman disposed of his interest in the house and the firm name was changed to J. H. Wear & Co. Under this title the business flourished and gained a reputation most enviable throughout the Western States. Mr. Wear, although a young man at the date of entering business for himself, nevertheless pursued a policy creditable to a much older and more experienced tradesman, and at once took rank with the most substantial jobbers in the city. He was distinguished for his polished courtesy and adherence to strictly honest principles, which popularized him with the Western people, who of all others most admire an accommo- dating and upright disposition. Finding his quarters too circumscribed for the proper transaction of his rapidly increasing business, in the spring of 1871 Mr. Wear removed to No. 508 North Main Street, a much larger building, where his trade continued its steady and satisfactory growth. But realizing that the wholesale trade was quitting the narrow avenue which gave it birth and nourishment for nearly half a century, Mr. Wear reluctantly submitted to the inevitable, and concluded to aid in the cen- tralization of the business which was surely threading its way towards Fifth Street and Washington Avenue. Accordingly, J. H. Wear & Co. shifted their base of operations and leased the magnificent structure, then recently completed, on the corner of Fifth and Washington Avenue, into which they removed on the 1st of January, 1875. This building is not only one of the largest and most ornate in the city, but its arrangement for the dry goods business is perfect. It is six stories in height, with immense plate-glass windows, which flood every floor with an abundance of light, giving the best possible advantages for a fine display and careful inspection of the stock. It has entrances on the two great business thor- oughfares of the city, with a rear entrance from the alley, where all the receipts and shipments are handled. There are two steam elevators in the building for conveving customers and goods from floor to floor ; and, in fact, every convenience is provided to facilitate the business of the concern. 192 TOUE OF ST. LOUIS. On the 1st of January of the present year (1878) Jesse L. and John P. Boogher were admitted as partners, and the firm name was again changed to J. H. Wear, Boogher & Co. The Boogher brothers were for many years members of the firm of Henry Bell & Son, and were of the house of Daniel W. Bell, late successor of Henry Bell & Son, up to the date of Mr, Bell's death. They are gentlemen of large experience, and bring with them a large acquaintance and valuable prestige to the new firm. The house has one of the best corps of salesmen to be found anywhere in the West, and there is every guar- antee to customers that in all their transactions with J. H. Wear, Boogher & Co. they will be treated with a considera- tion most satisfactory. The firm has recently added a full line of staple domestic goods to the general stock of fancy dry goods, formerly carried by J. H. Wear & Co., which is securing for the house a large additional trade and will result in an immense increase of sales. Their business this spring has already reached an increase of fifty per cent, over the transactions of any previous period, and in every sense the firm is in as prosperous condition as any wholesale house in the West. Their goods are now sold throughout the entire section west of the Mississippi River ; also Illinois and Indiana on the east. The firm is constantly extending its commercial grasp upon new acquisitions in the States and Territories beyond the Rocky Mountains. WM. BARE & CO.— Retail Dry Goods. In writing the history^ of our great institutions it is generally by comparison ; but occasionally there is found a branch of business, so far in advance of its particular trade, that no comparison is possible, save to make it the standard, and speak relatively of the others ; such is the position Wm. Barr & Co. occupy in St. Louis. This famous retail dry goods house was first established in the year 1849, on the corner of Third and Market streets, the then business portion WILLIAM BARR & CO. 194 TOUR OF ST. LOUIS. , of the city. The store, however, remained there only a few months, when a more desirable building was found on the corner of Fourth and Olive streets, into which they moved and remained there until 1857, the year of the great panic. The business center of a great city is constantly shifting, and it is only the most penetrating foresight that can fix its future locations ; but, fortunately for Wm. Barr & Co., their predic- tions that business would move northward on Fourth Street, have been verified, and have resulted in the enormous trade they now have. When they moved into the building they now occupy it was at a time when everything was unsettled, and hundreds prophesied a failure ; nevertheless, the firm depended exclusively on their own judgment, and fitted up the first floor for their business. . It is difficult, now, to imagine Wm. Barr & Co. doing business on a single floor of their present house, minus the Third Street addition ; but such was the modest pretensions of their business until about 1859, when additions became necessary, and have been continued, until now the house covers an entire block, being bounded by Third, Fourth, Vine and St. Charles streets, and is four stories in height in front and five stories in the rear. Large as this building is, it is insufficient for the proper accommodation of their business, and another important change will soon be imperative. Wm. Barr & Co. have the most admirable system controlling their immense interest ever devised ; so complete indeed that it is as though held in a single hand. They now have on their pay-roll over three hundred employees, and retail two million dollars of goods annually, with a much larger trade now than «ver before. Yet, everything moves as perfectly as a simple ensrine ; and the thousands of customers which swarm the store, as well also as the hundreds of orders for goods by mail, are attended to promptly and satisfactorily. Everything about the store is system and prosjDerity. To designate the articles in which the firm deals, would be to mention the entire category of manufactured dry goods and notions, millinery, shoes, dress goods, upholstery, etc., ad infinitum. Their store stands unrivaled by any west of New York,, and \i& possibilities can not be approximated. DRY GOODS BUSINESS. 195 D. CRAWFORD & CO.— Retail Dry Goods. The success of our business interests is the true measure of our prosj^erity, and the development of our industries forms the index and prophetic vision of our ultimate attainments. The history of many of the leading commercial houses of St. Louis reads almost like a legend in which the sul)ject has been christened by some magical oificiary. For is it not a fact that hundreds of capitalists have been swept out of sight by the flood of bankruptcy whilst their next door neighbors have prospered and been guided at all times by fortune, who never tired of showering gifts upon them ? One of the most notable illustrations of this fact is found in the following pertinent his- torical sketch of the great dry goods establishment of D. Crawford & Co. Immediately after the ciose of the war, in 1866, D. Craw- ford and A. Russell formed a co-partnership under the firm 196 TOUR OF ST. LOUIS. name of D. Crawford & Co., and entered the dry goods busi- ness at No. 418 Franklin Avenue, with a cash capital of two thousand three hundred dollars. At this date Franklin Avenue was only a residence street, and so far distant from the com- mercial outskirts of the city, that the attempt to build up a business on any part of that now bustling thoroughfare was regarded as absurd, and, indeed, ridiculous. Foresight is the most valuable characteristic of a business man's ability, and ta possess it is to hold the key which unlocks the secret doors to success. But while foresight is the most potent adjunct in the administration of trade, it should always be in accord and combination with the sagacity and adaptability which attracts patronage and skillfully handles every interest advantageously. That D. Crawford & Co. represent a unity of these most favorable elements is abundantly demonstrated by their career. It would be tedious to enumerate in detail the several im- portant changes the firm have made in their establishment since the day they displayed their first stock of goods in the the small, narrow quarters, in the dingy side street, as it were, at No. 418 Franklin Avenue. It is sufficient, perhaps, to say that they have made no less than six large additions to their original house, and have at length built up one of the greatest dry goods establishments in America. But this information does not convey an adequate idea of the extensions made and the magnitude of the firm. The last and most important addition to the house was completed in the later part of May of the present year (1878) which is a building in itself, and one of the grandest and most ornate in the city, being three stories in height, with ceilings fifteen feet in the clear, and of the most elaborate architecture. It was constructed after a design and under the superintendence of J. B. Legg, one of the finest architects in the Mississippi Val- ley, who expended much of his ability and ingenuity to make of it one of the best adapted buildings for the dry goods busi- ness that was ever built. K. F. Park, the contractor, has per- formed his part of the work equally well, and the idea of every one concerned in the perfection of its details has been realized. The great dry goods house of D. Crawford & Co. now DRY GOODS BUSINESS. 197 occupies one-quarter of a block, having a frontage of one hundred and twenty-live feet on Fifth Street, and one hundred and ten feet on Franklin Avenue. It is ornamented and lighted by twelve magnificent show windows, each of which is ten feet wide by thirteen feet in height, fitted with solid plate- glass, each glass weighing nine hundred and ten pounds, the largest west of New York. In addition to these immense show windows there are five sky-lights, one of which is sixteen feet wide and thirty feet long, and the others sixteen feet wide by twenty feet in length, through which the flood of a mellowed sunlight streams constantly upon every department of the store, giving customers an advantage for inspecting goods possessed by no other house in the city. A handsome passenger elevator of the Otis patent has also been put in to convey patrons to the upper floors where the millinery stock is displayed. From an original stock, purchased at a time, too, when prices were three times higher than they are now, and an investment of two thousand three hundred dollars, D. Crawford & Co. have increased their business until now they carry a stock in- voicing one hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars, and their annual sales reach the enormous sum of one million dol- lars. Everything about this truly immense institution reflects the most admirable system. The business of the house is done on the division of labor principle, there being twenty-six dis- tinct departments in the store, and at the head of each there is a separate buyer and the acounts of each are also kept distinct, so that the several departments are actually so many different stores, the whole deriving its powers from an administration represented by Messrs. Crawford & Russell, the former direct- ing the sole management of the house and the latter superin- tending all the purchases. The total number of employees of the firm is one hundred and fifty, and yet, numerous as they are, their capacity is severely taxed to attend to the wants of the great rush of pat- rons which continually swarm the store. Five men are em- ployed whose sole duties consist in arranging the display of new goods in the magnificent show windows ; two others are employed to write show card prices, and recently a printing 198 TOUR OF ST. LOUIS. ^ department has been added in which two expert printers are employed striking off checks, bill-heads, dodgers, etc. One of the great features of D. Crawford & Co., and one which gives them both precedence and preference, is their ad- mirable system of bujing. They spend more money than any other house in the West in looking up bargains, having at all times a large corps of expert buyers in both the home and foreign markets, watching for favorable opportunities to take stocks of any size from five thousand to fifty thousand dolhirs, for which spot cash is always paid. By this means purchases are effected on terms it is impossible to obtain by the ordinary way, and in consequence D. Ci^wford & Co., can invariably sell goods of equal quality far below the prices asked at com- peting houses. In the construction of their new addition, already referred to, the entire building was supplied with the mercurial alarm, by which the earliest indication of fire is communicated at once to the Salvage Corps. The house has connection, also, with the American District Telegraph Company's office, and the watchman is thereby kept constantly on the alert, being required to communicate with the office every half hour through- out the night. D. Crawford & Co. are not only among the largest retail dry goods dealers in the United States, but are equally heavy dealers in millinery, ladies' ready-made suits, underwear, hats- and caps, notions, etc., and in the coming fall (we write in June, 1878,) the firm will add to their business the largest stock of boots and shoes ever brought to this market, and will accomplish a revolution in that branch of trade as they have in dry goods. The increase of their business is beyond prece- dent and incomparatively greater than that of any establish- ment in the West. Throughout the most stringent times of the past decade their trade has been constantly enlarging, and the year 1878 will evidence an increase of fully thirty-three and one-third per cent, above their business of any previous year. The reason of this is found in the facts above narrated ; they are specially adapted to the business, and by a proper utili- zation of means at their command they are enabled to undersell all competition. D. Crawford & Co. are entitled to the credit DRY GOODS BUSINESS. 199 of having made Franklin Avenue the great retail trade thor- oughfare of the city, and of having built up the largest busi- ness on the smallest capital and in the shortest time of any dry goods house in the United States. Mr. Crawford writes all his own advertisements, and his accomplishment in this direction is really marvellous, for his invitations to the public are so ingeniously and skillfully worded that they are as inter- esting reading matter as a beautiful story. By a system of almost unlimited advertising, and offering bargains that can be obtained at no other house, the firm name of D. Crawford & Co. has became as familiar throughout the entire West as though it Avere an administration in itself, and thousands of orders are constantly pouring in from every State and town within a radius of five hundred miles, making the house a focal point for the retail dry goods and millinery trade of an immense tributary territory. This firm has done an inestima- ble amount of good to the city at large, by developing a trade that has not only made D. Crawford & Co. the most popular house in the West, but has reflected a corresponding honor upon St. Louis, and brought many thousands of people here, who would undoubtedly have gone to other cities for their purchases had not D. Crawford & Co. offered facilities and prices below the possibilities of all other houses. N 200 TOUR OF ST. LOUIS. H. D. MANN & CO.— Retail Dry Goods. St. Louis is one of the great dry goods centers of America, and claims justly the largest number of strictly first-class dry goods houses — barring New York — of any city in America. Among this preferred list stands, in most conspicuous position, the popular firm of H. D. Mann & Co. This house was or- ganized in the early part of 1871, establishing business at No. 421 North Fourth Street. Its members had previously been connected A^'ith one of the largest and most successful retail business of one of the largest Eastern cities. They adopted the same principles in their business here as there, viz : to sell only goods of merit and give all patrons the best possible value for their money, whether a spool of thread or an expensive silk dress. This is strictly adhered to now, and in a measure accounts for their rapid and unusual success. The firm started as dealers in dry goods exclusively, in which line they opened one of the finest assortments of articles of this special trade ever seen in St. Louis. Early in 1875 the firm leased the large building, Nos. 417 and 419 North Fourth Street, which was remodeled and ar- ranged for the dry goods business, into which they removed with a larger stock than they had ever before carried. The new store-room is the most perfectly lighted of any in the cit3^ and all the business is concentrated upon a single floor, thus providing against the labor of climbing stairs and the use of uncomfortable elevators. The house of H. D. Mann & Co. make a specialty of dry goods only, and in that respect differ from any other St. Louis firm, and in their immense stock will be found new and original patterns not kept by any other house in the city. In their order department will be found orders for goods from every State in the South, west of Alabama, and from all the Western States. The aggregate of their annual sales is very large and constantly increasing. Every article in stock is marked at a price from which no deviation is made, so that a child can buy of H. D. Mann & Co. as cheaply as a grown person, and no misrepresentation as to price or quality is per- mitted by any on^ in their employ. DOLLAR STORE. 201 ST. BERNARD DOLLAR STORE. The mighty dollar is truly the ruling influence of the age, to which all mankind bows in sweet subserviency ; but it is indispensable in all the relations of life, and the question, which is the key to domestic economy, is therefore the means which involve the expenditure of the fewest dollars to secure our comfort and happiness. The time was, and that not long ago, Avhen a hundred cents was the equivalent of our least necessity ; but with the quick- ening of competition and manu- facture, prices declined while ingenuity increased, until now a ilollar is the hub and felloes of our comfort. True, it will not buy a palatial mansion, a coach and four, nor a round- trip ticket and three months' leave of absence to the Paris Exposition, but invested in ar- ticles of prime use and domestic importance at such an institu- tion as the St. Bernard Dollar Store, it wUl secure a portion of worldly goods that will con- summate the material part of a long season of family comfort. A visit to St. Louis is not com- plete without u critical inspec- tion of the 8t, Bernard, the contents of which fairly confound the visitor by the profusion of elegant articles, comprising almost every conceivable house- hold utensil, ornament, notion, fancy goods, etc., and the yet more surprising price at which they are sold. This represent- ative institution of a special feature of St. Louis' attractions was founded in th? early part of 18G9, by Charles A. and James AV. Fowle, u\idor the tirm name of Charles A. Fowle & Co., at No. 40(5 North Fourth Street, under whose proprie- torship it continues at the same place of original location. 202 TOUR OF ST. LOUIS. The house, though a large one even in its infancy, has grown rapidly, until now it has nearly twice the trade of any similar business in America, not even excepting the Dollar Stores of New York City. A wise policy has directed its management, and the ability exhibited in the selection of its stock has popularized the St. Bernard, not only in St. Louis, but for hundreds of miles in all directions. It has always ]:)een a grave question with the patrons of the St. Bernard how the proprietors could afford to sell their goods at such an immense reduction on the prices asked for the same articles by other houses in the city. Every suc- cessful merchant has his secrets in trade — we call them secrets for the want of a more convenient name, but they are more properly business tacts and acuteness in driving bargains. One of the great advantages possessed l)y this house is obtained by making all its purchases in a pool with several other large houses of like character, and in buying and selling exclusively for cash. They have a buyer in the East contin- ually securing new goods at the most favorable prices, and from January to July, they have another buyer in Europe, who samples the best and most stylish goods of American manufacture, and has them duplicated at much lower figures by foreign ftictories. This course is necessary, because Americans are most skillful in modeling and designing, but in many articles can not compete in prices with foreigners. Another advantageous feature of the Dollar Store is found in the absence of refuse or "hold over" stoct. Not being confined to any special lines, they can refuse to order should prices be too high, until a decline takes place, consequently they are enabled to control their market. Frequently, too, manufacturers finding themselves over-stocked, and the season well advanced, will sacrifice their surplus stock ; but they are careful not to establish a precedent by cut£ing prices to the regular trade, and rather look for an outside house, like the Dollar Store, to whom they can quietly uuload. A cardinal rule with the proprietors of the St. Bernard is, never to buy an article they can not sell at a lower figure than the same can be bought at the other stores in the city, and to do this requires adaptability to the business and a MILLINERY. 203 thorough knowledge of the trade, ])ut that the rule is enforced Avill not be questioned by any one that has visited the estab- lishment. The St. Bernard Dollar Store comprises one large retail sales-room on the first lioor, and four other immense floors, which are ke})t constantly crowded with goods, from and to which large shipments are being constantly made. Although the greater attention is paid to the retail department, yet the house does a very large jobbing trade throughout the West, and the business is so great as to tax the facility of their large house to transact. As a special business, it is one of the most complete and comprehensive to be found in the country, and an inspection of its stock inspires the greatest pleasure. C. E. BLELL'S MILLINERY ESTABLISHMENT. The cUctates of fashion are most arbitrary, and the goddess, though fickle and coy, is most exacting ; hence her whims are commands which the aristocratic world has nothinof to do but obey. Paris, the city of pleasure and the unctions seat of gayety, has, for many years, been the capital and court of Fashion, who, from her exalted position, sways with subtle power and rules both continents. And whatever may be said by rebellious subjects to her disparity, it can not affect Fashion's dominions or make her poAver less potent. So long as eyes can feed on lovely sights, so long will style command not only the greater admiration, but the more profound respect of humankind. America acknowledges the better taste of Paris in matters of dress, and we are therefore only the imprints of her stereo- types, adopting her suggestions or dressing as she dictates. Consequently the most proficient dealer in such articles as millinery in this country is that one who is most expert and particular in securing the latest importations of Paris fashions and introducing the freshest novelties. Every large city has 204 TOUR OF ST. LOUIS. its popular exponent of fashions in millinery, and the one so acknowledged is, of course, the recipient of the most gracious favors in the way of trade from the creme de la creme of that community. To hold such a position to society in St. Louis is an honor which can not be readily estimated, and one, too, which may well excite the envy of competition. In perj)etua- ting the history of our representative business interests, our oj)inions must be influenced by the popular verdict, which we only hope to reflect; hence, in according to C. E. Blell the position as Fashion's exponent of millinery in St. Louis, we are but reducing to print the universal acknowledgment of the critical judges, who are the fair ladies of our city. Mr. Blell begun business as a fashionable milliner in the year 1861, in circumscribed quarters at No. 319 North Fourth Street, where he has remained ever since. His capital was small, but owing to the excitement of the times and the liber- ality of money-holders his prospects- were' flattering and trade grew apace. All the profits of his business he re-invested, and with its increase he added new facilities for meeting the de- mand. Thus Mr. Blell has pursued the even tenor of his way, giving his entire attention to the details of the business, culti- vating his naturally fastidious and critical taste, and educating himself in the desires of the public. One of his unalterable rules is to never allow his customers to be dissatisfied with their purchases, and never to represent an article other than it is. By the exercise of such a Avise policy Mr. Blell has suc- ceeded in building up the largest millinery trade in St. Louis, and is securing for himself a reputation as an honest dealer and one thoroughly posted in the latest styles. Mr. Blell's salesroom is about twenty feet wide by one hundred and twenty-five feet deep, and admirably arranged for the display of his elegant stock. The front and north side of the store is a succession of show-cases, which are filled with designs, beautifully trimmed hats of the latest patterns, gor- geous plumage, artificial flowers, and the variety belonging to the business. The south side of the room is reserved for the packed stock, which includes new receipts, the samples of which only are opened. In the rear is the trimming depart- ment, where several skillful milliners are busily engaged JEWELRY. 