GEOHGK R. CLARK^ «. I'. Cl.AS. P. S1LVA.
CLAKKE, LAYTON & CO,,
REAL ESTATE AGENTS,
In 1853,)
128 Washington Street,
ADJOININO CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, CHICA.GO, ILLINOIS.
BUY & SELL REAL ESTATE ON COMMISSION.
MONEY INVESTED FOR NON-RESIDENTS.
We have made from 50 to 200 per cent, per annum on investments for Non-residents, during the last three years.
Refer to the permanent business men of the city. 2
Heal Estate Agents.,
AND
LOA1V BROKERS,
106 Madison Street, Room Ko. 2. . CHICAGO.
ALL KINDS OF PROPERTY BOUGHT AND SOLD.
A. M. KINZIB. __ QEORQB H. K1NZIE.
MclNTYRE, PECK & CO., 13O fcState Street, - -
IMPORTERS, MANUFACTURERS, AND DEALERS IN
OIL PAINTINGS, CHROM03, ENGRAVINGS, Ac. Picture Mouldings, Frames, Cord, Tassels, Screw Eyes,
Class, <Stc., &c. *-.'.. .
EXCLUSIVE AGENTS FOR THE NORTHWEST FOR
Briggs' New Patent Parlor Billiard Tables,
Examine our complete Stock and Prices before purchasing elsewhere.
THE ONLY PRACTICAL
ADDING MACHINE,
Which will add swiftly and accurately EIGHT COLUMNS OF FIGURES AT ONCE.
SIMPLE ! and cannot get out of order. The ONLY Machine by which fractions can be added on the same machine, and at the same time. Invaluable for every branch of business. Buy no other until you have st-en it. I?rioe JJJ15.
On exhibition and for sale at 94 WASHINGTON STREET, CHI-
CAG0' only CMAS. WAITE, Jr.
BOYDEN & GRIERSON,
REAL
Estate Agents,
AND
LOAN BROKERS, 94 LA SALLE STREET,
CHICAGO.
Merchants Ins. Co.'s Building, Room 14, Second Floor.
JAMKS W. BOYDKN. JOHN C. GRIERSON.
4
THOMAS D. 5NYDER. J. LEWIS LEK.
Real Estate
AND
LOAN AGENTS,
Eoom 4, Metropolitan Block,
Corner of Randolph and La Salle Streets,
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.
REAL ESTATE PURCHASED,
MANAGED AND SOLD.
Taxes Paid for If on
LOANS MADE ON EEAL ESTATE IN CHICAGO
FOB A TERM OP YEARS.
5
BANKER BROS. & GREENE,
BROKERS,
434 La Sal le Street, . » . CH I C AG O .
REAL ESTATE BOUGHT, MANAGED AND SOLD.
TAXES PAID FOR NON-RESIDENTS.
Monies invested for a term of years on Bond and First Mortgage. Interest made payable semi-annually, East or West, at
option of lender. LOANS MADE ON REAL ESTATE IN CHICAGO.
We refer by permission to Hon. Wra. M. Evarts, 49 Wall Street, New York ; George W. Banker, Esq., 129 Maiden Lane, New York ; H. G. Bulkley, Esq., 185 Fulton Street, New York; Hon. E. R. Hoar, Attorney-General U. 8., Washington, D, 0. ; Messrs. S. G. Bowdlear & Co., 192 and 194 State Street, Boston; J. E. Greene, Esq., Editor Worcester Spy, Worcester, Mass. ; Hon. Warren Currier, St. Louis, Mo. ; Merrll Ladd, Esq., President Mutual Life Insurance Company of Chicago; P. H. Willard, Esq., Treasurer of the above Company; H. W. Hinsdale, Esq., Capitalist, Chicago; Benj. V. Page, Esq., Vice- President Mechanics' National Bank, Chicago ; Fuller, Finch & Fuller, Wholesale Druggists, Chicago.
BAIRD & BRADLEY,
Loan Agency and Real Estate Office,
1PHCENIX BUILDING,
No, 90 LA SALLE STREET, CHICAGO.
Particular attention given to the negotiation of LOANS secured by
Bond and First Mortgage, and to the Management, Purchase and
Sale of Real Estate, including the Payment of Taxes, &o.
WARREN & GOODRICH,
Real Estate Brokers*
No. l '^n Deartoorn Street,
Rooms I, 2 A3. CHICAGO ILL.
L. H. ffTREETER. D. a. CLABK. P. J. THWAITE8.
Clark, Streeter & Co,,
AND LOAN AGENTS,
122 Washington St., CHICAGO.
Houses Rented, Rents Collected, Taxes Paid. Ap- plications for Insurance received here for Lake County.
OFFICE,
D. M. Erskine & Co , Auctioneers,
WAUKECAN, LAKE CO., ILL.
FARMS AND WELLINQS POE SALE OR REFT,
Correspondence and Consignments solicited. 7
OLINGER, WALLER & CO.,
REAL ESTATE AGENTS
AND
Boom 7, Union Bnilding,
Corner of LaSalle anil I asMiton Streets,
HAVE A LARGE LIST OF
IMPROVED AND UNIMPROVED
JEt O I* DB3 JEt T
IN ALL PARTS OF THE CITY.
ACRE PRQ>P1RTY A SPECIALTY.
JOHH P. OLDIOKX. fTILLIAM 8. WALLUU «D. C. WALLKB.
a
CHICAGO.
fjAND BOOK FOR STRANGERS & TOURISTS
CONTAINING
HISTORICAL RETROSPECT; AN ACCOUNT OF THE RISE AND
PROGRESS OF THE CITY; DESCRIPTIONS OF THE PUBLIC
BUILDINGS, CHURCHES, SCHOOLS, INSTITUTIONS,
AND OBJECTS OF INTEREST, ETC.
.A. BOOIC INDISPENSABLE TO STRANGERS AND VISITORS.
CHICAGO:
HALTIN, HAYES AND MCCLURE, PUBLISHERS, 1869.
Entered according- to Act of Congress, in the year 1869, by HALPIN,
HAYES & MCCLURE, in the Clerk's Office of the District
Court of the United States, in the Northern District
of Illinois.
Press of Church, Goodman & Donnelley.
GEO. DELOYNBS. GEO. W. PARENT.
DELOYNES & PAKENT,
REAL ESTATE,
152 MADISON ST.,
Room 2, - Major Block,
CHICAGO, ILL.
10
11
' II PI . II* r k
^
Real Estate
AND
115 Dearborn St., CHICAGO.
Particular attention paid to sub-dividing and selling property at public and private sale. Will purchase half interest with residents or non-residents and divide proceeds. Money loaned on best real estate security, to net-lenders ten per cent. Taxes paid for non- residents and property attended to.
REFERENCES:
A. C. & O. F. Badger, Bankers, Chicago; Fourth National Bank, Chicago; Geo. S. Coe, President American Exchange Bank, New York; Chas. S. Brown President American National Bank, New York; Jay Cook & Co., Bankers, New York; Nathaniel Harris, President National Atlantic Bank, Boston; N. A. Burroughs, President Ketanning Coal Co , Phila- delphia ; Allen, Copp & Nisbet, Bankers, St. Louis.
12
••
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
PAGB.
Academyof the Christian Brothers 76
Academy of Sciences 80
Amusement, places of 124
Art Galleries 142
Artesian Wells 55, 59
Banking in Chicago 106
Boot and Shoe Manufactures 160
Boulevards and Parks 89
Business Directory 173
Catholic Library Association 82
Chamber of Commerce 101
Charitable Asylums 95
Charitable Eye and Ear Infirmary 100
Charity Dispensary 99
Chicago Clearing House 106
Chicago Li brary Association 82
Chicago Medical College 78
Chicago Theological Seminary 73
Chicago University .' 71
Churches in Chicago 86, 93
City Dispensary 99
-^Commerce of Chicago 26
Crib, The Lake 48
C ustom House 101
"Dearborn Park 43
-Dispensaries 42
Distances on the Pacific Railroad 70
Elevators 28
Erring Woman's Refuge 94
Foreign Consuls in Chicago 84
; Garrett Biblical Institute 74
Grain Trade 28
^ Hahnemann Medical College 78
Harbor and River 44
Historical Retrospect 19
Historical Society 81
Hospitals and Dispensaries 97
Hotel for Invalids 94
Hotels 134
~ Industrial School 104
' Insurance Companies 109
Irish Literary Association 82
iff Jefferson Park 43
Lake Marine 24
Lake Tunnel 49
Libraries * 81
Lincoln Park... 89
14 Table of Contents.
Literary and Scientific Institutions 80
Lumber Trade . .- 81
Marine Hospital 97
Masonic and Odd Fellows' Guide 133
Medical Colleges 76
New Pier 46
New West, The 68
Newspapers and Publications 85
Observatory 71
Opera House ; 122
Orphan Asylums 96
Pacific Railroad 63
Parks and Boulevards 89
Places of Amusements 122
Population of Chicago 84
Population of the New West 63
Post Office 101
Provision Trade 29
Public Buildings ' 101
Ravenswood 165
Reading Rooms .. 83
Real Estate 22
Reformatory Institutions 94
Restaurants 188
River and Harbor 44
River Tunnels 51
Savings' Banks 107
Schools 78
Slope of the Pacific, The 63
South Side Parka and Boulevards 41
Steamboat and Transportation Companies 84
Stock Yards 56
Suburban Villages 165
Telegraph Companies 88
Territory of the New West 63
Theatres 122
Tonnage of Vessels 24
Trade and Commerce 21
Union Park 42
Union Stock Yards 56
Universities and Colleges 71
VernonPark 43
Village of Jefferson 170
Washington Heights 167
Washingtonian Home 94
Washington Park 43
Washington Street Tunnel . 51
West Side Parks 42
Woodland and Groveland.. . . 48
•
15
PATENT HINGE TURN-UP SEAT DESKS,
FIVE SIZES.
MANUFACTURERS OF ALL KINDS OF
Office Desks and School Furniture.
o tt
Everything pertaining to the Furnishing of Schools, Halls, Churches or Colleges. Cutter's Physiological Charts, Tab- lets. Cards, Charts and Globes of all kinds. Holbrook and Philo- sophical Apparatus, Magic Lanterns and Slides.
43- Address for Illustrated Catalogue and Prioes of each department,
A. H. ANDREWS & CO., Manufacturers,
111 State Street. CHICAGO. 16
17
E.P.DWYER&CO.,
IMPO RTERS
D
RUGGISTS,
92 AND 94 LAKE STREET, CHICAGO, - - - ILLINOIS,
Offer to the Trade one of the largest and most com-
plete stocks to be found in any Drug House west
of New York City. An examination of our
stock and prices is respectfully invited.
E. P. DWYER & CO.
Acids, Brushes all kinds, Chamois Skins, Corks all kinds, Drugs, Dye Woods, Dye Stuffs, Essential Oils, Glass- ware, all kinds, Indigoes. all kinds, Japonica, Oils, all kinds, Patent Medicines, Rosins, Sal Soda, Soda-Ash, Soda, Caustic, American ; Soda, Caustic, English ; Sponges, all kinds, Tieman & Go's Colors, Dry and in Oil, Tilden & Go's Solid and Fluid Extracts, Wm. Tilden & Nephew, Varnishes, J. P. Smith & Sons', Varnishes, Window Glass, White Leads.
Agents for Congress and Empire Spring Co. Sara- toga Waters, Getttysburg Water, Missisquoi Water, Parke, Jenning & Go's Fluid Extracts, Norwood's American Isinglass.
The Qualities of the Goods In which we deal will always be of the ver , best obtainable, and put up neatly and carefully by experienced employees.
We do not employ Traveling Agents, being satisfied Goods can be sold at a lower margin of profit by Customers sending us their orders direct by mail. They may rest assured of getting the benefit of any de- cline in value of Goods, and prices will be as low as if the purchaser were in market.
18
HISTORICAL RETROSPECT.
Early in the year 1673 a party of five Frenchmen, under the lead of Louis Joliet, set out from Canada, for the purpose of discovering the source of the Mississippi river. The celebrated French Jesuit, Pere Jacques Marquette accompanied the party as a missionary amongst the Indian tribes. Returning home, after a toilsome and adventurous journey, they took a different route, and touching the shores of Lake Michigan, they entered the mouth of a small creek, which the natives called Chicagon. This is the first record we find of Chicago River. In 1795, in a treaty with the Indian tribes inhabiting this part of the country, the United States acquired several tracts of land, among which we find recorded a tract of land " six miles square, at the mouth of Chicago river," which then entered the lake about half a mile south of its present mouth, as de- scribed in a subsequent article in this book treating of the river. The first white man who became a perma- nent settler here was Mr. John Kinzie, an Indian trader, who crossed the lake from St. Joseph, Michi- gan, in 1804. He was the founder of the commerce of Chicago, which then consisted simply in bartering with the Indians for the furs and peltries which were col- lected by them in the country bordering the Mississippi and Illinois rivers, carried across the portage between the Illinois and Chicago rivers, and then transmitted east in small vessels. About this time the first fort was erected — a common frontier block-house, which was situated near the site of Rush street bridge, on the south side of the river. Outside the fort Chicago then consisted of but five houses : first, Mr. Kinzie's, on the north side of Hie river, opposite the fort, and a little west of this the residence of a Frenchman, named Ouilmette, employed by Mr. Kiuzie, and still further
20 Historical Retrospect.
west, where the railroad depot on North Wells street now stands, the cottage of a discharged soldier named Burns. There was also the agency house or factory, where the goods were stored, and the intercourse with the Indians took place. This building stood west of and outside the fort; south of this again was Mr. Lee's farm.
The Indian tribes who occupied the country around Chicago were the Potawatomies, the Miamies, the Winnebagoes, the Sauks and Foxes, and the Kicka- poos. On the loth of August, 1812, occurred the fear- ful Indian massacre, which forms such a dark and bloody epoch in the early history of Chicago.
In July, 1815, at a grand congress of the Indian tribes of the Northwest, assembled at Portage des Sioux, on the Mississippi, a treaty of peace was negoti- ated between them and the United States Government. By another treaty, made in August, 1816, all the region of country lying between the Illinois river and Chicago was ceded to the United States. This was effected, it is said, for the purpose of building a canal to connect Lake Michigan with the Illinois river. Four years after the massacre by the Indians and destruction of the fort the troops returned to the neighborhood, and erected a new fort on the site of the former one. This last remained standing as late as 1857, when it was removed by the city authorities.
In this new fort the troops remained until May, 1823, when the place was left to the care of the Indian agent and several families who had arrived here. In 1828 the fort was again occupied by troops, a second mas- sacre being threatened by the Winnebagoes. In 1882, at the breaking out of the Sauk war, the fort was gar- risoned by a detachment of regular troops under com- mand of Gen. Scott. In 1836 the Indians were removed, and the fort had no further need of a garrison. In 1830 Chicago had twelve houses and three suburban residences on Madison street. The population num- bered about one hundred souls, including half breed Indians and negroes. August 10th, 1833, the town of Chicago was organized, by the election of five trustees. There were then twenty-eight voters. The town was
Trade and Commerce. 21
incorporated as a city March 4th, 1837, and the first municipal election was held May 1st, 1837. On the 1st of July of this year the first official census was taken. Population, 4,170. The city then contained 4 store- houses, 398 dwellings, 29 stores for dry goods and vari- eties, 5 hardware stores, 3 drug, and 19 grocery and provision stores, 10 taverns, 26 groceries, 17 lawyer's offices, and 5 churches.
The only news of the outside world obtained in those days was by a half-breed Indian, wlio journeyed on foot, once in two weeks, to Niles, Michigan, for papers and letters, the trip usually consuming a week.
The first Circuit Court was held in 1831. The pub- lic expenses of Cook County, which then included Du Page, Lake, McHenry, and Will counties, for the year 1832, were $252.35, and the receipts from licenses and taxes, to pay the same, amounted to $278.28.
Such is a brief outline of the more notable events which marked the early days of Chicago. But little more than sixty years since the first white man made this his home — here, where now the merchant princes of a great metropolis luxuriate in costly marble palaces, and view the waters of Lake Michigan whitened by the argosies of a vast commerce — fifty years ago the savages of the wilderness satisfied their thirst for blood, and exultingly celebrated by the blaze of a burning fort the massacre of its garrison.
TRADE AND COMMERCE.
In 1840 Chicago was a trading post, on the extreme Indian frontier, unknown except as a government post. In 1869 her fame as a great city, unique and unpar- alled in her progress, is world wide. The history of centuries is comprised in her story, embracing a span of not more than half an ordinary life time. A stranger visiting Chicago, seems to enter into a new world. Here alone he can form some just conception of that almost illimitable territory which lies beyond the great
22
Trade and Commerce.
Trade and Commerce. 23
rivers of the West, — the Ohio, Mississippi and "Wis- consin. This immense territory, rapidly tilling up with a hardy population, whose labor causes the teeming virgin soil to bring forth abundantly of her inexhaust- ible wealth, is netted with railways and intersected with canals and water courses, of which Chicago is the entrepot and mart ; and from whence depart every hour of the day and night vessels innumerable, leviathan propellers, and mammoth trains loaded to their fullest capacity with grain and provisions for eastern ports, to be thence transhipped to Europe
Cnicago is the centre of the greatest railway system in the world. Not a section of the great Northwest but is connected with it by rail. The Chicago and Northwestern Railway stretches away to Lake Supe- rior, and with the St. Paul road, bisects Wisconsin, and penetrates Minnesota, tapping the entire railway sys- tems of those States, and striking the line of the Northern Pacific Railway, the Galena division of the same road.
The Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific road, and the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy road respectively, connect with the Iowa railroads, extending into Ne- braska, and connect at Omaha with the Union Pacific railroad. The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy road connects also with the Hannibal and St. Joseph road, passing through northern Missouri to St. Joseph, which is connected by rail with Lawrence, Kansas, where another connection is made with a branch of the Union line to the Pacific. These various lines, together with the Chicago, Alton and St. Louis, the Illinois Central, and the Chicago and Milwaukee, constitute the main western lines of railway centering at Chicago, and with their connections, place the entire Northwest under tribute to that city.
The aggregate length of the lines of railway radi- ating from Chicago, is over 8,000 miles. Besides com- manding the trade of the interior by its numerous lines of railways and its water communications by canal with the Illinois river, it is at the head of lake naviga- tion, and has access to the ocean by natural and arti- ficial outlets for vessels that safely cross the Atlantic.
24 Trade and Commerce.
A very short time hence- these outlets will be so increased that Chicago will be able to send her marine direct to the ocean vii the St. Lawrence and Missis- sippi. In 183G a few schooners supplied this region with goods from Ohio. Now the lake marine exhibits the following figures :
TONNAGE OP VESSELS
Owned in1 the District of Chicago, that were engaged in trade during 1867-8 :
8 Steamers with 8,181 Tonnage
18 Propellers " 6,020
83 Tugs " 977
41 Barks " 18,899
4 Barges •• 1,934
15 Brigs " 8,600
267 Schooners " 48,968
87 Scows " 2,934
2 Sloops •• 16
410 Total " 76,369
227 Canal boats with 19,784
96,153 26 Vessels lost during the year 8,640
92,513 " TONNAGE OP VESSELS
Owned in other Districts of the United States, that came to the Port of Chicago during 1867-8 :
2 Steamers with 2,190 Tonnage
T4 Propellers " 51,053
14 Tugs " 910
90 Barks •• 28,155
21 Brigs " 5,504
895 Schooners " 85,«48
81 Scows " 2,748
1 Barge " 814
«28 Vessels " 176,511
The number of foreign vessels that arrived at the port of Chicago, including two from Liverpool, England, was as follows :
8 Propellers 2,859 Tons.
26 Barks 8,808
2Brigs 574
22 Schooners 5,850
58 Vessels.., 17,091 Tons.
Trade and Commerce. 25
Whole number of vessels and their tonnage which entered the port of Chicago during 1867, compared with 1866:
Number of seagoing Vessels entered Chicago
duringlS66 997 251,017 Tons.
Number of Canal Boats owned in Chicago
Dec. 81, 1866 230 20,059 "
Total number which entered Chicago
in 1866 engaged in trade 1,227 271,163 Tons.
Total number in 1S67 1,323 289,665 "
Gaininl867 96 18,629 Tons.
During the year 1867 there were received for tolls on the Illinois and Michigan Canal, $113,482 29.
DIRECT SHIPMENTS FROM CHICAGO TO LIVERPOOL.
The shipments from Chicago to Liverpool direct for the season of 1867-8, were more than double the pre- ceding season. There were forwarded by Webster's European Express, ma New York, 9,446 packages of provisions, weighing 1,675 tons; and via Portland, 13,512 packages, weighing 2,954 tons,— in all, 22,958 packages, weighing 4,619 tons.
The area of the lakes, including Georgian Bay, in square miles, is nearly, if not quite equal to the Mediter- ranean, while the whole extent of the coast, taking in the St. Lawrence, is far greater. The shore line of the lakes is estimated at 6,240 miles.
If we cast our eyes over the map of the Mediter- ranean, we are equally surprised to perceive, whether from the difference of institutions, governments, or peoples, that notwithstanding the antiquity of its ad- vantages, so to speak, there is but one port which is as flourishing as Chicago, and none which has risen so rapidly or is likely to advance so far.
Marseilles is the third city in France, ranking next to Paris and Lyons. According to the most recent accounts, its population is, even now, but about thirty thousand more than that of Chicago, if even that; though Marseilles existed six hundred years before the Christian era, and \ras a free commercial city in the
26 Trade and Commerce.
year 1226. The tonnage of French vessels now engaged in its foreign trade appears from our latest Consular returns to be but 180,000 tons; while that of Chicago, as we have already stated, amounts to 255,000. So, too, of Genoa, the proud, the great port of Italy. This city, old and beautifully picturesque though it be, has not as many inhabitants as Chicago, and no such com- mercial activity. The operations of a single hour in the latter would, in Genoa, appear like an insurrection. And so we might proceed to contrast every other city on the shores of the Mediterranean, all old and flourish- ing, perhaps, in the European sense, but none of them resembling the busy, growing, flourishing and com- manding city of Chicago.
The prosperity of its inhabitants has proceeded step by step with that of the city, and nowhere can be found more of the comforts and elegancies of life, nowhere a greater liberality of bestowment for any good and patri- otic purpose.
