is now being enlarged by the extension of its breakwaters, and a
$5,000,000 pier is under construction which will be more than half a mile
in length and will greatly increase the shipping facilities.
With all these advantages as a shipping point, thousands of vessels come
to Chicago every year. Steamers connect it with the states along the
Great Lakes and with Canada and the outer world. Its trade with Europe is
large, corn and oats being the chief exports. New York alone in America
surpasses Chicago in the total value of its commerce.
Of Chicago's nearly 2,500,000 inhabitants a large percentage are foreign
born, Germans, Poles, Irish, and Jews having settled here in great
numbers. About forty languages are spoken, and newspapers are regularly
published in ten of them.
With its suburbs, Chicago stretches nearly 30 miles along the shore of
Lake Michigan and reaches irregularly inland about 10 miles. The city
limits inclose an area of over 191 square miles, which the two branches
of the Chicago River cut into three parts, known as the South, West, and
North sides. The three divisions of the city are connected by bridges and
by tunnels under the river.
[Illustration: COURTHOUSE AND CITY HALL]
Though business is spreading to the West Side, the central business
section is still on the South Side and extends from the Chicago River
beyond Twenty-sixth Street. Most of the great wholesale and retail
houses, banks, theaters, hotels, and public buildings are crowded into
this area, and here is the largest department store in the world, in
which over 9000 people work. The automobile industry alone occupies
nearly all of Michigan Avenue for two miles south of Twelfth Street.
Surrounding this crowded business section are most of the terminals of
Chicago's many railroads. These connect the city with New York, Boston,
and Philadelphia in the East; with New Orleans, Galveston, and Atlanta in
the South; as well as with San Francisco and the other large cities of
the West. The courthouse and city hall and the new Northwestern Railway
Station are among the city's finest buildings.
Elevated railways and a freight subway have been built in recent years
and have somewhat relieved the crowded condition of the streets. This
subway, opened in 1905, connects with all the leading business and
freight houses, and carries coal, ashes, garbage, luggage, and heavy
materials of every kind to and from them.
[Illustration: THE NORTHWESTERN RAILWAY STATION]
Five miles southwest of the city hall are the Union Stockyards, the
greatest market of any kind in the world, covering about five hundred
acres. When Chicago was only a small village, herds of cattle were driven
across the prairies to be slaughtered in the little packing houses which
grew up along the Chicago River. As the raising of cattle and hogs
increased in the state, most of them were sent to the Chicago market,
and the stockyards continued to develop until to-day they can hold more
than four hundred thousand animals at once.
[Illustration: CHICAGO TO-DAY]
Near the yards are the famous packing houses of Chicago, where over two
thirds of the cattle, hogs, and sheep received in the city are
slaughtered and prepared for shipping. The use, during the last forty
years, of refrigerator cars has made possible the sending of dressed
meats to far-distant points, and a great increase in Chicago's packing
business has resulted.
[Illustration: WHERE CARS ARE MADE]
Beef, pork, hams, and bacon from Chicago are eaten in every town and city
of America and in many parts of Europe. Other products are lard, soups,
beef extracts, soap, candles, and glue, for every bit of the slaughtered
animal is turned into use.
[Illustration: THE SKELETON OF A PULLMAN CAR]
In a district of South Chicago, known as Pullman, are the shops of the
Pullman Palace Car Company and the homes of its army of workmen. Cars of
all sorts are manufactured by the Pullman company, which owns and
operates the dining and sleeping cars on most American railroads.
[Illustration: THE CAR COMPLETED]
There is no one striking residence quarter in Chicago, but beautiful
homes are found in many parts of the city. Among the finest streets are
Lake Shore Drive, along the lake front on the North Side, and Drexel and
Grand avenues.
[Illustration: MICHIGAN BOULEVARD]
The parks of Chicago are nearly one hundred in number, the most important
being Lincoln, Washington, Humboldt, Garfield, Douglas, and Jackson.