205 trimming hats to order. At a desk in the center of the south side of the room stands Mr. Blell, who maintains a watchful eye over the business, and sees that the long files of ladies which constantly swarm the store, each with a different want, is properly waited on by his large force of lady clerks. In addition to this duty he handles all the cash, quite enough to employ one person, yet he finds time to greet every one pleas- antly and listen to propositions and complaints. He was born to urbanity, and this characteristic of his nature is a large element in his success. Summing up his business, Mr. Blell is not only the acknowledged fashionable milliner in St. Louis, but his prices are the most moderate and his stock the most complete. He is in constant receipt of new goods, the greater amount of which are direct importations of his own, bought through co- operative houses in Paris, by which he not only secures the very latest accessions to fashion, but which also gives him the advantage of first hands, enabling him to sell at the lowest possible prices. Blell' s is the emporium of fashion in St. Louis, and the depot of supplies for a large number of dealers in the West, and is truly a representative St. Louis house. L. BAUMAN & CO. — Wholesale Jewelers. Among the many truly representative business houses of the Mississippi Valley — the prime factors in the evolution of our commercial supremacy, and the sinews of our strength and im- portance — the immense jewelry establishment of L. Bauman & Co., No. 314 North Fifth Street, is boldly conspicuous. The foundation of the present business of the house was laid by L. Bauman, Esq., in 1844, in a small house on Market, between Main and Second streets. Notwithstanding the com- paratively non-importance of St. Louis at this early date, Mr. Bauman prospered in his trade, and in 1866 extended his facilities largely by taking in as partners, Mr. A. Kurtzeborn, and Sol. and Meyer Bauman. The firm name then became 206 TOUR OF ST. LOUIS. L. Bauman & Co., and continued without further change until 1872, when M. A. Eosenblatt, our present Collector of State and City Revenues, was admitted into the firm, but the title of the house remained as before. The firm is now composed of M. A. Rosenblatt, A. Kurtzeborn, and Sol. and Meyer Bau- man, each holding an equal interest in the concern. The wholesale jewelry establishment of L. Bauman & Co. is beyond compare the largest west of New York, exceeding in its stock and aggregate sales the best houses of Philadel- phia, Baltimore, Cincinnati or Chicago, carrying from year to year a stock invoicing two hundred thousand dollars. The firm are the manufacturers' agents for St. Louis and the Southwest, for the best American clocks and American watch movements and silver cases ; also for silver-plated ware, such as tea-sets, castors, fruit stands, cake baskets, salvers, candle- sticks, jewel boxes, etc. Their annual sales of clocks now reach 55,000 ; 14,000 American watch movements and cases, and 2,000 Swiss watches ; in addition to which they sell 50,000 pennyweights of solid gold chains, and manufacture all their gold watch- cases. They are also manufacturers' agents for the genuine Rodgers knives, forks and spoons, and carry the most com- plete assortment of materials used by watchmakers and jewelers to be found in America, comprising everything from diamond dust to a jeweler's anvil. They are large importers of French clocks and bronze statuary, and optical goods, such as spectacles and opera glasses, besides carrjdng the largest stock of gold-headed canes to be found in the West. The building occupied by L. Bauman & Co. is five stories In height, with finished basement and massive stone front, and is thirty feet wide by one hundred and twenty feet in depth ; every part of the building is utilized by the firm, the first floor being the ground store-room, wherein the wealth of an Inca is displayed most lavishly, and the other floors devoted to the reserved stocks and manufacturing; and the total sales of the house reached the enormous sum of six hundred thousand dollars. JEWELRY. 207 MERMOD, JACCARD & CO.— Jewelers. Tho pride of a great city centers in the character of its representative institntions, and it is therefore only the truly metropolitan interests that are worthy of a position in the historical archives of a "Tour of St. Louis." Among the tirst of the great establishments in which our pride is para- mount, is the colossal jewelry house of Mermod, Jaccard & Co., located on the corner of Fourth and Locust streets, the ftishionable center of the city. The jewelry business under Messrs. Mermod & Jaccard has been conducted for the past thirty years, but the organi- zation of the present firm was accomplished in the year 18(54, when they established themselves in their present location. The store-room on the corner of Fourth and Locust, at the time of its occupancy by the firm, was only one-half its present size, but the increase of their business has been so constant as to compel them to make many large and impor- tant additions. The house of Mermod, Jaccard & Co. now includes the double store-room on the corner, the large ])uikl- ing in the rear, fronting on Locust Street, and the third and fourth floors of the building adjoining the corner. On these floors are the jewelry and solid silverware manufactories, the entire area being ten thousand square feet, and every foot occupied. The firm is now not only the largest dealers in joAvelry and silverware in the Mississippi Valley, but the only firm paying spot cash, under all circumstances, for ever}^ accession to their enormous stock. The advantage this system gives them can be well understood, by which they obtain the benefit of a dis- count equal to ten per cent., and enabling them to sell propor- tionately below the prices of ever}^ competing house in the West. jNIermod, Jaccard & Co. have a reputation based upon the reliability of their goods, and whilst other houses often surter a debasement of their stock in order to sell low, thereby profiting upon the ignorance of their patrons, this firm will never abuse the confidence of their customers bv such undue 208 TOUR OF ST. LOUIS. advantage. Every article in their superb and unrivaled stock is marked in plain figures, from which no deviation will be made. They calculate each article's intrinsic and commercial value, and offer their goods upon the very smallest margin, so low indeed that, quality considered, no house in the West can come into successful competition with them. By this new^ policy persons from a distance can order and obtain goods from Mermod, Jaccard & Co. of as prime quality and low price as though they made their purchases in person. This system has a ring of honesty in it that must add greatly to the already high and enviable reputation of the firm. J. B. LEGG & CO.— Architects. The first ambition of man is a graceful habitation which links the social ties in beautiful harmony, and is the precursor of solid comfort in after years. In every country the charac- ter of the public and private buildings is the barometer of its civilization and the index of the prosperity and happiness of its people, and as such St. Louis stands as one blessed among the sisterhood of cities. Among the long list of accomplished architects in the city, the firm of J. B. Legg & Co. are most conspicuous. They have a large business, extending over several States, and have designed and constructed a large number of our most palatial residences, magnificent public buildings and commercial houses. Mr. Legg established himself as an architect in this city about eight years ago, and though young at that time, his ability was soon recognized, and his advancement became rapid, until now his business is the largest of any architect perhaps in the West. Among the large number of buildings erected after his designs and under his superintendence, maybe ARCHITECTS. 209 mentioned the Illinois Institute for the Blind at Jacksonville ; Anzeiger Building, St. Louis ; Public School Building, Litch- tield, Illinois ; Centenary Church, Pine and Sixteenth streets ; St. Paul's Church, Mount Calvar}^ Church, Samuel Cupples' paper bag factory, D. Crawford & Co.'s new building, St. Louis. Of the hundreds of handsome residences are those of Geo. E. Morehouse and Wm. F. Busher, Decatur, Illinois; Hon. Moody Grubb and Col. McWilliams, Litchfield, Illinois ; J. M. Hamill and Dr. West, Belleville, Illinois; Dr. J. F. Haws, Charleston, Missouri; E. Allison, Clinton, Missouri; Henry Sheppard, Springfield, Missouri; B. F. Cauthorn, Mexico, Missouri ; George McGoverns, Kirksville, Missouri ; Joseph M. Steer, Webster, Missouri ; Wm. J. Thompson and Wm. Hooker, Little Rock, Arkansas ; Edward Mead, Oak Hill ; N. G. Pierce, T. Z. Blakeman, F. C. Bonsack, Capt. Wade, St. Louis. Last January Mr. Legg associated with himself Charles C. Helmers, Jr., son of Mr. Helmers, of Dodd, Brown & Co., who for the last four years was an earnest student of architect- ure in Europe, and is a young man of bright promise, and already an expert in the business. The office of J. B. Legg & Co. is in the Insurance Exchange Building, Fifth and Olive streets, Avhere they keep constantly on hand hundreds of de- signs of all kinds of buildings, and are ever ready to impart all information pertaining to their businesG. About two years since Mr. Legg published a book on architecture, entitled a " Home for Everj^body," with an issue of six thousand copies, and so great has been the demand for them they are nearly disposed of to their patronage from eighteen or nineteen States, and they are now preparing an enlarged edition, which will soon go to press. 14 210 TOUK OF ST. LOUIS. A. A. MELLIEE. — Our Kepeesentative Druggist. The character of an establishment, like that of individuals, is generally measured by its success, and in presenting our readers with a panoramic view of the great industries and com- mercial marts of St. Louis, it is important in the selection of representative institutions and establishments to consider those most successful. The drug trade of this city has assumed an entirely new and dis- tinct phase during the past dozen years, so distinct, indeed, that in B"' lIBllHBIiiflfsSIll t^e ei^tire history of the business — — durmg so long a time past, not a single chapter would apply to the trade of to-day. This change had its origin in the tributary exactions of Eastern monopolists, in a sys- tem that obtained and flourished until within the past few years. The abuses which prevailed so long have been greatly corrected by the determined opposition of such large and influential druggists as A. A. Mellier, Esq., who, in con- nection with others, have sought, through energetic, organized effort, to remove the evils mentioned and promote the general interests of Western druggists. It is, therefore, no less the man than the institution of which he is sole proprietor, that A. A. Mellier' s drug store finds appropriate position in this volume as the representative drug house of St. Louis. The attention to details necessary to form a correct descrip- tion of an establishment tires a reader by carrying him into a prosaic realm unsuited to the tastes of all save metaphysicians, we will therefore attempt only to outline the features of this mag- nificent establishment and the processes out of which it grew. Twenty-one years ago Mr. Mellier begun the drug business in St. Louis under the firm name of Richardson, Mellier & Co., DRUGS. 211 but shortly afterwards the title of the firm was changed to Scott & Mellier, Avitli place of business on the corner of Main Street and Washington Avenue. This co-partnership existed hut a short time, when Mr. Mellier purchased his partner's interest and became sole proprietor. His trade developed rap- idly and very soon he was recognized as one of the larafest wholesale druofs^ists in the West. In 1875, Mr. Mellier's keen foresight pictured Washington Avenue, from Sixth to Tenth streets, as the coming center of trade, and in considering the main advantao-es of removal had his attention specially drawn to the benefits to be derived from the establishment of a retail prescription and fancy goods de- partment, in conjunction with his extensive jobbing business. This resulted in the selection of Nos. 709 and 711 WashinsTton Avenue, which building was fitted up in the most elaborate style, being finished from bottom to top with all modern con- veniences, not only for the comfort of his patrons but to facil- itate their business intercourse. The many who throng the establishment daily attest the wisdom of the proprietor and the success of his method of conducting this department. The building has a frontage on Washington Avenue of forty-five feet and a depth of ninety feet, running back to the alley which separates the main building from the warehouse, and is four stories in height. The front is elegantly finished, with massive iron columns, and large plate-glass windows, which light every room as perfectly as though the full gush of sunlight fell athwart them. The retail department, on the ground floor, is the finest as well also as the largest in the city, a description of the fur- nishing and arrangement of which would only pale the attrac- tions of the place. We have, perhajos, all seen such perfect adaptability of articles to the positions occupied, and the ex- quisite display of costly ornamentation that excites a feeling- higher than admiration, which we instinctively refuse to picture by words — such a place is Mellier's retail department. The advantage derived from his wholesale business enables Mr. Mellier to put up prescriptions, retail his medicines, and sell his fancy goods much cheaper than the exclusively retail dejjlers, and operating upon this basis he has become a blessing to the 212 TOUR or ST. LOUIS. hundreds who have been compelled to pay exorbitant prices ; in fact, his figures are nearly fifty per cent, less than others, with a fair margin yet remaining. • The four floors of his large house, as also the four-story warehouse in the rear, are filled with every conceivable article having any proper connection with the drug trade, and a stock larger in the aggregate than any other drug store in St. Louis. The upper floor of the warehouse is the compounding de- partment for Mellier's proprietary medicines, many of which are in national use, such as the "Imperial Tonic Bitters," "Santonine Worm Candy," "Mellier's Cod Liver Oil," "Mel- lier' s Essence Jamaica Ginger, ' ' ' ' Chapman' s Cough Syrup , ' ' "Mellier's Compound Extract of Buchu," "Texas Stock Con- dition Powders," "Mellier's Arnica Liniment," etc. In another department of the warehouse several operatives are busily engaged in the manufacture of Elliot's Patent Sad- dle Bags, an article of recognized prime importance to all physicians. Mr. Mellier is the proprietor of this valuable in- vention and does his own manufacturing. These bags are made only of the best calf-skin, and are the most convenient and admirably adapted companion for physicians ever put upon the market. They need only to be seen to secure immediate favor, their advantages being so numerous as to recommend them to every one. Imperfect as this notice necessarily must be, the reader can not be otherwise than impressed with the importance of Mel- lier's drug store to the commercial interests of St. Louis, and the assurance that it well deserves its immense patronage. CHEEVER, BURCHARD & CO.— House Furnishing. In every large city there are certain popular and represent- ative houses of a special line of goods, founded upon the com- pleteness of their stock and enterprise of the proprietors, to which the public turn with a certainty of finding just what they desire, and that, too, of the best quality. What A. T. Stewart HOUSE FURNISHING, 213 is to New York, Worth is to Paris, Field, Leiter & Co. to Chicago, Wm. Barr and D. Crawford to St. Louis, is the firm of Cheever, Burchard & Co. to our own city — firms that have gained the most extensive reputation and become the public's great emporium for special lines of goods. The original firm, out of Avhich grew the house of Cheever, Burchard & Co., was established in the year 1846 by Warne & Merritt, and was located on Market, between Main and Second streets, in what was then the heart of the business center of St. Louis. They carried a very large stock and did a commensurate business until 1849, when their house was destroyed by the great conflagration of that year. Phoenix- like, they rose from the ashes of their burnt offering, and secured quarters in one of the first of the new buildino-s directly afterwards erected on Main, between Chestnut and Pine streets. In the year 1858 Mr. Merritt disposed of his interest in the store to Mr. Cheever, when the firm name was changed to Warne, Cheever & Co. The business of the city at this time begun to extend up Main, Second and Fourth streets, and the firm saw the importance of establishing their house in the advance of the moving trade ; accordingly, they leased their present store in the Collier Block, in the year 1861, at that time the finest block of buildings west of New York. No new changes occurred in the business until 1870, when Mr. Warne retired and the name of the firm was chanofed to its present title, Cheever, Burchard & Co. The house deals in house-furnishing articles generally, making a specialty of silver-plated ware, cutlery and children's carriages, in which last-named article, they are the largest dealers in America. They are also large manufiicturers of bird cages ; and keep an extensive stock, which comprises nearly every conceivable article of household use, in which special line they have no competitors. Cheever, Burchard & Co. are the head and front of their particular business, and have secured a trade, both jobbing and retail, that is no less than surprising. They keep four men constantly in the country, and their goods may be found in use in nearly every family in the Mississippi Valley. 214 TOUR OF ST. LOUIS. STOKY & CAMP'S MUSIC HOUSE. Of the numerous institutions interestins; to those of aesthetic culture, there is none more worthy of favorable mention in this work, than the mammoth musical emporium of Story & Camp, Nos. 912 and 914 Olive Street. This house now contains more than two hundred sample pianos of the most famous manufacturers, including the Chickering, Steinway, and Decker Brothers, each of Avhich have their own particular merits, and acknowledged by all the great musicians, to be the three leading pianos of the world. These instru- ments are made in grand, square and upright cases, from the plainest to the most elaborate finish. This house also deals, in the Mathushek and Haines pianos, which for moderate prices are well made, of full and powerful tone and very durable. The Story & Camp pianos have, however, acquired an honorable position and reputation among musicians, which is- constantly increasing. They are remarkable for sweetness^ brilliancy, endurance, power and general excellence. All the modern improvents are combined in them, and every purchaser is given a written guarantee fully warranting the instrument for five years. The trade and the public will find them the best and most acceptable medium-priced pianos in use. Story & Camp are also general Western and Southwestern . agents for the celebrated Estey organs, which for thirty years, have sustained a reputation that has placed them beyond com- petition. The manufactory producing these instruments is the largest organ factory in the world. No other organ has gained an equal popularity, and none but first-class instru- ments in every respect are allo^ved to leave the establishment. Story & Camp stand at the head of the musical trade of the West. Their establishments here and at Chicago are the two largest west of New York. The members of the firm rank hisrh among: our successful merchants and manufacturers. They have built up one of the strongest and best mercantile houses in the country, and their establishment is both an honor to themselves and a credit to St. Louis. SEWING MACHINES. 215 THE SINGER MANUFACTURING COMPANY. One of the chief monu- ments to the inventive gen- ius of the day is the Singer Building, located on the corner of Fifth and Locust streets. This is one of the largest and most ornate edifices in the West, and is a I'cpresentative institution of the success, superiority and popularity of the Singer Machine. The liuilding was contracted for on the 2 2d of Octol)er, 1872, and was completed and occupied in the latter part of 1874, its cost approximating six hun- dred thousand dollars, a better idea of Avhich may be obtained by the accompanying illustration than by a written description. The new Singer Family Sewing Machine, which has been reduced thirty dollars less than former prices, has obtained a popu- larity unparalleled by any piece of ma- chinery ever patented. One of the best indications of its superiority over all com- petitors is found in the comparative sales of machines during the past several years. In 1876, the year of great depression, while the sales of all other machines fell off largely, the Singer increased from 181,260 in 1875 to 262,316 machines in 1876, and in 1877 increased to 282,812. The manager of the Singer Sewing Machine Company in this city is D. Snitjer, Esq., a gentleman of ripe experience and affable disposition, always ready to impart all information desired. He is assisted in his immense business by an able corps of clerks, and has every facility for the expeditious transaction of the affairs of the company. 216 TOUR OF ST. LOUIS. WHEELEE & WILSON SEWING MACHINES. Among the marvels of mechanism in this age of ingenuity and industiy, the sewing machine is most conspicuous, havmg wrought an ahiiost magical cliange in the improvement of woman's condition, by lessening her drudger}^ and opening new avenues for her labor. The history of tliis great inven- tion, although full of absorbing interest, is out of place in this work, except that portion Avhich refers to the company named in the ca2:)tion . While Elias Howe is awarded the credit for having invented tlie sewino- machine, his claim to the honor rests upon as frail a tenure as the merit which credits Ameri- cus Vespucci with the discovery of America. Howe's machine was at best a very clumsy, tedious piece of mechanism, but nevertheless a vast improvement upon the hand needle. It was the ingenuity of Wilson, now of the famous firm of Wheeler & Wilson, that gave to the sewing machine the perfecting parts — the magical touches which made it the complete and obedient servant it now is. The inventions of Mr. Allen B. Wilson include the foot and fore-action feed, two of the most important adjuncts to the machine, without which, indeed, the mechanism of Mr. Howe would be of comparatively very small service. The Wheeler & Wilson Company was established in 1852, in which year they manufactured and sold about four hundred machines ; in the following year their sales reached seven hun- dred and ninety-nine, and shortly afterwards the increased demand caused the company to abandon their small factory m Watertown for a more capacious factory in Bridgeport, Conn., which has been enlarged and added to, until now it is one of the largest, as well also as one of the finest, manufactories in the world. The sales have been rapidly increasing every year, and in 1877 footed up over one hundred and fifty-four thous- and machines. The rivalry between the numerous machines put upon the market has been, for many years, and is still very strong, and the honors won have generally been upon the basis of strict jus- tice. At the Vienna Exposition, held in 1873, the competition SEWING MACHINES. 217 was very bitter, und the judgment of the awarding com- mittees was never expressed until the most critical examina- tion of the articles in their respective depai'tments was made. After the most scrutinizing inspection of all the sewing machines on exhibition was concluded, the award for superi- ority in all general features was made to the Wheeler & Wilson ; and the judges, not content with even so distinguished recognition of the machine, presented Mr. Wheeler with the grand modal of honor for l)eing the greatest promoter of sew- ing machine industry in the world. Honors have since fallen fast upon the Wheeler & Wilson machine, it having received the highest awards at the Centennial Exposition, and first premiums at the State fairs of every State in the Union. The latest improvement of these grand machines is known as the " Wheeler & Wilson's New No. 8," Avhich combines every superioi- feature of all other machines, and new ones introduced by the manufacturers, and is in every sense the embodied perfection of all sewing machine mechanism. These machines, superior as they are to all others in the execution of their work, lightness of running, simplicity of construction^ and their adaptability to all needle work, either light or heavy, are sold at as low prices and on as favorable terms. The headquarters of the Wheeler & Wilson Manufacturing Com- pany, for the territory adjacent to St. Louis, is at No. 415 North Fifth Street, this city, the office and salesroom being under the management of A. B. Howard, Esq., an experienced and courteous agent. The building is very large and well lighted, giving intending purchasers the most favorable condi- tions for examining the various styles of these popular machines. To see the construction of the New No. 8, and the elegance of its workmanship, is sufficient to demonstrate its superiority, and excites the most impatient desire for its immediate possession. 218 TOUR OF ST. LOUIS. EUGENE PAPIN & CO.-tCarriages and Buggies. There is no article made by human hands conducive of more genuine enjoyment, or more healthful and exhilarating pleasure than a perfectly made carriage or buggy. Skimming over the gentle undulations of the road, with every nerve iu repose for the keen appreciation of the effects, is only a step removed from flying ; while the swift luxurious motion' is far more pleasurable than a siesta on the thick and lazy clouds. The great difference between the several kinds of spring vehicles made must necessarily qualify the simile : the best, like the "Eclipse," furnishing the most beatific enjoyment, while the poor buggy produces a correspondingly inverse result. The representative manufacturers of top and open buggies in the Mississippi Valley is Eugene Papin & Co., whose factory is at Nos. 900 to 908 Clark Avenue. Among the finest buggies made by the firm, in which the latest improved springs are used, are the "Dexter," "Saladee," " Eclipse," the last one named being, in every respect, the easiest, cheapest and best buggy ever made by any factory. Its vast superiority consists in its simplicity, lightness, strength, durability and ease of motion, representing, in short, the improvement of all others in combination, which makes the "Eclipse " superior in every feature. In addition to the points of superiority named, the " Eclipse " is the most ele- gant in appearance ; it has no rigid perch to throw the hind wheels out of track ; there can be no side motion to the buggy body when the weight is unevenly distributed on the springs ; it is less liable to get out of repair ; the springs are made of the best English steel, and the spring-heads provided with Saladee' s improved anti-friction spools ; and lastly, there is positive safety from accident in case of a broken spring, as the springs are so combined and rigidly united at the cross- centers that either of the springs may be broken without letting the body fall below the cross-stays. Eugene Papin & Co. also manufacture all the latest styles of buggies, and keep in stock a large number of handsome vehicles, all of which are sold as low as the superior workman- ship and extra quality of the material used will admit. CARRIAGES AND BUGGIES. 