ON

"PULLING THE WOOL."

NE of the most interesting cases tried in the civil courts 40 or more years ago was that of John Dinsmore of Washington County against Barker, Kilgore & Co., wool merchants of Pittsburgh. The case was heard in the old District Court of Allegheny County, presided over by Hon. Moses Hampton and Hon. John M. Kirkpatrick, and was tried three times.

It was a battle royal between the counsel, Hon. Marcus W. Acheson, afterward Judge of the United States District Court, and W. B. Rodgers, Esq., for John Dinsmore, and the Hon. Thomas M. Marshall for the wool merchants, who were the leading dealers in wool in Western Pennsylvania.

The case ran about like this: One day a man giving the name of Dinsmore and representing himself to be the son of John Dinsmore; farmer and sheep grower of Washington County, called at the wool house and offered a fine lot of wool for sale. A bargain was struck, and the firm furnished sacks and arranged to have their drays at the station on the arrival of the consignment, which when weighed would be paid for, at sight.

Scene second occurred at the farm of John Dinsmore. The man with the wool sacks made a dicker with the sheep grower for his wool, told him he was the agent of the wool firm, and made him a most tempting offer for all the wool he could gather up. The sale aggregated almost $4,000.

Barker's alleged agent at Dinsmore's farm promptly returned to the wool house, meantime changing to Martin Dinsmore, the farmer's son. More like a fable than fact. This was, say, on a Wednesday. The young rascal got a check for the full amount of the transaction, disappeared and was never again heard of.

Two days later John Dinsmore, the farmer, arrived in the city, per agreement with the oily gammon agent, to get his money, and Barker, Kilgore & Co. were dumfounded, as was also Dinsmore.

The wool merchants declined to pay the second time and Farmer Dinsmore retained Messrs. Acheson & Rodgers to collect his unpaid bill, which in reality had been paid.

The liability of the wool firm to reimburse the rightful owner was about the only question at issue, outside of the incidents of the interesting "bunco" case, unparalleled in the history of cases in Allegheny county.

And just here is where the most interesting part of the case comes in. Mr. Kilgore of the wool firm had a friend on the news staff of one of the city papers and, fearing that the details of the case might leak out and get into the newspapers in a mangled or distorted form, called upon his reportorial friend and gave him the details just as they had developed and are explained above.

Of course, the reporter of the newspaper was the star witness, inasmuch as Mr. Kilgore himself had furnished the thread of the narrative. Every effort possible was made by Mr. Marshall to break the testimony of the reporter. He charged that the item published had been amplified; that the writer had used his own language and not that of Mr. Kilgore, and scouted the idea that the wool merchant had ever made such a statement. But he carefully refrained from putting Mr. Kilgore on the stand to deny it. He would not do it, and frankly told Mr. Marshall so. On the other hand, Acheson & Rodgers proved conclusively that

the reporter had but one source of information about the transaction, and that was Mr. Kilgore himself, and that the story given had been published at the suggestion of Mr. Kilgore, provided the reporter thought it an item of news.

The jury on each of the three trials found a verdict in favor of the farmer, for the full amount of his claim, based on the charge of the Court, that when at the Dinsmore farm, with the sacks of the wool firm, the alleged agent bolstered up his responsibility by a complete knowledge of the market prices of wool, Dinsmore was justified in believing that he was dealing with the real agent of the wool dealers. On the other hand the purchasers should have been satisfied that the man to whom they paid the money for the wool was the proper party to receipt the bill for John Dinsmore.

THE

DISCOVERY OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE.

~HE fame of Chautauqua Lake came from the work of a Pittsburgher, Col. William Phillips, president of the A. V. R. R., who early realized that the beautiful lake would prove a peerless summer resort for Pittsburghers, and increase travel on the trains on the A. V. R. R.

Matthew Bemis of Bemis Point, N. Y., and others had built a line of road from Corry, on the Philadelphia & Erie Railroad, connecting with the Oil Creek & Allegheny River and the Allegheny Valley Railroad. The line extended to Brockton, on the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railroad, passing through Mayville, at the head of Chautauqua Lake. A more forlorn waste place could scarcely have been selected for a line of railroad, and for which there were not the remotest signs of traffic, the only place worth mentioning after leaving Corry being Mayville.

But Colonel Phillips satisfied himself that it would be a great summer resort for Pittsburgh if only they would take time enough to learn where it was, how easily reached, its altitude and general attractive surroundings. That such a lake was in existence 700 feet above Lake Erie was known only to the people of New York and Jamestown, the other end of the 22 miles of water, and to people on the old Atlantic & Great Western Railroad en route through Jamestown to Salamanca, N. Y.

