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Columbia and the long road to water works, 1929 - 1933 Many individuals and many factors played vital roles in Columbia's advances in the earlier years of the 20th century, but perhaps no entity had greater impact than the Adair County News. Owner-publisher Charles S. Harris and long-time editor John Edward "J.E." Murrell relentlessly, unabashedly, thundered for progress in Columbia and Adair County from the bully pulpit of the paper. Whether the cause du jour was good roads, more bridges, increased commerce, modern conveniences, or better educational opportunities, The News stood foursquare for it, sometimes in the voice of a wise uncle, sometimes in that of a stern parent, sometimes -- ofttimes -- in that of the shrewd businessman pointing out the financial advantages, sometimes cajoling and sometimes shaming, but always, always, in favor of progress. Columbia and the long road to water works, 1929 - 1933 By JIM As early as 1902, C.S. Harris and the Adair County News began pounding the editorial pulpit in favor of water works for Columbia. In August that year, in reference to a recent interview with Eld. W.K. Azbill, the paper stated, "He [Azbill] mentions two lines that would be profitable to the men or company who would back them. We need water-works, [and] we need an electric plant." The electric plant loomed perhaps closer on the near-event horizon than anyone imagined; W.R. Myers brought that marvel to Columbia in 1904, albeit on a very limited basis and for just a few hours each evening. Citizens of the town had a much longer wait for the water works -- some thirty years and pocket change. With irregular frequency, the paper again and again brought up the notion of a city-wide water system over the next two and half decades, only to be ignored again and again. Finally, with what would prove to be incredibly bad timing, the City Council addressed the issue in the summer of 1929. By then, "that rough beast" of the Great Depression slouched ever closer toward Wall Street, Main Street, and the town square. The Hamlett family, who had held ownership and editorship of the newspaper since 1917, stayed true to C.S. Harris' watchword: progress. The July 30 edition carried an editorial, top and nearly center on the front page under the headline "Our Greatest Need." It read, in part, "The community that is not modern and up-to-date cannot expect to compete with its more progressive sister town. Columbia is the junction of several important highways, fast nearing completion and the opportunity of the town's life is at hand, if we grasp it. The time has come when real growth will be evidenced if we can make our town the attractive and desirable place in which to locate and the tourist to stop and spend his money. Shall we take advantage of this opportunity and get busy while there is yet time...?The last sentence gives the tip the paper knew the City Council meeting had this issue on the agenda for the council meeting scheduled for later in the week. At this meeting, three of Columbia's best-known businessmen were appointed as a committee "to investigate ways and means of procuring the water system and the best plan for doing so." The three were:
This was a front page news item. On this same front page, one article noted that the grading on the Greensburg-Columbia road had just been completed and that the Columbia-Burkesville road grading neared completion, while another stated, "The work of surveying the road from this place to the Russell County line was started last Wednesday [July 31]." The News tied these events into the need for a water system in a third piece headlined "Roads Drawing Crowds," noting that in recent days a lot of people from Greensburg and Burkesville had been enjoying the new roads, and that cars from Hardin, Warren, Barren, Larue "and more distant counties" had brought many more visitors to the Columbia area. The paper used this information as a segue to argue, "Visitors from these various points, that may all be inspected in a few hours' ride, never fail to compare our community with the other[s] through which they are passing and their own home town. This is all the more reason why we must try to make Columbia up-to-date in every respect and a more desirable place to live in. CITY WATER should be the first step along this line, All of our neighbors that compare in size and prosperity with Columbia have it, why can't we?"Despite the early August assurances that the Messrs. Reed, Ballard, and Montgomery were busy studying the issue, The News remained mum on the subject for the remainder of 1929 and the first two months of the following year. (The City Council members sworn into office in January 1930 were S.E. Shively, G.M. Stevenson, S.C. Neat, George Hancock, E.J. Bennett and C.E. Keen. Mayor John B. Coffey had been elected a couple years earlier and still had two years left on his term. Mr. Coffey also served as a Deputy State Fire Marshal, a position to which he had received appointment in 1928.) In