UNIVERSI ILLINOIS AT URBANA-C Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2012 with funding from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign http://archive.org/details/townofcicerohistOOspel /The Town of Cicero HISTORY, ADVANTAGES, AND GOVERNMENT BY WALTER BISHOP SPELMAN, A. B. PLATE I Copy of plate in Discovery and Conquests of the Northwest by Rufus Blanchard. The Town of Cicero HISTORY, ADVANTAGES, AND GOVERNMENT BY WALTER BISHOP SPELMAN, A. B. Instructor of Social Science J. Sterling Morton High School Cicero, Illinois Vocational Department— -Division of Printing J. Sterling Morton High School Cicero, Illinois S)C1A705874 V JUN18'23 ^c *v 777,3/ % FOREWORD After several years' experience in the teaching of civics I began to realize that it always paid to study the government of one's own community ; and it paid for these two reasons : the boys and girls whom I had in class were some day to run that community ; and the teaching of county, state, and national governments was rendered doubly effective by the careful study of local government and local problems. Certainly democratic self-government; the theory of checks and balances in our three- fold division of the legislative, the executive, and the judicial departments ; American civil and political rights ; political par- ties ; taxation ; and a great many of the present problems, eco- nomic and social, whether they are labor unions, or capital, or conservation, or crime, or disease, or poverty ; all can be brought directly to the students' attention and within their compre- hension. Furthermore, knowledge is one result of education, and the doing of something with the aid of that knowledge is another result. Then, let the boys and girls (in class) vote at their town elections ; let them visit and talk with the legislative, ex- ecutive, and judicial bodies ; let them help solve these problems, economic and social, by saving their earnings, by planting trees, by being "big brothers" or Boy Scouts, by caring for Christmas baskets. In these ways the civics class attains the aim of modern education — activity. I owe thanks for ideas and suggestions to Mr. K. D. Waldo's pamphlet, "The Government of Aurora," and to Miss Mary Louise Child's book, "Actual Government in Illinois." I am indebted for assistance in securing information regard- ing the history and government of Cicero to Miss Helen A. Bag- ley, Librarian of the Oak Park Public Library ; Mr. Timothy Buckley, Collector of the Town of Cicero ; and to Mr. O. ft Schantz, Township Treasurer. Always I have been treated with courtesy and sincere interest by the large number of persons whom I consulted : town officials, school officials, aged citizens, Chicago officials, the management of the Western Electric Co.j and the vice-president of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad. The pamphlet is written for the boys and girls of Cicero. WALTER B. SPELMAN. \ i Respectfully dedicated to one who makes ideals realities, HARRY VICTOR CHURCH Vll THE AMERICAN'S CREED I believe in the United States of America as a government of the people, by the people, for the people ; whose just powers are derived from the consent of the governed ; a democracy in a republic ; a sovereign nation of many sovereign states ; a per- fect Union, one and inseparable; established upon those princi- ples of freedom, equality, justice, and humanity for which Amer- ican patriots sacrificed their lives and fortunes. I therefore believe it is my duty to my country to love it, to support its constitution, to obey its laws, to respect its flag and to defend it against all enemies. — William Tyler Page. (As formally accepted by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, April 3, 1918) vm HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF CICERO PARTI Years ago, an Indian, a tall Weamiami warrior, stood on a slight eminence of the Western prairie. Before him was a slug- gish stream, flowing toward the northwest, where the Indian's keen eye caught a glimpse through the trees of another stream, very much like the first. He knew, too, that those two rivers joined beyond the fringe of trees and forced their waters past bars of sand into the great "Lake Chicagou." After a glance 3ackward over the wide fertile plain, a rolling expanse of prairie weeds and wild sunflowers, he walked to the river-bank, un- loosed a bark canoe, and paddled south and then west, up a branch of the river. Presently he passed a ridge of oak trees, )n his right, while to his left he viewed a heavy swamp. Then le ran his canoe high up on a bar of sand, jumped out, made a ihort portage, and was in the river "Desplein." That prairie is our town-site; the rivers are the south and lorth branches of the Chicago river ; the lake is Lake Michigan. Che Indian was of the tribe of Weamiamis, the early occupants >f this soil. His course was up the west fork of the south branch )f the Chicago river into the swamp now known as Mud Lake, ind thence to the Des Plaines river. How historic is the ancient land on our southern boundary! rhat Indian was followed in after years by Father Jacques Marquette (1673) ; by Sieur de La Salle (1681) ; and by the fa- nous Tonty, and later by Indian traders, explorers, pioneers, rench, Spanish, English ; by officials, even Governor Cass of Michigan. The old route is still traceable, but our drainage sys- ems have obliterated the streams and swamps and an earthen like separates Mud Lake from the Des Plaines River. Shortly before the Revolutionary War, in the year 1765, the Veamiamis were driven from this prairie corner of the lake by powerful fighting tribe from southern Wisconsin, the Potta- /ottamies. Resistlessly they passed southward until they swept ntirely around the head of Lake Michigan. This was the tribe hat participated in the massacre at Fort Dearborn (August 15, 812). These Indians, shrewd and energetic, were the last to save Illinois, lingering about Chicago until 1835. Slowly but Chicagou- Desplein Portage Weamiamis Driven out by Pottawottomies THE TOWN OF CICERO Organization of Cook County Cause* of Migration surely, however, the advance of the whites and the yielding of the Indians' lands by the Treaty of Greenville (1795) and the successive treaties of 1816, 1832, and 1833, forced their reireat west of the Mississippi. There is a reminiscence handed down by an old settler of Oak Park that on the occasion of the P'ofc- tawottomies' leaving their Des Plaines camp grounds, one of the packhorses loaded with salt slipped in fording a small branch stream- — hence the name, Salt Creek. During this period the civilization of our prairie began. Un- der the authority of the Federal government, the land was suc- cessively organized as the Northwest Territory, Indiana Terri- tory, Illinois Territory, and in 1818 the State of Illinois. Mean- while the westward emigration was slowly and steadily populat- ing southern Illinois, developing the embryo city of St. Louis : founded in 1764; and creating in northern Illinois the Queer City of the Middle West, Chicago, with its village charter iti 1833 and its city charter in 1837. With Chicago grew towm to the north and south, and inland to the west, until in 1831 Cook County was organized, at that time including the pres; ent Dupage, Lake, McHenry, Will, and Iroquois Counties. Ouj county received its name from Daniel P. Cook, a representativ< tojCongress from southern Illinois. \^At this time Chicago was only a village in number of people-H having approximately 4,170 residents — and our town was stil a fertile prairie, sparsely wooded at the east and south, and o* the ridges to the west. But Chicago had started, and while ii could go north and south it could not go east ; the result was j westward expansion, and that westward movement is still a irresistible one today. Here must be stated at least three causes of that increase migration to the west: First, the Erie canal, finished in 1825 which opened a direct waterway from the Atlantic coast t Chicago for freight and passengers ; second, the National roac built from Cumberland to Wheeling and later extended to Van dalia, Illinois; third, European immigration that crept up fror hundreds to hundreds of thousands^ If the defeat of the Indian in the Black Hawk war (1832) and the recognition of the fei tility of Illinois soil be added to Chicago's transportation pos tion, soon to be improved by the building of the Illinois an HISTORY Michigan canal in 1848, the westward growth was, indeed, in- evitable. Prior to the year 1849 our territory was under the county unit of government. Taxes, roads, bridges, and elections were directed by county officers. The county was divided into pre- cincts and the precincts into road districts. In 1840 the popula- tion of Cook County, including Chicago, was 10,201, and by 1850 it had increased to 43,385. The Illinois constitution of 1848 re- quired the legislature to pass a township law, and it was passed the following year. So on November 6, 1849, Cook County was organized into townships. To the northwest along the Des Plaines river was the township of Taylor, later, in 1850, changed to Proviso, after the Wiimot Proviso Bill, which was at that time agitating Congress. Our township, Number 39 North, Range 13 East, according to the rectangular system adopted in 1785 by Thomas Jefferson, with its thirty-six square miles, ex- tended from Western Avenue (24th) on the east to Harlem Av- enue (72nd) on the west; and from North Avenue on the north to Thirty-ninth Street on the south. This township had its pioneer settlers, hardy men and women of the frontier, upon whose work rests the city of to-day. Back in 1831 two Englishmen, George Bickerdike and Mark Noble, Jr., jSuilt a small lumber mill on the "Aux Plaines^^rivTfr'^u^uiess was precarious due to the long distance from any settlers. It happened that Bickerdike had a friend over in Yorkshire, Eng land, whom he urged to come over to the "Land of Promise." This friend, Joseph Kettlestrings, left England in 1831 and made the long trip with a wife and three children to this locality. By 1835 he had pre-empted a quarter section (about 173 acres) on a ridge covered with oak trees. The present boundaries of that iand would be Harlem Avenue, Chicago Avenue, Oak Park Av- . eriiie, and the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad. Kettlestrings buflrtf House of oak boards on that part of his possessions which was the only really dry land between the Des Plaines river and Chicago. (The last statement explains why that section of Ci- cero was settled first). The name of Oak Ridge, later Oak Park, *.vas gradually adopted ; and when Kettlestrings added a dining- room and a "bar" to his house, he called it Oak Ridge Tavern. His real work was farming, however, and it was hard work on Township No. 39 North Range 13 East Early Settlers Oak Ridge (Park) ^ THE TOWN OF CICERO The Tornado Stock Farming James W. Scoville account of the need of drainage. He was compelled to use oxen j instead of horses, as the cloven, spread-out foot of the oxen en- abled them to traverse the swamps. This pioneer stayed, worked, and succeeded. The next early settler was one Reuben Whaples. He started a farm over in "Lyons Precinct," but a terrific tornado swept ] away all his property, including his house. Consequently in 1845 he decided to try Oak Ridge, where he built a log house that would stay where it was placed. Later he sold his land to John Henry Quick, but he again bought back a small portion on which to live. A little later a German, Ferdinand Haase, visited this lo- cality (1849). Two years afterward he bought fifty-five acres from a French trader named Bourassa. Haase acquired, as time went on, two hundred acres of land along the east bank of the Des Plaines river, about a mile and a half south of Oak Grove, j and ran a stock farm. The land was usually covered with water, I above which grew weeds and wild sun-flowers in luxuriant I abundance. The latter were often higher than a horseman's j head. In winter Haase was accustomed to skate from the Des Plaines to Chicago and return. It may be noted here that he discovered a complete Indian burial ground on this land. Two other settlers in these early days were John Henry Quick, a retired merchant of New York, who investigated west- ern real estate and in 1856 bought a farm from Whaples, just west of that owned by Kettlestrings ; and last, a very important | citizen, James W. Scoville. James W. Scoville, whose ancestors were Puritans, coming from England to Connecticut, was born in Pompey, Onondaga County, New York. His varied life as contractor, teacher, and engineer led him through Oak Ridge when he made a trip on toot from Chicago to Beloit, in 1848. On his return he traveled the last part of his journey in a freight caboose on the new Chi- cago and Galena railroad. He went back East, but he was again attracted by the call of the West, and in 1856 he bought a small lot of two and a half acres in Oak Park. By 1864 he had in- creased his holdings to a 160 acre lot, just east of Oak Park Av- enue. Scoville Avenue and Scoville Institute (Oak Park Public HISTORY Library) testify to his long service as a public-spirited citizen of the community. The^firstxailroad in the township was the Chicago and Galena railroad, built from Chicago to Harlem in 1848 and in operation 55^1849. It had a few cars and a clumsy locomotive running on strap rails." The schedule called for two trips daily to the city, with the fare at forty cents. This road became the property of the Chicago and Northwestern railroad in 1865. It was not long before these early settlers began to demand local government. Accordingly, early in the year 1857, the County Clerk of Cook County posted a notice within the town- ship — Number 39 North, Range 13 East — requesting the people of that locality to organize a government. The electors met on June 25, 1857, and elected N. G. Hurd as Moderator, and H. P. Flower as Clerk of the meeting. The electors residing within the territory at that time numbered only fourteen, representing probably ten families. Their names are : George Scoville, H. H. Palmer, James W. Scoville, Reuben Whaples, John Beaver, Wm. H. Scoville, Joel G. Phillips, B. F. Livingston, Joseph Kettle- strings, Peter Crawford, H. P. Flower, Ives Scoville, N. G. Hurd, and Gilbert Crawford. At this meeting the town was organized and it received its present name — Cicero. This classical nomenclature was sug- gested by Augustus Porter, a fine gentleman, who had formerly lived in the town of Cicero in Onondaga County, New York State. The people there proceeded to elect officers for the local government as follows : Supervisor — William H. Scoville. Justices of the Peace — George Scoville and Peter Crawford Constables- — John Beaver and Gilbert Crawford. Assessor — James W. Scoville. Collector — Reuben Whaples. Town Clerk — H. P. Flower. Commissioners of Highways — George Scoville, Peter Craw tord, Joseph Kettlestrings. Overseer of the Poor — Joseph Kettlestrings. These gentlemen served until the next general town meeting, which was held April 6, 1858, at the house of H. Minier. The town had grown somewhat since its organization and num~ The First Railroad Town of Cicero THE TOWN OF CICERO The Six Road Districts Volunteers to Civil War bered on this occasion eighty-one voters, all of whom attendee the meeting and participated in the selection of the following offi- cers : Wm. H. Scoville, Supervisor; H. P. Flower, Town Clerk Henry Loewe, Assessor; A. B. Kellogg, Collector; Peter Craw ford, George Scoville, and Joseph Kettlestrings, Highway Com- missioners ; Robert Horn, Constable. The salaries of the town officers were ordered paid at thisj meeting. Town Clerk Flower received the magnificent sum o: $57.00, and Supervisor Wm. H. Scoville, $10.35. During the firsi and second years of the town's existence the entire tax levy wai ; $500.00, of which sum the major portion was devoted to roao. repairs. Later, in 1860, the township was divided into six road dis 1 , ricts, numbered consecutively from one to six: No. 1. Western Avenue to Forty-eighth Avenue, North Ave) nue to Madison Street. No. 2. Forty-eighth Avenue to Harlem Avenue. North Ave nue to Madison Street. No. 3. Western Avenue to Forty-eighth Avenue. Madiscf to Twenty-second Street. No. 4. Forty-eighth Avenue to Harlem Avenue, Madison t^ Twenty-second Street. No. 5. Western Avenue to Forty-eighth Avenue, Twenty; second Street to Thirty-ninth Street. No. 6. Forty-eighth Avenue to Harlem Avenue, Twenty second Street to Thirty-ninth Street. The road work was very important as Cicero lay directly \\ the travel route between Chicago and the interior of Illinois; As early as 1857. the sum of $2,200 was appropriated for inf provements to Pennsylvania Avenue, now Lake Street. Th] names of others of these early thorough fares are Barry Pom Road, Whiskey Point Road (now Grand Avenue), and the South west Plank Road (now Ogden A venue. V The road developmen and. very soon, drainage, were closely related to the increase o population, which steadily advanced from the handful in 1857 t< over 3,000 in 1867. Now the far reaching Civil War left its trace on our com munity, for on February 4, 1865, a bounty tax was levied an< $3,141.50 was paid in bounties to volunteers. At a regular meet HISTORY Ing of the town officers on November 7, 1865, Melton C. Niles md James W. Scoville were each voted $100.00 for "their ser- vices in assisting the town out of the draft." £>lAt this time the leading spirit in Cicero's affairs was John McCafTery, living in the southeast portion of the district — a vil- age called Brighton. He brought pressure to bear on the State Legislature, which on February 28, 1867, passed an act to incor- porate the Town of Cicero. Thus it was changed from a gov- ernmental town to an incorporated town with a special charter Almost immediately amendments were agitated and the charter gas revised by act of the State Legislature on March 25, 1869. 