Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1893-05-08
TO CARRY CROWDS.
How People will Travel from
Chicago to Fair.
One Hundred Thousand An Hour Can
Easily be Accommodated,

/
BY Surface. Elevated. Cable and Coaching
| Lines and Steamers.
WORLDS FAIR, May 7.-( Special y
Not the least interesting feature Of the
great exposition is the manner in which
passengers are carried to it from the
| greater city. The fair, most readers will
| remember, is in Jackson park, and the dis
| tance from the central part Of Chicago
proper to the central gate Of the exposi-
ton grounds is about eight miles. The
fair Is within the city, and Chicago ex-
tends for miles beyond the fair grounds,
as well 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, reclaiming 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 front case, which for
ever takes from railway company whose
tracks run along the lake front the right
to extend its dominion into the lake. This
decision deprives the railroad of riparian
| rights estimated to be worth more than
500, 10000.
Washington is called the city of magnih-
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
Worlds fair loom up strong and clear
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
4 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 a glance what a serious blunder
the projectors of the fair escaped when
they decided to 20 out where there was
\ ilbfe Ttcllt lDF tlItiE s4tt. alttE SUeTulQK
& 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, a 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, or
to bring them back.
Transportation of the hundreds of thou
sands of visitors 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 various
transportation lines there will be sufficient
capacity of cars, steamers, etc, to take
about 10000 persons to the fair in one
hour. If anything like this capacity be
developed in actual service there will be
no cause for complaint The greatest day
the fair is to have during the summer is
not likely to show more than 400, 900 yisi-
tors. Even il the big day should reach the
enormous total of 900 visitors-and
that is more than everattended any fair in
one day-there will be transportation fa-
cilities for all of them. 1t must be remem-
bered that while the demands of the regu-
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 trav-
cling in the other direction, and SO again
In the afternoon and evening. While the
facilities appear to be excellent between
the principal central part of the city and
the fair grounds the most trouble is likely
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
World $ 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,
town district, to the exposition in fifteen
minutes. The fare is 10 cents each way,
and the trains do not stop between the
city and the exposition. Passengers are
landed at four stations in the vicinity of
the fair grounds, all without the enclosure
lslt convenient to the gates. The cars
l;sed for this special service are of rather
novel construction. They have been nick
named ''the cattle cars" because they are
ears which after the Worlds fair is over
will be converted into vehicles for the
transportation of livestock. There are no
| platforms at the end of the coaches, and
| he doors for entrance and egress are at
Tue sides. In this respect they resemble
! Il summer street car, or the cars used on
the Coney Island and other dummy SUI
| barban railroads in the east. The seats
| run cross-wise OF the cars, and each coach
will accommodate Dinety-six passengers.
| 4 step like that on an English passenger
coach runs along either side. A guard sits
| IN the roof of each of these coaches, and
| by u lever opens or closes an iron railing
| 'hich serves to protect passengers from
the danger of falling out while the train is
| il motion.
| Chicago has but one elevated railroad,
and this is called the Alley line, from the
| fact that its route lies through the alleys
| between State street and Wabash avenue.
| Where the road interSect5 cross streets the
company had to buy great deal of prop
| crty in order to secure passage way for its
structure. The city terminus of the road
Is at Congress street, which is about
| half a mile from Madison street, usually
| considered the downtown region. Until
recently the elevated road reached only to
| Thirty-ninth street, or but oue-half the
| distance to the fair, but it has been ex-
tended to the exposition grounds and
lands its passengers within the gates near
the Administration building. The fare is
| but cents each way, and the time con-
sIlIaai is about twenty or twenty-five min
utes. This line is able to carry q, 90 pas
sengers per hour, and is alreany very
popular.
The cable road which runs to the fair Is
the Wabash or Cottage Grove avenue line
II runs trains of three or four cars each
about once n minute. and can carry prob
ably 30.0o0 passengers per hour. The time
consumed in going from city to fair i
ferty-fve minutes, and the fare Is a nickel
each way. The road runs through part
of Washington park, and is n convenient
means Of reaching the Midway plaisanee,
Cable railways have been carried to high
state Of development in Chicago, probably
more of them being used here than in any
other city Of the country. There are &c
many Of these cable lines having theil
loops through the streets in the principal
part Of town that some of the corners art