early March 1930, the paper reported that Captain S.G. Render, "fire department expert from the Ky. Actuarial Bureau at Louisville" (and no doubt an acquaintance both of G.R. Reed and Mayor Coffey) had spent a number of days in Columbia the previous week upon the invitation of (unnamed) city officials. The stated purpose of his visit "was to give the fire department and citizens generally the benefit of his training and experience in the subjects of fire prevention, control, and extinguishment." The article continued by stating, "One of the greatest needs of our City, the Captain pointed out, was the installation of a small modern water works system...not only for fire protection, but also from the standpoint of the general public health, convenience and the future growth of the community."Three months later came a passing whisper of hope when a representative of the West Virginia Utilities Co., owners of the Campbellsville and Springfield water systems, blew into town the first of May with a tentative offer for submission to the City Council to install such a system in Columbia, provided that "the local people are interested, and give [the utility company] enough encouragement." To this news piece, the paper appended the opinion that while it seemed likely Columbia would be able to secure this much-needed convenience, the question was whether it should be owned privately (by a utility company, e.g.) or by the city. In answer to its own query, The News further stated, "There seems to be little doubt among those, who have investigated the matter that a municipally owned plant would be far better if it can be financed." Columbia received a nudge in the form of financial impetus in late July 1930 when Mayor Coffey received a letter from George H. Parker, manager of the Kentucky Actuarial Bureau (the 1930 census gave his occupation as "manager, engineering"). In the first paragraph of the letter, he wrote "Please be advised that the experience in Kentucky has proved that the present credit in dwell rates for Ninth Class fire protection is not justified and that an increase in the dwelling rates in your town is necessary."He continued by saying (in so many words) this was due both to the level of fire defense available in Columbia and the fact that no water works system existed in the town. However, he softened the blow by stating, "Ordinarily, the installing of a modern water-works system and some slight improvements in the fire department will justify an Eight Class grading." Mr. Parker went to mention, "Our engineers are at your service without cost to assist in working out the details." Whether or not Columbia took advantage of the free engineering services wasn't recorded in The News, but behind the scenes, the Council continued getting things lined up, and beginning in late August, a nearly full page legal announcement appeared in the paper, opening with the words "An ordinance providing for the purchase, construction, and installation of an adequate system of water works in the town of Columbia, Kentucky under the provisions of Chapter 92 of the Acts of the General Assembly of 1930..."The Ordinance included an invitation to bid. The Kentucky legislature "provisions of...1930" referenced here allowed smaller towns such as Columbia to issue bonds for the installation of a water system, a much more viable way than in years past. The Ordinance notice also appeared in the next two editions of the paper, and on the last day of September 1930 came word that the City Council, having examined the bids, had selected the one from Phelps-Drake Co. out of Minnesota (the newspaper erroneously reported the firm's location as Chicago), in the sum of $56,272.74. And, "After further investigation it is thought that the contract will be awarded within the next twenty days and work commence immediately." This came only after a "friendly test suit" (injunction) had been filed on the grounds that two acts passed by the 1930 legislature contradicted each other. The apparently conflicting act stated (quoting from The News) that "municipal water works could not be mortgaged or sold without two-thirds vote... The injunction was "denied by the judge of this Judicial District and also by a Judge of the Court of Appeals," thus clearing the way for the Town Board to award the bid. (At that time, the Court of Appeals served as Kentucky's highest-level state court.) And with that late September 1930 announcement, silence fell; no more mentions of the water works appeared in the local paper until the last edition of the year, December 30, when a full ad sponsored by nearly fifty Columbia businesses and individuals, the latter including Mayor John B. Coffey and Judge W.G. Shepherd, indirectly told the story: "Running Up the FlagWhy the City Council never let the Phelps-Drake contract (or if it were let, why the work never came to fruition) drew no mention in the paper, but come late January 1931, a legal notice "for bids constructing a water works supply and distributing system within the city of