1 ' ', t >i l( I Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2010 with funding from The Library of Congress http://www.archive.org/details/cityhallOOpitt ( NE^W CITY HALL ) THIE] City Hall PITTSBURGH. Corner Stone Laid, May 5, 1869. Dedicated, May 23, 1872, ^^4. ;^ PITTSBURGH: PRINTED BY STEVENSON & FOSTEE. 1874, PREFACE. The new City Hall of Pittsburgh, of whict a description is given in the following pages, is believed to be, in its external appearanT!e and design, as well as in its interior arrangements, for the purposes intended, one of the neatest and most substantial structures of its size and kind in the United States. Necessarily placed in the thickly built and business part of the city, where surrounding grounds, by which it might show itself to advan- tage, could not be spared, it yet attracts the attention of the passer-by and receives the admiration of all. Its architectural features are of marked merit, and no stranger that visits it can fail to commend the enterprise and -liberality of our people in providing such a permanent and safe depos- itory for the city archives, and an attractive and convenient place for the transaction of the public business of our growing municipality. But it is within that the edifice shows to the best advantage, and ex- hibits its utility and the care and forethought given to' its construction. In its arrangement is embodied the best experience and the most careful study of the requirements needed. Its ornamentation is massive and elegant, though not extravagant. With ample light from every direction, high ceilings and elaborate finish throughout ; with broad public passage ways and the substantial furnish- ment of the rooms, it affords the most complete facilities that could be desired. The account of the construction, dedication and occupancy of the building is arranged in the order following : Record of the action of Councils. Dedicatory ceremonies. JV PREFACE. Description of the building. An account of the means by which correct time is obtained and of the announcement of the same. The Fire Department and Alarm Telegraph. Detailed statement of expenditures, including expenses of care, re- pairs, &c., to July 31st, 1874. Summary of expenditures for construction and fitting. It is proper, before closing this brief introduction, that the surviving members of the Commission should bear testimony here of the valuable aid and services rendered by their President, Col. William Phillips, now deceased. JAEED M. BRUSH, THOMAS STEEL, WM. M. LYON, EICHARD HAYS, JOHN H. HARE, H. W. OLIVER, JR. City Hall, September 10, 1874. Jhb ;: OMMISSION. PRESIDENT: WILLIAM PHILLIPS. SECRETARY: Thomas Steel. "William M. Lyon, James M'Auley,* EicHARD Hays, Jaeed M. Brush, John H. Hare, Henry W. Oliver, Jr. ■ Henry W, Oliver, Jr., was elected by the Board to fill the vacancy caused by the death of James M'Auley. HISTORY OF THE CONSTRUCTION AND OCCUPANCY CITY HALL RECORD OF COUNCILS. Record of Action of Councils. At a regular meeting of the City Councils, held in the old City Building, on Market street, Monday, July 30, 1866, the following resolution, presented by Mr. Hare, was adopted in both branches : Resolved, That a committee of three be appointed, two from the Common and one from the Select Council, in conjunction with the Presidents of Councils, to look for a lot for city buildings. The committee appointed consisted of Messrs. John H. Hare and Jared M. Brush for Common, and Mr. Wm. Phillips for Select Council ; Presidents of Councils : Select, James McAuley, and Common, Thomas Steel. At a regular meeting, held on Monday, October 29th, 1866, in the Common Branch, Mr. Hare, from the Special Committee, made report recommending the purchase of the lot on the southwest corner of Smithfield street and Virgin alley, adjoining the United States Custom House and Post-office property. The report was accepted and approved by both branches, and the committee was empowered to make the purchase. At a further meeting, held Monday, December 31, 1 8 66, Mr. Hare, from the committee, reported that they had purchased the piece of ground named, from Messrs. Lyon, Shorb & Co., at the price of $100,000, with satisfactory terms of payment. The report was accepted and approved by both branches, and the committee discharged. 12 ACTION OP COUNCILS. On March 1st, 1867, an Act was passed by the General Assembly of Pennsylvania, creating a Board of Commissioners for the erec- tion of a City Hall in Pittsburgh. The Board, as appointed by the Act, consisted of Messrs. "Wm. Phillips, Jared M. Brush, Thomas Steel, "Wm. M. Lyon, William Holmes, James McAuley, and John H. Hare. At a meeting of the Commissioners, held, as provided by the Act of Assembly, on the 12th day of March, 1867, the Board duly organized by the election of "William Phillips, President, and Thomas Steel, Secretary. Mr. "William Holmes declined the position, and his place was filled by Richard Hays, who was chosen by the Board. The sub- sequent death of James McAuley caused a vacancy, which was filled by the election of Henry "W. Oliver, Jr. The choice of these gentlemen was approved by Councils. DEDICATORY CEREMONIES. CITY HA-LL, 1872- Dedicatory Ceremonies. On the 23d of May, 1872, the building was dedicated with in- teresting and appropriate ceremonies, and the City Government thereupon took permanent possession. The following account of the proceedings is collated from the morning papers of the follow- ing day, May 24th, 1872 : An event so important as the completion and occupancy of our new Municipal Hall, was happily not suffered to pass without the formalities which custom has sanctioned in such cases. There was no needless display, nor extravagant expenditure in the inaugura- tion, but a sensible and fitting celebration of the event. The pro- gramme has been before the public for several days, and it may be said that the arrangements were all in good taste and admirably carried out. The morning was inauspicious, as the sky was overcast and rain commenced falling heavily as early as seven o'clock. An hour previous to this, however, the ceremonies were begun by the great bell on the hall ringing out " 1-7-5-8," the date of the French evacuation of old Fort Duquesne. This was followed by the Mar- seilles Hymn, played from the balcony by the Great Western Band. At nine o'clock the bell struck " 1-7-6-4," the date of building the redoubt by the English, the band following with "God save the Queen." The band then proceeded to old City Hall, where the members of Councils and city ofiBcers had assembled to take 16 THE CITY HALL. part in the procession. A joint raeeting of Councils was held in the Common Council chamber, Mr. H. W. Oliver, Jr., presiding. Mr. Gazzam offered a resolution, which was passed, expressing regret at leaving the old building with its pleasant associations, and pleasure that the city had grown so great and wealthy as to af- ford such a magnificent building. Burgesses and Councilmen from the South Side boroughs, re- cently consolidated, were present and participated in the exercises. When the hour of ten arrived, a heavy rain was falling, and the procession did not move until half-past ten. It was headed by an es- cort of police and the Great Western Band, and included the City Hall Commission, Mayors Blackmore and Callow, ex-Mayors, Borough and City Councilmen, City Officers, etc. On arriving at the new City Hall the building was found tlironged with citizens, who had gone there to inspect the hall and witness the ceremonies. The procession was halted in the rotunda, where Mr. Gazzam introduced the Eight Eev. J. B. Kerfoot, D. D., Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church, who delivered the following appropriate prayer: J NYOCATION O Lord God, our Heavenly Father, who art the blessed and only potentate, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, who only hath immortality, and dwellest in the light which no man can approach unto, to Thee be honor and power everlasting. Amen. Hear us now, O God, when we come before Thee, in behalf of ourselves and of this whole city, to ask Thy loving care and help, and to offer to Thee our prayers and vows in the name of Jesus Christ, Thy Son our Lord. Except Thou, O Lord, keep our DEDICATORY CEREMONIES. 