'ic SNAP SHOTS FROM PROCEEDINGS OF RIVER IMPROVEMENT MEETING, AT GREAT NORTHERN HOTEL, MARCH 13, 1896. Published bt The Association fob the Impbovemen t of the Chicago River. E^XF^I^ANJ^TOreY. In compiling the speeches, letters and address, the aim has been not to make full report of this, the most important meeting- ever held to further the improvement of Chicago River, but rather to present in a readable form a succinct compilation of statements and statistics. Speeches and letters of the following, greatly condensed, are presented: James B. Galloway. J. P. Tracy, Deering Harvester Works. Marvin Hughitt, President Chicago & Northwestern Railway. W. G. Purdy, Vice-President, Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railway. L. O. Goddard, Assistant First Vice-President, Chicago Burlington & Quincy Railroad. C. H. Chappel, Vice-President and General Manager, Chicago & Alton Railroad. A. J. Earling, Second Vice-President and General Manager Chicago, Mil- waukee & St. Paul Railway. v._C. L. Rising, Commercial Agent, Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway. William Livingstone, Ex-President Lake Carriers' Association. James Davidson, Vessel Owner. Bay City, Mich. Harvey D. Goulder, General Counsel, Lake Carriers' Association. Alexander McDougall, General Manager American Steel Barge Co. W. H. Harper, Manager Chicago & Pacific Elevator Company. Hugh MacMillan, Representing Lake Line Agents' Association. George J. Brine. W. B. Judson, Representing the Lumber Trade. Walter S. Bogle, Representing the Anthracite Coal Trade. W. D. Kent, Commissioner of Public Works, City of Chicago. Colonel Richard Burke, Bureau of Engineering, City of Chicago. E. S. Conway, Secretary W. W. Kimball Company. John V. Parwell. Seneca D. Kimbark. General Charles E. Pitz Simons. P. B. Weare, Chicago Railway Terminal Elevator Company. ON BEHALF OF THE CHICAGO RIVEE. A meeting was held at the Great Northern Hotel in Chicago on Friday, March 13th, 1S96, in response to the following invitation, sent out by the executive Committee of the Association for the Improvement of Chicago River. Chicago, March 11, 189(3. Dear Sir: A meeting- will be held at Parlor K 38, Great Northern Hotel, on Friday, March 13, at 3 P. M.. of parties interested in the improvement of Chicago River by dredging to a depth of 16 feet at present, and by adopting a plan whereby a depth of 20 feet can be obtained in the future. The importance of this project is so obvious that it needs only the sugges- tion that it is absolutely necessary to preserve the enormous commerce of Chicago from diversion to other ports at no distant date. Chicago River is under the jurisdiction and control of the United States Government, and the obligation to keep it navigable to the capacity of the lake commerce affected is very apparent. The recent report of the U. S. Engineer has thrown a doubt on the propriety of doing so, which should be at once considered. Please attend the meeting- in the interest of your business and property. Yours respectfully. J. S. Dunham, Chairman, Geo. J. Brine. Murky Nelson, Geo. Merryweather, B. A. Eckhart, John C. Spry. T. T. Morford, W. R. Stirling, L. O. Goddard, C. K. G. Billings, John G. Keith. Chas. W. Deering, James B. Galloway. Homer J. Carr, Wm. H. Harper, J. C. Ambler, Secretary. Geo. E. Adams. In response to these invitations which were mailed to some three hundred representatives of the A'aried commercial, manufacturing and financial interests of Chicago, about 125 gentlemen assembled in Parlor K 38 at 3 o'clock. The gathering was called to order by J. 8. Dunham, who called the Honorable George E. Adams to the Chair. Homer J. Carr was made Secretary, Mr. Adams, as Chairman of the Committee on Address, consisting of himself, James B. Galloway, J. P. Tracy and W. H. Harper, read the address prepared. ADDRESS. The Association for the Improvement of the Chicago River, repre- senting large commercial and manufacturing interests at Chicago, and representing the interests of navigation on the northern lakes, has asked congress for an appropriation of $700,000 to dredge Chicago River and its branches to a depth of sixteen feet between Belmont avenue on the North Branch, to Western avenue on the South Branch. This appro- 4 ON BEHALF OF THE CHICAGO RIVER. priation was recommended by Major Marshall, of the corps of engineers, in his report of 1893. We should not deem it necessary to make any further apj^eal in behalf of the improvement of the Chicago River had not Major Mar- shall, in his report on Calumet River and harbor, dated February 21, 1896, recommended large appropriations there, on the ground that Cal- umet River is destined to become the principal harbor of Chicago, and that the Chicago River cannot economically be made navigable for the large vessels now coming into use on the lakes. We cordially approve of the improvement of the Calumet River and harbor. We believe that the future commerce of Chicago will need all the harbor facilities that can be furnished by the Chicago River and the Calumet River, even if both are fully improved. We strenuously protest against the policy of improving the Calumet and neglecting the Chicago River, for we insist that the Chicago River will be hereafter, as it has been heretofore, the principal harbor of Chicago, and must eventually be improved to meet the largest demands of lake naA'igation. AVHY APPROPRIATIONS APE MADE. The legitimate purpose of national appropriations for harbor im- provement is not to serve local interests, but to benefit national com- merce. To benefit national commerce harbors must be made or improved not where engineering science has declared that centers of commerce ought to be, but where centers of commerce actually are. Whether it is wise to build a harbor ten miles from the commercial center which it is intended to serve, when an existing harbor can be improved at the com- mercial center itself, depends largely on the cost of transporting goods from the distant harbor to the railway terminals or the cost of removing these terminals to the new harbor, if they can be removed at all. The new harbor might be built for half the cost of improving the old one, and yet the total or partial abandonment of the old harbor for the new one might involve an annual loss to national commerce far exceeding the sum necessary for the development of both. It is not safe to assume that a river penetrating with its branches the heart of a great commercial and manufacturing city must necessarily be an inconvenient harbor for the commerce that centers there. Such a harbor may have its drawbacks, and yet may serve better than any other the actual needs of commerce. The purpose of a harbor is to connect water carriage with land carriage. The closer the connection between the two the better. If goods brought by water for local consumption can be easily distributed from the dock and goods in transit between one distant point and another can be directly transferred from vessel to car, or from car to vessel, without the use of lighters, drays or belt j railways, there is a saving in the cost of transportation inuring to the j producer or consumer, or both, which far outweighs the additional cost .' of navigation due to the narrow harbor channel or the frequent bridges which span it. MUST HAVE BRIDGES. That such a harbor must be spanned by bridges is an incident to the dense population, and the dense population is at once a cause and a ON BEHALF OP THE CHICAGO RIVER. 5 consequence of the commerce which brings vessels there. The incon- venience of bridges spanning the navigable channel _i§ one which will always attach to the harbor of Chicago, whether that harbor is in the Chicago River or in the Calumet. The Calumet has already three rail- way bridges, over which hundreds of freight and passenger trains pass every twenty-four hours. An act of congress authorizing another rail- way bridge was a few days ago favorably reported to the United States senate. More will be authorized as the harbor is developed and the population grows. To show the enormous loss to national commerce involved in the substitution of the Calumet for the Chicago River as the principal har- bor of Chicago, we submit a comparative statement of the existing dock frontage, elevator capacity, railway terminal facilities, shipments and receipts and entries and clearances for the two rivers. CHANNEL AND LOCK FRONTAGE. The outer harbor of Chicago, including the breakwater, has been built by the United States at a cost of $2,000,000. It is intended mainly to serve as a harbor of refuge for vessels bound for Chicago River. Several slips have been made by the Illinois Central Railway Company and other parties in the outer harbor and in the river near its mouth, which are in actual use. The inner harbor consists of the Chicago River and its branches. It has a channel twelve miles long between Belmont and Western ave- nues, and a dock frontage of over forty miles, including slips. Nearly all of this dock frontage is in actual commercial use. The railways have a dock frontage of twelve miles. Coal yards have over eleven thousand feet. The channel of the Calumet River is undoubtedly capable of im- provement for a great distance from its mouth. Major Marshall states in his report of February 29, 1896, that "at present nearly all the commerce by water finds its terminus or origin within two miles of the mouth of the harbor." One-half mile of this distance covers the most important commercial enterprises, and the inrolling waves seriously embarrass vessels alongside the docks. The dock frontage in actual use amounts to less than two miles. This is occupied mainly by grain elevators, coal yards, and steel mills. The Chicago and