Portland Oregon Fire Hydrants, Source Material, Part 2
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© 2002-3 Allen McMillan
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Revised January 01, 2003
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Water Bureau Subject Files, City Archives - Continued
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- Section 6 -
City of Portland, Stanley Parr Archives and Records Center,
Water Bureau, Subject Files, A2001-021, 14/5
Hydrants, 1914
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Undated - "Tabulated Statement of Bids on 600 Hydrants (Opened January 31st,
1914.)" A two-page document compiled by D. D. Clarke summarizing 15 bids
received for 600 fire hydrants:
- M. L. Kline, Portland, Oregon. "#6 Kupferle Eclipse"
- M. L. Kline, Portland, Oregon. "Roe-Stephens 'S' Compression"
- Columbian Iron Works. Chattanooga, Tenn. "Columbian"
- Rensselaer Valve Co. Troy, New York.
- John Wood Iron Works. Portland, Oregon.
- The Chapman Valve Mfg. Company. Indian Orchard, Mass.
- Washington Pipe & Fdry. Co. Tacoma, Washington.
- Coffin Valve Company. Boston, Mass.
- Phoenix Iron Works. Portland, Oregon.
- Eddy Valve Company, By-Power Equip't Company of Portland, Ore.
- Helser & Unden Machine Wks. Portland, Oregon.
- The Florence Iron Works, By-R.D. Wood & Company, Philadelphia, PA.
- Crane Company, Portland, Oregon.
- Darling Pump & Mfg. Co. Portland, Oregon.
Unknown why Darling Pump & Mfg. Co. is listed as being in Portland.
Possibly they had an agent in Portland that was handling the contract.
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January 31, 1914 - Unsigned copy of a "Night Letter" sent to the City
Engineers of Minneapolis MN, Vancouver B.C. and Kansas City MO inquiring
about the reliability and operation of Columbian Iron Works hydrants. Also
requesting comparisons to the Corey and other types.
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February 3, 1914 - Responses from the City Engineers to the Night Letter
above. Minneapolis and Kansas City both reported satisfaction with the
Columbians but could not compare them to other types. Vancouver B. C.
replied that they "use only Ludlow type hydrants manufactured locally to
our specification." A copy of the city specification was included (below).
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February 3, 1914 - Letter from F. L. Fellowes, Supervising City Engineer,
Vancouver, British Columbia. Essentially the cover letter for a set of
Vancouver B. C. hydrant specifications which, he says "we drew up last year
in consequence of the trouble that we experienced in keeping the hydrants of
the ordinary Ludlow type in order".
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Undated - "City of Vancouver - Waterworks Department. Specifications for
Hydrants." In much the same way that Portland later adopted the Rensselaer
"Corey" hydrant as its city specification, the Vancouver B. C. specs are
very explicit: "Hydrants supplied under this specification must be of the
'Ludlow' type with rubber faced slide gates'".
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February 5, 1914 - Unsigned letter from Engineer Water Board to F. L.
Fellowes, Supervising City Engineer, Vancouver B. C. thanking him for his
reply and the enclosed specifications.
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February 3, 1914 - Three pages of a letter to the Commissioner of Public
Utilities, Will H. Daly concerning the bids taken on 600 fire hydrants.
The end of the letter seems to be missing, but it's likely from the Water
Bureau Engineer. The letter explains that:
- The low bidder (#6 Eclipse) is out of spec and much lighter weight than
the hydrants currently in use in the city.
- The second lowest bidder (Columbian) has been recommended by other water
utilities (above) but is a type unknown to Portland and requires special
tools to operate.
- The third-lowest bidder (Corey) is already very common in Portland and
have given good service. The writer recommends the city purchase the
Coreys.
- Since all three of the lowest bidders are from outside of Portland,
another section of the letter lists bids received from local firms. Those
three firms are John Wood Iron Works, Phoenix Iron Works, and Helser &
Unden Machine Works.
The letter mentions that the John Wood Company furnished hydrants to the
City in 1912. This statement contradicts the 1913 audit, but it supports
certain other documents which indicate John Wood Iron Works was awarded that
contract and not Oregon Foundry.
