Central High School - Red and Black Yearbook (St Louis, MO)

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early marriage contracts, personal letters of early commandants and governors, suits, and sales contracts. Most of these are more than a century old. Noti:eY In l87l there appeared an article in the Missouri Democrat which stated that the skirts worn by the fashionable ladies were too long. Three years after this important notice appeared. St. Louis was ready for action. No! not ready to shorten the ladies' skirts, but ready to progress as a city. Changes and improvements were taking place. The Eads Bridge was 9 Eads Bridge opened! After ten years of work, this bridge was ready for use. The cost of this structure was approximately fBl0,000,000, and it is classed as one of the best bridges in the world. The Four Courts and Jail Buildings, of cream-colored stone, were completed in l87l. The jail is very well lighted and ventilated. QA break for the jail- birds. I The year 1871 is also outstanding for the completion of the waterworks system. This system was greatly improved seventeen years later. The waters of the Muddy Mississippi are now purified by means of a great system of connected reservoirs at the Chain of Rocks. The purpose of this system is to purify the water supply by settling. The great advantage of having pure water has attracted many people to our dear old city. About this time most business of St. Louis was carried on around Fourth Street. The Hrst to move west were the jobbing and wholesale merchants. Other establishments followed their example, and, slowly, our business district moves westward, block by block, until its present destination was reached. November 30, 1875, marks the day when our present State Constitution became effective. Eighteen amendments to this Constitution have been adopted. The powers of the government in Missouri are divided between the central 71LL'L'f7ltlft'1-Qhl

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+ . X 1 -M xW I'I'IE mm am ,amass m. mt drummer boy in his teens to the graybearded veteran who had served in the Prussian or other German armies, these loyal citizens fought to save their republic. Not only in our city but everywhere. they sacrificed their homes and lives for the benefit of all. 1865 marks the opening of the central branch of the St. Louis Public School Library now the Public Library on the block from Thirteenth to Fourteenth Street and was erected at the cost of 81,650,000 The building was designed by Cass Gilbert and is of gray granite, the style of architecture being that of the early period of the Italian Renaissance. In connection with this library, there are branch libraries located in various parts of the city. In 1885, with the breaking of ground for the first great fireproof office building in St. Louis, began the 'Asky-scraper era of architectural construction which has transformed the physical appearance of the business section of our city. Lofty buildings succeeded one another with an almost bewildering rapidity. Coincidentally, there was a marked increase in the number of large industrial plants in St. Louis. There was also a vast increase in the capitaliza- tion and influence in local banks, and the organization of trust companies was an accompanying feature of the time. ' I . u - b. .6 ' 1 if 9 . 'A t N5 9 gl My-n 'in 'V' ln' A -v 1975, S at sr 4 P d 9 -.L .P '- 1 31 I e up ,Q ui I 'A ,L I ' I' ' I Ca 6, 6 wg 60 +.,,' an A qi ,J 'm 0.4. . .,, - ., 40' N v G' F v -. -L I o 'I 5- A A . v I f . , 4' . f ' '49 lor 1 'H ' ii '0 0 ' Y . lg Q' ' 9 X' Nw ir on 41. - Q . .9 0 a' 4 I ' ' U 'L ' fb, .' if J' 3 1 .1 6 0-J 3 nw.- ,,,,,,, SA, x5'l A -va. 1, -1,12 5, S h 4 . NT 3 OUIS X Q gg 2 1. l Q 1- c. X wry ,ww clrrun-ln-,,,, S 5 2 5' Sl 5 :. Q v 3. ' tm'- 'lu--i S 5 H '4 3 : f' .., .,, . . - ' Q r h 6. ,4 X ' 5 SAW ss: 5 -viii 6' Q' gif 5 5' -1' 1 now' I X 5 T ,,, , . 5 il, 5 v a Q Y 0. e B 4- 173 . .4 A A .1 , I H , ,, A F .X 5 fs., 4- w + .N 1 Low? f 5- 'bbw + .Q e N ' . 5 -I ui 3 Wi Q' R gf 5 5 It Mflrq 5 5 Z: 4-' Q ,. ul , N al 5 DE: 5 v I8 Q Q Q gf- f X UTY ilor sr L 5 E 70 ,uf 64 W' X - OUIS D' 5. Jlf' X 1574 Savane 1-111.4-lass as A Z ' A Z G ' .X 0 4 N r , 2 R-' , The building of the Missouri Historical Society at 1600 Locust Street was purchased the next year. Among the collections can be found many of the original manuscripts of the French and Spanish days in Missouri. These include a great number of the original petitions of early settlers of Missouri for land grants, petitions for the incorporation of St. Louis as a town in 1808, Twenty-seven

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. 1 l l .,.' W ' A i vff- A M ,S Wiiilvig , . QE Q 4.43.92 V523-fl and local governments. In the central government there is further subdivision of powers into three distinct departments-the legislative, the exezutive, and the judicial. The next year a charter was adopted by which St. Louis was separated from St. Louis County. This made our city a free locality in local government, an advantage possessed by no other city. This charter was framed in the interests of the people. lt guarded against extravagan:e and corruption by giving the executives a longer term of office. However. the prime reason for its adoption was for St. Louis to secure its share of public improvements. In l877 the first complete sentence was transmitted by the telephone, which had been invented a year earlier by Graham Bell. Two years after its inven- tion, the first one was put in operation in St. Louis. This was also the Hrst Bell telephone west of the Mississippi River. A disastrous fire destroyed the Southern Hotel on April ll, of the next year. The fire started at one A. M. The key to the fire-alarm telegraph box was nowhere to be found, and it was ten minutes before the fire engines came. Thirty-one lives were lost in this sorrowful event. It had been a custom in St. Louis, during the fall season, to have great displays in parades, These were accompanied by illuminations of gas jets in colored lights. This was the beginning of the Veiled Prophets Parade which 041- St. Louis, Mo. 1853 aided much in bringing about New St. Louis. lt taught St. Louisans to appreciate the beauties and resources of our city. On January 4, 1878, another disastrous fire occurred, the St. Nicholas Hotel ire. The St. Nicholas Hotel was located on Fourth Street between Morgan Street and Franklin Avenue. When the fire broke out, the temperature was Ttuenty-nine