AMERICAN EDITION. -^ ILLUSTRATED. THE World's GoMia position AND TH CITY OF C VIEWED FROM AN ENGLIS A STBREOPTICON I^ECTURB RECENTLY •:• DELIVERED •:• BEFORE •:• THE LONDON •:• POLYTECHNIC •:• INSTITUTE By JAMKS DREDGE. Member of the Royal Commission for Great Britain and Ireland at the World's Columbian Exposition, 1893. APPENDIX ^VIXH STATISTICS TO DATB. CHICAGO: H. V. Holmes, Lakf.side Building. 1892. PRICE TWENTY-FIVE CENTS. % JIqOO ;-^^" ^ .^' : 4^ Chicago and Her Exposition of 1893. a Stereopticon lecture Recently Delivered Before the LONDON POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE. BY JAIVLBS DRKDGE. u Member of the British Ro\'al Commission. Member of Council of the London Society of Arts. Honorary Member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. Officier de la Legion D'Honneur. Officier de I'lnstrnction Publique. Editor of London "Engineering." WITH A PRETACE BY THE AUTHOR. Illustrated with Numerous Engravings and a Bird's-Eye View of the Exposition Buildings. CHICAGO: H. V. Holmes, Lak eside Building. 1892 ^ Tsoo :Bijir By traaafM AUG 18 19t5 PREFATORY NO The following lecture has been considered of sufficient interest to be submitted to the perusal of the American people, and it has there- fore — at the suggestion of some of my kind friends in Chicago — been re- printed in its present form. In offering it to the indulgent criticism of (I hope) a large circle of readers in the United States, I wish to make the following very brief explanation. The lecture was delivered before a crowded and deeply attentive audience at that admirable institution, the London Polytechnic, solely with the object of awak- ing a general interest in England, on the subject of the World's Co- lumbian Exposition; to give the British public some faint idea of the importance of the Exposition, and of the city in which it will be held; to indicate some of the advantages that will be enjoyed by foreign visitors to Chicago in 1893, ^wi above all, to aid in some small measure the admirable and very successful movement organ- ized by the Polytechnic, for helping the wage workers in England to visit what will undoubtedly be the greatest exhibition of the century. That these objects have been partially achieved is evi- dent from the public demand which has arisen for the reprint of the lecture in the United Kingdom, and which, according to the Poly- technic Journal, will involve the issue of 100,000 copies; and from the fact that arrangements have now been completed for delivering the lecture throughout the country with the numerous stereopticon slides, with which it is illustrated. I wish to disclaim all but the small amount of credit which is really mine, in connection with this very successful effort to dis- seminate information and to place the remainder where it is due. First, to Mr. Quentin Hogg, the public spirited Director of the Polytechnic, who has showed in this, as in all other matters with PREFATORY NOTE. which he is associated, ah enterprise and piiblic spirit wholly untar- nished by thought of profit or vain- glory. Second, to Sir Phillip Cunliffe Owen, that K^sfor of exhibitions, as he has been so hap- pily called by one of the accomplished Chiefs of the World's Fair. The people of Chicago do not know-how much they are indebted to Sir Phillip Owen for the interest that has been created abroad, not only in Kngland, but throug*hout Europe, in the Columbian Ex- position; but they will learn one day, even though he may not take so prominent a part in the direction of the British section as the friends of the Exhibition would desire. I, who have had the privi- lege of his friendship through many years, find it difficult to speak of him in terms that do justice to him as a friend, and as a genius in the control of Exhibitions, and I most gladly seize this occasion to tell the people of the United States that which I know to be the truth. It was Sir Phillip Owen who acted as the guide, philoso- pher and friend to the American Commission that visited Europe last year; it is he who is the ever ready and sound counsellor of all who come to him — as I am often glad to come — and who never fail to gain help and strength from his advice. It was Sir Phillip Owen who presided at this Polytechnic lecture of mine; and it is he who aided Mr. McCormick, the American Commissioner in I^ondon, to organize a lecture tour throughout England, commencing under the patronage of the Lord Mayor of London. The only part I have played in this matter has been to write, and deliver once (perhaps oftener), this lecture; I have done this, not as a part of my duties as a member of the British Royal Commission, whose work is to en- courage exhibitors, rather than visitors, to go to Chicago in 1893, but as the earnest friend of the World's Columbian Exposition, of the citizens of Chicago, and of the people of the United States, with the desire that my own countrymen may attend the World's Fair in such numbers that mutual knowledge and confidence may be increased, and that the two great Anglo-Saxon nations may be brought more closely and more harmoniously together. James Dredge. London, CIvApham Lodge, February, i8p2. The Directors of this Institution have, with their usual energy and foresight, already commenced those important arrangements by which a large number of you will be able to visit Chicago and its International Exhibition in 1893, under exceptionally favorable conditions. It may seem to many that these arrangements have been undertaken earlier than is needful, and that those who propose to profit by the chance afforded them, need be in no hurry to arrive at a final decision. But this is by no means the case ; the responsi- bility of conducting a large body of travelers to so great a distance, and of bringing them back filled with pleasant and profitable recol- lections, is so heavy, and the details to be elaborated are so numer- ous and complicated, that I am glad to learn your able Secretary, Mr. Mitchell, has prepared for a very early visit to Chicago to com- plete arrrangements; the representative of this important association will realize on his arrival, and you later on will participate in, the benefits resulting from this promptness of action. The hearty response that your members have already made to the