Columbia, Kentucky," appeared in the local paper. All bidders were required to submit a certified check for 5% of the amount bid, and all bids had to conform completely to "the plans, specifications, plats, drawings, engineering requirements and information" as adopted by the City Council and provided to the potential bidders. Several bids rolled in, and the February 10 edition of The News announced the Pittsburgh - Des Moines Steel Co. of Chicago had submitted the lowest at $55,462. (In what possibly was a sign of the times, this amount totaled about $800 less than the bid by the Phelps-Drake Co. nearly eighteen months earlier.) The winner, originally called the Des Moines Iron and Bridge Company, had been in business nearly 40 years. In the middle of March, a legal notice occupying two-thirds of a page in fairly small typeface regarding "an Ordinance authorizing and providing for the issuance of $65,000.00 on water works bonds for the city of Columbia" appeared in the newspaper, and four weeks later came this message via The News: "The most welcome news received in Columbia for some time was a wire from the Green Engineering Company stating that the water works bonds had been approved and that work on Columbia's water system could begin immediately."And with that, representatives from Pittsburgh - Des Moines Steel were expected to arrive in Columbia at any time "to sign the contract and execute bond." The company had already promised to use local labor to the extent possible, welcome news in its own right. Said the newspaper, "After the work begins it will take about ninety days to put in the water mains, connections and the equipment, and have the plant in a workable condition.The remainder of April and all of May passed with no developments forthcoming, but the June 3, 1931 edition of The News reported that Mr. Ed H. Green of Green Engineering, Paducah, Ky., was to meet with the City Council that week "and it is hoped that some definite action on the water works will be taken. A few days previously, Mr. Green had expressed confidence work would begin "in the near future." From that point, two more months dragged by with neither progress reports nor any other related news until finally, just before the middle of August, readers found this gracing the front page of the paper: "Several months ago the city of Columbia entered into a contract with the Pittsburgh - Des Moines Steel Company of Pittsburgh for the installation of a water system. This company failed to carry out the contract and last week assigned same to Arthur H. Mann of Evansville, and Christensen Bros. Co., of Urbana, Illinois.Finally, finally, Mr. Mann of Evansville, Ind., and Mr. J.L. Walker of Clay, Ky., the latter representing the Christiansen Bros. of Urbana, and a group of engineers arrived in Columbia in early September, with the equipment, shipping out of Clay, Ky., expected to arrive within a few days. Mr. Walker was quoted as saying that work should commence within 10 days; that it should take six to eight weeks to complete; and that about a dozen and a half local men would be employed for the job. (This same edition of The News -- September 9, 1931 -- also mentioned progress on another front -- electricity, stating that the Central Kentucky Electric Company [Columbia's provider] was "making a survey from Columbia to Cane Valley on the Campbellsville Pike" with the expectation of soon extending the service to Cane Valley and "run[ning] their line as far as Coburg.") Less than a month later, work was well under way. On the first day of October, a trenching machine began baring a ditch for the water main line. The property for the filtering station, purchased some months earlier from J.H. Young, lay "in the rear of the Lindsey Wilson Junior College...near the site of Wilson's old mill." By time the October 7 edition went to press, the ditch, three and a half feet deep and twenty-two inches wide, had been extended from the creek bank at the site of the future filtering system "to the rear of the college." The article also stated that "in a field just behind the college property a seventy-five thousand gallon reservoir will be erected." By this time, Mr. Christensen stated the work should be completed in two and half months, barring complications. And with this progress reported, the paper breathed a collective sigh of relief by stating, "The important thing is that the contractors are at work and the water system is at last assured." Mr. Christensen kept the men and machines going apace, so much that two weeks later The News commented, "The trenching machine continues to do its work daily and it will not be long until the entire town will be ditched." The article also mentioned that the pipes were being put down right behind the trencher, but that the ditches "will not be covered up until the water has been run through them." A few days later, less than month after the pipework started, well-known Columbia contractor Wood Judd won three contracts related to water works, to-wit: the filtering plant and the pumping