THEATRES, CLURS. There are nu merous fir-t-elass theatres and plies of a lutist. Men t in Chicago. The leading play-houses are the Auditorium. Bush Temple. Chicago opera I lonse, Dearborn. Opera House, Great Northern. Illinois. MeVieker's, Powers. and Studebaker.
The leading clubs are the Argo. thletie. Calu m•t. Chieago. Illinois, Irommis, La Salle. Mar qu•tte. standard, Union, Union League. the Chi cago Women's Chili, and the Woman's Athletic Club. The Calumet. Chicago. Athletic, and rnion League have magnifhpnt club-houses.
Chicago is known as a great convention city. Its hotel accommodations, which were increased considerably for the World's Fair, are very ex tensive. Among the most prominent hotels are the Auditorium, with it large annex; the tireat Northern, :\letropole, Palmer I louse. Grano Pacific, Wellington, Lexington, Victoria, Virginia, a ml the Sherman House.
CoximEncl.: AN D Ianutirer. The secret. of Chi cago's rapid development is found in its com manding position relative to an extensive and phenomenally productive region. Situated at the southern end of Lake Michigan, the city enjoys the navigable facilities of the Great Lakes, while the railways crossing the country from the East to the Northwest naturally touch here. The Southern lines. connecting with the Great Lakes, also find it a natural terminal point. Chicago, the greatest railway centre of the United States, is therefore of first importance as a col lecting and distributing centre. The numerous railways converging in and tributary to the city operate 120,000 miles of line, two-thirds of the total mileage of the United States. These connec tions reach every State of the Union; also Can ada and Mexico. The railways are supplemented, too, hr lake navigation. Lines of steamers om nect Chicago not only with the Northern States and Canada, but with the outside world. The im portance of this outlet has greatly increased with the recent improvements in canals at different points, ocean vessels now making their way to Chicago. Many difficulties still beset this branch of transportation, however, and its practicability on an extensive scale is yet to be determined. Per haps the possibility of uniting Chicago with the Gulf of Mexico is equally significant. It is esti mated, indeed, that the new sewerage canal eon fleeting Lake Michigan with the Mississippi River represents two-thirds of the work necessary to make of it a ship canal.
The port of Chicago owes much to the pres ence of rivers. The mouth of the Chicago River, formerly a sluggish bayou, has been deepened by piers that extend into the lake, leaving an en trance-way about 500 feet wide; while long break waters on the east and southeast, constructed by the United States Government, form an outer harbor with an average depth of HI feet, and an area of about 455 acres. Additional protection to vessels is given by an exterior breakwater, 5436 feet long, which extends in a northeasterly direction about a mile front the river's mouth. In South Chicago, at the northern mouth of Calumet River, is another harbor, 300 feet wide between piers. The Illinois :Ind Michigan Canal, constructed in Is36-4R, connecting with the Mis sissippi and its affluents, is no longer an impor tant, means of t ransportat ion. This canal extends to La Salle. the head of navigation on the Illinois. It is 96 miles in length, and at its highest level was originally 12 feet above the lake; but in 1866-70 the city deepened it, so that it is now feet below the ordinary level of the lake.
The tonnage of vessels arriving at Chic-ago in 1900 was 7,044.000. as against 4,016.000 in This plaees Chicago next to London, New York. and Antwerp as a eommer•ial port. There is a decided inerease in the average tonnage of ves sels frequenting Chicago, as is evident from the fact that, during the above period the number of vessels decreased from 13,215 to 5711. Foreign ex ports by lake increased from ::.•'3.900.000 in 1591 to $0.026.000 in 1SOS. Over half of this amount is represented by corn. wheat being the next item. The largest lake import is lumber. The vastness of the forests to the north, and of the farming interests of the surrounding region, gives Chicago precedence over all other markets in linnber, grain, and live stock. For thirty years the an nual imports of lumber have exceeded 1.000.000. 000 feet, and in certain years have doubled that amount. About one-half of this import has been. in turn, shipped to other points. The trade in lumber products has shown, in recent years, some tendency to decline. The imports of grain in I0110 amounted to 307,000.000 bushels, besides 9.300,000 barrels of flour. In these products Chicago has exceeded Minneapolis, Duluth.