Northwestern, the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul, the Wisconsin Central, the Chicago, Burlington and Qnincy, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe, the Chicago and Northern Pacific, the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific, the Chicago and Alton, the Pitts- burg, Fort Wayne and Chicago, the Chicago Great Western and the Illinois Central all have terminals on the Chicago River or its branches. They have an aggregate mileage of over 40,000 miles. They have a dock frontage of about twelve miles. TERMINALS CAN NOT BE TRANSFERRED. Representatives of these railways declare that it would be practi- cally impossible to transfer these terminals to the Calumet River. The 6 ON BEHALF OF THE CHICAGO RIVER. connection between the docks on the Calumet and the railway terminals on the Chicago River would have to be made by the belt railway, at an aver- age cost of $3 per car, which, if paid on the aggregate traffic, now brought to Chicago by these railways for shipment by lake, would in each year far exceed the sum needed to improve Chicago River to meet the larg- est demands of lake navigation. They further declare that this addi- tional cost of transportation could not be borne, and that the result of imposing it would, in many cases be to drive traffic not only from the Chicago River to the Calumet but away from Chicago altogether. The railroads having terminals on the Calumet are the Illinois Cen- tral, the Rock Island and the belt lines. They have a dock frontage of less than half a mile. GRAIN ELEVATORS. Grain elevators on the Chicago River have a capacity of 40,000,000 bushels. The elevators on the Calumet have a capacity of about 8,000,000 bushels. To make the elevator capacity of the Calumet equal that of the Chicago River would require an investment in land and buildings of at least $6,000,000. It is stated by William H. Harper that the extra cost of shipping grain to these new elevators would be about one cent per bushel. On seventy millions of bushels, the amount shipped last year by lake from Chicago, this would amount in a single year to a sum sufficient to pay for dredging Chicago River and its branches to sixteen feet. This extra annual cost of transportation would inevitably be shifted from carrier to producer, and would ultimately be borne by the farmers of the northwest. Goods shipped to Chicago by lake for local consumption, or to be sorted and distributed by rail or lake throughout the south, west and northwest, cannot be economically transshipped on the docks of the Cal- umet. Package freight, anthracite coal and the materials of manufac- ture are examples. It is said that 10,000,000 packages of freight, in- cluding dry goods and hardware, were received last year. A FAIR EXAMPLE. It is said that "two-thirds of the grain and grass cutting machinery used in the civilized world is made in Chicago." The Deering Har- vester Company makes one-third of the binding twine used in the United States. The fiber from which the twine is made comes to Chicago by lake. Owing to insufficient depth in the north branch this fiber is trans- shipped at the mouth of the river and reaches the Deering Works by rail at a cost of transportation equal to over 20 per cent, of the total freight on the fiber from the Atlantic Ocean to the Deering works. This extra cost would be at least 33^ per cent of the whole if the fiber had to reach the Deering works by way of the Calumet River. BUSINESS OF TWO HARBORS. The phenomenal increase in commerce at the Calumet referred to by Major Marshall in his recent report consists largely in an increase of receipts ON BEHALF OP THE CHICAGO RIVER. 7 of salt, iron ore and grain, and an increase in shipments of grain and steel rails. For 1895 the shipments of wheats, corn, oats, rye, flaxseed and barley were about 16,000,000 bushels from the Calumet, and nearly 70,000,000 bushels from the Chicago River. We submit that the fore- going facts, and others easily obtainable, show that the interests of the people of the United States require that the Chicago River and its bran- ches be improved and maintained as a harbor navigable for the largest lake vessels. Whatever these difficulties may be they can be and ought to be overcome. The interests involved are national in character and import- ance. There is not a harbor in the United States where the benefits of adequate appropriations will so quickly return to the people of the whole country. In conclusion, we say once more that we cordially favor the improve- ment of the Calumet River and harbor. Nor do we enter into any con- trovei - sy with Major Marshall as to the engineering questions involved. We admit that the people of Chicago have not heretofore been fully awake to the great importance of maintaining the inner harbor. The recent report of Major Marshall may be of the greatest possible benefit to this city and the country at large if by directing public attention to the subject it has the effect of presenting to the commerce of the United States a harbor which Major Marshall has declared to be the second in importance in the whole country. ON BEHALF OF THE CHICAGO RIVER. EXTRACTS FROM SPEECHES AND LETTERS. WOULD DRIVE AWAY TRAFFIC. L. O. Goodard, Assistant First Vice-President Chicago, Bur- lington and Quincy Railroad Company: — The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad Company is deeply interested in the attempt to deepen and improve the Chicago River. When it entered the city of Chicago, over forty years ago, its freight terminus was built upon the banks of the river, and from time to time has constructed many more tracks to and upon docks purchased by it, so that at this time it has more than five miles of track upon the river bank and slips adjacent thereto. It has built four elevators, with a capacity of 6,000, 000 bushels, and constructed slips and docks aggregating 9,000 feet of water frontage. This vast expenditure of money was certainly made because the Chicago River was navigable to all boats upon the lakes, and we had every reason to believe that the river would be kept in condition to at all times take care of the traffic placed upon it. This company receives large quanti- ties of ties, lumber, rails and other materials upon its docks which are distributed over twenty states in the Great West. Most of the grain from seven thousand miles of road is unloaded into its elevators to be carried by boat to eastern lake ports. It is impossible to reach any other port of departure on Lake Michigan without paying a large switching charge, which would tend to drive the grain to other cities. This company deposits upon its docks large consignments of flour and merchandise produced in the west, all of which goes east by vessel. Several industries are located upon these docks which receive raw material by the boatload, to be converted into a manufactured product, and then sent into twenty western states. The business going to and from lake ports consigned over the rail- roads centering in Chicago is steadily increasing, and demands the use of vessels of the largest capacity. This river must be improved or this immense tonnage will diminish and seek other outlets. IMPROVEMENTS IMPERATIVELY DEMANDED. Marvin Hugiiitt, President Chicago & North- Western Rail- way Co. : — I take pleasure in responding to your request for my views as to the desirability of providing for the immediate improvement of the Chicago River. The Chicago and North-Western Railway Company, the pioneer railroad of Chicago, practically set forth the ideas of its projectors by ON BEHALF OF THE CHICAGO RIVER. 9 establishing all its most important terminals on the river and through all its future years and succeeding administrations has maintained that relation and improved it by every judicious means at its command. The demand now made by all the commercial interests of Chicago for the immediate deepening of the channel of the river to sixteen feet is most timely and a defeat of the project or a serious check to it at this time would be a most serious blow to the commercial supremacy of the city. Even a year's delay would cause the establishment of freight routes through other ports that would permanently divert traffic which might be retained by the prompt commencement and vigorous prosecu- tion of the work projected. Doubtless your committee are wise in moving now for a sixteen foot channel only, but the improvements should not stop there. A twenty foot channel is imperatively demanded, and the improvements should go on uninterruptedly until that depth is attained in the main river and in both branches at least to a sufficient distance to serve existing indus- trial establishments. This is not a local measure only. To shut out the large vessels already in the lake or upon the stocks would not only impose an enor- mous tax upon the inhabitants of Chicago, but would so burden the commerce of the city with all the territory tributary thereto as to drive much of it elsewhere. The scheme for the imjarovement of the harbor at South Chicago is; meritorious, but that harbor could never serve the greater city or care, for a tithe of its legitimate commerce. VEltTEBRJS OF CHICAGO'S COMMERCE. A. J. Earling, Second Vice-President and General Manager Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway: — The proposition looking to the removal and abandonment of the great commercial interests which the Chicago River serves, should receive prompt and emphatic remonstrance, not only from the interests directly effected, but from those whose interests, although somewhat remote, have the general interest and prosperity of Chicago under careful consideration. The Chicago River is the vertebrae of the commerce of Chicago. The development