Category: Architecture

The Background

Just six days after his previous letter to The Atlanta Constitution, W.W. Goodrich returned to bloviate about manufacturing.

In the following letter, Goodrich suggested Atlanta could attract manufacturers by emulating “wide-awake” cities like Detroit, Denver, and… Rahway, New Jersey (yeah, I dunno), offering residents tax-exempt stocks in local companies and buying from those companies to the exclusion of outside markets.

In a poorly constructed run-on sentence, he also opined that bringing industry to Atlanta would “solve the domestic labor problem”. And if his insinuation wasn’t clear enough, he added: “white artisan labor or factory help bring in their families, female help that would enter our homes and supplant the idle, shiftless race that is now a nuisance.” Lovely.

Goodrich noted the “cassiterite or tin ore” in “North Temercal”, California, a place that apparently never existed — except in his delusional mind. Just as deranged was his parting vision of Atlanta as a city where “the fires of blast furnaces…should light up the horizon of the setting sun to illuminate the whole night away, only to welcome the rising sun, and be dissipated in the light of a cloudless day.”

Have I mentioned lately how much I detest this despicable, fraudulent, lying, racist hack of a writer and architect?

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Stand by the Manufacturers.

Editor Constitution–Your articles on manufacturing enterprises, that should be attracted and retained in Atlanta, and encouraged by Atlanta capital, is the uppermost subject in the minds of the leading business men. Mr. Kirkpatrick, of Bain & Kirkpatrick, a courteous gentleman with whom I have had frequent conversations upon this subject, and who is alive to the necessity of Atlanta’s present and future greatness, has spoken in no uncertain tones upon this wide-awake subject. Mr. Kirkpatrick, who is well read and versed in how to get manufacturers to locate, favors the plan adopted by all wide-awake cities, as Detroit, Denver, Rahway, Newark, Elizabethtown and the hosts of cities of Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio and Indiana–this is, for the citizens to take stock, as far as possible, in all laudable enterprises, exempt them from taxation for a specified time, and buy from their half their goods to the exclusion of outside markets. In other words, protection to home enterprise, home capital and home industry.

We have near us vast deposits of iron, coal and the fluxes. In North Temercal, Cal., in Dakota and elsewhere in the United States. We have unbounded supplies in cassiterite or tin ore. We can manufacture the iron here in Atlanta and cast the plates with American tin, and save as per enclosed article at least $25,000,000 annually that now goes abroad.

One industry brings another. Atlanta would be the leading city of the south in everything attainable for the advancement of the body politic.

Again the bringing of these various industries would solve the domestic labor problem, the white artisan labor or factory help bring in their families, female help that would enter our homes and supplant the idle, shiftless race that is now a nuisance.

I am surprised at the lack of interest of some of the editorial fraternity, to the one thing needful for the supremacy of Atlanta as a commercial city. Why, sir, manufacturing enterprises should crown all the business of ingress into this city. The fires of blast furnaces, or rolling mills, of various shops from the making of a pin or needle to the turning out of a thoroughly well built locomotive, or a stationary engine, should light up the horizon of the setting sun to illuminate the whole night away, only to welcome the rising sun, and be dissipated in the light of a cloudless day.

W.W. GOODRICH³

References

1. “New Plant Of J.K. Orr Shoe Co. Which Will Be Completed April 1”. The Atlanta Journal, January 28, 1907, p. 3. ↩︎
2. “First Train Load Of Machinery Brought South For Shoe Factory”. The Atlanta Constitution, April 7, 1907, p. 5. ↩︎
3. Goodrich, W.W. “Stand by the Manufacturers.” The Atlanta Constitution, July 19, 1892, p. 4. ↩︎

The Background

In July 1892, The Atlanta Constitution published the following blurb titled “Why Not Come South?”, inviting “native Americans” of the northern states — by which they meant white people — to move to the Southeast:

The Constitution wrote:

There are several millions of well-to-do native Americans in the north and west who are dissatisfied with their environment.

They are not millionaires and they are not paupers. They belong to the great middle class, owning their homes, and having money in the bank or invested in real estate and various enterprises.

