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2nd Bitting Building; Wichita, KS
Scanned image from an original print of the 1887 Kansas Atlas showing the larger and fancier Bitting Brothers store at 126 and 128 Douglas Ave in Wichita, KS. This building is confirmed to have been built by William Henry Sternberg (1832 - 1906). The location of this building was the same as the smaller "Keystone Clothing Store" owned by Charles and Alfred Bitting. The caption at the bottom of the image reads, "Bitting Brothers, One Price Clothiers, Hatters and Furnishers. 126 & 128 Douglas Ave. N.W. Corner Market Steet. Wichita, Kansas. Mail Orders Receive Prompt Attention". The interior image (lower portion of picture) shows many tables stacked with clothes and many glass display cases filled with goods. The ceilings and walls are decked out with swags, fancy wallpaper borders and plasterwork. The center support colums are each very stylish electric lights. Along the walls are some very ornate display cases (glass ones on the right and wooden drawers on the left). Not visible in this image is a telephone for public use on the wall. The center island cage says "Cashier" above the middle gentleman. This was the 1st floor main level of the store and a large staircase leads up to floors above.
The exterior image (upper portion) shows horse drawn carriages in the dirt street and also a horse drawn trolley being pulled along rails. The advertisement on the roof of this trolley states, "Bitting Brothers One Price Clothiers East Douglas Avenue". These horse drawn trolleys were owned and operated by the Wichita Street Railway. Note the blocks of stone that have been layed next to the street (highlighted with notes in the photo). These were there for people to step out on when a carriage pulled up along side. Otherwise the drop down was fairly far, especially for the ladies. These blocks were chisled with the name, "Bitting Bros" facing out. One wonders sometimes the level of embellishment of these drawings, but all in all they appear to be quite accurate with virtually no embellishment at all. Bitting brothers indeed did advertise frequently on trolley cars and their trolley car advertising appears in other un-related old-time photos. This was not simply done for this Bitting store sketch.
Also seen in the print is a fire hydrant, so fire protection had come a long way in just a short period of time vs. pressurized pumps on trucks (in the 1870s). In spite a fire hydrant being right next to this building it sustained a massive fire in the Winter of 1911 and was a complete loss. The idea of installing a water system with fire hydrants throughout the city was being discussed in Wichita as early as 1880. But it wasn't until 1882 that Wichita finally began working on installing an underground water system for fire supression. In this year, Wichita contracted with a St. Louis firm for laying a 14-inch main, six inch supply pipes and a total of 60 hydrants throughout the city. This system was finished and in operation by Spring of 1883. City water pressure in the 1880s was kept at about 40 pounds, but during a fire it was doubled to 80 pounds, but only if the Water Superintendent got notified that there was a fire so he could increase the pressure. More than a few times in the frenzy of a fire, the Water Superintendent was never notified and so water pressure didn't get increased and was inadequate to fight the fire resulting in unnecessary structural loss. The water department was "catching heat" for this lack of adequate pressure, but ultimately the fire department was to blame for failing to notify the water department. However, by the time the Bitting Building burned these issues had been worked out long before and a lack of pressure was not to blame of the complete loss of the Bitting Building. The materials and construction of the building was likely more to blame. Fire stops, which are now required in structures to stop the spread of a fire, were normally not worked into buildings at this time. And fire-proof materials didn't exist, either. Although both manual and automatic fire sprinkler systems did exist at this time (automatic ones since about 1875), they were not required in commercial buildings like are they are today - they were at the discretion of the building owner. If a fire sprinkler system was installed in a commercial building it was usually in a factory (where fires at the turn of the century were often catastrophic in terms of both human and property losses) vs. a retail store. Also a fire supression system is not visible in the image above. So there were several reasons that contributed to this disasterous fire. Fortunately, though, no one was hurt in the Bitting Building fire. No one was in the building. The fire happened in the middle of the night. Wichita residents went to work the next cold winter day surpirsed by the scene of the four exterior walls being covered with huge ice cicles
Any thoughts, comments, ideas or additional information is welcomed and appreciated!
This image scanned from original 1887 print from the 1887 Kansas Atlas.