17 city, the watchman waketh but in vain. Still keep us and our children as Thou hast here delivered and kept our fathers in the days gone by. Thou hast given us a good land, a land of foun- tains that spring out of valleys and hills ; wherein ,we eat bread without scarceness, and lack not anything in it ; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills we dig our wealth. We have built ourselves goodly houses, and we dwell therein ; our gold and our silver is multiplied ; but we would not let our hearts be lifted up so that we should forget Thee, the Lord our God, in not keeping the commandments and judgments, and Thy statutes, which Thou hast commanded us to keep. Thine, O Lord, are the greatness, the power and the glory ; riches and honor come of Thee. Thou reignest over all. In Thy hands it is to make great and give strength unto all. Now, therefore, O our God ! we thank Thee, and praise Thy glorious name, for all Thou hast done for this our city, for its people, and for our whole nation. Yet have we not served Thee, nor obeyed Thee, as we ought to have done. We have not kept Thy laws nor honored Thy name as we ought. We and our fathers have often, and in many ways, sinned against Thee. Therefore, this day, do we pray Thee, remember not. Lord, our of- fenses, nor the offenses of our forefathers ; neither take Thou ven- geance of our sins. Spare us, good Lord. Spare Thy people whom Thou hast redeemed with the most precious blood of Thy Son, and be not angry with us or our children forever ! Let not Thy favor and blessing be ever withdrawn from this city and people, nor let Thy sore judgments come upon us. Deliver us, good Lord, from lightning and tempest, from fire and conflagration, from plague, pes tilence and famine, from battle and murder, from all seditions, privy conspiracy and rebellion, and from all contempt of Thy word and commandment. May it please Thee, good Lord, to succor, help, and comfort all among us who may at any time be in 3 18 THE CITY HALL. danger, necessity and tribulation, to preserve all sick persons and young children, to pity the prisoners and captives, to defend and provide for the fatherless children, the widows, the aged and deso- late, and all who are oppressed with sorrow or wrong. Stir the hearts of Thy true servants in this community, espe- cially of those to whom Thou givest earthly riches, to establish and multiply among us the institutions of mercy and charity to the souls and bodies of men. May the houses of prayer be abundantly built to Thy honor, and be diligently used by godly people, in of- fering to Thee prayers and praise, and in hearing Thy Truth and Law. May the schools for the young be multiplied among us, and in them may the children be well trained in all useful knowledge, in true virtue and integrity, and in reverence and obedience to Thee and to Thy Word and Law. Make us a people that knows and worships Thee, the one true God, revealed to us in Thy Son, that Thou mayest show mercy upon us and our children to all generations. Make Thy holy name to be reverently spoken among us all, so that in regard to the oath of God, this people may speak every man the truth with his neighbor, and execute the judgment of truth and peace in our gates. Make Thine own holy day to be ever revered by us and our children, to the glory of Thy sacred name, to the spiritual and temporal gain of this people, to the rest and refreshment of the weary in body and in mind, and to the perpetuation of our social virtues, and of our national life and prosperity. Fill our homes with domestic peace and order, teach our children to love, honor and succor father and mother, teach us all to honor and obey the civil authority. May malice and hatred, passions and lawlessness, cruel wrongs, bloodshed and murder, be restrained and prevented among us ; may the honorable grace of purity and the DEDICATOBY CEREMONIES. 19 manly virtues of temperance, soberness and chastity grow and abound in our midst, and banish more and more the shameful and deadly sins of licentiousness and lust. May true and perfect honesty prevail in all the, dealings of our trade and commerce, and in the discharge of all our public trusts, and may the lust of covetousness, the wrong doings of idleness and robbery, be checked by Thy fear, and by the faithful enforcement of righteous laws. May the truth be spoken among us in charity, and may the words and deeds of benevolence prevail in our com- munity, and that, loving our neighbor as ourselves, and loving Thee, our Father, with our whole strength, we may be indeed a people blessed of Thee, our God. And now we humbly ask Thee, O Lord God, who alone dost ordain the civil powers of the earth as Thy ministers for our good, to make this house, built by this city for the ministration of justice, and for the discharge of sacred municipal trusts, the house of that righteousness and integrity which spring out of Thy holy fear. May the hearty belief and constant remembrance that God shall judge the righteous and the wicked in His Great Day, banish wick- edness from this place of judgment, and iniquity from this place of righteousness. We know and believe that, " Except the Lord build the house and rule in it, they have labored in vain who build it." Therefore, we openly confess Thee here, this day. Thou God of Heaven and Earth. The rulers of this city offer Thee now their vows of fidelity as Thy ministers for the good of their fellow-citi- zens. We believe Thy word, that when it goeth well with the righteous the city rejoiceth, and that by the blessing of the upright the city is exalted. Give, therefore, O Lord God, Thy Holy Spirit to the Mayor, the Councils, the magistrates, and all the officers of this city, that they may approve themselves in Thy sight and be- fore their own consciences in every official trust; and throughout 20 THE CITY HALL, our land, in every part of it, do Thou so direct and dispose the hearts of all Christian rulers, that they may truly and impartially administer justice, to the punishment of wickedness and vice and the maintenance of Thy true religion and virtue, so that this our city, this State, and the whole nation, may honor and fear Thee, and may grow in Thy obedience and fulfill Thy merciful purpose, and that thus we and our children may long dwell and prosper in this good land that Thou hast given us, through the name and merits of Jesus Christ, Thy Son our Lord. Amen. The Eight Reverend gentleman then pronounced the Lord's Prayer and the benediction. Addresses. Colonel Wm. Phillips, Chairman of the City Hall Commission, in a few pertinent remarks, welcomed the members of Councils, and surrendered the building into their custody, as the representa- tives of the people. He concluded by introducing and compli- menting Mr. J. W. Kerr, the architect, to whose skill the citizens were indebted for whatever of excellence the building contained. Mr. Kerr declined to make a speech, preferring to let his work speak for liim. Hill Burgwin, Esq., then responded to the cordial welcome extended to the Councils on behalf of the City Hall Commission. He complimented them on the complete and satisfactory manner in which they had discharged their duties, and took special pleasure in asserting that they had overcome every difficulty, combated every prejudice, and lived down every calumny uttered touching the important trust which they held fi-om the people. He also made some pertinent allusions to the criticisms indulged in regarding the character, objects and aims of the gentlemen chosen to represent the citizens in the capacity of legislators. Whatever DEDICATORY CEREMONIES. 21 cause there might have been for adverse criticisms in the past, he hoped there would be a " new departure," and conchided in these words : " Let us rise to a sense of our real duties, and the responsibilities which, in taking our oath of office, we have assumed. Let us so govern ourselves that no word of reproach can be justly attached to the name of a city councilman. We hnve been meeting at a place — ^the Market — where all the surroundings are of bargain and sale. Look to it, then, whatever may have been said of any of us, that for the future, none will dare assert that any member of the Pittsburgh Councils is still in the market. Let our course for the future cor- respond with the beauty and purity of our present surroundings. You, sir, Col. Phillips, with your associates on the Commission, have labored, and successfully, to furnish us with a casket worthy to contain the varied treasures of the city. Your ambition will, I know, be fully gratified. Youi- labors will be amply rewarded, it the jewels of municipal zeal, wisdom and integrity, of which this fair edifice is the outside setting, shall ever preserve their bright- ness, unsullied and undimmed, and shed a wide-extending lustre, worthy the workmanship which adorns and sets them off." At the conclusion of the speech, the members of Councils and others made a tour of inspection, under the direction of the architect, and all expressed the highest gratification at the manner in which the Commission had done their work. Thousands of citizens visited the hall during the day, and also in the evening, when it was brilliantly lighted up, the furni- ture and decoration then showing to better advantage than in the day- time. The Great Western Band executed a number of fine selec- tions during the evening, and the levee was kept up until a late hour. DESCRIPTION OF BUILDING. p ESCi\IPTION OF BuiLDING. The City Hall Building fronts on Smithfield street, near Fifth avenue, facing eastward. The excavations for the foundation walls were staked off on the 26th of June, 1868; the first stone was laid on the 8th of August following, at the northeast corner of the tower ; and, on tlie 5th of May, 1869, the " corner-stone" was laid, in the presence of the President and Secretary of the Building Commission, by the architect and workmen, at the ground-level and the northeast cor- ner of the tower ; all having been done MasonicaUy, " omitting the usual ceremonies." A leaden box was enclosed in the corner-stone, containing the following : 1. Copies of Pittsburgh daily papers of May 5th, 1869. 