What these people want is security. They view with apprehension the little civil war at Homestead, and they remember the bloody riots of Pittsburg, the troubles at Spring Valley and Braidwood, Ill., Hocking valley, Brazil, Ind., and the Reading colleries, where the employers provoked disturbance and then shot down their laborers. Where will it all end? is the question asked by these law-abiding and peaceful people.

Another element of dissatisfaction is the rigorous climate, which oppresses the Americans of today more than it did their more hardy ancestors. And still another grievance is the rapid influx of foreigners, many of whom belong to the anarchist element of Europe.

We would say to these middle-class native Americans of the north and west that our great Piedmont region, and many other localities in the south, offer them health, happiness, peace and prosperity. They will find here a purely American population, with diversified industries, and all the conveniences and luxuries of civilization. They will find a progressive people who have forgotten the old war issues, and who are now engaged in developing their resources. And they will find cheap and productive lands, tempting business opportunities, a warm-hearted, hospitable people, and a land where there has never been a clash of arms between capital and labor, and where the reign of law is upheld by a conservative God-fearing people.

But the race problem? Well, come down here help us settle it. We are willing to trust you. When you settle among us and see the situation as it is you will be on our side. Think it over. Abandon a section hampered by so many increasing disadvantages–give it up to the plutocrats and their serfs–give it up to the immigrant hordes who are turning it into another Europe with all of Europe’s worst evils and few of its good points. Southward ho! should be the cry, and if you are wise you will lose no time in seeking homes this favored garden of the gods!¹

The article was quite typical of the self-fellating promotional slop that filled Atlanta’s newspapers at the time, and while its language is perhaps a bit too coarse for the sensitive, modern palette that prefers its bullshit served in benign, fuzzy terms, it’s astounding how little has actually changed in 130 years.

In a country founded and built by immigrants, Americans still fear a “rapid influx of foreigners”, with entire political campaigns built on stoking a collective terror over “immigrant hordes who are turning it into another Europe.”

In the 1890s, the “anarchist element” that spurred labor strikes was the bogeyman, because God forbid workers have rights. Today, it’s the socialist element, because God forbid everyone has access to healthcare. Different century, same old tired nonsense.

People from all parts of the United States have poured into the Deep South unabated since the mid-20th century, often blaming the “rigorous climate” from whence they migrated. More often than not, however, the driving reason is that they entertain utopian delusions of the Southeast as a place of “cheap and productive lands…where the reign of law is upheld by a conservative God-fearing people” and a “purely American population”.

Instead, what the immigrant to the Southeast invariably finds is a sweltering shithole of empty promises, a land of angry and aggrieved infants who seek to control and dominate each other in the most insidious way possible: through gritted, syrupy smiles and passive-aggressive sneers, blasphemously evoking the name of Jesus to justify their satanic oppression. It’s not that cheap, either — especially in Atlanta.

The Constitution‘s claim that the Southeast was “a land where there has never been a clash of arms between capital and labor” glossed over the fact that Atlanta and the region barely had any industry to speak of in the 1890s, and what little there was ran largely off prison labor^{2 3}and other exploited workers, including women and children.

For instance, in 1900, a federal commission visited the Fulton Bag and Cotton Mills (pictured at top), one of the city’s earliest manufacturers, and found a “deplorable condition of affairs”,⁴ including workers under the age of 12.⁵ Laborers worked 66 hours a week⁶ and were forced to live in “ramshackle structures”,⁷ complaining that “nearly the full amount of their wages was deducted for rent charges and charges at the company store.”⁸

The Constitution‘s hand-waving dismissal of the “race problem” was also particularly galling: “When you settle among us and see the situation as it is you will be on our side.” Which is to say: you, too, will like white supremacy.

Enter W.W. Goodrich, a pathological liar, criminal fraud, and prototypical carpetbagger, but still the kind of man the Constitution so eagerly desired — Caucasian.

In the following letter, Goodrich praised the newspaper’s “magnificent article” and spoke in characteristically florid terms of “the middle class” that “patronize only what is American; they absorb only what is of American origin, and their garments are of only American products and American manufacture.”

