, 1877-12-15

The anestion Of tho unpleasant condition Of the
Chicago nscr hiss been fayortc ore In this city
tincc that stream 10 bc tic receptacle OF
the sewerage of largc population. It docs not
anywhere clearly appear that ,h!a Ch,engo River
ever was much Of ssream, and tho batance Of tea.
tony would Indicate that Il WAS at the dfat settle
mcnt Of the city about auch stream as thu Cal.
umet now 10. As soon "A 4 rapidly .tnctcaafng
population presented tho question Of sewage TO
the authorities, tho river rose from The rank Of
convenience 10 tho dignity Of nuisance. and 1t
has KEEP. hEm hold on the popular mind ever
since, II has occupied tho tinc Of the Council,
filled tho newspapers, and employed thousanls Of
men in vigorous. though unpaid, profanity.
The only wonder in tho caso ts that It
has been antYescd 10 grow in offenso 10 long. The
South l'ranch has sunk tnto the obscus!ty Of COM
reiation, BE- ps:scd BY w,th that M comrnt. - ''
linz ready to eject James buchanan President tho
Ill kAy0te OF the waters wcse commented On, and
achcmes mad" 10 clear thcn,. II had been acknowl.
edged then aud has noycr since been doubted. that
liz river should form main sewer r. to @ disehares @
the city's wasteaRe into the lake. This htet idea
ssanfed e w. rathcs csu19 qne tnat esua,. be
To- =" :;S r. :s:s sss;
who still holas tho Office, ,t.en.,e,i ths various
plans. such ns turning the Desplaines Kivcr into
t,e North branch 10 get q current. At that time
and showed clearly that It was practicable and That
1t would DO lhc wurk planned for Il:
In the repUtt for tho Hoard for 1870 Nf. Cheg.
broueh again discussed the matter At length,
THE FOUR SCHEMES
then bcfore tho public were these:
% e q ive1 axa Ss ,nnnns
This wa uos favored on account Of tns expense,
maintain current enough 10 keep .ihe rivcr clear.
i appeesed that these woull need =, 200 acres 10
store the water for enc month alone. and that
Xrtcsian weiis we're proposed. bn. Mr.. chcsbrougs,
showed TINT It would takc 405 auch wclla ~ sto
common here to give tho water needed.
Tho fourth suggestion. which was strongly
favored ey tho Engineer. ,was about tho hfst PIT.
ting In shape of the conduit. II was, In effect
that twB,vo.ioot tunnel be built along tho line uf
Fullerton arenue, from Tho lake 10 tho rrer, dis
sS ~hsh VI" no. Ss "a sns q Il se
Nothing was done, and In the report for 1s7o.'73
only for tho purpose OF contsovetting AID. Schn1-
ncr's pian fot lot Of srtralan wells In ia73 the
III s; s. ~ss opeo.S Ss sps n s' nTs4 Tb M
the !owest was slo so9 Thls. not proving , en- a..
itre'y satisfactory anshar lot wcre advertised for
ill., line sa* sds Soo but stiil another Til wss VA
ha.. and a. taE thttd attempt, the bids being
HsorRe f. Norris 4 Co.. 10 BE- completed BY july /,
1875. 1t WAS calculated that 1t would changs
twenty -four hours ard clcnt liz whole risereresy
head l,eing H bdo, COO Yallons. Tic .peclaestions
were that tho tunnel was to bc abuut II, 900 feet
y length, With az average depth Of twenty-five
t. ne s et 3 coes hs ely au H. hayh FEE
masnnty was to be twclro Inches In thicknets, Of
bricks laid In cement.
TnH END or THE NORRIS coaTnAcT
In Mainly remembered bY nil feAtHFx I'm firm
found they had tnade too low hid. md accurdlnR.
Y ;h1yw up u the !on " ,soarte, IN modern darn
carry out hs agreement With tho city uulesa he IL t.
make BY il. and tho general form Of taking bond
for te n of w.sk according sostt,et
At once went to the beautiful Council Of those days
ama explained tnat theY. would like to 10 lsi oil.
for shelf u,acinerr. and would al.o ike son,elh}ng
h1nts1s ~ shs way q setilsmsn, Ihis being
they Rut what they wanted without much difficulty
md Junn ~. 1877. the Aldusuen yotett that thu
nsas soatrastors ~ would bsgS to take the Nofrta
Es:.is Morn. Co. adsanesa ia'f for "'Te Slope
ping. the contract wn- ta4t tic work
was harder taen they expcstod and that They found
also founa tault with ths husiA9s. although The
spsesnea!ona plainly warned iheM that ..'the con.
to s q CHA s 9 k w F
polnta between OF on the si1os Ut the bnrtngs."
pe+pite thIs provislon, Tho Council consented 10
p0snls were Invited. Under these Tho work was r..
let Sept. IL. la7o, TO Fltxeinimons &! Cunncll for
*l4 .01. With ptoviau that It 1nust be completed
by Dec, l. 1871. undcf this contract lha work
has guns on well enough, and II nuw subatantally
done, there remaining only tittfu wurk At Tho
lake ond to trplace Job done BY an unsaithful
auh.C0ntFActur.
Tho conduit 10. however, entirely useless ~ Yc,,
and must be ~ tor many months to chm~ because
theFe ACt
NO ENGINES
with which to forcu tbs wntcf ont through It,
Enough money wss Appropriated BY tho Council to
complete everything, but tho prohibition against
borrowing H1ts than threH-fG1rEs OF The 9npro.
ptIatlon works to cut oil any Muuey, or cou,forta-
bio prosptct Of my, for the engines, and thuro.
fore tho tunnel Ii entirely useless, and ulllst r..
main 80 !1t tho present. It would cost about 31O.
uo0 to hnsh tho WORK. and that auna could 10 had
u tho taxua wete r0iIsctgd. This hids for tho en-
Rncs havr been received, but no award made. and
A1nc II likely 10 bc madc Il present.
The coxt Of the tunnel ~ far has been kt4p,.
l5. 3D. but thls must be Increased by Tho Gral es-
tamatc of the present contractors and tho Is per
cent which haa bean reserved from nlI sun1s due
theu,. When these su1ns, tho cbst of tbe snxfncs.
ETC., arc aIdel 1t viii u,ake tho Ut tho whols
improvement esxhero ahout $500, 000,- nut to
attempt 10 h0 too denate.
j. d. FASTER s. co,
susFENpkb PAYMENT.
1t Il not The failure OF another bank which Tux
TRIBUNE u Obliged to record khta morning hut thr