1 is this charter which directs our local government to-day; in general, it is an excellent one, very liberal in its provisions for elf-government, and very strict in its clauses against exhorbi- :ant taxation. No other town in the state possesses a similar me. Guided by the charter government Cicero maintained a defi- lite system of improvement, especially highways and drainage. Fhe following figures show the increase in roadway expenditures Detween 1869 and 1873 : Riverside Parkway (22nd St.) $283,066.72 Hyman Avenue (48th St.) 29,984.11 Ogden Avenue 60,867.93 Austin Avenue 30,073.57 These sums were covered by bonds and paid by the special assessment method. At the same time the town planned and :ompleted a drainage system. The drains ran north and south, Placed, at first, at every section and then at every half-section. Each ditch was twelve feet wide at the top, two feet wide at the Dottom, and four feet deep. The ditch was dug at the west side bf the street and the excavated earth was used for road grading. Each was a miniature stream with aquatic vegetation, frogs, fish, and "mud-puppies." All emptied into the then infamous iVfud Lake. The meetings of the town officials were usually held at Four • iVIile House on Lake Street, near Fortieth Street, sometimes at private houses, and occasionally at the Northwestern Railway station in Austin. In 1871 a town-hall with its public square was built in Austin. The early records show the regular trans Cicero an Incorporated Town— 1867 Highways and Drainage Business at Town Meetings 8 THE TOWN OF CICERO actions of ordinary town affairs— elections, taxes, road improv ments, drainage, bridges, land divisions, licenses, and annex tions and secessions, the last two a burden for years to com These annexations to the City of Chicago and the secessio of Oak Park and Berwyn from Cicero have left the town as it i to-day, and they must be given in detail in order to understand its history. First Annexation — On February 27, 1869, about a month ; before the state legislature revised the charter of Cicero, an aci provided that the territorial limits of Chicago "shall be and are hereby extended as follows: Sections 1, 2, 11, 12, 13, 14, 23. 24, j 25, 26, and that part of Sections 35 and 36 lying northwest of the j center line of the Illinois and Michigan Canal, all in Township 39 North, Range 13 East, shall be and are hereby added to the | City of Chicago." This territory was bounded as follows : On the east by Western Avenue, on the north by North Avenue, on J the west by Fortieth Avenue, and on the south by the center line j of the Illinois and Michigan canal. The foregoing was a part of the fourth extension of the city limits of Chicago. The town.; board of Cicero fought in vain against the annexation. Second Annexation — After a long struggle, dating from Nol, vember 17, 1887, the act of April 29, 1889, provided that "tha^ part of Sections 35 and 36 lying southeasterly of the center line of the Illinois and Michigan Canal, in Township 39 North, Range 13 East; also Sections 3, 10, 15, and the last three-quarters of; Sections 22, 27, and 34, lying northwest of the center line of the, Illinois and Michigan Canal be and the same are hereby declared; to be annexed to the incorporated City of Chicago." The bound-', aries of the parts taken by this act were as follows : The trian- gular piece bounded on the east by Western Avenue, on the' south by Thirty-ninth Street, and on the northeast by the center line of the Illinois and Michigan Canal ; also that strip bounded by a line commencing at the intersection of West Fortieth Ave- nue and North Avenue, running thence westerly on North Ave- nue to the center line of Forty-eighth Avenue, thence south ol the center line of Forty-eighth Avenue to the center line of Twelfth Street to the center line of West Forty-sixth Avenue to Thirty-ninth Street : thence easterly to West Fortieth Avenue, thence north on the center line of Wesl Fortieth Avenue to the PLATE II T3 T3 CO a be S o Sh CD O o o o •n Si si si ,fl T3 ^3 pj +3 -M -M G -M CM ^ CO 00 o CO O ^ «tf co CM North Chicago Madison Roosevelt 22nd 31st Illinois and Michi- gan Canal 39th Chart Showing Original Township of Cicero with Subse- quent Territorial Losses— 1849-1901. 1. Annexation to Chicago, Act of Legislature, Feb. 27, 1869. 2. Annexation to Chicago, Resolution of Cook County Commissioners, April 29, 1889. 3. Annexation to Chicago, Election, June 29, 1889. 4. Annexation to Chicago, Election, A pril 4, 899. 5. Secession of Oak Park, Election, Nov. 5, 1901. 6. Secession of Berwyn, Election, Nov. 5, 1901. ES3 WM ^ 7. Cession of Hawthorne Race Track to Stickney, Town Ordinance, Nov. 26, 1900. Present Town of Cicero. HISTORY 9 place of beginning. The foregoing formed a part of the sixth extension of the city limits of the City of Chicago. Third Annexation — On July 15, 1889, an order was filed in the County Court of Cook County declaring the result of a spe- cial election held June 29, 1889, by which the following territory was annexed to the City of Chicago : The eastern half of Sections 4 and 9, the boundaries of which were Forty-eighth Avenue on the east, North Avenue on the north, Robinson Avenue (52nd) on the west, and Madison Street on the south. Fourth Annexation — On the fourth of April, 1899, at the reg- ular municipal election held in the Town of Cicero, and in the City of Chicago, the proposition was submitted to the people to annex to the City of Chicago a portion of the Town of Cicero The proposition was carried and the following territory became a part of Chicago : Section 16, the western half of Sections 4 and 9, and the eastern half of Sections 5, 8, and 17. The boundaries were Forty-eighth Avenue from Twelfth Street to Madison Street and Fifty-second Avenue from Madison Street to North Avenue, on the east; Madison Street from Forty-eighth Ave- nue to Fifty-second Avenue, and North Avenue from Fifty-sec- ond Avenue to Sixtieth Avenue (Austin Avenue), on the north; Sixtieth Avenue on the west ; and Twelfth Street on the south. Secession of Oak Park and Berwyn — On November 5, 1901, an election was held in the Town of Cicero for the purpose of permitting Oak Park and Berwyn to separate from the Town of Cicero and form independent villages. Accordingly all that territory lying between Austin Avenue (60th), North Avenue, Harlem Avenue (72nd), and Twelfth Street, became the Village, of Oak Park. This comprised the western half of Sections 5, 8^ and 17, and Sections 6, 7, and 18. The territory lying between Lombard Avenue (62nd), Twelfth Street, Harlem Avenue (72nd), and Thirty-ninth Street, became the City of Berwyn. This comprises the western quarter of Sections 20, 29, and 32, and Sections 19, 30. and 31. Hawthorne Race Track— According to an ordinance of the Town of Cicero, recorded November 26, 1900, the southeast quarter of Section 33 was ceded to the Town of Stickney. These successive losses of land have left Cicero with its pres- ent boundaries. During this long period the town had increased 10 THE TOWN OF CICERO P. B. Weare, Pioneer and Trader Origin of Morton Park in population, with a peculiar system of growth. Similar to Oak Park and Austin small communities™ groups of three or four houses — appeared in widely divergent sections. The oldest community was Clyde, a name bestowed by a Scotchman, Clark, who lived in Chicago and had invested in this western land. Then came Hawthorne to the east, with its quarries of limestone, and Morton Park, along the route of the Burlington railroad; and later Grant Works, so named on account of the Grant Locomo- tive works ; Drexel, and Warren Park, the latter receiving its name from Andrew Warren, a land owner. The existence of one of these — Morton Park— the "hub" of the town, was due to the sentiment of one man; its story con- trasts strangeh' with the usual businesslike account of a sub- division. The one man was Portus Baxter Weare, pioneer Indian trader, and commission merchant, widely known and counting among his intimate friends many of the important men of the early days in Iowa, Nebraska, the Dakotas, and Illinois. He had that adventurous spirit which drove him west from Connecticut to engage in the fur trade ; and he possessed the keen business ability which is typical of the growth of Chicago and the Middle West. At the time of the great Chicago fire the Weare Commission Company with P. B. Weare at its head was an active firm doing business on South Water Street in Chicago. They dealt in furs, pelts, and in all kinds of food, especially game, prairie chickens, and geese, which were shipped by the thousands ; there were no restrictions then, for no one ever dreamed that the prairie supply would ever be exhausted. A few years after the great fire, however, the game trade did diminish ; but a steadily, rapidly growing- grain trade replaced it, and presently the Weare Commission Company had new offi- ces at 226 LaSalle Street near the Chicago Board of Trade. P. B. Weare became one of the shrewdest and most fearless traders in the grain business. In the meantime Mr. Weare realized that West Adams Street where he had resided for years was becoming congested; and with customary independence he began to look around for a place to live where he could breathe comfortably. He wished HISTORY I] to have an unobstructed view of the sunrise and sunset; he de- lighted in the violets, phlox, asters, and golden rod of the prai- rie. So with prompt decision he opened a sub-division and Mor ton Park had its beginning. It was named for an old Nebraska friend, J. Sterling Morton, the Secretary of Agriculture in the cabinet of President Grover Cleveland, and the founder of Arbor Day (for the curious, Mr. Morton's first name is Julius). Here in the center of a quarter block at the northwest corner of Fifty- second Avenue and Twenty-fifth Street, Mr. Weare built a beau tiful, tastily-furnished house that became a home not only for the owner but also for his many friends. Gradually, too, it de- veloped into a little social center for the neighbors who followed his first steps to Morton Park. With these scattered communities as centers Cicero increased its population, slowly at first, but with the rapid development of Chicago, with the improved facilities for transportation — the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad, the car line to Lyons, the car line to Riverside and LaGrange, the extension of the Metropolitan Elevated road and the corresponding extension of the Chicago surface lines from Chicago Avenue and Ogden Ave- nue — and with the location of manufacturing industries, es- pecially the Western Electric Company, the town swiftly jumped to a prominent position among the industrial cities of Illinois. The boundaries of the several communities have expanded until they have met, changing Cicero from a town of several towns to one solid community. As the growth of Cicero has depended and still depends to a great extent on the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad with its transportation facilities, it is fitting to give, in conclu- sion, a brief sketch of the history of the road, closely connected as it is with American history. Iowa had entered the Union in 1846, the first free state of the Louisiana Purchase. The pioneers of that state of Louisiana were immediately followed by thousands of a fine type of Euro- pean immigrants, especially the Germans who left Germany dur- ing the Revolution of 1848. in search for liberty ; and they found it in Iowa, Wisconsin, Missouri, and Illinois. By 1849 Texas and California had been added to United States territory, as a result of conquest in the Mexican War. Then like lightning Development of Cicero Chicago Burlington and Quincy R. R. 12 THE TOWN OF CICERO The Special Charters The Meeting in Boston came the cry of "Gold" from California. These historic events created a demand for transportation, a demand that brought the "Burlington," the road which passes through Cicero. Briefly, the facts are these : At that time railroads were built under special state charters, and a large number of them was granted at every session of the legislature, for the people de- manded railroads. On February 12, 1849, three special charters were granted by the Illinois State Legislature : I. Aurora — "Aurora Branch." to be built twelve miles north to Turner Junction. II. Peoria — "Peoria and Oquawka," to be built from Peoria to Oquawka. [II. Quincy — "Northern Cross." to be built northeast to- wards Galesburg. These railroads, so tar on paper only, were financed locally. The "Aurora Branch" people managed by 1850 to build their twelve miles of road to Turner Junction (West Chicago). This was "the small seed out of which the C. B. & Q. finally grew." At Turner Junction it connected with the Galena road, now the Northwestern, and handled its traffic over that line, thirty mile? in length, to the Kinzie Street terminals, until the building of the St. Charles Air Line in 1855. The Peoria people raised enough money to build 14 miles of road westward to Edward's Siding, having planned their route through Farmington. This troubled the people of Galesburg, who wanted a railroad; so they obtained a charter of their own in 1851, which they called "Central Military Tract," authorizing them to build northeasterly toward any connecting line with Chicago. Shortly after this Chauncey S. Cotton of Galesburg, Mr. Wadsworth of Aurora, both merchants and both actively interested in railroads, and James W. Grimes, a progressive lawyer of Burlington, Iowa, met in Boston, where all were transacting business. They .agreed upon a plan to persuade the directors of the Michigan Central — Forbes, Brooks, Joy, and their associates — to finance a railroad from Burlington to Chi- cago via Galesburg; and that plan was successful. Meanwhile, in June, 1852, the "Aurora Branch" charter was amended to provide for a line southwest to Mendota, the nam* PLATE III West Chicago (North*, (Turner's Junction) CAGO Aurora P7^enctota £/ Burlington J — ~"* Oouawka ** o r^eoria Jo Chutney Origin and Development of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy R. R. in Northern Illinois. (1) Aurora Branch, 1850; (2) Chicago & Aurora, 1853; Consolidated, 1856, Chicago, (3) Central Military Tract, 1854; Burlington & Quincy. (4) Peoria & Oquawka, 1855; (5) Main Line C. B. & Q., direct to Chicago via Naperville, 1864. HISTORY 13 was changed to "Chicago and Aurora/' and the road was built before the close of 1853. With the backing of the Michigan Central interests, the "Cen-. tral Military Tract" road began work in 1852, and completed the link between Galesburg and Mendota in 1854; at the same time these financial interests aided the construction of the "Pe- oria and Oquawka" from Galesburg west to the Mississippi river opposite Burlington, completing the work in March, 1855. The name of the connecting line, "Chicago and Aurora," was now changed to "Chicago, Burlington and Quincy," a title that has been popularly abbreviated to "The Burlington." The fol- lowing year, 1856, the "Central Military Tract" was consolidated with the Aurora company under the name "Chicago, Burlington and Quincy." By this time the Chicago terminals of the Galena road had be- come inadequate; accordingly in 1855 the St. Charles Air Line was built jointly with three other roads, which enabled the C. B. & Q. to have a direct connection with the Michigan Central and better terminals at the foot of Randolph Street. Later the Burlington interests completed the "Northern Cross' from Quincy to Galesburg; they finished the "Peoria and Oquawka" from Galesburg east to Peoria ; and they came to the relief