Now that both American industry and the American middle class are essentially nonexistent — sold out by American capitalists in favor of foreign sweatshops that run off forced labor and other exploited workers — his sentiments are laughably quaint.

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He Endorses It.

Atlanta, July 11.–Editor Constitution: Your editorial on “Why Not Come South” is a magnificent article, that just enters as a wedge, separating the body artisan nee the pauper or spendthrift from the great middle class that saves and banks away for a rainy day. This middle class, so called are for and to man the welfare of the entire country, and more especially are they for the upbuilding of America and American institutions in preference to anything foreign. They patronize only what is American; they absorb only what is of American origin, and their garments are of only American products and of American manufacture. Please keep this line of thought of the editorial in today’s paper at the head of your columns, and you will do an invaluable service to our sunny south.

W.W. GOODRICH⁹

References

1. “Why Not Come South?” The Atlanta Constitution, July 11, 1892, p. 4. ↩︎
2. “Is A Body Blow At Convict Labor”. The Atlanta Journal, February 2, 1897, p. 3. ↩︎
3. “Labor Men Wage War On Convict-Made Brick”. The Atlanta Constitution, February 3, 1897, p. 1. ↩︎
4. “Industrial Commission Hears Plan Talk From Labor Men”. The Atlanta Constitution, March 21, 1900, p. 7. ↩︎
5. “Investigation Ended; Commissioners Leave”. The Atlanta Journal, March 21, 1900, p. 8. ↩︎
6. “Lack Of Facts In The Testimony Heard By Industrial Commission”. The Atlanta Constitution, March 22, 1900, p. 9. ↩︎
7. “Industrial Commission Hears Plan Talk From Labor Men”. The Atlanta Constitution, March 21, 1900, p. 7. ↩︎
8. ibid. ↩︎
9. Goodrich, W.W. “He Endorses It.” The Atlanta Constitution, July 13, 1892, p. 4. ↩︎

The Background

People have always fucked each other, married or not. That was well understood in the late 19th century, but social standards at the time were often incongruent with reality, particularly for women.

Although officially illegal, prostitution at the time was tacitly accepted as a fact of life, and every city of any size, including Atlanta, had a red-light district, with local officials turning a blind eye — likely because they were patrons.

Pornography was available but not ubiquitous, so when the “fast young men”³ of Atlanta needed to get off, they were apt to visit the “disreputable houses” on Collins Street⁴ (later Courtland Street), of which the Atlanta newspapers spoke quite openly, and generally without judgment.

Expectations for women were quite different, however. Contraception was non-existent, so if a girl slept with a man — or God forbid was raped — well, she was screwed in more ways than one.

An unmarried pregnant woman was ostracized from the community, invariably shunned by her family, and often sent to a convent or “reformatory”, usually out of state.⁵ The man, of course, was free to live his life without consequence. Such were the good ol’ days to which some modern lunatics desire a return.

Times were changing, however, and the 1890s saw a movement toward establishing local “homes” or “refuges” to rehabilitate “fallen women”, a euphemism that covered a broad range of women, including unwed mothers, rape victims, and prostitutes.

In 1891, a group of Atlanta ministers proposed a Home for Fallen Women,^{6 7}although the project was abandoned.⁸ A second attempt that year by a different group⁹ was opposed at every turn by residents who shrieked with moral outrage.^{10 11 12 13 14} The home was ultimately banned by city ordinance.¹⁵

Moral objections against the home were flimsy because Atlantans have never possessed any morals. At least one honest resident had the balls to address the real issue: “A home for fallen women, or any other institution which would destroy the value of our property, will have a hard road to travel if it is forced on us.”¹⁶

An anonymous “Reader” in The Atlanta Journal summed up the failure in April 1892:

“The movement failed, it seemed, only for the reason that so many opposed the location wherever it was spoken of on account of the proximity of Christian homes.

“Not a friendly word for that unfortunate class was said at the time that I remember by either of the newspapers of Atlanta or by any Christian man or woman.

