in deepening the Illinois and Michigan Canal was accomplished. This occurred on July 15, 1871. Almost precisely the same performance was repeated, twentyeight and a half years later, on January 2, 1900, when a bulkhead of earth left for the same purpose at the entrance of the great Drainage Canal, then just completed, was removed by a dredge, and the waters of the Chicago River allowed to enter the new channel.

When the water was admitted to the canal, after its deepening had been completed, in 1871, a strong current was at once created, and an entire change of the water in the main river and the South branch was effected in about thirty-six hours. The completion of this work was an impressive event in the history of Chicago. "No more important and necessary public improvement has ever been undertaken by the city," said the Commissioner of Public Works, in his report for that year. "It is confidently believed that this will prove an adequate and permanent means of relief as far as the main river and the South branch are concerned."

PARALLEL OCCURRENCES

One might almost suppose, in reading the comments upon the completion of this work, that they referred to the far greater work of recent years, but, as we shall presently see, in spite of the high hopes of the people of that time. it fell far short of its intended benefits. The similarity of the two events is very remarkable though the former one has been, by most persons, long since forgotten. There was the same popular clamor about the impurity of the river, the same anticipation of relief from a channel across the "divide," only in the former case the deepening of the old canal was the means of providing for the flow, while in the latter a new channel was demanded. At their openings, there were the same rejoicings, and the same evidences of successful results. Thus history repeats itself, and it is our task to follow the developments of both enterprises to see how far they were successful.

It should be remembered that soon after this event the great Chicago Fire occurred which, of course, absorbed public attention to the exclusion of the sewerage problem, and which it was then thought had been finally disposed of. The public mind soon became occupied with the work of rebuilding the city, and in recuperating from the severe losses suffered. Thus we may suppose, that, as the subject of drainage and sewerage no longer demanded attention, it was little regarded for many years. In nearly all the histories of the movement for improved drainage, which finally resulted in the great Drainage Canal, this earlier experience is practically ignored.

CONSEQUENCES OF THE CANAL ENLARGEMENT

When the deepening of the canal was accomplished, and a gravity flow of water established through its channel, the pumps at Bridgeport were thought to be of no further use, and after two years of idleness they were sold in 1873, for two thousand, five hundred dollars. Their original cost had been nearly twentynine thousand dollars. It was not long afterwards, however, before the citizens deplored the fate of the pumps. During the winter and spring of 1872 and 1873, the city authorities began to notice that the Chicago River was no longer cleansed

Vol. II-13

by the flow of water, that the lake level was passing through one of its periodical subsidences and had reached a point so low it would no longer supply the necessary "head of water" at Bridgeport to furnish a current through the canal. This period of subsidence, in fact, continued until about 1880, when there was another period of high water, these fluctuations in lake levels extending irregularly over periods of years, as is well known.

THE OGDEN-WENTWORTH DITCH

The engineering problem was complicated by an enterprise of a private nature, the construction of the Ogden-Wentworth ditch. This work was begun in 1871, and its purpose was the draining of swampy lands lying east of Summit and north of the canal, which were covered with water during the greater part of the year. There were several hundred acres included in this drainage area, constituting what was known as Mud Lake, and extending eastward from Summit about three miles and northward nearly to the West fork of the South branch of the Chicago River. Its surface was several feet higher than that of the Chicago River. These lands were owned by William B. Ogden and John Wentworth.

The channel of this ditch or canal was about twenty feet wide at the top, and the depth slightly below the bed of the Desplaines River. Its length was about five miles. At its west end it opened into the Desplaines River, and at the east into the West fork of the South branch. The Desplaines River is a stream of wide fluctuations. "During some seasons," says Isham Randolph, "its whole discharge would pass through a six-inch pipe; at others its volume reaches eight hundred thousand cubic feet per minute." The builders of the Ogden-Wentworth ditch had planned that once the opening was made, however slight it might be, the flow through it would enlarge the channel. "When the floods came in the spring and summer of 1872," says Brown, "the rush of waters from the Desplaines, now sweeping towards the Chicago River, accomplished what the projectors anticipated and their canal was greatly enlarged. Within a short time there was a very troublesome stream flowing eastward from the Summit into Lake Michigan instead of down the valley of the Desplaines. The Desplaines River was practically diverted from its old channel.

"The results were most unfortunate. The city had spent millions of dollars in enlarging the Illinois and Michigan Canal for the purpose of discharging the Chicago River and the sewage of the city into the rivers of the valley. Now the current westward was counteracted by the new flow through a ditch which was constructed for the benefit of private interests. Relief was no sooner secured than it was taken away." The current in the Ogden-Wentworth Canal had been strong enough to supply about all the water that the old canal could carry, the latter entering the river not far from the junction of the former with the same stream. This caused a cessation of the movement of the river water and sewage into the canal, and thus without any current in its channel the river became increasingly foul.

The drainage through the canal, however, was still carried on intermittently. "In the spring of 1874, City Engineer Chesbrough suggested the construction of a dam with sluice-gates in the Ogden-Wentworth Canal, near the Desplaines

River, which would prevent water passing from the river into the ditch whenever it would be injurious to the city." This was done, but the dam was not built high enough to hold back heavy freshets, and there was frequent trouble from this source in subsequent years.