These are connected by boulevards, or parkways, forming a great park
system, sixty miles in length, which encircles the central part of the
city. Lincoln Park borders the lake on the North Side and covers hundreds
of acres, its area having been doubled by filling in along the shores of
the lake. Jackson Park, on the lake shore of the South Side, was the site
of the World's Columbian Exposition, which celebrated the four-hundredth
anniversary of the discovery of America. This park is connected with
Washington Park by what is known as the Midway. Grant Park has been
recently constructed on made land facing the central business portion of
the city. Here is to be located the Field Museum of Natural History.
Bordering the Midway are the fine stone buildings of The University of
Chicago, opened in 1892. Its growth, like that of Chicago, has been
marvelous. Already it is one of the largest universities of the country.
[Illustration: © The University of Chicago
THE LAW SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO]
But with all its parks, its boulevards, its splendid water front, and its
many other advantages, the people of Chicago are not yet satisfied.
To-day they are working to carry out a splendid plan which will give the
city more and larger parks and playgrounds, better and wider streets, and
a really wonderful harbor. All this is being done "that by properly
solving Chicago's problems of transportation, street congestion,
recreation, and public health, the city may grow indefinitely in wealth
and commerce and hold her position among the great cities of the world."
=CHICAGO=
FACTS TO REMEMBER
Population (1910), over 2,000,000 (2,185,283).
Second city in population.
Second only to New York in value of manufactures.
The leading market in the world for grain and meat products.
A great iron and steel center.
Chief lumber and furniture market of the United States.
Greatest railroad center in the country.
Most important lake port in the country.
Has had a remarkable growth in industries and in population.
QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW AND STUDY
1. Tell what you can of Chicago's early history.
2. What great disaster befell Chicago in 1871?
3. Give five causes for the wonderful growth of Chicago.
4. What part has the Chicago River played in the development of the
city?
5. Describe a grain elevator. Why are they necessary in handling
grain?
6. Name the advantages which Chicago enjoys on account of its
location.
7. What are the great wheat-growing states of the United States?
8. Give reasons for the development of the following industries in
Chicago:
Iron and steel industries
Meat packing
Lumber trade
9. What are the advantages of water transportation over rail
transportation?
10. In what respects is rail transportation better than water
transportation?
11. Why was Chicago willing to spend millions of dollars to improve
her water supply? How was this done?
12. Where are the workers secured to carry on the great industries of
Chicago?
13. Make a table, by measurement of a map of the United States,
showing the distance from Chicago to the following places:
New York City Denver
Boston Seattle
Washington, D.C. San Francisco
New Orleans St. Louis
14. In what respects does Chicago stand first of American cities, and
in what two things does she lead the world?
15. Compare Chicago and New York as to exports and value of commerce.
16. What is the benefit of parks to a city? What has Chicago done to
make her parks among the best in this country?
PHILADELPHIA
In early days, when there was no United States and our big America was a
vast wilderness inhabited mostly by Indians, people who came here were
thought very adventuresome and brave.
At that time there lived in England a distinguished admiral who was a
great friend of the royal family. The king owed him about $64,000, and at
his death this claim was inherited by his son, William Penn. Now William
Penn was an ardent Quaker, and because of the persecution of the Quakers
in England he decided to found a Quaker colony in another country. King
Charles II, who seldom had money to pay his debts, was only too glad to
settle Penn's claim by a grant of land in America. To this grant,
consisting of 40,000 square miles lying west of the Delaware River, the
king gave the name Pennsylvania, meaning "Penn's Woods." The next year,
1682, William Penn and his Quaker followers entered the Delaware River in
the ship _Welcome_.
Penn believed in honesty and fair play. He was generous enough not to
limit his colony to one religion or nationality. All who were honest and
industrious were welcome. The laws he made were extremely just, and land
was sold to immigrants on very easy terms.
[Illustration: PENN'S TREATY WITH THE INDIANS]
Soon after his arrival in America, Penn wisely made a treaty with the
Indians whose wigwams and hunting grounds were on or near the banks of
the Delaware River. Beneath the graceful branches of a great elm he and
the Indian chief exchanged wampum belts, signifying peace and friendship.