“If Christ had been among us and owned a lot he would have said:

“‘Put it here.’ The spirit of the Nazarene rebukes such shabby pretense and stamps it ‘hypocrisy’”.¹⁷

In June 1892, another “Home for Fallen Women” attempted to open on Formwalt Street in southwest Atlanta. The city council balked at the idea,¹⁸ the neighbors predictably raised hell,^{19 20} and the matter was ultimately dropped.²¹

For whatever reason, W.W. Goodrich decided to wade into the matter, writing the following “suggestion” — he had so many of them — in The Atlanta Constitution.

Here, Goodrich describes his idea of a “retreat” for “imprudent young women”, complete with a dormitory, hospital, school, chapel, and hothouses, where the women would become “experts and adepts in the raising of fruits and flowers”.

“Consider the lilies of the field,” Goodrich quotes Christ. He then adds: “They could be paid commensurate with their dexterity”. I believe that’s from the Atlanta translation of the Bible.

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A Suggestion For a Home.

Editor Constitution — Apropos of the location of a retreat for “imprudent young women,” please allow this suggestion, which has been tried with perfect success, and never failed to be the main spring out of which may be built a “retreat” that will not necessitate the upturned nostril of any sycophant at its close proximity.

In the west, and in the foreign climes, a society for the benevolent reclamation of unfortunate young women has purchased a tract of land near to a city of easy access, and upon said tract has erected a dormitory, hospital, kitchen and dining rooms, a bathhouse, a schoolroom and chapel upon the grounds, were also built for the sole occupation and employment of these young women. Hothouses of different sizes and for different fruits, flowers, plants and arbor culture in general. The young women did all of the manual labor in raising, propagating and growing whatever was planted.

An unlimited sale in this Atlanta market, at retail prices, is always at command for the products of such labor.

Such a home for these helpless young women would be a noble charity; they would be self-supporting, self-sustaining and self-respecting, and they would have an occupation that they would not hesitate to embrace.

They do not want sentiment; they do not want pity.

They do want disinterested, noble, clear-cut charity, and in this enlightened age they have a right to anticipate it.

When such a home is ready a special officer could go to the various stopping places of these young women, give them free of charge tickets for transportation to the retreat, invite them in a Christian, non-sectarian, unbiased manner to accept of the generous hospitality of the retreat, and I trow not but that they all would be only too glad to accept of so kind a proposition and of so good a home.

They would become experts and adepts in the raising of fruits and flowers, and what is more enjoyable than seeing flowers grow and bloom? Consider the lilies of the field; they could be paid commensurate with their dexterity.

The outline of this thought is from observation during my travels and is respectfully submitted to the noble minds who really with unostentation have the good of these unfortunate young women at heart.

W.W. GOODRICH.²²

References

1. “Plans Are Ready”. The Atlanta Journal, December 30, 1890, p. 1. ↩︎
2. “Plans Ready”. The Atlanta Constitution, November 19, 1891, p. 2. ↩︎
3. “Work Of The Courts”. The Atlanta Constitution, December 5, 1891, p. 9. ↩︎
4. “She Was Robbed”. The Atlanta Journal, October 20, 1891, p. 1. ↩︎
5. “That House of Refuge.” The Atlanta Constitution, November 13, 1891, p. 4. ↩︎
6. “For Fallen Women”. The Atlanta Journal, April 6, 1981, p. 7. ↩︎
7. “Raising The Fallen”. The Atlanta Constitution, April 7, 1981, p. 7. ↩︎
8. “The Ministers Meet”. The Atlanta Constitution, September 8, 1891, p. 10. ↩︎
9. “For Fallen Women.” The Atlanta Constitution, September 13, 1891, p. 21. ↩︎
10. “For Fallen Women.” The Atlanta Journal, October 14, 1891, p. 6. ↩︎
11. “Don’t Want It.” The Atlanta Journal, November 4, 1891, p. 3. ↩︎
12. “Don’t Want It.” The Atlanta Constitution, November 5, 1891, p. 6. ↩︎
13. “The Fallen Women”. The Atlanta Constitution, November 7, 1891, p. 9. ↩︎
14. “That Refuge.” The Atlanta Journal, November 7, 1891, p. 3. ↩︎
15. “The Mayor’s Name.” The Atlanta Constitution, November 8, 1891, p. 24. ↩︎
16. ibid. ↩︎
17. “The Idler’s Note Book”. The Atlanta Journal, April 27, 1892, p. 4. ↩︎
18. “They Are Happy.” The Atlanta Constitution, June 7, 1892, p. 2. ↩︎
19. “The Southsiders Object”. The Atlanta Journal, June 7, 1892, p. 3. ↩︎
20. “They Will Oppose It.” The Atlanta Constitution, June 8, 1892, p. 9. ↩︎
21. “That Liquor Law”. The Atlanta Constitution, June 21, 1892, p. 10. ↩︎
22. Goodrich, W.W. “A Suggestion for a Home.” The Atlanta Constitution, June 10, 1892, p. 4. ↩︎