announcement of this notable excursion, is at once a proof of your confidence in j^our Directors, and of your keen interest in the • Exhibition. It has been suggested that this interest may be further increased, and the active spirit of the movement encouraged, if 3'ou were informed of the real nature and scope of the Exhibition; and if you were placed in a position to form some idea, however incom- plete, of the famous city in which it will be held. It is for these reasons that I have the honor of claiming your attention for an hour this evening. When I first visited Chicago in connection with the Exhibition, in the autumn of 1890, although the organization was chaotic and no work had been done, it did not need much perception to know that CHICAGO AND HKR EXPOSITION OF 1893. the citizens of Chicago, and those they had placed in charge, were essentially the men to carry the vast undertaking to a successful end ; and when the following winter I made the first address deliv- ered in Europe, on the subject of the Fxhibition, I did not hesitate to stake my reputation on this successful issue. When I again vis- ited Chicago last September, as the envoy of the Royal Commission, I found that events had outstripped my anticipations, and that not only the organization, but the actual work of construction, had made more progress than I could have thought possible in the space of twelve months. As I have made this Exhibition my special and particular study since its inception in 1889 ; as I am in constant and friendly com- munication with the Chiefs of the Executive in Chicago ; and as I have already written and published enough to fill a large volume on the subject, I am probably for the moment in a better position than any one else to give the information which the Directors of this Institution think will be of interest and use to you this evening. I had some idea of introducing the subject by a few words on the voyage that so many of you will undertake eighteen months from now, but that would occupy too much time, and may at a later and more appropriate date, form the topic for an instructive address, so tonight I will only say in this connection that when the time comes you will find the journey as full of comfort, and more full of a spe- cial interest, than any which have been previously arranged for you. I wonder how many among this audience have a clear idea of the exact location of Chicago, or of its importance as a great commer- . cial center. Half a century ago it was still outside the pale of civi- lization ; a small and remote western city. But the rapid growth ot population in the United States, and its consequent march west- ward, changed the relative conditions year by year, until today the centre of gravity of the population is abreast of Chicago, though somewhat to the south — near Cincinnati, in fact. Fifty years ago the population of the State of Illinois, of which Chicago is the prin- cipal city, was less than six to the square mile ; today it is claimed that the metropolis of the central States represents the most populated portion in the country ; that is to say, if Chicago be taken as the CHICAGO AND HER EXPOSITION OF 1 893. center of a circle of 500 miles radius, more people would be enclosed in that circle than in any other similar area throughout the United States. Almost all circumstances, natural as well as artificial, have favored this rapid growth. As the continuous waves of progress have swept across the great continent, they have steadily raised Chi- cago to a higher eminence, and into her present proud position ot importance. It is a very general, and certainly a very pardonable weakness of the citizens of Chicago, to draw comparison between their city and the other great cities of the United States, New York not excepted. " But I think that such comparisons are quite unnec- essary, for Chicago is sui generis ; a unique city of the nineteenth century ; made unique by the energy of her people ; by the advan- tages of her geographical position ; by the development of the middle and western States ; and above all by the facilities of communication, which enable her to stretch out her hands, laden with true riches — the produce of the soil — to all the world. In the commencement, the prosperity of the young city -was due to the advance of the east towards the west ; but this condition of things has long been changed, and it is the west now — the grain-growing, cattle-raising and mining west, that pours its wealth into the city as the center, whence it is distributed all over the world. And with the steady development of this great west of which the resources are only now being utilized, the importance and wealth of Chicago must increase, and increase probably as rapidly as they have done during the last twenty years. We can form but a very lim- ited idea of the extent, and future possibilities of the States lying to the west of the Mississippi, and the development of which directly affects the trade of Chicago ; the area on the west of the great river is twice as large as that which lies on the east, and of this, what is not mineral land, is for most part richly adapted for agricultural pursuits. The proportions of the western States are almost beyond one's grasp ; Texas could hold the whole population of the United States and not be much more crowded than Germany ; Dakota could do the same, and so could New Mexico. The State of Texas alone could produce nearly all the food crops required for the entire coun- try ; it could produce more than all the cotton crops, and pasture lands as large as the entire State of New York would still remain. 63 acres south reserved for Live Stock. Dairy Building. H Railroad Approacli. Transportation Building. Administration Building. Machinery Hall, 171/2 acres. Hall of Mines and Mining. Assembly Hall. I^agoon. Electricity Building. Forestry Building. Agricultural Building. Convent La Rabida. Entrance from Pier to Pa; A line from first letter of name to entrance FIG. 5. — BIED'S-EYE view of BUILDING aral Hall. SVooded Island. Villages of all Nations. Galleries and Fine Arts. Women's Building. Uoited States Buildings. State and Foreign Govt, Fisheries and Deep Sea Aquaria. [Bld'gs, to North. Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building, 44 acres. '"^^'°- U. S. Naval Ex- Casino and Landing Pier. [hibit. ier of building, will indicate location. :iXG FROM THE LAKE 8 CHICAGO AND HKR EXPOSITION OF 1 893. It is estimated that the arable lands of the west cover at least 900,000 square miles ; there are 260,000 square miles of timber country, and in 1880 less than one-fourth of the pasture was occupied with more than 61 millions of live stock. It would seem as if the future desti- nies of the United States must be controlled from the west, the pop- ulation of which by natural increase and by immigration, is growing with so much rapidity ; where energy appears unbounded, and the wealth of the soil, as of the riches hidden beneath its surface, is in- exhaustible. A well-known American writer says ' * the unrivalled resources of the west, together with the unequalled enterprise of her citizens, are a sure prophecy of superior wealth. Already have some of the younger States outstripped their elder sisters of the east in individ- ual wealth. . . . The west is destined to surpass in agriculture, stock raising, mining, and eventually in manufacturing. . . . Be- yond a peradventure the west is to dominate the east. With more than twice the room and resources of the east, the west will have probably twice the population and wealth of the east, together with the superior power and influence which, under popular government, accompany them." These sentences, written some years ago, would seem to be already partially confirmed, and if the forecast be too sanguine and enthusiastic, the conviction is nevertheless forced upon the thoughtful observer, that if the head of the nation lie upon the Atlantic shore, the heart beats in the middle States, and the sinews and muscles are in the west, and it may also be safely predicted that however many rival cities may in the future contest the trade and prosperity created by thib western development, with Chicago, the metropolis of the Great I^ake region must continue to retain her pre- eminence. It may help you to fix the location of the city of Chicago if you bear in mind that it lies as far to the west of London as Calcutta lies to the east; that it is on about the same latitude as Rome ; and that though it is situated a thousand miles from New York harbor, when you reach it from the eastern seaboard, you have only traveled one-third of the way across the great American continent. A glance at the outline map (fig. i) will be sufficient to give you an idea of one of the reasons of the great and rapid growth of the CHICAGO AND HER EXPOSITION OF 1 893. city. You will see that Chicago stands upon the shore of I^ake Michigan, and nearly at the most southerly point of this freshwater inland sea. Probably you have little idea of the vast traffic that is carried on upon the great chain of lakes that stretch half-way across the continent and afford a direct water communication from the ocean to the remote western town of Duluth in Minnesota. Between Buffalo, which is the inland terminus of the Erie Canal, and the numerous towns that stand upon the extended mileage of the shore of the lakes, an incessant traffic is carried on, incessant that is, whilst navigation is possible, or for about nine months in the year. This traffic consists mostly of grain and minerals going east, and — in the other direction — of miscellaneous cargoes to supply the varied wants of the population in the great west. The vast farm lands and mining regions of Manitoba and Minnesota afford plenty of business to the steamers navigating I^ake Superior, but by far the largest trade passes through Lake Michigan, and gravitates to Chi- cago, although Milwaukee and some few other towns are ports of no small importance. So large indeed is the marine trade of Chicago that the tonnage entering and leaving its harbor is nearly as great as that of New York, and half as much as that of the port of Lon- don. The route for steamers (some of which are of as much as three thousand tons) from Buffalo to Chicago lies across Lake Erie, through the short Detroit River, the Lake St. Clair and the St. Clair River into Lake Huron; thence by the northwest to the point where the waters of this lake mingle with those of Lake Michigan; and then southward along the whole length of the latter to Chicago. The actual tonnage that passes up and down the Detroit River during the nine months when the navigation is free from ice is much greater than the traffic upon the Suez Canal throughout the year, and as a very large proportion of this tonnage enters and leaves the port of Chicago this comparison will give you a very fair idea of its importance as a maritime city. It is indeed the collecting and dis- tributing center of the middle and middle western States of Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri, and of the great corn and cattle lands lying still further west. We may digress here for an instant to call your attention to the section of the great lake chain that is shown beneath the map (see 10 CHICAGO AND HER EXPOSITION OF 1 893. fig. 2). You will notice that with the exception of Lake Ontario, the water levels stand at a high elevation above that of the sea; Huron, Michigan, and Erie, are all of them about 581 feet above the sea level ; Lake Superior is still higher, this difference of level being overcome for navigation by means of a famous canal and locks. The difference of level between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario is made up by the rapids of Niagara River and by the great Fall; the total length of the river above and below the Falls is 37^ miles; the dif- ference of level, is 326 feet, of which 160 feet is made at one jump by the great waterfall, and the remainder by the rapids above and below it. Evaporation apart, the Falls of Niagara constitute the sole means of relieving the great drainage area that discharges into the chain of lakes — an area twice as great as that of Great Britain and Ireland. But the outflow from the lake basin is only about half the quantity of rain that falls upon it, the rest being accounted for by evaporation. The total volume of water in the lakes is about 6,000 cubic miles, but this is a figure which conveys little meaning, and it is more to the purpose to remember that if the supply to the lakes from rainfall