of the Hannibal and St. Joe Company and of the Burlington and Missouri River Company, the former connecting Hannibal with St. Joseph in Missouri and the latter connecting Burlington with Ottumwa in Iowa. At the outbreak of the Civil War the road was in operation from Chicago to East Burlington, and from Galesburg south to Quincy, and east to Peoria, with close connections at Chicago for the Michigan Central, at Burlington with the Iowa road, and at Quincy with the Hannibal line across the State of Missouri. There was no further construction during the war except that in 1864 the line was built from Aurora direct into Chicago via Naperville and through Cicero. The road was an established suc- cess. Its later developments in construction, operations, and mergers have made it a famous system with nine thousand miles of road in twelve different states, a system that carried twenty-three million passengers in 1920. The "Burlington* C. B. and Q. in Cicero, 1864 Cicero and the Great West 14 THE TOWN OF CICERO Let it be said, finally, that the Town of Cicero has underneath its thriving modern life a real history. On this territory the life of the American Indian, the hardships of the pioneer, the strug- gles of the early settler, the skill of the mechanic, the energy of the business man, the projects of the railroad engineer— all present in miniature a picture of the development of the great Middle West. May this idea stir the imagination and arouse the patriotism of its boys and girls, its men and women. BIBLIOGRAPHY The Making of the Burlington — W. W. Baldwin. Discovery and Conquest of the Northwest— Blanchard. Actual Government in Illinois— Childs. Personal Reminiscences of Pioneer Life— Elizabeth Porter Furbeck. Reminiscences of Early Chicago— E. O. Gale. The Government of Illinois—Greene. Halley's Pictorial Oak Park. Chapters of Oak Park History— John Lewis. Early Days of Peoria and Chicago— McCulloch. Historic Illinois— Parrish. In Memoriam — James W. Scoville. Father Marquette— Thwaites. Charter and Revised Ordinances of Town of Cicero, 1897. Chicago City Manual — Bureau of Statistics and Municipal Library. Cicero Town Records. Maps of Chicago Bureau of Maps. Municipal Code of Town of Cicero, 1917. Records of Department of Public Works of Chicago. Reports of Town of Cicero, 1869-1889. THE ADVANTAGES OF CICERO PART II The town of Cicero is located on the level prairie land, adja- cent to the limits of the City of Chicago, and seven miles distant from the "Loop/' the center of the business district of that city. The town within its area of five and one-half square miles pos- sesses the fundamental advantages necessary to the growth of a modern city; namely, homes, business houses, manufacturing plants. The greatest advantage, the foundation of a city and state and nation, is the home ; and Cicero is primarily a "home town." Land at a reasonable price ; building material at hand ; skilled labor in the community; an efficient local government; schools, churches, roads, sewers, water, gas, electricity for light and power, and in progress a public library and a park-playground system — then, indeed, the newcomer says, "I will build here." The population has increased by leaps and bounds until it reached the United States census figures of 44,995 on January first, 1920. Of this number approximately 92% are foreign-born or of foreign parentage ; the nationalities represent almost every country in Europe and the Near East, with the Bohemians lead- ing, approximately 35%, and the Polish ranking second with about 17% of the population. Then come Slavs, Hungarians, Rus- sians, Lithuanians, Germans, Italians, Greeks, Spaniards, Irish, Scotch, English, Scandinavians, and still others from Europe, and Mexicans from Central America. As regards the character of the inhabitants, these four traits predominate: Patriotism, love of home, thrift, and a firm determination to educate their children. Enlistment of men and the co-operation of both men and women in the war activities of 1917-1920 fully prove the patriotism ; neatly-kept houses with lawns and shrubbery testify to the homes ; postal savings and local savings-bank accounts afford evidence of thrift ; and silent, untold sacrifices to keep the child- ren in school show a fierce desire for an American education. Each of the various localities of the town : Hawthorne, Mor- ton Park, Drexel, Clyde, Grant Works, and Warren Park, has its grammar schools, with a total number of fourteen, all now under a unified organization in one district, Number 99. These A Home Town Diversity of Nationalities School* 16 THE TOWN OF CICERO grammar schools are the sources from which the well equipped township high school, J. Sterling Morton, draws its enrollment. Throughout the town the religious organizations have their churches and missions, seventeen of them, of the following de- nominations : Polish Catholic Congregational Lithuanian Catholic St. Mary's, Episcopal- Irish Catholic English Lutheran Bohemian Catholic Presbyterian (two) English Catholic Baptist German Lutheran Baptist Mission Methodist (two) Kvangelical Lutheran Swedish Lutheran Cicero has the essentials of the nation : Home and church. Each citizen has a right to be proud of the streets of the town. Since 1849, the date of the organization of a town gov- ernment, there has been a steady, systematic series of road improvements, rendered necessary to keep pace with the growth of traffic. At present there are approximately fifty-six miles of improved roads built of the following kinds of material : Macadam 19 miles Asphalt 21 miles (Two miles are boulevards) Brick 13J4 miles Granite block Vz mile Concrete 2 miles Total 56 miles it is significant that presently about $200,000.00 will be ex- pended for roads and other improvements. Of similar import- ance, too, is the beginning of a paved alley system, which means that the rear as well as the front of the house is worthy of at- tention. Not as prominent to the eye but vitally necessary to the health of each individual is the sewage system. As stated be- fore in the history of Cicero, this section was in the early days a very damp locality, so damp that frequently it was entirely under water. Mr. John Mongrieg of Clyde used to row a boat from Clyde to Hawthorne in order to get to work ; Mr. Robert ADVANTAGES 17 Muir of the same locality regularly kept rubber hip boots in the Clyde station so that he could reach his home at night. Excel- lent duck hunting grounds were in the swamp at Fifty-sixth Avenue and Twenty-fifth Street. The first attempts at drain- age were the open ditches at section and half-section lines. In 1893, however, a box sewer of wood was constructed under- ground along Fifty-second Avenue. Yet, during its con- struction the open ditch on Twenty-second Street became blocked and a historic Hood occurred. The entire prairie west or Fifty-second Avenue was under water, and the avenue itself was a raging torrent. This box sewer together with similar ones at Ridgeland Avenue, Oak Park Avenue, and Harlem Avenue materially im- proved conditions. Then in 1912 the increased population neces- sitated the modern drainage and a huge brick sewer was built under Fifty-second Avenue, connecting Chicago and Cicero sewer mains with the Drainage Canal. This sewer is seven feet in diameter north of Twenty-sixth Street and seven and one- half feet in diameter south of Twenty-sixth Street. Its cost was met jointly by Cicero (town) and the Sanitary District for that part of the main lying south of Twenty-second Street, while the City of Chicago paid for the extension north of Twenty-sec- ond Street to the city limits at Twelfth Street. There is also a drainage line called the "intercepting sewer" constructed at Oak Park Avenue and the Illinois Central Railroad, running par- allel with the railroad to Fifty-sixth Avenue, thence south on Fifty-sixth Avenue to Thirty-ninth Street, thence east to the Fifty-second Avenue brick sewer. By this system of mains and sub-mains all that territory is successfully drained which lies between Forty-sixth Avenue and Harlem Avenue, and also a section of the west side of Chicago. For water supply Cicero goes to Chicago. Previously, in the days of sparse settlement, there were individual wells, while later a private company furnished water from its artesian well for the territory north of Twelfth Street. In 1890 Cicero dug its own well (artesian) and constructed a pumping station, the one now located in Berwyn, at that time, of course, a part if Cicero. Then improvements were paid by special assess- ments and a water rate. Again and very soon a modern system Water from Lake Michigan 18 THE TOWN OF CICERO Public Library Parks and Playgrounds Inter-relation of Homes, Business, Industry was necessitated by increasing population and for fire protec- tion, with the result that in 1895 the Cicero mains were con- nected with the Chicago mains at Twenty-sixth Street and the pumping station was built near the town hall. Now there are two other main connections on Twelfth Street with the city mains ; and there are three electric automatic pumps to equal- ize the pressure. The household conveniences of gas and electricity for both light and power are efficiently and reasonably supplied by the Public Service Company of Northern Illinois. Concluding the list of civic attractions to home-builders are the public library and the park-playground system. The library emerged from a vision to a reality in the winter and spring of 1920 when some public-spirited citizens strongly backed by Ci- cero's civic organizations, the grammar schools, and the high school, secured a tremendous majority at the polls on election day in favor of a bond issue for the library. The initial sums of money are now available and the library board of nine members elected on April fifth, 1921, are energetically performing their supervisory duties of planning and constructing the library, and putting it into operation. At this same time, too, the people are planning with vision and skill a comprehensive park and playground system for the entire community. It is of interest to relate that Cicero's only park district, that in Clyde, was established in 1907. In that year the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad granted a five-acre tract of land to the Town of Clyde, which then organ- ized a park district in order to have legal taxing power for main- tenance of the park. The district includes the territory between Sixteenth and Thirty-ninth Streets and Fifty-sixth and Sixty- second Avenues. The district affairs are conducted by a board composed of five members, elected for a term of five years. Other civic improvements now under consideration are a hospital in the town itself ; although St. Anthony's, Cook County,. Oak Park, West Suburban, and Berwyn hospitals are within reach ; an up-to-date hotel ; a Young Men's Christian Association building ; and a Young Woman's Christian Association building. In Cicero the close inter-relation between homes and business and manufactures is perfectly illustrated ; the home demands ADVANTAGES 19 material from business and supplies labor to manufactures ; bus- iness supplies the home with its materials and demands those materials from manufactures ; manufactures supply business with its materials and demand labor from the home. The result- ing- inter-relation is a triangle. The parts of that triangle, how- ever, must be properly adjusted to each other; such an adjust- ment means a division of the community into zones or districts in order that each of the three elements may exist and develop without detriment to the others. In general such a system is already present : the industries, heavy and light, are grouped along the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Railroad to the south ; along the Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railway (Inner Belt) to the east ; and along the Baltimore and Ohio Railway to the north. The commercial houses, numerous and prosperous, extend chiefly along Twelfth Street, Twenty-second Street, and Twenty-fifth Street, with other minor districts on Forty-eighth Avenue, Fifty- second Avenue, and Twenty-sixth Street. The residential sec- tions are grouped in six communities and are fairly well sepa- rated from the other two classes of districts. It is well, on the other hand, to provide for the future ; and so it is probable that a zoning ordinance will be worked out, in accordance with the state legislative zoning act of 1919. The kinds of manufactures are numerous, also, and varied, Manufacturing covering almost everything "under the sun." In size some are p,ant8 small with a list of five to ten employees, while the Western Electric Company has fifteen thousand employees. An enume- ration of a few of the 115 factories and workshops follows: American Magnesia Products Co. LaSalle Steel Co. American Spiral Pipe Works. Conlon Electric Washer Co. Chicago Vitreous Enamel Co. The Greenlee Foundry. National Malleable Castings Co. Chicago & Illinois Western R. R. Co. Western Overall Mfg. Co. Gerrard Wire Tying Machine Co.. Hurley Machine Co. Crown Stove Works. 20 THE TOWN OF CICERO Transportation : Steam and Electric Colonial Fireplace Co. Clapp, Norstrom, and Riley. Coonley Mfg. Co. Steel Products Co. Fulton Saw Works. Union Gasket & Mfg; Co. Midland Terra Cotta Co. Concrete Engineering Co. Cicero Rubber Co. Western Electric Co. It is impossible to list the companies dealing with coal, lum- ber, automobile accessories and repairs, the bakeries, bottling works, tailor shops, and supply houses for miscellaneous ma- terial. These names will confirm the statement that Cicero's industries are varied and extensive. Everyone of these business houses and manufacturing plants depends primarily on one factor — transportation. That factor Cicero possesses. Coal for power — raw materials for manufac- turing — cars for shipment of finished products : all depend on transportation. To these there must be added the transporta- tion of the men and women, the human part of a manufacturing plant. This transportation is furnished as follows : I. Railroads — A. Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy. B. Illinois Central. C. Baltimore and Ohio (freight only ; terminal at 56th Ave.) D. Manufacturers' Junction. (A separate corporation with several miles of track at 25th Street, 48th Ave., and Ogden Ave.) E. Chicago and Eastern Illinois (Inner Belt; connections with all roads). These mean that Cicero has the identical advantages of Chi- cago, the railroad center of the United States. II. Electric Railways — A. Chicago and West Towns Railway lines. The company controls the Berwyn-Lyons line ; the LaGrange line ; and the Chicago Avenue (52nd Ave.) line. ADVANTAGES 21 B. Chicago Surface Lines. 1. Ogden-Laramie (52nd Ave.) 2. Twenty-second Street. 