, 1874-08-09
THE IMPENDING CRISIS
What We Ray Expect. from the
Ogden Ditch: :::::
Danger Of General and Destructive
Z: Flood. :..,.,....::,. -.
"Reminiscences OF the peteG;e Of
l94Q.


At meeting O; the Special Council Commit,
tee appointed to Investigate the Ogden Ditch
hneinass, held juno 20, the, Mayor, Beard oi
Public Works, and several prominent citizens
being in attendance, Mr. I. T. Dorickson made
q atatoment in which, among other things le
pointed out the dauger OF the ditch
FLOODING THE E1o11ru AND NINTH WARDS
II spring 1ooda should sScH t1lo Desplaines
River to an unusual degree, I1o showed that
the waters Of the Dosplaines wcro several feet
above tho level Of our streets, md that tho can,
| mel which tapped the river WAS 50 narrow that it
could nercz carry or tho amount Of water poured
into it, which would load to tho washing away OF
the banks, aud 1 general inuudntiop. Tho point
where the ditch intersoots the rivor. 1lr Derrick
son nobscrved, being much higher than the Illinois
T. Michigan Ca.sat tie latter could not carry on
tie water, and, i'll case Of IN ico-gorse in tho
river, sunken vessel, OF a barge athNart the
| bridge,
| CHICAGO MOULD SUFFER DEyAsT.T1oH
compared with wlicl the Min River and other
disasters would appear trivial. In such IN
event Us u great frcshet, 1idcr such eircunl-
| stances, nothing could sure the city from at
least partial destruction. There was 10 security
Willie this state Of things lasted aud QUO of tho
| remedies proposed was tho widening Of the canal
to l25 fcot, aud increasing the depth thereof to
II feet. Even tnou it would bo ptob!euaatieal
! whether the overflow would not be highly dan
! Eerous to Chicago.
Mr. Doriclson considered that, if tho ditcI,
could not DO leSally closed. thero was but one
I ttue remedy for the evil, mud that was to lower
! the bed Of tho Dcsplaipos ut or below tho jnnc-
| ton with the ditoh, thereby allowing tho water
| to run into IFS natural channel.
I Qol Utley, who was also present, suggested
! TWO UENEplES:
[ One Was to put dam at tho upper end Of the
ditch, aud let tie water run into its natural
! course, AID the othor waa to en1arge the canal
; to LOO feot in width and feet III depth Other
| wise, LIE considered that, in case of n great
frokl.et, terrible dnas*er would 80 irovitab!c.
The members Of tue Board OF Public Works,
who were present, declared that everything Dos
bible had been done To remedy tho evil. Tho
private irdiyidual to come forward and take the
rar. Of tha municipality against certain Other
indiyiduals, Including
LONG JOHN WENTWORTH,
who ia tho Ueal CeLtre OF the whole trouble. 4
gtoa+ many had promised to appear in that Light
If tue city would bear the expenses. wllca WAS
as1eod to, bnt nobody Lad kept the promise.
THUS they [tho Boafd) wero left poweslcss to
The matter VAS referred to
TIE CORPORATION COUNSEL,
who. On juno %, reported to ALL Hildrcth,
Chairman Of the Spccial Committee, that it WAS
in tho power Of the City Of Chicago, or some in
aiyilual citizen thereof. to place an injunction
on the Ogden-K Keutwo1th ditch, and have it CT
fectually damned up, as being danger and .
nuisance to the city aforesaid.
Since that time neither AID. Hildrcth nor any
body else has taken action in tie matter, ard
the city is loft
AT THE MERCY OF THE FLOODS,
that may come at any time during tue fal1 aud
spring scasons. No arc now the verge of
tho equinoctial storms, and may have q disaster
upon us sooner than my person contemrIatcs-
Should the Dcsplaines overflow it's banks, tho
Ogdeu-W entuorih ditch would hurl down upon
us wall of water, perhaps 20 feet high, sweep
ing away millions worth OF property. and de-
stroy1ug an incaIculabla number of lives. Prob
ably air. Wentworth, whose towering altitude I9
to write the general obituary, and chronicle
tue appalling fact that the city which hes stood
repeated storms of tire succumbcd at last to the
rush Of waters brought upon it by Mr. Went
ter to think ora2, and our citizens should, forth
with,
DEMAND VIGOROUS ACTION
upou the part Of our city authorities. Neither
11r. Wentworth, Nr. Ogden, nor my other lr1n
Aas a right to keep open n water clauEel
to tue citizeas al Chicago. Aftcr
the experiences America LAS had i'll Connecticut.
in Maryland. aud III PENNSYLVANIA. our people
aoS6c 81 sqsn Dss
assisted by tllia rlllanous ditch, would sscep to
destruction all our bridges, decks. shipping,
warehouses, and everything valuable tlmt VIC
possess. including, as before bta:ol, our very
before it, but would also surcharge the Ecw-
ers, tunnels. ETC., and burst tlou into
chaos. The terrogs Of Ere are almost ~ nothing
compared with the new calamity that threatens
us, owing to the supincness Of lhose who are
supposed to be the guardians Ian of municipal in
tercst+-
10 illustrate tho fact that destructive floods in
Chicago arc not without precedent it may be
well to recall to tho minds Of our readers
TIE 1NUSDATloa OF 1S49,
when the Desplaines oycrdowed its banks, aud
wrought tremendous havoc to life and property
within the city limits. Fortunately the
commencement Of the horror WAS during day
light, On tho morning Of April y, lS4o, and,
torrent in it's work OF destruction. Mr. Obadiah |
Jaokson was witucss Of that calamity and, in
conversation with Tn1nCSE reporter ycstcr- !
dag, gave some dca Of its extent Tho follow |
ing IL, substantially,
mn. 1AcksoS's STATEMENT:
II MAS then, he said. going to school at old !
father kinsel]a's on the North Side. The t1ood |
came on, after heavy spring rains and G general !
breaking up Of tue leo, with / roar hko distant !
thundor. It swept with full fury over the !
tho North Branch and the Chicago River Nau-
iloph stract was tue ouly bridge on tho West /
Sido then ia existence. 1t waa i int turn
bridge, and the flood picked it up and
CARRIED IT AWAY LIKE CHIP.
CanA1-boats wcre lifted from their Moorings and
,yhirlcd toward the lake at an Incredible
speed. Lumber, shipping, and debris of
Ill kinda chokca up the bridges in such a
manner that tho current was strong enough
o suck in q oanal-boet aud drown nll on board.
Finally all these Bridges gave way, and we're
swept out to tho lake in tho general Nrack."
ncportoT-How long did the floods Inst
Mr. Jackson-With violence for abou: forty
Eight hours, but the water did not entirely sub
,ide for several dnys. There was tremendous
destruction of property, aud such sewerage as
No had was destroyed.
LIVES LOST.
Reporter-Do you remember the number OF
ives lost In TIC dieaster
Mr.. Jackson-Not exactly. but that there we're
eyeral can vouch for. The lake transportation
business lost heavily, and some Of their hesr,cst
nen fniled soon afterward. It was tho first
1cat financial blow that Chicago ever received.
Eoporter-What do you think abons leaving
he Ogden ditch in it's present condition
Mr Jackson-1 think that tho city il iuptrilea
y it every hour that it is a11orcd to remain
pen. The destruction would far eclipse that at
b49.
Reporter-Did it take you long to re-.stablsh