But it is sufficient for us at this time to look at Chi- cago as she is, with interminable lines of railwav, which reach to the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic, with a uniform guage, radiating in all directions over our fer- tile Western plains and prairies, and which, after cut- ting through rocks sparkling with gold and silver, are to terminate only on the shores of the Pacific. It is sufficient to consider that she is the mistress and at the head of navigation of the largest inland seas on this continent, and that her sails whiten and her screws toss into foam the purest and most beautiful of waters. "With a vast domestic and increasing colonial trade, likely to be facilitated by the enlargement of the present canals of Canada, or the construction of new ones by natural routes such as the earliest missionaries dis- covered, there seems to be no limitation to her exten- sion or prosperity. Chicago, therefore, may be set up as a standard American city, for the admiration of the world.
THE COMMERCE OF CHICAGO.
THE GRAIN TRADE.
By far the most interesting and remarkable feature of the business of Chicago is the grain trade, which,
Trade and Commerce. 27
starting up a little more than twenty-seven years ago, has developed with such rapidity, and has already reached proportions so gigantic as to stamp it as one of the chief marvels of the history of modern commerce. Who, dating back to 1838, when the sum total of the grain trade of Chicago was seventy-eight buxhels, could have realized the marvel that thirty years would pro- duce. Then, the only trade of the city was supplied by two small vessels; now, Chicago estimates the tonnage of her fleets by thousands, and takes rank as the leading grain market of the world. The trade and commerce of the Mississippi river has not kept pace with the de- velopment of the country through which it runs, and for which it is the regular channel to the ocean. The artificial highways of trade, canals and railroads, have tapped the West, and carried its products eastward across the continent. The grain trade of the West has been diverted almost entirely to the lakes, the Erie canal, the St. Lawrence river, or the six great trunk lines of railroad that diverge from the heart of the West to the seaboard. Thus has the Mississippi ceased to be the outlet to the ocean for the grain traffic of the West. The reasons for the change are apparent, its advantages many. The risk of damage to grain or flour, which was very liable to receive damage from heat by passing through the Southern latitudes of the gulf during the summer months, is greatly decreased, and the uncer- tainty of river navigation is removed, while the advan- tages of cheaper and speedier transportation by rail- roads and canals on the Northern route, with the better markets afforded on the Atlantic seaboard, have aided chiefly to effect this change.
The following figures, compiled from the official report of Chicago Board of Trade, will afford the stranger some idea of the extent of the grain trade of Chicago.
THE ELEVATORS.
Overhanging the river on either side are to be seen large, sombre, gloomy-looking buildings, erected for the purpose of receiving and discharging the enormous quantities of grain which are continually pouring into this market. Their number and capacity are as follows :
28
Trade and Commerce.
Trade and Commerce.
29
The following table shows the movements of flour and grain during 1868 as compared with 1858.
RECEIVED.
1868.
1858.
66'2,540 9,689,614 8,252,641 2,888,^97 T1,0i2
413,812
Flour In barrels ..................... ........ 1,321.205
Wheat in bushels. ........................... 18,930,857
Corn " ............................ 26,186,256
Oats " ............................ 13,554,827
Rye " ............................ 1,400,896
Barley " ............................ 2,484,450
FORWARDED.
Flour in barrels ............................. 2,246,280 470,462
Wheat in bushels ............................ 12,950,2(.»3 8,850,257
Corn " ............................ 28,062,529 7.726,264
Oats " ............................ 12,425,950 1,519,066
Rye " ........................... 1,864,566 7,569
Barley " ............................ 2;485,959 132,020
THE PROVISION TRADE.
The provision trade of Chicago dates its commence- ment from the year 1835, when 5,000 head of cattle was the total number cut and packed in the city. From that time until the season of 1864-5, Chicago furnished almost one-third of the entire number packed in the western states. Cincinnati, for a number of years, was the leading packing point, and was, in consequence, called the Porkopolisof the country. In 1861, although Cincinnati showed no considerable decrease in the number of hogs packed, still she had to yield the palm to her younger competitor. During that season nearly one million hogs were cut up and packed in Chicago, being two fifths of the entire packing of the west. The number of firms now engaged in packing is forty-six in pork, and nine in beef. The following table gives the receipts and shipments of hogs, with the number packed in a series of years : Yfftr. Received.
1844
1835
1887
1851-2
1852-3 65,158
1853-4 73,980
1854^5 188,515
Skipped.
54,156 78,694
J'ackfd. 388 1,000 1,400 5,000 12,000 22,036 44,156
30 Trade and Commerce.
Year. Rece.ivcd. Shh
1855-6 803.539 1TO.881 80,:'-80
ia^-7 220,702 103.074 74,000
1S57-8 214,223 88,546 99,262
1853 640,486 19.',013 179,634
1859 271,204 110,246 151,339
1860 392,864 '.'27,164 271,805
18H1 (575.902 2^9,094 505. (591
1862 1,343.890 491,135 970 2<H
1863 1.677,757 856,485 904659
1864-5 1,410,320 536,437 760,514
1865-6 1.173832 662.566 607,«55
1866-7 l,341,r>56 672,769 689,382
1867-8 1,883,373 1,033,118 796,225
1868-9 1,997,506 1,181,344 (597,954
The following shows the numbers of live stock
received by railroad during the season of 1868 as com- pared with that of 1867 :
1868. 13(57.
Beef cattle , 324,624 834.138
Hogs 1,705,863 1,696,748
Sheep 270,875 179,888
The following table shows the result of the packing business in the west during the season of 1868-9 com- pared with that of 1867-8 :
1867-8.
Ohio 562,955 644,657
Illinois 1,063,496 80fi,OS4
Indiana 821,883 326,658
Kentucky 157,8-0 188,426
Missouri.. 883,011 861,067
Wisconsin 174,958 129,094
Iowa 182,944 126,835
Total 2J98^832 M77,264
2,477,2(54
Decrease 816,768
The packing-houses of Chicago are mainly located in Bridgeport, on both banks of the south branch of the river. The buildings are mainly substantial brick struc- tures. Steam machinery now performs much of the labor formerly done by hand. It is a curious and instructive scene to witness the operations of a large packing- house during the busy season, and will repay the trou- ble and time spent.
Trade and Commerce. 81
THE LUMBER TRADE.
Chicago is admirably situated for a first-class lumber market for the people of the Northwest. The lumber regions of Canada, Michigan and Wisconsin, inex- haustible as it would seem, are all accessible to the lake*, and lumber is readily transported hither at a trifling expense, so that, in purchasing here, dealers can do almost as well as if in the very heart of the lum- ber region, many miles distant The lumber trade of Chicago ranks next in importance to the grain trade, and continues to make gigantic strides each succeeding year, keeping pace with the growth of the city and the development of the Northwest. The receipts of lumber for the fiscal year ending March 31. 1868, were 882,661,770 feet, against 730,057,168 feet for the year previous. The shipments were 518,973,354 feet. The receipts of shingles were 447,039,275, and the shipments 480,980,500. The increase in the latter over the former can in part be attributed to the fact that there is a large number of shingle factories in our city. These, in a great measure, help to meet the pressing demand from all parts of the south and west. The receipts of lath were 146,846,280, and the shipments 70,587,194.
MISCELLANEOUS.
Kectipt*. Shipment*.
Seeds, Ibs 88.962,897 19,058,921
Salt, bbls 492,129 455,740
Salt, sacks 21,081 8,263
Hides, Ibs 28,522,066 27,739,099
Highwines, gals 1 ,454,228
Lead, Ibs ..11,286,957 4,162,077
Wool.lbs 11,213,999 11,293,717
32
Trade and Commerce.
lilii
Real Estate. 33
REAL ESTATE.
ACCORDING to the estimate of many, even citizens of Chicago, whom the experience of the past should have taught better, every advance in real estate has been set down as the result of artificial inflation. Always, a reaction was about to set in and a fail in prices that must surely prove ruinous to the unlucky wight who should have the boldness to base his speculations, in the purchase of real estate, upon his faith in the future greatness of a city, the heart of which was planted in a swamp on the banks of a sluggish stream whose mouth was barred by an ever-increasing sand-bank. The poor laborer who, in the early days of the city, was compelled to receive a portion of his hard-earned dole in city lots, was an object of commiseration. And even to this day we find croakers who, when a man of moderate means stints and saves to enable him, by the expenditure of his last dollar, to make his first pay- ment on a lot, hold him up as a marvel of blind folly. Still, these transactions have gone on, and hundreds of instances can be pointed out to day in which poor men who had perforce to take lots in part payment of their earnings in despite of themselves, have suddenly awakened to the fact that those same lots, so sadly despised, and the cause of so much commiseration to their owners, have made them independently rich.
Our building enterprises also come in for a full measure of censure from the same class of people. The five to six thousand neat frame dwellings which every year add so many comfortable and pleasant-look- ing homes for the laborer, mechanic, and man of small means, are looked upon as the mushroom sprouts of a spurious and unhealthy growth ; while such magnifi- cent edifices as are rapidly covering the whole business section of the city as altogether too extravagant — too far in advance of the times, and sure to result in utter ruin to their projectors, and hasten the return- of the dreaded "crash" or "crisis." But the work still goes 3
34 Real Estate.
on ; no sooner is it announced that another grand "block" or "building" is to be erected in such a place than the architect's office is besieged, and usually before the foundations are laid every choice place in the building is leased in advance. At no time in the his- tory of Chicago have rents been firmer than during the renting season of 1869. A certain evidence of healthy, vigorous growth is that the business portion of the city is rapidly extending, not changing, its location.
Within the memory of men yet living in onr midst, Chicago was a mere trading post on the extreme Indian frontier. So late as 1840, the population was less than 5,000, and this memorable year of 1869 it is estimated to.be considerably over 300,000. Why attempt to scan the future? The past has realized more than her most sanguine prophet ever dreamed Looking back at what Chicago was in her early days, and comparing her with other and older cities, we may well wonder at her progress; but if we but look a little deeper into the matter, and seek out the true causes of her wondrous and unprecedented growth, surprise at the reality gives place to almost wonder that it is not greater. For, lying behind the g 'eat FACT of the city, are greater facts which justify an expectation beyond what the iiiost sagacious or sanguine have indulged. These, — numerous to consider in detail, and fortunately too familiar and obvious to be more than suggested, — are all to be referred, first, to the extent and richness of the region which the city immediately subsidizes ; secondly, to the relations between it and more remote lands and interests. " Chicago can scarcely be called a great city, in fact, yet, — only a little over a quarter of a million inhabitants ; ana he who only estimates the resources of Illinois alone must see that they are more than enough, and are sufficiently tributary to Chicago to secure her present status forever. The proposed Northern Pacific Railroad is no less a Chicago interest than are the Union or Central Pacific to be. The freshest tyro in Lake Superior topography knows that the talk about eastern railway outlets in that direction is the sheerest nonsense. Whatever of trade from those vast regions north of the latitude of Chicago does not reach
Real Estate. 35
eastern markets by vessel, must infallibly come here, while the lake marine engaged therein will more and more be owned and controlled here. There is nothing disastrous to Chicago pretensions in the Northern Pacific Railroad scheme, and if there were, the danger would be little imminent in view of the status of the Pacific road already built."
The project of a ship canal across the Isthmus of Darien, which, if successful, would, no doubt, divert commerce from the Chicago trans-continental railway line, has been demonstrated to be wholly impracticable short of, at least, twenty years, and in view of the com- pletion of the Pacific road, there is no demand for Mr. Seward's pet project. But, even if built, it would be available only for steamers, inasmuch, as sailing vessels would have to be towed to and from a point two hun- dred miles at cea, through a region of perpetual calms, or light baffling winds, before reaching the track of north-east and south-west trade winds. They could go round Cape Horn, as they do now, far more profitably, taking into consideration the canal -toll, the cost of tonnage, and the increased insurance premiums over rates chargeable on vessels keeping in the open sea.
In the recent strife between the great track lines pene- trating from the seaboard to the interior in which each has sought to secure to itself advantages over the other in its connection with the vast railway system of Chi- cago ; Chicago was declared to be the real objective point of the contest. The traffic of the great West — of the rapidly developing regions beyond the Missis- sippi valley and beyond the backbone of the Continent, even of the Pacific Ocean and of Asia — was the prize ; and Chicago, being " the concentrating point of all that vast traffic," (vide New York I'tmes,) became the goal which it was necessary to win. Without that the New York and Erie Railroad can not compete for the Pacific trade with either of its powerful rivals, the New York Central or the Pennsylvania Central. With that the three grand trunk lines will stand on a footing of equal advantage. " This contest being decided in the common interest of all, the next strug-
36 Real Estate.
gle," says the New York Tribune, "will be for the control of the lines from Chicago to Omaha."
The North-western, and the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific, and the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy roads have completed their lines from Chicago to Omaha ; so that there are three independent lines in operation from the seaboard, through Chicago, con- necting with the Union Pacific road to San Francisco.
Not less full of promise to Chicago is the Kansas sys- tem of railroads, enjoying common connection with Chi- cago at Leavenworth. Through this, the best region of New Mexico and Texas will be brought to our door.
Say that all this growth and activity — so varied, so intense, so far-reaching, so hopeful and determined which constitute Chicago, are past finding out in their remote cause ; say that a metropolis so entirely out of what might have been expected to be the true course of trans-Mississippi commerce from seaboard to seaboard, was ostensibly improbable. Yet, how far more impro- bable now — that a great, growing, wealthy, vigorous and ambitious metropolis once built here, productive capital once accumulated and utilized here, a dozen great and extending railroad lines once concentrated here from East, North, West, and South — that such a change as some anticipate, indeed that any change for the worse, should take place within our century in the center and current of enterprise once established at so great cost, and founded deep in the harmony of so many vast, distinct and otherwise conflicting interests. Consider alone the railroad business ; throw out of the problem altogether all others — stock, grain, etc., equally com- manding; and reflect what concern the old roads, which are constantly expending their incomes in in- creasing their facilities, and the new roads which at immense cost are incessantly pushing into new fields and subordinating them, have in the perpetuity of ar- rangements, whose solidest motive lies thus far almost solely in the future. That these vital connections with surrounding commonwealths once exist, is the strongest possible reason why they should continue to exist. Hard earned capital, deaf-bought commercial experi- ence iringing to their aid sciences laboriously built
Heal Estate. 37
up and arts patiently mastered — are never Quixotic. The cost will be ever counted of expending millions in first establishing channels of trade, and then thousands of millions in directing it therefrom. Simply because it is cheaper and surer to employ existing channels than t» construct new ones, the old ones will be employed ; and capital seeking investment will find it in existing enterprises, in preference to expending itself on the superfluous and problematical. The only necessity that can lead to the opening of new lines will be that which lies in the fact that existing lines have become inadequate to the increased demand ; and in that fact •we find the very promise of Chicago's permanent greatness, in which her citizens have an abiding faith, and which is now stimulating capital to seek invest- ment here. We say " investment " generally ; for in this respect the real estate " movement," as it is called, is but the complement of an activity which extends not alone to commerce, but embraces manufacturing enter- prise, and the growth of the arts, useful and ornamental as well. . The expenditure of eight or ten millions annually in building, and the ten or twelve millions of real estate transfers, in which from fifty to seventy-five millions of dollars annually change hands, constitute a fact too great to be considered as standing by itself. It has its meaning in facts equally momentous and imposing. In this connection it is worth while to note the prevailing fact in regard to Chicago real estate, that this " movement " has been identical with that of the city in population, industry and commercial import- ance ; in all of which, carrying real estate along with it, there has, upon the whole, been very decided progress from decade to decade. Of the two or three periods of depression that have been experienced, not one has extended to five years. As with the ocean, there has been recession here and there, and now and then ; but these have been in the nature of an ebb in the tide, which to those who have had faith and pluck enough to take it, has soon proved a flood tide, and borne them on to fortune.
The particular explanation of this is found in the even pace which building enterprise and real estate
38 Real Estate.
activity have uniformly kept. For instance, on the removal of Camp Douglas, the ground of that and adjoining localities was subdivided and sold. Promi- nent among these was the Grove property, and the Wentworth tract, — about four and two years ago respectively. The former was held at $35 per foot, the latter at from $30 to $50. The price seemed high at the time, but the easy terms reconciled purchasers to it. But those who bought only in the expectation of taking advantage of the long time and paying for their lots, were astonished at finding them, within a year, doubled in value. The reason is plain: the ground was near, improvements began on every hand ; and now the few choice lots in these tracts which can be had at all, readily command from three to four times the price paid for them. The same thing has been repeated scores of times, and most notably so in the North Division around Lincoln Park ; and previously in the West Division around Union Park. There has been no special effort made in these cases by dealers, beyond regular advertising and the brisk competition of auction sales, to increase this activity. It is simply a fact in the normal growth of a city that has grown because grow it must. The average number of new buildings erected in 1868 was about 7,000, at a cost of about $14,000,000. In Colbert's Chicago, we find the following items : " The list " viz. : 7,000 new buildings, "includes more costly buildings than that of any for- mer year, but the number of smaller residences erected is much less in proportion. It is not possible to tabu- late the improvements of the year with accuracy at this writing, but we are able to count 12 churches, and about 40 blocks of fine buildings to be credited to 1868, of which 30 will average $100,000 each and one will cost $300,000."
The whole movement, land and building, finds a par- allel only in that which has been going on in New York during the same period. It is a movement of the residence population up town and out to the suburbs to make room for improved and stately blocks of build- ings to accommodate the annual increase in the business of the city.
Parks and Boulevards. 39
It is to be remarked in this connection, that the only cities in which the real estate business can properly be termed a " movement," are the terminal points on the grand central entrepot of the Pacific Road and the Eastern connections, — New York, San Francisco and Chicago. Take Cincinnati for example. The sales for the week ending March 5th, numbered but 69, with an aggregate of $257,779.89, compared with 269 sales in Chicago, to the amount of $1,198,859, showing 300 per cent, greater activity here than in Cincinnati. During the month of January the sales in San Francisco, including both city and county, were 492, for an aggre- gate value of $2,716,823. m
The movement here rivals that of New York — the number of transfers in Chicago during the three last weeks of February were 241, 272, and 240, compared with 238, 231, and 173 in New York, On March 10th there were 38 sales in New York, having an aggregate value of $685,000. On the Saturday previous there were in Chicago 32 sales, amounting to $578,000.
It is estimated that there has been attracted to Chicago for direct investment in real estate during the past year alone, at least seven millions of dollars, to say nothing of the amount which has been loaned on real estate securities and invested in improvements.
PARKS AND BOULEVARDS.
LINCOLN PARK
THIS Park is situated in North Chicago, on the lake shore, about two miles north of the river. It is bounded on the south by the old city cemetery. Until the present session of the legislature this park covered an area of about sixty acres ; additions have been made, or the city has obtained legislative authority for such additions, which will make the park to contain about two hundred acres. For the past three years the city Las bejn employed leisurely in improving the park,
40 Parks and Boulevards.
and has expended upon it nearly $75,000 This Park, with the exception of Union Park in the West Division, is the only public improvement worthy of the name in the city. The natural configuration of this park is perhaps better than can be found any where else in the vicinity of the city. It is composed chiefly of sand hills, with little valleys and ponds between them. The great difficulty in applying to it the rules of landscape is to obtain black and tenacious earth sufficient to form a proper surface upon which shrubbery and trees may be expected to live and thrive; but this* latter obstacle has been removed by the legislature in its recent bill, which has permitted the addition of a large number of acres to this Park on the north.
The boundaries of Lincoln Park are — on the south, North avenue, from Clark street to the Lake ; on the west, Clark street to Franklin ; thence north on Frank- lin street to its intersection with the old lake shore ditch, and thence along this ditch to Fullerton avenue ; west on Fullerton avenue to a point five hundred feet east of North Clark street ; thence north-west, on a line parallel to and five hundred feet east of Clark street, to the centre line of section 28; thence east to the Lake.
About two and one-half miles of drives are already in existence, and the Park has a large number of trees growing within its enclosure. During last summer a •cries of- out-door concerts were inaugurated, which appeared to be the source of much enjoyment.
This Park enjoys one other advantage, which no other Park in the city can enjoy. All the lake com- merce of Chicago, represented by its thousands of sail vessels and its steamers, must pass along its front. Scarcely an hour occurs in the summer when there may not be seen what would seem to be an endless line of vessels.
Lincoln Park is at present the most central of any of our urban parks. As has been stated, it is but two miles from the river, while South Park is from five to eight miles, and West Park can hardly be less than four miles from the Court House. To reach Lincoln Park, however, the people have yet no means of railroad tran- sit except the horse cars, and it will be found that the
Parks and Boulevards. 41
South and West Parks can as quickly and as cheaply be reached by the steam roads as Lincoln Park can by means of the horse cars
The lake shore drive or boulevard, which is pro- jected for this Park, will, when it is completed, be one of the finest improvements in the city. The design is to have it commence at Pine street, and run thence along the lake shore, of a width of two hundred feet, until it reaches the southern boundary of Lincoln Park. The Board of Public Works has already matured the plans for this work, and its execution will be only a matter of time.
THE SOUTH SIDE PARKS AND BOULEVARDS.
There are two parks, — one of them containing about 600 acres, and skirting the lake shore just south of Hyde Park ; and the other, of 360 acres, approaching nearer to the city, and bounded by Fifty-first street on the north, Sixtieth street on the south, Kankakee avenue on the west, and Cottage Grove avenue on the east. These Parks are connected with a Boulevard 600 feet wide, lying between Fifty-ninth and Sixtieth streets, and all together is called the South Side Park. The northern or western one, or portion of these Parks, is approached from the city by two boulevards or avenues, — each two hundred feet wide, — one beginning at Thirty-fifth street, or Douglas place (the streets are numbered from the river southward), and lying west of the east line of Kankakee avenue, running directly south to the north-west corner of the Park; and the other commencing at the city limits, at Fortieth street and Cottage Grove avenue, funning thence in a south- easterly direction to Forty-first street; thence south along Drexel avenue to the north-east corner of the Park, as shown by the map. The Park bill became a law by the action of the last Legislature (1869), and a vote of the people of more than two to one in favor of the Park.
The Commissioners are men of unbounded energy and perseverance. They have already organized, and begun to prepare plans for laying out and improving
42 Parks and Boulevards.
these Parks, for which purpose ample provision has been made, both in the Park bill itself, and in the Lake Shore Harbor bill, recently become a law by the action of the Legislature.
