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LAWRENCE J. GUTTER 
 
 Collection of Chicogoono 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 
 AT CHICAGO 
 
 The University Library 
 
5o ttye public 
 
 9 HE Division of the City of Chicago lying north 
 of the river, and known as the "North Side," 
 is considered by residents and visitors alike as 
 ]• containing more of interest to those who cherish 
 the quaint landmarks of earlier daysj than any 
 other section. Beside having the advantage of 
 close proximity to the business district, it has 
 the prestige and historic importance of having 
 been the site on which the pioneers of the city 
 and the great northwest first congregated. The ground was the 
 highest hereabouts, and from the Indian hut, which was the early 
 nucleus, has grown the collossal city of which every Chicagoan is 
 justly proud. And this section, too, has steadily maintained its 
 position in the general development, its last great improvement 
 bein^ its cable car system, which has no superior anywhere. 
 Its good effect, in fact, has already been materially felt, yet 
 there are still greater benefits in store for the people, which will 
 be the more thoroughly appreciated as the disadvantages of new- 
 ness of construction gradually disappear, and the feeling of oppo- 
 sition sought to be engendered by certain public prints has lost its 
 force and been forgotten. 
 
 It is a part of the history of all new enterprises that they 
 have attracted a large share of public attention, and more or less 
 of criticism. From the building of the Tower of Babel down 
 to the smallest of modern engineering or constructive triumphs, 
 there have been many to criticise and condemn; and, as a rule, 
 those knowing the least have generally been found to be the most 
 captious and severe. It is probably unreasonable to expect that 
 such criticisms should always be fair, for the reason that it is next 
 to impossible for any two minds to see the same object alike; but 
 however adverse a critic may feel, there ought to be with it all a 
 
2 
 
 spirit of sincerity and candor, which is the natural adjunct of 
 honesty of purpose. The facts are, nevertheless, that such is not 
 always the case, and cannot be until human 
 selfishness yields to higher and nobler instincts, 
 and until truth becomes closer allied to the 
 consciences of that class in the world which so 
 uniformly fails to discover anything of good in 
 the endeavor of others. The North Chicago 
 Street Railroad Company has for several years 
 The Critic— From ^ a( l a P ecunar experience, and has grown to its 
 Life. present magnitude and success through a maze 
 
 of falsehood, and despite the persistent industry of a criticism 
 strange to integrity of intention, and foreign to anything akin 
 to a spirit of common fairness. 
 
 The daily News has been a shining example of the sordid and 
 carping critic alluded to, and this much can be said without apology 
 or fear of contradiction. Since the day the company and the 
 property in question passed into its present control, this particular 
 publication has never missed an opportunity to pervert and distort 
 the truth, and to magnify and embellish falsehood in referring to 
 it and its interests. Starting to criticise, it very rapidly developed 
 into an organ of malignant abuse, and it has never deviated from 
 its line of policy long enough to be even suspected of a disposition 
 to be just. While the other papers have deprecated whatever 
 shortcomings there have been, and at times, through ignorance of 
 the true situation, been led into extravagant 
 criticism, they have endeavored to present 
 the real facts and difficulties with reference 
 to the introduction and operation of the cable 
 system. Not so with the JVews, however, for 
 it has grown in bitterness toward the coin- 
 pany and its management, and delighted in 
 exaggerating the slightest hindrance into a 
 great public calamity. The stranding of the 
 cable, which is entirely unavoidable at times, 
 has been heralded as a failure of the entire 
 North Side car system, while the occasional The Critic— From 
 breaking of a grip has been worth a column "Judge." 
 
 of anathemas of the strongest order. If a loaded wagon hap- 
 pened to break down on the railway tracks, and impeded travel 
 
3 
 
 for a few minutes, the company has been unmercifully assailed. 
 and the city council called upon to revoke its charter; where a 
 passenger has been injured by jumping off a car while in motion, 
 public prejudice has been appealed to in the most unprincipled 
 and sensational style ; and when a cable has parted under the 
 severe service to which it has been subjected, or an unforseen ac- 
 cident has occurred, the common adjectives have been inadequate 
 to sufficiently denounce the management of the road, or to decry 
 
 LaSalle Avenue Power-IIouse. 
 
 the entire North Side railway system. In fact, the paper in 
 question has played the part of a virulent enemy from the first, 
 and few things have been too harsh for it to say, and few 
 ends too devious for it to resort to in the fulfillment of its self- 
 imposed mission. It has not only spared no pains to impair 
 the property of the company, to retard its progress and success, 
 but it has been equally tenacious in its endeavor to injure the 
 North Side generally. It has berated holdings of all kinds, and 
 
even gone so far as to try and create an exodus of residents from 
 thai division. By false publications and malicious inuendo il 
 lias sought to depreciate 4 real estate values, and left nothing 
 undone that could possibly contribute to the demoralization it 
 was seeking to bring about. That it has not been successful is 
 not its fault, and it is highly gratifying to the company to note 
 its failure. In fact, its course has had the effect to disgust all 
 classes, and if indications arc to be relied on, it is now reaping the 
 reward of its disgraceful conduct 
 
 In this connection it is probably worth while to show what 
 has been the effect of the cable road on values: Godfrey 
 Schmidj a large property owner, writes: "Everybody knows 
 that property on the North Side has risen in value since the 
 cable lines were built, some of it 50 per cent., and I am sure 
 none of it has been damaged." Continuing, he adds: u It (the 
 cable) has been a decided advantage to the residents and property 
 owners, the daily News to the contrary notwithstanding." E. S. 
 Dreyer & Co. write that "renting on the North Side is better this 
 year than ever before. * * The value of real 
 
 estate has considerably increased, compared with prices two or 
 th ice years ago, and the improvements and new buildings erected 
 in the last two years eclipse those of any time prior to the inaug- 
 uration of the cable system." A. Loeb & Son say in a letter 
 "that the cable system has been advantageous to real estate on the 
 North Side." W. D. Kerfoot & Co. write: "We have been 
 selling for the past few years a great deal of property in the 
 southern portion of Lake View, and find by comparing the sales 
 made two years ago with those made recently that prices have ad- 
 vanced fully 100 per cent." Turner & Co. also bear testimony to 
 the benefits of the cable system and its good effect on property. 
 Dozens of other letters of the same character from real estate 
 dealers, owners and agents could be quoted, but these are sufficient 
 to expose; the evil spirit which has prompted the JVews in its as- 
 saults upon North Side interests, and at the same time are an an- 
 swer to its libels. It has had nothing akin to "the milk of human 
 kindness" in its policy toward this company, for even when the 
 strike was on it encouraged the strikers, and did all it could to 
 embarrass the situation and prolong the inconvenience to the 
 public of being deprived of transit facilities. Its highest ambition 
 at all times has been that it continue consistent in its warfare, 
 
right or wrong, and it has only succeeded at the expense of its 
 dignity as a journal, and its character as a newspaper. 
 