The Background

This is the final installment in a series of articles written for The Atlanta Journal in 1890 and 1891 by W.W. Goodrich, an architect who practiced in Atlanta between 1889 and 1895.

Much like his 1890 article by the same name, here Goodrich describes the Colonial Revival style of architecture that was then gaining popularity in Atlanta. Hardly anything about the style was actually “colonial”, and in typical rambling fashion, Goodrich attempts to explain its finer points across multiple paragraphs — without success.

Readers would have been better served by G.L. Norrman’s succinct definition a year earlier: “The so-called colonial style is barbarism of the Italian renaissance interpreted by Sir Christopher Wren.” Boom. Done.

This article takes a bizarre turn when Goodrich describes matching a home’s furniture to the hair color and complexion of the woman who lives there, with corresponding fashion tips. I wish I were joking.

“A brunette is never so exquisite as in cream color,” Goodrich writes, adding: “Women who have rather florid complexions look well in various shades of plum and heliotrope”. As for blondes? “Blondes look fairer and younger in dead black.”

Notice, of course, that only light-skinned complexions are discussed.

The article ends with a lecture for young women on how to buy furniture. “Each couch and footstool is an achievement”, Goodrich prattles, “each rug and curtain represents a triumph.” You can tell he was exhausting to be around.

A few words from the article text have been lost because of faded ink on the original newspaper page. The missing portions are indicated by the [obliterated] tag.

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Pretty Homes

Something About The Colonial Architecture.

Many Specimens of the Style Found in the South.

Adapting My Lady’s Boudoir to Her Own Tints and Tones.

How to Buy Furnishings for a Home so as to Produce the Most Artistic effect.

Written for The Journal.

Through knickerbocker treatment we inherit architectural forms bequeathed to us from the Italian renaissance. To this we have given the name “Colonial”–developed, as it was, during our colonial existence and thereafter.

The north and south are possessed of numerous examples of this style in the old homes on the farms and manors of New England, and on the plantations of the middle and southern states.

This development is a growth with constant retrospection toward Greek art and an occasional treatment of forms, promoted or necessitated by existing conditions. The acanthus and the scallop shell are frequently met with, and a profusion of [obliterated], bead and fret mouldings, bands and [obliterated] are the proper ornamentation.

This application of the ornament varies [obliterated]. Sometimes we see it in profuse [obliterated] and sometimes used sparingly with plain surfaces as better becomes Puritan taste. The southern colonial of Maryland, Virginia, South Carolina and Georgia verges almost on the rococo, in some cases, especially in the detail of the foliage. The towns of the south are full of exquisite examples of fine colonial ornament, exterior and interior.

In most cases the metal work of old colonial houses is very simple, the surfaces being of plain polished brass and the edges [obliterated] ornamented with some of the characteristic fretwork of the exterior ornamentation. Where such ornament is found it is usually adapted from earlier renaissance examples, simplified to suit the occasion of the owner’s purse.

A Colonial Revival.