So that when, a very few years hence, these grand Parks and Boulevards are fully completed, together with all the avenues leading thereto, Chicago will have the finest drives and most beautiful public grounds of any city on this continent.
THE WEST SIDE PARKS.
The West Parks have been left indefinite both in respect of size and exact location. They are to be three in number, and are to be situated within the new city limits, which are extended two miles west of Western avenue : one north of Division street ; another, between Kinzie and Harrison streets; and a third, between Har- rison street and the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad. They are each to contain not less than one hundred acres nor more than two hundred, and are severally to cost, improvements not included, not more than $250,000. Wide boulevards will connect the parks with each other, and extend southwardly from the most southern park to the Illinois and Michigan Canal, provided that the land therefor shall be obtained free of cost. When these parks shall have been located, the city limits will be extended so as to include them with all the intervening land between them and Western avenue, and the vote that ratifies the park also extends the city limits.
UNION PARK,
In the West Division, contains about sixteen acres. It is of an irregular, pentagonal form, bounded on the north by Lake street, on the south by Warren street, on the west by Reuben street, on the north-east by Bryan place, and on the south-east by South western avenue. The costly plan of improvement commenced in 1865 is rapidly transforming the flat, bare prairie into a tasteful, beautiful park, with hills, rocks, rivulets and cataracts, with a beautiful artificially-made pond in the centre.
Parks and Boulevards. 43
DEARBORN PARK.
The first, and for many years the only public park in the city, is an oblong piece of ground extending from Randolph to Washington street, and from Michigan avenue to Dearborn place, and contains one and a half acres. The ground was presented to the city by the United States, to be used for ever as a public Park. It is enclosed by a neat iron railing, and planted with trees.
JEFFERSON PARK
Is but two blocks south and one block east of Union Park, embracing but a single square, bounded by Monroe, Throop, Adams and Loomis streets. It con- tains about five acres. It is surrounded by stately and beautiful residences.
VERNON PARK
Is an oblong piece of ground ab«ut 300 feet wide by 600 feet long, on Centre avenue and West Polk street.
WOODLAND AND GROVELAND.
These are piivate parks laid out by f,he late Senator Douglas in the beautiful grove, in the South Division, called Oaken wald, and are intended for the especial benefit of the proprietors of the lots which front upon them.
WASHINGTON PARK
Is a small square between North Clark and Dearborn streets, north of Chesnut street, containing two and one half acres. It has a number of shade trees, and is quite a pleasant retreat from the dust and heat of a summer's day.
44 The River.
THE RIVER.
THE first recorded vessel that entered the harbor of Chicago, was the schooner Tracy, in 1803, under com- mand of Lieut. Dorr, laden with supplies for the U. S. garrison in Fort Dearborn. Its condition at that time is not mentioned. Col. Long, of the engineers, who visited Chicago in 1816, found the river discharging it- self into the lake over a bar of gravel and sand in a sluggish stream only a few inches deep, and from thirty to forty feet wide. In a broader, deeper, and much more copious stream the Little Calumet entered the lake over a similar bar about ten miles further south.
Seven years later, when Col. Long visited these places, he found the mouth of the Chicago River but little changed, while that of the Little Calumet was blocked up by a dry sand bar. The first steamboat that entered the Chicago river, was the Shelden Thompson, in 1832, during the Black Hawk war, bring- ing troops and provisions, with General Winfield Scott in command of the troops.
In 1833 Congress made the first appropriation of $30,000 to improve the harbor. The north pier was run out a short distance and a light-house erected. An embankment was made to cut off the river from her old channel, which had previously emptied into the lake near the foot of Madison street. This work was commenced in the summer of 1833, and vigorously pushed forward. In the following spring came a great freshet, which cleaned out the sand from the mouth, and did more work than all the dredges. In successive years additional appropriations were made, amount- ing in the aggregate to $144,000. In 1839 the work was suspended, the money having been exhausted. The constant current which sets toward the mouth of the river from the straits of Mackinaw, stirred up the sand and rolled it down into a huge bar in front of the city; the bar continued to accumulate, until, in 1864, it had reached the foot of Van Buren street, and vessels
The River. 45
were compelled to tack round to that point, turn the bar, and beat up between it and the breakwater. Casualties, in consequence, became frequent. In order to prevent this continued accumulation of sand, the city at an early day began to extend the north pier out into the lake. It was first built out in a straight line 1,070 feet, then turning about 20 degrees to the north, 450 feet were added ; thence on another plan 500 feet further, forming the arc of a circle ; and reach- ing the site of the light-house erected in 1855, and which is situated 1,950 feet from the starting point. In 1864-5 450 feet more were added, continuing on the line of the first straight section. In 1866, Major J. D. Wheeler, of the Engineer Corps, in his report to the government, urged the erection of 600 feet additional to the north pier, and an appropriation of $88,704 was made for the purpose.
In 1816, when Col. Long examined the river, the stream was almost flush with the surrounding country. It was much narrower then than now. It was, how- ever, much deeper, and is said to have had a depth of twenty feet near the present location of Clark street bridge ; the widening of the stream and the heavy sedi- ment constantly settling in its bed has sensibly dimin- ished its depth.
In 1832 the two first bridges were built, one over the North Branch, at Water street, and another over the South Branch, between Lake and Randolph streets, the latter was not removed until 1840. It cost $486.20, which was raised by subscription, the Potawatomie Indians contributing nearly one-half the amount. The main channel is now crossed by substantial and costly swing-bridges at every second block in the more densely populated portions, and at frequent intervals beyond. Over the main channel are bridges at Rush, State, Clark and Wells streets, over the South Branch at Lake, Randolph, Madison, Van Buren, Polk, Twelfth, Eighteenth, Halsted, Reuben and Fuller streets, and at Archer Avenue. Over the North Branch at Kinzie, Indiana and Erie streets, Chicago Avenue, North Halsted street, North Avenue and Clybmrne Avenue. The railroad trains cross the river on bridges
46 The River.
built^by the railroad companies. The public bridges require to be rebuilt about every five years. Their average cost is about $35,000.
When navigation first began upon this river, vessels were unable to go up the North Branch further than Chicago Avenue, and up the South Branch their pro- gress was impeded at Eighteenth street. From this point to where the canal begins, a distance of one mile and a half, the river has been deepened and widened. The number of vessels moving on the river and its branches became so great that a widening of the stream was of necessity demanded. The dock limits had been laid out nearly following the original curvatures of the banks. It has been decided to widen the branches to an uniform width of two hundred feet, and the improve- ment is now being carried out, but it will take many years before it can possibly be completed. The estab- lished width for the main river is 250 feet, and in some points this is exceeded. The North Branch has been also deepened, and is now navigable one mile and a quarter beyond Chicago Avenue.
In 1848 the building of docks was fairly commenced. In 1854 the city had four miles of wharves. Now there are twelve miles in operation, having cost over $1,250,000. Four miles of this have been renewed, making a total of fifteen miles built. Dock piling lasts only about nine years. This dock system has extended immensely along the South Branch in the West Divi- sion. But a movement has recently commenced for the construction of a still greater system along the lake shore, just north of the mouth of the river.
North from the new pier previously mentioned, the Chicago Dock Company will build a breakwater 500 feet long; from the northern extremity of this a break- water 1,500 feet in length will be constructed reaching to the shore. An area extending 300 feet north from the pier, and west to the shore of the lake, will be filled in, and through the center of this made land will run a street from the main shore to the eastern channel. The block thus created will be divided into lots for dockage purposes. On the north side of this made land there will be a channel, 110 feet wide, penetrating Michigan
The Lake Tunnel. 47
street as far as Sand street. The water in the basin will be twenty-two feet, and the largest vessels will easily float in the canal. The two will give as much wharfage as is now afforded by both sides of the river, as far as the confluence of the two branches.
This work was commenced in the beginning of 1867, and is being carried on in connection with the exten- sion ordered by the Government — the work being really begun where the United States officials will cease their labors. This new line of pier will form a grand line of nearly 2,000 feet upon the North Side. The limited space at our disposal in a little work so circum- scribed in its scope as a HAND-BOOK for strangers, pre- vents us from enlarging upon the subject of the Chicago River ; we would refer the curious reader to the very best coinpend of Chicago, her history and statistics, that has ever appeared, and to which we are indebted for the above article (condensed) and much other valu- able information, — we refer to " Historical and Statis- tical Sketch of Chicago," by E. Colbert.
THE LAKE TUNNEL.
SINCE the completion of this grand undertaking, the people of Chicago have enjoyed the inestimable bless- ing of an inexhaustible supply of the purest water in the world. For a long time previous to 1863, the water pumped up from the shore of the lake and supplied for drinking purposes was unfit for human use. After a long and careful consideration of various plans to remedy the crying evil, and secure a supply of pure water, the Board of Public Works decided early in 1863 to carry a tunnel out two miles under the bed of the lake.
On the 17th of March, 1864, ground was broken for the tunnel on the lot occupied by the Pumping works, at the east end of Chicago avenue, on the lake shore.
From the shore shaft, which is 67 feet deep, the tun- nel extends two miles out in a straight line at right
48 The Lake Tunnel.
angles with the shore. The clear width of the tunnel is 5 feet, and the clear height 5 feet 2 inches, the top and bottom arches being semi circles. It is lined with brick masonry 8 inches thick, in two wings or shells, the bricks being laid lengthwise of the tunnel, with toothing joints. The bottom of the inside surface of the bore at the east end is 66 feet below water level, with a gradual slope of two feet to the mile towards the shore shaft This gives a clear fall of four feet in the whole distance, to permit the emptying of it in case of needed repairs, a gate at the crib shutting off the supply of water. The brickwork has been laid in 8 inches thick all around, well set in cement.
The tunnel as now constructed will deliver under a head of two feet, 19,000,000 gallons of water daily; under a head of eight feet, 38,000,000 gallons daily, and under a head of eighteen feet, 57,000,000 gallons daily. The velocities for the above quantities will be one and four-tenths mile per hour, head being two feet; head being eight feet, the velocity will be two and three- tenths miles per hour, and the head being eighteen feet the velocity will be four and two-tenths miles per hour. By these means it will be competent to supply one million people with fifty-seven gallons each per day, with a head of eighteen feet.
The Crib, as it is called, in which is enclosed the east shaft of the tunnel, will repay a visit. It can be reached by the steam tugs from Clark street bridge. Excursions during the summer time are frequent.
The crib is forty feet and a half high, and built in pentagonal form, in a circumscribing circle of ninety- eight and a half feet in diameter. It is built of logs one foot square, and consists of three walls, at a dis- tance of eleven feet from each other, leaving a central pentagonal space having an inscribed circle of twenty- five feet, within which is fixed the iron cylinder, nine feet in diameter, running from the water line to the tunnel, sixty-four feet below the surface and thirty-one feet below the bed of the lake at that point. The crib is thoroughly braced in every direction. It contains 750,000 feet of lumber, board measure, and 150 tons iron bolts. It is filled with 4,500 tons of stone and
The Lake Tunnel. 49
weighs 5,700 tons. The crib stands- twelve feet above the water line, giving a maximum area of 1,200 feet which can be exposed at one sweep to the action of the waves, reckoning the resistance as perpendicular. The outside was thoroughly caulked, equal to a first-class vessel, with three threads in each seam, the first and last being what is called " horsed." Over all these there is a layer of lagging to keep the caulking in place and protect the crib proper from the action of the waves. A covered platform or house was built over the crib, enabling the workmen to prosecute the work uninterrupted by rain or wind, and affording a pro- tection for the earth brought up from the excavation, and permitting it to be carried away by scows, whose return cargoes were bricks for the lining of the tunnel.
The first brick was laid at the crib end on the 22d of December, 1865, and on the last day of the year the workmen began to excavate from that end, at which time they had already 4,825 feet done from the shore. From that time the work progressed steadily and with few interruptions of any consequence. In the early part of November, 1866, when within a few feet of meeting, the workmen met for the first time with sand pockets, which caused leakage, and delayed the final blow till December 6th, when the last brick (which was a stone), was laid by Mayor J. B. Rice, in the presence of the Aldermen, city officials, and as many other prominent citizens as could be packed into the tunnel within hearing distance.
Still another delay was experienced in the construc- tion of the conduits to the new pumping works, and it was not till Monday, March 25th, 1867, that the water was let into the tunnel to flow through the water pipes and hydrants of the city. On that day the new water works were formally inaugurated by the laying of the corner stone of a new tower, situated about half a block west of the old tower, and since completed to a total height of 130 feet, standing on a base of twenty-four feet square. "Within this tower is an iron column three feet in internal diameter, to the top of which the water is forced from the tunnel by powerful pumping ma- chinery, and is thence forced by its own pressure 4
50 The Lake lunnel.
through the mains and to the tops of the highest build- ings in the citj. The column is surrounded by a neat spiral staircase. The machinery now employed to do this consists of three engines: No. 1, capable of pump- ing 18,000.000 gallons daily; engine No. 2, 12,000,000 gallons daily; and No. 3, 8,000,000 gallons daily, and the Board of Public Works have now asked the Council for authority to purchase a fourth engine, capable of pumping 36,000,000 gallons daily. This increase in the pumping facilities of these works is believed to be necessitated by the growth of the city; it being remem- bered that it is necessary to provide against accident to one of the engines, as the water supply ought not to be suspended during its repair.
COST.
The total cost of the lake tunnel to the city, including extras, preliminary examination, supervision, etc., is $457,845. The cost of the new water-tower, of the largest engine, and the building, now nearly finished for the reception of the machinery and the accommo- dation of the workmen, will swell the total to about $900,000. The total water debt of the city was £2,483,000 in April, 1867.
The total amount of water pipe laid in the city up to the close of 1868 was 228^ miles.
The total capacity of pipes and reservoirs was 3,400,000 gallons.
There were about 900 fire hj^drants and 450 stop- cocks in the city at the beginning of the present year.
MORE WANTED.
"With this tremendous increase, the city of Chicago is not supplied rapidly enough for its wants. The tunnel will admit the passage of water sufficient to supply one million of inhabitants, but the street pipes need extend- ing and enlarging. Many of those nearest the water works were put down several years ago, and are now too small to feed those lying beyond. The difficulty is greatest in the West Division, and to obviate it a plan has been for some time under discussion to construct a tunnel starting from the present water works on the
The River Tunnels. 51
shore end of the tunnel, and running thence to a point in the West Division some where on the line of Union Park, with adequate pumping works, mains and dis- tributing pipes diverging to every part of that division of the city.
THE RIVER TUNNELS.
ONE of the greatest curiosities to strangers visiting the city, is that gigantic undertaking in engineering science, the great pioneer sub-marine tunnel of the western hemisphere. The large number of vessels entering the port of Chicago, requiring the opening of bridges during the season of navigation every few minutes, greatly impeded the long lines of vehicles and pedestrians constantly passing over. The demand for a more eligible means of communication with the sev- eral divisions of the city became a necessity. A great public necessity in Chicago can never be long experi- perienced; the people will have a remedy, regardless of cost.
On the 28th of October, 1864, the original ordinance for the construction of a tunnel under the Chicago river was passed by the city council. At this time the real magnitude of the undertaking was scarcely appre- ciated, and much valuable time was spent in discussing and considering the means and the location. It was at length determined to tax the entire city for the means, and Washington street was fixed on for the location and bids for the work advertised for.
On the 27th of July, 1866— nearly three years after the passage of the original ordinance — ground was broken on Washington street for the tunnel, by Messrs. Stewart, Ludlam <fc Co., to whom the contract had been awarded. They, however, were unfortunate in their mode of procedure, and finally abandoned the work in May, 1867. The contract was then taken by Messrs. J. K. Lake, C. B. Farwell, and A. A. McDon- nell, the contract price being $328,500 ; and they, by a vigorous prosecution of the work, brought it to a sue-
52 The River Tunnels.
cessful completion on the first day of the new year 1869, when it was formally opened to the public in an appropriate, though unostentatious manner, the severity of the weather preventing any general public celebra- tion. Subsequently the tunnel was subjected to a prac- tical test of its capacity as a thoroughfare. Five teams were driven through the tunnel loaded heavily as fol- lows: 6,445 IDS., 6,500 Ibs., 7,280 Ibs., 8,685 Ibs., and 9,165 Ibs. The weight of the wagons averaged 2,600 Ibs. each. The horses were not selected with reference to their drawing capabilities, but were considered as average teams used for that purpose. Those drawing the heaviest load arrived at the top of the grade with- out showing any symptoms of having been overworked, and all of them went through with apparent ease. Ex- perienced parties gave it as their opinion that loads of 5,000 and 6,000 pounds can be drawn through the tunnel, by ordinary horses, with ease, and with less effort than at many of the bridges. The Board of Public Works were well pleased with the experiment, and entirely satisfied that in this, as in all other re- spects, the tunnel is a complete success.
The tunnel is divided into two portions. That for vehicles dips from Franklin street on the east end, and Clinton street on the west end, forming an open pas- sage way twenty-two feet wide in the middle of Wash- ington street, for a distance of one block on each side of the river. For 332 feet from the entrance the tun- nel comprises a single large chamber. It is 10 feet 6 inches at the entrance, and about 150 feet from the river center it increases to 23^ feet. From the invert to the top of the arch the height is 20 feet 6 inches. The invert itself is 20 inches thick, being the segment of a circle 47.66 inches in diameter. At the base the abutments are 8 feet broad, until they reach the height of 5 feet 2 inches, when they continue 6 feet thick for 7 feet more. The arch is 32 feet thick at the sides, and 24 at top ; is 9 feet above the springing lines, and has 3 centres, The spandrel backs are formed of rubble masonry. The chamber at 150 feet distance from the river centre is 18 feet high, the inverts 16 inches thick, the abutments 7 feet 2 inches at base for a height of 3
The River Tunnels. 53
feet 4 inches, then 6 feet thick for another foot, and 5 feet thick at top. The height above the springing arch is 7% feet here. This section extends 364 feet on the west side, and has a corresponding section on the east side, which extends 269 feet. At 110 feet from the river centre, on either side, separate double wagon- ways begin. Each are 11 feet wide and 15 high. A thick wall divides them, and supports and strengthens the work directly beneath the river bed. The two ends of the passage correspond. Parallel with the car- riage-way the foot-passage extends 11 feet high at the centre, and 6 at the sides of the arch. A flooring of white pine is laid on joists, making a good even sur- face. The lights are 40 feet apart here and 50 in the carriage-way. Entrances are pierced through the walls to the roadways and the other footway.
Neat passenger houses, of Tuscan style, each 22 feet long by 19 feet 4 inches wide, stand on either side of the river over the passenger entrance. Eighteen steps are in each house. Ventilation shafts are sunk 110 feet from the entrance, and by these and other arrange- ments the air of the tunnel will be kept fresh.
The following is a table of the dimensions and grades of the tunnel :
From centre of Franklin to center of Clinton street, 1,603 feet.
Between arches, 930 feet.
Between entrances to passage way, 810 feet.
Grade of descent westward from Franklin street, 1 in 16, for distance of 306 feet.
Grade of descent eastward from Clinton street, 1 in 18, for distance of 625 feet.
Depth of river channel, at tunnel, 16 feet.
Between walls, at Franklin and Clinton streets, 23% feet ; at arches, 19% feet.
Height of river section, 18.83 feet; of approaches, 20% feet.
Total length of Nicholson pavement, laid on Joliet gravel, 1,608 feet.
The visitor will better understand the magnitude of the enterprise by the following statistics :
From July, 1868, to December 31st, 1869, 600,000
54 The River Tunnels.
hours of mechanics and laborer's work have been expended in its construction ; 45,000 cubic yards of clay excavated ; 5,000 cubic yards of cement laid ; C,000 of brick, and 10,000 of stone masonry ; 10,000 of broken stone and sand, and 20,000 barrels of Falls City cement. In addition to the manual labor, a large amount of horse and steam labor was used, and several stone quarries were engaged in getting out the stone for the abutments and arches, not to mention the manufacture of the brick, which of itself gave employment to a large number of workmen.
A few items of comparison with the celebrated Thames Tunnel in London, England, will be found interesting to the visi tor. The Thames Tunnel was built for the purpose of effecting a ready communication for wagons and pedestrians between the Middlesex and Surrey sides of the river, at a point below London bridge, where it is inconvenient to erect a bridge on account of the width of the river and the heavy East Indiamen and other vessels passing up to the docks. The approaches have never been graded. Over each of these shafts a small house is erected, and the descent is by a winding staircase. Devised by Sir Isambart Brunei, it was commenced in tlie year 1825, but was not opened until 1843, and has never yet been finished, and proba- bly never will be. It consists of two arched avenues, 1,200 feet long, lighted by gas, and cost £500,000 ster- ling, or $2,500,000 in gold. Its income has never paid its incidental expenses. In every foot are 6,000 bricks, and its external dimensions are 37 feet 6 inches in width, and 22 feet in height. During its construction the river broke through five times, great loss of life resulting from the irruption of the water.
It seems Fate decreed that the construction of a suc- cessful tunnel should be deferred for the young city of the Western World !
MORE TUNNELS.
The experiment of a tunnel under the river having proved to be a success in the case of the Washington street tunnel, it is now proposed to construct one at Adams street and another one at LaSalle street. From
The Artesian Wells. 55
a communication addressed to the City Council by Mr. E. S. Chesborough, the distinguished city engineer, we gather the following interesting items :
The plan proposed for LaSalle street is in the main features very similar to the one already constructed at Washington street. Its total length, including approaches from Randolph street on the south and Michigan street on the north will be 1,930 feet. The net estimate for the work is $457,342.32, but in view of the possibility of occurrences difficult now to foresee, an appropriation of $500,000 is asked for.
The plan proposed for the Adams street tunnel is very much the same. The total length, extending from the west side of Franklin to the east side of Clinton street, is 1,527 feet, and the estimated cost about $400,000. It is proposed that the work shall be prosecuted night and day, and during the winter that the river portion shall be roofed over to preserve in it at all times a tem- perature above freezing, so that no interruption shall occur from the inclemency of the weather.