of many important commercial interests has been largely along its banks, and a failure to perfect its channel and develop its capabilities to the utmost, would work an injury to the commerce of Chicago which would be incalculable. Vast amounts of money have been expended in the purchase of real estate along the navigable portions of the river and in the erection of suitable and substantial manufac- turing plants thereon. Many other plants have been constructed ok locations which do not have a direct frontage but which are valuable because of their contiguity to the river, and great railway lines have expended thousands of dollars in the construction of facilities for the accommodation of their patrons along the water front. The Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway Company, owning and operating more 10 ON BEHALF OF THE CHICAGO RIVER. than six thousand miles of railway, and reaching not less than seven states over its own rails, and, through its connections, every state and territory west of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers to the Pacific Coast, has its principal terminals along and on the north branch of the Chicago River, where it serves nearly one hundred industries which are depen- dent upon water transportation. Among the industries are grain eleva- tors, which, in the city of Chicago, handled during the year 1895 nearly seven million bushels of grain, together with lumber, coal and stone yards, those shipments are unloaded directly from the boats. The business done by these firms, through the medium of water transporta- tion, aggregates more than 1,680,000 tons. It is difficult to conceive what the result would be should these industries be forced to close or remove elsewhere on account of failure to improve or maintain the channel on the lines heretofore adopted. It is sufficient to say, as it is plain to see, that such a policy would be suicidal as far as Chicago's commercial interests are concerned, and that it would be a gross breach of faith in the case of those whose investments have been based on the quasi promise of the Government, to maintain navigable waterways here, as well as elsewhere. It is to be hoped that no effort will be spared to induce Congress to furnish the means for advancing the commercial prosperity of Chicago, on the locations which have been selected on account of their favorable access to the lake, and on which millions of dollars have been spent in perfecting. SHOULD BE IMPROVED KEGARDLESS OF COST. C. H. Chappell, Vice-President and General Manager Chi- cago & Alton : — Every carload of freight diverted from the Chicago River to the Calumet involves an expense of $3.00 per car, which upon the tonnage received from and delivered to the lake would amount to millions of dollars annually. The Chicago & Alton Railroad delivers to and receives from the lake, through the Chicago River, many thousands of carloads per an- num. Very much of this business would be lost entirely to Chicago were we compelled to divert this business to South Chicago. The addi- tional charge of $3.00 per car would make it impossible for us to handle the business. It is absolutely impossible to improve the Calumet River and meet the service that is now given by the Chicago River. The business would be diverted wholly away from Chicago and South Chicago, rather than take the South Chicago route. In my judgment, the Chicago River should be improved regardless of cost. The business interests of Chicago and of the railroads tribu- tary thereto absolutely demand this improvement, no matter what may be done with the Calumet. ON BEHALF OF THE CHICAGO RIVER. 11 DEMANDED BY ALL INTERESTS IN CHICAGO. W. G. Purdy, Vice-President Chicago, Rock Island & Pa- cific. — [Letter.] — I desire on behalf of this company to express our approval of the efforts of your committee to maintain and improve the usefulness and importance of the Chicago River as a necessary agency in the commerce of this city and the lakes. Our company is the owner of two grain elevators on the riverfront, with a capacity of two and one-half million bushels. It also owns nearly three-quarters of a mile of dock fronton the river, all of which is in constant use during the season of navigation. The closing of the river, or the abandonment of its use in any way, would render these great properties useless and would be an injury not only to this company, but to the commercial interests of the city. The maintenance of the river in at least its present state of usefulness is demanded by all the interests of Chicago. KEY OF CHEAP TRANSPORTATION. Harvey D. Goulder, General Counsel of the Lake Carriers' Association: — It is a most encouraging sign of the times that Chicago is alive to the importance of her lake traffic and is ready to put merits and necessities in tangible shape before congress and the public. The commerce of our internal waterways seems to me to be still in its infancy. The question of cheap internal transportation is one of the utmost importance to the prosperity and well-being of our country. The key to the proper and adequate solution of this question, both by reason of its direct importance and as a grand object lesson on the subject, is here in the lake system. We performed on the lakes in 1895 a ton mileage service equal to more than one-third of the ton mileage service of the rail- roads of the United States. I have not exact statistics of the ton mile price of all the lake traffic, but that carried by Detroit was carried on an average of 750 miles at a price of ft s o of one mill per mile. The cheapest average price of any railroad in the United States in 1894 was 5^ mills. The grand average was over 8 mills, or ten times the price of water transportation. Two-thirds of the cargoes moved by the lake could not pay the charge for land carriage at any price Avhich would pay the carrier the actual cost of moving it. The policy of the government in aiding waterways has been criti- cised but only by short-sighted people. The money is truly invested for the best good of all the people in the broadest ami most catholic sense. Carrying at t 8 5 o of one mill per mile, deeper and wider and safer chan- nels will reduce this price materially. Chicago, if her people Avill study and understand this question with its great possibilities, will labor inces- santly to keep in touch with improved methods, to deepen her harbor, increase in every direction her facilities for the accommodation of water borne commerce. And this she may do in the full assurance that such benefits will accrue to not Chicago alone, but to the territory back and 12 ON BEHALF OF THE CHICAGO RIVER. beyond, to the railroads bringing grain and other products to the water- side and hauling away those received by water, and to all who thrive on industry to whatever applied. The increase in lake transportation of nearly or cpiite 10 jier cent is assured for this year. It is freely predicted that it will double or even treble in twenty years. Chicago should have her share and it should be a great one in the certain increase of lake commerce, with all that attends on it in the way of business, with so commanding a position, with a port that does not need creating but improvement up to the standards of the present and the near future. I do not doubt that her people will show their charac- teristic push and energy and business sagacity, now that their attention and interests are awakened and that Chicago will succeed as usual. DISGRACE TO 01ODEKN CIVILIZATION. James Davidson, Vessel-Owner, Bay City, Mich: — The present harbor facilities in the Chicago River are entirely inadequate. For the past ten years Chicago River has not been in a fit condition to accom- modate our modern ships. Prior to that time, owing to the small size of our vessels, they were easily handled in Chicago River. In order to have cheaper transportation in getting the products of the great North- west to the seaboard, much larger and finer ships have been constructed; harbor and lock facilities all over the Great Lakes, have been greatly extended. Chicago River has not kept pace with these improvements, and at the present time there are many ships in commission and in course of construction that cannot enter Chicago River. There are many other large ships that cannot be operated in this river except at a great ex- pense. The result will be that all transportation out of Chicago will be in the old style smaller ships and at a much greater cost than could be had with proper harbor facilities, and in larger and more modern ton- nage. The disastrous results of this condition will be far more reaching than in the city of Chicago. Its effects will be felt throughout the whole Northwest, and will in time necessitate the turning of traffic to and from the Northwest to other points with better harbor facilities that can ac- commodate our modern lake vessels. This time is near at hand, and unless something is done to better the condition of the Chicago River, and done very quickly, the effects of a change will be Aery expensive, not only to the city of Chicago, but to all transportation interests and the country at large. The expansion of lake transportation is not specula- tive, but a reality, and the improvement of harbors, dock facilities, and channels at all other points have exceeded the wildest expectations. The condition of Chicago River and harbor is a disgrace to modern civilization, and an immediate appropriation ought to be made for such improvements as are necessary to accommodate our modern ships, thereby insuring the great Northwest cheaper transportation to the seaboard for years to come. With this end in view your citizens ought to become thoroughly aroused. ON BEHALF OF THE CHICAGO RIVER. 