station, to be erected on the banks of Russell Creek on the aforementioned land purchased from J. H. Young, both buildings to be built of brick and concrete; and the foundation for the 75,000 stand pipe to be placed "on Lindsey Hill behind the school property." By the time this news appeared in the October 28 edition of the paper, Mr. Judd had already commenced work on the filtering plant and pumping station structures. Plans called for the two buildings to be completed by the time all the pipelines were laid. The middle of November found the ditching, nearly completed, thanks in part to "beautiful fall weather," despite difficulty working along some of the streets because of "large rocks underground." Urged the paper, "Anyone who expects to have water piped into their home in the near future should attend to the matter at once for it will cost nothing except the monthly cost of the water now and will be quite an expense to tap the pipe lines and in the meter later."The article concluded by stating, "now that our dream is about to be realized it seems too good to be true." Another brief note in this edition remarked that Mr. Christensen, who been ill for two weeks, had returned to Illinois. Another brief entry in early December in the "Personal" column told the rest of that story: "Mr. Christ Christensen, who has been ill at his home in Urbana for the past three weeks with typhoid fever is some better. His son is here looking after the work of installing the water system in Columbia."(He didn't return to Columbia until toward the end of January 1932. The son, Holger Christensen, remained in Columbia for several years and operated first a plumbing business and later, from about 1939 into the 1940s, a plumbing supply store.) Come 1932, The News remained absolutely silent about the water works until the very end of March, when a news item gracing the sweet spot of the front page explained the long delay: "Water System To Be CompletedHardly had the ink dried on that edition of The News until the (unnamed) Cincinnati firm balked, refusing to buy the bonds "unless the town could show $1,530 additional annual income from the plant, when put into operation." The Columbia City Council immediately voted in favor of paying $500 more for rental of fire hydrants, and "Christensen & Co. made some concessions: a number of new signers were added to the list of subscribers, and certain consumers agreed to a larger minimum [usage]." The latter group included "the schools, garages, court house and various other places" that originally appeared on the roll as paying the single subscriber rate of $1.75 per month. Those concessions appeared to appease the Cincinnatians as three weeks later, the paper proclaimed work had resumed and that "If nothing further happens to hold up their plans, citizens of Columbia should be enjoying their own bathrooms by July or perhaps before that time." The article went on to state that work on the filtering plant and pumping station had already commenced (on the properties previously mentioned), and that "When this work is far enough along, the stand pipe will be shipped here and put up in order that everything may be completed at about the same time." (No mention appeared of the contracts earlier awarded to Wood Judd for this work, or any of the construction work he might have done.) This piece went to praise Christensen & Co. for "put[ting] forth every effort to hurry the plans along," adding that "it has been an unfortunate situation caused by the depression, and no blame should be placed at their door." The article also had good words aplenty for Columbia druggist and banker Fred Hill, a nephew of the brothers Paull. Said the paper in part, "He has devoted much of his time and influence and no little thought in helping solve the many problems which have confronted the town in securing waterworks." And on that cheerful note, the paper went midnight dark concerning the water plant -- no updates, not even mentions in passing -- for over three months, the next news coming in early August 1932. An article in the August 3 edition of the paper stated that the previous Wednesday (July 27) several men had met "to discuss ways and means for completing Columbia's long looked-forward to water system. The gathering included "a number of leading business men" of Columbia, a representative of Christensen and Co., and first term U.S. Congressman Cap R. Carden, Representative of Kentucky's Fourth Congressional District. The article noted bonds sold for the project had been used as collateral "for work done thus far" but proceeding without additional funding was impossible. The men assembled decided to apply to the newly formed Reconstruction Finance Corporation for a loan in the sum of approximately $30,000 in order to finally complete the project. At press time, said the paper, "Mr. Carden's secretary is investigating...and it looks as if it may be acted upon favorably." That feeble ray of hope preceded another long period of silence; eleven long weeks dragged by until (conditional) good news finally arrived. The October 19 News informed readers that the RFC had approved a loan for Columbia in the amount of $29,000, "with certain [unspecified] measures that must be met before the money is available." The article also slathered glory on City Attorney Ralph Hurt, crediting the "clear, concise manner in which he stated the case and made the application" for the quick approval, conditional though it were, for the loan. The remainder of October and all of November and December 1932 inched by, another long period of little real news in regard to water for Columbia. In early January 1933, a list of expenditures incurred by the city during the fiscal / calendar year just ended included the following items:
