Cleveland

“ As Cleveland thus paced these ancient ruins, a young man, of a light and slender form, whose showy dress seemed to have been studied with care, yet exhibited more extravagance than judgment or taste, whose manner was a janty affectation of the free and easy rake of the period, and the expression of whose countenance was lively, with a cast of effrontery, tripped up the staircase, entered the hall, and presented himself to Cleveland, who merely nodded to him, and pulling his hat deeper over his brows, resumed his solitary and discontented promenade. ”

“ From the breakwater which the Government builds to keep Cleveland great and to make it greater, along the avenues of residence or of trade, even through its smoky and sooty atmosphere,—sign of prosperity,—out mile after mile to the city of the dead where the well-beloved Garfield sleeps in nobly wrought sepulchre, in all and through all, Cleveland is pleasant. ”

“ Major Cleveland, will you do me the honour—
CLEVELAND. Sir, I esteem it an honour. Gentlemen, I hope you will all fill in honour of our host. [They gather around, fill, and drink to MR. ELSWORTH.] Fill again, gentlemen, and honour the toast I am going to propose. The ladies! speedy priests and rings.
ROSE. A doubtful compliment, Major Cleveland.
CLEVELAND. Can you think so?
ROSE. Ay, sir; for marriages, though called matches, are mostly sad patch-work.
CLEVELAND. And the unmarried—
ROSE. Oh, they are even worse. Old maids and old bachelors are the tossed about odds and ends of humanity. ”

“ To me, who first landed in Cleveland in October, 1889—and I use the word landed advisedly, for I arrived there on a rickety old tub of a lake boat, more dead than alive—the changes are remarkable. Not only has the appearance of the city changed, not only have its cobblestone streets and second-rate hotels given way to modern pavings and first-class hostleries, but the very spirit of the people themselves has changed as if by magic from an ultra-conservative to a progressive one. ”

“ Cleveland was obliged, more than once, to pretend a sudden call out of the room, that he might hide his emotion. And the tale was by no means told in vain. True to his new resolutions, Mr. Cleveland thankfully accepted the work which Providence had given him to do, and the family of emigrants, to this day, mention the name of Cleveland with tears of gratitude and love, and, when they implore God's mercy for themselves, never forget to invoke, for their kind benefactor, Heaven's choicest blessings. Nor is that the only family whose hearts glow at the mention of Mr. Cleveland's name. ”

“ Whilst Randolph and Cowley lie embalmed in their own native wax, how is the name and memory of Cleveland equally profaned by those that usurp, and those that blaspheme it?—by those that are ambitious to lay their cuckoo's eggs in his nest, and those that think to raise up Phœnixes of wit by firing his spicy bed about him? ”

“ There he remained until the Spring of 1848, when he sold out his business and removed to Cleveland, having previously leased a tract of land just within the suburbs of the city, covered with native forest and such a profusion of real natural beauty in glen, woodland, and beautiful springs of soft water, that it seemed apparent that art only needed to blend with nature to make this one of the most desirable of localities for a great health institution. ”

“ Though Cleveland is a beautiful city, its importance really lies in the fact of its occupying just the position that it does. Being on Lake Erie puts it in touch with the copper fields of Michigan, the iron mines of Minnesota and Michigan, and the huge forests along the Great Lakes. Through railroad connections it is also in touch with the coal, oil, and iron supplies of western Pennsylvania and Ohio. Thus, lying in the center of eastern and western commerce, Cleveland has become a great manufacturing center, and the Cleveland district is the largest ore market in the world. ”

“ Where others merely "boost," Cleveland "boosts" intensively. She can raise more bushels of statistics to the acre than other cities can quarts. And the more Cleveland statistics you hear, the more you become amazed that you do not live there. It seems reckless not to do so. The Cleveland Chamber of Commerce can prove this to you not merely with figures, but also with figures of speech.
Take the matter of population. Everybody knows that Cleveland is the "Sixth City" in the United States, but not everybody knows that in 1850 she was forty-third. ”

“ Louis, Detroit and Cincinnati; within seven hundred miles of Cleveland dwell more than half the entire population of the country, and yet Cleveland has been called provincial. Its homes are among the most palatial of the world, but the owners of not a few are more at home in New York and Paris than on Euclid Avenue. It is distinguished for its iron, steel and coal interests, but it has scholars and teachers who are known where its steel rails have never been carried. It is a city of the East, and it is also a city of the West—of the East it is the newest, of the West it is the oldest. ”

“ The race of men who remember Cleveland in the day of its small beginnings, is fast passing away. Of those who were residents of the little village on the Cuyahoga fifty years ago, only about half a dozen now live in the flourishing city that occupies its site and inherits its name. One of these is John Blair, well known to all the Clevelanders of ante-railroad days, but who is probably a mere name to a large proportion of those who have crowded into the city of late years. ”

“ It is a fine and unusual thing, in itself, for an American city to be planning its own beauty fifty years ahead. Cleveland is almost un-American in that! But when the work done—yes, and before it is done—this single great improvement will have transformed Cleveland from an ordinary looking city to one of great distinction. ”

“ Cleveland, already respected and looked up to, three years ago, for his talents, his zeal, and his integrity, has seen his popularity grow greater every day since he united his destiny with that of the most charming of America's daughters. ”

“ Cleveland was of that age when we generally grow social—for by being rubbed long and often against the great loadstone of society, we obtain, in a thousand little minute points, an attraction in common with our fellows. ”

“ Although originally settled by people from Connecticut, Cleveland was not in its early days distinguished for its religious characteristics. Old inhabitants narrate how in the infancy of the settlement the whisky shop was more frequented than the preaching meeting, whenever that was held, and how, on one occasion, a party of scoffing unbelievers bore in mock triumph an effigy of the Saviour through the streets. ”

