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18 MARINE TO CLOSE UP THE RIVER. --_--_--- ANOTHER BIG PROBLEM UNDER DISCUSSION; IN CHICAGO--DIFFIOCULTIES THAT WILL SOON BE ENCOUNTERED IN THE CROWDED RIVERS AT OTHER LAKE CITIES. Chicago, Ill, Dec. 21--When Mr. Yerkes of street railway fame _ proposed to close up the Chicago river and organize a company with ten millions capital to construct docks on the lake front, his scheme was looked upon as nothing more than a novelty, but it has again stirred up in Chicago the interests that are in no way connected with lake shipping. This oppositon thas claimed that all improvements in the Chicago fiver are makeshifts and that the great growth of the city and congested condi- tion of the main business districts demands the abandonment of the river. 'Mass meetings have been held in various parts of the city and reso- Jutions adopted in opposition to further expenditures on .river,1mprove- ments. A radical measure of relief from the disadvantages of draw bridges and a divided city is demanded. Bvt the shipping interests are going ahead with their plan of securing a large appropriation from the present congress for lowering tunnels and for widening and deepening the iriver. They know that the schemes proposed by the opposition are too big to admit of serious consideration at this time. 'Still there 1s a great deal of solid reasoning in the claim that Chicago has outgrown the river and that the city must soon meet the great problem with which it is confronted in this regard. 'A' discussion of the subject by 'Mr. Alexander Clark is very interesting. Mr. Clark says: 4 "T think it is very plain to anyone who 'has given the matter any con- sideration that the city of Chicago cannot remain forever divided like all Gaul into three parts, and that ultimately the separation caused by swing-| ing bridges will be abolished. I have seen 300 people standing shivering on one of the bridge approaches waiting for a schooner loaded with a cargo of bark.or ties manned by three or four sailors to pass through. The time lost by these people, if figured up, would go a long way toward buying the whole cargo. So far as the lumber interests and crude and cheap material are concerned, I have no doubt but that the loss of time and the interference with traffic caused by opening the bridges to allow . this business to be carried on along the river woulld pay a dozen times over the profit from it, and if it were practicable it would pay to subsidize these people to carry on their business somewhere else. I have no doubt the expense of getting stuff up 'the river will ultimately force this business into the Calumet. As the city becomes more congested the loss and aggravation of this interference to traffic between these divisions will become greater, and any thoughtful person can foresee that ultimately the ntiisance will become unbearable and a way will be found or made to obviate it. - "That steps should be taken before any large expenditure is made, as a mere makeshift, is evident. Radical changes are now, proposed, seem- ing to be based upon the supposition that this river will always remain open to navigation. Of course these changes are largely advocated by interested parties (the owners of dock property and the tug men seem to be their most untiring friends), but in a matter of this importance the in- terests of no special class but of the city as a whole should be considered. Take the area in front of the city of Chicago, extending from Van Buren . street to Indiana street, a lake frontage of about one mile. Take an area of the lake opposite this as nearly rectangular as possible, three-quarters of a mile in width. Inclose this area with a substantial breakwater, and devote the east one-quarter 'of a mile in width to an outer harbor and the inside one-half mile width to a system of docks. These docks could run at right angles to the shore. They might consist of a series of slips one- half mile in length, running east anid west 200 feet in width. Between each slip there could be a strip of land made 300 feet wide. In the center of this strip there should be a street 100 feet wide, giving 100 feet on each side of it for wharfage and buildings. This system of slips would give just about ten miles of dockage. These slips could be dredged out to a depth of 25 to 30 feet, and the foundations of the buildings and the piling go down below the bottom of them. This would allow craft drawing probably as much water as will ever sail the lakes to go in and out of them swith comfort and rapidity, and with very slight towing expense. Then, take down the bridges and cover over the present river from the point where this outer harbor commences. 'This covering should be on the present grade of the streets. Turn the present river and its approaches into a |great heavy traffic thoroughfare, 250 feet in width in the business center, and from 150 to 250 feet in the braniches, and this would mieet the objection that the outer harbor would be inaccessible tio heavy traffic. Over this thoroughfare build a system of elevated tracks and give every steam road that enters the city of Chicago the right to transfer its freight cars by electricity over the same. This thoroughfare should be connected with all the streets on the slips, so that teams could pass without any bridge interference to' every building in the harbor, anid a system of ele- vated tracks should be carried over these tracks. Along this thorough- fare would soon locate all the wholesale houses that do a.large transfer business. 'Any line of business that gets its goods direct from vessels, such as grain, 'could locate along the slips. The wholesale houses that are now compelled to transfer goods by teams from freight depots could have them put down directly into their own establishment from the cars, anid 'such a plan would at least rid the central business district of about four-fifths of the congestion and discomfort of heavy teaming, and would enable its streets to be paved with asphalt and: give pedestrians a show for their lives on them. -- - Seay ee ee Ra a Sears "Recruit aprries "T anticipate two sets of objections to the practicability of this scheme: First, business objections; second, legal objections. 