 The North Chicago Street Railroad Company has heretofore 
 taken no notice of the disreputable conduct of the JVews, for it is 
 engaged in an entirely different line of business, but it has no 
 excuse to offer at this time. The publication of these pages 
 was determined upon as a means to present a few facts touch- 
 ing the relation of this corporation to the public, and at the 
 same time to defend the residents and property-owners of the 
 North Side against the calumnies that have been heaped upon 
 them over its shoulders. Reference to what has been said against 
 
 Section of the Cable Conduit and Tracks. 
 
 the company, therefore, is but a natural incident. The answers of 
 hundreds to the daily onslaughts against the management could be 
 given, but there is no desire to multiply words. A statement of 
 the facts, though they be already known to cable-car patrons, 
 will prove the strongest possible defense. 
 
 To start with, just as soon as the present management took 
 hold of the North Side road, it saw the absolute necessity of reliev- 
 ing the bridges connecting with that division. This was demanded 
 alike by the commerce of the river and the residents of the northern 
 section of the city, who were clamoring for rapid transit. The South 
 Side already had a cable system, and why not the North Side ? 
 This was the question that confronted the compan}-, and it at once 
 
set ;il unit answering it. There Avas the La Salle street tunnel, 
 which was almost entirely abandoned by the public, but when the 
 company offered to utilize it in the establishing of a cable system, 
 it was met with a proposition to pay a rental of $25,000 a year for 
 its use, or in lieu thereof to construct double steel bridges at 
 Wells and Clark streets. It chose to build the bridges, partly in 
 recognition of the public demand for increased facilities for cross- 
 ing the river, and partly for financial reasons, and, notwithstanding 
 the inconvenience growing out of their construction, there are 
 now no regrets on the subject, unless it be that such desirable im- 
 provements were so long deferred by the city authorities. A great 
 deal has been said by those inconvenienced about the time taken 
 to build the Wells street bridge, and there was also some complaint 
 in reference to the one at Clark street. The facts are, however, 
 that they were both built more rapidly than any of the other 
 
 bridges across the river or its 
 branches, for it took six months 
 to put up the State street bridge, 
 which is a single structure, while 
 the double bridges erected by 
 the city have occupied from 
 seven to nine months each. 
 
 With the acceptance of the 
 La Salle street tunnel the com- 
 " Another Cable Delay." pany saw the solution of both 
 the bridge nuisance and the rapid transit question, fully realiz- 
 ing, however, that the future was not to be a bed of roses. 
 It saw, through its engineers, extraordinary difficulties in the 
 way of successfully operating a cable system — the tunnel grades, 
 the loop curves, and the crossing of cables at the north ap- 
 proach — but was determined to spare neither pains nor expense 
 in meeting the mechanical problems presented. The work was 
 undertaken and pushed to completion, and its success is the 
 triumph of one of the most intricate and difficult pieces of engi- 
 neering in the railroad construction of the world. There were 
 cable systems already in operation, it is true, but nowhere was 
 there a similar condition of affairs, or like obstacles to overcome, 
 Tor while the material and construction were the best, nothing short 
 of long and careful experience could fit men to the new situation, 
 or adjust the vast improvements to the necessities of the public in 
 
active use. The process of operation was, therefore, necessarily 
 tedious ; yet, with it all, it can be truthfully said that the history 
 of cable roads fails to show a system anywhere of any preten- 
 sion that begins to compare with that of the North Side for 
 freedom from accidents and delays, and for safety and ease of action. 
 While it is a fact that mishaps growing out of inexperience have 
 occurred, there have been fewer of them than on any other road of 
 equal magnitude, and they have been as promptly remedied as dis- 
 covered. There have been a few errors of construction, too, and 
 
 View of Engine Eoom, La Salle Avenue Station. 
 
 annoyances have been the result, but the company has corrected 
 every trouble of the kind as soon as it was made apparent. One of 
 the earliest causes of complaint was the jamming of cars at the junc- 
 tion of Clark and Centre streets, but the completion of the Lincoln 
 avenue cable line did away with all of that. The most prolific source 
 of annoyance, however, was found at the north end of the tunnel, 
 where the cables crossed and re-crossed, and where the curves and 
 switches were a menace to engineering skill and almost jeopardized 
 the success of the system. The difficulties there developed one by 
 one, and, as quick as they appeared, were corrected, whether it meant 
 
the expenditure of one dollar or ten thousand dollars. In remedying 
 one trouble, too, it often occurred that another was created, yet the 
 company has never faltered for a moment, but has pushed boldly 
 forward, until it can boast of the best equipped and most thorough 
 <<il>l< system to be found anywhere. Its aim has been to have the 
 best that could be secured, no matter what the cost, and the man- 
 agement unhesitatingly maintains, and without the fear of truthful 
 contradiction, that it has succeeded, notwithstanding the oft-repeated 
 statements of its enemies to the contrary. The company, in a 
 word, has gone on to success, and not only answered the vitupera- 
 tion of its enemies, but has overcome the prejudices they have so 
 industriously sought to create and foster in the minds of the public 
 at large, and it earnestly invites an examination and comparison Of 
 its "plant," feeling confident that the result will more than sustain 
 all that it has ever claimed. 
 