2. Copy of the City Code. 3. Map of Pittsburgh, 1785. 4. Map of Pittsburgh, 1869, showing Consolidated City. 5. Report of Board of Trade, giving Statistics of the City of Pittsburgh. 6. Paper containing names of all City Officials. 7. Paper containing names of members of the Building Com- mission and the builders. 8. Specimens of United States currency. The building has a frontage of one hundred and twenty (120) feet, and is one hundred and ten (110) feet deep from front to rear ; 4 26 THE CITY HALL. the walls of the body of the building are seventy-two (72) feet high above the pavement on the street, and the extreme hight of the tower and belfry is one hundred and seventy -five (175) feet. The first story is twenty (20) feet high, the second story twenty- five (25) feet, the third story twenty (20) feet, and the tower has two stories more of twenty-two (22) feet each — the attic story, over the body of the building, being fifteen (15) feet high, but the rear half of the building has an additional story, formed by dividing the second story into two, forming a mezzanine, or half story. A basement story, of twelve (12) feet, is made under the whole building, the walls of which are of stone, and sunk twenty (20) feet deep below the ground-line to a bed of hard gravel, which was grouted with liquid cement before building. The front of the building, all of the extra hight of the tower, along with all cornices and wall trimmings on the sides and rear of the building, are faced with stone work ; all other walls and in- side partitions are of brick work, the sides and rear of the exterior walls being faced with pressed brick between the stone trimmings. All stone for the work was selected with due care to durability, and is a pure sandstone, of the same character as that known by •the local name of " Freeport," which is found all through West- ern Pennsylvania and Eastern Ohio, being what geologists call " traveled rocks," and not natural to this region. Before adopting any stone, several specimens, from various quarries, were submitted to the examination of Otto Wuth, the well-known analytical chem- ist, who reported as follows on the stone used in the building: "The white sandstone is simply a conglomerate of quartz grains, cemented together by the silicate of lime and alumina, and is there- fore of the most indestructible character, and not subject to in- jurious action from frost and exposure to the vapors of manufactur- ing towns ; being composed of DESCRIPTION OF BUILDING. 27 '^SilicaAcid ; 96.82 Lime 1.35 Magnesia 0.21 Alumina 1,47 Peroxide of Iron 0.15 100.00 " The best building stone of England or Scotland-contains only 96 per cent, of silicate. All floors of the building are constructed with wrought iron beams and brick arching, the public parts being paved with marble tile, the offices only having a floor of wood on the arches. The stairs are built of stone work up to the second floor, above which they are of wood. The roof and dome are constructed of wood, and covered with slate and tin roofing; but the belfry is built entirely of iron, from the walls of the tower to the finial. The building is heated by low steam from two boilers, placed in the basement, the steam never requiring to be higher than eight pounds in the coldest weather ; (fire-places have been provided in all of the private offices, but only to promote ventilation) ; the boilers ai-e each eighteen (18) feet long, by forty-six (46) inches in diameter, and have thirty-five (35) four-inch tubes to each, for a return draft of the fire — from these boilers steam pipes lead to all parts of the building, and connect with radiators or heaters placed in the various rooms and halls ; the condensed steam being re- turned to the boilers by another line of pipes, to be re-heated and sent back again. Two ventilating stacks, each seven (7) feet square, are formed by the interior walls of the building, and carried up from the base- ment to twenty (20) feet above the highest point of the roof; these stacks are connected with all parts of the building by flues formed in the partition walls, and the stacks being heated during 28 THE CITY HALL. winter by the smoke-pipes of the boilers, which are carried up in- side the sta,cks, and steam coils at the base, and in summer by stoves; the whole building is thus ventilated. Water closets are provided on each floor, and these being placed adjoining these stacks, all oifensive odors are carried ofi" wh£.n the stacks are kept heated. The main entrance to the building is through the arcade, which is sixteen (16) feet wide by thirty-four (34) feet long, having three openings in front, of six (6) feet wide each ; on the right from the arcade is the entrance door to the Mayor's offices, and on the left that to the Treasurer's ; in the centre is the main doorway, opening into a vestibule twelve (12) feet by sixteen (16) feet, leading into the central hall, which is thirty-seven (37) feet square, and commu- nicates with every room in the building, being open from the first floor to the roof, ninety-six (96) feet high, having galleries seven (7) feet wide on all four sides to each floor above the first, and a sky- light twenty (20) feet square in the roof, which lights up the whole interior. The gallery to the second floor is supported from the first floor by twelve Ionic columns, of eighteen (18) inches in diameter, and a full entablature ; the galleries to the upper floors are supported on wrought iron beams, and each gallery is finished with cornices and balustrades, the whole being constructed of iron, and the floors formed of brick arching, covered with marble tiles. Opposite to the main entrance, and immediately in the rear of the central hall, is the stairway, twenty (20) feet wide, having a central flight of eight (8) feet, and two side flights of five (5) feet ■wide each, leading to the attic story ; at the top of the first flight, in the rear wall, are placed three windows of three (3) feet wide by eight (8) feet high each, which are filled with embossed glass, hav- ing designs illustrative of the history and sources of wealth of Pitts- burgh ; in the middle window is a representation of the city seal, THE OLD REDOUBT, AS APPEARING AND ENGRAVED IN 1832. 30 THE CITY HALL. which is founded on the coat-of-arms of the Pitt family, of England, the head of which was the fast friend of our country in 1776, and from whom comes the name of our city; above the city seal is a repre- sentation of the " old redoubt," which was a part of old " Fort Pitt," and is still to be seen, as a dwelling-house, near to the foot of Penn avenue. Beneath this window is inserted the original stone tablet, which was taken out of the walls of the old redoubt, and built into the wall here for preservation, to show that Pittsburgh has a history. The stone bears the rude inscription : **§,, §, i764:.»