219 The individual members of the hrm are Eugene Papin and Edward A. Bohnes. Mr. Papin is a descendant of one of the oldest St. Louis families, and the name is connected with many of the most important en- terprises which have pro- pelled our city so rapidly into the realm of metro- politan greatness. Mr. Bolmes, the junior member, is also an old cit- izen, but for the last sev- eral years he has spent a greater portion of his time traveling through the South in the interest of the firm. He has a most extensive and popular ac- quaintance with the trade, and by his business talents he has succeeded in draw- ing an immense portion of o the trade of that section ."^ to St. Louis which form- erly went East. The firm is now making strenuous exertions to secure the patronage of Mexico, and already their efforts are realizing excellent re- turns. The enterprise and exceptional character of the carriages made by Eu- gene Papin & Co., entitle them to the highest consideration of the public, and their present success is an indication of a proper appreciation of their worthy efforts. 220 TOUR OF ST. LOUIS. ALOE & HEENSTEIN.— Optical and Surgical Instruments. That perseverance and attention to details will always win, find excellent illustration in the business career of A. S. Aloe, the largest dealer in optical and surgical instruments in the Mississippi Valley. Mr. Aloe begun business as an optician in the year 1862, occupying a small room in the building on the northwest corner of Fifth and Chestnut streets. His means were limited, which made his progress slow, and success seemed uncertain. In 1864, he changed the location of his business to the corner of Third and Olive, where he remained until 1867, when he asrain moved, to No. 206 North Fourth Street. Here the dawn of success appeared to him, but not without the most persistent effort and diligence. In the year 1875, Mr. Aloe associated with him W. H. Hernstein, Esq., and added surgical instruments, starting a manufactory at No. 311 North Fourth Street, up-stairs, which is still running, giving employment to fifteen skillful workmen. Their business increased rapidly, until the firm was forced to seek a more capacious building, and in April, 1877, they removed to their present location, north- east corner of Fourth and Olive streets, one of the most eligi- ble positions and finest store-rooms in the city. The stock carried by Aloe & Hernstein comprises every con- ceivable optical, surgical and mathematical instrument in- vented ; and nearly all their goods are of their own manufact- ure, enabling them to give the most complete warrant to every- thing they sell. The firm are now not only the largest dealers of the kind in the West, but are also the largest manufacturers of mathematical and surgical instruments. Mr. Aloe is a gentlemen who has attained his present high position by a display of the most astonishing energy ; and St. Louis credits him with an enterprise few possess. Mr. Hern- stein is thoroughly posted in the business of surgical instru- ments, and gives to this department his exclusive attention, the partnership being confined to these goods, Mr. Aloe remaining alone as a dealer in optical instruments. Their business is very large and their facilities unsurpassed, which enables them to sell their goods at closer figures than their competitors. SCALES. 221 FAIRBANKS' SCALES. The name of Fairbanks is synonymous with the instru- ments with Avhich justice measures equitably to all. To men- tion Fairbanks is to think of scales ; to see a scale is to remember Fairbanks. , No other name in the commercial world is more widely known. Not only in the State of Vermont, where the name first because known and honored ; not only in the mighty federation of States, in which Vermont is one of the least ; not only in the family of nations, dominions, provinces and colonies, wherein the English language is employed, but in all lands to which commerce has extended, the name of "Fair- banks' Scales " is familiar. In the distant East and the remote West, in the hypobo- rean regions, and in sunny tropic lands, everywhere, among traders who recognize the ethics of honor, equity and integrity, Fairbanks' scales may be found, as the instruments which justice employs in executing equitable transactions between man and man, so to-day the Fairbanks' Scale Works is one of the most widely known of American industrial establish- ments. The Messrs. Fairbanks in the pursuit of scale-making have kept pace with the onward strides of a rapidly moving world ; have met all the varied demands for weiofhinff machines from all parts of the hal)ita1)le globe, so that their list of scale modifications now numbers more than six hundred. Mr. Thaddeus Fairbanks, the inventor of the scale, now, at the advanced age of more than four-score years, is hale and erect, with mind active and precise as it was almost half a century ago. In token of recognition of the benefits conferred upon the whole commercial world by his genius, he has received civic decorations from a half dozen sovereigns, has been knighted by an emperor, and decorated by a Moslem ruler. They have now sixteen branch houses located in the prin- cipal cities of this country, with one house in London, the great mart of the world ; so it may safely be said that the Messrs. Fairbanks are more closely identified with the com- mercial interests of our whole country, yea, the whole world, than any other American manufacturing establishment. 222 TOUR OF ST. LOUIS. Their house m St. Louis, under the style of Fairbanks & Co., occupies the spacious building Nos. 302 and 304 Wash- ington Avenue, where may be found almost every variety of their world- renowned standard scales. H. GRIFFIN & SONS. — Leather and Binders' Materials. It was a practical philosopher who first declared that "there is nothing like leather," an expression which has since become an adage of frequent application. The trade of St. Louis in leather is an important industry, which is con- stantly growing in importance, and is worthy of recognition in this compendium of our city's Avealth and commercial standino;. The representative firm of a special branch of the leather trade of St. Louis, is that of H. Griffin & Sons, No. 304 North jNIain Street, who are the only importers of book-binders' stock west of New York city. This house was established in New York as early as 1836, and in 1871 the firm established a branch here, originally locating at No. 24 South Third, re- moving to their present place of business early in 1877. The house deals in moroccos, Russian leather, colored and book skivers, fleshes, roans, calf and lamb skins, English book cloth and marble papers, glues, gums, gold leaf, brilliant rul- ing inks, cloth and stencil boards, and book-binders' materials of every description, including numbering machines, emboss- ing presses, perforators, ruling machines, table and card shears, backing and stabbing machines, finishing rolls, stamps, etc., etc. In connection with this business it is important to mention an advantage they give patrons oftered by no other house west of New York. The firm carries the largest stock in their line in the United States, and either import or manu- facture all the goods they handle. This is a great feature of the business of New York, but St. Louis receives the identical benefits thus obtained by the firm, for all the^oods of the branch house here are also direct importations made in original NICKEL WATCHES. 223 packages ; hence the St. Louis house make all their quotations at the same prices as the New York firm, and sell all their goods in strict accordance with the legitimate and original numbers, grades and sizes. H. Gritfin & Sons have only sought the patronage of first- class buyers, who appreciate the advantages of buying direct from first hands and in original packages. The trade of this house is co-cxtensive with the West, liaving l)ecn built up here in a very short space of time by Mr. G. H. Griffin, Avho is in charge, and yet every year witnesses an immense increase in their sales. Parties dealing with this house save a large per- centage over prices asked elsewhere, and always secure prime articles. MARVELOUS NICKEL WATCHES.— L. Dkesser, Agent. One of the l)est known places in St. Louis is doubtless No. 305 North Seventh Street. If 3'ou have never been there the query, " AVh}^ best known? " is pertinent, and it is for the benefit of those who are at a loss to determine the remarkable feature of the place that these pages are written. On the outside of the building a sign is noticed, " F. A. Durgin, Manufacturer of Solid Silverware," which has dis- tinguished the place for the past seventeen years, and every citi- zen knows it to be one of the most reliable houses in the West. On entering the building you at once perceive that it is a mine of ornamental wealth, and the fitting up is in keeping with the magnificence of the silver- ware so lavishly displayed. But the elegance of the surroundings is not the feature of the place. 224 TOUR OF ST. LOUIS. Approaching to the rear of the room, you will find a gentleman seated by a small desk, busily engaged with his correspondence, with perhaps a small box of watches by his side. This is L. Dresser, the General Western Agent of the New York Watch Company. So far, there is nothing remarkable in either the place nor the gentleman you find within ; but if you ask the gentleman at the small desk to show you some of his watches, then surprise will take possession of 3^ou. This is what you will see : Mr. Dresser will go at once to a safe which occupies a corner in the rear of the room, and pulling out one of the shallow drawers, he will set before you two or three dozen of the finest appearing time-pieces ever brought to the city. If you desire making a purchase you will be certain to remark that these Avatches are more expensive than you desire. Mr. Dresser will startle you with the reply that the watches are very cheap, being sold at only ten dollars each, and that every Avatch is guaranteed for the period of one year. Well, no one will blame you for being so thoroughly surprised as to make incredulity manifest on your countenance, for that is precisely the manner all are aflTected to whom Mr. Dresser makes the reply ; for the watches are an exact imita- tion of the fifty and sixty dollar railroad time-pieces which met with such a large demand t^vo or three years ago. But don't be deceived by any one who Avill tell you that these watches are only an imitation, so far as looks are concerned, and are unreliable time-pieces ; for the fjict is that there never was a better watch made than these ten dollar watches sold by Mr. Dresser. The cases are made of nickel, are heavily and handsomely designed, and the works are manufactured by the New York Watch Company, and are stamped with that company's trade-mark, and accompanying- each watch is a solemn guarantee that it will keep correct time. These watches are made in two styles, the open face and nickp:l watches. 225 double case. The open face is protected by a thick, flat crystal, and the dial is clear and well defined, and every part of either style is as perfect as the ingenuity of num can make it. Those not acquainted with the peculiarity of nickel will very naturally be impressed Avith the idea that the metal will corrode or otherwise lose its beauty, and is intrinsically worth very little. The facts are these : While silver is more precious than nickel, its value for purposes to which nickel is applied is not nearly so great. In the first place, there is much similarity in appearance of the two metals when polished, and a person carrying a nickel-case watch can readily deceive anyone not familiar with the delicate differences into the belief that the nickel is in fact a silver case. But there is only a shade of distinction between nickel and silver ; for in the watch case the former is far superior in the following respects : First, there is infinitely more durability in nickel, because it is twofold the harder metal ; second, there is greater lustre on polished nickel, which will never become dim ; and lastly, it is not so liable to injury from falling, and it is almost impossible to deface it. The works are made as strong as the cases, and so perfectly that they can not get out of order, except by forcible means. Mr. Dresser, Avho has sold thousands of these watches in the past five or six months, is so well acquainted with their superiority over all other watches in the market, that after a purchase of him is made he is ready to refund the money at any time provided the watch fails to give satisfaction. The watches are sold for ten dollars and delivered to any part of the country by express. Any one from a distance ordering the watch has the privilege of opening the package and examining it before paying the C. O. D. collection, and if the watch does not come up to expectation, the party to whom it is addressed is under no o])ligation to take it. These terms are made for a twofold purpose : First, because there are so many swindling advertisements in the papers, such as excellent time-pieces for three dollars, a seven-shooter revolver for two and a half dollars, etc., sent to any address CO. D., all of which are nothing more than mere toys with- out any value, and those knowing this fact presuppose all other 226 TOUR OF ST. LOUIS. advertisements of cheap articles ; second, because the watches are always certain to give satisfaction, and Mr. Dresser can therefore afford to allow an examination of the express package before the money is paid. Mr. Dresser has added another style of watch, which is ■destined to become very popular. The works are of the Tellable Waltham manufacture, and the cases are gold-plate, -of beautiful design, and as good in every sense as the most costly gold watch. They are made both open and double case, and sold at the wonderfully low price of eighteen dollars, and every watch is warranted for one year. Mr. Dresser also deals in handsome nickel chains, which he sells at prices ranging from one to three dollars, and fine rolled gold-plate at from three and a half to eight dollars. By calling or writing to No. 305 North Seventh Street, you can meet with the surprise foretold, and find the finest, best and cheapest watches ever put upon this or any other market.. THOMPSON, TEASDALE & CO.— Woolens and Wool Yarns. Six years ago the firm of Thompson, Teasdale & Co. was established at No. 312 North Main Street, for handling on commission woolens and wool yarns. The house was a recognized necessity, and the ability with which the business has been conducted secured a large trade for the firm, which has been constantly increasing ever since. Another important branch of the business is dealing in manufacturers' supplies, machinery, cotton warps, dye stuffs, etc., in which line this is the only house in St. Louis, but since it fills the wants of customers most satisfactorily, there is no opportunity for competition. JEWELRY, 227 THE JACCARD BUILDING. The above illustration represents the Jaccard Building, on the northeast corner of Fifth and Olive streets, erected and occupied by Eugene Jaccard & Co., the oldest business firm in the city, being established since 1829, and the largest jewelry house in the West. Besides the spacious sales-room on the first floor, which has a frontage of fifty-seven feet on Fifth Street, and is furnished with marble counters and richly carved walnut and French plate-glass cases, they have fitted up their basement in elegant style for the better display of their exten- sive stock of real and imitation bronzes, Parian marble stat- uary, French clocks, and other articles of an artistic character.. There will also be found in addition to the above, a line of novelties, such as artistic pottery, choice selected pieces of Limoges, Gien, Longwy, and other French Faience Royal 228 TOUR OF ST. LOUIS. Worcester, Copelaiid, Minton and Wedgewood porcelain and Majolica ware, Dresden porcelain, etc. ; very beautiful Vienna gilt goods, brass finished bronze goods, etc. ; no such complete assortment is kept by any other house in the city. This establishment is one of the attractions of the city, and will amply repay a visit. MAECUS A. WOLFF & CO.— Real Estate. No record for industry and enterprise in this city can be found to exceed that which has been made by this firm, located at No. 316 Chestnut Street. Mr. Wolff, the senior member, has been its moving spirit and the chief cause of the success that may be attributed to it. The management of large estates, the placing of loans upon property, and the collection of rents, are the prominent characteristics of their business. Some four thousand tenants pay rentals to this firm for the occupancy of stores, shops, dwellings and apartments that have been placed by landlords in their hands to collect. The dual relation they sustain to both the owner and the tenant, calls for the best of business talent, and for the most affable manners. The extent of their operations fully attest their ability and popularity. M. A. Wolff & Co. do the largest real estate business in the city. Their transactions at times involve very large sums. Mr. Wolff has occupied some very important and respon- sible positions in the management and settlement of estates committed to his care, and his promptness and fidelity attest the confidence reposed in him by some of our best citizens. MANUFACTUKING. 229 H. & L. CHASE. — Bags and Bagging. One of the comparatively new industries of the West which has given St. Louis an impetus in the extension of her commercial supremacy, is the manufacture of bags, burlaps and bagging. While this interest employs more largely the India jute, yet it uses an immense quantity of home pro- ductions, such as cotton, hemp, flax, etc., which of itself has materially stimulated the cultivation of these crops, and given employment to a large number of persons. The representative bagging factory and firm of St. Louis, and, indeed, of America, is that of H. & L. Chase, whose house occupies Nos. 8, 10 and 12 North Main Street. The parent factory is in Boston, where it was established in 1845, and has been doing an immense business ever since. The St. Louis branch of H. & L. Chase was founded in 1866, at No. 14 South Commercial, where it remained a few years, when, in order to secure the much-needed additional room, they removed 230 TOUR OF ST. LOUIS. to No. 1 South Main Street, then to No. 17 North Main. Their business increased at a surprisingly rapid rate, and soon out- grew the capacity of their second and third houses, and, in 1872, they removed into their present large building, where they have the necessary room for their office, factory and ware- house. This structure is six stories in height and has an area on its several floors of nearly forty thousand feet. The factory is run by a fifteen horse-power engine, which supplies the power for running the machinery, the elevators and printing presses. It employs eighty operatives and turns out annually millions of bags. In addition to the manufacture of bags of all kinds, including flour, ham bags, ore bags, burlaps, wool sacks, gunnies, seamless, flax twine, etc., the firm gives special attention to the printing of flour sacks, in which business their facilities are equal, if not superior, to those of any similar firm in America. H. & L. Chase have branch houses also in Chicago and Kansas City, but the St. Louis branch is the largest of the concerns, save that of the parent Boston house, which is the largest institution of the kind in the United States. The business was established here and has since been conducted by F. H. Ludington, Esq., a gentleman of practical ideas and actuated by unlimited enterprise — the push and vigor which establishes success where a thousand others would fail. He is devoted to the duties of his position, and uses every honor- able means to advance the interests of the firm, and with what results is best told by the immense business of the branch he represents : the hum of ceaseless machinery, activity of the numerous employees, extent of the trade, and the many evidences of the greatest prosperity noticeable in every avenue and nook of the establishment. MANUFACTURING. 231 THE EXCELSIOR MANUFACTURING COMPANY. St. Louis has been, for several years, recognized as the great stove manufacturing city of America ; her proximity to the largest iron beds in the world ; situated upon a mighty river, which courses to the sea, and withal being a focal point for the trade of a new and thriving empire, enterprise was compelled to grasp these natural advantages and make her the manufacturing city of the continent. The progress of our factories has been made in the path of the pioneers ; after rearing their rude habitations as a mere protection from the most unkind elements, the sturdy yeoman then turn their thoughts to the more accessible comforts, and among their 232 TOUR OF ST. LOUIS. first wants is a cooking stove. It was these well known char- acteristics that caused such early attention to the manufacture of stoves in this city, and the rapid settlement of the West has created a demand, to supply which several large foundries have been established here. With the increase of foundries rivalry began, which caused a development of the industry most wholesome to the public and satisfactory to the best companies. In selecting only the representative institutions of St. Louis, in their respective lines of business, the Excelsior Stove Manufacturing Company must head the list of that industry, not merely above all others in the West, but so far in advance that any comparison would be invidious and unjust, for it now ranks as one of the largest and most successful stove companies in the world. The foundation of the business of the Excelsior Manufac- turing Company Avas laid by Giles. F. Filley, in the early part of 1849, the year of the great fire and the cholera scourge. The foundry was located where it still stands, but was a small affair compared with what it is now, although for that time it was regarded as an immense institution, employing thirty workmen, and turning out eight thousand stoves. In 1852, Mr. Filley patented the Charter Oak stove, which was then so far superior to any stove ever made in this country, that the great demand for it gave an immense impetus to the busi- ness, two thousand six hundred and nineteen Charter Oaks being sold the same year, and in the following year, 1853, an enlargement of the foundry was made. Three years later two additional moulding floors were added, making five in all, with a capacity for two hundred and fifty stoves per day.- In 1874, the ofiice and sales-room of Mr. Filley was moved from the old building into a new edifice erected that year, including Nos. 612, 614, 616 and 618 North Main. This buildino; is one of the most magnificent structures in the West, and is a representative monument of the great business it was built for. It has a frontage on Main Street of eight}^- four feet, five stories in height, and a depth of one hundred and sixteen feet, running through to Commercial Alley, six stories in heisht. The office and sales-room is on the first MANUFACTURING. 233 floor, which is beautifully lighted, is eighteen feet in height and filled with the finest display of stoves and tinware to be found in America, The aggregate floor space in the building is equal to one and one-half acres, on Avhich there is displayed over two hundred and fifty difierent varieties of heating and cooking stoves, and every conceivable article of culinary usv.. On the 1st of January, 1865, the Excelsior Manufacturing Company was incorporated as a successor of Giles F. Filley, with Mr. Filley as President, a position he continues to hold. Since the organization of the new company, Mr, Filley has directed several important improvements, and given to the manufacturing department a management almost unequaled. The foundry, located in the northern part of the city, covers four and one-half acres of ground, and gives employment to over three hundred and fifty men, yet large as this force is, and stringent as the times have been during the past five 3^ears, the Excelsior Company has not discharged a man nor dimin- ished their production, which reaches fifty thousand stoves annually. They melt, on an average, forty tons of metal per day, which is more than the consumption of any other stove foundry in the United States. 234 TOUR OF ST. LOUIS. The total number of stoves made since the works were established is over 750;000, of which number there were sold 313,650 Charter Oaks up to May 1, 1878. To speak of the Charter Oak in mere terms of com- mendation does not present its merits in an understanding- manner, for it has attained a position in the Mississippi Valley of such great popularity that its vast superiority is acknowl- edged and the good points of other stoves are discussed only relatively and by comparison with the Charter Oak. A num- ber of shipments of these stoves have been made to Europe and other foreign countries, and are in use in every State and Territory of America. Its superior excellence consists in the admirable workmanshii^ ^^^^ prime quality of material used in its construction ; perfect draft, cleanliness, fine baking qualities, durability, and handsome appearance. The Excelsior Manufacturing Company, while making a specialty of the Charter Oak cooking stove, are large manu- facturers of heating stoves, some of which have already attained a remarkable popularity. The Evening Star has been sold for the past twenty years, and is a beautiful pattern for a wood-burning stove, is economic, and gives the most perfect satisfaction. But the styles and merits of the large number of different stoves made by this indeed Excelsior Company, can not be given in a neces- sarily short re\Tiew of our representative industries, and our advice to the readers of a " Tour of St- Louis," can therefore only be couched in a request to visit the sales-room of the company and make an inspection of the stock there exhibited, which can not prove otherwise than interesting, even should no purchases be desired. MANUFACTURING . 235 ST. LOUIS STAMPING CO.