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Undated - "Hydrants." This is a near-duplicate of a document in Section 5
(14/4 Hydrants, 1913) except that 1) it lacks dates, 2) there are some
differences in abbreviations, and 3) two more companies appear at the end of
this list that are missing from the other. The bidders were:
- Smith & Watson Iron Works
- Crane Company
- Washington Pipe & Foundry. Co.
- J. W. Blair
- John Wood Iron Works
- Coffin Valve Company
- Roe-Stephens Mfg. Co.
- M. L. Kline
- Chas. C. Moore & Co.
- F. T. Crowe & Company
- Phoenix Iron Works
- Hesse-Martin Iron Works
- Independent Foundry Co.
- Gilbert Hunt Co., Wall [SIC] Walla
- Power Equipment Co., Board of Trade
- American Foundry. Co., St. Louis
- Eddy Valve Co.
- Chapman Valve Mfg. Co., (A. J. Warren, San Francisco, Calif)
- U. S. Commerce Co. (Board of Trade)
- Columbia Iron Works, Chattanooga, Tenn.
- Dunham, Carrigan & Hayden Co., San Francisco, Calif.
- Darling Pump Mfg. Co. (H. M. Williams, 304 Ry. Ex.)
- Rensselaer Valve Mfg. Company (512 Colman Bldg., Seattle)
- Portland Equipment Co.
- Oregon Brass Co.
- H. A. Heppner & Co. (for Columbian Iron Works, Chattanooga)
- Helser & Unden Machine Works, Portland, Ore.
- The Florence Iron Works, By R. D. Wood & Co.
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July 30, 1914 - Letter from D. D. Clarke, Engineer Water Bureau, to B. F.
Dowell, Chief Engineer, Fire Dept. The letter concerns proper operating
procedures for fire hydrants. The Water Bureau was hoping to reduce/prevent
water hammer, leaks, false readings on break gauges, waste, and other
problems caused by improper hydrant operation.
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October 2, 1914 - Typed Hydrant Specifications in a Kennedy Valve Mf'g Co.
folder of sorts. "A Set of Specifications for our 'Newtype' Hydrant."
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- Section 7 -
City of Portland, Stanley Parr Archives and Records Center,
Water Bureau, Subject Files, A2001-021, 14/7
Hydrants, 1916-1918
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January 10, 1918 - Unsigned letter from "Engineer Water Bureau" (D. D.
Clarke?) to Mr. B. F. Dowell, Chief Engineer, Fire Dept. The body of the
letter is quoted below:
"It has come to my notice today that the Fire Department set a Smith &
Watson hydrant at East 30th St. and Long Avenue in 1915, and that they
are now installing, or about to install, a Helser & Unden hydrant at 3rd
and Davis Streets."
"Unless you have some reason, unknown to me at this writing, we would
much prefer that you notify this office of replacements of repaired
hydrants. As to setting new hydrants, I think all of the orders should
emanate from this office."
This document is the earliest mention of a Smith & Watson hydrant yet
found. It also points out another source of inaccuracy in city records.
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January 10, 1918 - Another unsigned letter from "Engineer" to John M. Mann,
Commissioner of Public Utilities. It re-explains the matter above and asks
that all hydrant installations be cleared through the Water Bureau. It
refers to copies of letters sent to Chief Dowell (above) and General
Foreman Gray (not present).
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September 4, 1918 - Unsigned letter from "Engineer" to John M. Mann,
Commissioner of Public Utilities. The Engineer was attempting to establish
which department (Fire or Water) should be responsible for billing a taxi
company for damage to a hydrant. He says:
"The old Water Board was somewhat lax in forcing the Fire Department to
pay in such cases. In my opinion it is a just claim and it should be up
to the Fire Department to settle the account."
He mentions that the Fire Dept is in charge of maintenance on hydrants. A
hand-written note in the bottom margin says that the hydrant was replaced
by a "3 way Ludlow".
