Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1909-06-24

Since the united states TOOK It's place In the
Of the world powers following the S~panish-American war
he navy has been growing at a rapid rate. The compile
lion of each batteship meant the employment of at least
500 additional seamen, and occasionally it was necessary
10 resort to strong measures to get sufficient recruits.
The heads of the navy department took the problem in
hand, and, recognizing that the greatlake district had in
The past furnished a large number of seamen to the navy,
It was decided to establish a vast naval station at the
most favorable site that could be obtained. Accordingly.
after a dozen sites had been submitted and examined, the
Lake Bluff site was selected as the most centrally located
and as possessing more natural advantages than any
other.
The site of the new institution is about an hour and
a halfs ride by railroad train from the center of this city
and a little more by electric line. The ride is through
the aristocratic suburbs of Evanston, Lake Forest. High
land Park, Wilmette and Winnetka. The station is To-
Gated about a mile and a half beyond the station of Lake
Bluff and is marked by a trim little depot of the electric
line. You are first appraised of the fact that Uncle Sam
is engaged upon some project from the signs which plenti-
fully adorn the boundaries of the reservation warning the
passerby that he is in the vicinity of government prop
erty, and that he should keep off.
The larger buildings of the station are so completely
hidden by trees that the general public passing by on the
trains on the way to Milwaukee or Waukegan would have
no idea of the extent of the institution were it not for the
tower of the administration building, which rears itself
from the lake front. The hills and intervening trees of
the neighborhood almost completely screen the large
buildings from view.
Extending from the fence which separates the main
enclosure from the main thoroughfare are the smaller
brick buildings in which will be housed the applicants for
admission to the station pending the time when their
qualifications and general health are examined into.
There are some half a dozen neat twostoried brick
buildings, admirably lighted and finished, in which the
recruit will be housed as comfortably as at any average
Chicago hotel. They extend in a row toward the lake
front, where the larger buildings are located, in which
will be housed the regularly admitted members of the
institution.
The first structure which one approaches at the main
entrance Of the grounds is the general office building,
which is occupied by the government inspectors, con-
tractors and engineers in charge of the work. This is a
compact twostory structure and is situated in proximity
to the electric trolley line, which was built into the
grounds to facilitate the transportation of the construc-
tion materials.
All last summer and fall more than 1000 men were
engaged upon the greatlakes naval station, as it is desig-
mated in the official reports of the secretary of the navy.
The result of their efforts is seen in the practical
completion of the "a buildings of which the station is
now composed, and this spring and summer will see the
completion of several more large structures.
Proceeding toward the lake from the inspectors
offices one gradually descends a deep ravine bordered on
each side by large trees. Nature has been exceedingly
generous to the neighborhood about Lake Bluff, and it is
doubtful If a more picturesque region anywhere about
Chicago could have been chosen. At the bottom of the