3. Cicero Avenue (48th Ave.) 4. Roosevelt Road (12th St.) C. Chicago Elevated Lines. Douglas Park branch of the Metropolitan Elevated. This line at present has its terminal at Lombard Ave. (62nd Avenue). These mean that Cicero has the three-fold advantage of Chi- cago city surface and elevated line service ; interurban service to other towns on the west and north ; local transportation ser- vice. It is these systems of steam and electric railroads that have benefited and have perfected the harmonious relation of home, business, and manufactures. In conclusion there follows a sketch of the history of the most interesting as well as the most important manufacturing plant in Cicero — the Western Electric Company, with a $30,000,- 000 capital, and with an annual volume of business of $60,000,000. The initial Hawthorne plant was erected in the year of 1902, and the shops were in operation by the early part of 1903. Since that time building after building has been erected in accordance with a definite plan of units ; and this enlarging process will con- tinue because, before the end of the present year, 1922, all the New York shops will have been transferred to the Hawthorne site. To survey the main events in the life of the Western Electric Company, it is necessary to go back to the period following the Civil War. In 1869 the Western Union Telegraph Company consolidated its several instrument shops, an arrangement which caused the abandonment of the shop at Cleveland, Ohio. The foreman of this shop, George W. Shawk, bought part of its equipment and, employing five or six men, started to produce miscellaneous equipment. Very soon he formed a partnership with Mr. Barton, then chief operator in the Western Union of- fice at Rochester, N. Y. After a few months Shawk sold his interest to Elisha Gray, an inventor. Gray had previously ex- pressed a desire to form a partnership with Shawk, but the lat- ter had refused, saying "Gray would want to put every man in Western Electric Company The Firm of Barton, Gray, and Stager 22 THE TOWN OF CICERO the shop onto his darned inventions." Gray obtained the neces- sary money for the partnership by selling to General Anson Stager his interest in a patent for a printing telegraph instru- ment. General Stager at that time was General Superintendent of the Western Union Telegraph Company. He very shortly became an equal partner with Gray and Barton, on the condition that the shop be removed from Cleveland to Chicago. Each partner contributed about $2,500 to the capital. So near the end of the year 1869 the firm had bought a repair and model shop from L. C. Springer in Chicago, with a location on LaSalle Street near South Water Street. As the business increased, especially in the making of Morse instruments, steam power was introduced, and later the shop was moved to the corner of State Street and Eldridge Court. Entrance The shop was extremely fortunate in escaping destruction of Western by the Chicago Fire of 1871 ; on the other hand it received a Union Co. powerful impetus in orders due to replacement and reconstruc- tion. The following year, 1872, the Western Union Telegraph Company abandoned its instrument shop at Ottawa, Illinois; but at the same time the company negotiated with the Gray and Barton firm to take over the shop's business. In the transac- tion the Western Union Company acquired a third of the Gray and Barton stock, General Stager held a third, and friends and employees of the firm held the remainder; the name, too, was changed to read : The Western Electric Manufacturing Com- pany ; with a capital of $150,000. General Stager leased a site on Kinzie Street near State Street, finally buying the building, which then became the Western Electric shop. New York At the end of seven years, 1879, the Western Union Telegraph s,te Company was so well satisfied with the results of its invest- ment in the Western Electric Manufacturing Company that it turned over to the latter its New York factory by leasing to them the building and machinery on New Church Street, New York City. For ten years this was the Western Electric's New York home. Telegraph During the above period Alexander Graham Bell had been perfecting the telephone; its first public exhibition was on July e ep one ^ 1876, at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition. Then came the fierce competition between the Bell Telephone Company ADVANTAGES 23 and the Western Union Telegraph Company, the latter also being in the telephone business. The Western Electric Manu- facturing- Company, meanwhile, was kept busy making tele- phones and telephonic equipment for the Western Union ex- changes. The fight of the latter with its rival was waged in actual business, in the patent office, and in the courts. The Bell company had the Bell patents ; the Western Union Company had the Edison patents and the Elisha Gray fundamental patent for the speaking telephone. Finally, in November, 1879, peace was made on the initiative of the Western Union because "while it had the more money, the Bell Company had the better patent" ; and both with a common interest began a development of ex- changes and lines throughout the United States. The Western Electric Manufacturing Company now, also, entered the telephone exchange business, securing licenses in several of the Middle Western states, and developing especially the Central Union, Iowa, and Chicago Telephone Companies. However, the Western Union Company, part owner of the West- ern Electric Manufacturing Company, objected to the latter's purchase of telephone exchange interests ; and the Electric Com- pany, accordingly, limited its activities to the manufacture of telephone apparatus. Presently the Western Union Telegraph Company underwent a change in management, when the Vanderbilt stock was ac- quired by Jay Gould. As a result General Stager left the com- pany and devoted his time and energy to the business of initi- ating and extending telephone exchange systems. In this work he frequently came into contact with the officials of the Bell Telephone Company ; and then it was but a short step to the formation of a new company called the Western Electric Com- pany, which took over the business of the Western Electric Manufacturing Company, and also the business of the two larg- est manufacturing companies of the American Bell Telephone Company—the Charles Williams, Jr., Company, of Boston, and the Gilliland Company of Indianapolis. The Bell Company pur- chased the stock owned by the Western Union Company, stock which the Gould interests were perfectly willing to sell, and it also bought some of the Charles Williams, Jr., stock, and some of the stock of General Stager, thus controlling a majority of Limitation of Activities Control by the Bell Telephone Company 24 THE TOWN OF CICERO Clinton Street Foreign Plants the Western Electric Company's stock. In this way the new company became the exclusive manufacturers for telephones and later for telephone apparatus for the Bell Telephone Com- pany. The relations between the two were agreed upon by Mr Vail, General Manager of the Bell Telephone Company, and General Stager for the Western Electric Company. The quarters on Kinzie Street, Chicago, were changed to a new building, erected in 1883 on Clinton Street near Van Buren Street. This was the nucleus of the Clinton Street branch of the company. Other developments were the transfer of the Boston Charles Williams, jr.. plant to New York City, and in 1889 the erection of a new building on Thames and Greenwich Streeti in that city; the transfer of the Gilliland factory from Indianapolis to Chicago; and the establishment of a branch factory at Antwerp, Belgium. During these years, the 80's, the capital was $1,000.- ard as president "pro tern." In voting on any resolution, order, or ordinance for the ex- jnditure of money or for taxation or for a special assessment, te yeas and nays must be called and entered on the record. In )ting on other measures there is collective voting ; but the yeas id nays must be recorded if such a vote is called for by any ember on any question. A majority is necessary to pass a easure ; the president votes in case of a tie. i A correct record of the minutes of all proceedings is kept by e clerk. The usual order of business at a meeting is as follows : Roll call Consideration of minutes of previous meeting Presentation of petitions, orders, and other communica- tions Reports of town officers Reports of standing committees Reports of select or special committees Unfinished business Miscellaneous business Adjournment In case where a resolution or motion is entered on the nutes, the name of the member who makes it must also be tered. Special committees are elected by the board as they deem oper. Standing committees consist of three or more members each, d are chosen by the board. There are seventeen of them, as lows : 1. Finance 2. Streets and Highways 3. Drainage 4. Special Assessments 5. Police and Fire 6. Water Works 7. Street Lighting- Yeas and Nays Order of Business The Standing Committees 30 THE TOWN OF CICERO Reports of Committees Salary per Meeting Classification of Powers 8. Licenses 9. Judiciary and Ordinances 10. Miscellaneous 11. Rules and Regulations 12. Printing 13. Public Grounds 14. Gas and Electricity 15. Transportation 16. Committee of the Whole 17. Board of Local Improvements. The committee system of the town is very similar to that the nation; it is based on the need for careful investigation ai consideration of measures by bodies smaller in numbers th; the entire legislative division. The reports of committees are made to "The President ai the Board of Trustees of the Town of Cicero," and they descril the matter referred to them, give the decision or the conclusic reached, and offer a corresponding recommendation, resolutio or ordinance. All the relating papers must be attached to tl reports. The board organizes itself in April of each year, when tl municipal year begins. The fiscal year on the other hand begii January first and ends December thirty-first. The salary of each trustee is paid per meeting. The! is no other compensation for any services, whatever, and a men ber is not entitled to pay for more than one day's attendance any one week. These restrictions are specified in the charter incorporation; consequently, any change must come through $ act of the state legislature. The powers of the town board are definitely stated in tt charter, in the acts of the state legislature, and in the constit; tion of the state of Illinois. These powers may be classifie broadly, as follows : A — Members — The board regulates its own government ar determines its rules of procedure. B — Appointments — All appointments by the president must t made with the advice and consent of the board. C — Ordinances — A law passed by the board of trustees is cal GOVERNMENT 31 ed an ordinance. The general ordinances of the town board are published by the trustees in a book with the title "The Revised Municipal Code of the Town of Cicero." The subjects with which ordinances deal are, in general, as follows : Improvements in the town. Control of all town property, real and personal. Issuance of licenses to every kind of business and shop. Maintenance of order, peace, and safety ; i. e., the police and fire departments. Protection of the citizens from disease ; i. e., the health de- partment. Care of streets and highways ; i. e., regulation of their use by public utility companies, as water, gas, telephone, electricity, transportation, and by all kinds of traffic. Requisition of money by taxation for all these purposes. The expenditure of money, however, is very strictly limited by the constitution of the state to a maximum of five per cent of the assessed valuation and also by legislative acts, which, for ex- ample, refer special and general assessments and bond issues to the people. With these facts regarding the legislative department, it must be emphasized that the welfare and progress of the town of Cicero depend to a great extent on the men whom the people elect as members of the town board of trustees. Importance of Trustees CHAPTER II Executive Department The executive department consists of the following officials, elected by the people : President Collector Town Clerk Assessor Supervisor (Treasurer) To these must be added the departments of Law, Police, Fire, and Health, which are controlled by the appointive power of the President. It is these officials and these departments that ex- 32 THE TOWN OF CICERO Qualifications Election and Term Case of Vacancy Salary ecute the laws of the town and direct its affairs. It is significant that the President, Town Clerk, Supervisor, Collector, and As- sessor are also members of the legislative body, the town board — an arrangement that results in very efficient government. President As in practically all American cities the chief executive officer is the President. Ordinarily he would be called mayor, but since Cicero is an incorporated town, the town title of President is used. His position is one of importance and responsibility, upon him depends the success or failure of the town government The qualifications of the President are citizenship in the United States, the age and residence requirements of a qualified elector, and the necessity of continued residence within the town limits. He is elected at the regular April elections for a term of four years. Originally one year in length the term was increased to four years by a special act of the state legislature on June 25, 1917. He holds his office until his successor is elected and qual- ified; he is eligible for re-election. The President must take the usual oath of office and must execute to the Town of Cicero a bond for $1000.00 as surety for the faithful performance of his duties. He must keep his office at the town-hall and attend there during the business hours of the day for the transaction of official affairs. In case of a vacancy in the presidency, when the unexpired term is less than one year, the Board of Trustees elects one of its members to serve until the next annual election. When the unexpired term is one year or over, the vacancy is filled by an election. A vacancy occurs, too, when the President removes from the limits of the town. If there is a temporary absence or disability of the President, the board elects one of its mem- bers as president "pro tern," and the latter possesses the legal powers of the President. The salary of the chief executive is two thousand dollars ($2000.00) per year, an amount determined by ordinance of the Town Board; it can not be increased or decreased during the current term of office. The President is entitled to the services of a private secretary, appointed by him, but having his or her GOVERNMENT 33 compensation determined by the Board of Trustees. It should be noted that such a position as President of a town frequently leads to higher state or federal positions ; and, if the incumbent is a lawyer, it leads to an increased practice later, as a result of the training secured. The powers of the President are broadly classified in four groups: A) Legislative powers; B) Executive powers; C) Mili- tary powers ; D) Pardoning powers. A) Legislative Powers— The President presides at the meet- ings of the Board of Trustees, and he is the chief official of that body. He may call a special meeting of the board by filing a written request with the Clerk, stating time and place of meet- ing and the nature of the business to be transacted. He has no vote at any meeting except in case of a tie, when he casts the deciding vote. He possesses the usual veto power which may be overcome by a two-thirds vote of the Board of Trustees. At the close of each fiscal year, the President submits to the Board of Trustees his annual report, which contains a general summary of the affairs of the municipality for the preceding- year, together with suggestions and recommendations for the future interests of the town. At various times, too, he acts in a similar capacity as Chairman of the Board of Local Improve- ments, directing its actions and drawing up specified ordinances. B) Executive Powers— In general the President as the chief executive officer of the town must faithfully perform his own duties as prescribed by law ; and he must see that all laws and ordinances are duly enforced and obeyed. He has the power at all times to examine and inspect the books, records, and papers of any agent, employee, or officer of the town. As he is responsible for the administration, he must know thoroughly the conduct of affairs by his officials. He appoints, by and with the advice and consent of the Board of Trustees, all officers whose appointment is not by law other- wise provided for, such as Town Attorney, Highway Engineer, special officers, and heads and members of the Health depart- ment. Fire department, and Police department. If a vacancy occurs, the President within thirty days must communicate to the Board the name of his appointee, and, pending the concur- Annual Report Responsibility Appointments 34 THE TOWN OF CICERO rence of the Board in the appointment, he may designate some suitable person to discharge the duties of the office. Removals The President has the power to remove any officer appointed by him provided that there is a formal charge and provided that he is of the opinion that the interests of the town demand such removal. However, he must report the reasons for his actions to the Board at a meeting to be held not less than five days nor more than ten days after the removal ; if the President fails or refuses to file with the Town Clerk the reasons for removal., or if the Board by a two-thirds (2-3) vote of all its members, by yeas and nays, to be entered on the record, disapproves of the removal, the officer is restored to his office ; but he must give new bonds and take a new oath of office. No officer can be removed a second time for the same offense. The President must sign all commissions, and he is author- ized to grant and sign all licenses and permits under the ordi- nances of the Board of Trustees. No license is legal unless it is signed by him. He must, also, sign all warrants drawn on the Treasurer by the Town Clerk, and his name must be on each bond issued in the name of the town. Signature The President with the Town Clerk has charge of the sale and transfer of all lots and parcels of land attained by reason of the non-payment of taxes or of assessments, together with the accrued interest. C) Military Powers — He has the usual military powers of the executive. Within the town limits he is conservator of the peace, and it is his duty to suppress all riots, routs, affrays, fight- ing, breaches of the peace, and to prevent crime. When neces sary the President has the power to call