— Ml g(Jtt(jttet/' And is, no doubt, the first stone that was "quarried and cut" west of the Alleghenies, and is of the same character of stone of which the Hall has been built. As the old tablet showed no signs of decay, after an exposure of one hundred and six years to a Pittsburgh atmosphere, we may safely conclude that the stone work of our Municipal Hall will outlast the wants of several generations, if the demands of modern progress will allow it. The interior arrangements of the building, as well as the exterior style of it, being accurately shown by the accompanying diagrams, which are copied from the original plans, reference is made to them for all further information as to the number and size of the offices and rooms. It only remains to add that the whole work has been designed and executed by Pittsburghers. DiRECToi^Y OF Offices. FiEST Floor: Mayor. Controller. Treasurer. City Engineer. Second Floob: Council Chambers. Board of Health. City Attorney. Board of Viewers. City Clerks. Water Assessor. Mezzanine Floor: Street Commissioners. Building Inspector. Council Messenger. Third Floor: Board of Fire Commissioners. Board of City Assessments. Office "Water Extension Committee. Mechanical and Civil Engineers New Water Works. Draughting Rooms. Fourth Floor: Fire Alarm Telegraph. THE TUKRET CLOCK, The Tui\i\et Clock. The turret clock of the City Hall is the medium by which the time is supplied to the city of Pittsburgh, from the Observatory in Allegheny. As the arrangements for doing this are, in some degree, peculiar to Pittsburgh, which is as yet in advance of most Ameri- can cities in its provision for the ready distribution of the exact time to all within its limits, some account of the considerations which led to the city's action, and the system adopted to give it effect, will be in place. The amount of time wasted by the discrepancies of clocks and watches, and which is indirectly felt, by each individual, in appoint- ments missed, or time lost needlessly in waiting, is, in the aggre- gate, very considerable, sufficiently so to make it a public conve- nience to have a simple and universally accessible means of uniting every watch and clock in the community on the same hour and minute. The source of all time is the observation of the heavenly bodies^ and an observatory, where one exists, is the natural means of ob- taining it at first hand. The Commissioners of the new City Hall, and a number of mem- bers of Councils, having visited the Allegheny Observatory, and found there an extended system of time distribution already organ- ized for the use of railroads and others, it was proposed to the Director of the Observatory, Prof. S. P. Langley, to supervise and 36 THE CITY HALL. arrange a system for supplying time to Pittsburgh, in such a man- ner that every citizen could enjoy the use of it, and all the affairs of its large business community be regulated by a single accurate standard. The personal examination of the systems employed in Great Britain having led him to desire to introduce one in Pittsburgh, which might inaugurate in this country the use of the most bene- ficial features to be found elsewhere, with some contemplated im- provements, he was requested by the Commissioners to devise the arrangements he deemed most suitable, to superintend their execution, and finally, on the part of the Observatory, to assume the responsibility of their direction and maintenance, so far as was necessary, for the purposes of a constant regulation connection from the Observatory's standard mean time clock of the public time. They have accordingly addressed themselves to him for this de- scription of the means employed, and their practical working. The ultimate standard of time, by which all regulators are set, being the motion of the heavenly bodies, and no time-keeper hav- ing any power to keep itself right — the best clock will go wrong without constant supervision, and the best time is that which is most frequently regulated by the stars. Two things are chiefly de- sirable : A general access of the public to one common standard, and the exact truth of that standard. The consideration of unity is here placed even before that of accuracy, and it is, in fact, not hard to see that if every clock and watch in the community were agreed in being wrong by exactly the same amount, little prac- tical inconvenience would be felt. It is, however, believed that, in the Pittsburgh system, unity and accuracy are equally attained. It is well known that the sun can be made to announce his own pas- sage across the meridian by a burning lens placed so that the solar rays falling on it at noon shall ignite a fuse at their focus, and fire THE TUEEET CLOCK, 37 a gun ; and to improve on this rude contrivance, so that at the in- stant the " mean " sun crosses the meridian, a signal may announce to every one that it is exactly twelve o'clock — more exactly than if the sun itself gave the signal — is the object of all contrivances like those now described. This preface must explain the need of at least a brief description of the instruments of record at the Observatory, which are in place in a description of the turret clock of the City Hall, since they are in permanent metallic connection with it, and both are but parts of the same complete apparatus. Correct Time — How Obtained. At the Observatory, then, is a very massively-mounted telescope, so built in between piers of stone that it cannot be turned out of the meridian, and so powerful that the principal stars are visible through it by day as well as by night. The principal use of this is, by suitable observation and calcula- tion, to regulate two extremely exact astronomical clocks beside it, with only one of which, however, we are immediately concerned. This one has a dial divided into twenty -four hours, on which an hour, minute, and second-hand unite, every day, in indicating the in- stant of exact noon ; the hands keeping precise time with the revolu- tion of the "mean sun," and being evidently capable, by suitable me- chanical devices, of giving an audible signal at this moment, more exactly and better than the sun itself. Electricity is called in to do this, and by means which, though altogether too elaborate for minute description in this place, are yet very simple and intelligi- ble in principle. Two wires are led separately from a battery in 38 THE CITY HALL. the City Hall to the Observatory, where they join, and when the ends of these wires are separated in Allegheny, a click will be heard on a "sounder " in the fire-alarm rooms in Municipal Hall b}^ the ordinaiy operation of the electric cuiTcnt. The two wires end in two delicate springs in the clock, both tipped with gold, which rest lightly on one another, but can be separated by the least touch. Close by is a jewel, which, when struck by a passing tooth in a wheel attached to the second-hand of the clock described, will brush lightly against one of the gold terminals of the wires, lifting it from the other by a space, which, though invisible to the eye, is enough to break the circuit, and cause the sound in the distant room of the City Hall. It is evident that if there are sixty teeth in the wheel, sixty such actions will be repeated in each minute, and sixty ticks heard in the City Hall ; where the effect will be the same as thougli the Ob- servatory clock were heard du-ectly in every second it beat. Further, it will be plain that if the sixtieth tooth of the wheel is filed away, that at the sixtieth second of the minute the wire-terminals will not be lifted, and that the absence of a corresponding sound will point out the particular beat which follows as the first second of the minute, while similar contrivances, not necessary to explain, point out the iirst minute of the hour. The effect will be, on the whole, to a person in the City Hall, as though the Observatory standard clock were actually beside him, audibly marking each hour, minute and second, from noon to noon, with astronomical precision. The exact time has now reached the City Hall — it remains to cause it to be audible to the whole city. There would be no difficulty in causing these beats to be repeated so loud that every one could hear them, but, evidently, this would be a public annoyance. There is, in the cupola of the City Hall, an alarm bell, and very elaborate mechanism for ringing it, which is THE TURRET CLOCK. 