was suddenly cut off, the great torrent of Niagara could be main- tained with unabated volume and in all its appalling majesty from these vast reservoirs for a period of a hundred years. But Niagara was not always the outlet of these inland seas. Away back in geo- logical time the overflow from the lakes, which doubtless have greatly changed in size and form since then, was southward from Lake Michigan into the Mississippi basin. Sudden upheavals aided by gradual change, created a barrier to this southern outfall, and corre- sponding changes to the north so altered the levels as to produce the order of things with which we are familiar. But the barrier just rererred to, and the summit of which is only a few miles to the south of Chicago, is of a very insignificant height, and at the present time a project is being matured to cut through this barrier, and to construct a broad and deep ship canal, which will restore to some trifling extent the old regime; which will create an outflow for Lake Michigan into the Mississippi, and convert Chicago into a sea- port from the south as well as from the north. < Ed p: c c 12 ' CHICAGO AND HER EXPOSITION OF 1 893. IL— THE CITY OF CHICAGO. Before referring to the Columbian Exposition, it may prove of some interest to you this evening if I attempt to give a slight idea of the appearance and general characteristics of the city of which v^e are now hearing so much. It is said that a United States engineer officer, at the beginning of the century, who was employed upon the survey of the great lakes, reported that there was only one spot on which it was impossible to build a city on the banks of Lake Michigan. It is just on this spot that Chicago is situated. There was, however, good reason for this assertion. A century ago the pathless wilderness terminated here in swamp and morass — land mingling with water like an unfinished fragment of creation; the sluggish, fever-laden creek, fed from the lake or from the inland water shed, and altering the direction of its current with the season and the water level, spread over the adjacent low-lying lands and helped to complete the scene of hopeless desolation. But even two hundred years since, this forbidding stream had its uses. The spirit of successful colonization was then active in France, stimulated and carried forward by the fervor of religious enthusiasm that drove earnest men into the remote places of the earth, bearing aloft the cross and planting strange truths in savage minds. These were the explorers and pioneers, who have left traces of their work behind them through the broad lands that separate the lakes from the Gulf of Mexico; whose monuments remain in the names of cities and vil- lages throughout Illinois and Louisiana, and in those of many of the principal streets of the City of Chicago. Marquette and Joliet — priest and soldier — discovered Chicago River late in the seventeenth century, and tested its usefulness as a Way of reaching the Mississippi by the portage over the low divide that opposes a barrier to the chain of lakes from discharging into the Gulf of Mexico. The first survey of the district was made by Joliet in 1673; his companion died of malaria after a brief attempt to proselytize the local Indians. In these early times the name of the site was CHICAGO AND HER EXPOSITION OF 1 893. 1 3 much the same as it is now; it had two meanings, according to whether the word was used by one or other of the tribes that fre- quented the unalluring spot: "Onion" or "Pol cat." The fate of Marquette appeared through several generations to serve as an in ducement for others of his devoted calling to seek malarial martyr- dom on the banks of the Chicago Creek; and in their wake followed the traders, to traffic with the natives, but not to stay. The first permanent resident appears to have been a fugitive slave, who in the course of time did quite a handsome business as a fur trader. Meanwhile troublous times were the portion of North America. Wars with the Indians; French, Colonial, and British wars; and, finally, the revolt against English despotism, that laid the firm foun- dation for a great nation. It was only after the genius of Washington had brought the War of Independence to a triumphant conclusion, that the site of Chicago attracted any attention ; this was prior to the acquisition of Louisiana by the United States, through purchase from France. British influence among the Indians around the lakes was strong, and was exerted to the damage of the new Republic. In the words of an American writer: "It became necessary, with the acquisition of new territory, that the United States should make some demon- stration of its strength, in order to counteract the pernicious effects of its tactics." This demonstration took the shape of a fort that was built in 1804, and formed a nucleus for a small body of traders and other hardy pioneers to gather round it for mutual protection. So matters remained till the war of 1812, when a wholesale massacre of the garrison and the handful of settlers, took place; the fort and dwellings were destroyed, and the silence of the wilderness was re- stored. Two years later, however. Fort Dearborn was rebuilt, the power of the Indians was broken, and the settlement was again at- tempted, this time with success, so that when — in 18 18 — Illinois was admitted as a State into the Union, Chicago was quite a thriving village. Civilization — embodied by the tax collector — appeared in 1823, when on behalf of Fulton County, in which Chicago was then situated, the sum of $11.42 was obtained, showing that the rateable value of property at that time was *less than ^500. The real founders of Chicago appear to have been the 14 CHICAGO AND HKR EXPOSITION OF 1 893. Illinois and Michigan Canal Commissioners, a powerful corporation early in the century, and who possessed powers to lay out towns on the lands that had been assigned to them by the Government. Thus it came about that "Fort Dearborn settlement" passed out of exis- tence, and the town of Chicago was called into being. The original plan of the new town was issued on the 4th of August, 1830. The history of the first few years of Chicago is that of all new set- tlements in the wilderness, with the exception perhaps that its pro- gress never