— Granite Iron-Ware. The St. Louis Stamping Company is not only a represent- ative interest of our own city but of the United States, having outgrown the boundaries of an ordinary reputation, and since the manufticture of that famed article of household use, Granite Iron-ware, the company in its great labors has leaped the confines of the country and founded a trade across the ocean, which is swelling at a rapid rate. The Niedringhaus Brothers were organized as a company in the year 1860, for the manufacture of tinware, with an original capital of one thousand dollars , loca- ting their factory on the corner of Tenth St. and Franklin Avenue, where they employed only three hands. In the year 1866 the name of the organi- zation was changed to the St. Louis Stamping Com- pany. Stamped tinware was then a new thing, but it commended itself so highly, being cheaper, having no soldered seams, and much more durable, that it found immediate favor with the public. Year by year the sales increased — the first year reaching seven thousand dollars — and the capacity of the factory was increased in proportion to the demand. The first location was such that the company w^ere unable to make the improvements necessary for their business, and compelled them to move, a favorable site for the requisite buildings being found on the corner of Second and Cass Avenue. Here they erected a four-story brick building, occu- pying nearly a quarter of a block, and a large warehouse on Main and Cass Avenue. In the year 1876, F. G. Niedringhaus, President of the company, secured letters patent on a process for making 236 TOUR OF ST. LOUIS. granite iron-w^are, one of the most useful inventions for house- hold convenience ever discovered. Immediately thereafter machinery was added for plating all their stamped ware with granite, since which time granite iron-ware has become one of the indispensable adjuncts of every household. So great was the demand for this standard article that a new and larger building became necessary, and in March last was completed for the company one of the finest factories in the city, being iive stories in height and covering three-fourths of a block. The entire works of the St. Louis Stamping Company now occupy two entire blocks, employ four hundred and fifty men, work up annually five hundred and fifty tons of iron and four hundred tons of tin, and their sales have increased from seven thousand dollars the first year to seven hundred thousand dollars for the year 1877, with a corresponding increase for the year 1878. The granite iron-ware is now not only sold in every hamlet and city in the United States, but also in England, Germany, France, South America, West Indies, and, in fact, almost throughout the civilized portion of the world. Patents on the process for its manufacture have been secured in nearly all the countries of Europe, and granite iron- ware will shortly be man- ufactured in all the important cities of that country. A word concerning the ware itself is important in this con- nection, although it is fair to presume that its great merits are known to almost every man, woman and child in America. Granite iron-ware has been submitted to the crucible test and analysis of every chemist of any note in the United States, and their reports all agree that granite iron-ware has no delete- rious substance whatever about its composition, the granite coating beittg nothing more than an ordinary granite fused to a glass upon the iron vessel. As to its superiority over any other ware in use, it may be positively asserted that any comparison would be invidious. Granite iron- ware, aside of its beauty, Avhich is really a great feature in its favor, is indestructible either by fire or rough usage ; it will endure constant use for a life-time, is not sub- ject to rust or corrosion, and will not change the slightest in any service it may be put to. Its first cost is but little above MANUFACTURING. 237 the ordinary tin or iron vessels, and for constant use it is more than a hundred-fold cheaper. Wherever exhibited in compe- tition with other wares, at the Centennial Exposition and all the State fairs, it has invariably been awarded the first premium, and every year must only serve to make its great superiority and invaluable properties the more universally ac- knowledgred in all countries on the ""lobe. ST. LOUIS MANTEL AND GRATE COMPANY. Marble, cold but chaste, has done much towards softening and refining the manners of civilized nations. Even in the days of the old primeval sculptors, whose first touches kindled a new life, dumb, yet full of spirit, there was a strong pervading influence of a new culture and the awakenino: of an attribute that had before remained unknown. Angelo and his famous school aroused the world and pointed to a destiny now almost consummated ; the seeds thus sown have borne fruit unto all people, and civilization is writing its inspiring history on tablets of marble, perpetuating it as were the first laws given to man. In our own country sculpturing and work in marble has attained a high state of jjerfection ; the advance has been so remarkable, indeed, that while Rome may repose in the bliss- ful realization of her conquests and conception of the highest embodiment of the fine arts, yet it was reserved for us to live in the marble age and see her finest arts vastly improved. Among the great institutions of St. Louis to which we refer with the most exultant pride, is the St. Louis Mantel and Grate Company, which has brought the West to an understanding of the beauties of marble in the rich and yet expenseless adorn- ment of our homes ; a company that has carved a reputation in stone which is fast finding a lodgment at our firesides and imparting a happier spirit and influence upon our social lives. The company is an old one, but moved into its new building in September last. A larger portion of their work is done at several branch yards more convenient to the stone used, though 238 TOUR or st. louis. the parent sales-room and yard is located at No. 24 South Eleventh Street, this city. While the firm deals in iron and slate mantels, their great specialty is marble, in which line of goods they have distanced all competition in the West, both in price and elegance of workmanshijD . In this connection it is important to disabuse the public mind of the idea that marble mantels are expensive. This belief was at one time founded on fact, but with the universal reduction on the price of build- ing materials, marble mantels have declined proportionately until the old belief, which, for some strange reason, still ob- tains, is a popular fallacy. Marble mantels are not only inex- pensive, but, beautiful as they are, they are cheaper than wooden ones. A good wood mantel, including grate, fender and summer piece, set in place, will cost about eighteen dollars, while a fine marble mantel, solid and attractive, accompanied by all the fireside auxiliaries, set in place ready for fire, costs but twenty dollars. This price is made by the St. Louis Mantel and Grate Company, and of course is about fifteen per cent, lower than the same articles could be purchased elsewhere in the city, for this company has such superior facilities for manufacturing marble goods that they can afford to sell much lower than their competitors and 3'et make a reasonable profit. The samples of mantels and grates disj)layed by this com- pany at their sales-room, is one of the finest sights to be wit- nessed in St. Louis. The room is about one hundred feet deep by forty feet wide, and on both sides, as well also as running in a double row down the center of the room, is a variety of mantels which excites the greatest admiration for the ingenuity of man. There are mantels for the humble cottage in keeping with modest possession, and up through all the gradations of wealth to the palaces of the over-rich. By these the fireside becomes a witching chamber, with its graceful arching, beau- tiful columns, decorated balustrade, rich carvings and halo- surrounded aperture, out of which we almost expect to see appear some child of imagery, with gossamer wand, to effect a transformation that shall make the surroundings equally beau- tiful. In addition to their specialty of marble mantels, the com- pany manufactures enameled grates and the celebrated ' ' Star MANUFACTURING. 239 cooking ranges, and are the sole agents in St. Louis for Minton's English encaustic tiles and Bibb's original Baltimore fireplace heaters. The officers of the corporation are : S. Hand, President, who is an old dealer and successful manufac- turer of marble goods ; C. E. Hand, Secretary, a young man of excellent business qualifications ; and D. C. Deegan, "who is one of the best practical cutters in the West, Superintendent. These gentlemen have combined a large experience with an abundant capital, and having extraordinary facilities, can manufacture and sell their goods at a great reduction under the prices charged by competing yards. • ST. LOUIS HOT-PRESSED NUT AND BOLT MANUFACTURING COMPANY. In making a tour of the metropolis of the West, among the more important industries, there is no factory of greater interest than that of the St. Louis Hot-Pressed Nut and Bolt Manufactory. The man whose genius invented the machines used by this company in the manufacture of hot-pressed nuts and washers, was Richard H. Cole, Esq., who for many years before followed the humble, but no less honorable, trade of a blacksmith. His shop was located on Main Street, between Ashley Street and Cass Avenue, where he conceived and perfected his great invention. Mr. Cole had no difficulty in securing the requisite capital for constructing an extensive establishment on Biddle Street, between Second and Collins streets, where several of his machines were put into operation. The fame of the inventor and invention soon spread over the continent, and in a short time a large demand was made upon Mr. Cole for territorial rights, and orders were sent in for the machines from various sections in the East, and also from several countries of Europe, to which places machines were sent and have been working constantly ever since. On January 1, 1874, the establishment erected by Mr. Cole was purchased by the present owners who at once 240 TOUK OF ST, LOUIS. organized the St. Louis Hot-Pressed Nut and Bolt Company, with Wm. H. Stone as President ; O. Breden, Superintendent ; and A. W. Duryee as Secretary. The company has since made large improvements, both in the buildings and additional machinery ; among the latter, being improved bolt-heading machines, with supplementary machines for pointmg and cutting screws and tapping nuts ; also a machine for manufacturing horseshoes, which works with lightning rapidity, completing a horseshoe ready for use, from the bar, at a single revolution, more uniform than can be made by hand. The most interesting machines in the establishment are those used for forging horseshoe nails, the operation of which is very simple and yet curious. The Norway nail rods are heated and fed into the machine, which cuts the rod the required length of a nail ; these pieces then travel around a circular anvil under a ponderous steam-hammer. By the time the circuit is completed, each nail receives thirty-two blows from the hammer and then drops into a basket completed for use, with the exception of pointing and polishing, which is done by other machines for that purpose. The Norway hammered horseshoe nails manufactured by this company are meeting with an unprecedented demand, and are fast supplanting all others -on account of their similarity to hand-made nails. The articles manufactured by the company comprise hot-pressed nuts, bolts, washers, Breden' s horseshoes, Norway hammered horseshoe nails, etc., and their trade extends over the territory bounded by the Mississippi River and Pacific coast. THE WESTERN OIL COMPANY. The manufacture of oils is an important industry in the West, being stimulated by the immense hog and cattle pro- duct, which seeks St. Louis as its most direct and natural market, where the packing and rendering interest is one of the special features of Western commerce. In the manufac- ture of oils we have several large institutions, but the largest MANUFACTURING. 241 and most representative of its class is the Western Oil Com- pany. This organization was established in 18G7, occupying small quarters on the corner of Second and Vine streets, in a building known in former years as King's Hotel. Here they continued until the following year, when the rapid increase of their business compelled them to move into a larger building, which they found on the corner of Third Street and Wash- ington Avenue, In 1870, the same causes compelled them to a second removal, their next location being on the corner of Main and Washington Avenue. Here they remained until a third time their business had outgrown the capacity of their building, and in 1873, the company removed to its present (quarters Nos. 812 and 814 North Main Street, where they have an immense factory for the manufacture of all kinds of animal oils, also dark and light colored engine oils, West Virginia oils, burning oils, wagon axle grease, lard and tallow oils, and all grades of lubricating oils. The company has branch houses for the sale of their large product in New Orleans and San Francisco, and the demand, coming as it does from every section of the great West, is so great that their factory facili- ties will soon have to be largely extended, orders for their oils, which are now recognized as " standards," l)eing already in excess of their supply. Their principal demand is from railroad companies and factories, for lubricating purposes, and their oils are regarded by the trade as the finest and of the purest quality ever put upon the market. Their "Lone Star" burning oil is as clear as crystal and as safe as lard oil, gener- ating no gas and giving a light equal to nineteen and a half candle power. Their brands are found all over the United States, and are everywhere not only regarded as the best, but of so superior quality as to prove an effective advertisement of St. Louis industries. The officers of the company are : D. L. Skidmore, Presi- dent, and C. C. Harris, Secretary, and the office is at No. 305 North Third Street, conveniently arranged and located for the l)usiness transactions of the company. 16 MANUFACTURING. 243 COLLIER WHITE LEAD AND OIL WORKS. In presenting a summarized history of the Collier White Lead and Oil Works, their capacity, importance and influence, it is eminently proper to notice, at least, the promptings of their founder and the natural advantages — the fulfillment of the predictions made years ago — now offered by the opening of lead mines within our own territory, the largest in the world. The establishment of a factor}^ for the manufacture of white lead in St. Louis, in the empirical period of 1837, at a time when our cit}^ was but a footprint upon the continent, and with no commercial path save that of the great arterial high- way which then swept the feet of a callow town ; when the coal, lead, iron and zinc beds of our neighborhood had been undisturbed, with the giant force which they have since impelled still in profound slumber — with such crude and undefined possibilities, the establishment of such an institution was accompanied by great uncertainty of success. But when Henry T. Blow organized his company in 1850, he was guided by his prophetic foresight, which penetrated the vista of years, and saw St. Louis as a queen upon the throne, with sceptre in her hand, and the collected wealth of an empire at her feet; the jagged cupolas of her factories raising like a thousand giants, uplifting their brawny arms, grasping the trade of a continent, and looked upon her million people with an enthu- siasm akin to inspiration. Such was the beautiful panorama that floated as a vision before his gaze and prompted Mr. Blow to labor by " the light of the future." The manufacture of white lead was first begun in St. Louis by Dr. Reed, who operated on a very small scale, but whose works were the inception of the Collier White Lead Company. Henry T. Blow and his brother-in-law, Joseph Charles, had been for some years manufacturing white lead in connection with their drug business, and in 1844 Mr. Blow disposed of his interest in the drug store and gave his exclusive attention to the running of his Avhite lead works. His business increased, and, in 1850, in order to secure a proper enlargement of the factory, he organized a stock company, which was, and is still 244 TOUR OF ST. LOUIS. called, the Collier White Lead and Oil Company, Mr. Blow became its President, and continued in that position until the year 1861, when he entered public life, and was succeeded by Col. Thomas Richeson, who has continued its chief executive officer ever since. From what was a comparatively small institution in 1861, the Collier Works have increased, until they are now, not only the largest in the West, but, perhaps, the largest in the United States, covering nearly two blocks of ground, em- ploying one hundred and fifty men, and turning out annually 4,000 tons of white lead ground in oil, 200,000 pounds red lead, 150,000 gallons linseed oil, and 150,000 gallons castor oil. While the capital stock of the compan}'' is but $700,000 their sales now aggregate $2,000,000, and are rapidly in- creasing. There is a reason for the almost unparalleled success of the Collier Works aside even of the wise policy and executive ability by Avhich they have been controlled, which it is im- portant to express in this connection. St. Louis is in a doubly- blessed position — with more navigable water at her door than any other city on the globe, which cheapen and accelerate her transportation fticilities ; planted in the basin of the continent, with her arms resting upon the inexhaustible beds of the richest and most valuable of commercial minerals in the world, and being the great distributing point for the materials which are employed in the rapid building up of the West, — surely nature and enterprise have united to make her configuration and advantages the grandest ever conceived by man. In the relation of these natural interests, which give to St. Louis such a preponderation over the other cities of the hemispheres, the manufacture of white lead and oil are a consequential feature of the West, in contradistinction to the demand in the East. This inequality of demand is found in the fact that the development of the East is already accomplished, or at least so far advanced that further improvement is slow, and its quickening impulses are only occasioned by the reflexion of Western interests. But here we are a building people, prolific with enterprise ; the great theatre of a Western commerce is under process of construction, labor and its auxiliaries are MANUFACTURING. 245 therefore active, and home consumption is enormous. The empty fields are not only being covered with waving cereals, and the forests bending under the strokes of advancing civiliza- tion, l)ut buildings are being reared in countless number. The pioneer, no less than the " down-easter," delights in thel)eauty and comfort of his home ; and while his ideas of mechanical ornamentation ma}' not be so extravagant, yet his use of white paint is certainly as great. These reasons sufficiently account for the fact that one-fourth of all the white lead used in the United States is made in St. Louis, and, with the continued prosperity of the West, this proportion in her favor will increase. A description of the Collier White Lead and Oil Works, and the conversion of the mineral into carbonate, detailing the various processes and the means employed, would doubtless prove irksome to a large majority of our readers who are already familiar with the minutisK of the business as described in previous publications ; but there are two additions made to the establishment, a notice of which is essential because their introduction marks a new period in the history of white lead manufacture, and are therefore inseparable from the most summary compendium of the Collier Works. For many years the lal)orers in white lead factories were subjected to great danger consequent upon the inhalation of small particles of lead, which, in the grinding processes, were thrown oft' in a fine dust. No man, of however strong con- stitution and endurance, could withstand the terrible efiects of the poison, and exposure for two or three months was sufficient to kill the men. Their necessary work was, therefore, only accomplished by placing some protection over the mouth, and even this precaution only partially mitigated the danger and prolonged the inevitable result. To overcome this serious difficulty was a work which had oftentimes been debated but left without a remedy, until Mr. Richeson took upon himself the task of effectually accomplishing the desired results. After some time of patient study he devised a remedy which is not only successful in protecting the workmen from every particle of dust, but invented a contrivance which creates a strong upward draft by which means the dust is sucked up and 246 TOXJR OF ST. LOUIS. carried to another part of the building, where it is deposited again in a receptable. From here it is reconveyed back into the mill and utilized, accomplishing a saving of one thousand pounds pure white lead every twenty-four hours. Another very important invention in use at the Collier Works is the rotary steam-drying table. By the old process it required from seven to eight days to dry the carbonate, which had to be run into larger iron basins and steamed. The rotary table is a simple piece of machinery, and its operation even more simple than its construction. The moist and drip- ping lead falls through a hopper on to a flat, circular iron table, which is kept revolving and heated by steam. There are four iron rollers also heated, which rotate with the table and press and spread the lead, so that when the table com- pletes it revolution it passes under a scraper, which pours the now thoroughly dried lead into a receptacle for further use. By this process, what before required one hundred and seventy- five hours, is done in just three and one-half minutes. The changes and improvements made in the Collier Works in 1861, have been so numerous that there is little similarity between the factory then and now. The works are kept run- ning night and day throughout the year, except a stoppage regularly made from Saturday night to Monday morning. The management of such an immense institution must, of necessity, be systematic ; but the regularity and fixedness observable in every department of the factory is really wonderful ; so perfect, indeed, that Mr. Kicheson is enabled at any moment to tell whether everything has been working properly ; if any stoppage has been made in any department ; how much lead is being made, and if the product falls short, the reason why, and so of every feature ; for every step in the work is recorded in a book reserved for that purpose. Every- thing is order, and bespeaks a perfect management. The products of the Collier White Lead and Oil Works are found in almost every hamlet of America ; and their brand known as " prime white lead," has a reputation for excellence unequaled by any other made on the continent. It is shipped east and west, and, wherever used, is certain to meet with increased demand. The object of the company is to succeed MANUFACIURING. • 247 only by honorable competition, by manufacturing an article of paints which will commend itself, and this policy has not only made them famous in the Mississippi Valley, but from coast to coast, and every year their facilities are increasing. The Collier Works is an institution of which St. Louis feels justly proud, and one that has done much towards the progress of our great city and the development of the immense mineral regions round about our doors. VANE, CALVERT & CO.— Ready-Mixed Paints. The manufacture of ready-mixed paints is a comparatively new industry, but one which supplies such a large necessity and provides such an incalculable convenience, that it has grown in a very rapid ratio. It requires little exjierience to apply paint in the ordinaiy way in which it is used, but the services of an experienced tradesman are necessary for the proper mixing of the white lead and oil. It is to prepare the paint for immediate use that manufactories of this specialty have been established, the largest institution of the kind in St. Louis being that of Vane, Calvert & Co., Avhose office and sales-room are at Nos. 705 and 707 North Main Street. This firm was established in 1869, with plenty of capital to carry the industry to a state of the greatest perfection. Their paints are made Avith the most scrupulous care, nothing but prime lead and oil being used, and the most skillful workmen employed. The consequence of this careful attention is found in the vast superiority of their product and its almost univer- sal use throughout the West. The great convenience which these paints provide is found in numerous instances : to the farmer who has neither time nor the means to secure a painter to do some necessary work which he can do equally well at inconsideral)le cost by ordering the ready-mixed paint in color and quantity to suit : to the townsman who has an inclination to economize by doins; his own work instead of callino- in the services of a stranger ; to every one who wishes to get a better paint at a less price than the lead and oil costs. 248 TOUE OF ST. LOUIS. The paints manufactured by Messrs. Vane, Calvert & Co., besides being much more durable, will cover one-fourth more surface than the paints mixed in the ordinary way ; they are specially adapted to wall painting as a substitute for paper, presenting a much handsomer appearance, and being eminently more durable, and when soiled can be washed without injury. The firm also manufactures a cheaper quality of paints, suitable for depot buildings, roofs, and for other like purposes, and are sold at a ver}^ low price. Messrs. Vane, Calvert & Co. have introduced an eco- nomic feature in tlie use of paints which is properly appre- ciated by the public, as their liberal patronage fully attests. L. M. EUMSEY & CO. — ^MANurACTURERS of Machinery. The firm of L. M. Eumsey & Co. is familiarly known in every section of the United States, and it has done more, perhaps, to advertise St. Louis than any other manufacturing institution we have. The firm is composed of L. M. and Moses Rumsey, brothers, who established themselves in the manufacture of machinery as late as 1865, founded, as is almost every great business, upon a small capital footing, and built up by the sagacity of the proprietors. The parent factory of this great house is located at Seneca Falls, New York, where all their fire engines and heavy machinery is made. Last year they built another large factory in North Indianapolis, where they manufacture scythe snaths, grain cradles, and other light agricultural implements, and at the St. Louis factory is manufactured lead pipe, sheet and bar lead, pump chains and chain-pump material, and a hundred other things too tedious to mention. Their branch house here covers an area equal to an entire block, the main building including Nos. 811, 813, 815, five stories in height, and their factory at No. 816 North Main, with an immense warehouse at No. 806 on Second Street, giving employment to sixty men. Their sales the first year were $150,000, and for the year 1877 they aggregated $1,000,000, and every year their facilities are being; extended. 