The Cook County herald. [volume] (Grand Marais, Minn.) 1893-1909, 1900-08-25
THE CHlg GO CA IL.
Opening q the Great Drain g The
Illinois etropoli
1ntersst IS tie sarro1aan aing oonntrJ.
In the lLa1anaoth UnaeRtakiAg-A
sAfpyyay To- the Gulf U
In view. sss 81

which, in ito magnit ude and possible re
suits, 10 worth Of more than passing
notice. On that day 4 canal was opened.
by which it is intended to drain the
city Of Chicago By carrying its sewage
into the Illinois and Mississippi rivers.
instead Of Lake Michigan.
Although Chicago is admirably situ-.
sated Tor the purpose Of railway COM
munication between the east and west,
the site Of the city is one Of the poorest.
imaginable. The ground is Fat and
mnlarshy, in many places being overrun
by the lake waters, and 1t possesses no
river Of any consequence, the SPECIALIZED
Chicago river being 4 little stream,
hardly worthy Of being called u creek
elsewhere. AS consequence, q great
portion Of the built -up area is on
'made" ground, that is, filed IN above
its original level, and the underlying
soil is moisture-soaked to such ami ex-
tent that buildings Of any size require
to be built on caissons, something like
bridge piers. 81. =z=5s .= Fl.
That Chicago has overcome these
natural difficulties is to the credit Gifts
enterprising people, but there was an
other difficulty which was not fore
seen. An absolute necessity for large
city is an ample supply Of water, and
at first It seemed as if Chicago was par
ticularly favored in this respect, having
all Lake Michigan at its disposal: So it
would have proved had it not been for
the sewage which had to be disposed OF
in some way. :s< .... z&z e.
s. The only feasible plan seemed to be
to run the sewage into the lake This
disposed of it very expeditious1y, but as
the city drew its drinking water out of
the same lake, it was soon found that
the people were drinking their own
sewage, which was not only disagree
able, but disease breeding. 1t was
sought to overcome this difficulty BY ex-
tending the intakes further out into the.
lake, and they were successfully extend
ed to a distance of four miles from
shore, but the water kept growing
worse and worse. - { :ss \ s:..
Finally, it was recognized that the
only way to secure water was to keep
all sewage out of the lake, and emptyit.
elsewhere. and for that purpose a
drainage canal was conceived. The
work was begun in September. 1892,
but as it progressed the original idea
was expanded, and the canal was Wild
ened and deepened with the ultimate
intention of making it a, ship canal,
from Lake Michigan to the Mississippi
river. s7E ;.j. 9ssSa. sSs S Esss
At present it is simply q drainage
canal. Into it all the sewage. of Chi
cago will run 81 be pumped, and 1t WIN
be diluted by water drawn from Lake.
Michigan at the rate Of 500, 900 cubic
feet q minute. The filthy Chicago river,
instead of flowing into the lake, will
flow the other way, and the entire mass
will be carried to the Desplaines river,
thence into the Illinois river and final
ly into the Mississippi. N s. .s.S $sss
Of the value to Chicago Of this canal
there can be no doubt, but other local.
ties have entered protests against the
work. The first opposition came from
the ports along the great lakes, be-
cause those towns feared that the di1
version of so much lake water might
lower the Detroit river and interfere
with lake navigation. Civil engineers;
maintain that the amaunt taken, al
though it seems large, will produ no
appreciable effect on the water level.
The other and strongest objection
comes from the people who live along
the Illinois river and the residents OF
St: Louis. Naturally, they object to
drinking Chicago sewage, no matter
how much it may benefit Chicago. To
this Chicago replies that q considerable
portion OF it's. sewage has always gone
into the illinois river, and now that ii is
diluted with lake water it will be COM
Parati lively pure and wholly innocuous.
IN In effect, however, Chicago reply Is
that St. Louis may look out for itself.
Outside Of these cities, the country
Is chiefly interested in the ship cam!
feature. With q minimum Of 20 feet.
vessels Of consid cradle size may 20 from
Lake Michigan to the Gulf Of Mexico,
and the south and southwes viii thus;
be placed in cheap communicate with
all the lake region from Buffalo to Du-
luth. To secure these advantages.
congress IS to be asked to deepen the
Desplaines and Illinois rivers. II, win
not be done this year. or the next, but it
will be done, to the great benefit OF all
the country. Golden Days.
Growth Of Language. z3
IS The principle Of growth ia language,
as in all else is variation. And when
the early races felt that variation had
been carried far enough within the.
limits OF the vowel language, rich as it
was il tone and melody a new direction.
Tor growth was unconsciously sought.
a was found by adding semiyowels 70,
the alread existing vowel hat is, by.
PARTIAL closing the lips. or bringing
the tongue near the teeth or palate, or
throat while the vowels were being