Chicago is an important railway centre, be sides being favorably situated on Lake Michi gan for marine commerce through the Great Lakes. Twenty-three through lines of railroad have terminals in the city. There are no roads passing through Chicago. It is necessary, there fore, for transfers both of freight and passen gers to be made from one line to another. This greatly complicates the transportation system of the city, and among the vital improvements of the near future should be a complete reor ganization of these matters, in aid of saving time and labor and cost both for freight and passengers. The old Illinois and Michigan Canal connecting Chicago with the Mississippi River of course is obsolete, but the Drainage Canal may be made the means of connection under modern conditions, providing an ade quate amount of work is done on the Illinois River, so that freight may pass directly from the Great Lakes system to the Mississippi system of water transportation.
The Plan for a More Beautiful and Con venient City.— Chicago, like most other cities, has grown to an extent entirely unforseen at the outset, and on lines resulting from circum stances and conditions of the locality. The original reason for the settlement was the lo cation in the vicinity of a harbor of Lake Mich igan and near the carrying place between the waters of that lake and the affluents of the Mississippi. The ground was fiat and marshy, being therefore in many ways entirely incon venient for city building. As population in creased streets extended toward the north and south along the shores of the lake, and westward over the prairie. It was very difficult to provide suitable pavements for the streets and at the same time suitable foundations for large build ings. Such buildings have had to be erected on piles, which originally did not go down deeper than a clay sub-stratum. In later years concrete piles have been carried down to the bedrock. There was a time when it became necessary to grade the streets up, and this in volved the correlative necessity of lifting the buildings along these street lines. In the main, streets have been made at right angles, with an occasional diagonal following the line of some old highway leading out into the State. On the south side the Illinois Central Railroad oc cupies the lake shore for several miles, thus preventing ready access to the beach and largely cutting off the city from the use of the lake.
After the World's Fair of 1893 serious study was given to the question of a possible re-crea tion of city lines in such a way as to secure fur ther development in accordance with funda mental principles of beauty and advantage. The Commercial Club of the city appointed a Commission of 28 of its members, and the Mayor of the city also appointed a very large committee of citizens, to consider the same question. This was in 1909. After careful
study a systematic plan was evolved looking toward the re-creation of the lines of city growth in a very important way. It was sug gested that the heart of the city should be con nected in a systematic manner with the sur rounding districts by two great arterial systems, rectangular and diagonal. Certain existing streets should be widened and made the main arteries of commerce. It was further pro posed to extend the park system by completing the existing park belt, by securing another sys tem of parks more remote from the present settled area and by adding a considerable num ber of small parks. In order to complete the existing park system the plan contemplates filling in shallows on the South Side between the centre of the city and Jackson Park, thus creating a system of islands which are to be im proved and connected by bridges, leaving a waterway of lagoons between this new park way and the mainland. The lake front on the North Side is now being improved by an exten sion of Lincoln Park on made land. When this extension is completed the lake frontage on the north side of the river for eight miles will be parked or boulevarded. The plan also contemplates reconstructing the location of the railway passenger stations and freight-yards in such way as to facilitate as much as pos sible the removal of freight-yards from the centre of the city, and at the same time making communication convenient and rapid for rail way passengers. This last of course involves a complete subway traction system. The plan also involves the creation of a civic centre for the main administrative buildings, so situated as to be easy of access from all parts of the city.
This plan is a very extensive one, and of course will require many years to carry to completion. At the same time, when completed it will make the city far more beautiful, and far more convenient, and will provide for its future development in a way that is systematic rather than haphazard. The City Beautiful will become also the City Comfortable.
Moses,