on every male inhabi- tant of the town over eighteen years of age, to aid in enforcing laws and ordinances. In such case he is, of course, subject to the authority of the Governor of the state, who is commander- in-chief of the militia. D) Pardoning Powers —The President may release an\ per- son imprisoned for violation of any town ordinance; he must, at the first session of the Town Board, report the release and his reasons. This same power of releasing prisoners as well as the power of remitting fines and penalties also belongs to the Board of Trustees. GOVERNMENT 35 The attention of those who are interested in municipal gov- ernment may well be directed to the position of the executive in the incorporated town of Cicero. On the one hand, a leading member of the town legislature ; on the other hand, a vigorous, responsible executive; these two facts result in a peculiarly efficient co-operation of two branches of our American govern- ment, a co-operation that is frequently lacking in city, state, and nation. It seems to suggest a type that ranks with the city-manager and commission forms of local government. Co-operation of Legislative and Executive CHAPTER III The remaining executive officials who are elective, include the Town Clerk, the Collector, the Supervisor (Treasurer), and the Assessor. Each must have the same qualifications as the Town Trustees in respect to age and residence requirements of a qualified elector, and the forbiddance of holding any other town office, of being interested in any contract with the town and of defaulting in any payment to the town. Each must take the usual oath for faithful performance of duties ; and each, as he enters upon the duties of his office, must execute a bond to the town in such a sum and with such security as the Board of Trustees requires. This bond is surety for all money handled by the official and for the proper carrying out of the duties of the office. The salaries are paid from appropriations by the Board, and all such amounts are deemed a tax on the taxable property of the town. If the official receives an income from commissions or by a percentage on the money collected, it is lawful for him to retain his compensation, which, however, can not exceed the sum of five thousand dollars ($5000.00) per year. All salaries, fees, and compensations are fixed by town ordi- nance. The term in each case is for four years, the official being elected at the regular spring elections. He legally holds office until his successor is elected. If there is a vacancy, the office is filled by the President, with the advice and consent of the Lrd of Trustees, until the next annual election. Other Executive Officials 36 THE TOWN OF CICERO Corporate Seal Town Records Fiscal Agent Financial Records Town Clerk The Town Clerk really has a twofold position: first, that of the Town Clerk, and second, that of the Town Comptroller. His salary is fixed by appropriation, and his bond is five thousand dollars. ($5000.00). Powers and duties are as follows: He has care of the corporate seal, which must be affixed to all town documents before they become official. He has the custody of all town records, books, papers; a file of all required oaths and certificates ; and records of all bonds issued by the town. He attends all meetings of the Town Board and keeps record of the proceedings, with the rules, regulations, by-laws, and ordinances passed by them. He handles all requisite notices, commuications and records of the town officers ; issues and attests all licenses ; issues plates and badges ; and draws all warrants for money on the Town Treasurer. He appoints, with the advice and consent of the J3oard of Trustees, such assistants and subordinantes as he requires. He is fully responsible for them and he may remove them at his discretion. Comptroller As ex-officio Comptroller of th etown, the Town Clerk assumes what in ordinary business would be the duties of an auditor. He and the Treasurer and the Collector consti- tute the Department of Finance. However, the Clerk is the head of the department. He supervises every officer of the town charged ro any manner with the receipt collection, and disbursement of the town revenues. Fie is the fiscal agent o\ the tov n. Ii.i\ ing charge of all deeds, mortgages, contracts, judg- ments, notes, bonds, and contracts involving obligation on the part of the town, as well as its property; having the auditing of all accounts. Scarcely second in importance are the financial records he must keep — a complete set of books containing usually the fol- lowing accounts : A) Current assets and liabilities B) Investments of town in property C) I )el'ei red debt of the town GOVERNMENT 37 D) Appropriations of year for every expenditure E) Receipts from each and every source of revenue. Finally, the Comptroller is the power that balances the budget appro- priations desired by the town officers with the revenue income of the municipality. Collector The Collector, before entering on the duties of his office, executes a bond to the Town of Cicero for the sum of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000.00), with surety approved by the Board of Trustees, and conditioned on the faithful performance of the duties of the office. He is paid a regular salary and in addition a certain percentage on the amounts collected, It is his duty to receive all sums paid to the town for taxes, special assessments, franchises, licenses, inspection, permits, water, and for any other purpose not otherwise specifically provided for. if it is due the town. He must keep accurate books and ac- counts which show all receipts and other matters pertaining to his office. He furnishes and files with the Town Clerk a com- plete monthly statement and also a final yearly summary. H^ appoints such assistants as he needs, if authorized by the Board of Trustees. He is responsible for his subordinates and may remove them at his discretion. The work of the Collector is most heavy during the period from January second to March fifteenth, when the regular taxes are paid to him. Besides this responsibility he exerts consid- erable directive power as a member of the Department of Fi- nance. Supervisor The title, Supervisor, is the old time-honored one used in the New England town. It was used in Cicero's charter of incor- poration, although there it was specified that the Supervisor should be, ex-officio, the Treasurer of the town. He, too, executes a heavy bond, to the value of $150,000.00, as surety for good conduct. His salary is paid with a certain percentage of the money handled by him. He receives all money belonging to the town, and he renders, at the end of each month, a statement under oath to the Clerk, showing the state and balance of the treasury, with an accurate Compensation and Duties Busy Season Keeper of Treasury Real and Personal Property 38 THE TOWN OF CICERO record of every cent received by him, from whom, and on what account ; in addition, an accurate record of all money paid out, and on what account. During the year he keeps a regular set of books as prescribed by the ordinances of the town, and at the end of the fiscal year he makes a final report to the Town Clerk. The position of the Treasurer is that of paymaster to a bus- iness organization ; it is one of tremendous financial responsi- bility. Assessor Value of ^} ie Assessor is the most feared man in local government His work — to estimate the value of your property — is briefly as follows : On or before the first day of May of each year, he receives from the County Board of Assessors the assessment books and all the blanks necessary to be used in the assessment of real and personal property. Then between the first day of May and the first day of July he determines, as nearly as possi- ble, the fair cost value of all real estate in the town, setting down in the proper column the value of each item ; he makes revalua- tions every four years and new property valuations each year. He also assesses the personal property of the citizens of the town by calling upon them and requesting them to fill out a blank called a personal property schedule, which contains, when filled, a "true and correct" list of the citizens' property. In the latter part of June the Assessor forwards the books to the Board of Assessors. (Keep in mind that assessed valuation is one-half of the actual, cash valuation). The work of the Asses- sor is difficult; it arouses bitterness in many instances; and it is hampered by the confused methods used in Cook County. (Valuations of railroad property are made by the State Tax Commission and sent to the County Clerk). CHAPTER III THE LAW DEPARTMENT The law department is an executive department of the town government ; it consists, usually, of the town attorney and the town prosecutor, but there may be assistants to them if the town board so provides by ordinance or by resolution. The town attorney is the head of the law department, and he is appointed by the board of trustees. Before he enters upon the duties of his office he must execute a bond to the town for one thousand dollars, as a surety for faithfulness in the perform- ance of his work. His chief duties are : to keep a record of all court actions, prosecuted or defended by his office ; to furnish opinions on all subjects submitted to him by the president or the board of trus- tees ; to draft any ordinance required by the town board ; and to prepare any papers, such as deeds, leases, or contracts, as are re- quired in the transaction of town business. As other town officials do, he makes an annual report to the board of trustees at the end of each year. On the other hand he makes a yearly estimate of the expense for his department, to the town clerk, an estimate Avhich is placed by the clerk be- fore the board. The town prosecutor, appointed by the board of trustees, is an assistant to the town attorney. His particular office, how- ever, is to make thorough investigations of offenses against town ordinances, institute the legal proceedings that seem necessary, and secure the legal penalty. He has the detailed work, too, of verifying all complaints with respect to alleged violations of town ordinances, and of endorsing all warrants issued by the police magistrate or by a justice of the peace. He has a book of records of all complaints and the attendant information, a record of all legal cases conducted by him, and he makes a monthly report to the town attorney. Town Attorney Duti« Town Prosecutor II THE POLICE DEPARTMENT The police department of the town is a most important Necessity branch of the executive power. This department has the direct for charge of the welfare, the safety, even the lives of the citizens Efficiency 40 THE TOWN OF CICERO of the town. Always, when the cleanliness and morality of any municipality are considered, it is the police force that holds, or loses, the necessary standard. In Cicero, especially, this de- partment must be maintained with an efficiency second to none in the state. Partly as the result of being a manufacturing and transportation town, partly as the result of being a close suburb of Chicago and consequently being used sometimes as a dump- ing place for Chicago's criminals, Cicero has real police work to do. Personnel The present force of the police department is as follows : 1 captain of police 1 lieutenant of police 3 patrol sergeants 6 detective sergeants 3 desk sergeants 36 patrolmen 2 motorcycle officials 1 chauffeur The captain and other officers are appointed by the pres- ident with the consent of the board of trustees. All promotions are made by the town board on the basis of merit and length of service. Any dismissal is made by the board of trustees, also, and a dismissal is made only with just cause. The captain, how- ever, may suspend any member of the force, only he must give his reasons to the board. The powers and duties of a police officer are in general to preserve order, peace, and quiet, and to enforce the laws and or- dinances throughout the town. He makes arrests for various | crimes, usually felonies — robbery, assault, or murder — and misdemeanors — speeding, obstruction, disorder, accidents, etc. He can force his way into a dwelling or other building if the emergency demands such action; but ordinarily he must have the proper warrant. If an officer calls on a by-stander to assist him, the person must do so or be subject to a fine of from five to twenty-five dollars. Actual The actual experiences of a policeman are rather different Experience from the cases stated in the lawbooks. At one minute he may be after a robber; and at the next he is lifting a stricken horse, or Tenure of Office Legal Duties Report GOVERNMENT 41 acting as a fireman. He helps man, woman, and child; inspects buildings; assists the health commissioner; seeks stolen proper- ty ; or enforces the garbage laws. Then he is frequently called to allay suffering and destitution when he helps the orphan, the widow, and those in misfortune. During the hscal year ending March 31, 1921, the Cicero police force made 2,016 arrests, of which 216 were state cases, and 1800 were town cases. They found twelve abandoned infants, reported 452 accidents, report- ed forty-two attempted suicides, reported 252 dead animals, and took 352 sick and injured to hospitals. The force recovered stolen property, totalling in value $69,738.00. The following is a copy of a monthly report, made by the Model captain of the police department to the president and board of trustees ; it shows accurately the regular work of the police force. To the Honorable President and Board of Trustees : Cicero, Illinois, January 3rd, 1921. Town of Cicero. Gentlemen : The following is a report of the work done by the Department of Police, from December 1st, 1920 to January 1st, 1921: Patrol calls 188, of which 81 were for arrests, 8 hospital, 73 false calls, 3 detention hospital, 3 fire calls, 2 bride- well, 4 county jail, 4 juvenile detention home and 6 calls for people taken home sick. Also one call to bring prisoners from Harrison Street Police Station to Cicero, and one taking prison- ers from Cicero to East Chicago Avenue Police Station. One call taking dead body to undertaker. Total number of arrests 128 Total amount of fines imposed $ 452.00 Total number for safe keeping 8 Total amount of fines sent to bridewell 3.00 Total amount of fines collected 449.00 Amount of goods recovered valued at 2193.00 Amount of goods recovered and turned over to other police departments and owners in other cities 6525.00 Yours truly, Captain of Police 42 THE TOWN OF CICERO ensions Captain of Police — He has the management and con- trol of all matters relating to the department : books and records ; assignments of all policemen; regulations for uniform and badges. He is responsible for the well being of the town and its citizens and for the protection of their property. Lieutenant of Police — He assists the captain in the performance of his duties ; acts as captain if the latter is absent ; and is in charge of the department at night. Detective Sergeant — He is sometimes called a plain- clothes man. He spends his time either on special assignments given him by the captain, or upon his own initiative, in the gen- eral prevention of crime — a task requiring secrecy and effi- ciency. Desk Sergeant — He has charge of the police alarm sys- tem, receiving all calls and reports from the patrolmen or any officer sent in by telephone. He has the "book" where he re- cords all complaints and offenses. In constant touch day and night with every part of the town, the desk sergeant is the heart of the police system. Patrolman — The policeman's duty is to cover his patrol or "beat", and there to maintain order and enforce the laws. He acts on his own judgment, reports all facts of any value, and performs his duty at the risk of his life. There are two improvements still to be made to the police department — and both would be welcomed by the officers and the men. The first is the application of civil service regula- tions — regulations which secure men fit, physically and mentally, and prevent dismissals for political reasons ; i. e., they make the position secure. The second is a pension system which protects the members and their families in case of death or permanent disability. There is, indeed, an organization called the Cicero Policemen's Benefit Association. The dues are nominal and there is a death benefit of five hundred dollars ($500.00). The need, however, is to adopt regular civil service methods. Ill THE FIRE DEPARTMENT The Cicero fire department is an efficient one with excellent GOVERNMENT 43 equipment, line organization, and an experienced force. The department has hve hre stations located as follows : Tire station No. 1 — 1342 South 50th Court, Grant Works Tire station No. 