39 elsewhere described, and which existed before any of the arrange- ments now mentioned were perfected. To take advantage of this, which was just what was wanted, to make the Observatory signal audible, the Director was requested to provide with the makers for special electric attachments in the new turret clock. This fine instrument, built by the Messrs. Howard, of Boston, is, in the first place, an excellent time-keeper by itself, and being driven by weights in the ordinary manner, is as inde- pendent of electric connection as any clock can be, and would con- tinue to go, and to move the hands on the four transparent dials, if every wire connecting it with the Observatory were removed. "Whenever communication with the Observatory is accidentally interrupted, the turret clock does not stop, but simply loses, tem- porarily, the advantage it has over other clocks, of not going wrong while in such connection. This is a feature whose value, or rather whose necessity, the practical electrician can best appreciate. The clock has a " gravity" escapement, somewhat like that in the clock of the Victoria Tower of the new Houses of Parliament ; in both cases the alternate blows of small hammers, weighing but a few ounces, and falling but a part of an inch, keeping in motion the heavy pendulum, 'which is here provided also with a compensation for temperature, unusual in instruments of this size. The electric attachments to this clock are of the most complete description, and worthy the attention of any one interested in such matters. They were executed, also, by Messrs. Howard, through Mr. S. Hamblet, as electrician, the latter gentleman having skillfully embodied in them the wishes of the Director, and the results of his own practical information. So much space has been already occupied in this descrip- tion that there is not room to mention the contrivances by which the turret clock can be caused to beat in perfect unison with 40 THE CITY HALL. that at the Observatory, or to be, if necessary, controlled and caused to go faster or slower by a person at that distance, or, finally, to report itself to the Observatory, and automatically to send notice of its being in error to the extent of less than a second. It is sufficient to say, that the turret clock is kept in such close accordance with the Observatory standard, that they may be consid- ered, for practical purposes, as operating like one piece of mechan- ism. As the hour of noon approaches, a detent is seen to move in the clock and bring within reach of a lever attached to a wheel, revolving once a minute, the terminals of two wires, like those already described, but which in this case communicate with a pow- erful electro-magnet in the belfry. The ends of the wires still re- main separated by a scarcely visible interval, until after the clock has entered on the last minute preceding noon. Then, with each succes- sive beat of the clock, the lever is seen to move nearer to the wires, finally reaching up to, and pushing them together, coincidently with that beat of the pendulum which coincides with the exact second of mean noon. A flash shows the passage of the electric spark at their contact, the electro-magnet operates, attracting a piece of iron, which, by its motion, i-eleases a detent, communicating with the weight of 4,000 pounds, which moves the hammer of the bell; and, simultaneously with the jar of the whole tower from the fall of the weight, the sound is sent out to the city, through nearly the farthest limits of which this single stroke is audible. For the greater con- venience of the public, the stroke is repeated at three in the after- noon, and at every third hour through the day and night. There is, among other electric attachments of the turret clock, one which will put any distant pendulum of a clock, connected with it by wire, under control of its own, so that the two swing to- gether as though united by a rigid bar. This enables the tiu-ret clock to become, in its turn, a sort of prime motor, controlling any THE TURRET CLOCK. 41 or all clocks, If desired, in distant police stations, or other city offices, so that all move in exact time with the standard. This latter mechanism stands always ready, but has not yet been intro- duced into general use, perhaps because the bell does its work so efifectually as to leave little more to be desired. How general the public appreciation of the convenience and utility of the system is, the universal comparison of watches at the stroke of noon declares. This, ordinarily, causes a movement so general and simultaneous throughout the city, as to amuse a stran- ger to the cause, but as comparatively few who profit by it, are aware of the means to which it is due, or of the care of the Com- missioners of the new City Hall in this provision for the public convenience, it is presumed that this brief account of the devices used, though necessarily imperfect, may possess some interest. During nearly two years that the system has been in operation, it is not remembered that there has been any interruption from the failure of the electric mechanism, and, next to the judicious and complete provision of the necessary means by the Commissioners, the generally satisfactory result is largely due, it is fair to state, to the intelligent supervision of the apparatus in the tower, and the assistants in the Fire-alarm department, who have had it in immediate charge. The utility of the system, it is hoped, will more than justify the introduction by the Commissioners of a public convenience, which has now taken its place among public necessities, since it is one which, once tried, it is very safe to say the public could not now do without. THE FIRE DEPARTMENT AND ALARM TELEGRAPH. The -Fire Department. The two rooms immediately over the Reception Room, and of the same size, one on the third and the other on the fourth floor, were set apart for the use of the Fire Department and the Alarm- telegraph connected therewith ; all under the control and manage- ment of a Board of Commissioners, consisting of nine members. The rooms were taken possession of in the Spring of 1872. That on the third floor is furnished for the use of the Board as an office and a place of meeting. It also serves as offices for the Chief Engineer and his assistant, and the Secretary of the Board. All the accounts of the Department are kept here, together with the various records required. At present the Department consists of ten Steam-engine Companies, three Hook and Ladder Companies, one Hose Company, and, with the Chief and Assistant Engineers, there are one hundred and three active firemen employed. The appa- ratus consists often steam fire engines, with as many hose carriages connected therewith, a two-horse hose carriage to provide extra hose when necessary, and three Hook and Ladder Companies. With each engine company there is a foreman, an engineer, fireman, driver, and four hosemen. With the largest Hook and Ladder Truck there is a foreman, driver, tillerman, and three laddermen. The other ladder trucks are in charge of five men. The independ- ent Hose Company comprises a foreman, driver, and two hosemen. The class of engines in use are six second-class, and four third- class, all of the Amoskeag Company's make. A third-class engine 46 THE CITY HALL. has recently been received, preparatory to the establishment of an additional engine company in the extreme west end of the city — the Thirty-sixth ward. In all business with the office of the De- partment, the foremen represent the companies. Requisitions for supplies are made monthly to the Chief Engineer, and orders on the store-house are issued by him. A monthly time-sheet, properly probated before the City Controller, is presented to the Secretary by the foreman of each company, and warrants are issued, signed by the President of the Commission, and countersigned by the City Controller. The Board of Commissioners are divided into four monthly committees, of two each, and these committees inspect the compa- nies, apparatus, &c., and attend to wants of the Department, alternately, from month to month. There are also standing com- mittees on Finance, and Building, and Real Estate, in which connection, it is proper to state, that the Department has no rents to pay, all of the twelve buildings, including the store-house, occupied, being the property of the city. An additional building is under conti'act for the new company yet to be organized. Fire-alarm Telegraph. The room on the fourth floor is occupied entirely by the Fire- alarm Telegraph, in which branch is employed one Superintendent of Telegraph, three operators, and one repairman. The apparatus for receiving and transmitting alarms is most complete, and believed to be as good as any in the country, and has been notice- ably successful for the purposes intended. The machinery was manufactured by the American Fire-alarm Telegraph Company, THE FIEE DEPARTMENT. 