13 SOT A BELIEVER IN BIG SHIPS. Alexander McDougall, Inventor of the Whalebacks: — I am very glad that you have this matter up to help improve Chicago River, which has been, and always should be, one of the greatest thoroughfares in America. There is a class of business which may be done on the out- skirts of the city, but the greatest necessity to the city trade, is a means of doing business within the heart of the city, and where mer- chandise has the least handling and cartage. Trade is becoming so close that the least transfer of merchandise is what will take the business. I think, however, that the very large ship which to-day has the prestige in sentiment, will not be the economic vessel of the future for lake trade. Personally, I feel confident that a vessel of the size of the new Canadian canals and built on modern ideas will be the profitable lake vessel of the future; but the great fleet of large ships already built and now under construction must be taken care of, and I hope your efforts will result in making a better channel in that great thoroughfare, Chicago River. NO REASONABLE OBJECTION. W. Livingstone, Ex-Pbesident Lake Carriebs' Association, Detboit: — There should be no reasonable objections in the minds of our legislators to appropriate whatever sum or sums that may be necessary to keep the Chicago River in the best navigable condition. AVHOLE COUNTRY BENEFITED. James B. Gallowav, comfabing the Chicago and Calumet Rivebs, said: — The Calumet River should be improved, but not only the people of Chicago, but the people of the whole country should be benefited by the expenditures of six millions of dollars in order to give us a depth of twenty feet from the mouth of Chicago River to Western Avenue and the stock yards, on both branches. I am told on groceries alone the saving would amount to about 20 per cent on the aggregate by better waterways. Wholesale dry goods come in by lake, and all other merchandise which does not need rapid transit. I am in favor of anything looking toward the improvement of the Chicago River (applause). AS A BUSINESS PROPOSITION. J. P. Tracy, of the Peering Harvesteb Co.: — I presume that we are to regard the improvement of the river absolutely as a busi- ness proposition, and speak of the river simply as an avenue of com- merce, and as such the Chicago River is second to none in the world. 14 ON BEHALF OF THE CHICAGO RIVER. We are safe to assume that we pay, either directly or indirectly, nearly 5 per cent of the gross revenues of the United States government, and aside from the commercial interests, as a tax-paying community alone, we are entitled to a very respectful hearing before the river and harbor committees of Congress. For this community of two millions of peo- ple the Chicago River is the chief and cheapest avenue of commerce. When I tell you what bearing the Chicago River has on our factories I presume it will be a revelation to you. According to the census of 1890 there were nearly ten thousand factories in the city of Chicago. Why are they here? There is no fuel for them here. There are no raw materials for them here. Why are they here? Simply because of the excellent transportation facilities this city affords, and you know that outside cities have been endeavoring to entice them away by free sites and free taxes, but in spite of all these transactions in the decade from 1880 to 1890 the manufacturing interests in the city of Chicago in- creased 320 per cent., while the population increased but 118 per cent. And I think I am safe in estimating that in the last six years the same ratio kept up, and if so we now have 15,000 factories, and my friend, Mr. Rising, tells me his solicitors, the solicitor of patrons of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway, have on their lists 5,000 factories for his line of railway alone. And do you know that these factories, if this same ratio kept up, have an investment in their plants of $600,000,000. If they have increased in the last six years as they have before, they would reach the annual output of a billion of dollars, and would employ about 400,000 men. Why are those factories here? Because of the excellent transportation facilities of this city. What put these transportation facilities here? It has been the fact that every line of transportation in this city has one of its principal terminals here, and to a great extent the river brought them here, and Chicago has be- come the greatest center in the world for the exchange of freights be- tween carriers. We have leaving this city and arriving here nearly five hundred freight trains daily and ten thousand ships a year, and that means a facility for practically reaching almost every principal town of the American continent. That is the reason that the factories are here. Where are the factories? Around the terminals of these railroads and on the river. What does it mean to remove our river commerce twelve miles distant? It means that that which has chiefly brought these fifteen thousand manufacturing institutions are sacrificed, and they are depreciated in value, if not utterly ruined. POSITION OF THE ROCK ISLAND. G. W. Purdt of the Rock Island Road : — Gentlemen, I did not come here this afternoon to make any address. I stated to you in my letter the position of the company, I would like to explain to you one thing, to correct the impression that because the Rock Island had tracks in South Chicago that it had no interests in the development of the Chi- cago River. We have three-fourths of a mile of dock frontage and two ON BEHALF OF THE CHICAGO RIVER. 15 elevators with a capacity of two and a half million bushels on the Chi- cago River. We feel it our interest just as much as though we had no terminals in South Chicago and are anxious to have this improvement. TO OTHER LAKE PORTS. Charles L. Rising, of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Pato, Railway: — The Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul has terminals in Chi- cago and we have invested millions of money here. We are entirely dependent on our water transportation to relieve us of the grain we are bringing into the city, and were they moved from Chicago it would result iu our taking that grain to other lake points. We are vitally interested in the matter of the improvement of the Chicago River from every standpoint, not only to preserve our property but to protect those who have invested. I hope every effort will be made to make the Chi- cago River navigable for the largest vessels. WHY DO RAILROADS END IN CHICAGO? L. O. Goddard, of the Chicago, Burlington c%Quincy — [Address]; Nearly fifty years ago the first railroad was built in Chicago and extended its line from the city to the Chicago River and every railroad company building into the city of Chicago not only built its passenger and freight facilities into the city but to the Chicago River. These railroad companies purchased or had under their control upwards of twelve miles of river frontage. The railroad company which I have the honor to represent has about two miles of river frontage, and these several railroads came to the Chicago River for what purpose? They came here at that time for the purpose of reaching a navigable stream. The grain which is purchased from ten to fifteen states in the west is all brought to Chicago and it had to be unloaded in the warehouses and. elevators before it could be loaded into the boats, provided for the' distribution of this grain. We purchased several million dollars worth, of dock property to use, of course, for our grain facilities. In addition to that these docks were purchased for the purpose of receiving from the lake ports such material as these railroad companies needed for the con- struction of their lines and repairs. There is something like forty thousand miles of road, which in a great measure receives all of its; material for construction and repairs by vessels and it is unloaded ore these docks on the Chicago River. When we purchased these dock facilities we had every reason to believe it would be navigable for all vessels which might be built to float on the lake, and as railroad com- panies we cannot stand idly by and see the Chicago River turned into a, mere canal. We must have this river now dredged to a sufficient depth as to allow us to use it at all times to unload our grain into vessels of the very deepest and largest capacity. The interests the railroad companies-, subserve are interests scattered over twenty different states. Seventy per 16 ON BEHALF OF THE CHICAGO RIVER. cent of all the agricultural products which come to the east, come to Chicago, and it is absolutely necessary that we have facilities to take care of that business. Otherwise it would seek other ports. And we have difficulty now in keeping this from going to St. Louis and down the river to New Orleans, and I tell you if we cannot have a Chicago River in a sufficient depth and capacity we will lose all of this businesss. (applause.) LAKE STEAMER LINES. Hugh MacMillan, of the New York Central & Hudson River Steamer Line: — As a representative of the Lake Line Agents' Associa- tion I will say a word in reference to the Chicago River. The merchants of Chicago have invested enormous sums of money along and adjacent to the Chicago River, such investments having been made under the belief that this stream should always remain navigable and that it should be improved and enlarged as business grew. These merchants have a Tight to expect and demand that vessels shall have facilities for econom- ically navigating the river, and for landing and recehdng cargoes at -convenient places on the stream; also that goods shall be delivered and received as near their doors