The Portland daily press., 1893-05-08

TENDS Tor miles beyond the fair grounds,
as we'll as miles and miles in every other
direction except to the east, and it can't
extend very far in that direction because
there is the lake. Yet even the lake does
not serve wholly to prevent the growth of
this bounding metropolis. On the north
side of town several syndicates are filing
in large tracts Of ground, retaining it
from the lake, and amassing fortunes by
the process. One of the greatest decisions
ever rendered by the supreme court of the
United States was that of few weeks ago
known as the lake trent case, which for
ever takes from a railway company whose
tracks run along the lake front the right
to extend it's dominion into the lake. This
decision deprives the railroad of riparian
rights estimated to be worth more than
$1oO, 900 900.
Washington is called the city of magnif-
cent distances, but the distances are more
magnificent in Chicago than they are at
the capital For instance, on a bright day
one may stand on this lake front in the
heart of the city and away off to the south
the towers, domes and giant roofs of the
w VAIN AtNli 1OOA1 up SUlOAS5 6tuQ GlC1I
against the horizon. The shape and pro-
portions of the top Of that greatest of all
buildings, the Manufactures and Liberal
Arts, are as plain almost as If it were but
8 mile away. The gilded dome of the Ad-
ministration building shines through all
the smoke and steam of industrial Chi
cago. A look at this little lake front park
shows at glance what serious blunder
tina r.1niQofnro ~ tha foi, vr,b
they decided to go out where there was
more room for their site. After spending
q couple Of millions of dollars in reclaim
ing land from the lake, and in the con-
struction Of great piers, they would have
found their site just about one-third large
enough for the purpose. A Thousand
acres Of jackson and Washington parks
and Midway plaisance, pretty stretch of
ground running from park to park, are
now in use, and none too much space at
that. One of the arguments used against
this site was that no way could be found
to take the people out to it fast enough, OF
to bring them back.
Transportation of the hundreds of thou
sands of yisitors to and from the park was
a problem, it Is true, but like all the other
problems in connection with this vast en-
terprise it appears to have been satisfac-
torily solved. According to the figures
given out by the managers of the yarious
TRANSPORTATION lines there win he sufficient
capacity Of cars, steamers. etc. to take
about 100000 persons to the fair in one
hour. Ii anything like this capacity be
developed in actual service there will be
no CAUSE ibr complaint. The greatest day
the fairs TO have during the summer is
not likely to show more than 400. GOO yisi-
tors. Even if the big day should reach the
enormous total of SOC. 600 yisitors-and
that is more than ever attendedsany fair in
one day-there viii he TRANSFORMATION ia.
ci1ities for all of them. 1t must be remern-
bered that while the demands of the reeu-
lar travel are almost up to the capacity of
the Chicago passenger lines. the Worlds
fair traffic to and from the city comes
heaviest in direction opposite to that of
the heavy city travel. In the morning.
when Chicagoans are coming to Their
business the Worlds fair crowds are tray-
cling in the other direction. and SO again
in the afternoon and evening. While the
facilities appear to be excellent between
the principal central cart of the CITY and
the fair grounds the most trouble is iikelv
to appear ON the north and west sides.
where no additional facilities have been
provided, and where the Worlds fair
travel and the regular travel will run in
parallel both of time and direction.
There are four principal routes to the
Worlds fair from the city. These are the
trains on the Illinois Central railway, the
elevated road, the cable line and the
steamships. First in Importance, perhaps,
is the Illinois Central, which occupies the
lake front. Its special Worlds fair trains
run every two minutes. and carry passen-
gers from the foot Of Van Buren, street,
which is about the center of the down
town district, to the exposition in fifteen
minutes. The fare is 10 cents each way,
and the trains do not stop between the
city ana the exposition. Passengers are
landed at four stations in the vicinity of
the fair grounds, allwithout the enclosure
but convenient to the gates. The cars