In the center of the belt which Penn received are two figures, one
representing an Indian, the other a European, with hands joined in
friendship. This belt is still preserved in Philadelphia by the
Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
[Illustration: PENN'S WAMPUM BELT]
[Illustration: LOCATION OF PHILADELPHIA]
In 1683 Penn laid out in large squares, between the Delaware and
Schuylkill rivers, the beginning of a great city. This city he called
Philadelphia, a word which means "brotherly love." At that time the
so-called city had an area of 2 square miles and a population of only
400. To-day Philadelphia has an area of nearly 130 square miles and a
population of more than a million and a half. It is America's third city
in population, and it ranks third among the manufacturing cities of the
United States. Philadelphia is on the Delaware River, a hundred miles
from the ocean, but it has all the advantages of a seaport, for the river
is deep enough to let great ocean steamers navigate to the city's docks.
Philadelphia's easy access to the vast stores of iron, coal, and
petroleum, for which Pennsylvania is famous, its location on two
tidewater rivers,--the Delaware and the Schuylkill,--and its important
railroads, all have helped to make it a great industrial and commercial
center. One half of the anthracite coal in the United States is mined in
Pennsylvania. Much of it is shipped to Philadelphia and from there by
rail and water to many other states and countries.
[Illustration: THE OLD STAGE WHICH JOURNEYED FROM PHILADELPHIA TO
PITTSBURGH]
Some of the greatest manufacturing plants in the United States, in fact
in the world, are in Philadelphia. In certain branches of the textile, or
woven-goods, industry Philadelphia is unsurpassed. In the making of
woolen carpets she leads the world. This industry goes back to
Revolutionary times, when the first yard of carpet woven in the United
States came from a Philadelphia loom. In 1791 a local manufacturer made a
carpet, adorned with patriotic emblems, for the United States Senate.
Other important industries of the city include the manufacturing of
woolen and worsted goods, hosiery and knit goods, rugs, cotton goods,
felt hats, silk goods, cordage, and twine and the dyeing and finishing of
textiles. The largest lace mill in the world is in Philadelphia.
[Illustration: OLD IRONSIDES]
Philadelphia is also noted for the manufacture of iron and steel. The
largest single manufactory in Philadelphia is the Baldwin Locomotive
Works, which is the greatest of its kind. Pictures of the old Flying
Machine, a stagecoach which made trips to New York in 1776, and of Old
Ironsides, the first locomotive built by Matthias W. Baldwin in 1832,
seem very queer in comparison with the powerful 300-ton locomotives built
in Philadelphia to-day. Old Ironsides weighed a little over 4 tons and
lacked power to pull a loaded train on wet and slippery rails; hence the
following notice which appeared in the newspapers: "The locomotive engine
built by Mr. M. W. Baldwin of this city will depart daily when the
weather is fair with a train of passenger cars. On rainy days horses will
be attached."
Besides the American railroads using Baldwin locomotives, engines built
in this plant are in use in many foreign lands. There is hardly a part of
the world to which one can go where a Philadelphia-made locomotive is
not to be seen.
[Illustration: THE FIRST TRAIN ON THE PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD]
Philadelphia holds an important place in the construction of high-grade
machine tools. She has great rolling mills, foundries, and machine shops,
and one of the most famous bridge-building establishments in the world.
Her people smile at being called slow; in fourteen weeks a Philadelphia
concern made from pig iron a steel bridge a quarter of a mile long,
carried it halfway around the world, and set it up over a river in
Africa.
Shipbuilding in Philadelphia began with the founding of the colony. It
was the first American city to build ships and was also the home of the
steamboat. The first boat to be propelled by steam was built by John
Fitch in Philadelphia in 1786. This was more than twenty years before
Robert Fulton had his first steamboat on the Hudson River. Robert
Fulton, who was a Pennsylvanian by birth, also lived at one time in
Philadelphia. Shipbuilding, to-day, is one of the city's great
industries.