received a check. In 1837, the first census was taken, when it was found that the population was upwards of 4,000, each member of which was ambitious to be called a citizen; so it came to pass in that year Chicago was raised to the dignity of a city. Since then its growth has been phenomenally rapid, but it would occupy too much space, and be beside the present purpose were I to attempt to sketch its history; I will, therefore, pass on at once to notice in a few words the fire of 187 1, w^hich destroyed more than three square miles of buildings, and rendered 98,500 persons homeless. It is claimed that this — the most gigantic conflagration on record — was caused by the hind leg of a cow, which kicked as she was being milked in a stable, and upset a kerosene lamp; the straw thus ignited set fire to the building and the flames spread with a rapidity which defied all the efforts of the fire department to check; in a few hours it became evident that the businesssection of the city was doomed, for the wind was blowing a gale and forced the fire forward with irresistible heat and fury, devouring granite buildings and wooden shanties as it was forced forward by the storm. The disaster com- menced on the evening of Sunday the 8th of October, and by one o'clock the following morning, a traveling column of flame had reached and swallowed up the Chamber of Commerce building and the Court House, the bell of which continued to toll until the belfry fell. Then traveling furiously eastward it continued to lay many other noble buildings in ashes. Meanwhile, a second column of fire had been equally active, and when this joined the first one, the work of destruction went forward at an increased rate, while the ruined and homeless inhabitants could only look on, powerless to avert the devastation, and para- lyzed with terror. It was only at the Lake and the northern limits CHICAGO AND HER EXPOSITION OF 1893. ^5 of the city that the fire burned itself out for lack of fuel. The total area devastated was nearly three and a third square miles; there were 17,450 houses destroyed; about 200 people killed ; and the value of property lost was nearly forty millions sterling. It is impossible to realize the horrors of that period, or the dispair that followed with the realization of the general ruin that was caused. Although twenty years have passed since that eventful Sunday, citizens of Chicago who went through the ordeal, speak of the great fire as if its minutest details had been burned into their memories by the flames; and still fresh in their recollection is the succor that poured in to the fated city without an hour's delay. From all parts of the United States came help, in the shape of long lines of relief trains loaded up with food and clothing and other necessities of life for the thousands that had been thus suddenly stripped of all. And not from the United States alone, for it is pleasant to remember that aid came from England also, with a lavish hand, and the citizens of Chicago remember that too, today, and the recollection will help to make the welcome warmer to Knglishmen who visit Chicago in 1893. The ruins were not cold before the work of reconstruction began, and merchants who a week before had carried on vast business in granite warehouses, began the world again in wooden sheds built on the smoking ashes of their former wealth. When energy such as this was shown, you will not be surprised to know that the traces of the great fire were soon obliterated, and that ten years after it oc- curred, there were but few ruins to indicate that it had ever taken place. Modern Chicago dates from this catastrophe, and as soon as the immediate results of the disaster were overcome, the new era of constructfon, of which the city is so proud, cotnmenced. Today Chicago covers an area of 180 square miles, it has a popu- lation of over 1,200,000; there are 2,200 miles of streets within the city limits; there are 395 miles of street railways; and over 2,000 acres of public parks; 35 distinct railroad companys have station ac- commodation in the city, and it is claimed that these railroads, with their branches and immediate connections, have a total length of more than half the mileage of all the railways in the United States. The Chicago River and its branches are crossed by 61 bridges, all, or nearly all of which, are turning bridges, so as to accommodate l6 CHICAGO AND HER EXPOSITION OF 1 893. the constant movement of ships up and down the river. There are, in addition, several tunnels, by which the street traffic can pass without interruption, and this means of communication is on the increase. Like most American cities, Chicago is laid out on the convenient but monotonous rectangular system. Its most important thorough- fare is State Street, which runs from north to south for a distance of 18 miles, or only three miles less than the distance between London and Windsor. To give you a further idea of the size of the city, I may add that 87th Street, which runs from east to west, across its widest part, is io}i miles long. Some day the ring of boulevards will be the glory of Chicago, and will add another to her many claims of her superiority over the remainder of American cities. Some of these really magnificent roads are completed, and are lined with miles of handsome residences that attest the wealth and refinement of the citizens. When completed, this succession of boulevards will connect the 28 parks, which give to Chicago her favorite title of the Garden City; I cannot say what will be the lenght of this system of boulevards, but it will certainly be longer than any other ring of boulevards in the world. The plan (fig. 3) gives some idea of the general arrangement of the city; of its lines of streets; its parks and boulevards; the river and its branches; and it shows quite clearly the relative position of the Exposition site to the center of the city, which may be taken as approximately in the vicinity of Van Buren Street. The number of houses added to Chicago last year would, if placed side by side, have a solid frontage of 51 miles in length. They numered 11,640 structures, and cost nearly 10 million sterling ; this will give some idea of the rate of development of the city. There are several peculiarities connected with the buildings of Chicago to which reference may be made, as I think they are with- out parallel. One of these is the curious custom of moving houses, generally from a costly to a less expensive site. This operation is not by any means exceptional, as will be seen from the fact that during the year 1890 no less than 1,710 houses, with a total front- age of 33,922 feet, or about six miles, were shifted from one location to another. Most of the buildings so moved were of timber, but vanscof :r,h^d Vicinity, ;Y\\ phowm^ the new i i City limits, " ; ^^^ \ Oh I CAGO OAN ITARY i. DISTRICT. FIG. 3.