Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-10-18
AN OLD DIRECTORY.
Unique Book Which Served Pittsburg
Seventy-Six Years Ago.
ITS ODD ASSORTMENT OF FACTS.
Manufacturing Concerns and Names That
Are Familiar To-Day.
WHAT WAR BID FOR THE YOUNG CITY

j. f. Difenbacher, who is known to the
present generation as the directory maker,
not only of Pittsburg and Allegheny, but OF
most of the towns of Western Pennsyl-
vania, obliged reporter the other day by
the loan of directory of Pittsburg in 1915,
before ALLEGHENY Town" now city OF
over 100 900 inhabitants. had place among
the municipalities of the world, and moth
ing is calculated to show more distinctly
the difference between the even then pre-
tentious center of culture and religious and
political thought of Western Pennsylvania
and the present aggregation of intelligence,
wealth and population than comparison of
the town of 5000 souls and the present
one with q population over 40 times as
great These two cities now contain more
inhabitants than the entire State did at the
time this directory was made.
The directory of 1915 not only contained
the names, professions and residences of the
the heads of families and persons in busi-
ness in the borough of Pittsburg, but also
an appendix containing variety of useful
information regarding the Government of
the United States, with James Madison
President; Government Of Pennsylvania,
Simon Snyder, Governor; judiciary, pro-
thonotaries of the Supreme Court, President
Judges of the Common Pleas and other
courts, recorders, sherifs, ETC., justices of
the peace and constables of the borough of
Pittsburg, etc.
COULDN'T KEEP HOUSE WITHOUT TT
Besides there was full information about
Al i of ,of
postage, census of the United States and of
the principal cities of the Union, census of
the taxable inhabitants of Pennsylvania in
1914, taxes on various goods, wares and
merchandise manufactured within the
United States, mercantile taxes, stamp
duties, taxes on furniture. 1t contained a
list of Pittsburg banks and the turnpike
companies, and gave information as to a
Bible, Humane and Chemical and Physi-
illogical Society, the Pittsburg Permanent
Library Company, the Eagle and Vigilant
fire companies, the Masonic societies and
the houses of worship. 1t also contained
"almanacks" for 1915 and 1916, with court
sittings for all counties west of
history of the manufactures of Pittsburg
and instructions for securing pay, bounties,
half pay, pensions and bounty-land. There
was q table of coins of the United States
and foreign countries, "a treatise on the re-
duction of currencies of the different states
into each Others a short method of COM
putting interest and list of roads showing
the distance and towns along the routes be-
tween Pittsburg and Harrisburg, Philadel-
phia, Detroit, Washington, Vincennes,
Buffalo, Warren, Chilicothe, Urbana,
Painesville, Nashville, New Or
leans, Morgsntown, Cincinnati, etc
Indeed, the whole formed q compilation
without which the Pittsburger of that day
could scarce keep house, and it was all COM
prised in book Axe inches of 156 pages
WHAT THE COMPILER HAD TO SAY,
The compiler, evidently a man born in
ADVANCE of his age in business, was james
NJ. Riddle, lawyer, general agent, land
and stock broker, and the only one in Pitts ]