Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1900-01-26
Chicago's "Big Ditch"
4 Comprehensive Account of the Drain-
age Canal and Its Possibilities, the
Authorship OF which Gives IL a Local
Interest.


CHICAGO, January, 1900.
The great event of the new year in this
city, as you already know, has been the
opening of the drainage canal-''the great
est engineering feat of the age" perhaps.
The canal means a pure water supply for
this great city, the sewage going into the
canal instead of the lake, and thence
through the Illinois river into the Mississ-
ippi; and it may mean a great deal more
than this. The canal was begun in the
fall of 1892, and on an average 5000 men
have been employed upon it daily, since.
1t is % miles long, 20 feet deep, l60 feet
wide, and cost $35, 100000. The diver
sion of the Desplsines river and construc-
tion of bypass add nine miles TO the
canal, making the actual length 81 miles.
Most of its route is through a Hat Illinois
prairie, butl5miles extend through rock, and
seven miles through solid rock. A work of
this kind had never been undertaken in this
country, so special machinery had TO be
invented; every invention was the work Of
an American engineer, and all the machin-
cry used was built in this country. The
canal will be navigable for the largest lake
craft, and, in addition TO its advantages as
water way, will furnish 10000 horse
power for manufacturing purposes. A
special committee OF the city council is at
present negotiating for this power, to be
used in the electric-light system of the
city.
So much anent the value Of the drainage
canal to Chicago, which has borne the en-
tire expense, without dollar of aid from
either the state or Uncle Sam. The en-
terprse may, however, have a wider i'm
portance, as the beginning of a great ma
tional waterway from the great lakes to
the Gulf of Mexico, and through the lakes
to the Atlantic ocean. A congressional
committee has been appointed to investi-
gate the practicability of steamship route
from Chicago through z merican, or Amer
lean and Canadian wavers, to the ocean;
and New York, fearing the loss of her
toll-gate privileges, contemplates the aban-
donment of the Erie canal for a Hudson
river route via the st. Lawrence and the
lakes, being ready to expend vast sums in
order that the lake route, If decided upon,
shall pass her doors. Canada, also, is
awake on the subject, her goveTnor-gener-
al favoring the construction of canal on
Canadian territory by the Lake Nipissing
route, in the belief that the reduced freight
rates to Europe, even on the present volume
Oh WOulu bOOn CONcI buc COoL VI SuCu
a work. So ship route through the great
lakes, one way or another, seems certainty
of the near future.
II is estimated that with an outlay of
$25, ,OO0, 900, the government can so inn
prove the Illinois river to the Mississippi,
as TO complete the greatest in land water
way in the world. The commercial advan-
tages of such a water route will be almost
incalculable TO the great agricultural,
lumber and mining regions through
which it passes. 1t will also give the
United States a naval route of great value
in case of any unpleasantness arising, in
future between this country and England
or any of her allies. Warships of II to
10 feet draught can be brought from the
Gulf or the Atlantic, and the lake cities,
with their commerce and stratigical advan.
tages, will be suitably protected. 1t is to
be hoped such a contingency will never
arise, but it is well that it should be con
sidered, perhaps.
Whether you take sufficient interest in
the welfare of Chicago to congratulate us
upon having the lake turned in, to wash
out and purify that semi-liquid object call
ed by courtesy the Chicago river, you will
at least have TO admit that this city has
added to its reputation for doing "big'
things by the construction of this "biG
ditch" as it is tamiliarly called.