 When the present management entered upon the control of 
 the North Side car system in March, 1886, there were thirty-five 
 miles of track in operation; now there are sixty-eight miles, of 
 which fifteen are cable. The residents of that division were in the 
 midst of the bridge nuisance, which seems, however, to have been 
 almost forgotten by the croakers the moment it disappeared. The 
 facilities for getting across the river were so inadequate that the 
 public prints were advocating filling the stream, and many times 
 committees of citizens had waited on the old management of the 
 company to induce it to use the tunnel to afford relief, but without 
 avail. The bridges, in fact, were regarded as a positive hindrance to 
 North Side growth, and public sentiment was very strong against 
 them. Because of their insufficiency, it was no unusual thing to see 
 a line of teams at either of the approaches several blocks long, when- 
 ever they were swung for a few minutes, the disastrous effect of 
 which, on both business and travel, can scarcely be estimated. 
 Figures made, showed that the bridges were causing a loss in time 
 of about three hours out of every twelve — or twenty-five per cent. 
 — to the population having to pass over them. But all of this 
 is now as a dream, and scarcely remembered by the thousands 
 who glide through the tunnel day after day, in defiance of the 
 exactions of commerce in the river above them, and oblivious to 
 the existence of the bridges to the right or the left, and are dropped 
 with equal facility at either their office door, or their wonted pur- 
 chasing counter. Then, again, it should be kept in mind that the 
 
9 
 
 introduction of the cable system has not only cured the bridge 
 nuisance, but it has supplied rapid transit at the same time. In 
 the days of horse cars the speed was six miles an hour, while in 
 the days of the cable it has grown to eleven miles on Clark and 
 Wells streets, and twelve on Lincoln avenue. The increase, 
 however, is better shown by the actual time card, which was 1$ 
 minutes on Clark street, by horse cars, from the city limits to 
 Washington street, and is now^ minutes by cable cars — or a 
 saving of 15 minutes, leaving the former loss of time at the 
 bridges entirely out of account. And this saving is divided 
 between the 100,000 people who now patronize the North Side 
 cars, as against the 60,000 who were bridged every day in the 
 pre-cable period. In other words, the 100,000 who now ride are 
 not only saved the 25 per cent, loss of time on account of the old 
 
 The Bell Has Rung— You Know IIoav It Used To Be. 
 
 bridge nusiance, but they are also enjoying an increase of about 35 
 per cent, in speed of travel, which the company's 60,000 patrons in 
 the days gone by were a stranger to. But these are not all 
 of the advantages the cable has brought, for with the increase of 
 speed has come a large growth in the capacity to carry passengers. 
 While the population of the North Division has multiplied and 
 extended, the company has met the improved condition by increas- 
 ing the carrying room of its rolling stock three times as great as 
 has been the growth in the number of its patrons. That is, for 
 every passenger added, the company has provided three new 
 seats, so it will be seen that, despite the earnings of the evil 
 disposed and jealously inclined, a studied effort has been made 
 in every direction to cater to the necessities of the public, and 
 to afford a safe, rapid and comfortable means of transit. The 
 
10 
 
 measure of success met in the endeavor can only be computed by 
 comparison, or fully appreciated by reverting to the old order of 
 things. There is no longer any occasion for swearing at the 
 bridge-tenders, or waiting at the viaducts in dense clouds of smoke 
 from the engines below, for the arrival of a tug to pull a vessel out 
 of the draw; there is no more stopping for slow and balky teams 
 to get out of the way, nor is the patron of the cable car the victim 
 of the cranky and perverse army of teamsters that existed in the 
 "good old days of yore ;" the relieving of the bridges of much 
 of the car traffic, too, has been of untold advantage to business 
 of all kinds ; there is no longer the jam of cars and other 
 vehicles in almost endless tangles at prominent down town street 
 intersections; patrons of places of amusement are delivered as 
 though from their carriages wherever their tickets call for ; and 
 instead of the old bouncing process over rough rails and an im- 
 perfect road-bed, the passengers 
 ride with safety and comfort over 
 as smooth a surface as it is pos- 
 sible to maintain. In fact, the 
 condition has been so much im- 
 proved that, though the cable 
 should break every day, and the 
 '"'-IfW 111 '"' very worst said of the system by 
 
 Do You Kemember? jj- s enemies should be true, there 
 
 are none so obtuse as to desire to return to horse-cars or horse-car 
 annoyances. The effect of rapid transit and abolishing the bridge 
 nuisance has been to give the North Side a boom, publications to 
 the contrary notwithstanding, and as the cable system develops, 
 extends and improves, as it is doing every day, its friends will 
 multiply and its enemies disappear in the mire of their own making. 
 Nothing tells the story of the boom better than real estate sales, and 
 a few figures may not be out of place. In 1886, a month after the 
 present company took hold, the southwest corner of Clark and 
 Schiller streets sold for $20,000, and last fall E. S. Dreyer & Co. 
 resold it for $28,000 ; ninety-six feet on Dearborn avenue, near 
 Indiana street, sold in 1887 for $30,000, and was a year later sold 
 for $36,000. C. F. Collott & Co. report the sale of the southwest 
 corner of Clark and Illinois streets, in 1885, for $52,000, and that 
 they have recently refused $80,000 for the same property; they 
 sold fifty feet on the corner of Barry and Evanston avenues, in 
 
11 
 
 1887, for $5,000, which they have since resold for $7,000 ; in 1884 
 they sold 220 feet on Lake View avenue boulevard for $90 a foot, 
 which they resold a few months ago for $218 a foot ; they also 
 report a sale on Clark street, near Fullerton avenue, of a piece of 
 property for $12,000, which they sold just before the cable 
 was put in for $6,400. Page after page of similar illustra- 
 tions could be given, but these suffice to show the utter ridicu- 
 lousness of the assaults against North Side values, and also 
 demonstrate the extreme foolishness of the attacks on this 
 company in the endeavor to destroy public confidence in its 
 management. 
 
