The Evansville daily journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ia. [i.e. Ind.]) 1848-1862, 1859-06-02
Henry Ward Beeeher ON CHICAGO.

Mr.. Beecher has been at Chicago, and is
astonished at her rise and the beauty of her
architecture But he seems 10 be most struck
with the mode practiced of raising the streets
and houses above their former level He
says:
The city Of Chicago stood upon ground
which was both fat and low, and several
grades have been adopted TO remedy the
evil. But the latest and supposed final grade
is now established, and the whole city is to
be raised from FIVE to eight feet First, the
streets are raised, and then the houses are
pulled up 10 level afterwards and no
tongue can describe the state of a city where
is going on at once the building of sewers,
the raising of grades, and the screwing up
OF all the houses, intermixed with an enor-
nous business, which butts and pushes and
lodges through all manner Of obstacles in
the most surprising manner But IL is the
sidewalk that gives you the most original
views of possibilities. They are made of
brick, or stone, or plank, and the grade of
the sidewalk varies, we should think, in
some ten or fifteen different degrees First,
is one at the old level, five or six feet below
the grade Of the street, and you walk down
your head on level with the horses feet in
the street. But right in the middle of
block shall be one store built to the new
grade, and the sidewalk looms above your
head some five or six feet, to which you rise
by steps six or eight, and proceed the width
of the single store. But beyond that you go
down two steps, next up three, down six, up
two, then up two more, then down eight,
then up an inclined plane, then mount into
an incloSed board walk, suspended over an
awful chasm, where men are screwing up an
enormous building. frH
And if there is a possible modification of
six feet through the instrumentality OF stairs,
steps, inclined plane, or perpendiculars if
there is a possible catalogue of stretches,
jumps, slips, steps, tumbles, or toe-stubbing
! plunges, that is not exhausted inthe extra
ordinry varieties of Lake street, Randolph
street, or Clark street, then we marvel yet
more than ever before at the infinite divisi-
J bility of matter and distance Some wag-
gish editors of neighboring rival cities say
that genuine Chicago man may be known
abroad, as sailor is off from a ship, by GER
tain mysterious efforts to step up invisible
stairs, or by an accommodating of himself
on smooth sidewalk to imaginary obsta.
1 Giles.
But these are only temporary troubles
and when Chicago gets fairly into her new
position, she will be comedy city, as vel
as " tremendous place for business" And
now the process which is going on has ont
element of great interest, viz: the raising
Of brick and stone houses. Not that thi!
lifting of brick houses is n new thing, Blu
if screwing up whole blocks at once, anC
lifting whole street, is not new in fact, j
is new to me. Buildings of brick or stone
one hundred and fifty feet by two hundred
and FIVE stories high, are raised eight or tel
feet, without a crack of the displace
ment of a single thing. A hotel con
acts to be lifted up. In short tim'
two tho usand screws are under il, an,
little by little the house rises. Nothin,
is changed within. The kitchen cooks, tn
dining-room eats, the bar drinks, and al
the rooms smoke, as if nothing was goinl
on A block of stores and Offices begin
this new process of growth, and all the ten
J ants maintain their usual functions; an
except the outrageous heaps of dirt an,
piles of lumber, everything goes on as be
fore. The plank in the door gets littl
sleeper every day. But goods come in an
60 out and customers haunt the usua
places.
1t is worth u visit to Chicago, to see
new method OF digging city out of ia
f mud, and in a great deal better state G
preservation, than Pompeii and Herculs
neum, when dug out of the ashes.