[Illustration: A PRESENT-DAY LOCOMOTIVE]
The art of printing has been practiced in Philadelphia since the very
beginning of its history. William Bradford, one of the first colonists,
published an almanac for the year 1687. This was the first work printed
in Philadelphia. Benjamin Franklin entered the printing business in
Philadelphia in 1723, and six years later published the _Pennsylvania
Gazette_. This was the second newspaper printed in the colony, the first
being the _American Weekly Mercury_, the first edition of which was
printed in Philadelphia in 1719. Both of these papers were very small and
would appear very odd alongside of the daily papers of to-day. The first
complete edition of the Bible printed in the United States was published
by Christopher Saur in Germantown, which is now a part of Philadelphia,
in 1743. Philadelphia ranks first among the cities of the United States
in the publication of scientific books and law books. One of the large
publishing houses of the city now uses over a million dollars' worth of
paper each year. It is interesting to know that when the Revolutionary
War began there were forty paper mills in and near Philadelphia. At that
time, and for many years after, it was the great literary center of the
country.
[Illustration: IN FAIRMOUNT PARK]
When William Penn founded his Quaker town in the wilderness, he made
little provision for parks, as at that time the town was so small and was
so surrounded by forests that no parks were needed. But Philadelphia now
possesses the largest park in the United States. This is known as
Fairmount Park, which covers over three thousand acres of land. Splendid
paths and driveways give access to every section of this park. On all
sides one sees beautiful landscape gardening, fine old trees, and
picturesque streams and bridges. Here is a great open amphitheater where
concerts are given during the summer months; here are athletic fields,
playgrounds, race courses, and splendid stretches of water for rowing;
and here also for many years were located the immense waterworks which
pumped the city's water supply from the Schuylkill River.
[Illustration: ONCE THE HOME OF WILLIAM PENN]
Among the famous buildings in the park are Memorial Hall and
Horticultural Hall. They were erected at the time of the great Centennial
Exhibition, which was held in Philadelphia in 1876 to celebrate the
hundredth birthday of American independence. Memorial Hall is now used as
an art gallery and city museum. Horticultural Hall contains a magnificent
collection of plants and botanical specimens, brought from many different
countries.
Another interesting building in Fairmount Park is the little brick house
which was once the home of William Penn. It is said to have been the
first brick house erected in Philadelphia. It stood on a lot south of
Market Street, and between Front and Second streets. Some years ago it
was moved from its original site to Fairmount Park, where thousands of
people now visit it. Here too, before the Revolutionary War, was the home
of Robert Morris, the great American financier, who, during that war,
time and again raised money to pay the soldiers of the American army.
[Illustration: LOOKING NORTH ON BROAD STREET]
Many statues of American heroes ornament the driveways and walks of
Fairmount Park. At the Green Street entrance stands one of the finest
equestrian statues of Washington in the country. The carved base, which
is made of granite and decorated with bronze figures, is approached by
thirteen steps, to represent the original thirteen states.
[Illustration: BALLOON VIEW OF FAIRMOUNT PARK AND THE SCHUYLKILL RIVER,
1000 FEET ABOVE THE GROUND]
[Illustration: PHILADELPHIA'S WASHINGTON MONUMENT]
The streets of Philadelphia, while not broad, are well paved, and many of
them are bordered by fine old trees. It was William Penn who named many
of the streets after trees. The names of several of the streets in the
oldest part of the town are recalled in the old refrain:
Market, Arch, Race, and Vine,
Chestnut, Walnut, Spruce, and Pine.
Philadelphia is a city of homes. Besides its splendid residential
suburbs, it has miles of streets lined with neat attractive houses where
live the city's busy workmen.
[Illustration: THE CITY HALL]
Perhaps the city hall is the most striking of the notable buildings. It
is a massive structure of marble and granite and stands at the
intersection of Broad and Market streets. This immense building covers
four and a half acres and is built in the form of a hollow square around
an open court. The most attractive feature of the building is the great
tower surmounted by an immense statue of William Penn. This lofty tower
is nearly 548 feet high and is 90 feet square at its base. It is 67 feet
higher than the great Pyramid of Egypt and nearly twice as high as the
dome of the Capitol at Washington. The Washington Monument exceeds it in
height by but a few feet. The great statue of Penn is as tall as an
ordinary three-story house and weighs over 26 tons. It is cast of bronze
and was made of 47 pieces so skillfully put together that the closest
inspection can scarcely discover the seams. Around the head is a circle
of electric lights throwing their brilliant illumination a distance of 30
miles. To one gazing upwards, the light seems a halo of glory about the
head of the beloved founder of the city.