 An effort has also been made by the critic enemies of the 
 North Chicago Street Railroad Company, and the traducers of 
 North Side interests, to convey 
 the idea that the company's 
 " plant " was cheaply construct- 
 ed, that the poorest kind of 
 material had been used, and 
 that the entire cable system was 
 therefore necessarily faulty, if 
 not an absolute failure. Such 
 propositions, in view of the fact 
 that the company has voluntarily 
 invested millions of dollars in 
 the improvement, are scarcely 
 worth answering ; yet it may not 
 be amiss to allude to this particular branch of the subject, es- 
 pecially since the success of the entire system hinges on the 
 character of its construction. The company, as before stated, 
 saw before it great engineering difficulties to start with, and 
 to the end that there should be as few failures as possible, 
 insisted from the beginning on first-class workmanship, and also 
 that the best material should be used in every part of the 
 undertaking. It was necessary to have a perfect conduit, firm and 
 smooth tracks, ample manholes, and a complete electric and drain- 
 age system ; hence, in making the drawings for the ground work, 
 and in approving the details of the plans, the greatest care was 
 exercised. The specifications on which the work was done, too, were 
 the most exacting, and the result is summed up in the announce- 
 ment that there is nowhere to be found — the company's foes to 
 
12 
 
 the contrary notwithstanding — better concreting and masonry, 
 or more profuse use of material in construction. These were the 
 first considerations to be attained, and the very basis of the success 
 which lias crowned the vast expenditure of money in the interest of 
 rapid transit for the North Side. With faulty construction the 
 entire system would have been the failure certain individuals have 
 desired it should be ; whereas, with proper construction, it has 
 proved one of the best ever contracted for. To perfection of 
 workmanship, however, had to be added machinery and other 
 
 ^gyfogyL. 
 
 View of Electric Plant, LaSalle Avenue Station. 
 
 equipments, and in this direction nothing has been spared. And 
 it is not saying too much to claim that the company's engines 
 are equal to the best anywhere manufactured — that there are none 
 which surpass them — and that its engine-houses or power-stations 
 are the finest and best adapted of any in the country. It is 
 not going too far, either, to claim that with the substantial ele- 
 gance which characterizes the "plant" throughout, nothing has 
 been omitted that could contribute to public safety in the opera- 
 tion of the cable system. Every known device and precaution 
 have been seized upon, and the effect is seen in the scarcity of 
 
13 
 
 accidents in the operation of the company's several lines. One of 
 the notable and most modern devices in this direction is an electric 
 signal, by which the conductor of a car can communicate with his 
 power-house at every street intersection. If the cable should 
 strand at any point, or the "grip" become unmanageable or go 
 wrong, as it sometimes does, the conductor can signal the engineer 
 
 1 
 
 Clark Street Power House. 
 
 miles away and stop the cable with about the same facility a driver 
 can stop his horses. Improved double brakes have also been ap- 
 plied, as another preventative of accidents ; new coupling appa 
 ratus has been added, and in the interest of public comfort and 
 convenience the lighting of the La Salle street tunnel by electricity 
 has been supplemented by automatically lighting many of the cars 
 
14 
 
 by the same means, and the purpose of -the company is to ultimately 
 light all of the closed cars passing through the tunnel in the same 
 way. In fact, the management has been so careful in every detail, 
 and so solicitous in providing the public with rapid transit facil- 
 ities, that it takes particular pride in inviting a comparison of its 
 system with that of any and all others, whether at home or 
 abroad. And it has no desire, either, to abridge the comparison, 
 but it is entirely willing that it should start with the construction 
 and extend to the operation and direction, and has no concern 
 or apprehension as to what the verdict will be. Nowhere will 
 better constructive work be found ; its engines and machinery are 
 the best that could be procured ; the tracks are as smooth as a 
 floor ; accidents have been comparatively f ew ; delays and mishaps 
 have been less than on any other line of its length, and the cars 
 and general accommodation could scarcely have been better. And 
 in this connection it may not be out of the way to note that the 
 cable, nor any part of it, has ever been stopped an entire day 
 since it commenced running, while it is notorious in the history of 
 other cable lines that they have been stopped from breakages or 
 other causes for weeks at a time before they began to work smooth 
 or anything like satisfactorily. 
 
 The company has three power-houses, one located at the cor- 
 ner of Clark and Elm streets, a second at the corner of Lincoln 
 and Wrightwood avenues, and a third at the corner of La Salle 
 avenue and Illinois street. The first-named is the central or main 
 station, and is a model of neatness and order. It contains four 
 Corliss engines of 500-horse power each, four sets of cable-driving 
 machinery, eight massive boilers, and the fuel is handled by an 
 elevator worked by a link belt apparatus. These engines drive 
 three distinct cables, the combined length of which is about 56,500 
 feet. One of them runs on Clark street north to within 150 feet of 
 the limits car-house and returns, and is 22,700 feet long ; the second 
 cable runs south on Clark street to within 150 feet of Illinois street 
 and returns, being 9,200 feet long ; and the third cable runs from 
 the power-house through a subway on Clark street to Division 
 si red, and on Division to Wells street, north on Wells street to 
 the intersection of Clark and Wisconsin streets, where it passes 
 around a large drum and returns to a point 150 feet north of 
 Illinois street, around another drum, back to Division, through the 
 subway, and to the power-house, the cable being 22,000 feet long. 
 
15 
 
 'ho Lincoln avenue power station contains two Corliss engines of 
 >00-horse power each, six boilers and two sets of driving machin- 
 ery, and the plant is used to move the Lincoln avenue cars between 
 the junction of Centre and Clark streets and Wrightwood avenue, 
 the cable for the purpose being about 18,000 feet long. At the La 
 Salle avenue station there are two Corliss engines of 300-horse 
 power each, one set of driving machinery and five boilers, and the 
 dynamos which supply the light for the station, tunnel and cars. 
 This nest of machinery and power is used for the cable in the 
 
 Boiler Koom— Clark Street Power House. 
 
 tunnel and the down-town loop, which is 12,500 feet long. On 
 account of the heavy service this particular piece of cable has to 
 perform, the wear on it is very great, hence it has to be frequently 
 renewed. It was some time before its life could be determined ; 
 experience, however, has fully demonstrated the fact that th 
 appearance of the loop cable entirely fails to indicate its aelua. 
 condition. It may be, for instance, that only a few strands are 
 broken, but at the same time the material is often badly crystalized, 
 and liable to go to pieces at any moment. 
 
