The free press. (Poplarville, Miss.) 1890-19??, 1898-12-29
THE CHICAGO RIVER.
An Open Sewer Nsvisable for Vessels for its
Sixteen Miles Lenght.

An Open Sewer Nsvisable for Vessels for its
Sixteen Miles Lenght.
/ The smallest and. busiest river in
the world. Where do you think 1t isP
Theodore Dresser locates 1t in Chicago
and has this to say about it: The first
popularity of this little stream is that
it is the smaller river doing the larg-
est business in the world, or in other
words, the busiest river in the world.
In the next place, it has the greatest
depth for the narrowest width Of any
known river. In the third place, 1t has
the largest number of bridges span
ming it Of any river or equal length or
greater length barring the Mississippi
"A total of fifty-two bridges. All these
are draw or swinging bridges and car
ry a traffic of their own overhead al
most rs important as that which pass
es below. Next, this river has little or
no current to speak of, and flows up
ward instead of down. 1t is the only
known river whose current has been
turned round and made, as it were, to
flow the other way. Lastly, is is a
sort of an orphan river, for whereas all
rivers and harbors are owned and
cared for by the United States govern
ment, the Secretary of War. whose
province it is to care for these things,
will have nothing to do with it, and
Chicago repairs it only sufficient for
its now needs, but lays no claim to the
right of way.
In this strange predicamentthis little
stream flows wretchedly backward,
loaded with the largest and most val
liable collection of vessels that ever
crowded an inland sea. 1t is one tu
multuous highway, far more exciting
than Broadway and somewhat less
charming than the Hudson. The city
uses it as an emptying place for its
sewers and the Street Cleaning De
partment as a dumping ground for its
waste, and yet it is the most valuable
factor in the life of Chicago, and the
one more than all else that has made
the city what it is to-day. No other
river in the wide world possesses or
pretends to the appearance of this pc
culiar stream. In It's busiest hours it
is a sight for gods and men A mere
creek it struggles with the burden of
an ocean. The great deep-draught
propellers tear the water into splatter-
ing fragments. Their huge stacks
often hide the entire stream from view
with great clouds of smoke. The in
going and outgoing vessels quarrel for
the righ5 of way with all the vehe-
mence inherent in gongs and whistles.
Tug pilots handle their craft with
skill that would put to shame the
manners of the heavy teamsters in
crowded New York lane.
The longest branch of the river to-
day is more than ten miles in length.
and the total length of all branches is
sixteen. At its mouth it is no more
than 200 feet wide, and the fact that
it is the same width a mile or two up
stream is due to tie fact that it was
made so by excavation and dredging.
At one time 0S69) it was 200 feet wide
at Lake street, 175 feet wide AT Ran
dolph, block further on; 165 feet at
Washington, 115 feet at MadiSon--ail
these but single blocks apart-and so
ON until it became unnavigable by
boats drawing ten feet of water In
that year, however, it was dredged
and made a uniform width of 200 feet
in the south branch, and it is kept
that width by the walls Of the i'm
mense buildings which have now en-
croached to the very waters edge, and
which in most cases form the only
banks visible. pr
1t is interesting TO note the peculiar
tiles of this poor little stream. No
where along its shores within the
great city limits is there foot of un-
occupied ground where tree may lind
root. No branch or blade of green
yraces its shores No bountiful springs
rise from point to point and feed 1t.
Its tributaries are dark, stone-arched
sewers which empty their subterran-
can blackness into it in continuous
stream. Its banks are for the most
part sheer walls of red brick. Where
an omen space occurs railroad tracks
skirt the waters edge so closely as to
stir a fear for the safety of the cars
which line them. Lumber yards make
up other portions, and groups of belch-
ing smokestacks, sooty black, rise IN
forest-like numbers at regular inter-
walls. No single space but has some
wharf or freight shed, factory or
warehouse filling up the last available
inch. stock yards, lumber yards, rail-
road yards, stone yards, coal yards
these interspersed with docks, eleva-
tors, manufactures, and breweries
make its banks interesting if not
beautiful