Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1890-01-15

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WHAT A HALF CENTURY HAS WROUGHT.
Chicago is in latitude Al degs., So min.,
20 sec; longitude, 81 degs., IS min. W.,
with lake exposure which is especially
noticeable at that season of the year
when the small boys do most go in bath
ing. The site of Chicago was deter
mined by the Chicago river, up the south
branch Of which, the historian says, the
Indian padded his canoe, ages before
Sir George Pullman invented his justly
celebrated hingeless sleeping car blankets
or Philip Armour introduced his juicy
side meats and succulent leaf lard into
the great seething marts of trade. Here.
where once the rank thistle nodded in
the wynd and the dusky warrior, inno-
cent eyether of the knowledge of gun
powder or Persian powder, warred with
the turbulent Sioux or the more peace
full Chippewa, now n mighty metropolis,
laying hold upon the entire national sys-
tenn of railway traffic, sits calmly at the
foot of great chain of lakes and calls
attention TO herself by means of good
AC&aaAAas hVAheNo ~ NAit lhN-oof BAVPthAta ~
the skillful hand of such men as Charles
Dudley Warner, of Hartford, Conn, and
published by our esteemed contempt
rary, DIr. Harper, whose neat little jour
nal of civilization is printed at the west
end of the bridge.
Although the location of Chicago is to
all appearance on a low, fiat piece of
land, il is as a matter of fact sort of
watershed none the less and the dividing
line between the great valley of the St.
Lawrence and the Mississippi. This
makes il healthful and fills the air with
vigor, for the city is fully eighteen feet
above the level of the lake. Climbing
this height by easy stages, one is enabled
to look down upon the lake which lies at
his feet, and q sunrise viewed from the
crest of Michigan avenue is well worth
getting up to witness, even though one
has been up until quite late the evening
before.
Marquette, the Jesuit missionary. in
1878, was the first white man to set foot
on the site where since so many eminent
and extensive feet have been set. he
was on his way to catch a Milwaukee
train and got bridged there. Subsequent
ly he, La Sale, Joliet and Hennepin
passed down from the lake via the south
branch of the Chicago river to the Mis-
sissippi.
In 1901 the government built Fort
Dearborn at the mouth Of the river, and
later on some Indians, whose stock of
Caucasian pelts was running quite low,
killed the garrison and sent in their re-
port.
Aug. 10, 1888, Chicago decided to be-
come Incorporated, as twenty-eight peo-
pie had arrived there since the massacre
of 1912, and, after incorporating, the en-
tire population decided to hold the
Worlds fair at that point in 1892. Chi
cago was then getting one mail per week
via Niles, Mich. Now Niles ia glad To
get the most of her mail from Chicago.
The first newspaper was issued by John
Calhoun Nov. 90, 1888. This was rap
idly followed by another copy of the
same, which appeared Dec 3. Some OF
the old subscribers and advertisers are
still alive and point to themselves with
pride.
II was at about this time that s. was
paid, or were paid rather, perhaps as q
lawyers bill by the new city. Since that
prices have advanced, however, and now
Chicago pays more than that TO lawyers
every week. Hon. j. ID. Cation was
paid for legal services for 1884 SIS.
This sum, together with what he got for
his muskrat skins, kept him in good
style. 1t was about this time that q
large black bear was killed in front OF
the board of trade building, and William
Bross saw large gray wolf run by his
house on Michigan avenue.
Within half n century how all thin
has changed. The little paper which
then briefly announced the death by
massacre of its choicest subscribers OF
joyfully referred to the arrival of the
mail from Niles for the current week,
has given place to mammoth and hand
some journals representing every party
and every industry. Where old Chief
Polkadott, dressed like dish of salad,
viz, with oil, addressed the multitude,
now such men as James Russell Lowell
speak briefly on some occult subject like
Shakespeare and then regret afterward
that they did not speak on the subject
they agreed To speak on.
Where once Looloo, daughter of the
chintz- bug that-cleans-out-the-co
was wont to deck herself out in the coon
skin shoulder cape ana burlap leggins Of
n crude civilization, now beauty in Pa
risian gowns and the rich gear of Mr..
Worth, dazzles the eye of the savant and
proves that half century in the history
of typical American city means good
deal.
Chicago does not pity herself. She
does not feel sorry for herself. She &C
cepts her humble lot, pays the park tax
ON 1t and goes on about her business.
She has been burned out once and, like
Boston, made big hit by it. So the
kerosene lamp of Mrs. McGinty, or what.
ever her name may have been, was the
beacon light to show the city in which
direction beauty and prosperity lay.
She has tried various kinds of pave.
ment with sorrow and loss and discour.
agement, but now she is on the RICH,
track. You can ride about Chicago now