 The cars operated on the several lines all make a circuit through 
 
n; 
 
 the oar-houses at the northern terminus — going in from the right- 
 hand track and coming out on the left — which avoids the delay 
 and confusion incident to the use of horses and the turning and 
 switching of cars. The cable on these lines weigh over 75 tons, 
 and the entire mass is driven past a given point, supposing the cable 
 to be continuous, once in about every sixty minutes, carrying with 
 it nearly one hundred cars which are very often heavily loaded. 
 This, however, fails to convey anything like an adequate idea of 
 the service performed by the engines, or even the cable, for there 
 is scarcely a way of computing the extreme tension emergencies 
 often create, nor yet of estimating the exactions of such extraor- 
 dinary duty on machinery used as this is. It is enough to say, 
 perhaps, which cannot be too strongly emphasized, that both the 
 cable and the power have been found ample, and they have not 
 only worked satisfactorily, but have best answered the charge against 
 the company that it was dealing in cheap and inferior things. The 
 machinery has proved without a flaw, and not a single break-down 
 has occurred at the power stations, which is a remarkable circum- 
 stance, especially where so great a service has been demanded; 
 and, so far as the main cable is concerned, by which is meant all 
 north of Illinois street, the company could not have asked for 
 better results. There have been very few breakages, and the delays 
 on account of the cable proper have scarcely been worth mention- 
 ing. It is true that, before the Lincoln avenue line was started, 
 there was considerable complaint growing out of the delay incident 
 to transferring and the massing of cars at the intersection of Clark 
 and Centre streets, but it was not chargeable to the cable system, 
 and disappeared the earliest possible moment the cause could be 
 removed. In other words, there has been nothing in the operation 
 of the main cable which has not been assuring, and while the com- 
 pany has regretted more than its patrons possibly could the delays 
 and vexations growing out of the starting of new machinery, it 
 congratulates itself that it has been so heartily sustained by public 
 faith in its constant endeavor to right wrongs, correct shortcomings, 
 and serve its patrons in an entirely satisfactory manner. 
 
 Whatever trying difficulty has appeared in the operation of 
 the "plant," has not been with the machinery, nor with the main 
 cable, but with the cable through the tunnel and around the down- 
 town Loop. The trouble has been, however, of purely an engineer- 
 ing character, and the public failing to fully appreciate the 
 
17 
 
 obstacles to be overcome, the company has not always been sur- 
 prised at the complaints made, nor yet prepared to say that some 
 of them were not flavored with a degree of justice. The passenger 
 
 Clio was suddenly stopped in the tunnel when in a hurry to get to 
 usiness, or back home, was naturally indignant, simply because 
 he knew nothing of the underlying cause, and when subsequently 
 reading in one of the papers that cheap machinery and bad man- 
 agement had been the source of his misfortune, his indignation 
 was simply fanned into a flame of anger. The situation would 
 have been different if the passenger could have understood that 
 
 View of Engine Koom, Clark Street Power House. 
 behind all such mishaps was an unavoidable cause, and that the 
 company had in its constant employ a corps of experts who were 
 doing nothing else but trying to anticipate all such conditions and 
 make public inconvenience an impossibility. Many difficulties that 
 could not have been foreseen by the engineers were timely met and 
 removed, but the mass of them developed so slowly as to be quite 
 annoying at times. The earliest and most serious trouble at the 
 north approach to the tunnel was the fact that the cable crossed 
 and re-crossed at all kinds of angles, and with the result that the 
 "grips "were being occasionally broken at that point, entailing 
 
L8 
 
 more or Less confusion and delay. The apparatus originally sup- 
 plied to remedy the difficulty had failed to do the work, and nothing 
 short of absolute 4 experience could have shown it. The cars had 
 to be drawn around the curves by horses, as one of the results. 
 and the situation was very often exasperating, but no more so to the 
 public than to the company, to which every delay, from whatever 
 cause, was a positive loss. It took months of hard work, and 
 most of it was after the cable had been stopped for the night, and 
 the company's patrons were asleep, to remedy the trouble. The 
 device put in to lift or lower the cable, or switch a car, one night, 
 was found the next day to be not entirely reliable in actual use, and 
 thus the unsatisfactory condition of affairs was prolonged, but 
 the remedy was finally found, and is now in successful use. An- 
 other trouble, which it took time to correct, was with the "grips," 
 the effect of which was seen in the cars being stuck in the tunnel 
 when heavily loaded. This always occurred in the hurry time of 
 day, hence was particularly aggravating. It could not possibly 
 have been foreseen, and it was left to actual experience to be righted 
 Even after the difficulty was discovered, it took quite a while to 
 remedy it, because the cars had to be kept going, but it was finally 
 overcome, and no more has been heard about weak "grips," and 
 stoppages in the tunnel have grown to be so few and far between 
 that memory goeth not back. And when the "grips "had been 
 strengthened, which admitted of trains being run instead of single 
 cars, it was soon discovered that the cable needed to be larger to 
 meet the increased weight to which it was subjected. It was a 
 very simple matter to make the change, but it took time, mid 
 carried with it further public annoyance, but it was made without 
 losing a trip or embarrasing a passenger. This change, however, 
 simple as it was, brought others, which has been the uniform 
 history of the "loop" system in reaching its present degree of 
 perfection. With a strong "grip "and an enlarged cable, train 
 after train of cars could be drawn under the river without limit, 
 but lo, and behold! it was discovered one fine day by actual 
 experience that to mount the tunnel grades and gracefully swing 
 around the. "loop" curves it would be necessary to increase the 
 power at the engine-house by putting in additional and stronger 
 machinery. This, too, was very simple, but how was the change 
 to be made without interfering with travel? The patrons of the 
 company will remember when most of the riding was done on the 
 
19 
 
 ^rip-cars, and when there was abundant complaint about the want 
 of accommodations, morning and evening, all of which explains 
 how the transformation was made. One of the old engines had to 
 be thrown out of use, while more powerful ones were put in its 
 place, and to do this the company had to reduce the number of 
 cars moved by the cable, with the result that another unavoidable 
 cause xyf complaint was afforded. The public at large, however, 
 knew nothing of the facts, and the company's critics failed to fur- 
 nish any information on the subject. 
 