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- Section 8 -
City of Portland, Stanley Parr Archives and Records Center,
Water Bureau, Subject Files, A2001-021, 15/1
Hydrants, 1919-1923
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November 25, 1919 - Hydrant installation records for fiscal 1919. 37
hydrants total (36 "Columbian"s and 1 "Corey").
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February 10, 1920 - Unsigned (copy?) letter from "Engineer" (Clarke or
Randlett?) to Commissioner of Public Utilities John Mann. The Engineer lists
all hydrants currently in stock and requests that 50 more be ordered to
cover expected demand. The inventory consisted of:
- 6 x 4-Inch "Iowa" Hydrants
- 2 x 6-Inch "Iowa" Hydrants
- 29 x 6-Inch "Columbia" Hydrants
- 19 x 6-Inch "Corey" Hydrants
- 35 x 6-Inch "Mathews" Hydrants
The letter also notes that "Of the foregoing only the "Columbia" and "Corey"
hydrants are really serviceable for average conditions, the other hydrants
being used for special cases only." The Iowas and Mathews hydrants were
probably purchased by the Fire Department prior to 1904 or "inherited" from
other water utilities since there are no records of the Water Board
purchasing or installing either type between 1904 and 1920. The hydrants in
stock had probably been removed from their original locations. Installation
records for 1921 show approximately 50 "Mathews" hydrants installed that
year. Possibly the 50 that were requested turned out to be Mathews anyway?
There are no known examples of Mathews hydrants in Portland currently.
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Undated - Unsigned two-page letter from "Engineer Water Bureau" to "The
Purchasing Agent, City of Portland, Oregon". Concerning bids for fire
hydrants opened February 27, 1922. The Engineer, who seems to be speaking
on behalf of the Fire Department, feels that all of the low bidders'
hydrants are unsuitable for Portland's needs and recommends purchasing
"Corey" hydrants instead. The Coreys ($52.75 each) were the fourth lowest
bid after the Kennedy New Type ($44.54), John Wood Iron Works ($48.25) and
Ludlow Slide Gate hydrants ($51.50).
A third (attached) page shows the tabulated bids on a handwritten list.
The handwriting is difficult to read, but the bids from Phoenix Iron Works
and John Wood Iron Works are both described as being "Mathews Type Smaller"
which means (presumably) that they are small hydrants which mount in frost
jackets. There are a total of 13 bidders listed, but it's hard to tell how
many were manufacturers and how many were agents/resellers.
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May 22, 1922 - "Specifications for Fire Hydrants". Although these
specifications don't explicitly refer to the Corey hydrant as the preferred
design, they are considerably "tighter" and very few hydrants other than the
Corey could meet all the requirements. Most significantly, a very high
standard is set for avoiding friction loss (which was the main advantage
claimed in the Corey patent all along). In order to meet these
specifications, a solid sphere 2-3/8" in diameter must be able to pass
through a 6"-valve hydrant when opened all the way. A simple feat for the
Corey valve, but impossible for most compression hydrants. A slide gate
hydrant might manage it, but the specifications stipulate that only
compression type hydrants are acceptable. A hand-written note across
the top of the first page of this document reads "Rensselaer Valve Co Fire
Hydrants".
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June 23, 1922 - Letter on Rensselaer Valve Co. stationary from the Sales
Manager of Rensselaer's Seattle office to Fred Randlett, Water Bureau
Engineer. The letter quotes a telegram from Rensselaer's General Manager
which says:
"we are willing to authorize Randlett include our Blue Print with all
detailed dimensions in the specifications also specifying material used
different parts our Hydrant so as to duplicate same".
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October 18, 1922 - Unsigned letter from "Engineer" to Commissioner Mann
authorizing a call for bids on 100 hydrants. The final paragraph reads:
"Plans and specifications for the Portland standard hydrant are in course
of preparation, but will be delayed pending an opinion from the City
Attorney covering possible infringement of patents, etc."
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November 14, 1922 - "Proposals on 100 Fire Hydrants Opened by the Purchasing
Agent on November 10, 1922." A table showing seven bids offered on
hydrants. Local manufacturers Phoenix Iron Works and John Wood Iron Works
submitted bids but these were the most expensive hydrants on the list.
