The streets, NVith few exceptions, cross at right angles, and are generally wide. some of the boule va•ds being 120 feet in width. Some of the long mffably Western -lvenne and Halsted Street, nearly equal the length of the city. There are over 4000 miles of streets, (wel l:300 of which are paved, principally with wooden blocks. macadam, and asphalt, the mileage of the last-named material having increased rapidly in tile last few year,. Most of the main are parallel with the lake. Of these, the lake Shore Drive, Michigan, Drexel, and (.'rand houle Nards. Prairie and ('allimet avenues, Pine, Rush, and Cass streets, and La Salle _)venue, with Washington and Jackson boulevards running east and west. are conspicuous represelitlitiVes of t'hi eago's more attractive residence avenues.
Detached mark the purely residence dis tricts. which, together with the more recently acquired suburban areas Where rural conditions to some extent still prevail, and the magnificent parks and boulevards of the public-park system, are noticeable in contrast with the congested busi ness area. with its noise. dust, and smoke, and scattered tall office-buildings. Of these varying mammoth structures. the tallest reaches 21 stories in height, and the largest has a capacity for 6000 They are constructed of a structural steel frame with an exterior shell of masonry, generally of terra-cotta. For some time a municipal ordinance limited the height of buildings to 150 feet, but this restriction was removed in 1902.
In the centre of the business quarter, and covering an entire square, is the Court-House and City Hall—a magnificent twin building of limestone. with fine granite columns, in a free rendering of French Renaissance, erect ed at a cost of $4,500,000. The east half is used for county purposes. and the west half by the city. In a space between the buildings is the Drake Fountain, with a bronze statue of Colum bus, erected in 1'02. CM La Salle Street, running south from the City Hall, are some of the finest oflice-buildings. The Chamber of Commerce. one of the finest commercial st•uetu•es in the world, costing more than $1,000,000, is 14 stories high, a great central court naffed by an immense skylight. and a richly furnished interior. The Temple, of French-(:othie architeetu•e. 1:3 stories consist, of two great united by a narrow vinculum, forming interior courts which admit light and air. The first two stories are faced With red granite, the rest with red brick; and from the roof springs a bronze spire. 70 feet high, surmounted by a female figure. The Rook ery, a Romanesque building of granite, brick, and terra-cotta• contains 6110 ullices. The Board Trade, at the foot of La Salle Street, is a mas sive granite building. Other large structures on La Salle Street are the Tacoma, the Associa tion, New York Life and Home Insurance build and the Illinois Trust and savings Bank, cue of the finest banking edifices in the city.
The new Federal Building, lei stories high, covers an entire block. 321 by 390 feet, bounded by Adams, .lack sot. Dearborn. and Clark streets. The strueture is of granite and steel. and is sur mounted by a great dome. The original appro priation for the building was :::4.000.000; and in 1903, S750.000 additional was voted by Congress to finish the interior.
In this vicinity are four great buildings. 16 stories hi_ is the Great Northern Hotel and The atre. the Monon. the Manhattan. and the Monad nock, costing $3.000.000, constructed of steel, and finished in granite and marble. Next to the last is the Union League Club. one of the most handsomely appointed club-houses in Chieago. West of the Federal Building. on Adams Street, is the Rand-McNally Building. well equipped. and one of the largest printing and publishing houses in the world. On the same street is the wholesale establishment of Marshall Field & Company, by Richardson—of note as a more at tractive type of the commercial building. wherein purely commercial utility is not preeminent. At the corner of Monroe and Dearborn streets is the First National Bank. containing one of the largest banking rooms in the world. Dearborn Street is the site of several tall structures. among which the Unity. Hartford. Marquette. Old Colony, Manhattan. and Fisher buildings are prominent. Situated on one of the most busy corners in the heart of Chicago is the new 16-story building of the Chieago Tribune. one of the hest examples of the growth of the :esthetic in Chicago. It is in the Italian style. being at tractively built of Bedford stone, gray pressed brick, and terra-cotta trimmings. The corridors are floored in mosaics, with marble wainscoting. The woodwork is in mahogany throughout, and the floors of the office portions of the building are of polished oak. On State Street is the Spanish Renaissance Columbus Building. com pleted in 1893, at a cost of $$00,000. It is 14 stories high, with a tower 240 feet high. tipped with a globe of opalescent glass, lighted by a powerful electric light. Over the entrance is a bronze statue of Columbus. and in the in terior are too glass mosaics depicting scenes in his life. The retail house of Marshall Field & Company, on State. Washington. and Ran dolph and Wabash Avenue, represents the climax of Chicago's great buildings. There are in this structure over 1,000.000 square feet of floor -pace. equivalent to 23 acres. The new granite addition of 12 stories erected upon the site for merl• occupied by Central Alusie Hall, State and Randolph streets. rests upon 84 caissons of con crete, extending nearly 100 feet below the street level. On one corner of Randolph Street is the Masonic Temple, the highest building in the city. I tiller structures of interest are the Fair, a build ing 100 by :350 feet, and LSO feet high, with a floor-spaee of 677.500 square feet : the build ing of Siegel, Cooper & Company, which affords 542,700 square feet floor-space; the Title and Trust Company Building, 10 stories high, which contains the Law Library of the Chicago Bar Association. and offices occupied mainly by law yers; the Venetian and buildings: the Merchants' Loan and Trust Company Building, a 12-sto•y structure of granite. finished in ma hogany and marble; the publishing house of A. C. McClurg & Company; the Kimball hall Building, a musical centre with 200 studios. a music-all. and two recital-halls; the stately Schiller Building. containing the Dearborn The atre, and halls, elub-roians, and offices; the new Ashland Block, built in classic style; and Bush Temple.