The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1900-01-05
THE CHICAGO CANAL.
The Opening of the Waterway At
tended with Little Ceremony.
FOUR DAYS BEFORE CHANNEL IS FULL
People Watching the Eject on the Chi
csgo River-The Stream Objectionable
In Its Present Condition, but After
wards Expected to lie Pure.


Chicago, Jan. 3.-The $33, 700, 900
canal. at present used for sewage,
but ultimately to he ship canal, is
now in use after seven years of hard
work by the trustees of the sanitary
district, which is the name of a cor
poration including the larger part of
the city of Chicago and many of its
suburbs At least the Chicago end of
it is in use, but the water has not yet
reached the other end at Lockport.
ILL.,, and will not reach it for several
days.
Probably never before has the com
pletion of II public work of such mag
nitude been marked with such abso-
lutte lack of ceremony. There were
no speeches, no exercises, no cheer
ing. About eight Il. III. the sanitary |
district trustees and engineers gath |
cred a. the scene. Besides few |
worlmen there were not dozen |
spectators. There was no grand rush |
of water to be followed by the cheers |
of spectators. Indeed, the opening of
the canal resemblcd more the tiny
stream of water that flowed over the
Holland dyke and grew larger and
larger until it swept IA great hole in
the wall of earth. That is the way
the great canal was opened. This
method was used to avoid the danger
of a sudden rush of waters, but it
robbed the opening of all impressive
ness.
What is called the collateral chan
mel had been completed for some
time from branch of the Chicago
river in The southwestern part of the
city to within Is feet OF the canal.
Monday night a big steam drcdgc be-
gan TO cut away this wall of earth,
but the work had not been finished
when the sanitary district trustees
arrived on the scene yesterday morn
ing. Shortly before nine a. IN. Il small
stream Cf water was flowing through
the hole in the lj-foot wall. It backed
up against sluice gate, and at nine
o'clock the gate was opened. Then a
small stream of dirty water flowed
half way to the canal and stopped. BY
this time the dredge had cut away
some more earth and more water
came over the dam. This, with what
had gone before, trIckled out on the
ice covered bed of the main channel
and the great canal had been opened.
The men at work en- the earth dam
tried charge of dynamite TO remove
an ice Jam that was interfering with
the flow of water, but the opening
was not enlarged. At last the dredgc
worked itself close up to the dam of
earth, and with "A few sweeps of its
arm cut big hole in the dam. Quite
a stream of water came through, but
the drcdge continued for hours TO cut
away the l5-foot wall of earth.
Finally the cut in the dam was dis
charging 10000 cubic feet of water
minute, and the flow was strong
down the canal. The dredgc con
tinucd at work all day, so as to make
the discharge 10000 cubic feet or
more minute. The canal has been
built TO carry 100000 cubic feet "A
minute, but only about 10000 feet a
minute will he admitted until the
channel is full. If the Chicago river
had beer turned into the empty canal
at the rate of 100000 feet IA minute,
the engineers would have feared for
the safety of the numerous bridge
| piers IN the canal channel and for the
controlling works at Loellport and
the city of Joliet, 40 miles away.
| There would have been also great
danger in the Chicago river from a
sudden fall of water and consequent
| inrushing from Lake Michigan.
About Wednesday at noon the
water is expected to reach Lockport
and about four days from the time
the flow began, according to the es-
Inmates of the chief engineer, the ca
! nal VIII be full and the water will be-
| gin to run over the Sills of the con-
trolling gates at Lockport, 2S miles
from Chicago. There it will fall into
the Desplaincs river and then into
the Illinois and Mississippi rivers and
so finally Lake Michigan will shake
hands with the Gulf of Mexico.
Chicago people are already eagerly
watching the effect on the Chicago
river Of the opening of the canal.
This stream, which is so objection
able in it's present condition, is eX-
pected TO be comparatively pure, and
certainly to lose all its features OBJ
iectionable from sanitary point of
view when the present stagnation
gives way to full, strong current
from Lake Michigan.