as possible. The Chicago River as a navig- able stream and under the control of the United States Government is •entitled to an appropriation to be used in deepening it and otherwise im- proving it. ITS TRAFFIC INTER-STATE. W. H. Harper: — While it is true that much of the commerce of Chicago is connected with and dependent upon the Chicago River, and from this commerce Chicago reaps material benefits, yet the fact is that the city of Chicago in using the Chicago River is serving interests largely diversified and greatly scattered. The profits accruing to Chi- cago are indeed small when compared with the benefits reaped by the country at large. There is to-day invested in grain elevator property on the Chicago River in the city of Chicago not" less than §10,000,000. This invest- ment represents a storage capacity of over 40,000,000 bushels. The equipment in these houses for the speedy and economical handling of grain is better and larger than in any other city in the world. Cheap bread is now, as it always has been, the first and most im- portant problem in the domestic economy of every nation. Whatever tends to cheapen the price of bread is a benefit to the public. That the price of bread has been greatly cheapened in recent years is an un- doubted fact. What has given us this cheaper bread? I answer, that the facil- ities for the economical handling of the grain of the West and North- west in the city of Chicago, the concentration in the city of Chicago of railroads directly tributary to the vast and fertile agricultural fields of the great West, have contributed in a very direct manner to the devel- ON BEHALF OP THE CHICAGO RIVER. 17 opment of commerce, not only of Chicago, but of the entire country, and have had a direct bearing upon the export trade of the country, for it should be remembered that the agricultural products constitute about 75 per cent, of the entire exports of domestic merchandise from the United States. It should always be borne in mind, and of course it will readily occur to those who have given anything like a studious consideration of the subject, that the development of the States and Territories of the United States is largely due to the unequalled and economical facilities which Chicago has provided for the handling of the products of the West. In addition to these facilities which have been provided the great West for the handling of its varied products, and which have stimula- ted commerce in all directions, must be considered the constantly re- duced rates of transportation by lake and by rail to the eastern and southern States. This reduction in freight rates, both by rail and by water, has been brought about and stimulated by the vast amount of grain which is annually deposited in Chicago, as the result of the facil- ities which I have mentioned, and which have materially contributed to the common commercial welfare. In addition to the increase in the volume of our export trade, the people of the eastern States have thus been provided with food on a most economical basis, and thereby a large amount of money has been saved to the people. The splendid equipment of Chicago for handling the grain of the North and West has annually brought to Chicago vast quantities of grain from these sections and made necessary the building of larger boats. Larger boats made cheaper freight rates, and cheaper freight rates reduced at the seaboard the price of farm products. This gave to the East cheaj^er bread, and thus the investment at Chicago in her mammoth elevators has been a benefit to the consumers of the East. It is believed that the day is not far distant when with larger boats grain will be carried from Chicago to New York for 3 cents per bushel. If this rate is ever reached it will be through the instrumentality of of larger boats, and for the accommodation of such boats the Chicago River must be deepened. The amount of water now in the river is not sufficient to permit the larger boats now in use to load with full cargo. That all these radical changes in transportation, improved methods and the multiplication of mechanical appliances have not benefited the farmer, at first occasions surprise, but this condition arises from the fact that ours is a surplus wheat producing country, and that we can not in any event obtain more for our wheat than the prices at which other great surplus wheat producing countries are willing to sell their wheat. The reduction in transportation cost, therefore, among other things simply enables us to maintain ourselves in the markets of the world, in competition with other surplus wheat producing countries. It is interesting to examine the cost of water freight from Chicago to Buffalo, and to note the cheapening from year to year. In 1847 the average rate was 23 cents per bushel. The average rate from 1848 to 1860 has been estimated at 15 cents per bushel. The average rate from 18 ON BEHALF OF THE CHICAGO RIVER. 1850 to 1860, from carefully kept statistics was 9 cents per bushel, and from 1881 to 1895 the average rate was 8 7-10 cents. The average cost per bushel for the transportation of wheat from Chicago to New York from 1876 to 1894 has been greatly lessened, as appears by the following statement: By Lake and Canal. By Rail. 1876 0982 .1686 1877 1109 .2050 1878 0996 .1770 1879 1187 .1774 1880 1313 .1980 1881 0867 .1440 1882 0723 .1447 1883 0901 .1020 1884 0700 .1320 1885 0654 .1320 1886 0910 .1500 1887 0950 .1575 1888 0705 .1450 1889 0692 .1500 1890 0676 .1430 1891 0695 .1500 1892 0645 .1380 1893 0766 .1463 1894 0511 .1320 The evolution of the grain carrying boats has a direct bearing upon this question of cheapened transportation. In 1847 the average capacity of grain carriers upon the lakes was about 10,000 bushels. From 1848 to 1860 the average capacity was about 20,000 bushels. From 1860 to 1870 the capacity was raised to an avei'age of 25,000 bushels. From 1870 to 1880 the average was about 35,000 bushels. From 1880 to 1890 the average was 60,000 bushels, and from 1890 to 1895 the average reached 80,000 bushels. The boats that are now being constructed and those that have been most recently constructed will average over 125,000 bushels capacity, while at Cleveland, O., the steamer W. D. Rees has just been launched, and this boat has a capacity of 200,000 bushels. It is worthy of note that as the capacity of carrying boats has been in- creased the rates of freight have in inverse ratio decreased. CRISIS NOW TO BE 3IET. George J. Brine: — No citizen of Chicago that has seen the city grow and has been connected with the business of the city as long as I have, can help but feel and appreciate the crisis which the city has reached to-day. In the absence of government aid or some other aid adequate to the improvement of this river, the alternative is presented — the death of Chicago as a commercial and industrial center; and I think there is nothing more to present to the committee on rivers and harbors in ON BEHALF OP THE CHICAGO RIVER. 19 Washington. Do this not only for the local interest, but also to em- phasize the vast importance and enormous interests of the entire North- west as well as the East. Are we going to make this river — or rather this city, an inland city. The moment you stop the commerce of the river you then arrest every other improvement, and you will find it surely impossible for the city to maintain its present status; you produce decadence, and chronic paralysis must follow. Industrial development would be simply a dream, and Chicago as a business center would pass and be a memory. It is none too strong to put it in that way, because the river is the con- nection between the commerce of the lake and the great lines of railroad. RIVER AND THE LUMBER TRADE. W. B. Judson: — There are eighty-one lumber yards receiving their supplies over the 70,000 feet of dockage along the banks of the Chicago River. The average stocks of pine and hardwood lumber carried in these yards is 500,000,000 feet, and its value in money amounts to seven and one-half million dollars. There was received at this port in the year 1895 and handled over these docks 1,076,000,000 feet of lumber and 176,000,000 shingles. According to the figures compiled showing- receipts and shipments of lumber by the Lumbermen's Association of this city 600,000,000 feet of this amount was consumed in the city of Chicago. Employed in handling this lumber on the docks and in the yards and mills connected therewith there are not less than 8,000 men, Avho received wages not less than $3,600,000 annually. The total amount of lumber sold from Chicago in 1895 was in round numbers 1,680,000,000 feet, and its value was not less than $25,000,000. For more than twenty-five years Chicago has been the greatest lumber mar- ket in the world. Its supremacy has been maintained solely because the Chicago River was navigable and lumber-laden boats may come from northern lake ports and be unloaded directly upon the docks over which this enormous product is handled. Not less than $10,000,000 are invested in these docks alone, to say nothing of other improvements, such as mills, sheds, warehouses, offices, and other buildings that form a part of the great lumber yard system of this city. These are the wholesale yards only, and no account is taken of the retail yards or small mills and factories scattered about the city in all three divisions. Close the Chicago River to navigation, remove these lumber yards to the Calumet region, and we are confronted first with a problem of what to do with the §10,000,000 worth of dockage, together with the planing mills and other improvements. And second, Avith the fact that the 600,000,000 feet of lumber coming here by the lake for consump- tion in the city must be brought from a new location by rail or wagon. To bring that amount of lumber into the city where it must be used means an extra expense by the most conservative estimate of not less than |900,000 annually. In other words, the people of this city who buy lumber will pay that amount or more each year for the privilege of removing the lumber yards from the banks of the Chicago River. 