Other bidders included Rensselaer Valve, R. D. Wood & Co., A. P. Smith
Mfg. Co., Continental Pipe Mfg. Co. (Ludlow slide valve, as seen in the
next document) and Hilton-Pike Oakley Co. (Kennedy, see below).
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November 16, 1922 - Unsigned letter from "Engineer" to S. C. Pier,
Purchasing Agent. The engineer recommends that the low bidder (Kennedy) be
rejected because their hydrants, at 475 lbs., are too light weight. The
next lowest bidder (Ludlow) is not a compression hydrant. The Engineer
recommends the third-lowest bid (Rensselaer Valve Co.) be accepted. A
hand-written note at the bottom of the page reads "Awarded to Rensselaer
Valve Co Nov 17/22".
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December 8, 1922 - Unsigned letter (3 pages plus an attached cover letter)
from the Water Board Engineer concerning the hydrant bid awarded in November
(above). The low bidder (Hilton-Pike-Oakley Company, providing Mathews
hydrants) complained about the award to a different company. This letter
is the Water Board's response, explaining why the considerably more
expensive Rensselaer hydrants were chosen.
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February 8, 1923 - List of all hydrants set during fiscal 1922. Only 10
hydrants were installed, all Coreys and all on private water mains.
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March 3, 1923 - Letter on Rensselaer Valve Co. stationary from the Sales
Manager of the Seattle Branch to Water Engineer Randlett. Concerning a
hydrant that was broken in shipment.
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May 15, 1923 - Unsigned letter from "Engineer" to Commissioner Mann
concerning a hydrant contract the city was about to award. Ludlow Balanced
Valve and Corey hydrants were offered at the same price, and the Engineer
recommended purchasing the Coreys. Installation records for this period
show lots of Coreys but no Ludlows.
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May 16, 1923 - Unsigned letter from "Engineer Water Bureau" to John E.
Young, Chief Engineer, Bureau of Fire. Shows an itemized list of the costs
incurred to replace a fire hydrant on the corner of Osage & Washington
streets which was "demolished by an automobile". The damage must have been
substantial, since the costs included a whole new connection to the main:
1 "Corey" hydrant |
$62.50 |
1 6-in. gate |
16.75 |
1 C.I. Valve Box & Cover |
4.00 |
1 6 x 6 Tee |
12.00 |
1 6-in. Sleeve |
3.96 |
7 ft. of 6-in. pipe |
7.50 |
Lead and yarn |
2.50 |
Labor |
15.00 |
Cutting and repairing pavement |
12.00 |
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$136.21 |
Plus 10% |
13.62 |
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$149.83 |
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- Section 9 -
City of Portland, Stanley Parr Archives and Records Center,
Water Bureau, Subject Files, A2001-021, 15/2
Hydrants, 1923
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Undated, or at least the portion I copied is undated - Two pages (6 & 7)
from a periodical called "Water System Bulletin". Rather than being a
general publication, this seems to have been a sort of newsletter for the
"Volkhardt Company Inc. Stapleton Sta. S. I. N. Y. City". Page 6 contains
an article concerning Philadelphia's need for "an auxiliary plug system"
to keep private citizens from using and damaging fire hydrants. This story
is followed immediately by a follow-up story describing the benefits of
Volkhardt's own model of locking auxiliary hydrant (shown in a small
diagram).
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May 7, 1924 - Letter on Continental Pipe Manufacturing Co. stationary from
E. G. Rice, Continental Pipe Engineer, to Water Department Chief Engineer
Randlett. The letterhead itself is interesting, since it shows examples of
the companies products, which are wire-bound wooden pipes. The letter
begins:
"At the time of making delivery of the last shipment of Ludlow
Balanced Fire Hydrants your Mr. Houck informed the writer that Mr.
Gray through the Fire Department was having one or two minor cases
of leakage, especially when the valves were closed."
Rice asks for a detailed description of the problem so he can prepare a
report to be sent to Ludlow. Installation records through 1924 do not
show any substantial number of Ludlow hydrants being installed. When this
shipment arrived is unknown.