THE ARTESIAN WELLS,
SITUATED on the corner of Chicago and Western avenues, will well repay the trouble of a visit. They are readily accessible by the Randolph street horse cars to the city limits, where a few minutes' walk will enable the visitor to reach the ground where they are situated. The tract of land was bought by a company in 1863, during the oil fever, for the purpose of boring for oil, under the inspiration of a spiritual medium, who asserted the existence of large quantities oil under- lying the tract ; also, that beneath this ground there was a " well of the purest, best and healthiest water known any where, which would reach to the surface with great force and power, and in quantities to supply the people of this city for all time to come." The boring commenced in December, 1863, with a diameter of five inches, but had to be abandoned in the following
56 The Union Stock Yards.
January, in consequence of the tools getting fast in the bottom of the well. In February, 1864, another boring was commenced, and proceeded slowly until November of the same year, when, at a depth of 711 feet below the surface, water was struck, and has continued to flow steadily and constantly at the rate of 600,000 gallons daily. In May, 1865, a twenty feet overshot wheel, with the necessary machinery for boring, was constructed, and a second well commenced, the power being furnished by the water from the first well, which was carried up 25 feet above the surface in a 3% inch flume, whence it discharged over the wheel. This second well is located about nine feet from the first. On the 1st of November following, at a depth of 694 feet 4 inches, water was reached. The boring continued to a depth of 1,100 feet. It is estimated that the two wells are now flowing about one and a quarter million gallons every twenty-four hours. During the progress of the boring, about one hundred gallons of petroleum was secured by pumping. There are two other Artesian wells in the Union Stock Yards, which are described on another page.
THE UNION STOCK YARDS.
No visitor to Chicago should fail in seeing this, the great bovine city of the world, the live-stock market of the north-west. The advantages offered by this mam- moth enterprise to western dealers and feeders are un- equalled in any market either in the old or new world. The enterprise is owned by a chartered company with a paid-up capital of one million dollars. The grounds consist of 345 acres of land extending from Hulsted street on the east to the south branch of the river, and from Egan Avenue on the north, thence south on the open prairie. The yards connect by special tracks with all railroads centering in Chicago, hence, stock can be received or shipped by or to any line, at all times with the readiest dispatch. The connecting lines with the Stock Yards, were constructed by the Union Stock
The Union Stock Yards. 57
Yard and Transportation Companies, and are about twenty-one miles in length. The entire 345 acres of land comprised in the Union Stock Yards are laid out in streets and alley's in the same manner as a large city. Through the centre, from north to south, runs a broad avenue called Avenue E. It is one mile in length, and seventy-five feet in breadth, and divided into three sections, like a bridge, to facilitate the driving of cattle through it. Droves passing to the south take one sec- tion, those to the north another, passing on the way without any inconvenience or stoppage. This avenue intersects the entire grounds, and is paved with Nichol- son pavement. There is not in Chicago a finer or a smoother drive than it. It presents a very animated scene when the yards are filled with countless herds of cattle and swine, and teeming with the bustle and activity of buying, selling and transporting stock. Running parallel to Avenue E, are other streets, lead- ing to the railroads that surround the yards, and to different sections. These streets are crossed at right angles by others running east and west — the principal of which passes by the Stock Yards hotel, and has been aptly named " Broadway." It leads from the hotel to the Bank and Exchange Building, where the life and excitement of the yards centre. It is sixty six feet wide, planked with heavy plank, and traversed on the side by a raised sidewalk. It is so curved as to carry off the water into drains, somewhat similar to the roof of a building. Parallel to Broadway run other streets and avenues, which cross Avenue E at right angles, dividing the whole into blocks like a well-laid-out city. The irregular streets are caused by the curves made for the railroads, but they lead off directly into the regular avenues. These are all designated by letters and num- bers, as are all the pens and different stalls and yards. The pens for cattle and sheep vary in size, but are nearly all laid out in rectangular shape. They are so constructed that several can be thrown into one by merely opening gates, like the rooms of a house. Gates are also so arranged as to open across the road, turning a drove directly into the pen, and closing after them. In size, these enclosures vary from 20x25 feet, to
58 The Union Stock Yards.
85x112 feet, while others are precisely the size of a car, calculated to hold just a car load of stock. These latter are mostly arranged near the shoots at the different railroads. The posts supporting the fences which form these pens are cedar, sunk through holes in the plank- ing and three feet into the ground. They average about six feet apart all over the grounds. The cattle pens are open, but those designed for hogs are covered with sheds. The yards are provided with ample hay- barns and corn-cribs, situated in different parts of the enclosure, convenient to different sections of pens. These barns are 30x150 feet long, one story high, and are capable of holding 500 tons of hay each. The corn- cribs are each near one of the barns. Their average capacity is six thousand bushels of corn. The arrange- ments for loading and unloading are as nearly perfect as it is possible to conceive. Each railroad has one thousand feet of unloading track for its own use exclu- sively, and a corresponding array of shoots which are so arranged that whole trains can be unloaded at once. The arrangements are so perfect that any number of cattle can easily be transferred from one road to another without any risk of loss.
It is now proposed to cut a canal 160 feet wide from the south branch of the river along Egan Avenue to the cattle yards, of sufficient capacity to float vessels. The river is already navigable to within a short dis- tance of where the canal will enter it, and the remain- der' can be easily dredged out. Vessels can then come directly in front of the yards, and depart thence to any
Eort. This will afford greater facilities to the packing- ouses which will be built in that region, as their pro- ducts can be shipped without the expense of handling consequent upon shipping from our present docks.
The company have now about 180 acres of land reserved for future contingencies.
The following table gives the size, number of pens, etc., belonging to this market :
ACRKS. Quantity of land owned by the U. S. Y. and Transit Company... 848
Number of Acres in Pens 120
Number of Acres used for Hotel and other buildings 47
Number of Acres reserved for new Pens 173
The Union Stock Yards. 59
STOCK CAPACITY. — The Yards will conveniently con- tain, at one and the same time, the following numbers of Stock :
HEAD.
Cattle 25,000
Hogs 100,000
Sheep 50,000
Stalls for Horses 850
Total capacity 175,350
There are, for the thorough drainage of the Yards,
35 miles of under drains. The streets and alleys occupy 10 miles of length. There are 2,000 open Stock Pens, or yards for Cattle ; 1,000 covered pens for Hops and Sheep, and 2,700 gates. The pens, whether covered or open, are all of them well fitted with troughs and hydrants, the latter connected with the water tanks. For the information of the curious we may state, that the corn troughs, if placed close together, would occupy a line five miles in length, and the feed troughs, if used after the same fashion, would make a line 15 miles in length.
Since the opening of the second Artesian Well, an unlimited and indeed inexhaustible supply of pure water is obtained for watering stock and all other use- ful purposes. The following particulars respecting these valuable wells will be read with interest :
THE FIRST STOCK YARD WELL.
A well 8 feet in depth was dug, in which, on the 14th of May, 1866, drilling was commenced. Six feet of downward progress were made the first day, 3 the sec- ond, 9 the third, 2 the fourth, 8 the eighth, and 4 the ninth.
The greatest progress was made on the 29th of Octo- ber, when 64 feet were drilled. On the 20th of the same month 46 feet were made ; 36 feet on the 13th, and
36 feet on the 6th. With these exceptions, and 34 feet drilled on the 1st of June and 20 on the 2nd, the daily amount of drilling was of a much smaller extent, and probably did not average more than 8 or 10 feet. Sev- eral minor streams of water were encountered, but it was not until the 30th ot October that the final stream
60 The Union Stock Yards.
was reached. On this day 22 feet were drilled, making a total depth of 1,032 feet. From this well 65,000 gal- lons of water were yielded daily, and for a time it was supposed that, with this great increase of the compa- ny's water-power, it would be fully able to satisfy the requirements of the yards ; but the lapse of a very few- months showed the necessity of at least a second visi- tation to the depths below.
THE LAST STOCK YARD WELL.
Determined to get enough of the required fluid, the management, in the spring of 1867, instituted the pre- liminary arrangements for sinking a second well. Boring was commenced on or about the 14th of May, 1888, and on the 24th of February, after passing two steeams of water, a vein was struck at the depth of 1,190 feet, which at the surface yields the unprecedented quantity of 600,000 gallons a day.
These two wells, perfectly dissimilar in many of their essential characteristics, wonderfully different in the quantity of water yielded, yet only separated one from the other by the distance of a few lineal feet, have attracted considerable attention since their com- pletion. They have been visited by large numbers of scientific and practical men, and are justly regarded as works of no mean importance in the scientific world.
THE TWO WELLS
are both beneath the same shed, and fill three tanks that rest side by side. Each tank is elevated 45 feet from the ground, and has a capacity of holding 114,000 gallons. The wells are 59 feet apart north and south, in which distance the strata has a " dip" or inclination of seven feet to the north-east. In the old well the first bed of sandstone is 20 feel thicker than in the new one. The stratum of underlying limestone is exactly twenty feet thinner. With this exception, both borings present materially the same features.
THE WATER
in the wells presents a marked and singular difference. In the old well it is strongly impregnated with sulphur.
TJie Union Stock Yards. 61
So thoroughly is the impregnation, that the water not only smells and tastes of the substance, but deposits it profusely upon the bottom of the trough in which it is received, and in the tank in which it is collected. After exposure to the air for a few hours, the sulphur is partly precipitated and partly carried off by the air, leaving a perfectly colorless and tasteless fluid.
In the second well, on the other hand, there are no sulphurous evidences; but the wrater is strongly charged with one of the oxides of iron. It has no perceptible odor, but its chalybeate characteristics are very apparent to the taste, and to the eye in the iron-brown deposit which covers the bottom of the receiving trough. Both waters undoubtedly pcssess excellent medical proper- ties, and, if only situated in some fashionable watering place, would undoubtedly boast a national reputation.
THE FORCE OF THE WATER
of the last well is sufficient to discharge 600,000 gallons a day at the surface. In carrying itself to the height of, the tanks, an altitude of forty-five feet from the ground, it loses so much force that only 450,000 gallons are dis- charged at this point daily. It is estimated that at a further height of 180 feet, being 175 from the surface, the water would assume a stationary position.
The wells are both now in running operation at the stock-yards. They are the only means used in the sup- ply of the immense amount of water there constantly required, and prove highly successful in every respect. As living realizations of the laws of science; as proud exemplihcations of the energy and will of our people, they should command the Interest and attention of every believer in Chicago and her institutions.
THE UNION STOCK- YARD EXCHANGE AND BANK.
The Union Stock- Yard National Bank, whose offices are at the yards, is one of the most effective auxiliaries in facilitating the general business of the market we have. It was not founded as a mere commercial enter- prise, for in the outset its promoters must have seen divers ways of investing their capital of a more pro- mising and remunerative character ; but such an insti-
62 The Union Stock Yards.
tution was an absolute necessity, and had therefore to be provided. When the live-stock markets of Chicago, for we had several, were located at a comparatively short distance from the Court-house, access to city banks was easy, but by removing the market away out on the prairie, and beyond the city limits, due provision was needful for the security and transmission of such large sums of money as are handled in this special business. The undertaking has proved a great success, and is receiving the support of all prominent live-stock operators in the West. This structure is built of brick, and is two stories high, surmounted by four gables, which give it a novel and picturesque appearance. It stands on the corner of avenues D and E. The south end of the building constitutes the bank. The room is thirty-seven feet square, and provided with an immense stone vault, said to be the strongest in the city, and capable of withstanding the chisels and powder of any number of burglars. Adjoining the bank is the office of the Secretary of the company, a room 20 by 37 feet, with a door opening into a separate compartment of the vault. The remainder of the ground floor is a large room 60 by 80 feet, known as the Exchange. On the second floor are twelve commodious rooms, two of which, in the east end, are used as telegraph offices, and the others rented to brokers and others doing busi- ness at the yards.
HOTEL.
For the accommodation of drovers and business men, as well as visitors to the yards, a capacious hotel has been erected, called the " Hough House." The edifice cost $125,000. It is 30 feet front by 144 feet deep, and six stories high. It fronts on Halsted street, and stands on the south-east corner of the yards proper. It is. built of light-colored brick, with a Mansard roof, and surmounted with a cupola with a globe-like top and a weather-vane. On the front of the hotel extends a verandah fifty-two feet in length, which is reached by a flight of about twenty broad steps, running the entire length, the whole bordered by a handsome railing similar to that which borders the balcony of the
The New West. 63
cupola. On the south side, which looks out upon the prairie, is a similar verandah, eighty-four feet in length, entered by the windows and several doors which open upon it. From this point a most delightful view is afforded. On a warm summer day this is one of our most enjoyable suburban retreats.
THE SLOPE OF THE PACIFIC AND THE NEW WEST.
THOUGH we have hewn out a wa3' through the desert, and found enough to convince us that the best part of the continent remains unsettled, our know- ledge of the vast region lying west of the Missouri is very slight, and exceedingly superficial, and no won- der, when we consider that up to the year 1844, just a quarter of a century ago, there were no white men more than a giant's stone-throw west of the " Big Muddy." Within that twenty- five years, since Polk sat in the White House, and Louis Napoleon played his grand coup d'etat, we have gathered all we know of a region equal in extent to the whole of European Russia, which has a population of seventy million souls. No wonder that the surveyor's chain has been dragged over but infinitesimal portions of the vast area, ancl that section lines are few, though claims innumerable have been staked off, and millions of dollars worth of the precious metals dragged from the volcanic repose of centuries by the adventurous searcher after gold.
The following statistics will give a clearer idea of the extent of the country yet to be conquered, and help us to a better comprehension of what they may become in the future, than a volume of mere verbal description :
TERRITORY AND POPULATION.
The following shows the area in square miles of the several States and Territories within the district of the New West, with the population in 1860, and estimated population at the present time :
64
The New West.
So. Mile*.
Alaska 577,890
Arizona 118,916
California 188,981
Colorado 104.500
Dakota 152,000
Idaho 90,982
Indian Territory 68,991
K*ns»3 81,318
Montana 148,776
Nebraska 75,995
Nevada 112,000
New Mexico 121,201
0 i egon 95,274
Utah 88,056
Washington Territory 69,994
Wyoming 88,000
|
Pop. 1860. Not in |
Pop. 1869. 75,000 |
|
Or»r. '63 |
25,000 |
|
{$79,994 |
580,000 |
|
84, -277 |
55,000 |
|
4,887 |
80,000 |
|
Org. '68 |
45,000 |
|
9,761 |
10,000 |
|
107,206 |
800.000 |
|
Org. '64 28,826 |
60,000 80,000 |
|
6,857 |
53,000 |
|
98,516 |
|
|
52.455 |
100,000 |
|
40,244 |
180,090 |
|
11, £.94 |
i 0,000 |
|
Org. '68 |
5,000 |
|
709,577 |
1,578,000 |
|
27,489,51)1 2.8 |
41,000,000 3.86 |
ToUl 2,172,416
Total of U. S. and Ter 8,078,892
Per cent 60.7
Including Alaska (70,000) this area contains about 210,000 Indians.
More than sixty per cent, of the whole territory of the United States lies west of the Missouri proper, with- out reference to that part which lies west of the Mis- sissippi below the confluence of the two mighty rivers. The whole of this territory is virtually opened up to us of the " East " by the Pacific Railroad, and will, ere long, be actually opened up by its branches. Thus more than 2,000,000 square miles contained but 2.8 per cent., or 10 in 357 of the entire population of the United States and territories in 1860. At present it contains one twenty-sixth part of the entire population, the number being about double what it was nine years ago. These figures will not necessarily show what will be the growth of the next nine years, but they do show how much of room and opportunity exists for it, and no one can doubt that, with the opportunities and facilities afforded by the Pacific Railroad, their future growth will be so great that the increase of the past will be too short a rod to measure it by.
PROPERTY VALUATIONS.
The following were the property valuations, real and personal, of these States and Territories in 1850 and 1860, as then bounded :
The New West.
65
1850.
California $22,161,872
Kansas
Oregon 5,063,474
Nebraska
New Mexico 5,174,471
Utah
Washington Territory
Totals $33,385,900 $8)9, '275, 543
Totals U. S 7,135,780,223 $16,159,616,068
Per cent to whole 0.42 1.85
A valuation on the same scale to-day would give not less than $25,000,000,000, of which about 1,000,000,000, or four per cent,, belongs to the New West, as against one part in 217 in 1850, and one part in 54 in 1860.
MANUFACTURES.
The following shows the principal manufacturing statistics for 18GO :
Hands Em- Value of Pro- Capital, ployed. duct.
California $22.043,09*5 49.221 $68,253,228
Kansas 1,084,935 1,735 4,357,408
Nebraska 2-i6,575 336 607.328
Oregon 1,337,238 978 2,976,761
Utah 444,3.')6 889 900,153
Washington Territory 1,296/200 870 1,406,921
Totals $26,471,400 53,529 $78,.r>02,799
Total U. S. AT 1,0^,855,715 1,811,246 1,885,861,676
Percent 2.6 4 4.16
It is significant of the energies of a new country, that 4 per cent, of the workers in the United States occupied the New West in 1860, while it contained less than 3 per cent, of the population. There were few or no idlers, and are few now — a fact which speaks volumes for its future. The number of workers has about doubled within the past nine years, and it is safe to assume that the capital actually employed has more than trebled within the same period, irrespective of the increased value of land.
BANKS.
The following shows the number, capital, and circu- lation, in September, 1868, of the National Banks west 5
66
The New West.
of the Missouri, except for California, which has no National Banks. That State has a total of thirty-four private bankers, and the State Bank has a capital of $5,000,000.
No.
Kansas ............................. 5
Kebraska .......................... 4
Colorado .......................... 3
Nevada ............................ 1
Oregon ............................ 1
Utah .............................. 1
Montana ......................... 1
Idaho .............................. 1
Capital.
$4',K),000 85*1,000 8T>0,000 155,000 100,000 150,000 100,0'K) 100,000
Circulation.
$351,000
170,000
254,.!XM>
131,700
88,500
135,500
86,000
63000
Totals... .... 17
Total for United States ............. 1,629
Percent .......................... 1
$1,705,000 $1,283,700
426,189,111 809,915,166
0.4 0.4
The following was the estimated yield of the precious metals in 1868 :
California ............................................... $20,000,000
Nevada ................................................ IS.iOO.OOO
Montana ................................................ 12,000,000
Idaho .................................................. 6,000,000
Oregon ................................................. 5,000,00(1
Colorado ........ ....................................... 4.000, Oool
Washington ............................................. 1 ,000,000*
Arizona _____ .......................................... 250,000
N«"t Mexico ............................................. 250,000
Total .................. . ............................ $66,500,000
The annual yield is equal to about 20^ per cent, of the entire banking circulation of the Union, or sufficient to redeem it all in the course of less than five years, even in its present ratio. Estimating the total value as equal only to ten years' product, it gives a specie basis of $540 for every dollar of paper confided to the care of the people of the New West. But this yield will be largely increased as the facilities for transport- ing men and machinery are opened up by the Pacific Railroad. It is safe to estimate that the above tabu- lated annual yield of gold and silver will be doubled within the next four years.
Nebraska increased her corn area last year by 16,145 acres, or about twenty-five per cent. Kansas showed a similar increase of 63,411 acres, or thirty per cent. ;
The New West. 67
while Iowa added to her corn area 336,682 acres, or fif- teen per cent.
VOTES
The States and Territories west of the Missouri gave last year a total of 173,202 votes, as follows : Kansas, 11,698; Idaho, 5,320; California, 108,670; Oregon, 22,086; Arizona, 2,093; Nebraska, 15,168; Colorado, 8,167. This was but about one vote to every 11^ squares miles of territory.
PRODUCTIONS.
The following are a few of the leading statistics of the productive and commercial industries of California in 1868 :
Cocoons of ailk (from 1,175,000 trees) 1,350,000
Eggs silk worms, do 1,350
Vintage, gnllons 8,500,000
Vintage brandy, gallons 800,000
Vessels built 57
Tonn age 7, 604
Passengers to and from Asia 10,095
Freights to and from Asia, ton* 18,295
Deposits in (8) savings b^nks $23,000,000
Increase by emigration, persons 85,000
Boots and shoes imported, packages 68,709
Domestic lumber, feet 197,672,000
Candles imported, boxes 264,589
Cigars imported, cases . 445
Coal imported, anthracite, tons 29,592
English coal imported, tons 29.561
Australian coal imported, tons 27,000
Pig iron imported, tons 16,659
Iron, bars 314,68*
Flour exported, brls 461,868
Wheat exported, bu 4,099,115
TALC! OF MBRCHAMDISE EXPORTS.
ToNewYork $8,541,976
To Great Britain 4,568,747
To Mexico 1,708,451
To South America 680,822
To Hawaiian Islands 808,746
To China 1,161,020
To British Columbia 918,589
To Japan 491,105
To Australia 1,035,835
To other countries 1,198,100
Totall868 $22, S
Total 1867 22,4(55; 908
Total 1S66 17,808,018
Total. Treas.
68 The New West.
Treasure Exports, 1868 .................... $35,444,895 $58,387,775
" " 18«7 .................... 4l,67«,792 64,142,6'?5
1866 .................... 44,864,394 61,667,411
Receipts of customs ...................................... 8,557,081
Receipts of customs, 1767 ............................... 7,611,958
Coinage 1868 ............................................ 17,^65.noO
Vessels, arrived, 8,253 : tonnage .......................... 1,085,016
Sales for fiscal pear 1867-8 ............................... $10.529,930
Commercial brokers' do ................................. 6,^38,300
Wholesale dealers ........................................ 18S,4S3,2<X)
Miscellaneous .......................................... 47,367,264
Total sales of the year .................................. $253,218,884
The statistics of vessels building are believed to in- clude the whole Pacific coast.
That the growth of California and Oregon will be wonderfully stimulated by the " great event " there can be no question. California expects to more than double her exports of breadstuff's this year, and her commerce will increase in much the same proportion by the opening up of a direct avenue of trade between China and Japan through the ports of San Francisco and Sacramento, while her population will, probably, show a duplication of the augment of 1868. Yet the future of California is not more brilliant than that of the interior States ; they will, probably, grow even more rapidly than she has done, for their wealth is but just being discovered, and we are only just beginning to be able to reach them.
The value of direct shipments of the precious metals from Colorado in 1368, not including that taken by private
hands, was ....................................... ... $2,107,235
Of which gold amounted to .................. ............. 1,909.461
And silver to ............................................ 197,744
Value of agricultural products, 186S ..................... 2,683,840
Cultivation, Av.
acres. bu.
