Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-02-27
PITTSBURG is PRAISED
II Is COmplimented for Its Rapid Ad-
vancement in Every Way.
CITYOF CULTURE AND ACTIVITY.
The Leading Causes of Its Evident Improve
ment Pointed Out.
GIVEN A HIGH ToNEBT ITS NEWSPAPERS

There are some things in nature and ar
that one cannot quite understand except b,
contact, says writer in the last issue O
Hd'pa'S Weekly, which also contains pic
ture of the Penn Incline, drawn by T. H
Schell, and view of the city from Grand
view avenue, drawn by Charles Graham
In its modern attributes, the city of Pitts
burg seems to be one of these, continues tht
writer, for to people whose ideas of material
evolution are based on the conventional anC
the normal there is an elnsive element ii
It's present state that cannot always bt
taken into account. II is the difference be
tween the old and new in Pittsburg that the
occasional visitor is at loss to understand
One may expect changes in the newer part
of the West, where towns and cities some
times change with each phase of the moon
Or the real estate market. bnt in the East
which has had its character formed for i0C
years, q radical change is something almos,
withou; parallel. P;ttsburg's Eastern
ncighbors are hardly 10 be blamed, there
fore, for some shadow of reluctance in grasp
lug the full measure Of her modern evolu-
tion. One must have been in contact with
both conditions &c properly appreciate the
change
1t was in the early hours CT a quiet ApM
morning that l first saw the old PittsbGrg.
had yoyageo down the Allegheny river for
three Gays on huge lumber raft, and on
the morning of the fourth day the raft pas
sea from among the green hills and the
sloping banks, and made q landing at what
seemed 70 be and probably was the smokiest,
sootiest, dingiest spot on the North Ameri-
can continent The landing place was on
the Allegheny City levee, Just opposite
Pittsburg. The buildings up and down the
river were black and dirty beyond all hope
OF cleanliness, the bridges were grimy with
SCOT and smoke, the steamboats, that went
wheeling about as though checked with the
smoke from their own furnace were painted,
from 5ackstays 20 rudder posts with the
universal CRIME, and over all was cloud of
smoke that rolled and drifted and surged as
thick as black fog. Smoke was every
where. No crevice was small enough to
keep II oIt and no surface was smooth
enough 10 refuse its LAYER of SCOT. The
streets, the business blocks, and even the
private houses where anthinkably dirty and
forbidding.
Immense Improvements on Every Side
Years afterward L again stood on the river
bank, and looked out across the city of
more There was smoke here and there, but
it was mostly from the steamboats, on the
river and the locomotives in the railway
yards. The chimnevs of the foundries and
mills no longer gave forth great volumes of
black smoke. The sun was shining clear
INC full in the city Streets and all about
was the clean bright aspect of the average
Eastern city. Forgetting the lapse of time,
IL seemed to me that the mills were shut
down and business closed; but was assured
by Pittsburg friend that the quiet-looking
city was doing more work, and incidentally
making more money, than it ever had done
before The mills were running under high
pressure, and the business streets were
humming with traffic. Since my first visit
MANY new buildings had been erected in all
parts of the city, and public improvements
had been made that were a credit TO the
State. Everywhere about there was evi-
denee of improvement and change
Home Pittsburg and working Pittsburg
are two verv different cities The contrast
never fails to surprise one when it is re-
vealed The visitor to the city sees along
the river front an endless succession of
mills and factories, reddening the skies
with their furnace glares. He lands in the
business section-a limited area OF bottom
land in tine angle formed by the junction of
the Monongahela and Allegheny rivers 1t
is a crowded, bustling place, noisy with the
traffic which eongests its rather narrow
thOrough!ares Here are the hotels and
theaters, and this is the Pittsburg which the
casual visitor sees. But if he should take
an electric or cable car (the horse car is a
thing of the past) for a ride in the residence
section, how soon is the scene Transformed!
Soon he enters an undulating country,
where are to be seen nothing but lawns,
gardens cottages, villas, groves, meadows
and parks. For miles around the visitor
sees what he will pronounce to be beauti-
ful suburban landscape. But this is Pitts
burg, Just as much as the work-a-dav sec
ton that is the Pittsburg of industrial re-
nown. These embowered cottages are as
completely city residences as if they were
on Fifth avenue. They have every usual
city convenience, and IN addition have the
Incompatible facility of fuel gas.
Natural Gas Brought About the Change,
This Frightening Of Pitts5urg's outward
appearance and the quicSenlng of her bust
ness life was brought about BIZ natural gas.
Like other important sources OF its wealth,
Pittsbufg's beneficial agent in this respect
came from the upper Allegheny river. Nat
ural gas had been used by the oil region
towns in the Allegheny Valley for several
years in desultory sort of way, but when it
was found that gas wells. in contradistinc-
tion to oil wells, would give handsome re-
turn for the capital invested, a systematic
effort was made to find them near the large
ceuters of population. In course of time Oil
CITY. TitHsville and other valley towns of
considerable population were not only
lighted but also heated by natural gas, at
prices usually satisfactory to the consumer.
Ii was not long before the gas was found in
large quantities in the neighborhood of
Pittsburg and companies were soon formed
for the purpose of conveying it in pipes to
the mills, business blocks and private
houses.
Steam-users found that gas was a much
better fuel than coal, and householders dis
covered, what the oil-region people had
known for years, that gas is the ideal fuel
for domestic purposes. A peaceful revolu-
ton took place in Pittsburg The great
mills ceased to belch forth huge clouds of
smoke, the merchant no longer looked upon
SCOT as the chief enemy of the human race,
and the careful housewife put gas burners
into their coal stoves, and took courage to
clean house Every one felt the beneficial
change except the coal dealer. House.
holders frightened up the exteriors of their
houses, new houses were built that had not
even been contemplated before, and many
were projected that could
not have been thought of in the old atlnos-
phere of smoke and soot People who had
business in Pittsburg, but were unwilling to
live there, soon moved into the city, and |
others who wanted both business and homes
in Pittsburg had no excuse for remaining |
away.
Only Six Cities Are Ahead Of Her.
The population increased at remarkable |
rate Hardly any boom city of the new |