47 and consists of eight signal bellsj eight relay magnets, and two five- pen registers for receiving alarms. For transmitting the alarms to the various engine-houses, there are six relay magnets, six sounders, and a three- dial repeater, by means of which the number of the signal box from which an alarm has been received, is accurately and promptly repeated on the engine-house gongs, and at the same time struck upon the City Hall bell, for the benefit of the public. Every third hour of the twenty-four, viz.: at three, six, nine, and twelve o'clock, is noted by a stroke upon the City Hall bell, and upon four other public bells located in different parts of the city, as follows: at Lawrence School House, Seventeenth Ward; Pres- byterian Church, East End, Twentieth Ward; Hazlewood School House, Twenty-third Ward, and Engine House, Twenty-sixth Ward. Arrangements for this public convenience in different parts of the city were provided by the Board of Fire Commission- ers, and are supervised by the officers of the Alarm-telegraph Department. There are now (1874,) one hundred and twelve miles of wire, one hundred and fifteen alarm-boxes, fourteen engine-house gongs, and four bell-strikers in use in the consolidated city. To operate the machinery three hundred and twenty cells of Callaud battery are used. The lines are divided into eight signal, and six alarm circuits. In the lower or more thickly populated and business portions of the city, three engine companies, with their hose car- riages, the extra hose carriage, and a hook and ladder company, answer the first alarm. In other portions of the city two com- panies only answer. In case the Chief Engineer or assistant find additional aid required at a fire, their signal to that effect calls other companies. Statement of Disbursements BY THE COMMISSION FOR THE pRECTION OF A ClTY W ITY t^ALL, PITTSBURGH, For public Information the Commission herewith give a detailed statement of the expenditures made by them in behalf of their trust. No payment has been made except by warrant drawn upon the City Treasurer, who was the custodian of the funds ; and these warrants required, before payment, the endorsement of the person to whom issued. In the statement is given the consecutive num- bers of the warrants, the date of Issue, the name of the party to whom Issued, the account for which drawn, and the amount. Be- sides the expenditures proper, for the building, it also Includes the cost of maintenance for a period of more than four years, such as salaries of day and night watchmen, janitors, for cleaning, repairs, etc. A recapitulation of the expenditures, under the various heads, is also given, together with a statement of the actual cost of con- struction. This is followed by a schedule of the rate of special tax levied for the several years for the building, the aggregate amount of money received therefrom, and a statement of the receipts and expenditures to July 31st, 1874, as shown by the books of the City Treasurer. The proceeds of the temporary loans having been paid Into the City Treasury, and drawn therefrom on checks, as the other funds, require the deduction of the amount from the gross footing of the detailed statement, to show the actual total expendi- tures. Expenditures Tn pEXAiL. No. Date. 1867. l,Aug. 10, 2, 3, 4 5 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11! 12, In Whose Favor Drawn. 13 14 15 16, 17, 18 19; 20, 21, 22, 23. 24; 25, 26, 27 28, 29, SC- SI 32, 33, 34 35, 36 37. do do do do do do do do do Dec. 17 do 1868. July 11, July 25, July 29, do do do do do do do Lyon, Short & Co Daily Gazette Evening Chronicle Daily Dispatch Daily Commercial Daily Bepublic Act of Assembly W. G. Johnston & Co. Pittsburgh Post do Leader do Gazette Mortgage Stamp On What Account. Amount. Purchase of Lot Publishing Act of Assembly, do do do do Act creating Commission Printing Check Book, &c... Publishing Act of Assembly, do Duplicate No. 2, original lost, Lyon, Shorb & Co Aug. 1 Aug. 8 Aug. 22, Sept. 15, Sept. 19, Oct. 6, do do Oct. 19, Oct. 31, Nov. 14, Dec. 1 do Dec. 24, Dec. 31 Patrick Bradley do ........ Neeb, Bauer & Co Daily Mail Commercial Pittsburgh Leader do Chronicle do Dispatch.. do Gazette... J. W. Kerr Lyon, Shorb & Co.... P. Bradley do Henderson, Mackin & Co Patrick Bradley.. . J. W. Kerr , P. Kincella Henderson, Mackin & Co P. Bradley Henderson, Mackin & Co P. Bradley Henderson, M. & Co Thomas Connors P. Bradley Henderson, M. & Co. Excavation do Advertising for Proposals., do do -do do do do Architect Payment on Lot Excavation do Stone "Work Excavation ■ Architect Labor (35J days,; Building Foundation , Excavation Stone Work Excavation Stone Work Labor ■ Excavation Stone "Work ■ 45,000 00 51 40 51 60 58 00 22 00 54 40 50 00 16 80 50 00 24 00 57 00 336 00 400 00 22 87 13 00 10 00 12 00 18 60 32 30 8 80 500 00 30,000 00 372 00 200 00 6,194 00 200 00 500 00 71 00 2,097 00 108 00 6,634 00 116 00 5,716 00 84 88 630 50 2,341 00 54 THE CITY HALL. No. 39 40 41 42, 43 44 45 46 47 48: 49 50 51 52, 53 54. 55 56 57 58. 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72, 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84, 85. 86 87, 88 89: Date. In Whose Favor Drawn. On What Account. Feb. 15, W. J. Anderson & Co... Mar. 5, A. A. Anderson & Sons, do Evening Chronicle do Commercial do .Mail do Post Mar. 10, Jos. Hastings do Pittsburgh Leader Mar. 29,J. W. Kerr do Daily Republic Apr. 2, Henderson, M. «& Co Apr. 10, Pittsburgh Dispatch do do Post do do Gazette May 1, Henderson, M. & Co May 6, [Ferguson & Beck do IP. Bradley do I Union Iron Mills June 8, James Todd do E. Ecker & Sons do J. C. Schultz do C. Ferguson July 8, Henderson, M. & Co.... do James Todd do E. Ecker & Sons do J. W. Kerr do E. Ecker & Sons do Otto Wuth Aug. 4, James Todd do Charles Ferguson do Stark, McMahon & Co. do E. Ecker & Sons. do do do Henderson, M. & Co Aug. 13, Burke & Barnes Aug. 20,i do Sept. 7,'Stark, McMahon & Co.- do James Todd do E. Ecker & Sons do do do J. 0. Schultz do Henderson,Mackin & Co. Oct. 5, James Todd do Henry Evans do Henderson, M. & Co. do Charles Ferguson do Bingham & Laing do H. Gerwig & Co do E. Ecker & Sons .... do do Oct. 15, J. W. Kerr do :B. Ecker & Sons Iron Gratings, &c Printing Plans, &c Advertising do do do Excavation Advertising Architect Advertising Stone Work Advertising do do Stone "Work Lumber, Labor, &c Excavation Supports for Smoke Flues.. N"ight Watchman Laying Brick Iron Work Carpenter Work Stone Work Night Watchman Brick Laying Architect Brick .' Analyzing Stone Watchman Carpenter Work Hoisting Engine Brick Laying Brick Stone Work Locks on Vaults do Hoisting Engine Night Watchman Brick Laying Brick Iron Girders, &c Stone Work Watchman Engineer Stone Work Carpenter Work Anthracite Coal Rope Brick Laying Brick Architect Brick Amount. $ 480 43 51 50 10 00 10 00 10 00 10 00 12 50 6 00 500 00 10 00 2,060 00 10 00 10 00 10 00 9,374 15 206 55 19 60 16 88 54 00 1,106 60 7,416 25 569 25 9,175 00 48 00 1,964 00 1,000 00 2,455 00 50 00 72 00 480 00 1,280 00 2.489 00 2,021 00 9,294 00 1,200 00 550 00 820 00 62 00 1,530 50 1,252 00 10,8-15 00 15,340 00 60 00 42 00 10,436 00 1,018 00 42 68 35 72 1,663 00 1,162 00 500 00 166 00 EXPENDITURES IN DETAIL. 55 No. 90, 91, 92, 93 94, 95, 96. 97, 98, 99, 100. 101 ; 102, 103, 104, 105, 106! 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117 118 119, 120, 121 122, 123, 124: 125, 126, 127, 128 129, 130 131, 132, 133, 134, 135 136 137: 138, 139, 140, Date. In Whose Favor Drawn. Oct. do Nov. do do do do do do Dec. do do do do do do do do Dec. 17, 1870. .Jan. 5, James Todd do j Henry Evans Feb. 8,' James Todd ., 23 On What Account. Logan, Gregg & Co.. Marshall Bros Henderson, M. & Co Ecker & Sons do do J. C. Scbultz James Todd Henry Evans 8,'james Todd Henry Evans Henderson, M. & Co. J. C. Schultz E. Ecker & Sons do do J. W. Kerr do Mary A. Ferguson, Ad'x Hardware.. Iron Work Stone Work Brick Laying Brick do Iron Work Night Watchman.... Engineer Watchman Engineer Stone Work Iron Work Brick Laying Brick do Architect Sundry Small Items. Carpenter Work ..... do March 3, do March 9, Mar. 12, April 4, do do Henry Evans Iron City Bank.. J. M. Brush , Henry Evans James Todd J. 0. Schultz , Henry Evans James Todd April 14, J. C. Schultz.. Henry Evans., James Todd.... Henry Evans., .lames Todd.... May 2, do June 8 do June 11 do do do do do do do do July do do do do do do 1, Watchman , Day Watchman. Night do Day do Discount do Day Watchman.. Night do Iron Work Day Watchman.. Night do Iron Day Watchman.. Night do Day do Night do Henderson, M. & Co Stone Work. Ecker & Sons- do do Brick Laying., Brick do Mary A. Ferguson, Ad'x Carpenter Work, J. C. Schnltz Henry Gerwig Fulton, Bollman & Co.. J. W. Kerr Lyon, Shorb & Co Henderson,Maokin & Co Ecker & Sons do . Iron Work Rope do , Architect Lot Payment and Int. on Lot, Stone Work Brick do Brick Adms.C.Ferguson.dec'd J. C. Schultz Safe Deposit Co Carpenter Work., Iron Work Drainpipes Amount. J 12 40 60 75 11,743 00 2,010 00 468 00 1,138 00 2,727 00 62 00 56 00 60 00 60 00 14,063 00 3,324 00 1,492 00 1,001 00 225 00 500 00 19 75 291 00 62 00 62 00 62 00 62 00 232 75 221 66 56 00 56 00 5,000 00 62 00 62 00 2,500 00 60 00 60 00 62 00 62 00 16,896 00 2,577 00 1,587 00 493 00 1,020 00 8,101 25 19 50 35 25 500 00 34,228 75 10,080 00 2,586 00 2,086 00 412 00 2,227 00 245 61 THE CITY HALL. No. Date. 1870. 