Wheat ....................................... 7,410 28
Corn ......................................... 10.834 25
Oats, barley, etc ............................. 8,709 85
Potatoes ..................................... 1,966 100
Total acre* ................................... 23,919
The railroad now building to connect the Pacific trunk line with the far-famed Pike's Peak region,
The New West. 69
opening up the Colorado parks and exposing its min- eral treasures to the labor of the miner, as to the light of day, will make the preceding figures small by com- parison with those of 1870.
MISCELLANEOUS.
The following are statistics of the Territory of Wyo- ming for 1868 :
Letters mailed, No , 505,696
Letters received, No 536,243
Stamps cancelled $16,148
Stamps and stamped envelopes sold $12,409
Gross sales merchandise 7,300,000
Paid for freight, exclusive of government 2,163,355
Value lumber sold 825.000
Receipts, passenger and express (W., F. & Co.) 804,000
Average cash deposited in banks 680,000
Loans and discounts 180,000
Eastern exchange sold 16,200,000
Cash paid over bank counters 25,400,000
Gold bought by banks 110.000
Freight received, Ibs 74,010,654
And this is the youngest born into the sub-family of the Territories. Cheyenne alone promises to beat this exhibit next year.
The following are some of the productive statistics of Utah Territory for the year 1868 :
Acres under cultivation 180,000
Of which the cereals comprise 80,000
Sugar cane 2,000
Root crops 6,800
Cotton 200
Apples 900
Peaches 1,000
Grapes 75
Currants 195
Meadow 80,000
Acres irrigated in 1867 94,000
Cost of same $247,002
Property value in 1868 $10,533,879
Tax assessed on do $52,666
Schools (in 186 districts, 18,000 pupils) 228
Property valuation of Salt Lake country $4,879,650
This is what the Mormons have done — created it out of dead sterility. They have helped to build the Pacific Railroad, and are even now building a railroad for themselves, to make direct connection with the heart
70 The New West.
of Utah and the world's highway. It is more than probable that Utah will grow, too.
DISTANCES.
The following table shows the distances of the prin- cipal points on the route of the Pacific Railroad, each way, with the elevation in feet above the sea level :
Distance, Distance,
miles. Elevation, miles.
NewYork .... 8,850
Chicago 960 625 2,890
Omaha 463 957 1,897
Kearney 683 2,1*8 1,707
North Platte 784 2,830 1,606
Cheyenne.... 1,009 6,062 1,881
Sherman (Summit) 1,042 8,262 1,848
Bryan ...1,854 6,810 1,0:36
Wahsatch 1,462 6,880 928
WeberCanon 1,517 4,654 878
Ogden (Salt Lake) 1,528 4,820 862
Promontory Point 1,581 4,948 809
Humboldt Wells*. 1,750 5,650 640
Elcho (White Pine) 1,810 5,630 680
Summit Sierra 2,165 7,042 225
Colfax 2,216 2,448 174
Sacramento 2,270 56 120
San Francisco. 2,390
The following shows the distances in miles, and the time consumed in traveling, between Chicago and San Francisco:
Miles. Hours.
Chicago to Omaha 498 24*
Omaha to Cheyenne 516 25J-
Cheyenne to Ogden (Utah) 519 28
OgdentoElcho 282 12*
Elcho to Sacramento 460 16
Sacramento to San Francisco 120 18}
Totals 8^890 220~
The rates of fare west of Ogden City are 10 cents per mile in gold, but it is expected that they will be materially reduced after the 1st of July. (For the above deeply interesting article, we are indebted to the Chicago Trilwne of May 10th, 1869.)
Universities and Colleges. 71
UNIVEKSITIES AND COLLEGES.
UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO.
Is located within four miles of the Court House, and on the route of the Cottage Grove horse-cars, within a few steps of the shore of Lake Michigan. It is conducted under the auspices of the Baptist denomination, but is founded on a broad and liberal basis. It is built on a beautiful tract of ground donated by Hon. S. A. Douglas. It was founded in 1855, and the first building erected in 1858. The main central building is 126x172 feet, and was completed in 1868, at a cost of $110,000. It is of Athens marble, and is of very imposing appearance. The property, with endowments, is valued at $400,000.
OBSERVATORY.
With the extension of the Chicago University, it was determined to found an observatory which should be an honor to the west. A number of scientific gentle- men met and pledged their assistance. It was at first proposed to procure a small instrument from New York, but it was soon decided that Chicago wanted no makeshift, and the celebrated Clark telescope was secured, which had been made to the order of a Loui- siana college, but not taken owing to the breaking out of the war. An observatory costing $30,000 was built on the western side of the University, and in 1864 the telescope was brought here anil put in position, Prof. T. H. Safford being appointed Astronomer. The tower is called "the Dearborn." It is a massive octagonal structure, comprising a solid, isolated stone pier (the cap or tripod stone of which weighs over seven tons) within an octagonal stone tower 35 feet on the base, the whole surmounted by a revolving dome, which covers the room except in one point, where the teles- cope is pointed through an aperture. The following are the dimensions of the great Equatorial telescope, which moves by clock-work, keeping pace with the
Universities and Colleges.
Universities and Colleges. 73
revolutions of the earth on her axis, so that when once pointed to a star it will keep pace with it in its ethereal journey as long as may be needed to complete the re- quired observation :
Diameter of Declination Circle, 30 inches.
Diameter of Hour Circle, 22 inches.
Focal Length of Object Glass, 23 feet.
Aperture of Object Glass, 18}£ inches.
The circles are read by two microscopes each, the hour circle to seconds of time, and the declination circle to ten seconds of space. The Observatory has also a chronometer, and a small astronomical library.
A meridian circle of the first class has been con- structed by Messrs. A. Repsold & Sons, of Hamburgh. This instrument has a telescope of six French inches aperture, and divided circles of fort}7 inches diameter; otherwise it is like Bessel's celebrated Kcenigsberg circle, by the same makers, with some late improve- ments in the illumination of the field and the wires, and with apparatus for recording declinations, a new invention of the makers.
THE PRESBYTERIAN THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
Is situated on the corner of Fullerton avenue and North Halsted street. The building was erected in 1863. This Seminary was founded in 1859 by the Old School Genrial Assembly of the Presbyterian Church. The edifice is a very handsome building of pressed brick, 72 by 40 feet, with stone facings and caps, the basement being also of stone. The entire height is five stories. The Seminary has two libraries of nearly 7,000 volumes. The property is valued at $200,000.
THE CHICAGO THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY,
Located on Warren street, corner of Reuben street, was chartered in 1855. It belongs to the Congregational Church, but is open to the students of all denomina- tions. Tuition is gratuitous to all students, and those who need it receive aid to the amount of $150 per year. The building is in the Norman style of architecture, a
74 Universities and Colleges.
monument to the enterprise and liberality of the denomination. It has a frontage on Union Park of 155 feet, and another on Warren street of 120 feet.
THE NORTHWESTERN METHODIST EPISCO- PAL UNIVERSITY
Is now located at Evanston, twelve miles north of the city. It was founded in Chicago in 1852. The build- ings are magnificent. The total value of the property is about $600,000. There are now nearly two hundred students in the institution.
THE GARRETT BIBLICAL INSTITUTE,
A Methodist institution, is also located at Evanston. It was founded in 1855, and has now over one hundred students. The property is worth about $400,000.
UNIVERSITY OF ST. MARY'S OF THE LAKE,
Is situated on Superior street, near North State street. It was established in 1844, and a fine new building erected in 1863, under the presidency of the Rev. Dr. McMullen. It is now used only for the Seminarians, or candidates for priestly orders in the Catholic Church for the Diocese of Chicago.
COLLEGE OF ST. IGNATIUS.
This is a new college now in course of erection on West Twelfth street, corner of Blue Island Avenue, and adjoining the Church of the Holy Family. The building, when completed, will be one of the hand- somest educational structures in the country. It is built of light colored pressed brick, with stone trim- mings, and will cost $250,000. It will be under the charge of the Jesuit Fathers, and will accommodate a very large number of students. It is expected that it will be ready for the reception of students by the open- ing cf the coming year.
Universities and Colleges.
76 Universities and Colleges.
ACADEMY OP THE CHRISTIAN BROTHERS.
The Academy of the Christian Brothers, on Van Buren street, near Clark, was first opened in the spring of 1868, and has already achieved a very high and deserved celebrity. In the Order of the Christian Brothers, founded for the purpose of devoting them- selves to the education of youth, the members are trained especially to fulfill the duties of teachers. How well they perform the onerous duties of their calling, is attested by the great success and popularity of their schools in Europe, and of late years in this country. Students of all denominations are received, and the religious opinions of the parents respected and never interfered with in the child. The Academy at 99 Van Buren street is a large and well-appointed building, erected for the purpose at a cost of $60,000, under the directorship of Bro. Francis de Sales, one of the most accomplished and successful teachers this celebrated order has amongst them.
LAW SCHOOL.
Connected with the University of Chicago, but nearly independent in its operation, is a Law School, con- ducted in Oriental building, LaSalle street. Henry Booth, Esq., is Dean.
MEDICAL COLLEGES.
BUSH MEDICAL COLLEGE,
Located on the corner of Indiana and North Dearborn street, was established in 1843. The new building, erected in 1857 at a cost of $70,000, is one of the finest educational structures in the West. The College pos- sesses a large and well-selected library, besides ample chemical apparatus, a laboratory, and a museum filled with every needed means of illustration and study in all the varied branches of medical science.
Universities and Colleges.
77
78 Universities and Colleges.
THE CHICAGO MEDICAL COLLEGE.
This institution, formerly the medical department of Lind University, was established in 1858, and is now in a prosperous condition. The spacious building it occu- pies, on the corner of State and Twenty-second streets, was erected in 1864, and, with the lot, cost $20,000.
THE HAHNEMANN MEDICAL COLLEGE,
Located at number 619 State street, was established in 1855 at 161 Clark street, and removed to its present location, in a fine new building, in February, 1868. As its name indicates, it is devoted to the preparation of practitioners of the Homoeopathic system of medicine.
SCHOOLS.
The education of the youth of Chicago has, from the very earliest period in the history of the City, engaged the earnest and most solicitous attention of her citizens, and to-day the public, private, and secular schools of Chicago will bear favorable comparison with any city on the continent. The rapid growth of the city has rendered it a continuous difficulty to keep pace in accommodation for the scholars claiming admission. The present system of public schools dates as early as 1839, two years only after Chicago became an incorpo- rated city, although the first public school under the school fund derived from the state grant of lands was started in 1834. In 1839 there were four teachers, but no regular school house. The city expended that year $1,600 for its schools. The High School was estab- lished by an ordinance of the City Council in 1855, and was first opened on the 8th of November, 1856. The edifice is located on Monroe street, near Halsted street, and cost $50,000.
From the report of the Board of Education we com- pile the following totals :
Universities and Colleges. 79
Population of city, April, 1868 242,378
Number entitled to attend schools 64,229
School districts — Grammar 21
Primary 6 — 27
Number of schools— High 1
Grammar 21
Primary 6 — 28
Number of buildings— Owned 88
Rented 11— 49
Having number of rooms 873
In which are employed :
Male teachers 60
Female teachers 841— 401
With enrolled pupils 29,9.~>4
With an average daily attendance of 17,658.1
The percentage of punctual attendance being 96.4
The ratio of all belonging in all the schools to the number
of school age being .286
The average number of pupils to a teacher being in —
Hi^h School 32.4
Grammar Schools 47.0
Prim «ry Schools 51.0
During the year there were :
Suspensions for absence 2,946
Suspensions for misconduct 3,921 — 6,237
Cost per scholar for tuition upon average daily attendance $15.71
Cost per scholar for incidentals 4.18
Cost per scholar for his share of valuation of school prop- erty 8.95
Annual cost per scholar $28.84
Present number of seats in public schools 20,037
Number of pupils enrolled 20,879
Number awaiting seats l,f>90
Number of private schools in school districts 118
With pupils Catholic 10,178
Scandinavian and German 8,457
Israelitish ; 303
Other schools 8,780
17,718
Total receipts for fiscal year 1867 —
School tax $387,486.99
State fund 6,9»7.M
Rentsand interest 40,681.95
485,077.45
School construction bonds 298, 158.76
Total receipts $738,235.81
Total expenditures —
From school tax fund $-349,145.25
From school building fund 297, 198.05
646.34S.80
Balance of school fund on hand April, 1868 $130,159.61
The salaries of teacher* amounted to 277,203.85
80 Literary and Scientific, Institutions.
LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTIONS.
THERE is every reason to believe that very soon the purely literary and scientific institutions of Chicago will be as conspicuous as is now its marvelous material growth. The centre of the commerce of the Mississippi Valley, and destined soon to control the wonderful mineral resources of the Far West, Chicago's higher mis- sion is undoubtedly to become a centre of culture and refinement for the whole land. Indeed many of the most prominent merchants and capitalists of the city are already turning their thoughts towards the found- ing of such institutions as shall carry their names down to the latest posterity as wise and liberal promoters of the arts and sciences.
Among the more prominent of these is
THE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES,
located at No. 263 Wabash avenue, was established in 1857, and the formation of a Museum was then com- menced, the labor of collecting being principally per- formed under the auspices of the Smithsonian Institute, by Major Robert Kennicott, who died in the early part of I860, while engaged in an exploration of the then Hussian America, since purchased by the United States. In 1865, Professor Agassiz being then delivering a course of lectures in Chicago, the occasion was seized upon to give a little more vitality to the institution, and funds were raised by the issuing of Life memberships of $500 each. The collections of the Society were removed to rooms in the Metropolitan Block, and there arranged pending the erection of the new building, now occupied by the Academy at No. 268 Wabash avenue, near Van Buren street. In 1866 the Metropolitan Block was burned, and the collections of the academy injured by fire, over eighteen thousand specimens being burned.
Literary and Scientific Institutions. 81
The new building, costing about $40,000, is 55 feet by 50, fire proof, and very strongly built, though plain in external appearance, as it will eventually form only an adjunct to a larger and finer building to be erected on the front of the lot, which is owned by the academy. The first two stories contain the library, work rooms, offices, etc., while the upper story forms the museum, which is twenty-eight feet high, and surrounded by two galleries. Dr. William Stimpson is secretary.
THE CHICAGO HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Is located on the corner of Ontario and North Dear- born streets. It was organized in 1856 with nineteen members, and chartered in the following year, occupy- ing rooms in the Newberry block, on the corner of Wells and Kinzie streets. Under the management of Rev. Wm. Barry, the indefatigable secretary, the society amassed a rare collection of old books and manuscripts, with numerous valuable specimens, and incited to much original research into the natural and ethnological his- tory of the northwest. The collection now numbers about 100,000 items, including 15,000 bound volumes ; the society consists of about sixty active members ; T. H. Armstrong secretary. A fire-proof building designed as a wing of a future edifice was erected in 1868 at a cost of about $35,000. The cost of the entire building when finished will be about $200,000. The building will have a frontage of one hundred and twenty feet on Ontario street, and one hundred and thirty-two feet on Dearborn, and will be sixty-six feet high from the side- walk, besides a basement nine and one-half feet high. The first story will be eighteen feet high, and will con- tain a large entrance hall, a reading room, lecture room, office, museum, and binding and store-room. An open court will extend the whole height of the building, and be covered by a glass roof. This court will be 36x24 feet, and will be finished with smooth walls and marble floor, and is intended for the exhibition of statuary and other works of art.
82 Libraries.
THE CHICAGO LIBRARY ASSOCIATION,
Formerly the Young Men's Library, is in the hall on the corner of Randolph and LaSalle streets, generally known as Metropolitan Hall. The association derives its income from the annual fees of membership and proceeds of lectures. A movement is now progressing to accumulate a building fund for the erection of a suitable edifice which shall supply the present and future needs of the Association. In the rooms of the library may be found the latest files of all home and foreign newspapers and periodicals of merit.
UNION CATHOLIC LIBRARY ASSOCIATION
Is located at No. 122 LaSalle street. It was organ- ized in 1868 by a few public spirited gentlemen, and is now in a very flourishing condition. It has a very excellently appointed reading room, and a well selected library of choice works, to which additions are being constantly made.
IRISH LITERARY ASSOCIATION.
This association meets in Blake's building, oh Wash- ington, near the corner of Wells street. It is yet in its infai'Cy, having been organized in March, 1869. It is established on broad and liberal principles, independent of creed and sect, for the mutual, social, and literary advancement of its members.
LIBRARIES.
Chicago in her rapid advancement in material pro- gress, has not altogether overlooked the advantages to be derived from well selected libraries. There are in the city many of the most valuable and extensive pri- vate collections in the country. Amongst the public libraries, that of the Law Institute is probably the most
Telegraph and Express Companies. 83
valuable. The libraries of her institutions of learning keep equal pace with their prosperity. That of the Historical Society is a very extensive collection. The next in prominence and value is that collected by the Young Men's Association, in Library Hall, corner of LaSalTe and Randolph streets, now the Chicago Library Association.
The following is a list of the Public Libraries in the City:
LIBRARIES AND READING ROOMS.
Chicago Historical Society, Ontario, between Clark
and Dearborn streets.
Chicago Law Institute, Third floor of Court House. Free Library, N. Reuben st, near W. Chicago Ave. Presbyterian Theological Seminary, Halsted street, <?or.
Fullerton Ave. Chicago Library Association, Randolph, cor. LaSalle
street Young Men's Christian Association, Madison, between
Clark and LaSalle streets. Union Catholic Library Association, 122 LaSalle street.
TELEGRAPH COMPANIES.
Western Union Telegraph Company — Office, northwest cor. Washington and LaSalle streets.
EXPRESS COMPANIES.
American Merchants Union Express Company — Office,
96 and 98 Lake street. United States Express Company — Offices, 130 Lake, and
18 and 20 Clark street
84 Transportation Companies.
FOREIGN CONSULS IN CHICAGO.
Belgium — I. F. Henrotin, 110 N. LaSalle street.
Denmark (Vice- Consul) — P. Neils Peterson.
France (Vice-Consul} — Edmond Caney, residence 175
Lake street. Great Britain — Francis Wilkins, acting consul, Office,
30 Reynolds Block.
Italy — August Fredin, residence 175 Lake street. Netherlands (Consular Agent) — Henry S. Haas, Office,
161 Clark street. Sweden and Norway — Peter L. Hawkinson, 2 Uhlich's
Block. Switzerland — Henry Enderis, 45 Clark street; Louis
Borein, Vice-Consul. Nffrth German Confederation — Henry Claussenius, 4 S.
Clark street.
STEAMBOAT AND TRANSPORTATION COM- PANIES.
American Transportation Company — Office, 19 Ex- change Place.
Atlantic & Pacific Freight Express Line— Office, 41 Dearborn street.
Blue Line (Through Freight) — Office, 31 Dearborn street.
Buffalo, Cleveland & Chicago Line — 190 S. Water street.
Chicago & Green Bay Propeller Line — First Dock east of Rush street.
Chicago, Grand Haven & Muskegon, and Milwaukee, Port Washington, Sheboygan, Manitowoc & Two Rivers Line —First Dock east of Rush street Bridge.
Chicago dc St. Joseph Line — Office, 4 and 6 River street.
Chicago & Grand Traverse Propeller Line — Office, Lum- ber street, cor. Maxwell.
Clary & Akhursi Line of Canal Boats — Office, Room 1, Steel's Buildings.
Empire Line — Office, 52 S. Clark street.
and Publications. 85
Brans' Buffalo & Chicago Line of Propellers — Office, Market street, between Washington and Madison.
Goodrich Transportation Company — Offices, on docks below Rush street bridge.
Grand Trunk Line and Lake Superior Line of Steamers — Office, S. Water St., foot of S. LaSalle street.
Grand Trunk Line of Propellers — Office, foot of La- Salle street.
Great Western Despatch Fast Freight Line— [Offices, 130 Lake, and 20 Clark streets.
Lake Superior People's Line of Steamers — Office, Market St., between Washington and Madison.
Merchants Despatch Fast Freight Line — Office, 40 Dear- born street.
Michigan Canal & Illinois River Propeller Line — Office, foot of Wabash Ave.
Northern Transportation Company — Office, foot of N. LaSalle street.
Pittsburgh, Ft. Wayne & Chicago Fast Freight Line — Office, 65 Clark street.
Red Line Transit Company — Office, 54 Clark street.
Star Union Line — Office, 62 and 64 LaSalle street.
Stephens' St. Joseph, South Haven & Chicago Propeller Line — Office, 4 and 6 River street.
Union Despatch Company — Office, Monroe street, near State.
Western Express <& People's Line — Office, S. Water St., foot of State.
Western States Line — Office, Market St., near Madison.
Western Transportation Company — Office, foot of State street.
NEWSPAPERS AND PUBLICATIONS.
The daily press of Chicago is universally acknowl- edged to be in ability and enterprise fully up to the metropolitan standard. There are now issued in Chicago three first-class daily morning papers in Eng- lish, and two in German, and two evening papers. Each of the dailies issue a tri-weekly and weekly edition. There are eight daily publications of a miscellaneous
86 Churches.
character, and thirty weeklies, of which nine are specially devoted to religion, two of these in the Ger- man language, and one in the Swedish. There is one weekly printed in Italian, one in Scandivavian, two in the railroad interest, two spiritual, one insurance organ, and one to the Irish race, two agricultural, and one workingman's advocate. Of the sixteen month- lies three are religions, one of them being printed in the Swedish language, one is devoted to insurance, one to music, one to the order of Odd Fellows, and the balance of a miscellaneous order. There are ten monthly magazines, of which two are medical, (in addition to a quarterly medical issue) one is German, two Masonic, two religious and two literary, and one devoted to the advancement of the arts.
CHURCHES IN CHICAGO.
MANY of the church edifices in Chicago are of great elegance and beauty, and should not be overlooked by visitors who desire to see every thing in the city worth seeing. Our space does not admit of a detailed descrip- tion, but we may be permitted to indicate a few of the most prominent and noteworthy. Christ, Grace, Trinity, St. James, and the Bishop's Church, Episcopal ; The Church of the Holy Name, Holy Family, (Jesuit) and St. Joseph's (Catholic); First Baptist, Union Park Baptist, and Fifth Baptist ; The New England and Ply- mouth, Congregational ; Grace, Centenary and Wabash Avenue Methodist Episcopal ; The First, Second, and Third Presbyterian ; The First and Messiah Unitarian, and St. Paul's Universalist, are about the principal churches in architectural beauty.
The hours of divine service in nearly all the churches in Chicago are at 10^ A.M. and 7J£" P.M. Sabbath- school at 2 P.M.
FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH.
88 Churches.
LIST OF CHURCHES IN CHICAGO.
BAPTIST.
Bridgeport Baptist Church, Iron Clad Hall. First Baptist Church, Wabash av., cor. Hubbard court. First Danish Baptist Church, Union nr. W. Indiana st. First German Baptist Church, Indiana, near Wood st. Free Baptist Church, W. Jackson, cor. Peoria st Indiana Av. Baptist Church, Indiana av. cor. 13 st. North Baptist Church, N. Dearborn, cor. Chicago av Olivet Baptist Church, (colored) 4th av. nr. Taylor st. Providence (col'd) Lecture Room Union Park Church. Second Baptist Church, W. Monroe, S. W. cor. Morgan. Second German Baptist, Chicago av., cor. Chase st. Swedish Baptist Church, 110 Breiner st. Union Park Baptist, W. Washington, cor. Paulina st. Wabash Av. Baptist Church, Wabash av. cor. 18th st. South Baptist Church, Boniface st., Bridgeport. Fifth Baptist Church, Sangamon, cor. of Harrison. North Star Mission, cor. Division and Sedgwick sta. University Place Baptist Church.
CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
Christian Church, cor. Wabash av. and 16th sts. Second Church, cor. Carpenter and Church sts.
CONGREGATIONAL.
First Church, W. Washington, cor. Green.
New England Church, White st., cor. N. Dearborn.
Plymouth Church, Wabash av., cor. Eldridge court.
Salem Church, Cleaverville.
South Church, Calumet av., N. E. cor. 26th st.
Tabernacle Church, cor. W. Indiana and N. Morgan st.
Union Park Church, Reuben, cor. W. Washington st.
Oakland Congregational Church, Lake, cor. Oakland av.
Bethany Church, cor. Paulina and 2nd sts.
Leavitt Street Church, W. Adams, cor. Leavitt st.
Lincoln Park, cor. Centre and Church sts.
North- West Mission Chapel,Milwaukee,cor. Western av.
Providence Mission, cor. Western av. and Warren av.
Churches. 89
EPISCOPAL.
The Cathedral, cor. W. Washington and Peoria sts. Calvary Church, Warren av. cor. Western av. Christ Church, Michigan av., S E. cor. 24th st. Church of the Ascension, cor. N. La Salle and Elm sts. Church of the Holy Communion, Burnside st. Grace Church, Wabash av. near 14th st. St. Ansgarius, Indiana, cor. N. Franklin st. St. John's Church, W. Lake st., cor. St. John's pi. St. James' Church, cor. Cass and Huron sts. St. Mark's Church, Cottage Grove. St. Stephen's Church, Forquer, cor. Blue Island av. Trinity Church, Jackson st., near Michigan av. Church of the Epiphany, Throop, near W. Monroe st. Church of the Atonement, Washington, cor. Robey st. Church of Our Saviour, Belden, cor. Hurlbut st. Cicero Mission Chapel, cor. Lake and Seymour sts.
EVANGELICAL ASSOCIATION OP NORTH AMERICA.
First Society, Polk St., cor. 3rd av. Second Church, Chicago av., cor. Wells. Third Church, W. 12th, S. W. cor. Union st.
GERMAN EVANGELICAL REFORMED.
First Church, Des Plaines, near Van Buren st.
EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN.
St. Paul's Church, Superior cor. N. Franklin. Immanuel Church, W. Taylor, cor. Brown st. Third, St. John's Church, 1st st., cor. Bickerdike. Trinity Church, Hanover, cor. Kossuth st.
ENGLISH EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN.
First Church, Dearborn, north-east cor. Ontario st.
UNITED EVANGELICAL.
First German, St. Paul's, Ohio st., S. W. cor La Salle. Fourth German, St. Peter's, Chicago av., cor Noble st. Zion Church, Union, N. W. cor. Mitchell st. Third German, Salem Church, 21st st., cor. Archer ave.
90 Churches.
INDEPENDENT.
Mission Church, Illinois st., bet. N. Wells and La Salle.
JEWISH CONGREGATIONS.
Church of the North Side, Superior, near Franklin st. Sinai Congregation, Van Bcren st., cor. 3d ave. Kehilath Anshe Maarib, Wabash ave., cor. Peck ct. Kehilath Benay Sholom, Harrison st., N. W. cor. 4th av.
METHODIST EPISCOPAL.
Simpson Street Church, Bonfield st., near St. Louis
railroad.
CentenaryChurch,Monroe,bet. Morgan and Aberdeen sts First Church, Clark, cor. Washington st. First Scandinavian, Illinois, cor. Market st. Free Methodist Church, Jefferson, near Polk st. Grace Church, N..La Salle st., N. W. cor. Chicago ave. Park Avenue Church, Park avenue, S. E. cor. Robey st. Second Scandinavian, N. Sangamon, cor. 4th. st. Trinity Church, 21st, cor. Indiana ave. Wabash Avenue Church, cor. Harrison st. West Indiana Church, cor. N. Sangamon st. Wesley Chapel, Blackhawk, cor. Sedgwick st. Grant Place Church, Larrabee St., cor. Grant Place. Maxwell Street Church, between Newberry avenue
and Johnson st.
Elston Road Church, Elston Road, cor. North ave. Free M. E. Church, Morgan, bet. Lake and Fulton sts. Indiana Avenue Church, between 32d and 33d sts. African M. E. Church, 4th av., near Taylor st. Illinois Chapel (African), Jackson st, cor. 4th av.
GERMAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL.
First German, 45, 47, and 49 Clybourne av.
West German Church, Maxwell, near Newberry st.
German Church, Van Buren, near Clark st.
LUTHERAN.
First Norwegian Evangelical, N. Franklin, cor. Erie st. Our Saviour Church, N. May, cor. W. Erie st.
Churches. 91
Swedish Evangelical Church, 190 and 192 Superior st.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Unchanged
Augsburg Confession, N. Peoria, cor. W. Indiana st.
PRESBYTERIAN — NEW SCHOOL.
Calvary Presbyterian Church, Indiana av., cor. 22d st.
First Hyde Park Church, Hyde Park.
First Presbyterian Church, Wabash av., near Van Buren st.
Eighth Presbyterian Church, Robey, cor. W. Wash- ington street.
Ninth Presbyterian Church, Ellis av.
Olivet Church, Wabash av., cor. 14th st.
Second Presbyterian Church, Wabash av., cor. Wash- ington st.
Seventh Presbyterian Church, Halsted, cor. Harrison st.
Third Presbyterian Church, Carpenter St., cor. W. Washington.
Thirty-first street Presbyterian Church, 31st st.
Welsh Church. Monroe, cor. Sangamon st.
Westminster Presbyterian Church, Ontario cor. N. Dearborn st.
Reformed Presbyterian Church, May, cor. Fulton st.
PRESBYTERIAN — OLD SCHOOL.
Fullerton Avenue Church, Fullerton av., near Clark st. Jefierson Chapel, Adams, N. E. cor. Throop st. North Presbyterian Church, Cass, S. E. cor. Indiana st. South Presbyterian Church, Wabash av., nr. Congress. Twenty-eighth St. Church, 28th st., near Wabash av.
PRESBYTERIAN — SCOTCH.
First Church, W. Adams, cor. Sangamon st.
Scotch Presbyterian Church, Peoria, near Monroe st.
PRE SB YTERIAN — UNITED.
First United Presbyterian, Green, near W. Monroe st. Third United Presbyterian, Superior, cor. N. Franklin.
REFORMED DUTCH.
First Church, Harrison, cor. May st.
American Reformed Church, W. Washington, nr. Ann.
92 Churches.
ROMAN CATHOLIC.
Cathedral of the Holy Name, N. State st., cor. Superior.
Church of the Holy Family, West 12th, cor. May st.
Church of the Immaculate Conception, N. Franklin st.
Notre Dame de Chicago, Halsted, near Harrison st.
St. Bridget's Church, Bridgeport.
St. Boniface's Church, Cornell, N. E. cor. Noble st.
St. Columbkill Church, N. Paulina, cor. W. Indiana st.
St.$Francis of Assissium, W. 12th st., cor. Newberry.
St. John's .Church, Clark, cor. 18th st.
St. James' Church, Prairie av., bet. 26th and 27th sts.
St. Joseph's Church, Chicago av., N. E. cor. Cass st.
St. Louis' Church, Sherman, near Polk st.
St. Mary's Church, Wabash av., S. W. cor. Madison st.
St. Michael's, North av., cor. Church st.
St. Patrick's Church, S. Desplaines, N. W. cor. Adams.
St. Paul's, cor. Mather and Clinton sts.
St. Peter's, Clark, cor. Polk st.
St. Wenzeslaus, De Koven, N. E. cor. Desplaines st.
8WEDENBORGIAN.
Chicago Society of New Jerusalem, Adams, nr. State st. German Society, Reuben st., near W. Chicago av.
UNITARIAN.
Church of the Messiah, Wabash av. cor. Hubbard ct. Unity Church, cor. Dearborn and Whitney Sts. All Souls, Ada, near Washington st.
UNIVER8ALI8T.
St. Paul's, Wabash av., cor. Van Buren st.
Church of the Redeemer, Sangamou, cor. Washington st.
CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
Christian Church, cor. Wabash av. and 16th st. Second Church, cor. Carpenter and Front st.
QUAKERS.
Friends Meeting, 26th St., bet. Indiana and Prairie avs.
Churches.
93
MISCELLANEOUS CHURCHES AND MISSIONS.
Church of God, cor. Warren av. and Robey st. Christian Church, Indiana av. and 25th st. Daily Noon Prayer Meeting, 148 and 150 Madison st. Free Church, cor. Kankakee av. and 33rd st. Advent Church, Monroe, bet. Clark and LaSalle sts. Providence Mission, cor. Western and Warren avs. Tammany Hall Mission, Lincoln, cor. Indiana sts. Bremner Hall Mission, 340 N. Carpenter st. Farwell Hall, Madison, bet. Clark and LaSalle sts. Shields Mission, 21st st., cor. Wentworth av. Outward Mission, Perch st., bet. Leavitt and Oakley.
From " Colbert's Chicago," already frequently quoted in this work, we take the following table :
RECAPITULATION.
These figures have been obtained in nearly every case from parties supposed to be good authority in the several denominations named, and some of them are doubtless liberal enough. The total Catholic attendance is probably of this character. A careful count would scarcely show a total attendance of 101,000 persons on any one Sunday of the year, in all the churches of the city, Catholic and Protestant. The following are the totals :
|
Denomination. Churches. Value. Attend. Scholar*. |
||||
|
Roman Catholic |
20 |
$3,543,000 |
101,617 |
15,700 |
|
Episcopal |
12 |
747,500 |
5,850 |
2,900 |
|
Baptist |
14 |
518,100 |
4,290 |
6,195 |
|
Methodist Episcopal Presbyterian |
17 19 |
825,000 1,069,500 |
8,050 6,850 |
6,«87 8,525 |
|
Congregational |
9 |
874,000 |
8 3''5 |
2,800 |
|
Unitarian |
2 |
200,000 |
1,200 |
300 |
|
Universalist |
2 |
185,000 |
1,450 |
840 |
|
3 |
85,000 |
265 |
130 |
|
|
Christian |
2 |
18,000 |
270 |
190 |
|
Reformed |
2 |
16,600 |
950 |
210 |
|
11 |
860,000 |
5,800 |
1,600 |
|
|
4 |
105,000 |
867 |
235 |
|
|
Norwegian and Swedish Lutheran .. |
4 |
51,000 |
2,000 |
925 |
|
Reformed Dutch |
2 |
90,000 |
500 |
200 |
|
Other Societies |
3 |
11,000 |
450 |
470 |
Totals 120 $8,203,100 148,117 41,557
94 Reformatory Institutions.
REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS
THE Chicago Reform School, pleasantly located a Cleayerville, on the lake shore, about two miles fron the city, was opened November, 1856, for the receptioi and training of boys who were without the care o parents, or who, by vicious tendencies, needed specia care. The boys are instructed in the ordinary branche of a common English education, and are taught sonn useful trade.
THE INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL On Archer road, near Brighton, was established in 186 by the late Very Rev. Dr. Dunne, under the auspices c the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, and is conducted b the Christian Brothers. Catholic parents, or guardian; are permitted to choose this institution instead of tl Reform School, where restraint is ordered by the court
THE WASHINGTONIAN HOME
Is located in the old Bull's Head Tavern on Madiso street, opposite Union Park. It was established for th reformation and cure of inebriates. Its support i derived from payments made by its inmates for boar and attendance, aided by liberal donations from th public spirited and charitable citizens, and also apprc priations by the City Council. Until recently, it benefits have been confined to the male sex. A move ment is now on foot which will, no doubt, be successfu to extend its salutary benefits to unfortunate females.
THE ERRING WOMAN'S REFUGE
Is on Indiana avenue, a few doors south of Twentj fifth street, and as its name imports, is intended as home for penitent females who desire to be reclaime from a life of infamy. It is conducted under th auspices of an association of Protestant ladies who, in quiet and unostentatious manner, have accomplished
Charitable Institutions. 95
large measure of good in a field where there is, unfortu- nately, still much to be done.
THE MAGDALEN ASYLUM,
On the corner of Market and Hill streets, in the North Division, is under the charge of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd. It has been established for the reformation of fallen women. It was founded in 1858. In its early days the good sisters had to struggle against many hard- ships and great discouragements in carrying out their praiseworthy undertaking. At length, by the co-opera- tion of the charitable citizens and the aid of Bishop Duggan, a half block of ground was purchased at a cost of $15,000, and a suitable building erected at an expense of $10,000. Several improvements have since been made, and the institution is now in a more prosperous condition. But, although much good lias been done by the enterprise, the means at the disposal of the pious ladies is much too circumscribed, and appeals loudly to the benevolent for aid.
CHAEITABLE INSTITUTIONS.
To enumerate each of the charitable institutions of the city would occupy more space than can be given in a little work of this kind. In addition to the corpo- rate institution — the county poor house, situated in a healthy location, twelve miles north-west from the city — nearly all the churches have some association whose object is to relieve the necessitous. The St. Vincent de Paul society have a conference, composed of young men, in each of the Catholic churches, and in an unos- tentatious manner visit the sick and relieve the poor constantly and systematically. The Young Men's Christian Association, the Association of the Ministry at Large, and the City Relief and Aid Society, in like manner, do a world of good.
96 Charitable Institutions.
THE PROTESTANT ORPHAN ASYLUM
Is located on Michigan avenue, corner of Twenty-sec- ond street. It is a noble charity, admirably conducted, and has over four hundred homeless little waifs, both girls and boys, who are tenderly cared for, and trained for a life of usefulness.
HOME FOR THE FRIENDLESS.
This institution occupies a three-story brick build- ing, at 911 Wabash avenue. It is supported entirely by voluntary contributions. A large sum is thus col- lected, and annually expended in providing for the comfort and protection of numbers of homeless and friendless poor, principally children, who are being constantly received, and provided with homes in char- itable families.
THE OLD LADIES HOME
Is located in a building owned by the Association, on Indiana avenue, near Twenty-seventh street. In this institution many respectable and worthy old ladies find a home, who, otherwise, would be left to the cold char- ities of the world, and suffer many bitter hardships. This is is one of the very noblest charities of the city, and is eminently deserving of support.
NURSERY AND HALF ORPHAN ASYLUM
Is located on the corner of Wisconsin and Franklin streets.
ST. JOSEPH'S MALE ORPHAN ASYLUM,
No. 267 Wabash avenue, under charge of the Sisters of Mercy.
ST. MARY AND ST. JOSEPH'S ORPHAN ASYLUM
Corner of Superior and N. State street, under the charge of the Sisters of St. Joseph.
PROTESTANT ORPHAN ASYLUM, Michigan avenue, cor. Twenty-second street.
Hospitals and Dispensaries. 97
HOSPITALS AND DISPENSAEIES.
COOK COUNTY HOSPITAL
Is located in a commodious and elegant four-story brick building on Arnold, between Eighteenth and Nineteenth streets.
MERCY HOSPITAL
.Is located on Calumet Avenue tetween Twenty-fifth and Twenty-sixth streets. It is under tfce charge of the Sisters of Mercy.
ST. LUKE'S FREE HOSPITAL.
Occupies a beautiful brick edifice at No. 669 State street. It is under the immediate auspices of the Pro- testant Episcopal congregations of the city,
THE SMALL-POX HOSPITAL
Occupies a beautiful and salubrious site on North Avenue near the lake shore. It is under the charge of the municipal Board of Health.
HOSPITAL FOR WOMEN AND CHILDREN Is located at No. 94 Rush street
PROTESTANT DEACONESS HOSPITAL Is located at No. 141 North Dearborn street.
ST. MARY'S HOSPITAL
Is located at No. 527 North Dearborn street, conducted by the Alexum Brothers, It is free to those who can not afford to pay for services.
UNITED STATES MARINE HOSPITAL.
Michigan Avenue near Rush street Bridge.
7
98 Hospitals and Dispensaries.
MEDICAL AND ELECTRICAL INSTITUTE,
Established in 1862, for the treatment and cure of chronic diseases, at 189 Wabash avenue. We have suc- ceeded in establishing a place where home comforts can be enjoyed by the invalid in a house of modern improve- ments, in a central locality on beautiful Wabash avenue. Our table is furnished with the best bread, meats, vege- tables and fruits the market aifords. Patients advised what course of diet is best in each individual case.
Patients calling for exam nation and prescription or Medical Electrical treatment are not generally detained an hour, unless their case is a critical one. There are diseases that we do not treat ; a letter of inquiry will be promptly answered if a return stamp is inclosed, and if your case is one that we do not treat, we will direct you to the best physicians in our city, which may save you from paying an exorbitant fee in advance, and being unmercifully quacked by a brazen-faced charlatan.
We hold no secret remedies ; physicians are always welcome to an examination of our Medical and Elec- trical means. No one remedy is used to the exclusion of all others. The system of practice is to meet the exigency of the case with an appropriate remedy, which science and experience have furnished for the relief or cure of the suffering invalid.
The Medical and Electrical means are very elaborate and complete. The electrical iron bath, as improved by Mr. Varley, of London, is par excellence as a tonic in general debility, and in all cases where iron is indicated. The Electro-Thermal Bath we AVER to be superior to any yet invented as to facility in changing and directing the currents, and is one of the most efficacious baths in use, — its power in removing colds, arresting local conges- tions, equalizing the circulation, tranquilizing the nertm» system and giving immediate relief to the mer-wroughtt brain, is not surpassed by any other bath.
Prominent among the diseases treated are : Nervous Diseases, Palsy, Neuralgia, Rheumatism, Scrofula, General Debility, Diseases of the Lungs and Heart Catarrh and Bronchitis, Liver, Spleen and Kidneys, and Diseases oi WOMEN and CHILDREN.
Hospitals and Dispensaries. 99
CHICAGO HOTEL FOR INVALIDS.
All that modern science and art could suggest, has been employed to render this institution the most per- fect of its kind in the country. The advantages it offers to those needing medical services, are as follows :
While it has all the comforts and elegance of a first- class hotel, yet it is strictly private and free from all the disturbances so detrimental to the recovery of invalids, while stopping at public resorts. The rooms are spacious, neatly furnished and thoroughly ven- tilated. Experienced nurses are in attendance day and night. Each patient occupies a private apartment, and is as much isolated, if desired, as if the only occupant of the institution. The Lying-in department is com- plete in all its appointments, with competent female nurses. Charges reasonable, giving persons of mod- erate means the privilege of availing themselves of the benefits of the institution. Patients, if they so desire, may select their own physician. All classes of diseases and disabilities will be received that are not conta- gious, the latter being strictly prohibited. All com- munications must be addressed to the surgeon or phy- sician, 249 and 251 South Clark street.
DISPENSARIES.
For affording gratuitous medical treatment to out-door indigent patients.
THE CHICAGO CITY DISPENSARY
Is located on State street two doors north of Twenty- second street, and is in immediate connection with the Chicago Medical College.
CHARITY DISPENSARY,
On North Dearborn, corner of Indiana street. In con- nection with Rush Medical College. It is open every day from 3 to 4 P.M. Patients are prescribed for free of charge, and when unable to visit the Dispensary are visited at their homes.
100 Hospitals and Dispensaries.
HAHNEMANN COLLEGE DISPENSARY
Is at No. 168 South Clark street. Open every day for the medical and surgical treatment of the sick poor.
THE CHICAGO CHARITABLE EYE AND EAR DISPENSARY
Is at No. 16 East Pearson street, in the North Division of the city, and is open every day from 2 to 3 P.M. for the gratuitous treatment of the sick poor who are afflicted with diseases of the eye and ear.
FREE HOMCEOPATHIC DISPENSARY
Is at 240 West Madison street, open from 1 to 2 each day, (Sundays excepted).
CHICAGO EYE AND EAR INFIRMARY, Reynold's Block, corner Dearborn and Madison streets, B. P. Reynolds, M. D., surgeon in charge, successfully treats all curable diseases of the eye and ear, and skillfully performs every operation connected with ophthalmic and aural surgery. French artificial eyes and ear drums, etc., inserted, Dr. Reynolds has recently pub- lished the following new works : " The Eye and Ear. Their Diseases and Means of Cure," with twenty en- gravings. Price, bound in cloth, $2.50. "Head, Throat, and Lungs," with ten engravings. Bound in cloth, $1. " Discourses on Important Subjects." Bound in cloth, $2. "The Will of Man." Bound in cloth, $1. " Chicago Journal of Health," edited by Dr. Reynolds. Published monthly. Price, $1 per year; single numbers, 10 cents. Published by Western News Company.
Public Buildings. 101
PUBLIC BUILDINGS.
THE COURT HOUSE
Is a building of stately proportions, now in course of enlargement, by the addition of two wings on the east and west sides, which will make the building extend clear from Clark to L'aSalle streets. It is built of lime- stone brought from Lockport, New York, before it was discovered that the State of Illinois could furnish a superior stone from her own bosom.
In this building are located the various city and county courts, the officers of the municipal and county governments, and the county jail. The tower, which is two hundred feet above the level of the streets, is ap- proached by a winding staircase, and affords the loftiest standpoint from which the visitor can obtain a magni- ficent view of the city and lake.