The colonial school has been recently revived in many parts of the country, more especially for suburban residences near large cities and for handsome country houses surrounded by broad landscapes. When consistently executed, it is most suitable for such buildings and the quaint outlines and soft colorings of some of the recent examples in this school are very attractive, making home dearer and more to be desired than any form of home construction.

The colonial will always be memorable for the introduction of that unique style of furniture and coloring that has never ceased to be admired, having that about it which appeals to the most refined feelings of domesticity, and is strictly adapted to the occupants of the home in color, form and generally symphony; thus, for a blonde I would have a rose parlor, the woodwork of prima vara [sic], the glass of polished plate, the mantel of root ash, the facings of onyx. The walls should be hung with rose-colored silk in various rose designs, procaded [sic] with thistles; the furniture in rosewood covered with rose-colored velvets, embossed with roses; the portieres of rose-colored silks and satins, with heavy fringes in blue and gold.

In the dining-room the hangings are of peacock blue, with a border of beetle’s wings, sewed on with jewels and pearls. The chairs of mahogany, covered with light, embossed terra cotta velvet.

The ballroom is Moorish, designed from a room in the Alhambra, of tinges of blue and gold, in symmetrical designs of Greek Byzantium, with the draperies, hanging and divans of exquisitely oriental treatment.

In the library the prevailing hue should be a soft brown with delicate blue and [obliterated] violets peeping out from grasses in various portions. And for the boudoir I would have a tulip room, old gold covering the walls and a dado of yellow and pale pink tulips reaching to the dulled gilt frieze.

Matching the Fair Occupant.

There can be no finer example of modern American furnishing than this idea, that the colors chose were those tints of which a duplicate were found in the hair, the eyes and the complexion of the lady herself.

A woman with blue-gray eyes and a thin, neutral-tinted complexion, is never more becomingly dressed than in the blue shades in which gray is mixed, for in this complexion there is a certain delicate blueness.

A brunette is never so exquisite as in cream color, for she has reproduced the tinting of her skin in her dress. Put the same dress on a colorless blonde and she will be far from charming, while in gray she would be quite the reverse. The reason is plain, in the blonde’s sallowness there are tints of gray, and in the dark woman’s pallor there are always yellowish tones, the same as predominate in the cream-colored dress.

Women who have rather florid complexions look well in various shades of plum and heliotrope, also in certain shades of dove gray, for to a trained eye this color has a tinge of pink which harmonizes with the flesh of the face. Blondes look fairer and younger in dead black like that of wool goods or velvet, while brunettes require the sheen of satin or gloss of silk in order to wear black to advantage.

The Charm of Colonial Houses.

One of the greatest charms of colonial houses is found in the beams and panels which appear without disguise in the ceilings, and which are manifestly capable of supporting the floor above. They give a sense of fitness and security which one does not experience in the contemplation of the unbroken, and apparently unsupported, expanse of plaster, which forms the ceiling of the modern. Add to this bareness the two or three feet of unnecessary height, which we usually find in houses of the last decade, with no shape in the finish of the cornice to give an impression of support, or perhaps a meaningless cornice repeating the confused floral forms of the absurdity which forms the centre piece, and it is evident that innovation and reform in the matter have not come to soon.

If a room be badly proportioned or too high, a good effect may be obtained by dividing the ceiling space by moulding of heavy wood–enough to give a feeling of stability.

[obliterated] be frescoed or painted, and if the work be carefully considered, and not too intricate in pattern, the appearance of the room will be greatly improved.

Some Specimens in Atlanta.

The colonial school of architecture and ornament has proved to be so well adapted to modern uses and surrounding that many handsome residences of the kind are to be found in various parts of this city, and are coming in more general use in this country. While its prominent features are necessarily adaptations from earlier forms transplanted from across the sea, yet it has more of an historical claim to be considered an American style than almost any other, and as such is worthy of special study.

From any point of view the colonial style is decidedly free from old-fashioned ideas, whilst it is distinguished not only for elegance, but comfort and convenience, thus being well adapted to modern adoption. The formation influences that led up to this remarkable development of artistic power, date from the Italian Renaissance, illustrating how subtle germs of thought, fed from various sources, and fructifying from generation to generation, are presently developed under favoring circumstances in original and attractive forms. The colonial style was not an electric, it was a positive creation, characterized by a charming individuality.