141, July 1 142, do 143, do 144, July 6 145, do 14fi, do 147, July 15, 148, July 29, 149, Aug. 2 150, do 151, do 152, do 153, do 154, do 155, do 156, do 157, do 158, do 159, Sept. 5, 160, do 161, do 162, do 163, Oct. 5, 164, do 165, do 166, do 167, do 168, do 169, Nov. 8, 170, do 171, do 172, Dec. 6, 173, do 174, do 175, do 176, do 177, do 178, do 179, do 180, do 181, do 182, do 1871. 183, Jan. 5, 184, do 185, do 186, do 187, do 188; do 189, do 190, do 191, Feb. 1, In Whose Favor Drawn, Moore & Pollock James Todd Henry Evans Loans, March 3, 1870.. do Bond Stamps Burke & Barnes , Loan of Dec. 9, 1869 Henderson, M. & Co Ecker & Sons , J. C. Schultz Estate of C. Ferguson.. Pittsburgh Gas Co Fulton, BoUman & Co.. A. Fulton's Son & Co.., J. W.Kerr James Todd Henry Evans Ferguson Estate James Todd Henry Evans J. G. Schultz H. Evans Jas. Todd J. W. Kerr J.C. Schultz Fulton, Bollman & Co... A. Fulton's Son &Co.... Ad'x C. Ferguson, dec'd James Todd Henry Evans James Todd Henry Evans Adm'x C. Ferguson J. C. Schultz Anderson & Co Kim & Schwartz Aiken & Co Henderson, Mackin & Co Adm'x C. Ferguson... J. C. Schultz Ecker & Sons On What Account. do C. Ferguson, deceased... Henderson, M. & Co James Todd Henry Evans J. C. Schultz Marshall Bros W. G. Johnston & Co... A. J. Cochran, Treas... Painting , Night "Watchman Engineer Temporary Loans do Stamps for Bonds , Vaults, Locks and Safes.. Temporary Loans Stone Work Brick do Iron do Carpenter Work Coke Rope Brass Work Architect Night Watchman Engineer , Carpenter Work Night Watchman Engineer ., Iron Work , Engineer Night Watchman Architect Iron Work Rope Brass Work Carpenter Work.., Night Watchman Engineer Night Watchman Engineer Carpenter Work Iron Work do Tin Roofing Slate do Stone Work Carpenter Work Iron Work Brick Work do Carpenter Work Stone Work Night Watchman Engineer Iron Work _... Iron Printing Semi-Annnal Interest Amount. $ 14 95 60 00 60 00 9,500 00 9,500 00 100 00 2,000 00 21,000 00 17,760 00 1,536 00 8,266 00 240 00 110 60 26 10 78 21 500 00 62 00 62 00 298 00 62 00 62 00 1,348 00 60 00 60 00 500 00 2,317 00 25 42 15 90 1,448 00 62 00 62 00 60 00 60 00 815 00 4,041 00 2,500 00 1,200 00 500 00 41,000 00 2,000 00 5,000 00 10,000 00 2,000 00 694 00 10,000 00 62 00 62 00 6,446 69 61 70 22 00 9,334 00 EXPBNDITTJRES IN DETAIL. 57 No. 192 193, 194, 195, 196, 197, 198, 199, 200, 201, 202, 203, 204, 205, 206, 207, 208, 209, 210, 211, 212, 213, 214, 215, 216, 217, 218 219, 220, 221, 222, 223, 224, 225, 226, 227, 228, 229, 230, 231 232 233, 234, 235, 236, 237. 238 239 240 241, 242, 243, 244, Date. 1871. Feb. 7, do do do ■ do do do do do do do Mar. 8, do do do do do do do do do do do Mar. 11, Mar. 18, do April 5, do do do do do do May 5, do do do do do June 10, do do do do do June 28, July do do do do do do 8 In Whose Favor Drawn. On What Account. J. "W. Kerr Henderson, Mackin & Co Ecker & Sons , do Ferguson Estate.... Boyd & Son William Burke M. A. Jones Henry Evans Stafford Todd Ecker & Sons Pittsb'gh Commercial... do Gazette,... do Chronicle, Express Co Ecker &, Sons do Ferguson Estate. «... D. B. Morris Boyd & Son , Henry Evans Stafford Todd Pittsburgh Leader. .. do Gazette., do Commercial, do Leader- Henry Evans Stafford Todd Boyd & Son D. B. Morris Pittsburgh Gas Co. J.W. Kerr Estate C.Eerguson.decd Henry Evans E. S. Magee, Stafford Todd D. B. Morris Boyd & Son A. Fulton's Son & Co... Pittsburgh Commercial D. B. Morris , Boyd &Son Weldon & Kelly Stafford Todd. E. S. Magee , Henderson, M. & Co... J. M. Brush , D. B. Morris , Boyd &Son Jarvis, Halpin & Co Bassett& Brown J. C. Schultz J.W. Kerr J. W. Kerr, Architect Stone Work Brick Work .-... Brick Carpenter Work do Painting Oil, &c.... Engineer Night Watchman Brick Work Advertising do do Transporting Bonds East.. Brick Laying , Brick Carpenter Work Plastering Carpenter Work Engineer Night Watchman Advertising do do do Engineer Night Watchman Carpenter Work Plastering Coke Architect Carpenter Work Engineer Day Watchman Night do Plastering Carpenter Work Castings , .. Advertising Plastering Carpenter Work Plumbing Night Watchman Day do Stone Work Sundry Expenses Plastering Carpenter Work Plumbing Painting Iron Work Architect $1,000 00 9,000 00 396 00 324 00 535 00 1,200 00 56 00 12 15 62 00 62 00 1,280 00 6 80 5 20 6 00 18 00 704 00 576 00 240 00 792 00 880 00 56 00 66 00 4 00 6 00 3 40 6 00 62 00 62 00 600 00 1,000 00 160 00 500 00 2,167 00 18 00 38 00 60 00 1,975 00 575 00 7 41 4 00 1,353 00 529 00 640 00 62 00 62 00 23,086 00 70 00 1,182 00 1,120 00 960 00 360 00 1,000 00 1,500 00 58 THE CITY HALL. No. 245, 246, 247, 248, 249, 250, 251, 252, 253 254, 255, 256. 257, 258. 259, 260, 261, 262, 263, 264, 265 266, 267 268 269 270, 271, July 3jE. S. Magee Day Watchman . do iJohn Born Night do Date. 1871. In Whose Favor Drawn. On What Account July 18, July 31, Aug. 5, do do do do do do Aug. 7, Aug. 8, do Aug. 17, Sept, 6, do do do do do do do do Sept. 22. Sept. 30, Oct. 3, do 272, 273,Oct. 274, 275, 276, 277, 278, 279, 280, 281, 282, 283, 284, 285, 286, 287 288, 289, 290 291, 292, 293, 294, 295 296, 29 6, Marble Tile & Transportation, do Freight and Charges, Stone "Work Iron do Plastering Carpenter Work Painting Day Watchman Night do Freight on Tile Tile Brick Work Freight on Tile Stone Work Brick do , Plastering Carpenter Work Painting Tile Floor Iron Fence Day Watchman Night do Heating ., City Hall Bonds do do do do do Nov. 20, do do do do do do do do do Dec. do do do do do do do do J. W. Haney & Co do Mackin & Alexander.... J. G. Sehultz D. B.Morris W. Boyd & Son Bassett & Brown E. S. Magee John Born J. W. Haney & Co Frank Mclntyre E. Ecker & Sons J. W. Haney Co Mackin & Alexander.... Ecker & Sons D. B. Morris W. Boyd& Son Bassett & Brown Frank Mclntyre. , Marshall Bros E. S. Magee John Born Geo. W. Blake Semi-annual Interest... E. S. Magee Day Watchman, .John Born Night do Boyd & Son Carpenter Work. D. B. Morris Plastering Bassett & Brown Painting J. C. Sehultz Iron Work Fricke & Welsh Lightning Eods.. J. W. Kerr Architect E. S. Magee Day Watchman. John Born INlght do Boyd & Son.... Carpenter Work, D.'B. Morris Plastering Mackin & Alexander... Stone Work .los Hastings Cleaning Cellar.. F. Mclntyre Tile Floors Bassett & Brown Painting J. W. Kerr Architect Aiken & Co , Slate Roofing E. S. Magee Day Watchman.. John Born jNight do Boyd & Son Carpenter Work. D. B. Morris Plastering Q. W. Blake Steam Heating.., Bassett & Brown ;Painting. Beggs & Lindsay 'Marble Mantels , F. Slclntyre '. iTile Floor Kim& Schwartz 'Tin Eoof 60 00 60 00 108 75 85 10 2,132 00 6,000 00 1,758 00 2,384 00 900 00 62 00 62 00 19 90 250 00 600 00 7 55 1,650 00 2,600 00 1,468 00 1,376 00 1,810 00 168 00 512 00 62 00 62 00 3,000 00 7,000 00 60 00 60 00 962 00 506 00 320 00 3,838 26 95 00 2,500 00 62 00 62 00 2,387 00 540 00 472 00 450 00 232 00 160 00 2,500 00 466 50 60 00 60 CO 2,436 00 340 00 3,000 00 320 00 707 50 325 00 524 85 EXPENDITURES IN DETAIL. 59 No. 298 299: 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308. 309 310 311 312 313 314 315: 316 317 318 319 320, 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329, 330 331 332, 333, 334 334, 335! 336, 337 338 339 340 341 342 343: 344: 345 346 347, 348, Date. 1871. Deo. 8, Dec. 28, 1872. Jan. 5, do do do do do do do do do do Jan. 9, Jan. 13, Jan. 20, Jan, 23, Jan. 29, do Peh. 6, do do do do do do do do do do do Mar. 5, do do do do do do do do do do do Apr. 3, do do do do do do do do In Whose Favor Drawn. Wm. B. Scaife J. W. Haney & Co., On What Account. Ventilating Screens., Freight on'Tile Carpenter Work. Plastering ,,. . Painting Boyd & Son D. B. Morris Bassett & Brown.. . F. Mclntyre iTile Floors. Marshall Bros ITwo Boiler Scrapers Pittsburgh Gas Co Coke Charles Porter jCleaning Hall John McAllister 'Engineer John C. Davidson John Born E. S. Magee J. W. Haney & Co do G. W. Blake John Baird, Son & Co., John Arthurs Townsend Whelen&Co Boyd & Son..., D. B. Morris Bassett & Brown F. P. Mclntyre Jarvis, Halpin & Co Robt. Wood & Co John McAllister John Born JohnC. Davidson E. S. Magee C. S. Porter , Charles Armstrong.. Boyd & Son D. B. Morris Bassett & Brown F. Mclntyre Weldon & Kelly Pittsburgh Gas Co John McAllister John Born JohnC. Davidson C. Porter E. S. Magee W. J. Anderson & Co., Boyd& Son Bassett & Brown - F. Mclntyre Ecker & Sons Burke & Barnes Bissell & Co J. McAllister John Born ;J. C. Davidson , Fireman do , Watchman Tile Freight on Tile Boilers , . Tiles Interest on Bonds do Carpenter Work Plastering Painting Tiling Floor Plumbing Large Lamp Posts Engineer Assistant Engineer...... Second do Day "Watchman Janitor Coal Carpenter Work , Plastering Painting Tiling Gas Fitting Coke and Gas ,...., Engineer , 1st Assistant Engineer., 2d do do Janitor Day Watchman Iron Work Carpenter Work Painting Tile Floor Brick Work Vault Doors Grates, Fenders, &c..... Engineer , 1st Assistant Engineer. 