THE POST OFFICE AND CUSTOM HOUSE
Is located on the corner of Dearborn and Monroe streets. This imposing structure is one of the finest, as it has been one of the most costly public buildings in Chicago. It is built of Athens marble and iron, and is perfectly fire proof. The Post Office department occupies the entire of the first floor, and part of the basement and second floor. The Custom House and offices of Internal Revenue, are located on the second floor, and the United States Circuit and District Courts, and the United States Marshall and District Attorney the third floor.
CHAMBER OF COMMERCE— BOARD OF TRADE
Is located on the corner of Washington and LaSalle str? ets. Its walls are built of Athens marble, and its dimensions are 93 by 181 feet. It is in the modern Italian style of architecture, and consists of a basement, half beneath the street, and used for business offices ; a
102
Public Buildings.
story above, occupied by banks, insurance and com- mission offices; and above this the grand hall, where the members of the Board of Trade assemble daily.
The building is surmounted by a Mansard roof, pierced with oval windows, the cor- ners ornamented with urns. The entrance consists of four handsome Corinthian col- umns, from which I spring three arch- supporting a handsome balco- ny, underneath which a broad flight of stairs leads to the first floor. On the whole, the structure has an im- posing appearance. The building and the ground upon which it is situated cost $400,000. The property is in the hands of a joint-stock company, and the rents derived from the various offices afford remunerative dividends. The completion of the building was cele- brated by grand and appropriate festivities, on the 30th and 31st of August, 1865, which were attended by dele- gations from all the principal cities of the Unioa and Canadas.
No visitor can " do" Chicago without entering the grand hall during 'Change hours, which are from 11 A.M. to 1 P.M. The balcony overlooking the busy scene in the hall below is open to strangers, and during the busy periods of the year presents a spectacle which is well worth a long journey to witness.
THE NEW TRIBUNE BUILDING
Is, in every respect, a model of beauty, convenience and comfort, and an ornament to the city. It is located on the corner of Madison and Dearborn streets. It fronts 72 feet on Dearborn, by 121 feet on Madison street, and covers an area of 8,712 square feet. The
CHICAGO TRIBUNE BUILDING
Public Buildings. 103
building is constructed entirely of fire proof materials. It is four stories high above the basement, with a com- plete altitude of 70 feet. The entire building is heated by steam, with radiators in every room. Ventilating flues near the floor are also constructed in every room. Especial pains have been taken to make the ventilation perfect in every respect. The style of architecture is *' Roman," which alUws great diversity of detail and ornamentation. Both street fronts are of Athens marble, from the sidewalk to the cornice. The cornices are of galvanized iron, artistically and elaborately finished, with pediments, parapets, etc. The total cost of the building has been about $200,000.
THE FIRST NATIONAL BANK BUILDING.
Among the fine public buildings which have merits sufficient to challenge bold and outspoken criticism, this edifice, with Potter Palmer's block across the way, ranks first. The building is 75 by 80, thoroughly fire- proof in construction, and cost the sum of $180,000. Every thing about it has been done for permanence, and perhaps, in this respect, it represents the idea of truth in architecture as well as any other building we ha vein Chicago. The foundations are apparent; broad, massive, significant of carrying power, while the super- structure is equally as impressive of strength. There is no attempt at useless ornamentation by way of French frippery and unmeaning symbols. The architect evi- dently had in view the advantage to be obtained in the general effect by depth of shadow, which the liberal policy pursued by the officers of the First National Bank allowed him to carry into execution to his satisfaction. In the estimation of that portion of the public who look at architecture from a critical standpoint, whether as amateurs or professionals, this building is almost uni- versally regarded as among the finest and most imposing in the country.
104
Public Buildings.
MERCHANTS INSURANCE COMPANY BUILDING.
Public Buildings. 105
THE MERCHANTS INSURANCE COMPANY BUILDING.
One of the most stately and beautiful edifices in the, United States, is the new building of the Merchants Insurance company of Chicago, on the northwest cor- ner of LaSalle and Washington streets. It is five stories in height, and has a frontage of ninety-six and one- third feet on LaSalle street, and a frontage of one hun- dred and eleven and a half feet on Washington street. Both the front elevations are built of magnesian lime- stone, from Athens, of which so many of our best buildings are made. The total height of the structure, from the sidewalk to the cornice, is eighty-two and a half feet. The style of the architecture is the modified Italian, such variations having been made as are neces- sary to adapt it to the rigor of our climate. The LaSalle street elevation, fronting the court house, being most conspicuous, is therefore most elaborate in its workmanship and ornamentation. For the French roof style has been substituted a more classic, and truly American architecture. The ornamentation is, to a considerable degree, original, the carved flowers, fruits and leaves being generally selected from native Amer- ican plants. The interior of the first and second stories is wainscotted with black walnut, in neat and tasteful panels, after the French style. The second story floor is laid with alternate d'.rk and light colored marble tiles, and from the centre of this floor rises the stairway to the several stories above. This stairway, with its landings, occupies considerable spnce in the exact centre of the building ; and on each floor, all the rooms open into the square hall which encloses the stairway. Two large and elaborate entrance* lead to the mam hall from LaSalle street, and one from Washington street. The first and second stories are finished in hard wood, and all the glass for the interior, as well as the exterior of these stories, is the best French plate.
The black walnut railing and balustrades of the stairway are particularly noticeable for their massive- ness and elegance of structure. The stairways rest on iron carriages.
106 Banking in Chicago.
The building is heated throughout with steam, and in its ventilation, the latest and most improved methods have been employed. The roof is of extra thickness, and is constructed of Barrill's composition.
The building cost about $300,000.
THE DOUGLAS MONUMENT.
At Cottage Grove, on the lake shore, stands the monument of Senator Douglas. The grave and monu- ment maybe easily reached by the Cottage Grove horse- cars. The ride will occupy but a few minutes, and the visitor will be amply paid for his trouble.
BANKING IN CHICAGO.
Until the passage of the national banking act of 1864 the business of banking in Chicago was subject to many fluctuations and serious derangements. It was not until 1864 that the era of true banking began. During that year seven national banks were organized, with an aggregate capital of about $3,006,000. There are now thirteen national banks in this city, with an aggregate capital of $7,450,000.
In addition to the thirteen national banks, there are in Chicago several private banking establishments, controlled by gentlemen of large capital, financial skill, and stainless integrity. Among these we may, without invidious distinction, enumerate the Old established and prosperous house of Henry Greenebaum & Co., W. P. Vandursen & Co., connected with the well known New York house of Swann & Payson ; also the firm of Geo. C. Smith & Brother, well and favorably known in financial circles.
CHICAGO CLEARING HOUSE.
During the year 1865 it was deemed necessary to establish a clearing house, similar to that which had been found to promote the convenience and safety of
Savings Banks. 107
banking in New York. A charter was granted by the Legislature, and the Chicago Clearing House com- menced business on the 6th of April, 1865. The affairs of the association have been skillfully and carefully conducted, and the banks composing it have derived great benefit therefrom. The total clearings during its first year's operations amounted to $449,710,435; from the 1st of January, 1868, to the 31st of December, 1868, it amounted to $718,485,908.39.
SAVINGS BANKS.
The first savings bank in the city was established in 1857. These institutions have always maintained a high credit through all the vicissitudes of " wild cat " and war times, which caused so many private banking houses to succumb, and so completely revolutionized the banking system of the country. We give a view of the building occupied by the Merchants', Farmers and Mechanics' Savings Bank, No. 13 Clark street. This institution was chartered in 1861, and in 1864 removed to its present very appropriate and convenient edifice. The institution is in a highly flourishing condition, and is deservedly popular. Interest is allowed on sums of five dollars and upwards, and is paid semi-annually, on the first day of January and the first day of July. The system of keeping accounts and receiving and pay- ing money, and also as to the investment of the same, is similar to that so long and so successfully pursued by the best savings banks in New York and New Eng- land. .A popular feature of this bank is, that married women and minors are allowed to deposit funds in their own name, thus placing them beyond the reach of husbands, parents, or guardians.
The business of this institution is confined exclusively to the receipt and care of savings deposits, and funds deposited in trust. No commercial or general banking business is transacted.
108 Savings J3anks.
MERCHANTS' FARMERS', AND MECHANICS' SAVINGS BANK.
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A certain proportion of the funds are invested by loan upon real estate in the city of Chicago. In mak- ing such loans preference is always given to applica- tions from depositors of small means, who have accum- ulated in the institution sufficient funds to pay for a lot of ground, and desire to borrow something more to aid them in erecting buildings to be used as permanent homes for themselves and families.
THE HIBERNIAN BANKING ASSOCIATION.
This popular institution is located on the south-west corner of Lake and Clark streets. Its officers are gen- tlemen of large experience in banking, and the direct- ors include some of our most successful merchants, whose financial ability is amply attested by the success which has attended them in their own business. Be- sides the savings department, the bank transacts a gen- eral commercial, banking and foreign exchange busi- ness.
INSURANCE COMPANIES.
UNTIL within the last few years, the business of In- surance in Chicago was mainly conducted by agencies representing companies outside this city and State. In 1865, after the close of the war, however, the mer- chants and capitalists of Chicago began to appreciate the importance and magnitude of the field presented to them in this line, and before the end of that year four- teen fire and marine, one life, and two accident com- panies were organized, of which the citizens of Chi- cago were the stockholders. There are now 22 Chicago companies, including 16 fire, 5 life, and one life and accident. There are also in the city 40 agents for fire companies, GO life insurance companies, two live stock, one railroad accident, one steam boiler, and three gen- eral accident companies represented. Of the Chicago companies, one dates from 1853, and was reorganized in 1864, four were organized in 1855, one in 1859, one
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in 1861, three in 1863, four in 1865, four in 1866, one in 1867, and three in 1863. Their aggregate capital is about eight million dollars. The rate of insurance on fire now averages about 2^ per cent.
MERCHANTS INSURANCE COMPANY OP CHICAGO.
The business edifice just completed by this company on the corner of LaSalle and Washington streets, is a grand achievement. A description and illustration of which appears under the heading of Public Buildings.
The Charter of the Merchants Insurance Company was obtained and held by the Mercantile Association of Chicago. During the winter sessions of the associ- ation in 1862-3. it was decided to place the charter and the advantages of organization of an insurance com- pany before the mercantile interests of the city. The association held this charter until the earlv spring of 1863, when Wm. E. Doggett, Wm. McKindley, George Armour, John V. Farwell, John Tyrrell, Merrill Ladd, and others in the interest of the association canvassed the street, and the requisite amount of stock was sub- scribed without delay, and in June 1863 the Merchants Insurance Company proceeded to business, and from its inception to the present time the company has grown in favor and to its present collossal proportions. At this early day fire insurance in Chicago was but a feeble success. We had but one successful company, and the undertaking was canvassed at the sessions of the association. The trying days of war naturally made men of means and influence timid, but the associ- ation disposed of the charter and the company com- menced business under the guidance and personal supervision of Wm. E. Rollo, who, to the present daj% has led the company from small beginnings to its present proud and prominent position among the ster- ling companies of the country. The progress of the company, under his able management, excels that of any western, and a large majority of eastern compa- nies. The Merchants has steadily grown in financial strength. The capital stock of the company has not
Insurance Companies. Ill
only increased by assessment, but largely by dividends ; and in no instance has the stock of the company neces- sarily been thrown upon the market for sale at a sacri- fice to the holder. A market has at all times been found, at its full value, and is now above par. One of the most striking illustrations of the secretary's far- sighted wisdom was the union effected, by which the capital and business influence of the Packers and Pro- vision Dealers Insurance Company was secured to the interests of the Merchants, and still more recently the consolidation of the capital and risks of the Traders Insurance Company. Its present cash capital is five hundred thousand dollars, and surplus about a quarter of a million dollars.
COMMERCIAL INSURANCE COMPANY.
We have become so accustomed to look eastward for successful and reliable insurance companies, that we often overlook those at our own doors, which, in all the essentials of solvency, are the peers of any in the land. Among these the Commercial Insurance Com- pany, of this city, occupies an eminent position, alike for the care with which it is managed, and the security which it affords to its insured. This company was organized in 1865 by some of our most responsible business men, and entered upon its work at a time when there was little in the immediate past or future of fire insurance to attract capital to the venture, or promise even ordinary return for the money invested. But the men who organized and controlled the " Com- mercial" were not of ordinary mould. They did not embark in the enterprise without careful study of the charts which experience had provided, and the requi- site judgment and firmness to avoid the dangers which had proved fatal to other voyagers. As the result of their energy and skill we have a company possessed of assets to the amount of $334,175.59, of which all, save $135,000 of stock notes, amply guaranteed, is in cash or its equivalent. Of this amount, there is held real estate to the value, at a moderate valuation, of $140,- 000, which pays an annual rental of $17,000, Upon
112
Insurance Companies.
160&162WASHINGTON ST.
CHICAGO.
Insurance Companies. 113
this is erected the magnificent building of the company, at Nos. 160 and 162 Washington street, the solid mar- ble walls of which are emblematical of its strength, and the beauty of whose presence, contrasted with the unsightliness of the location a few years ago, fitly typi- fies the wonderful progress which the " Commercial " has made within that time.
Counting the value of this real estate alone, and excluding from the calculation all its other assets, the " Commercial " is possessed of a much larger percent-t age of assets to risk in force than the average of Fire Insurance Companies reporting to the New York Insurance Department
During the four years of its existence tjjfe losses of the " Commercial " (fire and marine) have been but 46 per cent, of its premium receipts, a ratio which is less than the average of American companies for the same time, and is in itself the best possible proof of careful and successful management. During the same period it has paid 35 per cent, of dividends upon its capital stock, thus demonstrating that Western brain and energy can make even the unpromising venture of fire and marine insurance lucrative and safe.
Of the men into whose hands its fortunes have been from the first committed, the above facts speak more approvingly than words. Mr. J. C. Dore, the Presi- dent, is well and widely known as a gentleman of cul- ture, ability, and integrity. Mr. Jefferson Farmer, the Secretary, is an efficient, skillful, and successful under- writer, of fifteen years experience in the business, whose merit is acknowledged wherever in the West the science of underwriting is known, and to whose fidelity, ability, and devotion is mainly due the success of the " Commercial." The Board of Directors com- prises some of our best known and most reliable citi- zens, whose reputations have been honestly earned by long years of fair dealing and successful business enter- prise, and whose names are a tower of strength to any institution fortunate enough to obtain them.
Hitherto the " Commercial " has done no agency business. They are now about organizing an extended agency system, and we are proud to commend the 8
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company and its officers to every community through- out the West, as eminently worthy of confidence, and fully able and willing to make good all their obliga- tions.
CHICAGO FIREMENS INSURANCE COMPANY.
The removal of this company from its former loca- tion on Lake street to No. 92 La Salle street, in the north end of the basement of the Merchants Insurance Company's building, furnishes fit occasion for a short review of its past record, and its present claims upon the confidence and patronage of the public.
That record, if it is not signalized by any great or daring exploit on the perilous field of fire underwriting, is unsullied by a single act of unfair dealing with its insured, or a single failure to fulfill its contracts to the letter. Organized in 1855, it has, for the fourteen years of its existence, been managed with peculiar caution — doing no agency business, and taking no risks except over its own counter, and under the personal super- vision of its own officers. During that time it has paid losses to the amount of nearly $500,000, and of these only one under the compulsion of a legal judgment against the company. In the settlement of claims, the Chicago " Firemens " have been accustomed to regard first, last, and always, the equities of the case, exceed- ing often in their performances the literal promises of the contract. When the loss was clearly an honest one, and the claim just, prompt settlement has been considered a duty, and the record of losses paid shows that, in such cases, the average delay before payment has not been over thirty days.
In such a course as this, as jealously guarding the fortunes of the company as the rights of the insured, the Chicago "Firemens" has been rewarded with a steady and healthful growth. Its present assets are $320,000, of which $200,000 is invested in United States five twenty bonds. Its premium receipts for the year 1868 were $100,000, and on these its losses were forty- five per cent, less than the average losses of the compa- nies reporting to the New York State Insurance
FIRST NATIONAL BANK BUILDING.
Insurance Companies. 115
Department. This is not because of any rapid acces- sion of new business, the term of insurance upon which has but just begun ; for the amount insured April 1, 1868 was increased, on April 1, 1869, by only four per cent.
We doubt if many companies can successfully com- pete with the Chicago " Firemens " in economy of management. In 1868 its entire expenses, including salaries, commissions, and taxes, were but 16% per cent, of the premium receipts, and only 15 per cent, of the total income, and of these expenses the commis- sions paid for business were only G% per cent, of pre- mium receipts, or 4 per cent, of the total income. It is little matter of surprise to learn that a company so managed has paid, since January 1, 1864, an average cash dividend to its stockholders of 14 per cent
Of its directors and officers little need be said. They are all of them gentlemen well known to our business community, and known only 'to be respected as capa- ble and honest men. Their capacity and integrity have made the Chicago "Firemens" what it is to-day, a success, none the less praiseworthy and enduring because it has been achieved in the quiet pursuit of daily duty, and without boastful blazonry of itself.
PUTNAM FIRE INSURANCE COMPANY.
" They are not all Israel who are of Israel," and the Putnam Fire Insurance Company, of Hartford, have not inherited the mad-cap impetuosity of the redoubt- able hero who, as tradition tells us, crawled out on the rotten limb in search of bird's eggs, made the desperate venture of the wolves' den, and Tater, rode down Horse- Neck, at the imminent risk of his own neck.
If, however, they fail of his reckless daring, they are the inheritors of his sterling integrity, and in their career have made a record no less proud, although more peaceful, than that of the immortal Israel himself.
This company was organized at Hartford, Conn., in June, 1864, by men who thoroughly understood both the hazards and principles of fire underwriting, Its capital was $500,000, ample enough to secure its
116 Insurance Companies.
patrons against prospective loss, and to assure them of the good faith and firm determination of those who essayed the venture.
From that time onward its history has been the his- tory of careful management and scrupulous integrity, devoted to the prosecution of a business whose natural hazards were abnormally increased by the vicissitudes of the time, and which demands for its successful con- duct those qualities in the highest degree.
Throughout the storm of tire which, for the last five years, has beat upon all our companies with unexam- pled fury, those qualities in its management have stood the "Putnam "in good stead, and it is by virtue of them alone that the company has endured, fulfilling all its contracts, and retaining always the explicit con- fidence of a public quick to recognize and appreciate true merit, whenever it is found.
Such has been its management, that to-day it pre- sents itself with an unimpaired capital and assets of over $659,000, and a record on which there is no stain of dishonor.
Forward to catch the spirit and join the onward movement of the times, it has, for the better accomo- dation of its Western patrons and the greater security of its business, established a western branch office in this city,jat rooms Nos. 16 and 17 Merchants Insur- ance Company's building, corner of La Salle and Washington streets, to which office, agents in the States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Min- nesota, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, and Ken- tucky will henceforth make their daily reports of risks, renewals, endorsements, changes, applications, sur- veys, and diagrams of special hazards, letters of inquiry relative to rates and practice ; and also their regular reports and remittances.
This office is under the management of Robert J. Smith, Esq., a gentleman well known throughout the West as an experienced underwriter, and whose pre- vious success as a general agent of this company is the ample guarantee of his fitness for his new and respon- sible position. In thus identifying itself with Western interests, and becoming one of us, the "Putnam" has
Insurance Companies. 117
not only exhibited its usual foresight and shrewdness, but strengthened its already strong claims upon our confidence and patronage. We are glad of the occa- sion which this action of the " Putnam's " gives us to commend it and its officers, as we do without hesita- tion and reserve, to our insuring public. It may not dazzle, as its namesake did, by deeds of splendid dar- ing, but, like him, it will be found in ewery emergency " steadfast and true."
THE WASHINGTON LIFE.
The Washington Life Insurance Company of New- York, and its success, gives us the opportunity in this connection, of placing the western agency equally prominent with the Merchants and its success, and, in a measure, enjoying with it the most prominent busi- ness location in Chicago ; in fact, the Washington Life towers above its lessor. \Ve well remember Paul & Mason in their little seven, by nine room, when they first accepted the agency of the company in the spring of 1865. The company, then in its fifth year, had little or no reputation outside of New York city. The com- pany had but 2,550 policies in force at the end of the year, having written but 1,106 policies during the year 1805, with assets of only $500,000. The Washington Life and its management fully appreciated the demands of the west, and knowing they had in their western agents men of integrity and consummate business quali- fications, left nothing undone to aid them in placing the Washington in the front ranks of life insurance companies in the west. In the short space of four years the Washington Life has become as widely known as the great founder of our republic, and like him, is a general favorite. The Washington Life, in fact, is a great public favorite, and its fame for honor- able dealing is as vride spread as its name is national. Its business since 1865, has been a prosperous one, and in no one year do we find so large an increase as the year 1868. The Washington Life is the only New York company, with one exception, that shows an increase of policies issued, exceeding two thousand in number, and
118 Insurance Companies.
its losses and expenses compare very favorably with any other company of the same age. In 1868 the com- pany issued 5,089 policies, insuring $10,804,570, having m all 8,885 policies in force, insuring $20,355,035, with a capital and accumulations at this date, of nearly $2,000,000; thus, within four years after its president, Cyrus Curtiss, with his usual sagacity, saw in the west the elements o£ greatness, the Washington Life stands a proud monument of his skill and shrewd foresight in placing his company's interests and destiny in the hands of agents of sterling worth and progressive activity. It is the progressive activity of Paul & Mason that enables the Merchants Insurance Company to have for its permanent lessee the Washington Life Insurance Company, whose business has compelled its agents to seek their new and commodious quarters. The growing business of the company in Chicago and the west has demanded for a year past enlarged facil- ities in the centre of business, and not until the plans of the Merchants building were made and decided upon did the agents of the Washington know where they could secure the proper location with the necessary facilities for conducting their rapidly growing business. In the occupancy of that portion of the Merchants building, on the floor immediately above the office of the Western Union Telegraph Company, the most ample accommodations are secured, fronting on LaSalle as well as Washington street. The Washington Life is not only a great public favorite, but its western agency is making it a great public benefactor, and in its new and commodious quarters fitted up in a most elaborate style, makes it a great public convenience for business, which, with its superior inducements, will necessarily add to its already large and rapidly increas- ing income.
THE NEW PHCENIX BUILDING.