20 ON BEHALF OF THE CHICAGO KIVER. ANTHRACITE COAL. W. S. Bogle: — In 1892 we received by lake 1,475,237 tons of an- thracite coal; in 1893, 1,424,853 tons; in 1894, 1,277,191 tons; and in 1895, 1,269,512 tons, a decrease of 14 per cent in three years. That 1895 should show a decrease from 1894 is the most remarkable of all, as because of the very low prices prevailing in 1895 the production and consumption was greater than in any one year of the history of the an- thracite trade. This decrease represents the loss of just so much ship- ping business from the Chicago docks and is caused by the inadequate facilities afforded by the Chicago River and increased cost of handling therein over other harbors. While Chicago has been steadily deci'eas- ing, Milwaukee, Green Bay and other ports at the head of Lake Superior have shown a steady increase and the ports of Sheboygan and Manitowoc, up to that time unimportant and almost unknown, have between them reached a tonnage approximating 500,000 tons. The great city of Chicago, which would never have existed in this present location Imt for this very river, has allowed it to be encroached upon, obstructed and abused until to-day it is the puniest and smallest thing of its kind anywhere on the great lakes where there is a city pre- tending to do a ship] ting business. Our muncipal authorities through many administrations have been against it. Bridges have been designed and so-called centerpiers have been placed so as to leave but one open draw and after that, what was left of the other draw has been filled in and its surface given over to the use of corporations and individuals. One or two of our administrations have openly advocated permanent bridges. A public sentiment has been built up against it and too gener- ally regarded as a nuisance and something to be got rid of at the earliest possible moment. This has been going on for years with practically no effort on the part of the interests directly affected to correct or affect it and I do not know if in the face of all this that we should be surprised that a government engineer should virtually call it a ' 'measly old thing, not worth doctoring and scarcely worth repairing," as in the course of a few years it would go to the "Q. bone-yard" anyway. Public sentiment is an important factor in the affairs of this nation, and it seems to me that it should not be difficult for us to convince the public of Chicago that their sentiment should favor it as their interests lie in preserving the Chicago River. If our present agitation is unsuccessful and if Major Marshall's report and recommendations are adopted it will mean that the Chicago River has been condemned as a first-class avenue of commerce and would be no longer entitled to the care and consideration extended to such avenue, and it is easy to realize that under such conditions that itwould, as Major Marshall says in an interview, gradually, slowly but surely, lose prestige, until finally it would become a canal, spanned by fixed bridges and used for barge and canal boat purposes. Independent of the enor- mous destruction of properties and values that this would entail, let us figure additional tax and burden that it would impose on the people of this city in the increased cost of their anthracite coal alone. Shut up the Chicago River and Chicago proper would he supplied with coal in two ways. It could be loaded into barges at South Chicago from vessels arriving there, then towed to a dock in Chicago River and unloaded onto ON BEHALF OF THE CHICAGO RIVER. 21 that. I have before me a letter from our chairman in which he estim- ates the additional cost of handling coal by this method at one dollar per ton. Others claim it might be done for seventy-five cents. For the purpose of keeping within the estimate, let us figure that it would cost fifty cents per ton. The only other method of getting it here would be by rail. Some of it is now received that way. The railroads admit that they base their rates on lake competition. Now you add fifty cents per ton to the cost of water coal and you add just that much to the cost of rail coal. The present consumption in Chicago is 1,500,000 tons per year — for every one thousand increase in the population you can add one thousand tons to the annual consumption, but based on present consump- tion it means that the people of Chicago would pay $750,000 per year more for anthracite alone. In eight years this would amount to $6,000,- 000, or the amount that Major Marshall says it will take to straighten, deepen and remove obstructions on the Chicago River. I have no fear that a peojde that have not hesitated to expend $25,- 000,000 for pure water, and who did not hesitate to expend millions to give the world the greatest fair that it has ever seen, will not hesitate for one minute to expend $6,000,000, or even double that if necessary, to ] ireserve her commercial supremacy, if not her commercial existence, in this particular territory. CITY OF CHICAGO. W. D. Kent, Commissioner of Public Works: — If the citizens of Chicago realize the necessity of the river, if you gentlemen who have interests on the river, will pull together and work for Chicago and the Chicago River only, an appropriation may be had from Congress of at least $500,000 for the present year and for every year thereafter. It can not be had unless you have a united effort. It is not in the interests of thecity of Chicago alone. It is a matter of importance for the entire north- west, and for the east too, for New York and Pennsylvania; and if the mat- ter is presented in that way, and your committee proceed again to Washington if it is necessary, and labor with the committee on rivers and harbors, a majority of whom feel kindly toward Chicago and the Chicago River and toward Illinois, an appropriation can be had this year. The present administration is in hearty accord with the objects of this meeting, and is willing to co-operate with you in any way it can. WHAT CHICAGO HAS BONIS FOR ITS HARBOR. Richard O'S. Burke, of the Bureau of Engineering of the City of Chicago: — In 1869 the city of Chicago expended a large amount for the improvement of the city harbor and bridges on the Chicago River. There were, however, two expenses incurred by the Department of Public Works for the removal of the bar in front of the harbor at Chicago which should have been borne by the United States govern- 22 ON BEHALF OF THE CHICAGO RIVER. ment. They were not provided with funds to met the expenses of the Chicago River improvement. Statements have been made about the great encroachments of the Chicago River. There are great encroach- ments, but what are they V They are encroachments upon a wider dock line, owned by the city of Chicago, to meet its own commerce. There are no encroachments to speak of upon the meander line of the United States. The city of Chicago has added to the area over five acres of her own territory between the mouth of the river and the Lake street bridge. So that the statements made by the United States engineer that the United States meander lines are encroached upon will be found to be at variance with the facts in the case. Down on the South Branch to the Western avenue bridge, which was the limit of the United States meander line, the quantity of territory given by the city of Chicago and the encroachment on the meander line are about equal. Let us assume that they are a little more, that there are about 60,000 feet of encroachment down there, it still leaves a net balance in favor of the city of Chicago of having devoted of her own area over five acres of that land. There are four bridges in the city of Chicago between the mouth of the river and the United States meander line through which vessels. 420 feet long and 50 feet wide cannot pass. Two of these bridges could be constructed in order to allow them to be large enough, and two bridges could be moved to another location, so as to meet all the just requirements of vessels 420 feet in length and 50 feet in breadth. The three tunnels could be lowered three feet, and all these improvements could be accomplished for $700,000. And it does not require the $6,000,000, I have heard some gentleman state as being the necessities to satisfy the demands of the 20 foot channel. There is no United States meander line on the north branch. The city of Chicago has made that concession to its marine interests. There is none below the south forks. The city of Chicago has added that to its general harbor. The report made in 1891 under the Washburne administration, by the bureau of engineering to the then commissioner of public works, Congressman Aldrich, remunerated what Chicago had expended for the improvement of the harbor. It showed that a large expense has been borne by the city government that should have been borne by the United States government. The total was over $9,000,000 at that time. Since then that amount has been largely increased. PIANO MANUFACTURERS. E. S. Conway, Secretary of the W. W. Kimball Company: — If it costs us thirty million dollars to improve the Chicago River instead of six or three or eight, it should not be considered one minute when you take into the consideration the importance of this work. We go out and raise in a few weeks ten million dollars for a world's fair. How much more important for us is it not only to appeal to congress to do what is manifestly its duty, but for us to tax ourselves in order to add lustre to our oreat commercial center. ON BEHALF OF THE CHICAGO RIVER. 