This decision placed Otis Brothers in a decidedly uncomfortable position, at the mercy of the Commission. W. E. Hale, promoter of the water balance elevator—who by then had a strong voice in Otis’ affairs—expressed the seriousness of the matter in a letter to the company’s president, Charles R. Otis, following receipt of Brown’s report on the Paris conference. Referring to the controversial cogwheel, Hale wrote
... if this must be arranged so that the car is effected [sic] in its operation by constant contact with the rack and pinion ... so as to communicate the noise and jar, and unpleasant motion which such an arrangement always produces, I should favor giving up the whole matter rather than allying ourselves with any such abortion.... we would be the laughing stock of the world, for putting up such a contrivance.
This difficult situation apparently was the product of a somewhat general contract phrased in terms of service to be provided rather than of specific equipment to be used. This is not unusual, but it did leave open to later dispute such ambiguous clauses as “adequate safety devices are to be provided.”
Although faced with the loss not only of all previously expended design work but also of an advertisement of international consequence, the company apparently concurred with Hale and so advised Paris. Unfortunately, there are no Otis records to reveal the subsequent transactions, but we may assume that Otis’ threat of withdrawal prevailed, coupled as it was with Eiffel’s confidence in the American equipment. The system went into operation as originally designed, free of the odious rack and pinion.
That, unfortunately, was not the final disagreement. Before the fair’s opening in May 1889, the relationship was strained so drastically that a mutually satisfactory conclusion to the project must indeed have seemed hopeless. The numerous minor structural modifications of the Tower legs found necessary as construction progressed had necessitated certain equivalent alteration to the Otis design insofar as its dependency upon the framework was affected. Consequently, work on the machinery was set back by some months. Eiffel was informed that although everything was guaranteed to be in full operation by opening day on May 1, the contractual deadline of January 1 could not possibly be met. Eiffel, now unquestionably acting on his own volition, responded by cable, refusing all payment. Charles Otis’ reply, a classic of indignation, disclosed to Eiffel the jeopardy in which his impetuosity had placed the success of the entire project:
After all else we have borne and suffered and achieved in your behalf, we regard this as a trifle too much; and we do not hesitate to declare, in the strongest terms possible to the English language, that we will not put up with it ... and, if there is to be War, under the existing circumstances, propose that at least part of it shall be fought on American ground. If Mr. Eiffel shall, on the contrary, treat us as we believe we are entitled to be treated, under the circumstances, and his confidence in our integrity to serve him well shall be restored in season to admit of the completion of this work at the time wanted, well and good; but it must be done at once ... otherwise we shall ship no more work from this side, and Mr. Eiffel must charge to himself the consequences of his own acts.
This message apparently had the desired effect and the matter was somehow resolved, as the machinery was in full operation when the Exposition opened. The installation must have had immense promotional value for Otis Brothers, particularly in its contrast to the somewhat anomalous French system. This contrast evidently was visible to the technically unsophisticated as well as to visiting engineers. Several newspapers reported that the Otis elevators were one of the best American exhibits at the fair.
In spite of their large over-all scale and the complication of the basic pattern imposed by the unique situation, the Otis elevators performed well and justified the original judgment and confidence which had prompted Eiffel to fight for their installation. Aside from the obvious advantage of simplicity when compared to the French machines, their operation was relatively quiet, and fast.
The double car, traveling at 400 feet per minute, carried 40 persons, all seated because of the change of inclination. The main valve or distributor that controlled the flow of water to and from the driving cylinder was operated from the car by cables. The hydraulic head necessary to produce pressure within the cylinder was obtained from a large open reservoir on the second platform. After being exhausted from the cylinder, the water was pumped back up by two Girard pumps ([fig. 31]) in the engine room at the base of the Tower’s south leg.