Artistic Mantels.

Colonial mantels, as constructive features of apartments, claim our first notice. If of hard wood the ornaments were curved or turned; if of plain wood, they were coated with a plastic composition, toned to yellow color, that presently assumed an adamantine hardness, and on which were formed in relief, figure groups, and floral garlands, and pendants, similar designs being carried out on the jambs and lintels of hardwood mantels.

Pillars supporting the shelves would at times by mounted by brass capitals; but many of the pillared supports are fine examples of turnery, which was also applied to geometric ornaments on lintels. Much of the pleasing effect of the mantels is due the fine proportions maintained, and the delicacy of relief work in carvings and mouldings, made more effective by ample and well considered spacing. The mantel would be surrounded by a moderately high oblong mirror, metal lined, and running its whole length and this topped by shelves resting on brackets.

In the colonial order of architecture, the home seeker can do better in buying pieces singly, rather than in sets, and to pick up said articles at various times, as the home progresses in being occupied, and as wants increase.

How to Buy Furniture.

It seems a pity that the young woman who is about to establish a home, and has a sum of money to spend for its garnishing, cannot be persuaded from laying it all out at once. She robs herself of so much future enjoyment. The spick and span sets of furniture which are carelessly ordered from an upholsterer, and carried home and stood around her parlors by his men, will never afford her half the satisfaction she can get in a room for which to-day she buys a chair, and the next week, seeing there must be a table to accompany the chair, she starts on a fresh shopping excursion, and finds a table which is exactly what she was looking for; and in another month, discovering the need of a bookcase or a screen she has again the delight of the hunt, and the gratification of obtaining the prettiest screen and bookcase in the city.

Such a room is a growth, a gathering together of household treasures, little by little. Each article, bought only when the need arises, or when something is happily found to just meet the need, will have a family history which makes it an entertaining as well as a valuable possession. Each couch and footstool is an achievement; each rug and curtain represents a triumph. Such a home, built up gradually, with careful planning in each part, with thought and loving consideration in all its details, acquires a far deeper meaning than could be purchased by the longest purse from the most fashionable cabinet-maker.

W.W. GOODRICH.²

References

1. “Building in LaGrange.” The Atlanta Constitution, December 13, 1890, p. 3. ↩︎
2. Goodrich, W.W. “Pretty Homes.” The Atlanta Journal, December 5, 1891, p. 11. ↩︎

The Background

July 1890 wasn’t a good time for Atlanta’s water supply. At the start of the month, a lack of rainfall caused the city’s reservoir to drop nearly 6 inches in 3 days. “This looks a little scary,” remarked The Atlanta Journal.¹ By mid-month, the water was 27 inches below capacity.²

Days later, the city’s artesian well failed, with the waterworks superintendent, W. G. Richards,³ quietly fashioning a makeshift connection between the well and the main hydrant. The Constitution later explained: “those who drank the water at the hydrants, soon detected the difference, and the failure of the well became public.”⁴

Then on July 10, 1890, disaster struck: a nearby refinery burned to the ground,⁵ releasing over 200,000 gallons of refined oil — cottonseed oil, that is — into the reservoir.^{6 7 8} A 2 to 3-inch layer of cottonseed oil floated on the surface of the water, killing hundreds of fish,⁹ multiple birds,^{10 11} and possibly several cows.^{12 13}

The president of Atlanta’s board of health, Dr. James Baird, along with the state chemist, declared the municipal water was safe to drink as workers began pumping oil from the lake.^{14 15} An investigation later determined the oil never entered through the city’s supply filters, which were located 15 feet below the water’s surface.¹⁶

Although public officials were as deceitful then as they are now, Dr. Baird was correct: Refined cottonseed oil is safe for human consumption, even if it isn’t especially healthy. Today, it’s commonly used in processed foods.