[Illustration: THE CITY-HALL STATUE OF PENN]
Philadelphia has many fine schools, both public and private. The two most
noted educational institutions are the University of Pennsylvania and
Girard College. The University of Pennsylvania was founded largely
through the efforts of Benjamin Franklin. It now occupies more than fifty
buildings west of the Schuylkill River and is widely known as a center of
learning.
[Illustration: PHILADELPHIA TO-DAY]
Girard College was the gift of Stephen Girard, who, from a humble cabin
boy, became one of Philadelphia's richest benefactors. The college is a
charitable institution devoted to the education of orphan boys, who are
admitted to it between the ages of six and ten. Girard left almost his
entire fortune of over $7,000,000 for the establishment of this great
educational home for poor boys. Two millions of this sum were for the
erection of the buildings alone.
[Illustration: THE UNITED STATES MINT]
Other prominent educational institutions are the Penn Charter School,
chartered by William Penn; the Academy of Fine Arts; The Drexel Institute
for the promotion of art, science, and industry; the School of Industrial
Art; the School of Design for Women; and several medical colleges which
are among the most noted in the country.
When the United States became an independent nation it was necessary to
have a coinage system of its own. In 1792 a mint was established in
Philadelphia to coin money for the United States government. All of our
money is not now made in Philadelphia. The paper currency is made in
Washington, and there are mints for the coinage of gold, silver, and
copper in San Francisco, Denver, and New Orleans as well as in
Philadelphia.
[Illustration: OLD CHRIST CHURCH]
A visit to the Philadelphia mint is most interesting. Visitors are
conducted through the many rooms of this great money factory and are
shown the successive processes through which the gold, silver, nickel,
and copper must pass before it becomes money.
We first see the metal in the form of bars or bricks. In another room we
find men at work melting the gold and mixing with it copper and other
metals to strengthen it. Coins of pure gold would wear away very rapidly,
and so these other metals are added. The prepared metal is cast into long
strips, about the width and thickness of the desired coins. In still
another room these strips are fed into a machine which punches out round
pieces of the size and weight required. These disks are then carefully
weighed and inspected, after which they are taken to the coining room to
receive the impression of figures and letters which indicates their
value. One by one the blank disks are dropped between two steel dies. The
upper die bears the picture and lettering which is to appear upon the
face of the coin, and the lower, that which is to appear on the reverse
side. As the disk lies between them the two dies come together, exerting
an enormous pressure upon the cold metal. The pressure is then removed,
and the bright disk drops from the machine, stamped with the impression
which has changed this piece of metal into a coin of the United States.
All coins are made in much the same way.
[Illustration: INDEPENDENCE HALL]
In our brief visit we see many wonderful machines for counting, weighing,
and sorting the thousands of coins which are daily produced in this busy
place. At every step we are impressed with the great precautions taken to
safeguard the precious materials handled.
The old parts of Philadelphia are even more interesting than the mint,
because of their historic associations. Within the distance of a few
squares one may visit famous buildings whose very names send thrills of
pride through the heart of every good American.
[Illustration: THE LIBERTY BELL]
Old Christ Church, whose communion service was given by England's Queen
Anne in 1708, is perhaps the most noted of Philadelphia's historic
churches. In this old church Benjamin Franklin worshiped for many years,
and when he died he was buried in its quaint churchyard. And here too
George Washington and John Adams worshiped when Philadelphia was the
capital city.
Carpenters' Hall and Independence Hall ought to be known and remembered
by every boy and girl in America. When the Massachusetts colonists held
the Boston Tea Party, England undertook to punish Massachusetts by
closing her chief port. This meant ruin to Boston. All the English
colonists in America were so aroused that they determined to call a
meeting of representatives from each colony, to consider the wisest
course of action and how to help Massachusetts. It was in Carpenters'
Hall that this first Continental Congress met, in September, 1774. The
building was erected in 1770 as a meeting place for the house carpenters
of Philadelphia--hence its name.
[Illustration: THE HOME OF BETSY ROSS]