— GENERAL MAP OF THE CITY OF CHICAGO. 1 8 CHICAGO AND HER EXPOSITION OF 1 893. many of them were of brick, and some of them no less than four stories high. The average frontage for these transported dwellings was about 20 feet. The profession of house-moving is a very old one in Chicago, as is also that of raising structures bodily to a suf- ficient height for allowing an additional story to be added at the ground level. It would, however, be a task beyond the powers of the most enterprising contractor to shift or raise the modern typical buildings, which claim to be larger and higher than any in the United States; and it would appear that there is good reason for this claim. Take for example the Auditorum, of which Chicago is justly proud, it is a hotel, theater, to seat 6,000 people, stores, offices, and weather signal station. Its total street frontage 710 feet, with total height 270 feet. The Masonic Temple, 117x114 feet, with a height of 265 feet, divided into 20 stories, is constructed round a central courtj^ard, the first 14 or 15 stories are arranged as stores, the upper part being re- served for Masonic purposes. The Pullman building, a nine story structure, with a frontage of 170x120 feet. Its distinguishing feature is a large open court towards the street and a handsome monumental entrance in connec- tion with it. The first story is of red granite, and the upper portion of brick and terra cotta. The Pullman Company has its main of- fices here. The top floors are handsomely fitted up as living apartments. I would mention still another, tne ' ' Schiller "building. This new and magnificent structure contains 250 offices, a theater to seat 1,400 people and a small concert hall; the interior of the theater is entirely free from pillars. There are eight stories of business offices carried on trussed steel girders over the ceiling of the theater. There are many others. Notably the new Chamber of Com- merce, with 500 offices, the Rookery, more than 600, and the Women's building with 350 and many others. Of course elevators are used in these and all similar structures. There are large numbers of such structures in the city, which impress by force of their size, rather than by their architectural beauty, and it is refreshing to the uneducated western eye to turn CHICAGO AND HER EXPOSITION OF 1 893. 1 9 to the older structures of importance, such as the City Hall and the Post Office buildings, which latter is to be pulled down ere long, and is referred to in the most recent guide to Chicago as " a great structure, but old-fashioned." I^s erection was commenced after the great fire in 1871. The recent great buildings in Chicago are essen- tially engineering structures, not only as we have seen with regard to a system of construction, but also in respect to internal appli- ances. In all of them a very large amount of steam power is required for numerous purposes, such as electric lighting, heating and ventilation, working elevators, lifting sewage, etc, No sketch of Chicago would be complete w^ithout a reference to the somewhat ghastly industry which is the corner-stone of its pros- perity — the great stockyards and packing works. To give some idea of the extent of this business, it may be mentioned that during 1890 more than 2,000,000 of cattle, and nearly 6,000,000 of hogs were slaughtered; 311,557 railway cars were needed to bring these animals to the stockyards, and their estimated value was about ^46,000,000 sterling The principal stockyards are situated about five and a half miles from the center of the city, in a southwesterly direction; they were opened in 1865, and occupy an area of 400 acres, half of which is devoted to the yards, while the remainder is occupied by railroads and sidings. Accommodation is provided for 20,000 cattle, 120,000 hogs, and 15,000 sheep ; this stock is brought from all parts of the country in cars, containing on an average, 20 cattle, 70 hogs, or 100 sheep. The business of the yards is to receive the stock and take charge of it until it changes hands, an operation which is very rapidly per- formed, and occupies about 1,000 men employed by the Stockyard Company, a similar number in the service of 120 commission mer- chants, and about 300 buyers. As soon as the animals have been sorted, classified and weighed, which latter operation is performed on 50-ton scales, they are turned over to the buyers, who distribute them to their destination— the slaughter house. Here the labor is minutely subdivided, and the rapidity with which the practiced hands perform their work is astonishing ; almost every part of the animal is utilized for some purpose or another, and the carcasses, after THE PULLMAN BUILDING. S. S. BEMAN, ARCHITECT. THE SCHILLER BUILDING. ADLER & SDLILVAN, ARCHITECTS. CHICAGO AND HER EXPOSITION OF 1 893. 