2 — 1501 South 58th Avenue, Warren Park Tire station No. 3 — 5303 West 25th Street, Morton Park Fire station No. 4 — 4900 West 30th Place, Hawthorne Tire station No. 5 — 26th Street and 60th Court, Clyde. The station in Morton Park has the hook and ladder truck, a "steamer'', and a chemical car. Each of the other four sta- tions has a hose cart and an engine, known as a "pumper." The apparatus is modern and motor-driven. The electrical alarm system that has been in use for years is now (1921) being replaced by a modern one that with its cen- tral equipment and branch circuits works in an efficient manner. Grant Works has been equipped and Hawthorne is being equip- ped. The personnel of the department consists of the fire marshal, and live companies — one for each station. At the Morton Park station are the hre marshal himself and his assistant, one engin- eer and one assistant engineer, and four men. At each of the other stations are the captain, the lieutenant, one engineer, one assistant engineer, and six men. The men are on duty in two shifts of twenty-four hours each. Their total number is forty- eight listed with the salaries as follows : Tire Marshal Assistant fire marshal Four captains Four lieutenants Four engineers Four ass't. engineers Four truck drivers Twenty-eight pipe men and expenses as below : Laundry, fuel, and light Gasoline Repairs, supplies, new hose Repairs to fire houses $1,980.00 1,920.00 1,920.00 1,860.00 1,860.00 1,800.00 Total $ 2,400.00 2,100.00 7,920.00 7,680.00 7,680.00 7,440.00 7,440.00 46,800.00 5,000.00 1,500.00 6,000.00 6,000.00 $103,960.00 The Steamer Electric System Organization 44 THE TOWN OF CICERO Tenure of Office Fire Marshal Fires and Insurance All members of the fire department are appointed by thei town board of trustees. A member may be suspended by the lire marshal, but in such a case the marshal must report the sus- pension and his reasons for it to the board of trustees at its next meeting. The board then acts as seems to them right and just, either reinstating the man or dismissing him. The fireman re- ceives no pay during suspension nor until he is returned to duty by the proper authority. A member is promoted on the basis of merit and length of service. The fire marshal has sole and absolute control over all per- sons connected with the fire department, while on duty. He has charge of the organization, government, and discipline of the department, establishing its rules and regulations, with the approval of the board of trustees. He has the custody of all equipment: hose, carts, engines, trucks, ladders, electric lines, and all property belonging to his department. At a fire itself, the marshal directs the operations of his force and furthermore he has the powers of prescribing limits in the vicinity of a fire within which no persons may go, excepting fire- men and policemen and those admitted by his order; of cutting; down or removing or blowing up any building or any erections for the purpose of checking or extinguishing a fire; of summon- ( ing by-standers or licensed wagons or trucks and their drivers? to his help. The marshal investigates the origin and causes of all fires, : keeping an exact record of all findings and circumstances. Inj addition to this record he has a quarterly report to make to the, town board regarding the condition and apparatus of the fire department; and at the end of the year he makes an annual re- port showing the number and descriptions of buildings destroyed' or damaged, together with the names of owners or occupants,' amount of property destroyed and insurance for the same. It is interesting to know that another copy of the report goes to the state fire marshal at Springfield, and still another to the National Board of Underwriters of Insurance. Not only the town but the state also is concerned with our fire losses ; and the insurance companies study the report closely for it bears directly upon GOVERNMENT 45 their insurance rates or premiums. The better the fire depart- ment, the lower are the rates. The following figures show in general the work of the Cicero Report Fire Department for 1920: for Total number of alarms 248 False alarms 113 Fire alarms 135 Of the 135 real fires (not including the fire in the C. B. & Q. yards) 132 were stayed and 3 spread. The fires occurred in the following kinds of buildings : Brick structures 28 Frame structures 78 Concrete structures 1 Other builings (sheds, garages, etc.) 28 Total 135 The value of the property involved in these fires was $1,- 030,200.00. The actual damage caused by fire amounted to $60,- 200.00, which was covered by insurance to the amount of $553.- 300.00. From these statements it can be decided that the fire department is efficient. The most important duty of the fire marshal, however, is Prevention to prevent fires and losses of life and property by fire. To this IS end he examines all walls and buildings that are dangerous or a mpo damaged ; he examines buildings that are being raised, en- larged, altererd, or rebuilt ; he inspects, in outlying districts foud times a year, in the closely-built portions once a month, all buildings, premises, and thoroughfares ; he carefully inspects all places containing inflammable materials (fire-traps) ; he makes a semi- annual inspection of all school buildings, public halls, theatres, churches, and manufacturing plants ; he requires a semi-monthly fire drill in each school ; and with the building inspector and the chief of police he can close any building or part of a building where there is a violation of either state law or town ordinance regarding fire prevention. The assistant fire marshal has command in the absence of Subordinates the fire marshal. Each captain has command of his respective company, makes investigations in his district, instructs his men, and reports to the fire marshal. Each lieutenant is second in 46 THE TOWN OF CICERO Pension System command of the station, and acts as captain in the absence of his superior. The firemen respond to all alarms and do all in their power to extinguish fires. The fire department has no pension fund nor pension sys- tem. Certainly the welfare and the efficiency of the depart- ment and justice in the treatment of its members necessitate a definite pension system to provide an adequate sum to pro- tect the fireman in case of illness or accident, and to protect the fireman's family in case of death or during retirement after years of service. Organizati Town and Schools Selection IV. THE HEALTH DEPARTMENT The health department of the town is an executive depart- ment which is in charge of such commissioners of health and such other officers and employees as the board of trustees deems necessary. At the present time, 1921, the department has the following organization : One health commissioner One departmental clerk Five nurses Four doctors One sanitary officer One medical laboratory One Ford sedan It is important to know that last year, 1920, the town en- tered into a contract with the grammar school board to take over the health work of the schools and co-ordinate the two branches of work, town and schools. The new system is effi- j cient, as it has resulted in a centralized control of the preventive measures, and the diseases themselves. The increased expense- is met by the payment of six thousand dollars ($6,000.00) to' the town from the grammar school board. The health commissioner is appointed by the president of the town with the advice and consent of the board of trustees, as also are all subordinates in the department. Furthermore, the health commissioner is required to give a bond of one thousand dollars, conditioned on the faithful performance of his duties. The power of removal is in the hands of the president, who GOVERNMENT 47 with the advice and consent of the board may remove from office any officer or employee of the department. The primary duty of the health department is the preser- vation of the public health, carrying out all state laws and town ordinances to that effect. Their activities may be summarized as follows : 1. Prevention and quarantine of contagious diseases. They investigate and inspect buildings and premises of all kinds where, if necessary, they enforce all state laws and town ordi- nances pertaining to sanitary conditions. If any contagious disease does appear, they enforce all the rules and regulations of the Illinois state board of health regarding cleanliness, quar- antine, placarding, medical care, and disinfection or fumigation. 2. Regulation of food stuffs and drugs. They make rules and regulations governing the conduct of all dairies, milk depots, food storage plants, bakeries, restaurants, fruit stores, soda fountains, ice cream parlors, butcher shops, grocery stores, etc. These rules relate not only to the sanitary conditions and the manner of handling the foodstuffs and the other products, but also to the persons who are employed in the various places, because their health and habits may be a menace to the welfare of the community. 3. Care of school children. In accordance with the arrange- ment stated before, the four doctors assisted by the nurses look after the health of the ten thousand school children of the town. This work includes medical inspection, prevention of contagious disease, corrective treatment, and educational instruction. 4. Inspection of workshops. The health officers must inspect the sanitary conditions of all workshops and factories and see that the conditions are good, or else prosecute the offenders. 5. Advisory duties. The health department recommends, as it deems necessary, any rule or regulation to promote and se- cure the health of the inhabitants of the town — whether it deals with a bottle of milk, garbage in the alley, or an epidemic of influenza or small pox. At the first of each year the health commissioner makes out and renders to the town clerk a full and detailed statement of all Summary of Activities 48 THE TOWN OF CICERO 1921 Expen- ditures expenditures for the preceding year as well as a complete record of the work and transactions of the department. In conclusion there is attached an itemized list of the health department appropriations for 1921 : Salary — One health commissioner $ 3,000 Salary— One clerk 1,800 Salary— Five nurses at $1,800 9,000 Salary— Four doctors at $1,000 4,000 Salary — One sanitary officer 900 Laboratory expense 600 One Ford sedan 900 Automobile maintenance 400 Printing, supplies, miscellaneous 4,000 Total $24,600 Deduction, contract with school board 6,000 Total .$18,600 Personnel Initiation of Improve- ment IV. THE BOARD OF LOCAL IMPROVEMENTS The board of local improvements consists of the regular town board which forms itself into a committee of the whole to trans- ! act this particular business. The procedure of the board is im- portant and will bear close study because at some time or other 5 the ordinary citizen is confronted with an improvement and the necessity of paying for it. A local improvement starts either by a petition of the prop- , erty owners or by the board of local improvements without a. petition. The board then passes a resolution originating the improve-; ment and setting forth all details regarding it. Next, the board'; directs the president to prepare an estimate of the cost of the proposed improvement in accordance with the directions in the resolution. The president has an estimate carefully worked out by the town engineer and then submits it to the board. If the board adopts the estimate, a date is set, not less than ten days hence, for a public hearing. Meanwhile, at least five days before t lie hearing, a notification. GOVERNMENT 49 including a copy of the estimate, is mailed to all property own- ers affected, advising them of the proposed improvement. Later the public hearing is held ; and the board, having listened to the property owners, can either dismiss the proceedings or continue them. It has always been their policy to follow the wishes of the majority, but they could act without consideration of them Having decided in favor of the proposed improvement, the board directs the president to prepare an ordinance covering the improvement. This ordinance together with the estimate when finished, is recommended by the board of local improvements to the town board of trustees for passage, and it is passed. According to the provisions of the ordinance the town attor- ney files a petition, to which is attached a copy of the recom- mendation, estimate, and ordinance, in the office of the clerk of the county court. This petition prays that the county court confirm the assessment as proposed in the recommendation, es- timate, and ordinance. Before the confirmation of the improvement by the county court, however, these steps have been taken : 1. Appointment of a special assessment commissioner by the president, and the spreading of the assessment roll by the com- missioner, the roll showing the legal description of the property. the name of the owner, and amount assessed against the same. (Certificate of appointment and assessment roll are filed in the office of the clerk of the county court.) 2. Notice by mail to each property owner stating the amount assessed and also stating the date for filing objections in the county court. (There are also published notices for two sue cessive weeks.) 3. Hearing of objections by the county court. There may be no objections, or the assessment may be reduced as exorbitant, or the proceedings may be dismissed. Supposing the assessment has been confirmed, the board of local improvements then advertises for bids from public con- tractors for the construction of the improvement. At the spec- ified time and place the bids are opened, and are accepted or re- jected as the board sees fit. Usually the lowest bidder receives me contract. The actual work then begins under the supervision of the Intermediate Steps Actual Work 50 THE TOWN OF CICERO town engineer. The latter submits to the board of local im- provements a certificate of the work done, and the board issues bonds corresponding to the amount. Complying with the terms of the ordinance the contractor must accept bonds in payment of all work done. These bonds bear interest at five per cent and are payable only from the special assessment fund when collected. Payment Payments for improvements are divided in various ways. Water stubs and sewer stubs are payable in one year; sidewalks. sewer mains, and water mains in five years ; street pavement in ten years. The method is optional with the board of local im- provements, but there is a legal maximum of twenty years. The town collector, having received a copy of the assessment roll from the clerk of the county court, sends notices to all property owners, and then he receives the payments, according to the installment. The collector turns the money over to the supervisor, ex-officio treasurer, and he pays the bonds as they become due. In case of a deficit caused by expenses larger than the esti- mate, a supplementary special assessment is levied. If there is a surplus, a rebate or reduction of the assessment roll is ordered, which will decrease the amount to be paid by the property owners. In all cases certificates regarding the work done and the costs and the payments must be filed with the clerk of the county court. CHAPTER IV J UDICIAL DEPA RT M ENT The judicial department of the town consists of the police magistrate, the justices of the peace, and the constables. Police Magistrate — The magistrate of the police court is a very important official in the life of the town. He handles by far the largest number of cases in local affairs on account of his close relations with the police department; and it is his care- ful administration of the office that produces a wholesome effect on the ordinary citizen. GOVERNMENT 51 He is elected for four years, obtaining his commission from the governor of the state, and he receives a salary from his fees, which are ordinarily known as "costs," though a small sum always goes to the officer making the arrest in each case. His bond as specified by town ordinance amounts to $5,000.00. By the provisions of the charter of the town the police magistrate takes the same oath of office, has the same power arid authority, and receives the same fees as any justice of the peace- — all which are provided for under the laws of the state (see justices' jurisdiction.) In general he tries minor violations of the law; such as, disorderly conduct, disturbance of peace, and any violation of the town ordinances. His jurisdiction covers both civil and criminal actions ; he may fine or imprison ; he may dismiss the offender, or hold him for trial in a higher court. Justices of the Peace — There are five justices of the peace, elected for a term of four years and commissioned by the governor. Every