The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1900-01-10
drainage CANAL Opened
First Water Admitted to the I'm
mense Channel Without For
NAL Ceremony.
GREAT ENGINEERING FEAT ACCOMPLISHED
Only 10000 Cubic Feet of Water
Minute Admitted Tuesday-Amount
Gradually to Be Increased Until
the Full Amount of 100000 Cubic
Feet VIII he Flowing.

Chicago, Jan. AT nine o'clock
yesterday morning water was turned
in to the $33, 100000 drainage canal and
began to flow toward Lockport, where
il will fall into the Desplaines river,
and thence through the Illinois and
Mississippi rivers to the Gulf OF Mex
leo. The engineers of the sanitary
district have cut a channel to carry
100000 cubic feet of water minute,
but yesterday the water was allowed
to flow into the canal at the rate of
only $4,000 cubic feet minute. About
four days from the time the flow be-
gan, according to the estimate of the
chief engineer, the canal will be full
of water.
Historical sketch of Canal.
Probably no public work has ever been
undertaken by any other state or munich
pality which, from it's very inception, was
designed to do so much for the naviga BILE
and commercial interests of the country
as the Chicago canal The requirement OF
law which compelled the construction or
rock sections TO meet the demands OF the
next generation was wise, for ii has laid
he foundation of a mammoth ship canal.
tpi river and the gulf, and saving the
.,aitary distric1 of Chicago and the federal
E jNernment the great expense that would
la the future be necessary in rock excava-
ZION anu Blasting under the flowing water.
The first work in this great enterprise
was begun on Shovel day." September g.,
1892, on the rock cut below Lemont. on the
line between Cook and VIII counties; SO
that a little over seven years have been
consumed in the entire work, involving an
outlay of about s33.000,00O. Over so per
cent. of the entire work was done during
the so-called panic period and. owing to
this fact. the entire cost of construction
was reduced about $S,00O,0O0. Indeed, the
board of trustees and its engineers are
unanimous in the belief that the work
could not now be duplicated under existing
prices for both labor and material for less
than $40,000.O00.
The canal has been constructed in strict
conformity with the requirements of the
law under which the sanitary district OF
Chicago was organized, and ii is of suffi-
cient size and capacity to produce ana
maintain at all times continuous now or
at least 100000 cubic feet of water per MIN
ute. with a current not exceeding one mile
per hour. The flow Of water is OF the min
imum depth of % feet in the earth sections
of the canal, and the same depth through
out the rock sections.
The sanitary district of Chicago COM
prises all of the city north of Eighty
seventh street, together with some AZ
square miles OF Cook county, outside OF
the city limits which will be directly bene-
fitted by the Improvement. The population
Of the city of Chicago in 1890, according to
the federal census. was 1000, $50. and the
equalized assessed valuation of real estate
and other property subject to taxation In
the sanitary district for the year 1898 was
s2lS. 299, 977. being about one-tenth OF the
real value.