RESTORATION OF THE PUMPING WORKS

Dr. John H. Rauch, secretary of the State Board of Health, had observations made in 1878 and 1879, on the condition of the water in the canal, in the interests of the people living in the valley of the Desplaines. These observations were systematically carried on by Samuel M. Thorp, locktender at Joliet, for more than a year, and upon them Dr. Rauch based a recommendation to the city authorities that the pumping works at Bridgeport should be rebuilt. "My reasons for recommending this course," he wrote, "are that the works will furnish almost immediate relief without great expense and without interfering with the project for a ship canal, or with any more permanent plan which may become necessary for disposing of Chicago sewage." The necessity for action was urgent, as the people of the valley were suffering from the offensive odors owing to the diminishing volume of water in the sewage brought down by the canal. Public meetings were held at Joliet and committees appointed to visit Chicago and demand relief. Dr. Rauch had reported that during the fourteen months of Mr. Thorp's observations there was almost continued low water, and that "the amount of water passing over the dam was diminishing, due to the lowering of the lake level thirty-five miles away."

The general superintendent of the canal, William Thomas, at the close of the year 1879, called the attention of the Canal Commissioners to the condition of the Summit level. "When the water was let into the 'deep cut' the lake was more than three feet higher than it was in 1879. Navigation had been seriously interfered with. Either the bottom of the canal must be lowered throughout the entire length of the canal, or more water must be supplied at Bridgeport." In his judgment it was a great mistake that the old hydraulic works at Bridgeport had not been preserved. "With those works restored," he said, "the water in the canal could be kept nearly as clean as that in the lake itself." He thought that the City of Chicago and the Canal Board should at once take steps to accomplish this

purpose.

"The recommendations of Dr. Rauch, fortified by the opinions of Mr. Thomas, were concurred in by the State Board of Health, and a copy of the secretary's report was transmitted to the mayor and common council of the City of Chicago. The subject was earnestly discussed by the press, the Chicago Citizens' Association and the Engineers' Club. The result was that the common council appropriated one hundred thousand dollars, on March 29, 1880, for the construction of pumping works at the head of the Illinois and Michigan Canal." Upon opening the bids for the work it was found that the pumping machinery would cost far in excess of the amount appropriated, and therefore it became necessary for the council to increase the amount. The work of construction was not completed until June, 1884, when the cost was found to be over two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. But even then a test of the pumps showed that they did not meet

the requirements of the contract, and they were practically rebuilt during the following year. "A subsequent test showed that the pumps were able to raise the requisite amount of sixty thousand cubic feet per minute eight feet high," which at the time was deemed satisfactory.

IN ADEQUATE RESULTS FROM PUMPING

"At the time of the tests the lake level was at an average high stage, and the conditions were favorable for the pumps. Both river and canal were kept in a comparatively inoffensive condition for two years. In 1886, the average mean level of the lake above datum was two and sixty-four one hundredths feet. In the following year it dropped to one and ninety-six one hundredths, and continued to fall until it reached five one hundredths above datum in 1891.

"With the lowering of the lake level the pumps were required to raise the water at the head of the canal through a greater distance, and the result was a less amount pumped." The required sixty thousand cubic feet per minute was reduced to less than thirty-eight thousand during the year 1891. Thus there was little more than half the required amount of water pumped from the river, and meantime the sewage discharge into the river was greatly increased owing to the rapid growth of the city. The river and canal, consequently, became again very foul and offensive. "The level of the water of Lake Michigan in 1891 was the lowest in the history of the City of Chicago. It was below datum for one hundred and thirty days, and at no time during the year was it more than six inches above datum."

In explanation of the term datum it may here be added, that "Chicago datum was established by the Illinois and Michigan Canal Commissioners in 1847, and represents the level of low water in Lake Michigan in that year. It has since been used as a basis for fixing water levels in the vicinity of Chicago." This account, in its essential details, follows that found in G. P. Brown's "History of the Drainage Channel and Waterway," published in 1894, from which work quotations have also been made.

We are now at the threshold of the movement for the great Drainage Canal which finally realized, on its completion in 1900, the purposes of an adequate drainage system for the City of Chicago. By means of a channel wide and deep enough for the purpose, it has accomplished three great results; first, the channel carries off, by "gravity flow," the vast discharges of sewage from a city with a population considerably exeeding two millions of souls; second, by reversing the current of the Chicago River it removes the danger of contamination of the waters of Lake Michigan, the source of the city's water supply; third, it abundantly dilutes the volume of its channel contents, thus rendering them inoffensive to the people living along its course and in the valleys of the rivers through which they eventually flow.

FIRST DIRECT CLEARANCE FOR A FOREIGN PORT

The steamer "Dean Richmond" carried the first cargo of grain direct from Chicago to Liverpool. This was in 1856. This steamer had just been built, and had a capacity of fifteen thousand bushels of wheat and perhaps more. Five thousand bushels of wheat were taken on at Chicago, the remainder of her cargo, some