250 TOUR OF ST. LOUIS, Mr. L. M. Rumsey is a practical mechanic, and has invented some of the most useful pieces of jmachinery in use, one of which is a machine for making pump chains. They are at once the simplest and most expeditious little curiosities to be seen. Without any attention from any one, these machines turn out six thousand feet of pump chain in every ten hours. They manufacture nothing on royalty, preferring to either invent their own machinery, or buy the patents from other inventors, and their business is conducted on such an admirable system that the cost on every article is reduced to the minimum, thus enabling them not only to keep out Eastern competition, but to supplant many Eastern factories in their own localities. The products of Rumsey & Co.'s factories find ready sale in New York, Philadelphia, and other Eastern cities ; through- out the entire West as far as San Francisco, and also in the West Indies and South America. The liumsey Brothers are energetic, enterprising, practical and truly rei)resentative men, entitled to a credit commensurate with their enormous business. . THE SEMPLE & BIRGE MAUFACTURING CO. Recognizing the position and advantages of St. Louis as a commercial center, when civil strife ended, the members of the above corporation commenced business as a firm, about twelve years ago, obtaining what at that time was considered a very central location in the city: No. 13 South Main Street, a few doors south of Market Street and opposite the old Merchants' Exchange. Agricultural implements, small farming tools, known to the trade as "wood and steel goods," such as grain cradles, snaths, forks, hoes, rakes, etc., and the Whitewater wagons were then theil" principal items of trade ; but early demands from their customers required the addition from time to time of other items, and keeping steadily in view the prin- ciple of dealing only in the best and at as low a price as such quality could be aiforded, their annual sales have increased steadily, making an aggregate for 1877 of nearly ten times that 252 TOUR OF ST. LOUIS. of the year 1866. Few sections of this country are not now tributary to the business of this company. Their customers in New York and Pennsylvania have been so numerous as to require the entire attention of one man to look after their in- terests in that section. Maryland, Virginia, the Carolinas, and the southern and western shores of the country, north to Man- itoba and all included territory, are being supplied to an extent that is constantly increasing. Exceptional shipments have been made to London and Germany, and considerable export traffic to Brazil has recently taken place. Nothing short of a catalogue of several hundred pages will adequately represent the items now furnished by the Semple & Birge Manufacturing Company. Three factories which " grow with their growth," are located respectively in St. Louis, Seymour, Ind., and Whitewater, Wis., and furnish employment for about four hundred men. This company now furnishes almost everything necessary in the way of farming tools and machinery, cane and cotton ma- chinery, feed cutters, mills and boilers, reapers, threshers, corn shellers, wood-sawing machines, steam engines, mill and eleva- tor machinery, including bolting cloth, belting, pulleys, shaft- ing, and the most approved machinery necessary to the pre- paring and handling of grain, flour, meal, etc., shovels, spades, and scoops, ice tools, various hardware items, etc., etc. The completion of the bridge and tunnel, and location of the new post-office in 1875, indicating Washington Avenue as the future location of the wholesale trade of this city, induced this firm to erect, at 910 and 912 Washington Avenue, the finest building in that locality, consisting of five stories and basement, and fronting on both Washington Avenue and St. Charles Street. Since that time an addition adjoining, Nos. 915 and 917 St. Charles Street, has been erected, and this season (1878) the stone building extending on St. Charles Street from Nos. 919 to 927 — the entire front of the block from St. Charles Street to Washington Avenue, including Nos. 500 to 514 North Tenth Street, and on Washington Avenue from Nos. 922 to 926 has been secured for temporary use. The estab- lishment now contains "acres of room," on which there is MANUFACTURING. 253 probably the largest and best stock of goods of the kind to be found anywhere in the United States or the world. A telephone connects the central office with the Shovel Factory at Nos. 1029 and 1031 North Main Street, about a mile distant, by means of which the business is greatly facili- tated. The sound of trip-hammers and hum of machinery at that point can be distinctly heard. Another telephone in the same office connects with the St. Louis Telephone Exchange, and by this arrangement a man can, from his desk in this office, transact business verbally with any one or all of the other business concerns connected by telephone with the central office of the exchange. The man calls the central office, notilies the attendant whom he wants to speak to, and by the movement of a small lever, the telephone to the desired place is united with the speaker, and the business conversation is carried on without being heard at the other places. The Merchant's Exchange, the Mayor's office. Police Department, Fire Department, banks, railroad freight offices, steamboat offices, insurance offices, and the principal factories and business houses of the city are connected with the central office of the Telephone Exchange. Probably in the same line of business, as large a variety, as good goods, as extended trade and as mnch business enter- prise, can not be found elsewhere, as at Nos. 910 and 912 Washington Avenue, and 911, 913, 915 and 917 St. Charles Street, this city ; and it speaks well for the future of this city that with the recent complaint of general depression in business, that such a business has been constantly increasing and pros- pering from the date of its first organization . ^ 254 TOUR OF ST. LOUIS WARDWELL MANUFACTURING COMPANY. The greatest invention of the nineteenth century is undoubtedly the sewing machine. But the original was a crude and cumbersome piece of mechanism, susceptible of vast improvements. The introduction of new inventions to replace the more unsatisfactory parts of the sewing machine has l)een constant, until the result is seen in the most wonderfully i)er- fect Ward well. Ihere must be a stage in all thino^s when further progress and improvement is impossible ; when the o;reatest o-enius discovers his metes and bounds, and further arnbition is stifled by an accomplished purpose. All sewing machines of to-day are marvelous pieces of mechanism , whose fruits are inestim- able blessings to woman- kind ; but there is always a preference among the many, and one superior to all others ; the question for solution, therefore, must necessarily be : ' 'Which is the best ?' ' The last machine invented has a o-reat advantatje, in that it is supposed to represent an improvement over all others ; and accepting this as a proposition demonstrated, the Wardwel] should, as it certainly does, surpass all others. This machine is a product of St. Louis genius, having been conceived, invented and is manufactured by St. Louis MANUFACTURING. 255 gentlemen. Its points of superiority over all others are in its general features, difiering in nearly every respect from all other styles made. Primarily, the Wardwell has neither shuttle nor bobbin, those twin evils of other machines ; it has less than one-third the number of parts ; it has the least fric- tion, and is consequently the lightest running ; it requires no adjusting, and is so simple that a child can understand it, and it can not get out of order. The needle is self-adjusting, and therefore can not be set wrong ; it is almost noiseless ; sewing directly from the spool, it requires no tedious winding on to the shuttle ; it is the only machine that admits of one person treading while another handles the stitching ; and lastly, it has a rotary table, which permits the sewing to run in any required direction at the pleasure of the operator. These are a few of the superior features of the Wardwell, but sufficient to show that in its construction immense progress has been made, and to demonstrate its perfection, making further improvement in sewing machine mechanism apparently impossible. That it will soon supersede every shuttle machine now in the market scarcely admits of any reasonable doubt, as the demand is alreadj^ in excess of the supply. In fact the Wardwell has revolutionized the sewing machine industr}^, and has made its inventor one of the great geniuses of the age. The Wardwell Manufacturing Company was organized in 1874, with a subscribed capital of $1,000,000, and a Avorking capital of $200,000. The officers are : George W. Shaw, President; James H. Forbes, Vice-President; Joseph W. Baeppler, Secretary, and Hugh Menown, Treasurer ; and the office of the company is at No. 915 North Fourth Street. The manufacturing is done at the Colt Armory, at Hartford, Connecticut. The Wardwell was exhibited at the Centennial before being put on sale, and was the only sewing machine awarded a diploma for pure merit, novelty, finish and ingenuity, and wherever exhibited its vast superiority is at once acknowl- edged. 256 TOUR OF ST. LOUIS. M. M. BUCK & CO.— Kailway Supplies. St. Louis is now recognized as one of the few great rail- road centers of America, stretching out her brawny iron arms in every direction, and grasping the commerce of every State in the Union. Her development under the impetus given by the construction of new roads has been very rapid and so im- jjortant that the active agents in our railroad factorship arc entitled to recognition in this work, Avhich purposes the per- petuation of our laudable enterprises and institutions. Among the number selected as representatives of the rail- roading industry of St. Louis, there is no firm occupying a more conspicuous position than that of M. M. Buck & Co. This house was established by M. M. Buck in 18.59, at No. 54 Vine Street. Mr. Buck was, at the time of his embarkation into the business, less than twenty years of age, and his total cash capital was two hundred dollars ; and besides this humble and disadvantageous beginning, there were only six railroads enter- ins; St. Louis. But Mr. Buck had the abilitv to mould circum- stances into desirable ends and even utilize obstacles. After doing business at his original house for three years, Mr. Buck removed to a building on Vine, between Main and Second streets, where he remained until 1869, when he again removed, selecting his present quarters, at No. 209 North Third Street. The building is fifty feet in width, by one hundred and fifty feet in length, and is six stories in height. Every foot of space is utilized, besides a large warehouse in the rear for storing the immense stock of spikes, wire-rope, boiler tubes, etc., carried constantly by the house. The firm carries a stock of two hundred thousand dollars, comprising every conceivable article used in the construction and operation of railroads, such as steamboat, telegraph, machinists' and contractors' supplies, and also includes track material, shop, locomotive, foundry and depot supplies, and many of their goods, of which they are sole manufacturers under patents, are sold throughout the United States. They now have over one hundred railroads on their patron list, issue a regular monthly price-list, and operate one ot the largest manufactories of railway supplies in the United States : their annual sales are over a million dollars. MANUFACTURING , 257 CURTIS & CO.— Saws and Edge Tools. The cut below represents the iniportant manufactory of Curtis & Co., whose saws are known antl used in every part of America. This house deserves a first phice among our leading manufacturers, because it h:is contributed largely toward makmg St. Louis the great city that she is. Their extensive factory is located on the corner of Ninth and Mon- roe streets, and the office and salesroom is at No, 811 North Second Street, where, in addition to the products of their own factory, the firm deals largely in all kinds of mill and lumbermen's supplies, and have a trade extending from the British possessions to the Gulf coast of Texas, and in fact branches into every State in the Union. A greater portion of their trade, however, comes from the large pine and lumber re- gions, where Curtis & Co.'s saws are in almost exclusive use. The house is under the uumagement of Oscar Bradford, 17 258 TOUR OF ST. LOUIS. who is President of the Company, and a gentleman of the most courteous address and large business experience and adaptability. Dexter S. Crosby has for several years held the responsible position of Secretary of the firm, and is well known throughout the West. Curtis & Co.'s trade is con- stantly extending, and they are the largest manufacturers and dealers in their line of goods in the Mississippi Valley. J. K. CUMMINGS.— St. Louis Glass Works. The St. Louis Glass Works, located on the corner of Broadway and Monroe streets, are an industry in themselves which reflect credit upon the manufacturing interest of the city. The works occupy nearly one entire block, with fur- naces, packing-houses, annealing ovens, fire-clay rooms for making i^ots, store-rooms, offices, and include Nos. 2301 to 2315 Broadway. Mr. J. K. Cummings, the proprietor, purchased the factory in 1860, and has increased the facilities and made of the works a truly great and remunerative institution. The goods manufactured include lamp chimneys, bottles, fruit jars, etc., and the trade supplied by Mr. Cummings extends over the entire West. BEARD & BRO.— Safes. This immense safe manufactory is located at No. 918 North Second Street. The firm of Beard & Bro. make the most perfect safes for durability and proof against fire and thieves to be found in any market. The patents that have been awarded them reflect credit upon their advanced ideas. Their safes have an immense sale, and have been subjected to every test calculated to prove their worth, all of which they have withstood to the satisfaction of the public. Their screw-door burglar-proof safe received the highest award at the Centennial Exhibition, for security against burglars. It is powder and wedge proof. MANUFxVCTURING . 259 DEERE, MANSUR & CO. — Manufacturers and Jobbers OF Farm Machinery. This house, which is a bninch of the great plow works of Deere & Co., Moline, Illinois, started at Kansas City about ten years ago, and six years later opened a house at St. Louis, to more thoroughly care for its large and growing Texas and Southern trade. With the year 1878 the plow works of Deere & Company entered upon the thirty-first year of its existence ; its founder JOHN DEEUE, The Pioneer in Western Plow Mannfactuies, and Founder of the Largest Steel Plow Factory in the World. havins: removed to Moline in the vear 1847 from Grand Detour, 111., where he had been making steel plows the previous ten years, and the name of John Deere is therefore associated in the minds of the earliest settlers of the Western States with the first steel plows ever made. The settlement of the Northwestern Territory — now con- stituting the Western States — at that early date had just com- menced ; and their marvelous growth in wealth and population 260 TOUR OF ST. LOUIS. is but a fair index to the growth of these works ; and though its founder doubtless expected a large degree of success to result from well-directed energy and skill, yet he could not have anticipated that it was destined to become what it now is, the largest plow manufactory in the world — employing six hun- dred men, aided by machinery to perfect and cheapen the production, and render every part uniform. These works have a capacity for turning out five hundred finished steel plows, sulkies, gangs and cultivators every day, using three thousand five hundred tons of steel and iron annually. The sale of such an immense number of plows is not only an indication of the wide extent of prairie country DEERE & CO.'S MOLINE PLOW WORKS. in which steel plows are exclusively used, but, with the lively competition which prevails in these times in every market, it is also a sure indication of the largest measure of merit. While manufacturers generally, and all departments of industry in the East and the Old World are suffering the greatest depression and distress known for thirty years, the Western farmers can be congratulated upon more than an aver- age measure of prosperity. All products of the soil find a ready market at fair prices, while the many failui'es among merchants and manufacturers too surely indicate that other branches of industry are unremunerative. Farmers in this country are provided with nnplements of MANUFACTURING. 261 economic husbandry of higher merit than is known in any other land, enabling them to compete in all the markets of the world with ftirm products of cheaper labor — a result pro- duced by the ingenuity of American mechanics united with the enterprise and intelligent industry of American fai'mers. The latest invention, and a wonderful success, is the "Gil- pin" Sulky Plow, one of the specialties of Deere, Mansur & Co.'s immense stock. A sale of three thousand in the first year after its introduction and the unbounded satisfaction they have given to every fjirmer using them — and this in view of the fact that many other makes of sulkies had been on the market three to six years previously — is ample proof of the authority of our claim to the best sulky plow in existence. The manufactures of this concern comprise all styles of steel plows for old and new ground, wood and iron beam ; also, walking and riding cultivators, harrows, etc., etc. Deere, Mansur & Co., at St. Louis and Kansas City, are fjeneral agrents for the leading: manufacturers of threshers, drills, rakes, farm wagons, spring wagons, corn planters, engines, etc., and do a large trade in all these classes of goods. The Manager of the St. Louis house is Mr. A. Mansur, a a gentleman of large experience in the implement business and well known to the Western merchants. 2(52 TOUR OK ST. J.OUIS. 8r. L0U18 TYPE FOUNDRY. Ill tho dovclopmcnt of luimanity, imd in ilio elevating of the jTciK'nil niasycs of the liimiau race fi-oni a sst at o of iiruoninco and brutality to one of enlightened reason, progress andfreedoni, no factor has exerted a more powerful intluenee than the printers' type. Ininoi'tant as this little factor is, and must ever con- tinue to be, in the furtherance of great and noble purposes and uses, few persons, even anu)ng those who use them for their own livelihood, have ever witnessed or understood the process of its manufacture. A brief history of the establishment and operation of the St. Louis Typo Foundry, one of tho leading institutions of the kind in America, must prove both inti>rcstiug and instruc- tive. This concern was establislunl in IStO, and from a small MANUFACTURING. 263 boginiiinGf has grown to its present proportions, requiring two buildings ou the north side ot" Pine Street and two upper Moors of a warehouse on Second Street. Here are manufactured the type, rules, cases, leads, cuts, hand presses and all the various kinds of materials and machinery used in a printing office. The castin t'onntrv,an(l tlu' facilities for transportation which will ena- ble her in the near fnturc to becomethcgreat granary of the Mississippi Val- ley, are niorc> particularly ad- verted to in an- otherpartof this work. The means provided hi this city for thehandlingand shipi)ingof grain in bulk, are al- ready vast in magnitude, and are well worthy of more minute description than can be readily afforded . Among the nu- merous and well sustiiined estab- lishments where grain is recei\- ed, stored, gra- ded anil prepar- ed for shipment 270 TOUE OF ST. LOUIS. by boat or rail to distant points, no one ranks higher in all the essential requisites for the carrymg on of such business, than the Advance Elevator. This elevator, with its capacious warehouses, is located between the termini of the Chicago, Alton and St. Louis, and the Ohio and Mississippi railroads, and has direct connection with the other railways centering in East St. Louis, as well as with the bridge and ferry landings. By means of a hopper-bottom car, grain can be delivered from the Advance to barges as rapidly and in as satisfactory a manner as from the elevators located on the river bank. The warehouses — one adjoining the elevator and the other located on the river — have a storage capacity of 50,000 barrels of flour, or other bulk freight in proportion, ajid this vast room is usually fully occupied, which indicates the immense volume of business transacted through this elevator. Special attention is paid to forwarding flour, hay, and other freight which must pass through and bieak bulk in East St. Louis. The distinctive feature of the *' Advance" is its * 'steam shovels," no other elevator here using this appliance. By means of this most ingenious contrivance, cars can be unloaded in an almost incredibly short space of time. Shippers gener- ally, and especially those in Illinois, W'ho consign to the St. Louis market, would do well to note the comparative prices paid for grain in the "Advance" and in the other elevators. The fact that the railroads which carry out a very large part of the grain, can be reached from this elevator without "switch- ing charges" or other cost to the shipper, except storage, makes grain stored in the "Advance" worth a premium. The strictest attention is paid to the question of weights. The scales are examined monthly, and sometimes oftener, by Fairbanks' agent. The weighman performs no other duties in the eleva- tor, and the greatest care is taken that every one receives just and accurate measure. The proprietor of the Advance Eleva- tor, Mr. E. S. McCormick, has his principal office in room No. 104 in the St. Louis Chamber of Commerce Building. GRAIN ELEVATORS. 271 ST. LOUIS GRAIN ELEVATOR. Of the numerous industries which go to make up a great city like St. Louis none are of more importance than its grain elevators ; for it is these agents that bring to our market the products of the great West for distribution over the continent. The largest elevator, perhaps, west of New York, is the St. Louis Elevator, which is located on the west bank of the river, with switches leading to the tracks of all our railroads. It combines not only all the improvements of our best elevators, but also, several extra facilities designed and patented by its President, John Jackson, Esq. The capacity of the elevator is one million five hundred thousand bushels of grain, with facilities for loading forty thousand bushels into a barge per hour, and for loading and unloading four hundred cars in twelve hours ; the most exiJeditious handlmg of grain ever devised by any elevator in the world. The President of the elevator, John Jackson, Esq., is one of the comparatively few thoroughly enterprising men of this country — we say this country because his energy and means have been devoted, not only to the liberal improvement of St. Louis, but for national purposes also. He was one of the first men to assist Capt. Eads financially in the building of the jetties, and gave abundantly of his means towards the con- struction of the great bridge. He holds numerous positions in lar2:e interests, and his capacity seems unlimited, as his energy is fairly boundless. The greater portion of his time. 272 TOUR OF ST. LOUTS. however, is devoted to the elevator, A^^hich he has brought to a state of absohite perfection. Capt. D. P. Slattery, the Secretary and Superintendent, is a gentleman of the greatest worth and fidelity, having for the past eleven years been one of the ruling spirits in the manage- ment of the elevator, and in all his relations has proven him- self able, industrious and thoroughly honest, and he is now regarded as an indispensable adjunct of the institution. Thus officered and so perfectly arranged the St. Louis Elevator plays a leading part in the commercial destiny of the Mississippi Valley. CENTRAL ELEVATOR. The great grain elevators of St. Louis constitute the nu- cleus around which gather our resources, and are the most potent factors in the advancement of our wealth and import- ance as a commercial entrepot. Year by 3^ear their influence becomes better appreciated, and, as the seasons pass, their capacity grows in sympathy with the increased cereal product of the great West. Here, ujion « fJRAIN KLKVATOUS. 273 the grand water highway to the sea, the grain elevators of St. Louis gather the crops of the new empire and distribute them again into the granaries of the p:a.stcni hemisphere, heralding abroad our wealth, grandeur and importance in the process by which the world is fed. Among the elevators in the Mississippi Valley there is none of greater consequence to St. Louis than the Central . This establishment comprises two distinct elevators, known as " A " and " B," one being located at the foot of Chouteau Avenue, the other near the Union Depot, and an immense warehouse at the corner of Fifth and Chouteau Avenue, the combined capacity of which is one million three hundred thousand bushels. The main elevator, letter "A," was built in 1873, and is one of the most perfect buildings of the kind in America. It has a capacity for eight hundred thousand bushels, and being located near the depot, with railroad tracks running through it, the advantage in handling grain is apparent. In addition to these natural facilities the elevator is provided with grade and special bins and reversible spouts, a recent invention for loading cars on the track. Elevator " B " is equally well arranged for handling grain from and loading boats an^ barges, and has a capacity for three hundred thousand bushels. Both the elevators and warehouse are connected by telephone, so that the workings of each are directed from the main office, adjoining elevator "A." The officers of the Central Elevator Company are N. G. Lariraore, President; Web. M. Samuels, Vice-President, and J. W. Larimore, Secretary and Treasurer, and the operating capital is two hundred thousand dollars. The central location of the elevators owned by the company, and the superior facilities with which they are supplied, has not only largely benefited the proprietors, but St. Louis as well ; and witlUhe completion of the jetties, the receipts of grain by St. Louis dealers, at the present rate of increase, will soon exceed that of any other city in America, a consummation long looked forward to with impatient zeal, but undeviating confidence. 18 BREWERIES. 