justice takes the oath of office prescribed by the state constitution ; and he executes a bond in the sum of $5,000.00 as security for payment of all money due the govern- ment and for performance of the duties of his office. He is paid iby fees received for various legal actions, examples of which are — acknowledgment of a deed or mortgage, administering oath I to an affidavit, issuing a summons or warrant, performance of a marriage ceremony, and a set sum for the trial of all contested cases. As the police magistrate, the justice may fine or imprison l the offender, dismiss the case, or transfer it to a higher court — in Cook County, the county or circuit or superior court, or crim- inal court. The jurisdiction is as follows : A— Civil Actions — The justice of the peace exercises his authority in certain cases where the amount claimed does not exceed three hundred dollars. Such cases are actions on con- tracts, for damages, of replevin, for fraud, etc. If the amount involved is over three hundred dollars, the case goes to a higher court. B — Criminal Actions — The jurisdiction of the justice is limited to criminal actions, such as misdemeanors, assault and battery, etc., in which the punishment is by fine only, and does not exceed three 'hundred dollars ; and to criminal actions involving im- Election and Salary Powers Election, Oath, and Fees Jurisdiction 52 THE TOWN OF CICERO Constable* prisonment which is not more than six months. Otherwise the cases go to the Cook County criminal court. Closely connected with the justices of the peace are the con- stables. They are five in number, are elected for four years, *ake the oath of office, execute a bond of $10,000.00 for security, and receive their income in fees. The constable is mentioned here because, though a police officer, he is really the officer of the justice of the peace, and executes the orders of the justice, the police magistrate, and a judge, in both civil and criminal cases. His jurisdiction is the county. Estimate of Tax Lery FINANCES OF THE TOWN The finances of the town include, during the year, four main operations. As these operations are the ones common to govern- ment in the United States, it is important to understand clearly their main elements. The four are : I Appropriations — the amount of money needed (tax) II Assessment- — the valuation of property III Collection — the duty of the tax payer IV Disbursements — the payment of the items in the appro- priations. I Appropriations — How much money does Cicero need to run itself the coming year? On or before the firs! day of January in each year all the officers of the town submit to the comptroller (town clerk) de- tailed, written statements of the appropriations desired for the ensuing year. These estimates are arranged and summarized by the members of the financial department — clerk, supervisor, and collector — in the form of a "skeleton budget." The budget to gether with the financial report for the preceding year and an estimate of the revenue or income expected during the current year, is transmitted to the town board of trustees. After care- ful examination and revision by the trustees, the budget is set forth in the legal phraseology of a town ordinance and pa$&ed. PLATE V The Distribution of Each Dollar Expended for Taxes Cicero, Illinois, 1922 State _ $ .042 County .056 Town .313 Grammar School .323 High School 226 Sanitary District 033 Forest Preserve .007 $1,000 GOVERNMENT 53 Next, the amounts of money that are received from other sources than direct taxation are subtracted from the total appropriated, and the remainder is the amount of tax levy for Cicero and it is sent to the clerk of Cook County court to be listed with the other tax levies, such as state, county, school, etc. The following is the skeleton budget for Cicero for the year skeleton 1921, together with a statement of the amounts to be collected Budget from other sources than direct taxation : Salary Fund $ 13,000.00 Street Lighting 32,270.00 Collecting and Disbursing 8,050.00 Election Expenses , 14,000.00 Public Works 92,880.00 Water Department see below Health Department 24,600.00 Police Department 97,360.00 Fire Department 103,960.00 Contingent Fund 75,520.00 Department of Buildings see below Alarm Maintenance 12,200.00 (Fire and Police) Receipts from licenses, fees, fines, permits, etc. : $ 75,000.00 (approximate) Receipt from Grammar School Board of Educa- tion for health service 6,000.00 TOTAL... $ 81,000.00 Cicero (town) appropriations for 1921 $473,840.00 Deductions 81,000.00 TOTAL TAX LEVY (NET) . . . $392,840.00 Several of the items of the budget are to be explained : the Com amount for street lighting is paid the Public Service Company of Northern Illinois to maintain the street lights throughout tin- town. The fund for collecting and disbursing takes care of the in- cidental expenses attending the assessment of personal property and real estate, the collection of general taxes, and the disburse- ments by the treasurer. 54 THE TOWN OF CICERO Valuation of Real Estate . Election expenses include payments to the judges and the clerks of election, rental of polling places, and the pro-rata share of the election commissioners' expenditures for all town elec- tions. The account of the* department of public works covers the salary of the town foreman and a long list of supplies; such as, hay, feed, horseshoeing, maintenance of garbage wagons, the cleaning of alleys, streets, sewers, catchbasins, etc. ; and all necessary labor. The water department is self-supporting. Sufficient revenue is collected from the consumers of water to pay all expenses, in- cluding the purchase of water from the city of Chicago, the reading of water meters, and the repair of the same. The contingent fund is the emergency fund ; to it are charged such items as : publications, laundry, fuel, light, postage, station- ery, telephone tolls, salary of town mechanic, salary of court clerk, extra clerk hire, janitor's salary, repairs, and all miscel- laneous epcpenses, made only upon the authorization of the town board of trustees. The department of buildings has its separate fund maintained by collections of fees for building and electrical permits. The department is composed of a commissioner of buildings who supervises all inspections and issues the permits; and three in- spectors, building, electrical, and plumbing. The latter take the responsibility of boiler and engine inspection, also. These officials are regularly appointed by the board of trustees. The remaining departments have been discussed under ex- ecutive branches of town government. II Assessment — What is the value of the property in Cicero : which must pay the tax? How much must each dollar pay? What is the rate? The assessment of property in the town is the duty of the assessor, a double duty, for it concerns real estate and personal property. A — Real Estate — The county clerk lists all taxable, property with the corresponding legal description. These real estate books come to the assessor once in every four years ; it is his job, then, to make a valuation of all property. Each year, however, he has the records changed according to improvements made. GOVERNMENT 55 additions erected, and losses suffered. He returns the books with the assessed valuations (now one-half the market price) to the Cook County board of assessors. The latter check up all records and then send the books to the county board of review. This board hears all complaints of tax payers from July 7th to August 1st, while the actual hearing's are held in August. Finally. the county clerk has the real estate records. B — Personal Property — The town assessor mails or delivers the sheets called personal property schedules. These schedules are filled out by the taxpayers, who must also take an oath re- garding the correctness of the statements made. All schedules are sent to the county board of assessors who arrange the lists and compile the totals. For these, too, the assessed valuation is one-half the market value. The lists go to the board of review, as do the real estate records, and thence to the county clerk. The county clerk (with three hundred assistants) computes the rate of taxation for all taxing bodies in Cook County — these rates for Cicero are given below. The method is : divide the amount to be laised, the tax levy, by the assessed value of the property both real estate and personal, in the specification dis trict. For example, tow n of Cicero : divide the levy, $392,840. UO by the assessed valuation, $10,000,000.00, approximately, and obtain the rate — $3.90 per hundred dollars. After which process he "extends the taxes"; ie., multiplies each valuation by all the rates in turn, according to the number of taxes the property must pay. The totals of the real estate and personal property are kept separate — the taxpayer receiving two notices from the col- lector, who receives the books from the county clerk. Schedule for Personal Property Rate of Taxation 1920 — Rates of Taxation per Hundred State $ .40 County 52 Town 3.68 School District No. 99. . . 2.67 Sanitary District 17 High School 1.95 Clyde Park 27 Clyde Park Bond 08 Rates for 1920 56 THE TOWN OF CICERO A Light Burden Method of Collection Supervision Sound Condition Joint School District Forest Preserve . . . .09 .06 (98 and 99) Total $9.89 It is interesting to note that corporations and unoccupied lands in Cicero pay over three- fourths of the taxes, the residents and small property owners caring for the balance. The assessed valuation of the personal property of the town is slightly over one-half that of the real estate. Taxes in Cicero are, indeed, light in their burden on the citizens. III Collections — How are taxes collected? Taxes in Cicero are due March 10th, if the taxpayer wishes to pay his bill to the town collector at the town hall. After that date he must pay the county collector (county treasurer) at the county building in Chicago, having until May 1st. After the latter day he is a delinquent and he has 1 per cent added to his tax each month until August 1st. Then, if the taxes are still un- paid, his property is sold — with this provision : he has two years to redeem it by paying all taxes, fees, and other expenses. The accompanying chart shows the distribution of every dollar spent for taxes in Cicero. IV Disbursements — How are the payments made? As stated in the duties of the town clerk who is ex-omcio town compcroller, and in the duties of the supervisor, ex-officic treasurer, the former supervises the finances and issues the warrants for money payments, while thej latter cares for the money itself. The town has no bonded indebtedness and has no deficit ; it has an excellent flexible system of taxation by the terms of its charter. These two facts mean a sound financial condition. PART IV PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS CHAPTER I THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF CICERO The public schools and their product, education, are con- sidered an essential part of the foundation of the American nation. This fact is, indeed, recognized by the state of Illinois which through the laws of its legislature directly controls the public schools of the state. Following is a concise outline show- ing clearly the importance attached to the building and mainte- nance of Illinois schools : Ordinance of 1787-"Religion, morality, and knowledge be- ing necessary to good government and the happiness of man- kind, schools and the means of education shall forever be en- couraged. " Illinois State Constitution of 1818-The first constitution of the state confirmed: (a) The United States' grant of school land; i. e„ the section Mo. 16 of each township. (b) The United States' grant of three per cent of the pro- ceeds from all public lands sold in Illinois after January 1st. i&iy, tor the encouragement of learning. Illinois State Law of 1825-The law provided for public tax- ation for a system of free schools. Illinois State Laws of 1854 and 1855-The law of 1854 cre- ated the office of superintendent of public instruction; the law of 1855 prov,ded the general school legislation for free schools with state aid. Illinois State Constitution of 1870-"The General Assembly shall provide a thorough and efficient system of free schools whereby all children of this state may receive a good, common- school education." The public schools are operated by organizations entirely separate from the town government. The unit for the schools is the township, not the town; and the officers are school officers not town officers. The township unit is well illustrated in the office of township treasurer. He is appointed by the three school Schools and State Township Unit 58 THE TOWN OF CICERO township trustees ; he handles all school funds in the township (this includes both grammar school and high school funds) ; he holds all school property, land and buildings, in the name of the trustees. The latter are elected, one annually, on the second Saturday in April by the legal voters of the township The legal description of the school township is School Town- ship 39 north, range 13 east of the third principal meridian; and it includes all of the original township outside of the city of Chicago. Board of Education Functions Executive Force CICERO GRAMMAR SCHOOLS Organization and Operation The control of the grammar schools of Cicero lies in the Board of Education of Grammar School District 99. The board consists of nine members and a president. The nine members are elected — three annually — each for a term of three years. The president is elected each year. The president presides at all meetings of the board and signs all papers ordered to be executed by the board — bonds, notes, leases, and warrants drawn on the treasurer of the township. The board handles its busi- ness through eight committees, which are as follows: Buildings and Grounds Finances and Auditing Special Building School Management Health Text Books and Supplies Rules Free Indigent Text Books Its meetings are held monthly, at which the various duties are performed, some of them being : election of superintendent supervisors, principals, teachers, and janitors ; selection of text books ; levying of taxes ; borrowing of money ; care and erec- tion of buildings. The executive officers of school administration are the su- perintendent and live supervisors, together with one hundred and sixty-one teachers; all selected annually by the board of education. In addition there are four office employees and four INSTITUTIONS 59 teen janitors. Their combined work is the care of six thousand eight hundred (6,800) children in the fourteen large buildings and the thirteen one-room portable school houses. The use of "portables" and the fact that twenty-two classes attended by eight hundred fifty children are in session a half-day only, lead to the question — why ? The answer is — finances. The money for the financial support of the schools is re- ceived, about nine-tenths of it, from direct local taxation, and the remainder from the state. According to the state law the grammar school district may levy a tax on one-half the assessed valuation of property in the district in this way: 1% for edu- cation and 1% for buildings; the educational fund may be in- creased by 0.67% if a referendum vote of the people permits it. The total or maximum, then, is 2.67% — and that is Cicero's rate today. The income received from the state is derived in these ways : 1. The annual appropriation by the general assembly, which is obtained from a tax levy. This state school fund is divided by the auditor of public accounts among the counties of the state in proportion to the number of children under twenty-one years of age. Each county superintendent after receiving the share for his county divides the fund among the township treasurers, who in turn distribute it to the school districts in the respect- ive townships, according to the number of children under twen- ty-one. 2. The township fund, which is a permanent school fund. When Illinois became a state, 1818, the United States govern- ment donated section No. 16 of each township to the support of the schools of that township. Cicero's share*of the fund re- ceived from the sale and rental of its section now amounts to an income of $10,375.00, which is divided among the grammar schools of district No. 99 on the same basis as the state fund. 3. The state school fund, which is composed of three per cent, less one-half of one per cent given to institutions of higher learning, of the returns from the sales of public lands in the state. 