Accordingly Matthew Bemis and Colonel Phillips arranged for a grand excursion of prominent people of Pittsburgh. Ladies and gentlemen numbering some 200, guests of the two colonels, were taken to Mayville on special cars and on a boat toured the lake, voting it one of the most charming bodies of water in America. Correspondents filled the Pittsburgh papers with the details of this voyage of discovery, and the old Chautauqua House at Mayville was soon unable to accommodate the Pittsburghers arriving daily and especially on Saturday. Horace Fox and his charming wife made it a most delightful place to stop.

Almost in a night was established the famous "Chautauqua Route," four miles below Mayville, famous as a bass fishing grounds before the advent of the Assembly Grounds; then Point Chautauqua, the Baptist assembly grounds, about

two miles from Mayville. Bemis Point at once took the lead until "Lakewood," near Jamestown, became the most fashionable resort for the elite of America.

But Pittsburghers who visited the lake at the time referred to, after leaving Mayville, could scarcely obtain a lunch anywhere until they reached Bemis Point, Lakewood or Jamestown. Properly, therefore, must Colonel Phillips be accorded the praise of developing, for Pittsburghers, Chautauqua Lake; and besides the big steamer Jamestown, which plied the lake soon after, two other steamers-the Colonel William Phillips and the Pittsburgh-were shortly added to the list to accommodate tourists.

Colonel Phillips related with pleasure the fact that the "christening" of Chautauqua Lake, by the popular excursion of Pittsburgh people, had resulted in several romances, five or six weddings having followed acquaintanceships made on the voyage over the lake.

His principal interest was in the marriage of his splendid transportation manager, Thomas M. King, and Miss Rachel Finney, the daughter of Robert Finney of the Boatmen's and Eureka Fire Insurance Companies. I am unable to recall the other happy marriages, the romance of which began in the delightful excursion referred to.

Henry Harley and Charley Pitcher, the oil princes, appeared frequently at Lake Chautauqua after Pittsburghers began to patronize it, and many of our citizens became warmly attached to them. Together they built a sailing yacht. The boat was finished, ready to be launched and christened, when it suddenly occurred to the owners that no name had been selected. "Can't you think of a name?" said Pitcher to Harley. The latter said: "Yes, if it did not appear selfish I would like to name the yacht Susie in honor of my wife." "By jove," said Pitcher, "just the trick. My wife's name is Susie. The yacht is named The Two Susies," and many pleasant parties of Pittsburghers enjoyed the hospitality of Harley and Pitcher.

FEEDING BY WEIGHT.

UT west you pay as you leave the restaurants to take your train.

When

you enter you are weighed; weighed again as you leave, and you are charged by the pound. A knowing fellow entered with a fire brick in each pocket of his duster, was weighed, and while eating adroitly removed the bricks and left them under the table. Weighed as he passed out, one pound lighter, the restaurant keeper had to give him a rebate slip which he cashed in for fifty

cents.

A

A CHARMED AUDITOR.

FTER the young man had sung "Love's Young Dream" in a delightful voice an auditor broke the silence in the most eloquent language, and assured the host that he could sit and listen to the singer all night-yes, sir, the same singer all night long-"if I was drugged."

ΜΥ

CHARCOAL PIG IRON IN 1853.

Y MEMORY of an old charcoal iron furnace on Bullion Run, Venango County, operated as early as the spring of 1853 by a Pittsburgh manufacturer in tin and copper, John C. Smith, father of the author of this volume, is freshened by a glance into the pages of the old "day book," which recorded the original entries at the furnace store, some 65 years ago. Few people, indeed, knew of the existence of this furnace, as it was in such an out-of-theway place, but it was reached by boats on the Allegheny River to Scrubgrass and by drive via Butler, Parkers Landing, etc. It was a small furnace, but here the pig metal industry was carried on in its most primitive way-by water power.

I append some of the entries in the "scratcher," or day book, kept at the furnace store, which will be appreciated the more as the prices are contrasted with present cost of high living, or high cost of present living.

Tea sold at $1 per pound; iron, 61⁄2c.; coffee, 16c.; plug tobacco, 6c.; calico, 122c. Just here let me explain that the 4 and 2 cent meant something then, because the "fippeny-bit," a silver coin, was worth 64 cents, while the "levy" was rated at 121⁄2 cents. Afterward the 5 and 10 cent coins took their places.

Cordwood sold for 45c. per cord; sugar, 10c.; 221⁄2 pounds sole leather brought $5.621⁄2; beef, 4c. per pound; flour, 4c. per pound; coal, 14c. per bushel. Labor was paid 50c. a day and upward and board, although some entries show $2 per day for labor-likely skilled; bacon brought 122c.