Among the many business edifices that adorn our city the new Phoenix Insurance Building, 90 La Salle street, holds a distinguished place. The structure stands four feet high, exclusive of basement, and has a
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front of white marble, which presents an aspect at once chaste and magnificent. The emblematic bird, in golden glory, surmounts the roof, and his extended wings seem spread invitingly to welcome property owners beneath their protection.
The office of the Company, situated on the first floor, is a marvel of elegance and comfort. The furniture, which is of the finest quality of black walnut, inlaid and panelled with French walnut of the best texture and polish, is beautiful in design and workmanship. Each of the desks is surmounted by a golden phoenix, and graven with the company monogram, which is also exquisitely painted on the windows of the office.
The Phoenix Insurance Company, of Hartford, is long and popularly known, and its business reputation is so thoroughly established, that there is no necessity for extravagant encomiums. Suffice it to say, that in its dealings with the insured it has ever been just and liberal. The Phoenix was organized in 1854, with a cash capital of $200,000, and its assets now amount to - more than a million and a half of dollars, of which above $250,000 is net surplus, and its stock sells at a higher premium than that of any of the other fire insurance companies of Hartford. Considering the financial standing and splendid record of the Phoenix, we may justly class it among the most successful busi- ness enterprises of the United States.
It is ably represented here by Henry H. Brown, Esq., who is also the representative of several other large companies. To the great success of the Phoenix the Chicago agency has contributed in no small degree ; and to those who are desirous of being insured (and what owner of property is not ?) no fairer or more reli- able inducements can elsewhere be given.
THE HOME INSURANCE COMPANY OF CHI- CAGO.
This company commenced business in February of last year. Among its officers, directors, and stock- holders we recognize the names of many of the " oldest inhabitants," whose reputation for strict integrity and
120 Insurance Companies.
honorable dealing, acquired from many years of suc- cessful individual enterprise, was sufficient to make it a matter of certainty, that the company would soon gain the confidence of the public, and that its real worth would meet with the abundant success which it merited.
Skill and prudence in the management of the com- pany's affairs were guaranteed by the appointment of its experienced secretary, Mr. Thomas Buckley. The capital of the company is $200,000, and the net profits for the eleven months of last year amounted to $22,732.27, making the assets of the company January 1st, 1869, $222,731.37. These assets are in cash, gov- ernment bonds, and bonds and mortgages on choice real estate. The business of the company during the six months of this year exhibits a large increase, and the excellent standing and gratifying progress which the company has achieved entitle it to the enviable position which it has taken, as one of Chicago's favo- rite companies; and such is its merit and stability, that a policy in the " Home of Chicago " is consid- ered " as good as the gold."
THE REPUBLIC INSURANCE COMPANY.
" Facts are stubborn things." They will neither be reasoned nor ridiculed down. Rhetoric can not master them, nor speculation prevail against them. The suc- cess of the Republic Insurance Company, of this city, is an established fact; its assets of $1,293,018.49, of which $1,029,455 is in United States bonds, are facts, and, if we may judge by the amount of painful effort and shameless misrepresentation employed to over- come them, ugly facts for those who, at the organiza- tion of this company, filled the land with their prophe- cies of failure, and have since busied themselves to secure the fulfillment of those prophecies.
The logic of those who attempt to reason down the "Republic" is equally at fault. Thus we have one insurance journal, itself a thing of yesterday, assuming to sit in judgment upon the monthly statements of this company, and gravely reasoning that these can not be true, because they show a greater monthly gain of
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surplus than the entire net monthly premium receipts ! Did not the young Daniel, who thus comes to judg- ment, know that the gain of the " Republic " for the past month, in the single item of appreciation of bonds, was no less than $33,050 — that, during the same period, $106,200 of its capital stock was taken and paid for at $25 per share of $100, $5 per share of which was pre- mium ? These two sources alone give a total gain of $38,360 for the month. If he did not know these facts his ignorance abundantly qualifies him to keep silence. If he knew them, and found it necessary, for the pur- pose of his argument, to ignore them, the readiness with which he did so abundantly testifies to the char- acter of his motive.
Such unavailing attempts to decry the Republic In- surance Company only serve to bring out in bold relief the strength of its position, and the weakness of its adversaries.
The fact is, that no Insurance Company in the United States is more cautiously and ably managed. In none is the entire procedure of the officers subjected to a scrutiny more constant, more competent or more alert. None gives its affairs such wide publicity, or tests its financial standing by so frequent balance sheets. Be- cause it has dared to hold itself aloof from all combina- tions, and been self-reliant enough to manage its own affairs, this outcry has been raised and this warfare begun. How insane are the bellowings, and how treacherous the weapons we have shown. One New York insurance journal even went so far as deliberately to falsify, in its published tabular synopsis of the returns to the New York Insurance Department, the facts in the case of the " Republic." That return, as it appears on the records of the New York Department, is a truthful exhibit of the then condition of the Republic Insurance Co., and shows it in the essential matters of ratio of assets to liabilities, ratio per cent, of premiums received to amount of risk, and soundness and availa- bility of assets, to compare favorably with the best and proudest companies in the land. Such being the case, we think its enemies can hardly afford to continue their attacks, and we know that the "Republic" can afford to await the arbitration of all-testing Time.
122 Places of Amusement.
PLACES OF AMUSEMENT.
THE OPERA HOUSE.
Crosby's Opera House on Washington, be- tween Dearborn and Clark streets, is one of the chief attractions of the city. As a build- ing, it ranks among the most elegant edifices which adorn the city. As an Opera House, in point of size, beauty of design, and costly arch- itectural decorations, as well as for the perfec- tion of its interior arrangements, it excels any thing of the kind ever established in this country, and almost equals any in Europe. The entire cost of this grand edifice was $450,000. The grand audience room is divided into five separate parts. On the lower floor, first, the orchestra circle, which is entered from the parquette ; next, the parquette, which extends nearly to the first tier of galleries ; and the parquette circle, embracing the remaining space on either side and fronting the stage. A passage runs around the back of this, and on either side a broad, elegant staircase leads up to the dress circle or first gallery. Last of all, there is the second circle, the front of which is set apart as the family circle. A single tier of three elegant prosce- nium boxes on each side of the stage, decorated in a most superb and gorgeous style, overlooks the audi- torium.
The Opera House has a front of one hundred and forty feet on Washington street, between State and Dearborn, and its depth, from the front to Court place, in the rear, is one hundred and seventy-nine f£et. It is four stories high, and is surmounted by a large mansard
Places of Amusement. 123
roof, with elaborate dormer windows. The general style of the structure is decidedly of a modern type of architecture, highly ornate and graceful at first sight, but, like most buildings of the present age, lacking in that massive grandeur, that classic simplicity and repose which best satisfies the imagination. It does not belong to any particular school, but may be characterized as a combination of various styles. If any thing, it has, perhaps, a touch of the Corinthian. The fafade on Washington street is Athens marble, elaborately cut in tasteful architectural designs. The first or ground floor, is divided into four stores — two on each side of the broad central entrance to the auditorum of the Opera House, which rises from the second story. Three of these are devoted to the sale of music and musical instruments, while the other is occupied by a magnifi- cent restaurant, under the direction of Wright, the Delmonico of Chicago. Here assemble the wealth, beauty and aristocracy of the city. The upper part of the building is divided into a front part, seventy feet in depth ; an intermediate passage, seventeen feet wide ; and the Opera House proper, which occupies the entire rear portion of the premises, eighty-six feet wide, one hundred and fifty feet in length, and sixty feet high from the parquette floor to the ceiling. The front part of the building on Washington street contains a num- ber of offices and studios; the latter of which are occupied by several of the most distinguished artists in the city. For their convenience there is also arranged on the same floor a spacious picture gallery, lighted from the roof, twenty-eight feet long by fifty- six feet wide, and eighteen feet in height, where at all times may be viewed a choice collection of paintings by the most eminent of foreign and home artists.
Chicago owes this stately pleasure house to the public-spirited liberality and enterprise of Mr. U. H. Crosby, who sacrificed a princely fortune in its erection. The building was completed in the spring of 1865, and the inauguration season of opera commenced on the night of Thursday, May 20, of the same year, when the Opera House, opened for the first time to the public,
124 Places of Amusem ent.
McVICKER'S THEATRE.
Places of Amusement. 125
was filled by one of the most brilliant and fashionable audiences ever assembled on the continent.
It is now under the management of C. D. Hess, and is one of our most popular and elegant places of amuse- ment.
McVICKER'S THEATRE
Is one of the finest structures of the kind in the country. It is situated on Madison street, between State and Dearborn streets. Its cost was over $75,000 ; and will accommodate about 2,000 people. The exter- ior, of which an engraving is presented on another page, presents a handsome front on Madison street. The interior arrangements are most complete and admirable The seats are handsomely furnished, easy, and comfortable, affording an excellent view of the stage from all parts of the house. The stage is of an immense size, allowing the production of the spectac- ular drama on a scale of magnitude and magnficence that can no where be excelled. The dramatic enter- tainments at this theatre are always of a high order of merit. Strangers can always secure reserved seats at the office of any of the principal hotels.
COL. WOOD'S MUSEUM
Is on Randolph street, between Clark and Dearborn streets. It is a handsome marble front, four-story building. It is divided into several large halls, on the second, third, and fourth floors, which are entered by a spacious stair-case, ascending directly from the street. The museum is filled with an immense number of curi- osities of every description ; galleries containing paint- ings, statuary, and works of art ; an extensive ornitho- logical collection — one of the most valuable in the United States ; a cabinet of minerals and shells ; be- sides numerous other objects of interest and wonder. The specimens of birds and quadrupeds, in the depart- ment of natural history, for variety, beauty, and faith- fulness to nature, challenge comparison with any other in the world.
126
Places of Amusement.
itlll I U II
Places of Amusement. 127
In connection with the Museum is the lecture room, where dramatic performances every night, and mati- nees in the afternoon, are given by an excellent stock company. These performances are most enjoyable and entertaining.
AIKEN'S DEARBORN THEATRE.
This theatre was built in the latter part of 1868, by Mr. D. R. Brant, on the lots Nos. Ill and 113 Dearborn street. It presents a handsome front, fifty feet wide ; is one hundred and fifty feet deep, and four stories high. The auditorium commences twenty feet back from the street, is divided into parquette, dress and second circles, and will comfortably accommodate fif- teen hundred peisons. The seats are models of ease and comfort, being similar to the new style first intro- duced into Booth's great theatre in New York. This theater was opened in December last by a company from the East, who were not successful in their man- agement. In January last Mr. Frank E. Aiken be- came lessee; and under his able and experienced direction it has become deservedly popular, and ranks as one of the most entertaining and successful, as it is one of the most beautiful places of amusement in the United States.
THE GERMAN THEATRE,
On N. Wells street, corner of Indiana, is a favorite resort for the sons of Fatherland, the performances being given in German.
TURNER HALL (North Side),
On North Clark street, near Chicago avenue, is a favorite place of amusement. Orchestral entertain- ments of a high order of excellence are given regularly on Sunday evenings.
TURNER HALL (West Side),
On West Twelfth street, near Halsted, is a popular place of entertainment for the Germans in the West Division.
128 Police, Fire, and Health Departments.
POLICE, FIRE AND HEALTH DE- PARTMENTS.
These three important departments of the city gov- ernment are vested in a board of commissioners called the Board of Fire and Police Commissioners, who are ex-offleio a Board of Health. Their offices are on Madison between Clark and La Salle streets.
THE FIRE DEPARTMENT.
Chicago possesses one of the most effective fire depart- ments in the world. It is an exclusively paid depart- ment, composed of men who are required to pass through a most rigid examination, as to health, robust- ness, and temperate habits before they can be admitted members of the force.
FIRE AND POLICE TELEGRAPH.
An important and valuable adjunct of the Fire and Police Departments, is the Fire and Police Telegraph, erected in 1864. Wires from all parts of the city, in every ward, and in almost every blrck, connect with the main office in the dome of the Court House. By a single turn of the crank in one of the boxes, conspicu- ously located on nearly every corner in the city, the intelligence of fire, at or near that particular box, or station, is instantly communicated to the office in the Court House dome, from whence the alarm is sounded by electric apparatus in every engine house in the city. Simultaneously, the number of the station is struck by the large bell in the Court House tower, so that the same instant that a fire is discovered, the intelligence of its outbreak and location is communi- cated to the most remote parts of the city. In the same manner the police are informed of a riot, accident, or any other exigency requiring their attention, or the concentration of their available force.
Masons and Odd Fellows* 129
MASONIC GUIDE.
CITY LODGES. Lodge*. Meetings, Halls,
Oriental No. 83. .Friday Oriental.
Garden City " 14'1 ..Wednesday "
Wabansia " ISO. .Monday "
Gerrnanta " 182.. 1st and 3rd Thursdays .Masonic Temple.
Win. B. Warren " 209.. 2nd and 4th Saturdays. Oriental.
Cleveland " 211. .1st and 3rd Thursdays .82 W. Randolphs*.
Blaney " 271.. Wednesday Blaney Hall.
Accordia " 277. .2nd and 4th Fridays .. .Lake, S.E. c. Clark.
Ashlar " SOS. .Tuesday Blair Hall.
Dearborn " 810. .2nd and 4th Fridays .. .McVicker's Theatre.
Kilwinning " 811.. 1st and 3rd Thursdays .N. Dearborn, aear
Kinxie.
Blair " 393.. Thursday McVicker's Theatre.
Thos. J. Tura«r. «« 409.. " Blaney Hall.
Myrethra " 410.. 1st and 3rd Mondays.. .N. Wells, c. Indian*.
Hesperia " 411.. Wednesday Cleveland Lodge.
Hyde Park " 422. .1st and 3rd Saturdays. .Cleaver's Hall.
Chicago " 437.. 1st and 3rd Tuesdays ..Oriental Building.
H. W. Bigelow.. " 438. .Monday Masonic Temple.
Home " 60S. .Friday Cottage Grove, cor.
23rd st.
Pleaides «• 478. .Thursday 147 W. 12th st.
Covenant " 526.. 1st and 3rd Fridays . ...66 N. Clark st.
Masonic Temple, 83 and 85 Dearborn street ; Oriental building, 122 LaSalle street; Blaney Hall, 53 Dearborn street, Blair Hall, over McVicker's Theatre.
ODD-FELLOWS DIRECTORY.
Union Lodge, 48 Clark street, Thursday.
Duane, 48 Clark street, Tuesday.
Excelsior, Washington st., S.E. cor. Dearborn, "Wednes- day.
Chicago, 48 Clark street, Monday.
Robert Blum (German), 114 Randolph st., Tuesday.
Fort Dearborn, 80 W. Randolph street, Tuesday.
Harmonia, Clinton St., N.E: cor. W. Randolph.
Goethe, 334 Milwaukee av., Thursday.
Hoffnung, S. Canal, nr Mitchell, Wednesday.
North Chicago, N. Wells, cor. Indiana st., Thursday.
Chicago Encampment No. 10, 48 Clark street, 1st and 3rd Friday.
German ia Encampment No. 40 (German), 114 Randolph St., 2nd and 4th Fridays. 9
130 Railroad Depo is.
MICHIGAN SOUTHERN R. R. DEPOT.
City Raihcay and Omnibus Routes. 131
RAILROAD DEPOTS.
The MICHIGAN SOUTHERN, and CHICAGO, ROCK ISLAND AND PACIFIC trains start from the same depot on Van Buren, opposite LaSalle street.
CHICAGO AND NORTHWESTERN RAILWAY, Galena Division. Depot is on North Wells, corner of North Water street.
ILLINOIS CENTRAL, MICHIGAN CENTRAL, and CHICAGO, BURLINGTON AND QUINCY trains all leave from the Cen- tral Illinois depot at the foot of Lake street.
PITTSBURG, FORT WAYNE AND CHICAGO, and CHICAGO, ALTON AND ST. Louis trains leave the Union depot, Canal street, opposite West Monroe street.
COLUMBUS, CHICAGO AND INDIANA CENTRAL RAIL- ROAD. THE CHICAGO and MILWAUKEE trains leave from the depot, North Canal street, corner West Kinzie street.
CHICAGO THEATRES.
Crosby's Opera House Washington, near State.
Dearborn Theatre Ill and 113 Dearborn.
German Summer Theatre. .263 N. Clark, cor. Chestnut.
German Theatre N. Wells, cor. Indiana.
McVicker's Theatre. . .Madison, bet. State & Dearborn.
Turner Hall cor. Milwaukee ave., near Carpenter.
Turner Hall cor. N. Clark and Chestnut.
Turner Hall W. Twelfth, near Halsted.
Wood's Museum. ..Randolph, bet. Clark and Dearborn.
CITY RAILWAY AND OMNIBUS ROUTES.
Cars leave corner of State and Randolph streets every few minutes via State street to Cottage Grove, Indiana avenue, and Southern city limits. Also, by
132 Hacks and Carriages.
State street and Archer avenue to Bridgeport, and during this summer will be extended to Brighton.
Cars also leave same place every few minutes via Madison street to Western city limits, and via Madison and Halsted streets, southwestwardly, along Blue Island avenue to Mitchel street.
Cars also leave same place every few minutes via Randolph street to Union Park and Western city limits, and via Halsted street, northwestwardly, along Milwaukee avenue to city limits.
North Chicago Horse Railway Cars, leave Lake street for city limits, every 13 minutes; for Sedgwick street, every 13 minutes; for Clybourn avenue and Larrabee street, every 13 minutes ; for Graceland, without change of car, every hour and 50 minutes. Cars leave city limits for Lake street every 13 minutes; leave corner Larrabee and Centre for same, every 13 minutes; leave corner North avenue and Sedgwick street for same, every 39 minutes ; leave Graceland for Lake street every hour.
OMNIBUSES.
Run to and from all the principal hotels and rail- road depots on the arrival and departure of all trains. A line of omnibuses has also been recently started from Lake street via Madison and Halsted streets, to the lumber region in the southwest division of the city ; another line runs along Wabash avenue to the city limits, and another from same street, along Milwaukee avenue, to northwestern city limits.
HACKS AND CARRIAGES.
The Hack stand is on Court House Square. Hack- men are not allowed to charge any more than the fol- lowing rates. When they charge more than these rates, they can not collect any thing for their services :
For conveying each passenger from one railroad depot to another railroad depot, fifty cents ; for con- veying each passenger not exceeding one mile, fifty cents ; for conveying a passenger any distance over one mile, and not less than two miles, one dollar ; for each
Hacks and Carriages. ] 33
additional passenger, of the same party or family, fifty cents; for conveying a passenger in said city any dis- tance exceeding two miles, one dollar and fifty cents ; for each additional passenger of the same family or party, fifty cents ; for conveying children between five and fourteen years of age, half of the above prices may be charged for like distances ; but for children under five years of age no charge shall be made ; Provided, that the distance from any railroad depot, steamboat landing or hotel, to any other railroad depot, steam- boat landing or hotel, shall, in all cases, be estimated as not exceeding one mile ; for the use, by the day, of any hackney coach or other vehicle, drawn by two horses, or other animals, with one or more passengers, eight dollars per day ; for the use of any such carriage or vehicle by the hour, with one or more passengers, with the privilege of going from place to place, and stopping as often as may be required, as follows : for the first hour, two dollars ; for each additional hour, or part of an hour, one dollar ; for conveying one or more passengers to or from any place in said city, between the hours of twelve o'clock, midnight, and seven o'clock A. M., for each trip, without regard to distance, or .number of passengers, two dollars ; for the use of any cab or vehicle drawn by one horse, or other ani- mal, by the hour, with the privilege of going from place to place, with one or more passengers, and stop- ping when required : for the first hour, one dollar ; for each additional hour, or part of an hour, fifty cents ; for the use of any such carriage, by the day, four dol- lars. Every passenger shall be allowed to have con- veyed on such vehicle, without charge, his ordinary traveling baggage, not exceeding, in any case, one trunk and twenty-five pounds of other baggage. For every additional package, when the whole weight of baggage is over one hundred pounds, if conveyed to any place within the city limits, the owner or driver may be permitted to charge fifteen cents.
134 Chicago Hotels.
CEMETERIES.
The principal Cemeteries, for beauty of decoration and extent of ground, are Graceland, Calvary and Rose Hill. The following is the location of all the Cemete- ries belonging to Chicago, with their offices, where visitors must procure tickets of admission:
GRACELAND — Two miles north of the city, on Green Bay road. Office, 89 Clark street.
ROSE HILL — Seven miles north of the city, on the Milwaukee railway. Office, 151 Lake street.
CALVARY — (Catholic) — Ten miles north of the city, on the Milwaukee railway. Office, 15 Madison street.
GERMAN CATHOLIC — Three miles from city limits, on Green Bay road.
GERMAN LUTHERAN — South of Graceland.
CITY — On Green Bay road. Office, 2 Court House. There are four Hebrew Cemeteries, all on Green Bay road, from one to two miles north of city limits.
OAKWOOD — On the Illinois Central railroad, eight miles from the city. Office, 33 LaSalle street.
CHICAGO HOTELS.
Adams House, Lake, cor. Michigan Ave-
Briggs House, Randolph, cor. Wells-
Central House 180 and 182 Randolph-
City Hotel Lake, S. E. cor. State-
Everett House cor. Clark and Van Buren-
Garden City House cor. Madison and Market-
Hough House Union Stock Yards-
Laclede Hotel W. Madison, cor. Canal-
Massasoit House S. Water, cor. Central Ave.
Matteson House Dearborn, N. W. cor. Randolph.
Metropolitan Hotel Randolph, S. W. cor Wells.
Oldridge House State, cor. Van Buren.
Orient House State, cor. Van Buren.
Revere House Clark, cor. Kinzie.
Richmond House S. Water, cor. Michigan Ave.
Shermaa House Clark, N. W. cor. Randolph.
Chicago Hotels. 135
St. Cloud 112 and 114 Franklin.
St. James cor. Washington and State.
Tremont House Dearborn, S. E. cor. Lake.
Washington House .244 and 246 Randolph.
TREMONT HOUSE.
The visitor to Chicago can not fail to be attracted by the splendid and massive structure of the Tremont House, which is centrally located on the corner of Dearborn and Lake streets. This hotel is widely known as one of the most spacious and agreeable in the West. The internal arrangements admirably har- monize with the inviting aspect of the exterior! The Tremont was rebuilt, remodeled, and refurnished in the richest and most luxurious style in 1868. It com- prises nearly three hundred rooms — single and in suites — with baths, closets, and every modern improvement attached. The reading rooms, smoking rooms, pub-