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May 31, 1923 - Unsigned letter from the Water Engineer to the Fire Engineer
(Young) reporting that the "Phoenix" hydrant on the SE corner of East 31st
and Market is now in service. (This would probably be Southeast 31st &
Market today.)
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June 9, 1923 - Unsigned letter from Engineer Water Bureau to the United
Metal Trades Association. "Replying to your letter of June 6th, regarding
fire hydrants for the City of Portland, I beg to state that we have just
received word from the patent attorneys in the East stating that they
expect to forward opinion on this subject next week."
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July 6, 1923 - Letter on United Metal Trades Association (Oregon District)
stationary from said organization to Engineer Randlett at the Bureau of
Water Works. "Kindly refer to your letter of June 9 regarding the opinion
of patent attorneys regarding fire hydrants for the City of Portland. Kindly
advise us what has been done in this matter." There is a response
hand-written at the bottom of the page and signed "FMR" (Randlett) but it,s
hard to say exactly what it says.
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July 9, 1923 - Unsigned letter from Engineer Water Bureau to Samual Powell,
Secretary United Metal Trades Assn. The letter reads:
"Replying to your further letter of July 6th with reference to City of
Portland fire hydrants, I wish to state that we received the final
report from the patent attorneys a few days ago, and which in all
respects appears to be satisfactory."
"We have submitted these papers to the City Attorney, whose report we
feel will be favorable, so that future bids for hydrants for our use
will be based on the plans and specifications prepared by this office."
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July 19, 1923 - Unsigned letter from Engineer Water Bureau to Samual Powell,
Secretary United Metal Trades Assn. This letter appears to be in response
to another query by Powell on the 16th of July. It says that the City
Attorney has approved the plan.
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July 30, 1923 - Letter on United Metal Trades Association (Oregon District)
stationary from said organization to the Bureau of Water Works, Attn:
Engineer Randlett. The letter compliments the city on "arranging fire
hydrant designs so that the local foundries will have an equal opportunity
with foundries outside of the State for getting this business."
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- Section 10 -
City of Portland, Stanley Parr Archives and Records Center,
Water Bureau, Subject Files, A2001-021, 15/3
Hydrants, 1924
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April 3, 1917 (Original specification dated June 20, 1916) - "Department of
Public Safety, City of Cincinnati, Drawings and Specifications for Fire
Hydrant, Cincinnati Fire Department". As the title says, it's a set of
construction diagrams for the Cincinnati spec fire hydrant. Each hydrant
was a slide-gate model with an elaborate curved standpipe, installed in a
concrete-floored brick vault under the sidewalk and curb. Sounds expensive.
The diagrams are quite detailed and show every component of the hydrant in
detail, right down to the leather washers in the nozzle caps.
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May 29, 1924 - Three letters/notes (on 2 pages) from Water Bureau Foremen
describing defects in the City's recently purchased Ludlow Balanced Valve
hydrants.
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May 29, 1924 - Unsigned letter from Engineer Water Bureau to E. G. Rice,
Engineer, Continental Pipe Mfg. Co. This letter is a response to a letter
from Rice (see May 7, 1924) concerning defective Ludlow hydrants. It
summarizes the Foremen's letters (above) and describes the difficulties
they have been having with the hydrants.
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June 30, 1922 - A list of Portland's hydrants. This is an excerpt from the
report compiled by Consulting Engineer Ernest Willard. This book is cited
in the Library section of this document.
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July 1, 1924 - Cover letter and tabulated bids for fire hydrants opened
June 30, 1924. There were nine bidders, listed below:
- John Wood Iron Works. Portland, Oreg.
- Helser Machine Works. Portland, Oreg.
- Rensselaer Valve Co. Arctic Building, Seattle, Wash.
- Phoenix Iron Works. Portland, Oregon.
- Independent Fdry. Co., Portland, Oregon.
- Monarch Forge & Mach. Works.
- Peninsula Fdry. & Mach. Works, Portland, Oregon.