'As to the btisiness objections, I do not think they should have much weight. In my judg- ment, this thing is not.a matter of choice with the people of Chicago, but of necessity. Even-if it were possible to maintain the depth of water and. present freedom from obstruction to navigation of the river, yet the com- plications and expense incident to it will alwaysthave a tendency to drive traffic to more accessible and convenient harbors. Unless the old city takes steps to make some more convenient facilities for the heavy ship- ping, it is bound to drift to South Chicago. I do not think under any circumstances it would be possible or advisable to 'hold the coal and lumber as REVIEW. interests. Land is getting too valuable along the 'Chicago river front to be used for these crude lines of business, and, as I have already said, ac- cess to these yards is getting so complicated, tedious and expensive that, in my judgment, they will soon be driven to South Chicago or to Wauke- gan. The principal other lines of business having use for water transpor- tation are warehousing, general merchandising and the grain trade. As far as warehousing and grain trade are concerned, if railroad connections could be given them, a lake front site would suit them much better than the present river connection, and about the only loss would be the change of buildings; but in a city where structures that were considered business palaces in 1873 are being ruthlessly torn down to give place to snore modern ones, the change of the buildings should not have much weight. Many of the grain warehouses could still be retained for storage purposes. The storage warehouses could be changed without much difficulty into manufacturing or business blocks. "Wihat effect would this closing of the river have on the value of abut- ting property? I believe it would make it among the most valuable in the city of 'Chicago. 'From the mouth of the river to Harrison street on the south branch and Chicago avenue on the north branch it would be lined with wholesale grocery houses and the other establishments requiring ac- cessibility by rail and water. It is true that the accessibility by water would have to be by way of transfer from vessels to cars, but with this class of goods this would not be a very serious matter. The width of the street in front of this property being from 200 to 250 feet, and being turned over entirely to heavy traffic, would compel tthe wholesale establishments to seek frontage upon it, and J am very much mistaken if the price of this frontage would not far exceed its present value. 'Everybody knows that dock frontage is a drug, and the owners of it are worried to death to know what to do with it to get a revenue out of it sufficient to meet the taxes and maintenance. "Tf it is to the interests of the public and the property owners, and this thing is practicable from a business standpoint, it is safe to say some way will be found through state or national legislation, if necessary, to carry out this scheme. 'All the great cities that have attempted to combine an outlet for their sewers with a navigation channel have 'had to meet the difficulty of a foul anid putrid lagoon. 'For sewerage the water should run with a reasonable degree 'of swiftness. /Fior navigation it should 'be stag- nant. 'As I understand it, there would 'be no difficulty in getting the vol- ume of water through the present Chicago river necessary to purify the same and meet the requirements of the drainage law if it were not for thes interference with navigation. If navigation were closed on the river, a current would be given that would meet these requirements for many years to come at least, and millions of dollars would be saved by this natural and easy solution of this problem. It is very apparent if the river hes a very slight current setting to the west that on every occasion of a heavy freshet a lange part of the waters are bound to seek ttheir natural outlet in the lake and scour into it the filth of the river bottom, so that alll this vast expenditure of money on the drainage system is in itself somewhat in the nature of a makeshift. A complete protection to our water supply ican ibe secured only by giving the river such a current to the west that under nio condition will a flow toward the lake be possible. In fact, I see no reason why gates could not be constructed at the mouth of the river, if necessary, to check any flow toward the lake in times of high water. It seems to me this feature of the matter is worthy of very careful considera- tion. "As I figure it, there would be about 5,000,000 square feet of building space in the district recovered from the lake, which would make a value, at $10 a square ffoot, of $50,000,000. This would all ultimately become income-paying property to the city. 'So far as the cost of covering over the river is concerned, I do not think there would be any difficulty in getting this done by the railroad companies, which would have the right to construct over it their elevated tracks. No road that entered the city of 'Chicago could afford to be without the right to enter this new harbor district, and each one of them could afford to pay handsomely for the privilege. (All the foregoing suggestions are crude, but I think in the main they will be found, when worked out, entirely practicable, and to afford a solution of the sewerage and harbor problems of the city, and 1 believe that something along the line of these suggestions will ultfmately have to be done." The Frontier Iron Works of Detroit is introducing an improved upright gasoline engine for 10 horse power or less, and it will be placed on the market within sixty days.. For plants requiring from 10 to 100 horse power, the standard Hicks compound engine will still besold. The 'Frontier company is now prepared to furnish estimates for gas and gaso- line engines for all purposes. 'Iron-clad paint is used 'by a dozen leading railroads of the west, among them the Northern Pacific. The different brands contain from 60 to 983 per cent. iron ore, which is not burnt or calcined. For further particulars address the Iron Clad Paint Co., 22 Case building, Cleveland. About 1,800 people were present at an oyster roast given by the Berlin Iron Bridge Co. at their works in East 'Berlin, Conn., on the 15th inst. Oysters for the occasion were procured in car loads. 64 ILuce's "Seamanship" thas been a text-book at the United States naval academy for the past thirty years. It is being used by naval reserve organ- -izations'all over the country. It is a standard work, selling at $10, and will -be' mailed to-any: address'at that figure by the Marine Review, 409 Perry- Payne building, Cleveland. l y S. ENGINEER OFRICE, Dunouta; Mryn;, e Novy. 30, 1897. Sealed proposals for build- ing substructure for south -pier, Duluth Ship Janal, will be receive! here until noon, Jan'y 15, 1898, and then publicly opened. Information fur- nished on application. Clinton B, Sears, Major, Engrs. jan. 15