Some of the entries in detail are appended:

Tobacco, tea and file, $1.65; rice and tobacco, 34c.; bacon and tobacco, $1.65; lead, powder and tobacco, 264c.; candles, gloves and tobacco, 4934c.; nails and suspenders, $1.50; pitch fork, 872c.; coffee and shawl, $5; tobacco and candles, 48c.; candles and molasses, 884c.; coffee, tobacco and tea, 98c.; tobacco and mattock, $1.314; cash, coffee and tobacco, $26.33%; three pairs boots, $12; shot and caps, 18c.; spikes, saleratus and candles, 56c4.; tobacco, pipe and handkerchief, 2034c.; one pound of tobacco, 371⁄2c; hat and fiddle strings, $1.314; oats, beef and horse shoes, 98c.; corn, oats and sugar, 61c.

About one-half of the extras in each account was for tobacco, but there is not a single entry for alcoholic beverages, unless it was under the head of "tea," as it sometimes happened in later years. But the writer is certain that some of the furnace men were at times on intimate terms with John Barleycorn, whose followers called it "mountain tea," but where it came from deponent saith not.

Payment was made in various ways, very little actual money changing hands, and still less business in the way of bank checks. For instance, there are credits for 2,000 feet of boards, $15; 12 cords of wood, $5.40; for digging ore, chopping wood, day's labor, a watch, going to mill, one yoke of cattle, boarding, "butter and apron," hay, straw and hauling. A specific instance reads: For coffee and a shawl, charged at $5, payment was made by one hog, weighing when dressed 125 pounds at 5c. per pound. Another account was balanced by an ox yoke, labor and coal, and still another was paid for in "comforts, ropes and 3,944 bushels of coal."

A

BUSY MARTS IN DUQUESNE WAY.

WALK along Duquesne way suggests its early days and the changes

in its business enterprises in 50 years, its boat yards, saw mills and coal yards, its bulk oil barges; its up river boats, and its timber floats; its Oil Exchange, affording plenty of excitement all day of business hours; its crowded hotel at Seventh street and Duquesne way; its horse market; its pleasure boat-houses; its big brewery and the Wayne Iron Works at Tenth street, adjoining the property of the Fort Wayne Railroad. There was no more busy place in the city than Duquesne way in the early 60's and later on, and the daily newspapers relied largely upon the doings of the Oil Exchange, the gossip of the hotel, the brewery, the rivermen, etc., news as filtered from the politicians who made it a rendezvous, for pointers generally leading to many superb news items.

Pittsburgh was then one of the leading oil centers. Beginning in old Lawrenceville, or about what is now Thirty-third street, extending to beyond the Sharpsburg bridge, along the Allegheny River, were numerous oil refineries, the products from petroleum oil being carbon oil, benzine, naphtha, etc. Dave Reighard, whose refinery was on Thirty-third street, afterwards organized the Columbia Conduit Company, later selling out to the Standard Oil Cimpany; the Nonpareil Oil Works, Fairview Refinery, Citizens Oil Company and many others were among the leading refineries of the country. Benj. W. Morgan, well known in political circles in Pittsburgh as "the Red Planet of War," was connected with the Nonpareil Company, and Andy Lyons and Jared M. Brush, the latter Mayor of Pittsburgh, were leaders in the Citizens' works.

Cooper shops everywhere in Allegheny County did a thriving business, as the demand for barrels was unprecedented, and right in Pittsburgh was hoop iron made to supply almost the entire demands of the country. An immense brick cooper shop was erected in the Eighteenth ward, along the Allegheny Valley Railroad, for more than a block-at the time said to have a capacity greater than any similar factory in America, but it was not long after this that the Standard Oil Company, having absorbed all the oil refining companies in Pittsburgh, took over the cooper shop, also, and the Oil Exchange, refining business, barrel factory, etc., vanished from Pittsburgh as if blotted out of sight in a single night-Cleveland becoming the home of these consolidated refining interests, and pipe lines superseding bulk boats and river shipments.

A tremendous blow was given to Pittsburgh's industries when the Standard Oil Company revolutionized things; but like the depression after the big fire in 1845, when pessimists thought the city would never be rebuilt, and a greater city was the result, so the great city designed to be the workshop of the world could not be checked by such a little thing as losing the oil industry, and new and marvelous industries developed with such rapidity that the city soon forgot it ever had a gigantic oil industry.

An indication of the extent of the oil trade in this city in 1867; on the 30th of April, at 10 p. m. a large iron tank containing 17,500 gallons of petroleum oil, at the Fairview oil works of Dr. Arnold Herz, on the Allegheny Valley Railroad near the Sharpsburg bridge, was struck by lightning, ignited and the burning continued until 3 p. m. the next day, destroying the tank, the agitating