Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1900-01-04
THE CHICAGO CANAL.
The Opening Of the Waterway At
tended with Little Ceremony.
FOUR DAYS BEFORE CHANNEL ISFULL
People Watching the Effect on the Chi
cago River-The Stream. Objectionable
In Its Present Condition. but After
wards Expected to he Pure.

Chicago, Jan. 3. The $33 1000, 900
canal, al present used for sewage,
but ultimately to be ship canal is
now in use after seven years of hard
work by the trustees of the sanitary
! district, which is the name of 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 I.ockport
ILL.,, and will not reach it for several
days.
Probably never before has the com
pletion of 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 a. m. the sanitary
district trustees and engineers gath
cred a. the scene. Besides a few
workmen there were not a dozen
spectators. There was no grand rush
of water to be followed by the cheers
OF spectators. Indeed the opening of
the canal resembled more the tiny
stream of water that flowed over the
Holland dyke and grew larger and
larger until it swept a 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 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 a branch of the Chicago
river in the southwestern part of the
city to within Is feet OF the canal
Monday night big steam dredge 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. m. a small
stream CT water was flowing through
the hole In the l5-foot wall 1t backed
up against a 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, trlckled out on the
ice covered bed of the main channel
and the great canal had been opened.
The men at work on 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 dredge
worked itself close up to the dam of
earth, and with few sweeps of its
arm cut big hole in the dam. Quite
stream OF water came through, but
the dredge continued for hours to cut
away the 15-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 dredge con-
tinued at work all day, so as to make
the discharge 10000 cubic feet or
more a minute. The canal has been
built to carry 100000 cubic feet
minute, but only about $4,000 feet
minute will be admitted until the
channel is full. If the Chicago river
had beer turned into the empty canal
at the rate of 100000 feet a minute,
the engineers would have feared for
the safety of the numerous bridge
piers N the canal channel and for the
controlling works at Loekport and
the city of Joliet, 40 miles away.
There would have been also great
danger in the Chicago river from a
sudden tall of water and consequent
inrushing from Lake Michigan.