275 WM. J. LEMP'S WESTERN BREWEEY. The brewery interest is now one of the leading industries of America, and although it belongs primarily tc^ Europe, it has attained a point of excellence incomparably greater in this than any other country. We read with delightful anticipation of the old burgomaster's pleasure over his mug of newly brewed beer, and imagine his jolly, rubicund countl?nance ges- ticulating the happy stories which the exhilarating beverage inspires ; but compared with the Holland and Germany produ'ct the beer of America is nectarine and inspirational. The reason of this is found in the fact that in the beer-drinking districts of Europe the beverage is sold at such a uniformly low price that it is impossible to make any profit on a good article. In this country, on the contrary, there is a disposition to spend more, and a higher excellence is therefore universally de- manded. The consequence of our connoisseur taste is the adaptation of all the improved methods and most scrupulous care in the manufacture of what is fast becoming the oreat drink of America and the world. Our great breweries are a feature in which a native pride must necessarily manifest itself, not only because of the enor- mous capital invested or the magnificent edifices which stand as enduring monuments of individual enterprise, but because in the proportion people adopt l^eer as a beverage, drunkenness, and the crimes consequent, diminish. The only possible way by Avhich inebriety can be prevented is l^y supplanting the fiery and poisonous liquors with a drink that cheers and ex- hilarates without making men mad, impetuous or drunkards ; and since beer possesses these properties its discovery is sub- serving a most useful purpose, and it must at length prove a great agent in the reformation of mankind. Every large city now has its brewery, and new ones are be- ing constantly erected. In St. Louis we are fortunate in pos- sessing one of the largest and finest breweries in the United States ; and in saying the United States we comprehend a greater portion of the world, for America is essentially the brewery for both hemispheres. Wm. J. Lemp's Western ■ Brewery is known by reputation in every civilized section of 276 TOUR OF ST. LOUIS. the globe, and his celebrated beer has gained an international IDopularity of the most universal character. The foundation of this representative of one of our great industries was laid in 1840 by Adam Lemp, the father of Wm. J. Lemp, the pioneer brewer of St. Louis. His institution was very small and calculated only to supply the retail demand. It was located on Second Street, between Walnut and Elm, and had a capacity for one hundred barrels per year. Being an experienced brewer, having obtained his knowledge of the business before leaving the Fatherland, he made an excellent article considering the imperfect machinery in use at that time. His facilities were gradually increased, and a storehouse be- came necessary, which he shortly afterwards secured by the discovery of a natural cave under Wm. J. Lemp's present brewery, corner of Second Carondelet Avenue and Cherokee Street, a locality which was little else than a wilderness at the date of its first occupancy. The business progressed gradu- ally with no very important changes until August 25, 1862^ when Mr. Lemp died, and the brewery descended to his son, Wm. J., who, though a young man, assumed the responsibilitj^ ' and entered upon his duties with an enterprising and liberal spirit which rapidly developed the business. He exhibited an energy that soon established a trade so large that the capacity of his brewery was unequal to the demand, and in 1864 he re- located the brewery where it now stands. Since that date every year has seen an extension of his trade and the erection of new buildings, the introduction of new improvements, and the extension of facilities, until now Wm. J. Lemp's Western Brewery is not only the largest and finest in St. Louis, but one of the most capacious in the world. The buildings are of the most substantial character, and under the brewery, extend- ing to a depth of fifty feet, are twenty-five immense cellars, wilh a storage capacity for fifty thousand barrels. The build- ings are compactly built and cover nearly two entire squares, in'addition to which there are four ice-houses on the Levee, each of which has a capacity for five thousand tons, and built so as to receive the cargoes of Mr. Lemp's ice barges in the most expeditious manner. The brewery is kept running night and day, from one year to BREWERIES. 277 another, producing annually over one hundred thousand barrels of beer, and yet the demand so far exceeds the capacity of the brewery to supply that further large additions are necessary and will be made before the year expires. The business trans- acted by Wm. J. Lemp is nearly one million five hundred thousand dollars each year, and yet his system is such that he knows where every dollar of this vast sum is placed and every barrel of his beer is used. His office at the brewery has tele- graph connections with all parts of the world, and the ship- ments of his product are made in his own refrigerator cars, one hundred and twenty-five in number. During the last year Mr. Lemp has added a bottling de- partment to his brewery, with a capacity for putting up twelve thousand bottles daily, which will soon be increased to one hun- dred thousand daily, as the demand for his bottled beer, coming from all parts of the world, is enlarging so rapidly that it is impossible now to till the orders. Lemp's beer is now sold regularly in all the ports of South America, in Calcutta, Yoko- hama, Yeddo, Hawaii, Shanghai, Sidney and Melbourne, Aus- tralia, the West Indies, and the large cities of America, while large quantities are sent to London, Paris, Berlin and other European cities. No brewery in the world produces a finer and more delicious beer than Lemp's, and its superiority has been repeatedly acknowledged by awards at all the State fairs held in the Union and at the Centennial Exhibition. The unparalleled success of the Western Brewery is due en- tirely to the rare business intelligence of Mr. Lemp, who, as- suming the responsibility of a small concern when young in years, has developed and expanded a trade distinctively his own, until now he is the largest brewer in the West, with a purpose, sure of attainment, of being the largest and most successful brewer in America; already Lemp's brewery is the largest manufactory of any character under a single pro- prietor west of New York. BREWERIES. 279 THE E. ANHEUSER CO.'S BREWING ASSOCIATION. The present age is indeed a busy and progressive one, with competition in all lines of business so energetic as to aptly illustrate the slightly moditicd adage, "Eternal perse- verance is the price of success." Especially true is the sayino- when applied to the West, Avhere strict adherence to purpose and the exercise of brain and muscle are the sole reliances, as contradistinguished from the East, Avhere lineage is made the chief corner-stone of success. The Western business man never lays down the heated iron to moralize upon accomplished facts, but strikes the blows and then allows the facts to speak for themselves. While the general public is crying and bewailing the strmgency of the times, the energetic portion of the community is busily engaged, the evidences of live investments and encroaching prosperity being noticeable on every side. But thus is the world divided ; the idle are complaining, while the industrious are rushed fairly day and night to supply the demand for the products of their labor. An increase of facilities is the true index of prosperity, and this proposition being self-evident, the success of the E. Anheuser Company's Brewing Association, measured by their recent large improve- ments, is so signal as to make that institution Avorthy of pub- lic recognition. From an humble beginning a few years ago, this now colossal institution has spread its commercial fingers and grasped a territory of trade whose limits are described only by the expanse of oceans and the confines of continents. From a small building it has expanded its works until they now ()ccni)y seven acres of ground, bounded by Pcstalozzi, Arsenal, Eighth and Ninth streets, and include ten immense buildings of an imposing appearance, each of which is crowded to its full capacity. The business of the Anheuser Brewery has increased so rapidly that a force of men is almost constantly engaged erecting new additions, and yet the orders, coming in from all parts of the glo])e in continuous flow, are always in excess of the ability of the brewery to supply. Among the new 280 TOUK OF ST. Lours. structures cora[)leted on the first of January last arc the refrigerating beer vault, a new bottling house, and the office, three buildings, which are substantial ornaments to the city. The beer vault is constructed after a new design, and is an illustration of the originality of the proprietors. It is built of solid masonry and brick, the walls being thirty inches in thickness. It is two stories in height, each story being twenty feet in the clear. The first floor is laid with heavy granite flag-stones, and contains the fermenting tubs, and two tiers of lager beer casks, one of sixty and the other of forty casks, each cask having a capacity for sixty barrels. The second floor is of iron, on which an immense quantity of ice is packed, from which draughts of air constantly descend through con- duits in the walls to the first floor, by which the contents of the huge casks are kept at a uniformly very low temperature. The new bottling house is a building about two hundred feet long and thirty broad, provided with apparatus for putting up one hundred thousand bottles of beer daily, being th(^ largest capa(uty of any bottling establishment in the world. And yet enormous as this amount is, the demand far exceeds the supply, and another bottling-house the same size will be built this year. The office is one of the finest and most tastefully appointed of any in the city, and bears the characteristics of the presi- dent's office of a large bank. It is Gothic in the exterior, with small Doric sky-lights and modern windows, and antique decorations. The floor .is of tessellated marble, and the furniture is of the most exquisite workmanship, and elegantly veneered. The private office of Mr. Adolphus Busch, the Secretary and Manager of the Association, is simply sump- tuous, with its beautifully designed and immaculate marble mantel, Axminster carpets, ornamented French plate glass, luxurious chairs, elegant paintings, etc. In addition to its handsome appointment, the office is provided with every pos- sible convenience, including a large iron vault for valuables, lavatories, toilet rooms, etc., with an arrangement for expe- diting business unsurpassed. The E. Anheuser Association was the first corporation in America to inaugurate the business of bottling beer for export, BREWERIES. 281 and ill this special line their success has been so distinguished as to excite the most dishonor!il)lc competition, viz: the attempted imitation of its trade-marks by o[)p()sing brewing companies in other cities. The Anheuser bottled beer is now found among every civilized nation, inchiding the most fash- ionable cafes of the world. Wherever used it has won its way to favor and preference against the beer product of all other breweries, and has insinuated its cheering properties into the African of (^a})e (Colony, the Mongolian of Hong Kong and Siianghai, the Hindoos of Calcutta, the Malays of Singa- |)ore, the fJapanese of Yeddo, the Sandwich Islanders of IlaAvaii, and even »Iohn Bull in his own historic club-houses has snuffed its delicious aroma, whik^ the dignitaries have been unable to withstand its delectable flavor, which is particularly requisite in th(! drafting of diplomatic Anglo-Russian nego- tiations. The ramifications and magnitude of the business of this Association are almost inconceivably great. Refusing to restrict itself to the ordinary transportation facilities offered by railroads, the Association built and is now running one hundred and ten of its own refrigerating cars over the different roads, and has constructed its own side tracks on the Iron Mountain Railroad to expedite its business. It en)i)loys ten expert clerks in the main otiice, and nearly three hundred men in the manufacture of the ins[)iriting beverage. The invest- ment of the Association approximates one million dollars, and its sales of beer about the same amount amiually, tiie sales of bottled beer alone last year reaching the enormous sum of eight hundred thousand dollars. At the })resent ratio of mcrease, the indications point strongly towards Anheuser's being the largest brewery in the world in the next five years. In further proof of the cosmopolitan favoritism of the Anheuser beer, the fact is stated that they have open accounts with and make regular shipments to parties in Melbourne and Sidney, Australia, V^ali)araiso, Rio (irand del Sul, Rio Janerio, Bahia, and various cities in Peru, United States of Colombia and Brazil, in fact extending over thc^ whole of South America, Mexico and tlu; West Indies, and wherever the beer has been sold its superiority has been proven by the constant increase 282 TOUR OF ST. LOUIS. of orders. Its high favor with our own people is demon- strated by the numerous awards it has received at the State fairs of the Union and tlie Centennial exhibition. In the notice of the Association, no particular mention has been made of its immense ice houses, coopering shof^s, malt houses, store-rooms, shipping departments, engine houses, coal bins, etc., etc., as our province is chiefly to show up St. Louisas she stands in a business relation to the outside Vv^orld. Mr. Busch, Avho is the representative head of the Anheuser Brewing Company, is a comparatively young man and a gentleman of the most affiible disposition, but his ability as a business man ranks as high as that of any in St. Louis. He not only thoroughly understands the brewing business, but also combines a practical and original knowledge which, in its utility, places him in the advance of his competitors, and makes them his imitators. He has entire control of the brewery, directs its business, makes all the contracts, handles its funds and carries all its responsibilities on his own shoulders. The success of his management is best told and illustrated in the former descriptive part of this article, which ranks him amonor the best commercial men of the West. THE AMERICAN WINE COMPANY. In the war waged by the great temperance crusaders against the use of alcoholic liquors, wine needs no defence. Nay, blessed syrup of the luscious grape, sweet nectar of the gods, the argument is in the beauty of thy bead and delightful influence of thy sovereignty. The mightiest and most sublime products of the pen were inspired by thy mellifluous grace and subtle invocation ; by thy aid man's power has become un- abridged, and cities have risen to empires under thy delecta- ble enthusiasm. Delicious auxiliary of all pleasure ; song creator, beauty's best adornment, thy defence is in the sweet perfection of thy invigorating efiects. WINES. 283 Wine has, from the earliest record of antiquity, formed no small part of the world's commerce, and its use was general among all the highest races of civilization. The poets, law- 'givers, orators, painters, novelists and historians are all de- scended from a wine-drinking people, while on the other hand the nomads of the South, the savages of the East, and untu- tored warriors of the North lived in barbarism, without civili- zation, without happiness, and without wine. ^IL^^LIW^ The manufacture of this most delightful of all drinks is of recent date in Missouri, the first distillation being about 1850. As early as 1853 the Missouri Wine Company was manufac- turing what was then considered a good quality of wine, but as compared with Cook's Imperial of to-day was a very poor beverage. In 1859 the American Wine Company was established in this city, and it is to that corporation the State is indebted for the development of one of its now most import- ant industries — the demonstration of the adaptability of the soil of the State for the jiroduction of the best vintage on the continent. The American Wine Company is an organization of large capital, with facilities for manufacturing more than five hun- dred thousand bottles annually, and their product finds ready sales, a larger part being consumed by New York, where Cook's Imperial has the best reputation of any wines sold in that market. At the Paris Exhibition of 1867 this company's champagne received honorable mention in competition with all 284 TOUR OF ST. LOUIS. the French wines, and a diploma was sent them for fine flavor. The American committee were so surprised at the excellence of Cook's wines that they confessed to a higher estimation of the possibilities and attainments of American wines. Ship- ments of Missouri wines are now frequently sent to Germany, where they are regarded with special favor by the best German judges, with a constantly increasing popularity. The office of the American Wine Company is at No. 119 Olive Street, but the cellars, where the immense product of the concern is stored, are on the corner of Cass and Garrison avenues. These cellars are three stories in depth, cover nearly one block of ground, and employ sixty men. The cap- ital in active use by the company is nearly two millions of dollars, the establishment being the largest of the kind in this country. To speak of the American Wine Company without men- tioning Isaac Cook, the President, would be like exalting Avine that had lost its flavor. Mr. Cook was the organizer of the company, and has remained its active president ever since. Being a man thoroughly imbued with the importance of the interests he represents, and with a purpose to bring his wines to the very acme of popularity, he has relied upon the purity of the vintage, and ever refused to use the slightest deleterious ingredient. He makes his wines in the glass, by the same process used in- the champagne districts of Europe, and its great purity has made it preferable to European wines, even in the wine districts of France, Germany, Spain, and other countries. Cook's Imperial has a reputation co-extensive with the nation, and wherever drunk it sows seeds of preference, which bear fruit in great popularity and exclusive use. LIQUORS. 285 WOOD & LEE. — Wholesale Liquors. In writing of a new firm little can be said except in the for- mation of a judgment, based upon the previous business relation of the partners, concerning the success of their undertaking, and having a knowledge of their worthiness, commend them to the favor of the public. The partnership of Joel Wood and W. H. Lee was consum- mated under the lirm name of Wood & Lee, on the first of May, the present year — 1878 — and established at No. 218 Walnut Street. While the partnership is a new one, the part- ners are old in the business they have re-engaged in, viz : dis- tillers, rectifiers and wholesale liquor dealers. Both were former employees of Samuel McCartney & Co., and since the year 1874 members of the firm of Tyra Hill & Co., to whom they are successors. It is important that the public should be informed of the fact that notwithstanding the comprehensive scope of the great whisky ring, which included nearly every distiller in St. Louis, the firm of Tyra Hill & Co. continued doing a legitimate business, and refused most positively to enter the unlawful combination, although it was impossible for a "straight" dealer to continue business without losing money. When their distillery was examined by the government officials the members of the firm were credited for their honesty, and the report of the inspection was most flattering to the firm. Messrs. Wood & Lee have a very large business which they retain from the old firm, and it is their determination to win the most honorable reputation that can be achieved. They have already the credit of turning out the purest liquors of any house in St. Louis, and their aim will be directed towards a position honorably in advance of all competition. Their new place of business has been fitted up with every appliance to facilitate transactions, and their office is one of the neatest and most convenient in the city. The firm of Wood & Lee re-embark in business under the most favorable auspices, and, having already won a most envia- ble reputation for honorable dealing, success will undoubtedly attend them. 286 TOUR OF ST. LOUIS. DAVID NICHOLSON. — Importer of and Dealer in Teas, AVixj':s, and Liquors. One of the earliest pioneers in the grocery trade of St. Louis is D;ivid Nicholson, Avho established his business here in 1843, when our city had a population of only thirty-four thou- sand souls. Mr. Nicholson started out in life with modest pre- tensions and small capital, but by the applicati(ui of strict and conscientious principles he has built up a grocery business of a cosmopolitan and national character. For nearly thirty 3^ears Mr. Nicholson has been acknowledged the largest im- porter of foreign merchandise and of his line of goods in St. Louis, and yet he draws regularly upon the productions of nearly every State in the Union. Aside of the fact that the stock carried by Mr. Nicholson is the most complete that can be found west of New York, his special pride centers in the character of the o-oods he handles. In this a2:e of unscru- pulous counterfeiting and injurious preparations and adultera- tion the imposition practiced on the public, both in the quality and short weight of the articles sold, is almost past belief. In this connection it is but justice to state that Mr. Nicholson has never, under any circumstances, given countenance to such frauds in the trade, but at the risk of being called high-priced he has obstinately refused to handle any goods SALT. 287 except the strictly genuine, and, in consequence of the adop- tion of such a well-advised policy, he has a reputation that has secured for him the best trade, not only of St. Louis, l:)ut that of an immense section of country tributar}^ to our city. Mr. Nicholson's is acknowledged as headquarters by the trade for the finest brands of foreign champagnes, foreign fancy groceries, etc., and he is also the sole agent for the city for the E. Anheuser Brewing Association's Bottled Beer, and is rapidly developing an immense trade for this delicious bever- age, in addition to which he deals largely in the finest wines and liquors, both foreign and domestic. G. L. JOY & CO. — Foreign and Domestic Salt. The salt trade of St. Louis has grown rapidly during the last ten years, until now she has become one of the great salt distributins: cities of America. Not that she is in the midst of large salt mines or specially situated to handle the salt product, but because she is the focal center of the West and has citizens with the enterprise to grasp the necessities of the new empire. In 1865, G. L.Joy, now one of our wealthiest and most prominent citizens, came to St. Louis as a representative of the Ohio River Salt Company. He introduced their salt so successfully that in a short time it superseded all others, and gained a reputation co-extensive with the West. Mr. Joy continued his connection with the company until 1873, when he established an independent house, the ofiice of which is at No. 122 Olive Street, and subsequently took in as a partner Mr. D. H. Chapman, under the firm name of G. L. Joy & Co., by which it is still known. The house thus organized has grown until it is now one of the largest dealing in this specialty in this country. Mr. Joy and John Jackson, Esq., labored together zealously for the 288 TOUK OF ST. LOUIS. construction of a salt elevator, which was at length built by the St. Louis Salt Warehouse Company, in Avhich Mr. Joy is a large stockholder, and is an important adjunct to St. Louis commerce. The elevator is situated on the levee at the foot of Bremen Avenue, with branch tracks of the St. Louis, Kan- sas City & Northern Railroad running through it, and has all the auxiliaries for loading and unloading barges, with a capacity for one hundred and sixty thousand barrels. It has five floors and two steam elevators, one for bulk and the other for barrel salt, and is jointly occupied by G. L. Joy & Co. and H. Rogers & Co., storage charges being paid by each ac- cording to the amount of salt handled. The firm of G. L. Joy & Co. deal in all barrel and bulk salt of the Ohio River Company, and handle Michigan and New York. Among the foreign salts the firm deals largely in, are the English, Turk's Island and Ground Alum brands, and they supply nearly all the packers in the South and Southwest. The house has also a warehouse at No. 218 Spruce Street, where a large supply is kept for the city trade, while from the elevator no shipments are made except in cargo lots. Their sales include annually three hundred thousand barrels of the Ohio River product, besides an immense amount of foreign and lake salt. Mr. Joy is a gentleman of liberal ideas and large means, and he has devoted his best endeavors to the interest of St. Louis, in which his labors have been so valuable as to entitle him to the distinguished consideration of every citizen inter- ested in the city's development. GAFF, FLEISCHMANN & CO.— Compressed Yeast. One of the great articles of the day, that has accomplished a revolution in the manufacture of the most staple of house- hold necessaries — bread — is Gaff", Fleischmann & Co.'s com- pressed yeast. It is a pleasure to herald a triumph in domestic art so unequivocal, so pronounced and general in its compre88p:d yeast. 289 beneficent operation and influence. For ages one of the sore distresses of every people was that su[)erinduced by unpahita- ble and unwholesome bread. By the methods now employed, and the use of this most celebrated of all compressed yeasts, the manufactui-e of bread has spread into other channels, and the staff of life changed from a soggy, nauseous, and indigest- ible arti(^le to tiie most delightful, healthy, nutritious and delicious delicacy. The points of precedence and superiority of this prime adjunct to our table pleasures may be briefly summed up as follows : The Gaff, Fleischmann & Co.'s compressed yeast is as near perfection as can be attained. It is the ])roduct of nature, being manufactured from ex- tracts of the most carefully selected grains. Owing to its purity and remarkable qualities, the efficiency of the work it performs, and the ra[)idity with which, by its simplicity, it enables the operator to prepare the best bread, it at once becomes the favorite in every household. By its use better and more healthful l)read can be made from third- grade flour in two hours than from first-grade flour by the old method or other yeast, which requires from ten to fifteen hours. This desirable result of economy in time, labor and care, is not effected by the use of any deleterious ingredient, so often found in other yeasts, but is owing entirely to its purity and the scientific principles of its manufacture. Lastly, this is the only yeast that is supplied fresh daily to grocers. The general agent for this superior yeast in St. Louis is Mr. C. C. Leathers, whose establishment at No. 809 Wash- ington Avenue is the center of a large and rapidly increasing trade. Mr. Leathers has every arrangement perfected for supplying the trade daily with fresh yeast. Orders from out- side are filled by express. The trade will find Mr. Leathers in every way (qualified in enterprise, energy, liberality and business sagacity to advance the important interest under his manairement . 19 290 TOUR OF ST. LOUIS. DOZIER, WEYL & CO.— Bread, Crackers and Jumbles . While St. Louis is the receiving and distributing center of the grain products of the West, she is also the great manu- facturing city, musical with the hum of her immense mills and steams bakeries, in the conversion of the rich cereals of the Rocky Mountain empire into the finest bread, most palatable crackers and delicious confections, with which to feed the nation. The truly representative bakery of St. Louis, and, indeed, the Mississippi Valley, is that of Dozier, Weyl & Co., whose immense factory is located on the corner of Pine and Sixth streets, occupying one-quarter of the block. Their business was established as early as 1848, in the same building they now occupy, but several very important additions have been made in the necessary process of enlargement, taking in one large three- story building forty feet wide by one hundred and thirty feet in depth. Besides the addition of buildings, the firm has put in four large revolving reel-ovens and other important adjuncts, until the bakery employs a small army of expert bakers, and has a capacity for turning out fifteen hundred barrels of crackers daily. A very important adjunct to the immense BAKERIES. 