23 having been properly prepared, are taken upon tramways into the refrigerating rooms, where they are kept at a temperature of about 60 degrees. From here they are taken onto the train loading plat- forms, cut into quarters and placed in the refrigerator cars, whence they are distributed all over the country or shipped for export. After the packing and slaughtering industry comes the grain trade of Chicago. From the agricultural regions of the Middle and Western States the grain is brought by train or by lake to Chicago, where it is stored in elevators for distribution all over the country. There are 27 grain elevators in the city, with a total storage capacity of about 29,000,000 bushels; the largest of these great warehouses, belonging to the Armour Elevator Company, contains 2,000,000 bushels ; the average capacity of the others range from 1,000,000 to 1,500,000 bushels. The shipments of cereals from Chicago during 1890 were in round figures, 12,000,000 bushels of wheat, 90,000,000 bushels of corn, 71,- 000.000 bushels of oats, and 12,000,000 bushels of rye and barley. About 8,000,000 bushels of this total were distributed by lake ship- ments, and this trade occupied no small portion of the vessels enter- ing and leaving the harbor, and the total tonnage of which was 8,750,000 ; the number of vessels engaged in this trade being about 9,000. As all this very extensive shipping business is concentrated on the Chicago River and its branches, some idea may be gathered of the constant movement up and down the stream, and of the per- petual opening and closing of the bridges to the great hindrance of street trafiBc. The river banks are lined with wharves, of which there are not less than 41 miles. It is very evident that if this branch of carrying trade increases in the future, as it probably will, additional accommodation will be required, and by some means the lake front will have to be utilized for loading and unloading vessels. I have attempted to give only a few particulars of the conspicuous characteristics of the city of Chicago. To enter into detail would carry this paper far beyond its proper limits, and would still fail in conveying accurate impression. No description, in fact, would do justice to this city of 1,200,000 inhabitants, almost everyone of whom appears endowed with preternatural activity ; which owns a 24 CHICAGO AND HKR EXPOSITION OF 1 893. street 18 miles in length, almost a dead level for the whole distance, and on which are houses 20 stories high ; whose traffic is as noisy as it is ceaseless, both on the smooth-running, rope-worked railways and the ill-paved, jolting roads ; where the roar of the locomotive and the scream of the* lake steamer emphasize the fact that repose and silence are unknown, even in the dead of night ; where a pall of smoke, the outpouring of a thousand factories and of ten thousand dwellings, remind the Englishman of home. Picture all these things, and you can form some idea of Chicago, which has been raised in 60 years, by the indomitable energy of Americans, to the rank of the sixth city in the world in point of population. Extend the city along a frontage of 22 miles upon the shore of Lake Michigan; imagine parks and waste land, factories, fine buildings and hovels spreading over this extended front ; add six miles of railway skirting the lake in the busiest part of the town, and remember that this vast succession of streets and houses is built upon the shore of a tideless sea, alive with ships, now sailing over waters as smooth and bright of hue as those of the Mediterranean ; now fighting their way to or from port, in storms more sudden and severe than the Mediterranean ever knows. Great as Chicago is, the period of her true greatness has yet to come. Its commencement will dawn when her inhabitants give themselves leisure to realize that the object of life is not that of incessant struggle ; that the race is not always to the swift but rather to those who understand the luxury and advantage of repose, as well as sustained effort. Real greatness does not depend on length of streets, nor height of houses, nor even on colossal fortunes ; but rather on the wise ap- plication and equally wise conservation of energy and intellect. When Chicago ceases to be a city of Perpetual Haste, and adopts the pace which will be inevitably set for her by time, the names of her great workers will not be erased so early from the book of life, 'but will be preserved to give their beloved city many more years of real useful work. At present, I think there are few old men in Chicago, because they have no chance to grow old ; and giving themselves insufficient time for leisure, they have as a necessary con- sequence, little opportunity for the higher culture which is born of CHICAGO AND HER EXPOSITION OF 1 893. 25 leisure. Of course, I am speaking of the general rule, to which there are many brilliant exceptions. It is probable that the Columbian Exposition of 1893 will be the birth place of this new phase of greatness for Chicago, for it will be full of every possible object lesson, and will bring home to the in- habitants of the city, more forcibly than any other event could do, the fact that there is more in heaven and earth than had been dreamed of in their philosophy. III.— GENERAL PLAN OF BUILDING. The Columbian Exposition is situated seven miles from the center of the city, a distance that will be provided for by trains, tramways, and especially by large steamboats (see map, fig. 3). The site com- prises Jackson Park, the Midway-Plaisance, and Washington Park. Of these only the two former will be used for buildings, the Mid- way-Plaisance — a long strip of land about 600 feet wide and a mile long, being reserved for a Bazaar of Nations, a significant title, from which (bearing in mind the Rue de Caire at the Paris Exhibition of 1889) great and varied entertainment may be expected. This Midway-Plaisance is within ten acres the size of St. James Park. The whole of Jackson Park, which is as large as Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens-put together, will be occupied wholly with the buildings and grounds. The main structures will cover more than 150 acres, and a space larger than St. James' Park and the Green Park will be roofed over. Washington Park will be reserved for some unforeseen extension, or more probably will be used only as an annex to the grounds not occupied by the buildings in Jackson Park. The annexed plan (fig. 4) gives a very fair idea of the ar- rangement of the Exhibtion. We will take a rapid glance at this plan so as to gain an idea of the general arrangement adopted. You will notice that the plan runs almost north and south ; that the Ex- hibition grounds have a long frontage — some miles long, in fact — on Lake Michigan, an advantage that gives a special charm to the site ; and that towards the lower end of the grounds, a pier stretches far out into the lake, and is so arranged that it will serve as landing 26 CHICAGO AND HER EXPOSITION OF 1 893. stage, promenade, and breakwater, to enclose a large, smooth-water harbor for the smaller marine exhibits. From the shore end of this pier extends westward a long and very