However, that didn’t stop W.W. Goodrich — ever the attention-seeker — from claiming to have become severely ill after drinking a glass of tainted tap water at his office. He certainly felt well enough to run to the Journal, whose coverage of the waterworks incident was predictably more sensationalist than the rival Constitution.

The Journal described Goodrich’s purported illness in robust detail:

“In about half an hour, he had a violent attack of vomiting which lasted until he was almost completely exhausted. He then took the electric car for his home, when he began to vomit again.”¹⁷

The Journal writer asked Dr. Baird about Goodrich’s illness and reported flatly: “The doctor thinks that the water could not have caused the sickness.”

Atlanta was still a small city at that point, and if the doctor knew anything about Goodrich, he must have known the man was a gigantic bullshitter. Only a few weeks earlier, Goodrich claimed his entire family was poisoned by eating canned tomatoes and corn¹⁸ — two poisoning stories within a month is a little suspicious, don’t ya think?

A few days after his so-called sickness, Goodrich wrote the following “suggestion” to the Journal about how to filter water with slabs of marble. Because, of course, he was also a hydrology expert.

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A Suggestion About Water.

To the Editor of The Journal:

Apropros of the waterworks question there is a remedy for aiding the filtration of water, in the use of thin slabs of marble hung on wire at the surface of the water level. The test of the effectual usefulness of this cure remedy has been proven to be a positive destroyer for all dust organisms that are in water. They are attracted to the marble, live in its pores. The gradual detrition of the marble by the action of the water causes the acid of the marble, which is carbonic, to kill all dust germs of dust germ life.

Thus the gradual formation of that greenish fungoid growth which we see on marble, in water, or in damp places, is this same fungus. Settling basins of marble, and filters of marble slabs, perforated, with small holes between the regulation layers of filtration material, are of a more specific precipitate for foreign matter than alum. Whereas alum, while it is a specific in a certain sense, still it will permeate and be taken up in the water, and of course used by the public. There are stringent laws against the use of alum by bakers in the making of bread in many cities, on account of its action in the stomach. Alum is known to be a nerve destroyer, and if its use is persisted in the system soon becomes a subject of severe nervous prostration.

W.W. GOODRICH.¹⁹

References

1. “The Water Falling.” The Atlanta Journal, July 2, 1890, p. 3. ↩︎
2. “The City Water Is All Right.” The Atlanta Constitution, July 15, 1890, p. 7. ↩︎
3. “At The Waterworks.” The Atlanta Journal, July 9, 1890, p. 2. ↩︎
4. “The Water Failed”. The Atlanta Constitution, July 5, 1890, p. 5. ↩︎
5. “A Fierce Fire.” The Atlanta Journal, July 10, 1890, p. 5. ↩︎
6. ibid. ↩︎
7. “$100,000 Fire”. The Atlanta Constitution, July 11, 1890, p. 4. ↩︎
8. “Danger In Water”. The Atlanta Journal, July 11, 1890, p. 2. ↩︎
9. “The Fish Are Dying.” The Atlanta Journal, July 12, 1890, p. 9. ↩︎
10. “The Oil on the Water”. The Atlanta Constitution, July 13, 1890, p. 17. ↩︎
11. “Removing The Oil”. The Atlanta Journal, July 14, 1890, p. 2. ↩︎
12. ibid. ↩︎
13. “About The Water.” The Atlanta Constitution, July 17, 1890, p. 6. ↩︎
14. “The Oil on the Water”. The Atlanta Constitution, July 13, 1890, p. 17. ↩︎
15. “Barrels Of Oil”. The Atlanta Journal, July 15, 1890, p. 2. ↩︎
16. “The City Water Is All Right.” The Atlanta Constitution, July 15, 1890, p. 7. ↩︎
17. “Made Sick By The Water.” The Atlanta Journal, July 15, 1890, p. 3. ↩︎
18. “In Two Great States.” Weekly Columbus Enquirer-Sun (Columbus, Georgia), June 14, 1890, p. 3. ↩︎
19. Goodrich, W.W. “A Suggestion About Water.” The Atlanta Journal, July 24, 1890, p. 1. ↩︎