History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts - citizen hylbom blog

84 HISTOBY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY.
shop by a pump driven by a breast-wlieel. The
object of the reservoir is to supply water in case
of fire, when tlic canals are drawn off, to feed
steam-boilers, and for the use of boarding-houses.
September 11, tlie prevalence of the cholera
created much alarm. The number that had died
in Lowell, previous to date, was seventy-one, of
wliich fifty-two were buried in the Catholic bury-
ing-ground.
September 12, Father Matthew visited Lowell,
lectured in the city hall and in some of the Catho-
lic churches. Over four thousand of his countrymen
signed the pledge during his stay.
January 1, 1850, the Lowell Gas Light Com-
pany introduced gas.
The spacious court-house on Gorham Street
was erected this year. The edifice is of brick,
fire-proof throughout, and cost about $100,000.
Captain William Wyman proposed to erect an
observatory on Lynde's Hill in Belvidere. This
hill is over two hundred feet higher than the water-
level in the canals. He obtained a lithographic
plate of the observatory, commenced soliciting sub-
scriptions, and put in the foundation, wiiich re-
mains the only evidence of his patriotic intentions.
The ])rocess of kyanizing timber was commenced
by J. B. Francis, the agent of the Locks
and Canals Company. It is a preservative of
wood against wet and dry rot, attacks from insects,
and the adherence of animal and vegetable matter.
The material is chloride of zinc in solution, con-
taining fifty-five per cent of dry chlorine.
April 6, the Prescott Bank was incorporated;
capital §100,000, since increased to $300,000.
December 9, the question, " Is it expedient that
the part of Dracut called Centralville be annexed
to the city of Lowell, according to the petition of
L. G. Howe and others ? " was voted upon ; yeas
H.51, nays 1153. Notwithstanding this vnte, the
bill before the legislature was passed, to be en-
grossed February 27, 1851, and approved by tiie
governor the next day. The addition to Lowell
was about three fourths of a square mile.
January 21, 1851, the governor and rouncil a])-
pointed Fisher A. ilildrcth slieriiV for the county of
iVIiddlesex. General William llildreth of Dracut,
his ancestor, was sheriff in IS 13; he was succeeded
by General N. Austin of Charlestown, B. F. Varnum
of Dracut, and General Chandler of I>exington.
Fisher A. Hildrcth was succeeded by John
S. Kcycs of Concord, Charles Kimball of Littleton,
and Ebcn Fiske the present incumbent.
This year the manufacturing companies found it
necessary to economize in the use of water. The
old breast-wheels, having a diameter of from thir-
teen to thirty feet, and a length of twelve feet,
that had been in use from 1823 to 1845, were
being replaced by turbine-wheels. The breast-
wheels were held in high estimation, but required
an extravagant use of water. The water used did
not give more than sixty per cent of the power.
The first turbine-wheel was put in at the Appletou
Company's Works in 1839.
December 16, the old Stone Mill in Belvidere,
owned by Charles Stott, was burned. The Watson
Light Guard was organized this year.
May 22, 1852, the proposition to build a hall
in connection with the Boston and Lowell Rail-
road Company's depot on Merrimack Street was
adopted by the city council, and a committee
chosen with full power to make the contract and
carry out the plan. The result was Huntington
Hall and Jackson Hall.
April 22, the great freshet occurred. The Merrimack
rose thirteen and one half feet on the dam
at Pawtucket Falls. Stones were placed on Pawtucket
Bridge to prevent its demolition. Concord
River Bridge was barricaded. In Belvidere, on
Davidson, Wall, and Howe streets, nearly all the
houses were surrounded by water ; some of them
to the depth of four or five feet. Stott's mills,
the surrounding workshops, and the Prescott
Company's block were deep in the water. Tiie
bar-room of the City Hotel had three feet of water
in it.
All the houses on the low lands in Centralville
were flooded, and the families in them were obliged
to move out. The yards of the Middlesex, Prescott,
Massachusetts, Boott, and Lawrence compa-
nies were overflowed, also the lower rooms in their
mills.
The premises of Coburn Blood, in Dracut, were
flooded ; he saved his cattle by swimming them
to dry land. He was ninety-three years old, and
never knew the Avater so high before. The trains
on the Stony Brook and Northern Railroads were
stop])ed. The foresight of J. B. Francis in re-
building the grand locks became evident when the
water reached its highest point. The large gate
was lowered for the first time.
June 1, 1853, the Wamesit l?ank was organ-
ized, with a capital that lias since been increased
to $250,000. It went into operation Novem-
ber 1.