23 NOT A CHICAGO INSTITUTION. John V. Farwell: — Here is a time in our history when we have an officer of the United States government come here and report that the harbor that has made this city has got to be closed and that the congress of the United States must do the murder and he will be the coroner. Talk to me about closing up the harbor and the river and making it simply a canal for boats. It is nonsense; no, it is ridiculous, and a man that advocates it is simply off his base (laughter.) The whole country is interested in the Chicago River; it is not a Chicago institution; it is an institution of the world to-day. Mr. Goddard : — Tell what the government has done for Galveston. Mr. Farwell — the people of Galveston have more brass than we have money. They asked the government to appropriate $6,000,000 to build their harbor in order to make a town. They did it. You see the result of brass. We haven't enough brass in Chicago. We want to ask for things. That little town on the Gulf of Mexico getting $6,000,000 and we begging for $500,000 and can't get it. It's a shame for a con- gress that sits under a statue of liberty. But, gentlemen we must make that appeal to congress, and we can get it if we keep at it. WOULD SEEM AN ASTOUNDING JOKE. S. D. Kimbark: — I am surprised at the fact that it was ever thought of for a moment of closing the harbor of Chicago. It would seem like an astounding joke if these gentlemen did not take it so seriously. WILL CHICAGO GET IN LINE? P. B. Weare: — Representing the elevator interests as I do, I have deep regret in seeing the working of the grain trade away from Chicago. We are having a tremendous trouble in keeping it here. Such places as Galveston, New Orleans, Newport News, and Philadelphia are making strong efforts to get the trade away from this city. The only way is to find cheaper and larger vessels that can carry more grain at the same time. Now we have the river a portion of the time and a portion of the time we have not The vessels are changing now, as 40,000 bushels capacity vessels are now the lowest and they have them up to 200,000. This winter this town has lost in the state of Nebraska and Dakota 6,000,000 bushels of grain, that has gone by the way of Galveston and New Orleans to Europe. I was visited by a committee yesterday from New York which made me a proposition that if we would agree to furnish the grain they would make a proposition of three cents per bushel for the twelve months in the year. The city of New York by a majority of 150,000 of its voters has appropriated $9,000,000 to deepen the Erie Canal, so it can carry a tow of 100,000 bushels of grain from Buffalo. We have got to get the grain of the northwest and ship it by means of the Erie Canal to tide water, by having our vessels here, and Ave want it so they can get here and come and winter and be ready to go out in 2-4 ON BEHALF OF THE CHICAGO RIVER. the spring so as to make the rate all the way of three cents a bushel. We must defeat the southern competition by bringing the grain here and letting it lie here and taking it out on the opening of navigation. Everything has got to be cheapened down to meet this new competition. And if the United States government don't want the control of this river, let it turn it over to Chicago and we will take care of it. MUNCIPAL OK GOVERNMENT CONTROL. General Charles E. FitzSimons: — My friend, Mr. Dunham, was very anxious to place the control of the river under the government some years ago. Less than five years ago I told him that perhaps he was mak- ing a mistake. I did not believe the country appreciated the value of the Chicago River to Chicago. I foresaw that if passed to the control of the general government the city council would hesitate to make an appropriation as they had been making in the past for the improvement of the river, that if there was a question of that kind a local govern- ment would be better to depend upon. The city of Chicago has gone to the expense of $9,000,000 and paid the expenses of the continuation of the piers from the old lighthouse. We paid for the dredging. I was very much afraid that just was had been done would occur. I thought that it would be better for the city of Chicago to deal with this qiiestion of their own, but the great lake carriers thought that it was a national affair; and I believe that after all Mr. Dunham was right. But I will not surrender my position entirely to him. I think that I was right, too. For the past five years the city of Chicago through its council has given very meagre appropriations for the improvement of the river. The excuse has been that the general government controlled this river, and why should the city of Chicago be called upon to pay when it was under the control of the national government? The very dilemma has occured that I expected. UNANIMOUSLY ADOPTED. Mr. Goddard: — It seems that the expressions of opinion here are about unanimous on this subject, and I will offer the following resolu- tion on the subject: Resolved, that the address of the River Improvement Association as prepared by the committee on address be endorsed and adopted as the sense of this meeting; and be it further Resolved, that the commercial, manufacturing and financial inter- ests o'f the city of Chicago and of the United States, dependent upon the Chicago River for the transportation and distribution of its products, imperatively demand the improvement of the Chicago River, first by the immediate appropriation by Congress of a sufficient sum to dredge said waterway to a depth of sixteen feet, and secondly, the adoption of such policy and plans by the federal government as may lead to a twenty foot channel, to be utilized in connection with the great twenty foot channel between Chicago, Duluth and Buffalo now under construction by the federal government, in response to the general public sentiment of the country for the cheaper transportation of its products. ON BEHALF OF THE CHICAGO RIVER. 25 Receipts by Lake at Chicago and South Chicago during' the year 1895. ARTICLES. CHICAGO. SO. CHICAGO. Merchandise pkgs. 2,931,820 13.53!) Flour bbls. 94,527 Dry Goods pkgs. 75,844 Grass Seed bags 6,339 16.600 Coal tons 1,129,302 139,262 Soap bxs. 65,381 Rice sacks 23,297 Coffee sacks 196,472 Sugar pkgs. 732,894 Syrup pkgs. 13,017 Groceries pkgs. 531,121 Canned Goods pkgs. 340.015 Grain bu. 1,451,810 55,800 Leather bdls. 28,176 Furniture pes. 70,204 Crockery pkgs. 21,293 Nails kegs 87,481 Iron tons 6,683 16,603 Whiting bbls. 32,475 Stone tons 8,664 Paint pkgs. 13,978 Hides bdls. 7,921 Liquors bbls. 30,265 Marble, Slate, etc blocks 8,522 Oil bbls. 12,407 Lumber M. 1,039,226 36.874 Wool and Hair sacks 12,018 Hardware pkgs. 335,520 Cement bbls. 288,583 Copper bars 9,586 Paper pkgs. 287,663 Shingles M. 161,427 6,885 Lath M. 32,115 Posts pes. 2,384,590 12,500 R. R. Ties pes. 2,363,907 40,250 Tel. Poles pes. 63,444 5,800 Wood cords 22.366 637 Bark cords 6.679 Green Fruit pkgs. 4,755,388 2,140 Cordage pkgs. 18,691 Hemp, Jute, etc pkgs. 34,654 Salt bbls. 527,792 1,158,571 Salt sacks, 56,192 Iron Ore tons, 63,108 1.840.097 Boots and Shoes pkgs., 166,417 Drugs pkgs., 138,546 Soda pkgs., 118.507 Potatoes bu., 222,423 Cheese pkgs. , 21 , 180 Plaster bbls. 32.422 64,837 Peas sacks 90,914 Fish tons 3,329 Dried Fruits pkgs. 18,970 26 ON BEHALF OF THE CHICAGO RIVER. Shipments by Lake from Chicago and South Chicago During' the Year 1895. ARTICLES. CHICAGO. SO. CHICAGO. Merchandise pkgs. ^1, 629,005 6.392 Flour bbls. 1,148,489 3.679 Wheat bu. 12,299,188 688.170 Corn bu. 40.219.266 7.670.497 Oats bu. 12,225,558 5,050.415 Flaxseed bu. 1,778,262 Rye bu. 57,000 Barley bu. 1,814,033 2,522,500 Grass seed sacks 36,203 Steel rails tons 12.386 61.161 Coal tons 6,298 6,575 Mill stuffs sacks 862.025 4,847 Gluten meal sacks 76,960 Glucose bbls. 62,066 4.800 Malt sacks 127,909 .....'... Oil cake sacks 186,556 2.500 Spelter plates 196,355 Lead pigs 339.675 11.025 Soap bxs. 34,870 1.000 Starch bxs. 48,629 Lard pkgs. 75.706 Lard tcs. 21,806 Coffee sacks 16,322 Tea •. chests 7,006 Sugar bbls. 46.896 Syrup bbls. , ."^s Groceries pkgs. 176,886 Canned goods pkgs. 39,950 Cured meats pkgs. 745 Pork bbls. 3,850 Beef bbls. 1,211 Oatmeal bbls. 18.209 Cornmeal bbls. 776 Broomcorn bales 3,827 Nails kegs 6.005 2.008 Iron tons 4,605 2.867 Potatoes bu. 3, 768 Vinegar bbls. 2.045 White Lead pigs 8.512 Hides bales 19.059 Tallow pkgs. 9,993 Liquors pkgs. 4.547 Salt bbls. 473 li.ciio Oil bbls. 8,201 128,744 Lumber M. 1,811 Wool and Hair sacks 23.613 Rags bales 5,968 Hay tons 3.180 Hardware pkgs. 23.981 Copper bars 51.392 Cement bbls. 3.295 Glass pkgs. 900 Copper bars 272 ON BEHALF OF THE CHICAGO RIVER. HISTORY OF THE TWENTY-FOOT CHANNEL. The twenty-foot channel between Chicago, Duluth and Buffalo was the direct outcome of the Deep Waterways convention, held at Detroit, December 18th and 19th, 1891. Tbis convention was a notable gathering: of the commercial interests of the Northwest. While its pri- mary object was to begin an agitation for a ship canal between the Great Lakes and tidewater, it gave a forcible endorsement to the movement for a twenty-foot channel between the upper lakes as the first step to- ward a deep-water canal to the Atlantic. General O. M. Poe, then United States Engineer in charge of the great government works at Sault Ste Marie, and of the improvements between Lake Huron and Lake Erie, submitted an article to the conven- tion, indicating that a twenty-foot channel could be secured between Lake Superior, Lake Huron and Lake Erie, at a cost not exceeding $4,000,000. General Casey, then Chief