291 cracker business of Dozier, Weyl & Co. is their extensive manufacture of bread, pies, cakes, jumbles, etc., on which their reputation is unequuled. In tlie month of May last, the firm purchased at a very large cost, one of Holmes' Soft Cake and Jumble Machines, with the exclusive right to the State of Missouri. With these machines they are enabled to manufacture the most delicious cakes and jumbles ever made ; such as cocoanut, honey, butter, sugar, chocolate, spice, prize jumbles, etc. ; chocolate cakes, honey cakes, gem cakes, banana fingers, cocoanut drops, cocoanut, French and almond macaroons, and a hundred other confections and rich condiments never before ofl'ered to the Western trade. They retail at from ten cents per dozen to twenty cents per pound, and are incomparable for the use of families, picnics, and excursions. The introduction of this new machine is but another illustration of the enterprize and vigor which has characterized the firm since its organization, and evidences the determination of the proprietors to place themselves in the van of all competition in America. Dozier, Weyl & Co. have a retail department in connection with their factory, the trade of which is double that of any other retail bakery in the West, and the reputation of their product is such that thousands of families in the city rely upon the firm entirely for fine cakes, bread, etc. In the wholesale business their trade extends from St. Paul to the* Gulf, and from Indiana to the Pacific coast. The proprietors, consisting of James Dozier and his two sons, L. D. and J. T. Dozier, and A. Weyl, are all eminently practical in their business, and have made a large success out of a small beginning. The sales of the house now a^irreo-ate five hundred thousand dollars annually, and at the present rate of increase will reach one million dollars annually before the next two years. 292 TOUR OF ST. LOUIS. JOSEPH GARNEAU.— Crackers. Among the earliest of the living pioneers of St. Louis, who have made our commerce and great wealth, is Joseph Garneau, a name familiar throughout the North, South and West. His advent into commercial life was made in 1832, in a most unpretentious and indeed humble beginning, first occu- pying the old house which still stands on the corner of the alley on Vine, between Second and Third streets. How many memories must cluster round the ancient, crumbling structure in which Mr. Garneau laid the foundation for his wealth and present trade. It was here that he baked the first cracker and loaf of bread for himself, but by supplying a want then fully realized, he prospered in business, and from year to year enlarged his facilities to meet his rapidly growing trade. Mr. Garneau made several moves, each time into more capacious quarters, until at length in 1847 he built an immense factory at the corner of Seventeenth and Morgan streets, providing it with every auxiliary for turning out crackers in sufficient quantities to supply the largest prospective demand, and making of it one of the great bakeries of the country. The factory, when run to its full capacity, employs one hun- dred and fifty men and consumes five hundred barrels of flour per day. Mr. Garneau manufactures crackers, English bis- cuits, jumbles, etc., such as the soda, oyster and sweet crack- ers, ginger snaps, etc., in which line he has no superior in the United States. The products of his factory find ready sales throughout the North, West and South, and large shipments are now being made to the West Indies. His trade extends as far north as Forts Walsh and MacLeod, south as far as San Antonio, and as far west as New Mexico. Ga-rneau's crackers have a most enviable reputation throughout the country, and have done much toward adver- tising the importance of St. Louis as a manufacturing city. Mr, Garneau is not only one of the oldest citizens, but a public-spirited gentleman, whose pride is no less in the city of 'his adoption than in the business which he has conducted so successfully for the period of forty-two years. He has BAKERIES. 293 associated his sons, Joseph Garneau, Jr., and James W. Gar- neau, with him in the business, and with the example he has given them to follow, they have the brightest prospects for a ijuccessful future. THE VIENNA MODEL BAKERY. There is no establishment in our city that has been the source of more enjoyment or has pandered to a more {esthetic taste than the Vienna Model Bakery. It is peculiarly an institution of excellent taste and refinement, and one which supplied a Avant not understood but long felt. Its first intro- duction into this country was at the Centennial Exi^osition, where it was established at a cost of sixty thousand dollars, and proved a complete success. In fact, its success was so gratifying that the proprietors at once conceived the idea of making it a permanent institution in America, and to this end they built bakeries of the same character in New York, Phila- delphia, Chicago, San Francisco and St. Louis. The Vienna Bakery, as we now know it, was started at No. 22 South Fifth Street, May 5, 1877, and fitted up with an elaboration which made it no less a curiosity than a sub- stantial benefit and pleasant resort. The bread manufactured was so far superior to any ever before made in this country that a large trade was directly developed, which has augmented rapidly and constantly ever since. The Vienna Cafe coffee became no less celebrated than its bread, and aristocratic people gave it such an immense patronage as to encourage the proprietors to remove to more convenient and handsomer quarters. Accordingly, on the 1st of March !^ removal to No. 217 North Fifth Street Avas effected, and the cafe put in a still more elaborate condition. Centrally located as it now is, with a most euAaable reputation among our best citizens, its business has become enormous. All the daily papers are found on the tables of the smoking-room, where gentlemen can partake of 294 TOUR OF ST. LOUIS. the luxury of a partaga, a cup of coffee, and at the same time interest himself with the news of the world. The luncheon or dining-room is most gorgeously furnished with bent-wood fur- niture, the floors handsomely carpeted, the walls hung with beautiful paintings, and the room is fairly filled with rare flowers, which exhale their sweet odors. Henry A. Fleisch- mann, the proprietor and manager, was one of the proprietors of the Centennial Model Bakery, and is a gentleman whom nature qualified for the business. He is polished in his manners and of the most graceful disposition, and to know him is to be- come his patron. He always has a kind word for everybody and the cultivation of his acquaintance is \ery desirable. St. Louis is proud of her Vienna Model Bakery, and manifests her appreciation by substantial recognition. SPEAGUE & BUTLER.— Kestaurateues. One of the greatest blessings, because it appeals to the most appreciative taste and con- sideration of human kind, is a dining place, at which the de- sire of a strong appetite or ween- ing indications of a fastidious stomach may be thoroughly satisfied. Among the numer- ous restaurants of a great city like St. Louis there is a very small percentage of the number that furnishes a meal worthy of the name. These are no longer the days of porridge and stir- about, but the age is one of epicurean taste, when the palates of good livers must be tickled with delicious preparations; when the restaurateur must needs study to please and experiment in the RESTAURANTS. 295 combination of hiscions adjuncts to attract custom and hold his patronage. This fact is no where better illustrated than in the elegant dining-rooms of Messrs. Sprague & Butler, gentlemen whose names are as familiar as the Chamber of Conmierce, and whose restaurants are in the van of all competition. Sprague & Butler established their business as early as 1859, beiug now the oldest restaurant-keepers in St. Louis. They have two dining-rooms, one at Nos. 319 and 321 Olive Street, which is patronized by our wealthiest citizens, and another at No. 7 1 G North Fifth Street, which, while less preten- tious in its table cVhote, is one of the largest dining-halls in the city. Here elegantly furnished rooms may be obtained at a moderate cost, either by the day, Aveek or month, with every possible convenience at hand. During the oyster season their houses have an immense patronage for the succu- lent bivalves, which are served up in the finest styles, and at lower prices than at any other restaurant in the city. At the Olive Street place there is a beautiful parlor, in which noth- ing but oysters are served, and it is here that the skill and ingenuity of cooks and the keen appreciation of the oys- ter-loving public is elaborately demonstrated. Messrs. Sprague & Butler are gentlemen thoroughly con- versant with their lousiness, and their eminent superiority as restaurateurs is best evi- denced by their success. They own their Olive Street build- ing, and have each accumu- lated what many would call a fortune, but yet nothing more than they deserve, for they are competent, enterprising, and energetic gentlemen. 296 TOUR OF ST. LOUIS. MILFORD'S RESTAURANT AND OYSTER HOUSE. Every man's ability is best evidenced by his success ; and upon this just measure of business knowledge Geo. Milford, the great oyster dealer, becomes conspicuous. His history, commercially speaking,, though important, is briefly recited. His earliest acquaintance with the oyster business was made as an employe in 1857, in a position which he held until 1863, when, having carefully husbanded his means, he embarked in the business for himself, doing a wholesale and re- tail trade in a small store, the site of w^hich is now occupied by the new Knapp building. He re- mained there nearly four- teen years, and until his business outgrew the ca- pacity of his old store and forced him into more capacious quarters. In April, 1877, he rented and removed to the Finn building, Nos. 116 and 118 North Third Street,, which he fitted up ele- gantly and Avhere he is still doing business. Hav- ing the necessary room, Mr. Milford added a restaurant, the dining-hall of which is palatial and provided with all the auxiliaries necessary for comfort, attractiveness, and the grati- fication of guests. His patronage is very large, including nearly all the i^rominent members of the Merchants' Exchange and many other wealthy citizens, all of whom are served royally. Popular as he is as a caterer to regular guests, Mr. Mil- ford's great reputation is founded on the oyster business, of which he continues to make a specialty. For the past fifteen years he has stood at the head of oyster dealers in the West, RESTAURANTS. L'97 his favorite brands being found in hundreds of cities, and everywhere regarded with the greatest favor. In this brancli of liis.extensive l)usiness his sales reach one hundred thousand dolhirs annually, and every year the amount is increased. Mr. Milford occupies a high position in commercial circles and bears a reputation for integrity, affability, and thorough com- prehension of his business, which stamps him " a popular success." TONY FAUST'S CAFE AND OYSTER HOUSE. Few people in the West have not heard of Tony Faust's resort, and fewer still of those who come to St. Louis that do not visit his establishment. This noted place is located on the corner of Fifth and Elm streets, immediately in the rear of the Southern Hotel ruins, made conspicuous l)y an immense and ornamental gas lamp, which, when lighted, reflects all tlie primary colors blended beautifully. The interior of the place, comprising three ver}'^ large rooms, is gorgeously tinished 298 TOUR OF ST. LOUIS. with walnut panels and plate-glass mirrors, which image the surroundings in multiplied elegance. It is here the visitor can retire to a private position, which overlooks the attractive features of the room and yet reserves a certain privacy to himself, and enjoy the finest oysters ever introduced into this market; delicate brook trout, the most delicious wines, the excellent Anheuser beer, a fragrant cigar, or any of those palatable and delicious articles which make our appetites so vigorous and unruly. In another department of the building,, up-stairs, there are parlors for ladies and gentlemen, with entrance on Elm Street, which are beautifully furnished, and where those of cultivated tastes can enjoy the rarest edibles in the most perfect manner. Faust's oysters have long been considered the best in the market, and every year only serves to increase his popularity. Faust makes a specialty of jobbing oysters, in which line he is the largest dealer in the West, his oysters going into all the Western States. BESSEHL'S BAZAAR AND CUEIOSITY SHOP. There are few places on the continent, or even in the grand- est cities of France or England, equal in their attractive feat- ures to Bessehl's Picture Gallery, No. 5 North Fifth Street, this city. To describe it faithfully would be like a commentary walk through the great picture bazaars of Europe, and would necessarily occupy a book in itself ; but a cursory glimpse at his valuable collection will be sufficient perhaps to comprehend the scope of a "Tour through St. Louis." Mr. Emil H. Bes- sehl started business here a great many years ago, first occu- pying the first floor of the building now used by the Times Print- ino- Company. When these quarters became too circumscribed for his patronage, he leased his present building and arranged it to accord with public taste, and has made of it a resort, the fame of which has many times crossed the ocean. Since Bes- sehl is supposed to be actuated by no other purpose than to gratify curio.sity and elevate ajsthctic taste and culture, we v/ill bessehl's. 299 avail ourselves of the universally free admission to his gallery and leisurely examine the thousand pictures which hang grace- fully upon the walls. Here to the right of the entrance is an elegant frame, clustered with the faces of all the prominent actors, actresses and lecturers in the world. These portraits are very fine, and present in almost living panorama, the heroes whom the public worship. Moving along the right side the sight is riveted and tickled by the paintings of our local statesmen, each well adapted to his vocation and true to his instincts. Here ijoes Sexton astride of a fire enoine with full steam on, beating Ten Broeck's time, looking out for future rewards and punishments. That triangular gentleman Hydes not his candle under a bushel , but has policy in his vision and bitter things in his quill. The hot-house plant so conspicuous flourishes well in Bain's lappel, and adds much to his native grace. This is Overstolz that sits like Canute by the sea, looking "peace, be still." And here is Bessehl himself, with florid face and burgomaster belt, the Falstaffian character of the panoramic drama ; his face wreathed with that benign, sovereign, plastic exuberance and devotion so sweetly ex- pressive of that classic phrase " zwei lager ;" and so on through the category of our prominent "socialists," each, perhaps, caricatured, and yet truthful to a jDervading and actuating idea. Now we approach another division of the bazaar, picturing life in bas relief; the major, having an eye out for invitations, carelessly holds his cane and well-worn hat in one hand while with the other he gesticulates most gracefully ; his bland smile and inclination of head speak eloquently of his aspirations and longings — he evidently desires to go into liquid-ation. This one is the counterpart of a ministerial genius whom we have' all seen, directing his footsteps towards a hopeful contribution box. Here is the suave man, the politician, the gormandizer, the wine-loving citizen, the unfortunate tramp, etc. The next division includes caricatures on the popular ballads and when this list is concluded we suddenly observe ourselves in reflected immensity, and realize what our appearance would be if we were only fat. At the rear of the room on the left are large steel engravings of the heroes of prose, poetry and song. 300 TOUR OF ST. LOUIS. Suspended from the ceiling are large pieces of canvas deco- rated with extravagant caricatures of public men in the most ludicrous roles. Besides these pictorial attractions there are mechanical curiosities productive of the greatest amusement. Having hastily passed through the avenues of pictured life as seen on the first floor of Bessehl's bazaar, we pass up stairs to casually mspect the collection on the second floor. On the south side of the upper floor is a long cabinet filled with stereop- ticon views of noted places in all parts of the world. The cabinet is so arranged that by stepping upon a small platform which works a wire lever, a full flood of gas-light is turned on the picture, making the vie^r a lovely one. There are twenty- four of these stereopticon views, and they in themselves con- stitute a peep-show well worth seeing ; but these are indeed the least attractive sights in the galler3^ Arranged about the room are several subjects of natural history, including deer, bear, wolves, panthers, catamounts, natives of North America, and in a handsome show-case are many species of wild game peculiar to this climate. The room is little else than a succes- sion of show-cases, filled with entrancing curiosities. In one is a rare collection of minerals and beautiful stones tastefully displayed, showing rough and polished surfaces. But the finest and most attractive feature of the establish- ment is Mr. Bessehl's great caravansary and aggregation of bull frogs. There are, perhaps, two hundred green denizens of the marsh in this collection, and each of them displays the highest skill of the taxidermist's profession. In our childhood we have read with grave delio;ht of the frog who would a woo- ing go — those pleasant images of the brain, bright fancies of a prolific conception, but awaken to matured life to see our beautiful stories verified. This, at least, is the feeling inspired by looking upon the life-like attitudes of the slick, shining forms of these frogs. One of these scenes represents a party of pic-nickers ; three frogs are rowing a boat, three others are angling, one of which has just caught a fine bass, which he is in the act of landing ; another has retired to a shady spot and is distilling nectar through the mouth of a suspicious little flask ; while some distance from the others, in a nook fanned by the gentlest zephyrs, and everything in nature seems to FRUITS. 301 have been gotten up specially for the occasion, is the bactrian swain wooing his fair companion. On her face there is a smile, broad but expressive, that lights up the forest and by its rays the lover pictures his happy fate. In another case there is a party of roughs who are out on a lark and too full of gin and peppermint to keep their legs. The jugs arc all empty and froggish revel is supreme. On another side is a gay party of hunters ; although they carry no game, they handle their guns like crack shots, and presume to make a good bag before returning. In short, there are frogs in every conceivable attitude, and each position is as natural and expressive as though they were human. These details are necessarily cursory, and can not represent the attractions of the place even approximately to their true interest. The curiosities on the second floor are a recent ac- cession, and with the fame gained by his collections represented on the rirst floor, Bessehl's will now be recognized as one of the most attractive resorts of the kind in the world. Visitors to St. Louis can not aff()rd to examine our many pleasant, in- spiring features and institutions, and leave without paying a visit to Bessehl's Pictorial Bazaar, to which there is no admis- sion fee charged, and the sights are more pleasing and instruc- tive than those of any traveling museum of curiosities in ex- istence. SHEPHERD & GINOCCHIO.— Fruits. One of the most popular and reliable houses in the city dealing in fruits and nuts is that of Shepherd & Ginocchio, whose place of business is at No. 209 Market Street. This firm is not only strong financially, but the character of their trade is of the greatest importance to this section. They handle foreign, California and all domestic fruits and nuts, carrying at all times an immense stock, and by dint of ])erseverance and enterprise they have extended their trade to almost every State in the West. 302 TOUR OF ST. LOUIS. MISSISSIPPI ICE COMPANY. In the great Mississippi Valley, which for six or eight months of the year lifts up its broad bosom beneath an almost tropical sun, nothing is more essential to man's comfort than some means of counteracting the intense heat of summer. For this purpose nature stands him in good stead with ready re- sources. Just as the coal-mines and forests furnish abundant fuel for the long nights of winter, so the rivers and lakes yield an inexhaustible supply of the purest ice, which enables man to combat with the most torrid temperatures ;> Among the corporations which aim to fill the ever increas- ing demand for this supreme luxury, one of the largest in St. Louis is the Mississippi Ice Company, organized in 1872 by the consolidation of a St. Louis firm with a Quincy company. The entire business has lately passed into the hands of the St. Louis parties, who furnish their patrons with a superior article and endeavor to handle only the finest kind of lake and river ice. Their ice is usually cut by themselves or their agents in Quincy Bay, on the Mississippi River, and at De Pue, on the LTpper Illinois, where the company own enough land and water property to supply a very extensive trade. In the spring and summer their ice is brought down the river by their own steamboat and barges, or, if the stage of water is insufficient, transported on cars to their ice-houses at the foot of Cass Avenue in St. Louis. They have ample room for storing a large stock of ice, and are able and willing to ship to any point connected by rail or river with St. Louis. Their business is exclusively wholesale, dealing with brewers and retailers of every kind. The excellence of their ice, the promptitude with which they fill all orders, and their large stock on hand, have secured for them a reputation which is rapidly gaining ground all over the West and South. E. C. Little, President and Treasurer, is one of our most worthy and active citizens. I. E. Little fills the place of Sec- retary, and A. E. Uffman, Superintendent. The office of the company is located in the Granite Build- ing, room No. 210. The company, as well as its officials, is worthy of all the confidence and patronage they seek for. BOOKS AND STATIONERY. 303 GRAY & BAKER BOOK AND STATIONERY COMPANY. To write the history of the great book and stationery house of Gray & Baker is to detail the progress made in the public schools of the West during the past thirty years. This period is a short one, it is true, but to travel backwards over these few years and review the successive stages of advancement ; the introduction of school machinery, text-books, class grades and methods of instruction, we pause many times in such a retrospective glance and exclaim : "Yes, it has, indeed, been a long time since we sat in the improvised seats of the unpre- tentipus school-house and found ourselves sophomores before we had laid aside Webster's spelling book, else so many re- markable changes could not have been effected." Thirty years is almost the age of a generation, but in the epoch in which we live it is the revolution in the cycle of complete transforma- tion. As early as 1851 Mr. E. P. Gray established himself in the book and stationery business, in a building on the corner of Fourth and Chestnut streets. His original store was a small one, in keeping Avith the pioneer character of the business. He conducted the trade alone until 1857, when J. M. Crawford became associated Avith him as a partner, and the name of the iirm l)ecame Gray & Crawford . The business Avas soon af terAvards removed to No. 54 North Fourth Street, Avhere a much larger stock was added, Avhich Avas fully Avarranted by the rapid in- crease of their trade. They had a monopoly of the sales in periodicals in the city, and upon their counters Avere found nearly every Eastern publication of any importance. In 1862 Mr. Gray purchased a controlling interest in the Woodward boo-k store, located on the corner of Fourth and Locust streets, in the building uoaa^ occupied by the jcAvelry house of Mermod, Jaccard & Co., the only house at that tim(> in the block. The store run under the name of E, P. Gray until 1865, when the construction of the rowAvas begun, Avhich caused Mr. Gray to remove to No. 503 North Fourth Street. Here he remained until the block of buildings on Fourth, be- tAA'een Locust and St. Charles streets, AAas completed, which occurred in 1871, VAdien he removed to the present location, 304 TOUR OF ST. LOUIS. No. 407 North Fourth Street. In 1873 Win. I). Baker and Henry Griffin were admitted as partners, and the firm name was changed to Gray, Baker & Co. The new lirm made such rapid progress tliat they gave up the trade in periodicals and devoted themselves to miscellaneous books and stationery, doing; the larg-est business of the kind i.i the West. In May last the firm was changed into a joint stock company, and the title again changed, to the Gray & Baker Book and Stationery Company, by which it is still known. In many respects this house is the largest book and sta- tionery establishment west of New York. The building is one of the finest on Fourth Street, being four stories in height, beautifully lighted, and provided With all the facilities for con- ducting an immense trade, and for displaying their enormous stock to the best advantage. The firm has correspondents in Europe ready to purchase the best and latest publications of any merit, and they are on the most intimate terms with all the Eastern publishing houses, so that they are kept fully advised of everj^thing of conse- quence appertaining to the book trade.. The company are the general Southwestern agents for the Encyclopedia Brittanica, the most comprehensive and reliable work published, and their stock of medical, scientific and miscellaneous books can not be excelled. There is scarcely a day passes but that the firm re- ceives one or more orders from the country towns for supply- ing libraries, either public, private or circulating libraries, to the filling of which they devote special attention. Their con- nection with Eastern publishers enables them to sell on first profits, giving Western buyers who deal with them the advan- tage of the middle dealers' profits. In the stationery line the Gray & Baker Book and Sta- tioiu'ry Company stand unrivaled by any would-be campeti- tors. The company are the sole agents in St. Louis for the sale of the celebrated Huron and Ionic paper, universally acknowl- edged to be the finest writing paper ever manufactured by any mills . All the latest novels and also the best scientific works are kept constantly in stock, and the first floor, or salesroom, is a panoramic picture of literature seldom seen, and for beauty BOOKS AND STATIONERY. 