4. The surplus revenue fund, which was received from the United States government in 1836— about $500,000. Illinois Tax Rates Sources of Income Report for 1920 60 THE TOWN OF CICERO borrowed the principal, but pays the interest at six per cent to the public schools. In addition the district is allowed a tax rate of five per cent for bonding, an act to be approved, of course, by a referendum vote of the people. Financial A summary of the financial report of the grammar school board of district No. 99 for the year from July 1, 1919, to June 30, 1920, will explain the financial system : Receipts Balance on hand July 1, 1919 $ 42,039.88 State funds 37,991.00 Township funds 10,375.90 District taxes 261,121.82 Tuition paid by pupils 65.00 Insurance adjustments 1,107.40 Anticipation warrants 116,773.47 Other sources 1,196.16 Deposit on building contract 2,650.00 Total $473,320.63 Expenditures School boards and office $ 1,547.09 Compulsory education 1,290.00 Superintendents 4,220.00 Teaching 171,748.29 Teachers' pension fund 379.00 Interest teachers' orders 1,077.46 Janitors, engineers, etc 27,417.00 Fuel, light, power, water, supplies 30,570.23 Repairs and replacements 12,228.84 Libraries 5,040.17 Promotion of health 2,339.74 Grounds, buildings, and alterations 52,304.81 New equipment 1,335.75 Principal of bonds 19,500.00 Interest on bonds 12,275.00 Other expenditures 6,172.23 Legal 1,525.00 INSTITUTIONS Anticipation warrants 116,773.47 Total $467,744.08 Balance June 30, 1920 5,576.55 61 $473,320.63 The tax rate of the district for the last five years also fol- lows : 1916. , $3.00 (per hundred) 1917 3.00 1918 3.00 1919 2.67 (assessed valuation changed 1-3 to 1-2) 1920. 2.67 The total assessed valuation for district No. 99 for 1920 for taxing purposes is the sum — $11,066,386.00. The above figures and preceding statements give evidence of a serious financial problem and a distressing situation in the education of the children. With the deficit increasing yearly, and the amounts obtained by anticipatory warrants gradually reaching a prohibitive figure, something must be done, quickly, whether it is an increase in rates or in valuation or the building of junior high schools. Rates of Taxation A Serious Problem J. STERLING MORTON HIGH SCHOOL Organization and Operation The legal title of the high school is the Cicero-Stickney Township High School. The district in its limits includes Ci- cero, Berwyn, that part of Stickney lying north of the Illinois and Michigan canal, and the village of Lyons. Berwyn is in the high school district because it was originally a part of Ci- cero. The portion of Stickney belongs on account of the state law requiring a township high school to be comprised of parts of two or more townships. The village of Lyons by a petition of the people was joined to the district in 1920. The high school is governed by a board of education of five members, each of whom has a term of three years. Their elec- tions, however, occur in rotation, two members being chosen one year, one member the next, and two members the third High School District No. 201 Board of Education 62 THE TOWN OF CICERO Executive Personnel Number of Students year. The board selects one of its members as president and one as secretary, the former acting as presiding officer and as the official representative, and the latter caring for the records and reports. The work of the high school board as a whole is, perhaps, most comparable to that of a board of directors of a business corporation — they supervise and direct and authorize actions, but they assign the actual administration of the school to the principal and the assistant principal, each of whom is elected for one year. The personnel of the administrative force of the high school consists of: Principal Assistant principal Seventy teachers Efficiency expert Librarian Assistant librarian Director of continuation school Assistant director In addition there are the office, building maintenance, and lunch room departments, organized as follows : Office — Business manager (assistant principal) Bookkeeper Three clerks Building maintenance- Engineer Two firemen (one for night duty) Night watchman Three janitors Laundress Lunch room — Manager Assistant manager Five helpers The students of the high school are registered in a three fold classification: A— High school students 932 (1921) B — Continuation students 800 (1921) INSTITUTIONS 63 C — Evening school students 2100 (total enrollments for 1921) The high school revenue is derived from direct taxation of property in the high school district. The legal limits are iden- tical with those of the grammar school ; namely, a tax on one- half the valuation with a maximum of 1% for buildings and 1% for education, plus 0.67% for education if a referendum vote by the people permits it. For bonding purposes a tax rate of 5% is allowed by law, provided, of course, that the bond issue is submitted to the people. A summary of the financial report of the Cicero-Stickney Township High School District No. 201 for the year from July 1, 1919, to June 30, 1920, is submitted: Receipts Balance on hand July 1, 1919 $192,934.27 District taxes 180,699.88 Tuition paid by pupils 640.00 Sale of school property 425.00 Vocational education reimbursement 294.45 Other sources, i. e. interest on bank balances. . 8,645.55 Lunch room 14,804.26 Book store 5,367.68 Total $403,811.09 Expenditures School boards and office $ 4,381.41 Superintendents 4,910.00 Teaching 77,779.80 Teachers' pension board 201.00 Janitors, engineers, etc 11,643.07 Fuel, light, power, water, supplies 15,425.75 Repairs and replacements 6,640.32 Library 1,157.28 Promotion of health 317.50 Night school 8,027.24 New equipment 12,296.43 Principal of bonds 14,750.00 fnterest on bonds 9,223.75 Sources of Revenue Summary of 1920 Financial Report 64 THE TOWN OF CICERO Rates of Taxation Assessed Valuation School Attendance Law Smith- Hughes Act Other expenditures 3,183.02 Lunch room 16,071.29 Total : $192,882.64 Balance June 20, 1920 210,928.45 $403,811.09 The rates of taxation per hundred for the high school for the preceding five years are : 1916 $2.20 1917 2.25 1918 1.95 1919 1.40 1920 1.95 The total assessed valuation of the high school district for taxing purposes is $15,754,820.00 (1920). In relation to the schools one other important subject must be explained— the compulsory school law. If a student asks why he is in school, the reply is — state law. School must be held in every district at least 110 days in the year, and all child- ren between seven and fourteen years of age are compelled to attend. If they are between fourteen and sixteen they must attend or be at work. In the latter case — work — the children must secure certificates called "work certificates" from the school superintendent, and these are given usually on the con- dition that the parent or parents need the financial assistance of the child, or as the law puts it, "he must be necessarily and lawfully employed." In 1919, however, the state of Illinois accepted the provis- ions of a federal law known as the Smith-Hughes Act of 1917. In accordance with that act, Illinois amended the compulsory school law by : 1. Providing that, in all districts where part-time continu- ation schools are established, all children in employment be tween fourteen and sixteen years of age shall attend those continuation schools for at least eight hours each week during the period the schools are in session. 2. Requiring that in 1921 every city or school district in which there are twenty minors between fourteen and sixteen DDUDDDDDp DDDDDDDDOc DDDDDODDC DDDDDDDD DDDDDDDDPDDD J.STERLING MORTON HIGH SCHOOL DISTR! MAP □ry Elevatea railroad Steam roods □ □CZ3 izzkzdlz.cz] i—ii — n — ,r— ■ i — ii — icpa □□.no, m PLATE VI J. STERLING MORTON HIGH SCHOOL DISTRICT MAP arv Elevated railrood Steam roods DDDDDDDaDDDDDDDDDDDn ddddddddddddouddddd: dddddddddddddddddddd ni — ii — H — it — in i — ii — i i — if — 1< — i i — > i — . ^- < — ^ i — . , " '"- ■ 1 1DDDDSQDDDDD PDRaDDDDDDDD ^Oddqdddddgi 1dddddddde DDDDSce EDDDDDDDEa DD DDID DDD D.Q DDD DDnDDDODDn ddddddddddU ddddddddoqd DDDDDDDDDDy DDDDDDDDflan DQLBdODD □DDO0Q0ODD0 IflQEBQQQDOflS QODDDDDOggBBRB □DDDDgSriggg IBDDDDDDD^SHB DDDDDDDDDDBggg DDDQDD" DDDDDD DDUQDDDDIg": DDDDDDDDO! DDDDDDDDC DDDDDDDD! ODDD DDDODDDDpDDD riQDDDDR^ ca DDDDrir| [=)□[=) CD L^lCDEZLtZZ] n i — icdcd I — II — 1CDCU ctd im czz] czzi CD CD CD INSTITUTIONS 65 who are not in all-day schools must establish continuation schools and that all minors between these ages must attend ; that in 1922, all minors between fourteen and seventeen who are not in school must attend part-time schools ; that in 1923, all minors between fourteen and eighteen must attend part-time schools. The hours of attendance must be in daylight, between eight in the morning and five in the afternoon, and not On Sat urday afternoon. Minors who are graduates of a four-year high school are not required to attend part-time schools. The part-time continuation school is under the direction and control of the high school. CHAPTER II CICERO PUBLIC LIBRARY The citizens of the town took advantage of the library act Start passed bv the state legislature in 1919, and at the town election of in April, 1920, they voted to establish and maintain a public ™***y library and reading room, and specified a one and one-third mill tax to support it. The following year, April, 1921, the people elected the board of directors,, three members, one with a one- year term, one with a two-year term, and one with a three-year term. The terms of the succeeding members will, however, be three years each, and no member receives compensation. In general the duties of the library board consist in the super- Duties vision of the library, engagement of librarian and assistants, of purchase of books, and the maintenance of the building. The Library first duty, however, is to cause plans for such a builing to be prepared, an estimate to be made of the cost, a site to be se- lected, and an estimate of the cost of the site to be made. According to the law they may then determine the time or the number of years over which they will spread the collection of the total cost. The records and estimates are transmitted to the town board, which may at its discretion provide by ordinance for the issuance of bonds to cover the cost. There are two pro- visions regarding the bond issue: (1) the whole of the principal Need of Building 66 THE TOWN OF CICERO shall be payable within twenty years; and (2) the rate of inter- est shall not exceed rive per cent per annum. Instead of issuing bonds the library board, if it so desires, may divide the total cost into parts and the town board may enter each part each year in the tax levy, only the rate must not exceed three and one-third mills on the dollar and the time of payment must not exceed twenty years. At the present time the library board is engaged in the selec- tion and maintenance of temporary quarters pending a perma- nent site and a permanent building. CHAPTER III CIVIC ORGANIZATIONS In every community there are always various kinds of civic organizations, partly private and partly public in their charac- teristics. Sometimes they exist for improvement of the com- munity, or to promote business, or perhaps to meet the necessity of social life or political relationships ; sometimes they unsel- fishly labor for the welfare of the boys and girls, and some- times for the relief of those in distress. Cicero has such organi- zations and a few of them are : Improvement Societies — Warren Park Improvement Club Lithuanian Improvement Club of Grant Works Clyde Woman's Club The Rotary Club The Chamber of Commerce Lodges — Clyde Lodge of Odd Fellows Ladies of Rebecca Loyal Order of Moose Cicero Lodge of Free Masons Order of the Eastern Star Military Organizations — Community Service League INSTITUTIONS 67 Cicero Home Guards American Legion Social Service Groups- Boy Scouts Camp Fire Girls Cicero Welfare Center Business Associations — Hawthorne Business Men's Association Grant Works Business Men's Association Twenty-fifth Street Business Men's Association Twenty-second Street Business Men's Association Social and Political Organizations — People's Club of Warren Park Polish National Alliance Bohemian National Alliance Cicero Good Fellowship Club Young People's Socialist League The following statements are brief explanations of three of the preceding organizations, selected because of their funda- mental principle, "community service." THE ROTARY CLUB The Rotary Club is a unique organization. It originated in 1905 when four Chicago men, one a lawyer, one a mining ope- rator, one a coal dealer, and the fourth a tailor, decided to form a club. They did so, and very shortly they enlarged their mem- bership by representatives from other lines of business to the number of fifty. The name "Rotary" was selected by the Chi- cago Club on account of the method of holding meetings in rota- tion at the various members' places of business. The idea spread to San Francisco, to all parts of the United States, to Canada, and to foreign countries — so that now there is a strong "In- ternational Association of Rotary Clubs." The club is composed of one member from each distinct line of business or profession. The plan results in a fair represen- tation of all the diverse interests of the community, a social contact of these interests, and a powerful co-operation by them to develop high moral standards and to promote the civic, corn- Origin of "Rotary* Organi- zation Aims Civic Record . THE TOWN OF CICERO bo mercial, and social welfare of the town. Their motto is excel- lent : "He profits most who serves best. THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE The Cicero Chamber of Commerce was organized October 1 1920 starting with a membership of 558, which number has since been increased to 593. Membership is open tc .all bust ness and professional men, and to any ^™«t«. Th r is an annual membership fee of twenty-five dollars The organ *Ws affairs are supervised by the board of directors, six- ; ee membe meeting semi-monthly, who assign the actual execute and directive work to a regular managing secretary. The other officers are president, first vice-president, -on^ 1C e President and treasurer. Their offices are m the building ot the Pnkert State Bank at Forty-eighth Avenue and Twenty-second Sreet This Chamber of Commerce is a member of the Illinois (state) Chamber of Commerce. The objects of the organization deserve attention: 1. To gather and distribute business, social, and economic Sta 2 St To%romote equitable principles of trade and commercial "'Tto' consider all problems of public service and civic de- ^Tsecure co-operation of all organizations and of all eh- ize „s in promoting the welfare and prosper, y ^^ m en^"crmTe7of^mmerce thus far will illustrate the exoression "civic development : , following of the legislative acts at Springfield. Improvement of Cicero's mail service. Initiative of park and playground legislation. thousand. remittee for co-operative work and ad- graph machines operated on a cost basis. INSTITUTIONS 69 Initiative toward construction of a bridge over the canal at Forty-eighth Avenue. Consideration of street car question with views of: Town officials City of Chicago officials Chicago and West Towns Railway Co. Enabling act by state legislature to provide Cicero with a zoning commission and a zoning law. Investigation of stock selling schemes in Cicero. Promotion of Cicero spirit and Cicero development. THE CICERO WELFARE CENTER The Welfare Center has been organized for two years — 1919 and 1920. Beginning in a modest way with its rooms at 2215 South Fifty-second Avenue it has gradually developed in its work and influence to a place in the hearts of the people that can scarcely be realized. Its affairs are conducted by the following officers : President, vice-president, secretary, treasurer ; and by these committees : Finance, house affairs, schools, medical board, ways and means, affiliation, membership, publicity. Its work is so varied that only an outline of the good which has been done can be given here : Relief to sufferers from disease and poverty. Christmas cheer to the poor. Assistance to the juvenile court. Securing of pensions to widows. Help to working girls ; clothing and schooling. Employment for men, women, boys, and girls. Infantile paralysis clinics, held upnder the supervision of Doctor East and the Illinois State Department of Health. Tuberculosis clinics, held under the supervision of Doctor East and the Chicago Tuberculosis Institute. Certainly such a record as medical advice and assistance to 594 diseased and crippled children, of whom 141 were suffering with tuberculosis ; or the distribution of fifty Christmas baskets to the poor; or the 125 personal calls to relieve the destitute, and help the ill, and comfort the distressed : such a record is an honor both to the orgaanization and to the town tht supports it. Location Organi- zation Kinds of Work Credit to Cicero •