2d do do ; 94 50 157 25 3,400 00 664 00 400 00 300 00 9 00 133 60 12 00 63 00 21 00 62 00 62 00 32 35 57 10 1,958 83 3,000 00 35 00 6,650 00 3,680 00 1,200 00 280 00 400 00 1,840 00 403 00 93 00 62 00 46 50 62 00 42 50 68 20 1,840 00 1,220 00 480 00 300 00 426 00 268 40 87 00 58 00 39 00 72 50 58 00 2,000 00 3,000 00 549 00 350 00 652 22 1,000 00 305 00 93 00 62 00 46 50 60 THE CITY HALL. 349 350 351 352, 353, 354 355, 356 357 358, 359 360, 361 362, 363 364 365 366 367, 368, 369, 370, 371 372, 373 374 375 376 377 378 379 380 381 382 383 384 385, 386, 387 388 389 390. 391, 392 393 394 395 Date. 1872. Apr. 3, do Apr. 12 Apr. 19, May 9, do do do do do do do May 13, May 28, June 3. June 15, do do June 25, June 29, July 1, do do July 3, do do do do do July 6, do July 9, July 10, July 11, do do July 17, do Dec. 28, do do 1873. Jan. 29, June 28, In Whose Favor Drawn. C. S. Porter E. S. Magee Wm. J. Anderson & Co. B. C. & J. H. Sawyer... E. S. Magee John Born ,. C. S. Porter J. McAllister J. C. Davidson F. P. Mclntyre Bassett & Brown a W.Blake D. B. Morris W. J. Anderson & Co... J. B. McAllister Michael Taeger E. S. Magee John Born F. P. Mclntyre H. Hackmaster C. L. Magee Daily Gazette John Baird, Sons & Co., Michael Yaegen Christopher King E. S. Magee John Born Estate C.P. Porter, dec'd Boyd & Sons W. J. Anderson & Co... J. "Woodwell&Co Jarvis, Halpin & Co Mackin & Alexander... Marshall Bros , Bassett & Brown City Treasurer Weldon & Kelly Kim & Sous C. L. Magee, Treas do do do W. Kerr Aug. 14,lc. L. Magee, Treas. Oct. 9, Thomas Barnes 1874. July 31, C. L. Magee, Treas., Aug, 1, do On What Account. Janitor Day Watchman Iron Work Material for Cleaning Hall., Day Watchman Night do Janitor Engineer. Assistant Engineer Tile Floor....' Painting Steam Heaters Plastering Iron Work Engineer Fireman Day Watchman Night do Laying Tile Building Hot Air Furnace. .. Interest due John Arthurs.. Advertising MarhleTile Watchman Engineer Assistant Janitor Night Watchman Janitor Carpenter Work Iron Work Hardware Plumbing Stone Stairs Iron Work Painting Cleaning City Hall G-as Fixtures Tin and Zinc Wox-k Interest paid Aug, 1, 1872... do do Interest paid Feb. 1, 1873.... Services as Architect in full. Interest due Aug. 1, 1872.... Vault door Treas. office Interest for Feb. 1, 1874., Interest for Aug. 1, 1874 . Amount. Total Disbursements Deduct Temporary Loan,. Actual Amount expended for all purposes, to July 31, 1874 $690,076 96 $ 77 50 62 00 5,000 00 80 69 60 00 60 00 75 00 90 00 45 00 450 00 500 00 1,501 52 579 90 2,000 00 93 00 62 00 62 00 62 00 700 00 117 07 350 00 10 60 2,019 23 60 00 90 00 60 00 60 00 80 00 998 40 1,112 63 68 39 1,303 54 412 00 205 48 1,062 00 369 77 55 42 30 10 6,650 00 2,205 00 595 00 9,100 00 7,000 00 9,100 00 225 00 9,100 00 9,100 00 $730,076 96 40,000 00 Recapitulation of Expenditures. Ground $100,000 00 INTEREST. Interest on Mortgage $ 9,228 75 Interest on Bonds to August 1, 1874 69,219 00 Discount on Temporary Loans 454 41 78,902 16 TEMPOKAKT LOANS. Amount Paid 40,000 00 BXCATATION. Patrick Bradley J 2,382 10 Patrick Kinoella , 71 00 Thomas Connors 84 88 2,537 98 STONE WORK. Henderson, Mackin & Co $232,289 15 Maokin & Alexander 4,666 00 236,955 15 BRICK "WORK. Bcker & Sons , 52,140 22 IRON WORK. Burke & Barnes , $ 4,975 00 Logan, Gregg & Co 12 40 Safe Deposit Co 245 61 A. Fulton's Son & Co 101 52 "W. J. Anderson & Co 13,093 06 Marshall Bros 848 93 Union Iron Mills 16 88 J. C. Schultz 80,397 45 Eobert Wood & Co 403 00 100,093 85 62 THE CITY HALL. CABPENTER WORK. Charles Ferguson I 12,227 25 Boyd & Sons 27,367 40 Per2Uson& Beck 200 55 ° $39,801 20 PAINTING. Bassett& Brown ..., $ 7,141 00 William Burke 56 00 Moore & Pollock .-— 14 95 7,211 95 ROOriNG. David Aiken & Co., (Slate) $ 966 50 Kim & Schwartz (Tin) 1,V54 95 ^ 2,721 45 PLASTERING. D. B. Morris 14,577 90 PRINTING. Evening Chronicle $ 86 20 Dispatch 100 30 Commercial 56 20 Kepublic 64 40 W. G. Johnston & Co 38 80 Post(Daily) 70 00 Sunday Leader 52 00 Freiheits Preund 22 87 Evening Mail 23 00 Pittsburgh Gazette 92 00 A. A. Anderson & Sons 51 50 657 27 GAS FITTING. "VVeldon & Kelley 1,121 42 PLUMBING. Jarvis, Halpin & Co 4,103 54 EECAPITULATION OP EXPENDITURES. 63 TILE AND LAYING. John Baird, Son & Co $ 5,019 23 Prank Mclntyre 3,475 00 $8,494 23 HEATING APPAKATirS. G. W. Blake $ 9,455 35 W. B. Scaife 94 50 9,549 85 ARCHITECT. J. W. Kerr 20,000 00 SUNDRIES. M, A. Jones $ 12 15 H. Gerwig & Co. (Ropes) 55 22 Bingham & Laing (Anthracite Coal) 42 68 Stark, McMahon & Co., (Engine) 1,600 00 Act of Assembly 50 00 Otto Wuth (Analysis of Stone) 50 00 Pittsburgh Gas Co 672 60 Fulton, Bollman & Co., (Ropes) 86 77 Mortgage Stamps 57 00 Joseph Hastings (Cleaning Cellar) 462 50 Bissell & Co ,805 00 J. W. Kerr 19 75 H. Hackmaster 117 07 J. "W. Woodwell &Co 68 39 Expressage and Stamps for Bonds 118 00 Jared M. Brush, petty expenses 70 00 Warrant for cleaning 369 77 Charles Armstrong, Coal 68 20 B. C & J. H. Sawyer,Soap 80 69 4,305 79 MAINTENANCE. Salaries of Day and Night "Watchmen, Engineers and Janitors, for over four years, 5,632 50 PKBIQHT. J. W. Haney 468 00 64 THE CITY HALL. LIGHTNIUa KODS. Fricke & Welsh $ 95 00 MAKBLE MANTELS. Beggs & Lindsay 707 50 Total $730,076 96 Deduct items not properly belonging to cost of construction 229,497 72 Actual cost of construction, $500,579 24 Construction Account. The following statement shows the actual cost, as per contracts for excavation, walling of basement, and the whole of the super- structure and finishing of the building : Excavation $ 2,537 98 Stone Work 236,955 15 Brick Work 52,140 22 Iron Work 100,093 85 Carpenter Work 39,801 20 Eoofing 2,721 45 Plastering 14,577 90 Painting 7,211 95 Gas Fitting 1,121 42 Plumbing 4,103 54 Tile and Laying 8,494 23 Heating Apparatus 9,549 85 Freight 468 00 Lightning Rods 95 00 Marble Mantels 707 50 Architect '. 20,000 00 $500,579 24 EECAPITULATION OF BXPENDrTURES. 65 City Wall Building Tax Collected. S. ALLINDER — CITY TBEASTTEBR. 5 mills, 1867 .' $ 56,617 95 5 mills, 1868 75,051 06 A. J. COCHRAN — TREASTTRBR. 5 mills, 1869 72,713 81 5 mills, 1870 74,293 24 5 mills, 1871 82,449 95 C. L. MAGBK — TREASURER. IJ mills, 1872 32,930 33 ll mills, 1873 30,402 82 i mill, 1874 20,587 88 To July 31, 1874 $445,047 04 City Treasurer — Jn Account with City Hall Commission, to July 31ST, 1874. RECEIPTS CITY BUILDING COMMISSION. Kents — Old Buildings, per Thos. Steel, Secretary $ 420 00 Temporary Loans S40,000, less discount $1,195.23 38,804 77 Bonds Sold 260,000 00 City Building Tax 445,047 04 1744,271 81 EXPEND ITITRES. Construction of Building, Maintenance, &c $511,174 80 Purchase of Ground and Interest on Mortgages 109,228 75 Interest on Bonds to August 1, 1874 69,219 00 Interest on Kenewal of Temporary Loans 454 41 Temporary Loans Paid 40,000 00 Balance in Treasury July 31, 1874 14,194 85 $744,271 81 9 Reorganization of Commission. Owing to the retirement of Thomas Steel, Secretary, and the subsequent death of Col. William Phillips, President of the Commission, which latter event took place April 14th, 1874, the Board assembled on the 4th of August following, at the office of the Surveyor of Customs : members present, Messrs. Lyon, Hays, Brush, and Hai'e. A reorganization was effected by the election of Jared M. Brush, President, and Henry W. Oliver, Jr., Secretary. The late Secretary, Thomas Steel, laid before the Commission the foregoing detailed statement of disbursements, which was ap- proved, and lie was requested to probate the same, and file in the District Court. DEC 30 IS a S' \ A OTioXr^V^hth SIDE ELEVATION REAR ELEVATION J.'WKerr, ArihJ LQWiG^lT^UiDJ^l^lAMi S:&ElIjO IJL OJo I&ehs i-ith. Put=Ta-uxs"K TH_ROTJOi£ CET^TRE r.-W: Kexr^Arcli.-* OUo Rtets Ktt- 3?itti^u^sl^. THIB-OTJOK CEITT:BE gjT! m m Iff frr I J.W.Kerr,Af-ch^ take n+hrou^h-to the left Side of Tower Otto Krebs, Lith. ,»• J. W. KERR. ARCH OTTO KREBS.LITH. BASEMENT STORY PLANS OF CITY HALL, SCALE 21 FT TO I INCH. OTTO KREBS.LITH, [iO FT. FRONT 10 FT DEEP GROUND FLOOR SCALE21 FT TO i INCH. CITT HALL PITTSBURGH, PA. J.W. KERR.ARCHT OTTO KREBS.LITH ^EjGrOilSjS' Pfc®®S^ J.W.KERR.ARCHT OTTO KREBS.LITH THIRD FLOOR J. W.KERR, ARCH OTTO KR£BS,LITH. #>ff1rii ^- i? kg c> m J. W.KERR. ARCH OTTO KRtBS.LITH. ¥%^M ®w mmmw * ^,'J