 So little is known about the ' ' loop " cable, the intricacies of 
 its adaptation and the severity of its service, that a few words of 
 explanation may be in place. It starts from the power station at 
 
 One of The Effects on The North Side. 
 
 the corner of Illinois street and La Salle avenue, and, going straight 
 through the tunnel, makes the curve around Monroe, Dearborn 
 and Randolph streets, and returns to the "vault" on La Salle 
 avenue. From the latter point it veers to the right, carrying the 
 cars over to Clark street, and to the "vault" south of Indiana 
 street. It passes around a'large drum at its junction with the main 
 cable, and returns to the "vault" on La Salle avenue, where it 
 takes another turn and wends its way along Illinois to Wells street, 
 taking the Wells street cars with it to the "vault " just south of 
 Indiana street. On Wells street it hugs another drum and returns 
 to the La Salle avenue "vault " and the power-house, having in its 
 course taken the cars from both Clark and Wells streets, drawn 
 them to the La Salle avenue "vault," and thence through the 
 
20 
 
 tunnel, around the "loop," and delivered them again at the points 
 
 from which they were received. It has thus taken the cars in 
 opposite and lateral directions at the same time, and though this 
 description of its course is necessarily imperfect, it ought to be 
 sufficient to convey to the uninitiated some sort of an idea of the 
 inl ricate and arduous nature of its work. In performing this service, 
 too. which ordinarily takes seventeen minutes, it should be borne 
 in mind that sixteen distinct curves have to be rounded, each con- 
 taining a nest of twenty wheels, all of which have a specific duty to 
 perform. These are not the commonplace carrying pulleys found 
 in the base of the conduit, but comprise a mechanical construction 
 as accurate as that of a watch, and as essential to the success of the 
 "loop" as the cable itself. There are 320 of these wheels in all, 
 and each of them has to bear its share of the immense squeezing, 
 binding and pulling strain to which the whole is subjected. The 
 breaking of any one of them, wdiich can no more be foreseen than 
 can the coming of the end of the world, is liable to occur at any 
 time, the effect of which has always been to create a delay 
 and tunnel blockade. Accidents of this kind, however, have 
 been very few, but such as have occurred have been used against 
 the company and the North Side without the slightest show of 
 justice or reason. 
 
 But a better idea of the extent of the strain on the cable 
 and the nests of machinery referred to may possibly be gained 
 by going into figures somewhat. For instance, in the busy 
 hours of the day the "loop" cable has attached to it, as so many 
 knots in a string, about sixty-five loaded cars at one time, which 
 are scattered along the tracks, on the tunnel grades, and on and off 
 the curves. The cars in themselves weigh from 6,500 to 13,000 
 pounds each, according to size, the average being, probably, about 
 i». 750 pounds, which would make their total weight 633,750 pounds, 
 or considerably over 300 tons. These same cars contain, when 
 loaded, at least 6,500 people, weighing at a fair estimate not less 
 than 900,000 pounds, or 450 tons ; so it will be seen that the cable, 
 which is a little over an inch and a quarter in diameter, is often 
 diawing 750 tons in and out of the tunnel, and that the nests of 
 wheels at the curves already described are not only bearing this 
 immense weight, but the weight of the cable in addition,. These 
 figures, however, fail to begin to convey a correct idea of the real 
 condition of affairs, for, while they approximately show much, 
 
21 
 
 they cannot, from the very nature of things, faithfully repre- 
 sent the actual situation. They show the strain to which the cable 
 is exposed, and indicate the weight the curve wheels have to carry, 
 and leave one to imagine something as to the power behind the 
 system necessary to keep it in motion ; but no account is taken of 
 the friction, the wear and tear, the extraordinary tax of starting 
 and stopping cars, nor of the numerous other things' which go 
 to increase the severity of the "loop" cable service. The 
 wheels for instance, act as so many mechanical hands, and are 
 
 Interior of Clark Street Vault. 
 bending the wires in the cable back and forth as if to break them. 
 Success sometimes attends the endeavor, and the result is seen in 
 what is called the "stranding" of the cable. This leads to a stop- 
 page of the cars occasionally for a few minutes, and the event is 
 heralded with great regularity by one of the afternoon prints, 
 wherein it is announced in glowing headlines that the cable system 
 is a failure, while the people of the North Side arc advised to 
 move into one of the other divisions of the city. Other cable 
 systems have "loops," but they are simply used to reverse cars 
 after they have been emptied, whereas the "loop" of the North 
 
22 
 
 aide company does the work of the entire system, and is constantly 
 heavily taxed with loaded cars. 
 
 In no other way, probably, can the extreme exactions of the 
 "loop" cable be better shown than by comparison. It is only 
 12,500 feet long, yet it handles all of the cars handled by the 
 three other cables of the system, and beside this it has to overcome 
 the tunnel grades and the strain at the curves which the other lines 
 arc free from. Every foot of it is taken in the hand of the 
 ''grip" time and again every day, and no less than 4,500 cars, 
 carrying from 70,000 to 100,000 people, gather locomotion from 
 it with the regularity that the sun rises. Each foot of it, to say 
 nothing about the grades it has to contend with, is doing the work 
 done by six feet of the main cable, and that it performs its duty so 
 well and with so little hindrance shows that it is well cared for. 
 But the facts are really more strongly put in the bare statement 
 that, while the main cable lasts from twelve to fifeeen months, 
 the " loop " cable has to be renewed every four or five weeks. This 
 is the story in a nutshell, and its telling ought not to be without its 
 effect, especially since so many unkind, unreasonable and false and 
 slanderous things have been ignorantly said against the company in 
 this connection. It has been accused of about everything, and its 
 transit system has been decried, and its management maligned, but 
 the sequence shows that it has neither turned to the right nor to 
 the left, but has constantly had an eye to the public welfare, and 
 especially to so perfecting its "plant," without regard to expense, 
 as to best promote rapid and safe transit for the North Side, and, 
 at the same time, forward the material interests of its patrons in 
 every possible direction. And it has not begun to tire in its laudable 
 endeavor, but has in contemplation a great many improvements 
 that cannot fail of hearty appreciation. One of these is the relief 
 of the over- worked "loop" cable, which will shortly be in use. 
 The plan is to so adjust and arrange the "plant " that an independ- 
 ent cable will take the cars from Clark or Wells streets and 
 deliver them at the north approach to the tunnel. This will leave 
 the "loop" cable to do the tunnel and South Side "loop" work, 
 which will save it a number of its curves, and also a considerable 
 portion of its present strain. Further than this, the calculation is 
 that the change will extend the life of the cable from four or five 
 weeks to nearly twice that number of months, and, at the same 
 time, effectually put an end to the possibility of any serious delay 
 