“ Their trade extends through Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Pennsylvania, a large amount being annually transacted in the Lake Superior region.
Although born in Massachusetts, Mr. Childs has lived in this city from boyhood and may with propriety be called a Clevelander. He is still a young and active merchant and one who has made himself a thorough, competent business man in all its details, from the cellar to the counting room. This, with unlimited energy, has brought him success. ”

“ Connected indissolubly with the story of the rise and progress of the important railroad interests of Cleveland and northern Ohio, is the name of Stillman Witt. As one of the builders of the pioneer railroad from the city, and of the next in point of time, which has since become one of the foremost lines of the country in importance and profitableness, Mr. Witt deserves honorable record among the men who have contributed most to make Cleveland what it is to-day, a rich, populous, and rapidly growing city. ”

“ Cleveland is a large, rapidly improving town, with several thousand inhabitants, full of life, trade, and business. [172] It is situated in Cayahoga or Cuyahoga County, and is built partly on a high ridge, partly on the river below. The outskirts are scattered, but the principal streets are regular. It contains many large buildings, several churches, a school or academy, a prison, good inns, and numerous shops and stores; the trade is very considerable in consequence of the junction of the great lakes with the Ohio and the Mississippi. ”

“ The passion for cleaning up America overtakes upon occasion even those whose living depends upon America remaining "unclean."
Cleveland is well built, and has fine avenues and broad streets. It is well kept, and in the drawing-room of the town you'd never suspect what was going on in the back kitchen and the yard. But take a turn about and you see that the city is not merely [Pg 226] one of good clothes, white buildings, and upholstery; there are vistas of smoke and sun, bridges and cranes, endless railway tracks and steaming engines. ”

“ In the year 1835, he reached Cleveland and at once started in trade as a druggist on Detroit Street, then in Ohio City, but now the West Side of Cleveland. At that time the West, generally, was enjoying seeming prosperity; everything was inflated and everyone was growing rich, on paper. Ohio City was then the city of the future, and fortune smiled on all its residents, and particularly on those who held real estate within its borders. ”

“ Whatever its mischances and failures may have been—with such successes the second Cleveland Administration can confidently appeal to the judgment of history. Nobody pretends that Mr. Cleveland is the ideal human being or the ideal statesman; but it is safe to say that the greatness of his name will constantly grow in the historic retrospect, and that his figure will continue to stand strong and eminent in the front rank of American Presidents long after the small politicians who sought to thwart or belittle him have been buried under the drift sands of time. ”

“ But Cleveland had high birth and a handsome competence—his manners were delightful, his conversation fluent—and his disposition was as amiable as his mind was cultured. He became, therefore, a man greatly sought after in society both respected and beloved. ”

“ Cleveland is a neat, clean, and agreeable city, on Lake Erie. Americans call it the 'Forest City,' though the original forests have disappeared. Cleveland has a most lovely aspect; with the exception of the business streets, every house is surrounded by a garden. It was for the first time that I found love of nature in an American population. ”

“ On either side of the deep valley of "the Flats" stretch upon the plateau the long avenues of Cleveland, with miles of pleasant residences, surrounded by lawns and gardens, each house isolated in green, and the whole appearing like a vast rural village more than a city. This pleasant plan of construction had its origin in the New England ideas of the people. ”

“ We want you to come to Cleveland. We will select a house here where you will be happy and comfortable. We pity those poor wretches who are ready to persecute those who are too good to breathe the air of the same neighborhood where they reside. But never mind, you know and we know there is truth in these new revelations, and the good work is destined to lead men from darkness and doubt, into the blessed light of truth and a hope which I despaired of ever obtaining. ”

“ But such was not the case with the youthful Moses White. Though he found not many congenial spirits in this far-off western region, yet whenever, in the little village of Cleveland, he heard of a place of prayer, or a meeting, or association for the promotion of temperance or morality, thither he bent his footsteps. Now in a ripe and happy old age he enjoys, not only the retrospect, but also the present--and not only these, but he is constantly looking for a consummation of perfect happiness, beyond what either the past has, or the present life can afford. ”

“ Cleveland. The cartoon is entitled "They're Off!" and is drawn with admirable spirit. The scene is a Roman amphitheater, and the two (p. 310) Presidential candidates, in the guise of charioteers, are guiding their mettlesome steeds in a mad gallop around the arena. Mr. Cleveland's horses, "Tariff Reform" and "Economy," are running steadily, and seem to be slowly forging to the front, while those of Mr. Harrison, "High Protection" and "Force Bill," are not pulling well together, and with ears pointed forward, look as though they might at any moment become unmanageable. ”

“ The buildings of Cleveland are all remarkably clean and neat, many of them in excellent architectural style, and, like the dwellings we saw at Cincinnati and other towns of Ohio, all evincing more taste, love of flowers, and attention to order and adornment than in most of the States of the Union. ”

“ Ohio City is a pleasant town, having between two and three thousand inhabitants. They are here erecting a fine stone edifice for an Episcopal Church. This place appears to bear the same relation to Cleveland that Brooklyn does to New York. Unhappily there is no small jealousy between the two places, which it is hoped the experience of a few years will cure. Some of the streets in the eastern part of Cleveland, looking off upon the lake, are beautiful beyond the power of description. ”

“ Trade and Commerce.
The commercial history of the early years of Cleveland does not differ from that of most western settlements. When the white population numbered from a few dozen to a few hundred, it is difficult to define what was commerce and what mere barter for individual accommodation. Every man did a little trading on his own account. The carpenter, the tailor, the judge and the preacher were alike ready to vary their customary occupations by a dicker whenever an opportunity offered. ”