Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1861-03-19
OH, !, Ohio Gtates,,rrl !,
From chambers' (Edipburgh) Journ'
isla5nsigGAn Elevated City.

everywhere into exercise Dy tne almOBt lnueh
mite capabilities of the country, have causet
many things which are here seen on smal
scale, to assume, in that part OF the world, gi-
gantic proportions Another consequence Is, al
sudacity in graphing with physical difHcultie
such as the generality OF British engineer
would shrink from, even ifsuppied with ample
funds, to be used at discretion. An American
\ Ia so much accustomed to see wonderful thing
accomplished, that he becomes prepared instan
taneously to enter uponsana encourage project
which We should feel to be hundred year
ahead Of our present powers.
There is city in the West which even Amer
| leans will sometimes advert to as something o.
wonder; and that is Chicago, ON Lake Michi-
gan. You enter, by capital railway, an ag-
elomeration of streets and squares which ap.
pears not much less in extent than the city o.
Dublin, and YOU are told that IL all came into
existence since the British Reform Act was
passed. q 9is' ~ 'h w e-@ .Ila
: II Is no rude collection of wigwams or log
houses, but city OF lofty and elegant struct'
ures, with churches, state-house, and all other
suitable public buildings. Long terraces ofhand'
some mansiohs, looking out upon the lake, attest
thepresence Of q wealthy and luxurious class Of
inhabitante. Well, there was nothing Of the
kind there in $780, When the history Of the
spot is traced fifteen or eighteen years further
back, you find that it then boasted of nothing
but q trading station with small fort. The
writer was introduced to middle aged citizen
and learned that his wife has written an inter-
eeting book on the romantic perils which che
underwentiin her girlhood, as daughter Of the
sole merchant here trsfficing with the Indians
More marvellous still, there Is now o university
far to the west Of Chicago graced by n any
aH nrtft a hv Dr
D 3. Reid, long known in this country as o
teacher of chemistry, and as the superintendent
Of the operations for regulating the tempera-
ture of the House of Parliament. .'.u l'
This city had grown up to be the dwelling
place of 100, 900 inhabitants, before the people
had well become aware Of o radical fault in Its
nstruction--namely, that it had been bull
upon the surface Of plain 80 little elevated
above the lake, that there was no proper out
fall for drainage! Inccnveniences were ex-
perienced, and groaned over mildly, as usually
happens when inconveniences appear irremedi,
Ia5le; but they were inconveniences, nay, dan
gers to health and life, for all that, and when
at last come one said they might be remedied,
the sense of their importance was freely ex
pressed, To cut short long tale--the muni-
cpality gave ear to "a scheme for elevating the
city through vertical space to the extent of from
four to infect, according to the needs of VA
rious districts, by which it vas shown that good
drainage might be secured. Here he would be
bold engineer indeed who should bethink him
of such process as possible; but it does not
appear that the man who proposed to hoist up
Chicago was looked upon there as any thing ex
traordinary., The'writer, twhen at Chicago, in
October, 1860, couldigather little more than that
he was person of the name Ufi Brown. The
business was quick set about, for the Americans
do not, like US, consider and talk Of In one cen
tury what their descendants are to accom-
plish in the next Once satisfied that it was
the right thing to do, they--to use one oi
their favorite Ehrases-weDt ahead, and did it,
should rather say, they began to do II; they
began, and are now going on with 1t; for as
Rome was not built, so neither could Chicago be
hoisted up, all in one day. The stranger visiting
Chicago at present finds himself moving along
streets Of different levels; sometimes has to as.
cend, sometimes to descend, q trap-ladder of a
few steps which strangely interrupts the pave
ment Nor may it be for year or two to
come that all will be adjusted according to the
plan. :, .5As,.,,h i.g,s.A 81, "a .6..r.,g
But the process!-h Is q heavy building
IA good sized house will be as much as 1000
tons in weight) to be lifted2 how, If there be
means Of merely lifting. is the rise to be kept
so eauablei that the, walls will nct rend and
crack short, 60 more Or less to ruin7
Strange to say, the lifting is not only done
with ease, but is done so equally that no such
thing as a crack results, nor even so much as q
fake tplaster falls from the walls. And It is
not merely . single house which is so dealt
with, but whole blocks Of houses, masses like a
side Of Belgrave square or section of Regent
street, the fact being that individual houses
49, ~ xana-a1 az ad evikh otharo that q
is seldom or never they can be elevated sing
ly. gg15a .s-
\ To give some idea Of the "house raising bust.
ness ~ as local journal styles it, let us note
few particulars Of what was done with block
of buildings 60 lately az April, 1860 Be it
promised, thisb extended ,l20 feet in length,
with breadth Of from lao to ninety, and an
average height Of seventy feet. II included a
large bank, and eight other massive structures,
the basement story of which was divided into
thirteen shops. The entire weight was esti-
mated at $4,000 tons. Three firms contracted
for the work at $ls 900, or about f3 800, engag.
ing that for any damage that might arise, they
alone would be responsible. II was also ar
ranged-and this Is perhaps the most surprising
feature of the undertaking. there should be
no interruption to the businessof the various
concerns accommodated in the building,
The first step is to scarify away all the ground,
or fabric of any kind around the base of the
building; supplying, however, provisional gall
leries and gangways for the use Of the public
during the process of elevation. Then the
earth Is dug out from under q portion Of the
foundations, and strong beams inserted. aup-
ported by rows Of jack.screws set together as
closely as possible. When this is properly ar.
ranged, another Of the foundations is removed
in like manner, and so on till beams with jack
screws are under every wall Of the mass Of
buildings. In case Of the block in question,
there were in all 5000 screws employed. " ~
The next is to arrange for putting the screws
into action. To every ten man is assigned,
furnished With acrow-bar. AT the signal of o
whistle, be turns screw one fourth round, goes
on to another, which he turns In like manner
and so ON till all are turned. The screw having
thread Of three-eighths Of an inch, the build.
ing has been raised "a fourth part, of that space
throughout, or exactly 3.32d part of an inch.
The whistle again sounds; each crow bar Il
again applied to its series Of ten. screws, and q
similar amount Of veEticaI movement for ths
whole building 10 accomplished. And this op
GRAFTON 10 repeated Till the whole required ele
walton is accomplished. have large htho
grsphed print before me, In which we see th,
block In question, with its base laid bare, 30 a
to show the range Of workmen operating upoI
the screws, while the shops above are all In full
business, and the carriage way displays its or
dinary crowd Of coaches, wagons and foot pas
sengers, as II there were nothing particular 70
ling on. When the desired elevation /, attained
the beams are one by one replaced, with sub
structure Of masonry. and the pavement Il
restored on the new level. ), In this case, tn
elevation Of four feet eight inches was &C
lcomplishedi in fve days, and ills stated that th