23 
 
 or annoyance from the causes heretofore most prolific in that line 
 of effects. Then again, the change will have another advantage 
 not to be overlooked, wherein it converts the North Side system 
 into a complete loop in itself, so in the event of a break down or 
 accident in the tunnel or on the South Side, the Clark and Wells 
 street cars instead of being jammed on Illinois street, will take up 
 the new cable and pass on around to the main cable again without 
 stopping. Thus, the Clark street car will return by Wells street, 
 and the Wells street car by Clark street, and the minimum 
 of public inconvenience and delay will have been attained. ■ A 
 
 View of the Clark Street Tension Pit. 
 
 breakage under these circumstances and conditions will be of no 
 popular concern. It will simply affect the company, and not its 
 patrons. The resident of Lake View will find the cable ready at 
 all times to bring him or her down town, whereas the delay here- 
 tofore of half an hour on the " loop " has meant a similar delay 
 all along the line. The passing of a procession on the South Side, 
 or the breaking down of a wagon on the tracks has demoralized 
 the entire system, but the days of strings of cars standing idly on 
 a street are at an end, and the occasions of patrons waiting for 
 " grips " and ' ' tailers " along the line because of such demoralization 
 
24 
 
25 
 
 are to be remembered with the things of the past. The ambi- 
 tion of the company and its management is to have the cable 
 system perfect, and nothing short of this will satisfy either. 
 
 The benefits and advantages of rapid transit to the North Side 
 are not confined to any particular section, but are felt by the public 
 at large — by the tourist passing this way, by the excursionist and 
 
 Lincoln Avenue Power House. 
 object-hunter, and by the thousands of visitors who arc yearly 
 attracted to Chicago from all parts of the world. It is true that 
 the residents of the North Division are most directly and constantly 
 benefited, and that to them the freedom from the bridge nuisance 
 and the advantages of rapid transit are most appreciated, but it is 
 equally true that nine-tenths of the visitors to Lincoln Park, come 
 
26 
 
 from where they may, are patrons of the North Chicago Street 
 Railroad Company. And the saying of this means more than 
 appears at a glance, for this particular spot is known the country 
 over, and the stranger would as soon think of seeing Chicago 
 without a look at Lake Michigan, as he would without seeing the 
 beautiful park spread out on the lake's shore, or discussing with 
 the eye the many attractions it presents. The tract was originally 
 laid out in 1864, and, at the time, embraced forty acres, adjoining 
 the old "City Cemetery." It was named "Lake Park," from the 
 fact of its proximity to the lake, and was intended as an addition 
 to the cemetery, but this plan was ultimately changed, and it 
 was named " Lincoln Park, " in honor of the martyred president. 
 In 1869 the legislature extended the park boundaries so as to em- 
 brace 250 acres, and, at the same time, a board of park com- 
 missioners was created, consisting of E. B. McCagg, J. B. Turner, 
 Joseph Stockton, Jacob Rehm and Andrew Nelson. Two years 
 later the power of appointing the commissioners was vested in the 
 governor, and S. M. Nickerson, Joseph Stockton, Belden P. Culver, 
 W. H. Bradley and Francis H. Kales were selected. Gen. 
 Stockton has been a member of the board ever since, and next to 
 him in continuous service has been F. H. Winston, who gave 
 twelve years to the work. E. S. Taylor, the present secretary, 
 has been with the board from the first, and has seen about $4,000,- 
 000 expended, of which at least $2,000,000 has been for improve- 
 ments and maintenance. 
 
 This is not the place to go into details about the growth and 
 development of Lincoln Park, except to show its relation to the 
 public and the North Chicago Railroad Company. Pages could 
 be written as to how it has improved from year to year, and then 
 but half justice would be done. The company, however, is par- 
 ticularly gratified at being able to say that as the park has grown 
 in beauty and attractiveness, the facilities for reaching it have 
 multiplied, and that visitors are heard every day to remark about 
 it, and to speak of the North Side cable system as one of the 
 many added objects of interest and pleasure. A few years ago 
 the park was a mere appendage to a graveyard, but it is- now 
 probably the prettiest and most popular breathing place in the 
 world. Its visitors were in earlier days confined to funeral 
 processions, and its music to burial dirges, but now people flock 
 there from every condition of life to wonder at its floral beauties, 
 
27 
 
 to revel in the delights of its lakes and shades, or to listen to the 
 open-air concerts so freely provided. The tiny wooden tomb- 
 stones, and the bleached marble slabs of the sepulchre, have given 
 way to the grass plot, the hillside, and nature's sweetest per- 
 fume. Instead of the unsightly mounds of sand, elegant mon- 
 uments have been reared to the memory of the good and great by 
 affectionate hands and liberal purses. The German-Americans 
 have honored their distinguished poet, Schiller, by perpetuating 
 his memory in bronze; by popular subscription Gen. Grant has 
 
 View of the Lincoln Avenue Engine Eoom. 
 
 been immortalized in stone and metal at a cost of $55,000; the 
 martyred Lincoln is remembered and ennobled by a monument 
 costing $40,000, the munificent gift of the lamented Eli Bates; 
 the late Martin Ryerson, in remembrance of the Indians found 
 here in the days of the early settlers, has contributed a monument 
 known as the "Alarm Group," representing an Ottawa Indian and 
 his family, at a cost of $20,000; the late Samuel Johnson provided 
 $10,000 in his will for a monument to Shakespeare, which is about 
 to be erected; citizens of Scandinavian descent headed by Robert 
 
L'S 
 
 Lindblom, are preparing to rear a monument to Linnaeus, one of 
 their distinguished scientists and scholars, at a cost of $40,000, and 
 there it to be added to all this in the near future the "Bates 
 Fountain,' 5 to cost $15,000, which was also the gift of Eli Bates. 
 Then, again, there has grown up in the park a choice collection of 
 wild animals, embracing most of the species from the ground hog 
 to the elephant, while the lakes are filled with fowl at once attract- 
 ive and pleasing. Most of the animals have been the gift of indi- 
 viduals, and it is no unusual thing for excursion parties to come 
 from long distances to view the herds of buffalo, to see the climb- 
 ing bears, pet the patient camels, watch the tireless sea lions, and 
 witness the freaks of the numerous other specimens of the animal 
 world which the plains and the forests have contributed. 
 