of Engineers of the United States Army, warmly supported the project, and Congress, in the win- ter of 1892, made the requisite appropriation. Both army officers, who were in a large degree entitled to the credit of the undertaking, were not permitted to see its successful completion. General Poe died in the autumn of 1895, and General Casey passed away in March, 1896. As soon as the twenty-foot channel had been adopted as the policy of the general government, plans for the great lock at Sault Ste Marie were changed accordingly. Upon its completion in the spring of 189V, it will have about 21 feet of water on the mitre sill. Under the contract system, which was adopted by Congress for this work, contracts were made in the summer of 1892 for the entire work. Since then, operations have been continued with so little ado that the public announcement last December of the near approach of its completion, started even vesselmen, who generally keep in close touch with the march of improvement. By midsummer next, so much of the channel will have been completed as to give from 17 to 18 feet of water from Lake Huron to Lake Erie. The full twenty feet between all the upper lakes will not be available until the season of 1897. The size of lake vessels has always been governed to a large degree by the limit of draft. In the early days of lake traffic, the shoalest spot between Chicago and Buffalo was at the St. Clair flats, where the River St. Clair empties into Lake St. Clair. In the 50's, boats could not get over the flats drawing more than 9 feet of water, and lake trade was then done in small schooners. Then the general government con- structed the St. Clair Flats canal, and the limit. of draft became Grosse 28 ON BEHALF OF THE CHICAGO RIVER. Point, at the foot of Lake St. Clair, where it empties into Detroit River. Extensive improvements by the government at Lime Kilns Crossing, where the Detroit River flows into Lake Erie have always kept ahead of the improvements at Grosse Point. For the past ten or fifteen years, vessels trading between Lake Michigan and Lake Erie have been loaded to the limit of draft at Grosse Point, but this trouble- some obstruction has at last been overcome by the completion of the twenty-foot channel at that place. WHAT OTHER PORTS ARE DOING. The near approach of the completion of the twenty-foot channel has aroused all the important ports on Lake Erie to the imperative necessity of providing adequate harbor accommodations to meet the new demands upon them. A twenty-foot channel without harbors to match it would be a useless luxury. Cleveland, which is the largest vessel-owning port on the entire chain of lakes, has asked the state legislature for permission to issue bonds to the amount of $500,000, to improve and enlarge its harbor. This will be in addition to the sum appropriated by the gov- ernment to secure twenty-feet to the harbor line. The entire harbor and river will doubtless be placed in the hands of a peiTnanent commission, in order that the city can obtain the fullest benefits from the develop- ment of its lake commerce. Buffalo has appropriated $175,000 to deepen its harbor to twenty feet, and such additional sums as may be required to complete the undertaking will be provided. Ashtabula, where more iron ore is handled than at any other place in the world, will be the first harbor on Lake Erie to have twenty feet of water. There, the city of Ashtabula bonds itself for one-third of the expense, the other two-thirds being borne by the railroads which have docks on the river front. The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, which controls the harbor at Fairport, is preparing to spend large sums to secure twenty feet of water at that harbor also. At none of these places has the general government assumed con- trol of the inner harbors, and its work will be confined to the outer harbors. ( hi Lake Michigan, Chicago is the first city to move toward secur- ing adequate harbor facilities for the twenty-foot channel. NOTHING BUT BIG SHIPS NOW BUILDING. From the day the twenty-foot channel became a certainty, lake vessel owners have been preparing for it. Practically all the boats for general lake trade which have been built during the past five years, have been constructed with a special reference for the time when they could be loaded down to nineteen or twenty feet, draft. This has resulted in an enormous increase in their carrying capacity. So rapid have been the strides forward in naval construction, that the honor of "being the largest boat on the lakes" has been very short-lived. Steamers which three years ago were considered monsters, have already passed to the ON BEHALF OP THE CHICAGO RIVER. 29 second class. When the steamship Centurion came to Chicago in the summer of 189.3 on her maiden trip, it was found that Chicago River was too small for the craft. Complaint was made to the United States Engineer against the obstructions which prevented her getting up either branch of the river, but Major Marshall paid no heed to them, on the grounds that the Centurion was of abnormal size, being 379 feet long. In less than three years the Centurion has become a compara- tively small ship, alongside the great fleet of boats which has steadily come forth from the shipyards. Not one of the steel vessels coming into service the coming season could get into Chicago Harbor as it now exists, further than State Street. It is certain that there will be no de- crease in the size of lake vessels, but the movement will be steadily toward bigger boats to better meet the sharpening competition in all lines of traffic. 30 ON BEHALF OF THE CHICAGO RIVER. Things Every Chicagoan Should Know. "We cordially approve of the improvement of the Calumet River and Harbor. We believe that the future commerce of Chicago will need all the harbor facilities that can be furnished by the Chicago River and the Calumet River, even if both are fully improved. We strenuously protest against the 2)olicy of improving the Calumet and neglecting Chicago River, for we insist that the Chicago River will be hereafter, as it has been heretofore, the prin- cipal harbor of Chicago, and must eventually be improved to meet the largest demands of lake navigation."' — Address, page 4- "The business going to and from lake ports consigned over the railroads centering in Chicago is steadily increasing, and demands the use of vessels of the largest capacity. The river must be improved or this immense tODnage will diminish and seek other outlets." — L. O. Goddard, page S. "The demand now made by all the commercial interests of Chicago for the immediate deepening of the channel of the river to sixteen feet is most timely, and a defeat of the project would be a most serious blow to the com- mercial supremacy of the city. This is not a local measure only."- Marvin Hughitt, page 9. "It is difficult to conceive what the result would be should these indus- tries be forced to close or move elsewhere on account of failure to improve or maintain the channel on the lines heretofore adopted. It is sufficient to say that such a policy would be suicidal as far as Chicago's commercial interests are concerned, and that it would be a gross breach of faith in the case of those whose investments have been based on the quasi promise of the government to maintain navigable waterways here, as well as elsewhere." — A. J. Earlixg, page 10. "Every carload of freight diverted from the Chicago River to the Calumet involves an expense of three dollars per car, which upon the tonnage received from and delivered to the lake would amount to millions of dollars annually. * * * * 'p ne additional charge would make it impossible to handle the business."— C. H. Chappell, page 10. "The maintenance of the river in at least its present state of usefulness is demanded by all the interests of Chicago." — W. G. Purdy, page 11. "Two-thirds of the cargoes moved by lake could not pay the charge for land carriage at any price which would pay the carrier the actual cost of moving it. * * * It is freely predicted that lake commerce will double or even treble in twenty years. Chicago should have her share with a ON BEHALF OF THE CHICAGO RIVER. 31 harbor that does not need creating- but improvement up to the standards of the present and future." — Harvey D. Goulder, page IS. "The disastrous results of this condition (of Chicago River) will be more far-reaching than in the city of Chicago. Its effects will be felt throughout the entire Northwest and will in time necessitate the turning of traffic to and from the Northwest to other points with better harbor facilities, that can accommodate our modern lake vessels. This time is near at hand and unless something is done to better the conditions of the Chicago River, and done very quickly, the effects of a change will be very exjoensive, not only to the city of Chicago, but to all transportation interests and the country at large. The condition of Chicago River and harbor is a disgrace to modern civiliza- tion.''— James Davidson, page 12. "There is a class of business which may be done on the outskirts of the city, but the greatest necessity to the city trade is the means of doing business within the heart of the city, and where merchandise has the least handling and cartage. Trade is becoming so close that the least transfer of merchandise is what will take the business." — Alexander McDougall, page 13. "The Calumet River should be improved, but not only the people of Chicago but the people of the whole country would be benefited by the ex- penditure of six million dollars in order to give us a depth of twenty feet from the mouth of Chicago River to Western Avenue and the Stockyards, on both branches." — James B. Galloway, pa