wide road — the grand avenue of the Exhibition. In the center of this road is a great basin that forms a part of the extensive water- ways, to be made both for decoration and for the circulation of fleets of omnibus boats, which will be driven by electricity, and constitute one of the important means of transporting visitors. On each side of the Grand Avenue are the facades of the main buildings. We shall have more to say about these buildings presently, but mean- time I should like to mention that each is the design of a different architect, for the Exposition Executive has been so broad-minded as to take the designs of architects from all parts of the United States — from New York, from Boston, from Kansas City, and from other towns as well as from Chicago. This grand perspective of monumental facades may therefore be taken to illustrate the present condition of the science of architecture in America. At the extreme end of the avenue is the Administration Building, and in front of it the basin is split into a canal to the right and left, on the one hand running for a short distance only, and on the other extending into the system of ornamental water just spoken of. Fig. lO gives a good idea of the appearance that will be presented by the short left-hand branch just spoken of, with one front of the Machinery Hall on one side and of the Agricultural Building on the other ; the 'two being connected by a fine classic colonnade, and a great obelisk in front. To the south of the Grand Avenue are the Agricultural Buildings, with their stockyards and annexes ; a Forestry Building; and the Machin- ery Hall with its annexes. These two buildings are to be con- nected by a classic colonnade, as indicated on the plan referred to above. On the north of the Grand Avenue are the buildings for the Industrial and I^iberal Arts, and those for Electricity and Mines and Mining. Behind this range of short-lived palaces come many more build- ings — the Transportation Hall, the Great Conservatory, the Wom- en's Building, the Pavilion of the State of Illinois, the Art Galle- ries. North of these latter is a large reserve set aside for the vari- ous States of the Union, and on which it is expected that every CHICAGO AND HER EXPOSITION OF 1 893. 27 State will erect a pavilion to serve as offices and as a special exhibit. Returning southward by the lake shore we come to a second large reserve to be allotted to the use of the foreign nations exhibiting, on which they may erect their buildings to serve as their official head- quarters. You will see by the plan (fig. 4) that the best site of all — that facing direct on the lake — has been placed at the disposal of this country. Beyond this area are the Fisheries Building and the United States Government Building, and belonging to it on the left is a very interesting model that forms the exhibit of .the Navy De- partment. After this we get back to the Industrial Building, and thence to the pier and Grand Avenue, where we started. I forgot just now to tell you that outside the Exposition grounds to the north it is proposed to erect the Columbian tower, a structure 150 feet higher than the Eiffel, from a design by the eminent engineer, Mr. George S. Morison. It is not certain, however, that this will be built. We can now form a general idea of the scheme of the Columbian Exposition, and when we remember that the roofed-in portion will cover 150 acres, or St. James' Park and the Green Park combined, and that these buildings will not be sheds, but as you will see pres- ently, magnificent — though temporary — structures, both as regards their engineering and their architectural features, you will not be surprised that the estimated cost — which we all know is not always quite the same thing as the actual cost — is a million and half ster- ling. P'ig. 5, a double plate, will give an accurate idea of the gen- eral appearance of the Exposition buildings and grounds, and indi- cates the appearance of the Exhibition as seen from the lake. Mr. D. H. Burnham, chief of construction, has entire charge of the construction of the magnificent buildings to be erected for the Columbian Exposition, and is eminently fitted for the responsible position, both as an architect and a man of great executive ability. After this hurried glance over the plan, I propose to give a few particulars of the principal buildings. 30 CHICAGO AND HER EXPOSITION OF 1893. IV.— THE AGRICULTURAL BUILDING. The Agricultural Section covers an area as large as that of the Green Park, and two-thirds of it will be covered with buildings, one- sixth of the whole being devoted to the iVIain Hall and the remainder to cattle sheds, stockyards, and a great assembly room, which will be used for musical performances and afterward as a cat- tle ring. The interior of the great building will present no striking features, but the outside, as you will see from fig. 6, is elaborate. Its main cornice is 65 feet above the ground; it has a large corner pavilion with central entrances, and a lofty colonnade running round each side. In the center of the building will be a rotunda 100 feet in diameter, and 130 feet high, and the exterior will be enriched by statuary at all the salient points. Adjoining the Agricultural Building are several others; an annex, 328 feet by 500 feet, to receive overflow exhibits; a sawmill, nearly an acre in extent, and a Forestry Building of 2^ acres. A view •of this latter building is given in fig 8. The names of these buildings indicate their purpose, as also does that of a dairy (the design of which is shown in fig. 9), half an acre in extent, and in which it is intended that all the most advanced appliances and methods of American dairy farming shall be exhibited. South of the Agricultural Building are the yards and live stock sheds, these being no less than 40 acres in extent, and the open yards are 20 acres. v.— MACHINERY HALL- The Machinery Hall will cover an area of seventeen acres; that is to say it is more than twice as wide, and nearly four times as long as the Royal Agricultural Hall, at Islington. Its elaborate facade is on the Grand Avenue (see fig. 10), with a great classic portico, flanked by two towers as high as the London Monument. Within, its main feature will be three broad arched < I— ( a .o o H Q < o