 With all these attractions, and many more that could be 
 spoken of, is it at all singular that the North Chicago cable system 
 
 As It Was. 
 
 has the world for its patrons? And since the horse cars have given 
 way to the progress of time, is it strange that as the facilities for 
 reaching Lincoln Park have increased, the number of visitors has 
 more than doubled in the last few years ? It is estimated that the 
 park often contains as many as 50,000 people at a time, and it is 
 almost an every day occurrence that half that number of men, 
 women and children are finding rest and comfort within its limits. 
 It is the people's park, and to add to its accessibility the company 
 has recently connected it with the West Side by a line of cars on 
 North avenue. Still another line brings the people from Lake 
 View and the north, but after all the cable system is the great 
 feeder, and without it this ever popular resort, attractive as it is, 
 would be next to deserted. That is, without the cable and the 
 facilities of transit it has brought, there would be no adequate 
 
29 
 
 means of reaching this magnificent North Side retreat, and strang- 
 ers would be compelled to turn from the thought of breathing the 
 pure air it affords, feasting the eye, or inhaling the fragrance its 
 flower-beds give out. But as it is, it has been made as convenient 
 of access as one's private garden, and while the railroad company 
 does not claim any special credit for the part it has played, for it 
 has simply done its duty in meeting the public want, yet it cannot 
 refrain from congratulating itself that its interests have been allied 
 with so important an improvement as Lincoln Park, and that it 
 has been able by increasing the transit facilities to attract so much 
 deserved attention to the North Side. At a casual glance the park 
 is given a summer character, and almost any one would say that it 
 was practically closed in the winter, but such is far from the case, 
 the fact being that with the rapid transit afforded, it is fast becom 
 
 As It Is. 
 
 ing a popular resort even when the ground is covered with snow. 
 Thousands upon thousands go there in the winter to skate, and 
 from the fact that the lakes are well kept, and travel is rapid, 
 comfortable and sure, they come from far and near. Those of 
 leisure go in the day time, while the other class go at night, and 
 the result is the crowd is always large, and winter or summer the 
 park does not want for patrons, nor the railroad company for use 
 for its cars. The principal difference between summer and winter 
 is the difference in the classes. The Sunday school children who 
 picnic in the summer give way to those of more mature age in 
 winter — the lunch basket yields to the skate bag, the boats to the 
 ice, and thus it is that the park is a constant resort, except between 
 seasons when nature is changing its raiment, and humanity is 
 waiting for the inspiration the change always brings. Winter or 
 
30 
 
 Slimmer, therefore, Lincoln Park is never waul inn - in attendance, 
 but is always the one great centre of attraction for both residents 
 and visitors. And the spot, as beautiful as it is, is only in its 
 infancy, thanks to the enterprise and .wisdom of those in charge of 
 it. The plans have already been perfected for a boating place 
 along the Lake Front, where sailing and steam craft will vie in 
 speed and beauty, and later on it Avould not be surprising to see 
 the abutting beach transformed into one of the most desirable 
 bathing resorts in the country. 
 
 
 -*#*. 
 
 .JNT^ 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 Taking advantage of the experience of the several railway 
 enterprises of the country in changing systems, and promoting the 
 cause of rapid transit, it may not be amiss in this connection to 
 state that in a comparatively short time the West Division of the 
 city will be the rival of both the North and South Divisions, and in 
 the enjoyment of a cable system which promises to be second to 
 none in the world. The need of increased and rapid transit 
 facilities for that section of the city was early appreciated by the 
 West Chicago Street Railroad Company, and the moment it came 
 into possession of the lines it set about supplying the want. 
 There was some delay in getting authority from the city council 
 to make the change, but this was very natural, especially since 
 counter interests were opposing the improvement, anfl the people 
 were in the course of being educated in all that pertains to street 
 transit and improved railway facilities. 
 
 The ordinances as passed authorized the cabling of certain 
 streets, but the company agreed that for the present Madison street 
 and Milwaukee avenue would be used, they being main arteries, 
 and then again for the reason that they would accommodate and 
 benefit the greatest number of people. The work of getting out 
 the necessary material was at once commenced, the contracts were 
 let for the machinery and power houses, and in the meantime rep- 
 resentatives of the company were inspecting similar undertakings 
 from Maine to California. The object of examining other roads 
 and systems was to take advantage of any and all improvements 
 that had been made, the idea being to give to the West Side a 
 cable system perfect in construction and operation, and a car ser- 
 vice without fault, and hence above criticism. And the company 
 believes it will more than succeed, for the reason that neither skill 
 nor money has been spared in the planning and execution of the 
 work, and if there is not a decided boom in population and values 
 on the West Side at an early day, it will not be chargeable to the 
 West Chicago Street Railroad Company, nor to the want of enter- 
 prise, liberality and energy on the part of its management. The 
 
32 
 
 tearing up of the streets has been without scarcely a hindrance, 
 and the interruption to business, about which there was consider- 
 able anticipation, has not been worthy of mention. To the 
 contrary, the work has been done in a business-like way, and 
 on every hand the company has been congratulated, not only on 
 the character of the improvement, but on the fact that it has 
 been put in without complaint or serious public inconvenience. 
 These two lines will be in operation at the earliest possible day, 
 and thereafter the work of extending the system will be com- 
 menced and attention will be given the feeding and cross-town 
 lines. It is in contemplation to use the cable where it is 
 practicable, but where it is not the present idea seems to be to 
 employ other available power, the object being to dispense with 
 the use of horses as soon as possible, and at the same time sub- 
 stitute therefor a power which will give rapid, safe and uninter- 
 rupted transit to the residents, present and prospective, of the 
 great West Division. 
 
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