, 1881-05-29

|
TIE BRIDGE OBSTRUCTION.
| We print elsewhere al article showing the
extent of the obstruction to street travel
| from tho South Division occasOueu ny tho
| opening of the bridges to permit vessels 10
| pass up OF down the river. The time taken
| was from $ to O'clock p. Ill. on week day
other than Saturday, and the points selected
were tho bridges from Van Buren, street to
Rush street, and also tue two tunnels.
The city has recently revised the or
dinanceS, and these revised ordinances are
to take effect in a few weeks. One OF these
enactments provides that the bridges shall
remain closed for the hour from $3.50 tn 6:3o
y. Ill. each day, OF so long rs any passengers
| or vehicles may be in waiting to cross.
| Against this regulation it is understood tile
vcsseEowners protest, and protest indignant
ly, as an Unconstitutional obstruction to COM
merce aud navigation, and, us they put 1t, All
understandable and i1npoltic discrimination
against the interest to which Chicago is so
greatly indebted for her trade aud for her
prosperity.
| We tlink the figures and facts we give are
| sufficient to satisfy even the vesscl-owners
that tile new ordinance imposes no hnreason-
uble restraint upon the use Of the river. anu
that, on tho contrary, the new regulation Will
| be Il great convenience and It great economy
| Of time to them, as compared to the present
regulation.
| ltappears TINT on an average weekday tile
number Of persons crossing from the South
| Side to tic West and North Sides between
| the hours of 5 and 7 in thoafternoon Is 81, ,Cl3
r. <t,o. IS: i'm
foot, that ~, 955 80 in the street-cars, and6,70
in carriages and other vehicles. Or the whole
number only l,}lo pass through the tunnels.
! Those conyenences are nearly yalueless. Ill
addition to the 81, ,Gt3 persons crossing from
tho South to the other sides of the river with
in the hours named there are ), $50 vehicles Of
ull kinds, not including 437 horsc-cars.
lieduced to plain, simple question as to
economy of time and convenience to the pub
lie, the query is, Shall 54,0l2 persons and
! 1890 vehicles be arrested and Detained. anu
the ncighboring streets blocked for miles, Or
| some thirty vessels be required 10 wait one
! hour?
Under the present regulation the bridges
| are allowed to be open for the passage ut
vessels ten minutes at time, Wllen they
| must be closed. 1t is not possible, however,
to carry out that regulation. Vessels go both
i'll and out The greatest delays arc those
caused by the occurrences Of jams ut the
bridges; some propullers tuke Il much longer
time than ten minutes to pass through the
bridge, causing delays Of other vessels; some
times they get stuck, and remain within the
draw twenty, forty, or even sixty minutes,
blocking the river to MI passage by other
vessels, and keeping several bridges open, to
the interruption of all travel. Tho ten-nln-
ute rule may be carried out with some res.-
sonablc certainty during some parts Of the
day, but not i'll the latt hours Of the after
noon. During the hour which, under the
new ordinance, the bridges shall be
closed against the passage Of all vessels
the vessels could only claim passage during
these intervals of thirty minutes In NIL; 50 at
! tile most tito bridges will only be closed
thirty minutes more than at present. Dur
ing that hour the great pressure Of foot pas
sengers and Of crowded cars will have passed
over the bridges, and then, the draws being
open, the vessels can have full and unin-
terrupted right Of way, more being able to
enter and depart the river than in three
times the same length Of time under the
pTeStIlL regulation.
The new ordinance will be Of great public
convenience; and that, after all, is a full
justification Of it. The delay to the vessels is
trit1ing uld ilconsiderable. X little manage
ment will enable vessels to leave the river be-
fore $3.50, or to delay leaving until $780, and
this management will not be equal to a
damage of 500 year to all the vessels ell
tcrlng or leaving the harbor. But it will
make vast difference to $1,000 persons
who are now subjected to thu most
unjust and annoying delays, especially to
those who, having been employed ut labor
all day, naturally anu anxlously desire to
reach their homes. We have not included
in tho figures any allowance for the persons
coming from the West and North Sides to
the South Side, Of which probably there are
ma,ly thousands during the hours named.
Lake street bridge being unused during the
last week. 1t has been assumed that the travel
OH that street has been included in that over
Randolph and Wells streets
1t is common for vcssel-owners to object
to being cut off of the unobstrncted use Of
tile river, on the ground that it is conces-
sion to the horse-car lines at the cost Of tho
navigation interest. But the figures given Of
tie actual travel show that i'll the hours
named over 10000 persons travel in the horse
cars, ami it is the convenience of these per-
sons and not of the horse-car companies,
that is to he considered in the matter.
We think that within two weeks after the
new ordinance goes into operation, SO uni
vcrsal will he the approval Of it by the pub,
lie, and SO evident will be its advantages,
that the vcssel-owners themselves will con-
fess that it is to them also I'LL economy Of
time, and Of such great prac teal benefit that
they would not change it If they could.
TROUBLE IN THE CHURCH.
What is there in an organ, the instrument
Il