2nd Bitting Building; Wichita, KS
Scanned image from an original print of the 1887 Kansas Atlas showing the larger and fancier Bitting Brothers store at 126 and 128 Douglas Ave in Wichita, KS. This building is confirmed to have been built by William Henry Sternberg (1832 - 1906). The location of this building was the same as the smaller "Keystone Clothing Store" owned by Charles and Alfred Bitting. The caption at the bottom of the image reads, "Bitting Brothers, One Price Clothiers, Hatters and Furnishers. 126 & 128 Douglas Ave. N.W. Corner Market Steet. Wichita, Kansas. Mail Orders Receive Prompt Attention". The interior image (lower portion of picture) shows many tables stacked with clothes and many glass display cases filled with goods. The ceilings and walls are decked out with swags, fancy wallpaper borders and plasterwork. The center support colums are each very stylish electric lights. Along the walls are some very ornate display cases (glass ones on the right and wooden drawers on the left). Not visible in this image is a telephone for public use on the wall. The center island cage says "Cashier" above the middle gentleman. This was the 1st floor main level of the store and a large staircase leads up to floors above.
The exterior image (upper portion) shows horse drawn carriages in the dirt street and also a horse drawn trolley being pulled along rails. The advertisement on the roof of this trolley states, "Bitting Brothers One Price Clothiers East Douglas Avenue". These horse drawn trolleys were owned and operated by the Wichita Street Railway. Note the blocks of stone that have been layed next to the street (highlighted with notes in the photo). These were there for people to step out on when a carriage pulled up along side. Otherwise the drop down was fairly far, especially for the ladies. These blocks were chisled with the name, "Bitting Bros" facing out. One wonders sometimes the level of embellishment of these drawings, but all in all they appear to be quite accurate with virtually no embellishment at all. Bitting brothers indeed did advertise frequently on trolley cars and their trolley car advertising appears in other un-related old-time photos. This was not simply done for this Bitting store sketch.
Also seen in the print is a fire hydrant, so fire protection had come a long way in just a short period of time vs. pressurized pumps on trucks (in the 1870s). In spite a fire hydrant being right next to this building it sustained a massive fire in the Winter of 1911 and was a complete loss. The idea of installing a water system with fire hydrants throughout the city was being discussed in Wichita as early as 1880. But it wasn't until 1882 that Wichita finally began working on installing an underground water system for fire supression. In this year, Wichita contracted with a St. Louis firm for laying a 14-inch main, six inch supply pipes and a total of 60 hydrants throughout the city. This system was finished and in operation by Spring of 1883. City water pressure in the 1880s was kept at about 40 pounds, but during a fire it was doubled to 80 pounds, but only if the Water Superintendent got notified that there was a fire so he could increase the pressure. More than a few times in the frenzy of a fire, the Water Superintendent was never notified and so water pressure didn't get increased and was inadequate to fight the fire resulting in unnecessary structural loss. The water department was "catching heat" for this lack of adequate pressure, but ultimately the fire department was to blame for failing to notify the water department. However, by the time the Bitting Building burned these issues had been worked out long before and a lack of pressure was not to blame of the complete loss of the Bitting Building. The materials and construction of the building was likely more to blame. Fire stops, which are now required in structures to stop the spread of a fire, were normally not worked into buildings at this time. And fire-proof materials didn't exist, either. Although both manual and automatic fire sprinkler systems did exist at this time (automatic ones since about 1875), they were not required in commercial buildings like are they are today - they were at the discretion of the building owner. If a fire sprinkler system was installed in a commercial building it was usually in a factory (where fires at the turn of the century were often catastrophic in terms of both human and property losses) vs. a retail store. Also a fire supression system is not visible in the image above. So there were several reasons that contributed to this disasterous fire. Fortunately, though, no one was hurt in the Bitting Building fire. No one was in the building. The fire happened in the middle of the night. Wichita residents went to work the next cold winter day surpirsed by the scene of the four exterior walls being covered with huge ice cicles
Any thoughts, comments, ideas or additional information is welcomed and appreciated!
This image scanned from original 1887 print from the 1887 Kansas Atlas.