305 and attractiveness never surpassed. The store is one hundred and fifty feet deep, and on both sides, from the floor to the ceiling, arranged on a thousand shelves, is one of the grandest displays of elegantly bound books, so great in number as to deserve the term "innumerable," and in the variety of colored backs the scene is ot unlike a variegated conservatory of brightest flowers. The decline in the price of books during the past few years is not only surprising, but those who have-not informed themselves on the remarkable change can scarcely conceive how such a depreciation could have taken place. By an exam- ination of the superb stock of the Gray & Baker Book and Stationery Company, it will be seen that they ofler for sale to the retail trade such bargains as the following, which illustrate the marked reductions referred to : A complete set of Dick- ens' work, fourteen volumes, bound in cloth, and illuminated backs, eleven dollars. The same books would have sold five years ago for twice that sum ; Macaulay's History of England, five volumes, beautifully bound, an elegant library edition, only four dollars, one-half less than the same books could have been purchased three years ago ; and so on for the best editions of the most popular works. But a yet greater reduction is noticeable in the price for books of fiction and poetry. In this department of literature a book that w^ould have been sold for two dollars in 1872 is now offered at the remarkable sum of fifty cents. This great change is not attributable to any other cause than the reduction made in every necessary of life and the introduction of new facilities for j)ublishing books cheaper and more expeditiously. The American people are not only as great readers as ever, but their appetite for good books is mcreasing, yet everything is in the process of cheapening, and literature of every kind must act in sympathy with all other articles designed for our comfort, pleasure and instruction. The Gray & Baker Book and Stationery Company were the first to put down the prices of books, and in this effort to subserve the true interests of the public they deserve the high- est commendation and substantial recognition from every reader in the West. The second and third floors are devoted to the wholesale 306 TOUR OF ST. LOUIS. departments, which are always well stocked with an extensive variety of goods appertaining to the business. On the second floor is found the reserve stock of stationery, pens, paper weights, inkstands, penknives, paper cutters, al- bums, scrap books, checker boards, parlor games, and a thou- sand other articles belonging to the trade. The third floor is reserved exclusively for school books, of which the firm makes a specialty, doing the largest business in this line of any house in the West. Their facilities for handling school books and the auxiliaries are unsurpassed, and their business has extended untd it includes the whole of the West and Southwest, and their annual sales amount to near half a million. Within the past few years the Gray & Baker Book and Stationery Company have been issuing catalogues to their patrons, in which will be found every book of any note, sta- tionery articles, school books, etc., with price attached. This is a great feature and of the utmost utility. By it the reader is kept posted on the latest accessions to the literature of the day, the labors of popular authors, the introduction of new literature and the subjects treated. In this age, when the number of new books published reach perhaps one hundred daily, including scientific works and novels, it is of course im- possible for any reader, however constant, to keep up with the book-makers, but by the use of such a catalogue as issued by the Gray & Baker Book and Stationery Company, it is an easy matter to keep thoroughly posted, and enables any one to readily obtain the more valuable and important of the new publications. By the employment of the most admirable system that can be devised and the proper utilization of every means at their command, supplemented by a thoroughly enterprising disposi- tion and a natural adaptability to the business, the firm has not onlv prospered but has gained a position in the commercial grandeur of the Mississippi Valley truly enviable. Mr. E. P. Gray is one of the oldest book and stationery dealers in the country, having devoted nearly thirty years of his life to the business, and the success with which he has met abundantly BOOKS AND STATIONERY. 307 illustrates his ability and sound judgment in the management of his interests. Henry Griffin, Treasurer of the company, is a young man, but he has been brought up in the business, and understands all its details thoroughly ; he enjoys a large acquaintance, and is well calculated to attain the most complete success m the line of trade he has selected. In every respect the Gray & Baker Book and Stationery Company is a business organization of vast importance to St. Louis and the West, and one which properly claims nmch of the pride which our city institutions deserve for enterprise, progressiveness and success. WILLIE H. GRAY.— Books and Stationery. The Americans are essentially a great reading people, and every year the popularity of periodical literature is increasing. In fact, the perusal of the great newspapers becomes a habit no less tenacious than that acquired by the use of stimulants. The one, however, is most wholesome, and in proportion to the number who adopt it will unhappiness, and the attendant evils of ignorance and prejudice, be dissipated. Our news- stands are essentially depots of intelligence, and are as conse- quential factors in the construction of the commerce and elevation of the population of the city as schools and churches, yet for some reason such an importance is rarely attached to them. In St. Louis there is no want of opportunities for securing all the literature of the day ; but while there are numerous small concerns there is only one principal depot where every periodical of America and also all the leading newspapers of Europe can always be obtained fresh from the publication office. This central depot, as it were, is that of Willie H. Gray, at Nos. 306 and 308 Olive Street. Mr. Gray established the business, which he has ever since 308 TOUR OF 8T. LOUIS. conducted most successfully, in 1861, locating on the north- west corner of Third and Olive streets. The war gave an im- mense impetus to the news trade, and Mr. Gray found himself at once in the midst of a large business, with the demands for papers so great that it was impossible to keep a sufficient supply at all times. Notwithstanding the fact that he was making money rapidly, in 1862 Mr. Gray responded to the call of his country, and. leaving his store in the hands of a trusted employee, he enlisted in the Union army and served faithfully for three years, when he returned to again resume his peaceful vocation. In 1865, during his term of service, the store was removed from its original location to No. 308 Olive Street, where the business was conducted without change until 1869, when the trade had so increased that the premises were enlarged to include No. 306, and the business has run uninterruptedly in the same building ever since. Upon entering the store, the visitor is fairly bewildered by the sight of such an immense pile of books, papers, stationery, etc., which present so many attractions that it is difficult to make a selection unless the visitor is determined upon what he wants before entering the place. Here will be found not only all the papers of any consequence of either hemisphere, but also all the magazines, choice novels, elegantly bound works of fiction, cheap novels, gold pens, pocket-knives, games, etc., and the finest stock of stationery, perhaps, in the city. Mr. Gray does by far the largest business in periodicals of any dealer in the West, and supplies a large number of country news-dealers. In 1875, after the location of the new Custom-house and Post-office was made, Mr. Gray concluded that the retail business of the city must necessarily gravitate towards and cluster around that great structure. In order, therefore, to be in advance of the movinsj trade he leased a store-room at No. 709 Olive Street, which he stocked w^ith articles, etc., per- tinent to his business, and has been running the branch house profitably ever since. It is Mr. Gray's intention, provided his predictions are verified, which certainly promise fulfillment, to concentrate his business ultimately in his store near the Custom-house. BOOTS AND SHOES. 209 Mr. Gray has always remained alone in business, but has devoted his time and best ability to such purpose that liis prosperity is marked, and he is now in the most comfortable circumstances and enjoys the highest regards of every citizen. Willie Gray's book and news store is as familiarly known in the city as though the place were a large public resort. On any morning the store is the next place of attraction after the post-office, and is a feature of St. Louis that has grown into prime importance and most enviable notoriety. GIESECKE, MEYSENBURG & CO.— Boots and Shoes. Among the largest manufacturers of hand-made boots and shoes and most popularly known to the trade is the house of Giesecke, McAsenburg & Co., now located at Nos. 210 and 212 Washington Avenue. The business was established in St. Louis about ten years ago on the corner of Main and Vine streets, where they remained a few years, until their business had increased beyond the capacity of the building. They then removed to the corner of Main and Locust streets, from whence they were tigain forced to remove on account of a lack of facilities, their second removal being to their present loca- tion. Their present building is fifty feet wide by one hundred and fifty feet in depth, and is four stories in height ; it is well lighted and provided Avith all the accessories for manufacturing the best hand-made goods at the lowest possible cost. They employ three hundred hands, and job all their own product in Missouri, Illhiois, Kansas, Iowa and Colorado. The boots and shoes turned out by the factory of Giesecke, Meysenburg & Co. are all hand-made, and pronounced by all dealers of a superior quality and finish. One of the best evidences of their excel- lent work is found in the rapid increase of their business in the face of the almost general depression which prevails in the trade. The members of the firm are com})aratively young men, but are thoroughly acquainted with their business, and gentlemen of polish and urbanity, and enterprise, characteris- tics which have popularized them with the trade of the West. HOME DECORATIONS. 311 J. L. ISAACS. — Home Decorations. The accompanying cut is a faithful illustration of the beautiful structure erected by J. L. Isaacs on the south side of Olive, between Twelfth and Thirteenth streets, in the year 1876. This building, occupying Nos. 1210 and 1212, is one of the most ornate and attractive features in that part of the city. But not alone in the handsome design, strength and imposing appearance of the building is the true interest centered for the history of its owner, his labors in St. Louis and the attainment, through what many would declare insurmountable obstacles, to a position he now occupies, stamps him as one of the worthy self-made men of the West. The building is four story, Warrensburg stone front, richly ornamented in a style of architecture that is entirely original. Over the entrance is a colossal stone figure of "Excelsior," the motto and trade-mark of Mr. Isaacs. The stately canopy which overshadows the statue is a feature which, while it adds greatly to the elegant appearance of the building, illustrates the decorative character of the business for which the structure was erected. Entering the spacious store, which covers in depth the entire half block, Ave find the fixtures and furniture are of solid Avalnut, inlaid with other fine woods, so richly embellished that any description would be inadequate, a personal inspection being the only means by which a proper conception of its elegance can be obtained. In its every appointment the building is the finest west of New York devoted to the business for which it is used, and in its interior decoration is perhaps the most ehil)orate in the world. The floor of the curtain-room is laid with beautiful decorative wood carpet, and in addition to the ordinary diamond shelving for wall paper in the main store, there are magnificent cabinets, supplied with immense screens, which open from the walls and display the fine qualities of Dr. Dres- ser's art designs and French art decorations, of which Mr. Isaacs is sole agent, in the most advantageous manner. These art designs are a special feature of Mr. Isaac's business, and 312 TOUR OF ST. LOUIS. they are undoubtedly the handsomest wall decorations ever introduced in this country. One of the marked specialties of Mr. Isaacs' business is oil-painted wall paper, an imitation of frescoing, and one of the most useful and ornamental inventions of the century. This paper is prepared in such a manner that it is impervious to w^ater, and can be washed with soap and scrubbed indefinitely without the slightest injury to either the paper or color. It is much handsomer than oil painting, more durable, and incomparably cheaper. In the general stock carried by this house will be found the most extensive variety of wall papers, from the cheapest grades to the most elaborate and costly decorations. There is also an upholstery department, supplied with every style and quality of curtains, including lace and lambrequins ; also, window shades, mosquito canopies, wire screens for doors and windows, and everything properly belonging to the business. Every nook in the store-room is utilized most advanta- geously, even the panels and divisions having small doors, which open into the casement spaces, subserving many useful purposes. The high ceilings afford a splendid opportunity for the display of regal lambrequins, lace curtains and fine goods of this character, and the beautiful tessellated floor forms an admirable backc^round .for the exhibition of the general stock. Mr. Isaacs' private office is a model of beauty and convenience, being sumptuously finished and having everything arranged in the most convenient manner. The first floor of No. 1212 is devoted principally to the display of tessellated wood floors, an article extensively used throughout EurojDe, and now being rapidly introduced into all the larger cities of America. On the same floor are also found many elegant specimens of wood-carvings, the designing and execution of which is accomplished under Mr. Isaacs' directions. Mr. Isaacs was the original introducer of patent Aveather strips, and is the largest importer of wall papers and dealer in wood carpets, wire screens, portable wainscots, marquetry floors, window shades, and everything pertaining to his trade SPORTING GOODS. 313 west of New York", and is the only dealer in St. Louis doing business in his own buildinor. He is sole agent here for Mark's improved adjustable chair, the greatest invention for invalids as well also as the easiest chair for the parlor, library, smoking-room, etc., ever con- ceived. It embraces every combination for ease and com- fort, being readily converted from a chair into a variety of easy positions ; to a lounge, bed, child's crib, or surgeon's operating table. It can be folded up so as to occupy a space only fwo feet square by eight inches deep, and weighs only forty-five pounds. It is, in short, a combination of a dozen articles of furniture, and more perfect in each than the sepa- rate pieces. What we have said here of Mr. Isaacs and his works, are but the merest summary of his accomplishments ; a visit to his colossal establishment is the only means by which a proper conception of its magnitude and importance can be obtained. It is one of the great institutions of the West, and Mr. lasacs well deserves the trade in his line of the Mississippi Valley. BROWN & HILDER— Sporting Goods. Notwithstanding the foct that St. Louis is situated upon the borders of the finest game country in the United States, and is the receiving center for all the game killed in the West, for years she was without a representative establishment for sporting materials. It is true that ainmunition and fire-arms were kept for sale, but there was no house that was enterpris- ing enough to push abreast of the times by keeping all the novelties of the profession, or selling goods at prices reason- a1)le in comparison with Eastern houses. The need was long and painfully felt, and many inducements ofi^ered which re- mained unaccepted until in the early part of 1877, w^hcn H. S. Brown, formerly of Brown & Hofman, and INIaj. F. F. Hilder, manager of the St. Louis branch of E. Remington & Sons, associated themselves under the firm name of Brown & Hilder, 314 TOUR OF ST. LOUIS. and entered the trade, making a specialty of shot-guns, rifles, pistols, ammunition, fishing tackle and sporting goods of every description. They located at No. 604 North Fourth Street, and in the short time they have been engaged in the business have built up a trade incomparably greater than that of any house west of New York. The firm has become heaaquarters for all Western sports- men, because they have revolutionized prices and keep an assortment which comprises ever^^thing pertinent to the busi- ness. They are the sole agents for E. Remington & Sons' shot-guns and pistols ; W. W. Greener's, Birmingham, Eng- land, breech-loaders ; G. W. Simmons & Son's, Boston, sports- men's clothing, and are importers of all makes of guns and pistols. Brown & Hilder's business has increased at an un- precedented ratio, and their extensions are constant. In addi- tion to their importations they are manufacturers of water- proof hunting suits, camp equipage. Case & Bedell's excel- sior game belts, fishing tackle, nets, seines and fishermen's goods. The range of articles in which they deal includes car- tridges and ammunition of all kinds, Eaton's rust preventor, shells and wads, extractors and recappers, loading implements and gun tools, dog, turkey and duck calls, decoy birds, archery goods, etc., and in fact everything from a pop-gun to a cannon, and the prices at which their goods are sold have popularized them with all sportsmen ; and while they are content with a limited margin on sales, they keep every conceivable article that a sportsman may require for either this or any other coun- try. One of the results of the enterprise thus manifested by the firm is most wholesome, for it has cultivated a taste for sporting never before exhibited in St. Louis, and has brought an immense trade to our city, which, while tributary, had been forced before to go elsewhere. Among the list of prizes awarded at the bench show of dogs and sportsmen's goods, held in St. Louis in March last, the following were received by Brown & Hilder : Class B — First prize — Best double-barrel shot-gun, at $150. W. W. Greener, maker. Class 5 — Very highly commended — Best $100 shot-gun. E. Remington & Sons, makers. AUCTIONKERIN'G. 315 Class 7 — First prize — Best target riHc. E. Remington & Sons, makers. Class 8 — Very highly commended — Sporting rifle. E. Remington & Sons, makers. Class 9 — First prize — Best shooting snit. G. W. Simmons & Son, Boston, makers. Class 10 — Verj^ highly commended — Best suit, valued at $18. G. W. Simmons & Son, Boston, makers. Class 10 — Very highly connnended — Best suit, valued at $16.25. Brown & Ililder, makers. Class 13 — First prize — Best hunting boots. Thomson & Son, makers. New York. Class 14 — First prize — Best display Ashing tackle. Class 15 — First prize — Best fishing rods. Conroy, Bissett & Malleson, New York, makers. Class 18 — Sweepstakes — Best display fire-arms and sports- men's goods. Also, the following special : Very highly commended for Spratt's patent meat fibrine dog cakes. Brown & Hilder, agents. This was by far the largest number of prizes won by any single firm, and is an evidence of the enterprise and merit of the proprietors, as well, also, a notable indicaticm of the per- sonal popularity of Messrs. Brown & Hilder. O. J. LEWIS & CO. — Auctioneers. Auctioneering is an old profession, but one in which few persons succeed. The talents required in the business are of the highest order, combining (quickness of perception, thorough knowledge of men's dispositions, acuteness of judgment, and withal, a magnetic and open character. These attributes, all of which are inherent, must be subordinated and polished by contact with society and a large experience. But while the business is precarious with a majority of auctioneers, those who are successful secure a full measure of public confidence 316 TOUR OF ST, LOUIS. and credit. Every city now has its representative auction house, because tliey are essential to public convenience, the telephone of communication, as it were, between buyers and sellers, acquainting each with information which advances his interests and facilitates his investments. In St. Louis there are several large auction houses, but the chief one among the many, representative of the West, is the immense house of O. J. Lewis & Co., No. 417 North Fifth Street. The present firm is the successor of Murdock & Dickson, Avho established business in 1836 at No. 204 and 206 North Main Street, at that time the center of the jobbing trade of the city, where the}^ did a very large business. In the year 1873 Mr. O, J. Lewis purchased the entire interest in the concern, when the name of the firm was changed to its present title. Mr. Lewis foresaw the future location of the then shifting trade, and moving with the advance, re-established his business in the immense building he now occupies. It is not enough of the firm of O. J. Lewis & Co. to say that it is the oldest and largest auction house hi St. Louis, for these qualifications do not accurately measure the extent of their operations, which are not surpassed, perhaps, by any auction house in the West. The building the firm now occupies is six stories in height by one hundred and fifty feet deep, with entrances on Fiftli and also St. Charles streets, and running back to a broad and well-paved alley, thus enabling them to make all their ship- ments and receive their goods in the rear. The first or basement floor is used for boxing purposes alone, and is crowded with goods which are being j)acked pre- paratory for shipment. The rattle of hammers and rolling of boxes indicate a pressure of business which quick and constant work can alone provide for. The second or ground floor is the salesroom and office. Three rows of counters extend the entire length of the build- ing, subserving a most useful purpose in the attractive display of goods as they are put on sale. • There is an abundance of room, plenty of light, and everything provided for the convenience of purchasers. The third and fourth floors are used for the storage of dry goods, notions and clothing, and the fifth and sixth floors are crowded with boxed boots and shoes. These AUCTIONEERING. 317 departments are always conipletel}'^ stocked, for as fast as the goods are sold new consignments arrive, thus making an end- less routine of packing and unpacking, selling and buying, shipping and receiving. The handling of such an immense amount of goods requires a large force of men, and the constant use of two large freight elevators run by steam, with which the building is provided. The aggregate area of the house is twenty-seven thousand square feet, equal to nearly three- fourths of an acre, and yet there is not a single foot of idle space. The business of the house during the past year was, in round figures, one million dollars, and this year, judging from present sales, this amount will be increased by one-half at least. The rapid increase and extent of such an enormous business, and one, too, in which so very few suc- ceed, can be accounted for only upon the assumption that the proprietors possess the qualifications specially adapted to the auction trade ; that they have the complete confidence of the public ; and lastly, are in every respect deserving of such signal success. Mr. Lewis is a gentleman in whom the attribute of order and perfect system is supreme ; he gives the business his per- sonal supervision ; sees that everything is in proper shape, and that every customer receives his dues. The reputation of O. ,1 . Lewis & Co. is co-extensive with the West, and their consign- ments are consequently double that of any other auction house in the city, and those who become their patrons once never have occasion to go elsewhere, unless the articles desired can not be had of the firm. Thus we observe that adaptability, adherence to purpose, faithfulness and honesty are the elements of success, while to these strong principles O. J. Lewis & Co. have added pluck and enterprise, which have placed them too far in the van of competition to feel its influence. 318 TOUR OF ST. LOUIS. GRAY, BOWMAN & CO.— Machinery Merchants. In Masonic Temple Building, No. 703 to 709 Market and No. 4 South Seventh Street. This firm may be mentioned as somewhat remarkable for the rapidity with which they have extended their business, and the clever foresight exhibited by them in taking hold of a public want that was, as a rule, very illy attended to. The machine-using public now forms a highly important element in our society, and represents one of the most pro- gressive classes of business men. The progress that each in- dividual makes compels almost a constant change in his ma- chinery, and when new machines of greater power are pur- chased it becomes a question as to what shall be done with the original one of less capacity. Heretofore these supplanted machines have been set aside to be rusted out and broken up, but the subject of this sketch has hit upon the happy plan of relieving the manufacturer by taking his machine as part payment on the new one. Thus, by having control of a most excellent line of iigav machinery, MACHINERV MERCHANTS. 311) embracing all classes of steam engines, iron working tools, wood cutting machines and milling machinery, they are ena- bled to offer a consumer what he wants, and at the same time relieve him of what he does not want. The second-hand machmery thus l)rought into their posses- sion IS taken to their shops, carefully overhauled, and again put upon the market at wonderfully low prices, which enables persons who need a machme for a particular piece of work, or those who desire to begin busmess on a small capital, to have their wants supplied by a first-class house who Avarrant all their representations The firm has also taken the initiatory step in the Western country in fitting; and furnishin