- R. D. Wood & Company.
- Howard Cooper Corpn.
The cover letter indicates that the low bid (Howard Cooper Corporation) is
not within specifications, but it does not say what sort of hydrant they
were offering or why it was out of spec.
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- Section 11 -
City of Portland, Stanley Parr Archives and Records Center,
Water Bureau, Subject Files, A2001-021, 15/4
Hydrants, 1925-1926
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February 18, 1925 - "Bids on Fire Hydrants." A tabulated summary of seven
companies bids for 200 fire hydrants:
- Helser Machine Works
- Monarch Forge & Machine Works
- Commercial Iron Works
- Phoenix Iron Works
- Rensselaer Valve Company
- R. D. Wood & Company
- Peerless Pacific Company
The Engineer reports that "the only proposals complying exactly with the
plans are the following: Helser Machine Works, Monarch Forge and Machine
Works, Commercial Iron Works, Phoenix Iron Works, and the Rensselaer Valve
Company." (Only R. D. Wood and Peerless were rejected on this basis.) He
recommends the contract be awarded to Helser Machine Works, which submitted
the low bid. Although no copies of the actual hydrant specs from this
time have yet been located (as of May 2002), it's likely that by this time
the official Portland hydrant specification was for a literal copy of the
Rensselaer List 90, a.k.a. "Corey". So, all the in-spec companies must have
been offering "Coreys" of some sort.
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June 29, 1925 - Copy of a letter by M. J. Helser, President of Helser
Machine Works, Inc., to the Water Bureau, Attn. Engineer Randlett.
"Referring to your order No. 27843 for 200 Iron Body Fire Hydrants,
delivery of which was to be completed July 1st. Due to the fact that
we have been somewhat delayed in our work on this contract we wish to
ask for an extension of time until July 20th, 1925."
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June 30, 1925 - Unsigned letter from Engineer to Commissioner Mann
concerning the Helser Machine Works delay in hydrant delivery (above).
The Engineer explains that the requested delay will not harm the City, and
recommends it be granted.
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February 15, 1926 - Letter from E.L. Rick of The Rick Company, Los Angeles,
to Fire Department Chief Engineer Holden. Mr. Rick explains the benefits of
his "Super Hydrant", a wet barrel hydrant with two internal chambers
separated by a one-way shutter. The primary benefit of this arrangement is
that a hose already in use on a hydrant can be hooked up to a pumper through
the hydrant without disconnecting it. The version being offered to Portland
is the "Base Valve Type", which is a dry barrel due to the addition of a
compression valve at the base of the standpipe. The valve looks like a
Corey/Toggle variety.
The letter is the introduction to a three-page set of specifications. Also
included are some diagrams on how to use the hydrant properly, a black and
white photo of a Super Hydrant in use, and a blueprint of the Base Valve
Type.
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February 23, 1926 - Unsigned letter (actually a tabulated set of hydrant
bids) from Engineer to Commissioner Mann. The nine bidders for this contract
were:
- Helser Machine Works
- Peerless Pacific Company
- R. D. Wood & Company
- Independent Foundry Company
- Phoenix Iron Works
- Rensselaer Valve Company
- United Casting Company
- Keystone Iron & Steel Works
- The Rick Company
The low bid was Iowa hydrants from Peerless Pacific Company. The Engineer
recommended they be rejected because they did not meet the City's
specifications. Given that most Iowa hydrants are very similar to
Rensselaer hydrants (both having Corey-type valves), the City had a very
strict interpretation of it's specifications. Iowa hydrants were rejected on
this basis repeatedly. The next lowest bidder was Helser Machine Works,
which the Engineer recommended.
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December 24, 1926 - Tabulated bids for fire hydrants. Only five bidders:
- Western Foundry Company
- Smith & Watson Iron Works
- Helser Machine Works
- Rensselaer Valve Company
- Wood Ewing Iron Works
The Engineer recommended the lowest bid, that of Western Foundry, be
accepted.