Later in the month, a long Annual Report of the Adair County Health Department (author unattributed but penned by Dr. Gradie R. Rowntree, acting director of the Health Department), noted in passing -- this in regard to water contamination, specifically Salmonella typhi -- that "The new water works for Columbia will soon be complete and now there is a movement toward a new sewage disposal system." (The mention of a future sewage system for businesses on the square had made front news in February with the caveat it could come only after completion of the water works. James Broaddus, an engineer for the Relief Fund, had drawn up plans for such a system to run from the square to an unspecified point in Russell Creek. He estimated the cost at $3,750 "using the relief labor, otherwise the cost would be around five to six thousand dollars." A front page article a few days before Christmas 1933 reported the Civil Works Administration had just approved several projects for Columbia, including "extending the sewage system from the public square to the Columbia Graded School..." According to a later article, this system served "part of the Square, Oak Street, Garnett Street, and Jamestown Street."It was expanded in 1936 to include Greensburg and Burkesville streets, Merchant Street, Frazer Avenue, "and that portion of the Public Square which has never had access to a sewer." At the same time, a large septic tank was also constructed, "into which sewage will flow before reaching Russell Creek.") A one sentence update appeared on page five of the paper near the end of April 1933, stating simply, "In a short time Columbia's water system will be complete and in operation. The tower [i.e., the stand pipe] is now under construction and will be finished soon." A few days later, the City Council awarded the Columbia Plumbing Shop, owned and operated by Wyatt Conover and Edwin Hutchison, a contract to superintend the soon-to-be completed system, to-wit: "They are to care for all the machinery, make repairs on the lines when necessary, collect from subscribers, and attend to other necessary duties in connection with keeping the water works in perfect operation."At the same time, the Council also voted to purchase from the Aetna Hose Co. 1,000 feet of fire hose, "which will greatly aid the Columbia Fire Department in their duties." A few more weeks quietly slipped by until the May 24 edition stated the 75,000 gallon standpipe, "erected on Lindsey Hill to hold Columbia's supply of water," had been completed and that the water would be flowing within a matter of days. In a bit of understatement, the paper noted, "This is welcome news to the many people who have waited so patiently..." A bold front page headline in the June 14 edition of The News proclaimed, "Columbia Water System Now in Operation," stating, "The water system was turned on Wednesday, July 7." The article also remarked that "Every person who has been interested in this important project feels like shouting the news from the housetops for it has been done under the most adverse conditions which could not be helped and were the fault of no one."An article appearing in a number of Kentucky newspapers (including the Louisville Herald-Post and The Hustler, Madisonville) in the summer of 1933 about the progress made in Columbia despite national economic conditions, reported the water works had been completed at a cost of $60,000. The Davis Hardware Co. ad imaged here appeared in the paper on June 7, 1933 -- the day the water flowed -- tells the story: that the water system was fully functional, nearly four long years after the City Board first considered the matter. See Also: An Addendum: Typhoid fever, 1931-1932 This story was posted on 2023-07-13 09:31:29
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More articles from topic Jim: History:
Progress in Columbia, June 1933: Water Works, New Adair Hotel Short takes from the Adair County News, June 12, 1923 Lest we forget A record worthy of remembrance Columbia's Building Boom, 1903 The Columbia Kroger Store, 1936 - 1959 IGA Super Market on the Columbia Square Early December 1942 Letter: A few notes on Willis Furniture The Mary Jane Blakeman lot (Patteson Building) View even more articles in topic Jim: History |
 
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