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April 30, 1927 - Letter on Northwest Testing Laboratories stationary from
A. C. Sharp to "Ben S. Morrow Engineer Water Dept." The letter starts out:
"The Monarch Forge & Machine Works, have completed fabrication of 200
hydrants for your department." Sharp reports that the hydrants have passed
their tests and are painted and ready to ship. This matches the time
period in which installation records show the "City of Portland" design
appearing. However, the great majority of these hydrants turn out to be
Helser "Coreys" when checked. No hydrants bearing the Monarch name have
been found in the City.
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January 9, 1928 - Tabulated bids for fire hydrants. Just three bidders:
- Rensselaer Valve Company
- Western Foundry Company
- R. D. Wood & Company
Rensselaer submitted the low bid and was recommended for purchase by the
Engineer.
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- Section 12 -
City of Portland, Stanley Parr Archives and Records Center,
Water Bureau, Subject Files, A2001-021, 15/5
Hydrants, 1928-1932
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October 1, 1928 - "Description of the 'Mathews' Fire Hydrant". A slightly
more than 3-page long document describing the advantages of the Mathews
hydrant over other types. Not specifications, just a description of features
and their benefits.
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January 9, 1929 - Tabulated bids on 100 fire hydrants opened January 7,
1929. The four bidders were Rensselaer, Helser, Monarch and R. D. Wood. The
lowest bid was R. D. Wood, but the "Mathews" hydrant did not match the
city's "Corey" specifications. Rensselaer submitted the next lowest bid,
and Helser the third lowest. Since Helser was a local company and within 2%
of the Rensselaer bid, the Engineer recommended that Helser be awarded the
contract.
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February 11, 1930 - Letter from Fire Chief Edw. Grenfell to Water Bureau
Engineer Ben S. Morrow. Grenfell points out that Portland has 32 different
varieties of hydrant in service and recommends the City standardize the
Rensselaer "Corey". Possibly new office holders who were undecided as to
what procedures and specifications to adopt?
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February 14, 1930 - Tabulated bids on fire hydrants opened February 10,
1930. Four bidders:
- A. P. Smith Mfg. Co.
- Plumbers Supply Company
- Rensselaer Valve Company
- Helser Machine Works
The low bidder's hydrants (an unspecified type from A. P. Smith) did not
meet the city's specifications. The next lowest bid (Iowa hydrants from
Plumbers Supply Co.) were only 14 cents cheaper, per hydrant, than the
already-standard Coreys, so the Engineer recommended that Rensselaer be
awarded the contract.
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October 10, 1930 - "Bids on Fire Hydrants." A set of three dated tables
showing bidders and contracts awarded in the January 1928, January 1929 and
February 1930 contracts. A handwritten note beside the 1930 table reads
"(without independent valves)". It appears that the discussion of
standardization in February (above) resulted in a modification of the
"Corey" specification. The ungated Corey was now preferred.
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December 18, 1930 - Tabulated bids on fire hydrants opened December 15,
1930. Five bidders:
- Plumbers Supply Company - "Iowa"
- Rensselaer Valve Company - "Rensselaer"
- Western Foundry Company - "Corey" Type
- Helser Machine Works - "Corey" Type
- R. D. Wood & Company - "Mathews"
Again, Iowa hydrants were the lowest bid but rejected as not meeting the
city's specifications. Rensselaer was next, and Western Foundry was close
behind (the Western bid being less than 3% higher than Rensselaer's). The
Engineer recommended Western Foundry be awarded the contract.
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- Section 13 -
City of Portland, Stanley Parr Archives and Records Center,
Water Bureau, Subject Files, A2001-021, 15/6
Hydrants, 1933-1935
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February 14, 1933 - Tabulated bids on fire hydrants opened February 10,
1933. Five bidders:
- Helser Machine Works - Corey Type
- Plumbers Supply Company - Corey
- R. D. Wood & Company - Mathews
- Standard Supply Company - Chapman
- Woodbury Company - Iowa
Only the Coreys met the City's specifications. Helser's bid was lower than
Plumbers and so was recommended.
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Source Material, Part 1
Source Material, Part 2
Source Material, Part 3
Portland Oregon Fire Hydrants
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