CHAPTER V_Plan of Chicago

TRANSPORTATION: A FREIGHT CENTER: GROUPING OF PASSENGER STATIONS: A

LOOP SYSTEM

Chicago has been made largely by the railroads, and its future

prosperity is dependent upon them. In the past, however, it has been

the increase in the number of roads reaching this city which has built

up its commerce; but now, with twenty-two trunk lines entering Chicago

from every possible direction, and with connections extending to all

portions of the country, the question of numbers has ceased to be the

important one.

The present problem is to handle the traffic of the railroads with

dispatch and at the lowest cost. The city is too large for each

railroad to attempt to maintain a separate system unrelated to that

of any other except the physical connection of the tracks. The time

has come to develop one common system for the handling of freight,—a

traffic clearing-house. The whole perplexing and intensely intricate

subject requires not only the careful study of men expert in such

matters, but also a spirit of mutual forbearance and conciliation among

railroad managers for the sake of promoting the general good.

Not that any one road of the entire twenty-two should be expected to

make what will ultimately prove a sacrifice, but that no road should

hold back from doing its full part to bring about the conditions

essential to the continued prosperity of the city by the development

in Chicago of a unified system of traffic handling that shall place

this city ahead of any other in so far as efficiency and cheapness are

concerned. The fine arts of traffic management should be studied no

less than the fine arts of parks and boulevards; for unless Chicago

keeps ahead of her rivals in commercial matters, the parks will become

pastures, and the boulevards will be deserted.

In an address made in Chicago during the winter of 1906-7 Mr. James

J. Hill laid the utmost stress on the necessity for improved railway

terminals. At that time a cry was going up for more cars. Traffic was

delayed, the railways being entirely unable to handle promptly the

freight offered them. Mr. Hill pointed out that the main difficulty

was not lack of cars, but lack of proper terminal facilities. It was a

fact that hundreds and even thousands of loaded cars were at that very

moment standing on the tracks in the yards of every one of the great

trunk lines, which with their utmost efforts could not place these cars

at the sides of the receiving platforms in the various cities. It is

not an extreme statement to say that business was almost paralyzed on

account of the inability of the roads to handle at the terminals the

freight traffic of the country. On all the two-track lines continuous

trains could have been handled from one terminus to another, if the

cars could have been rescued from the disordering conditions in which

they were involved and lost to use. The railroad companies were unable

to make proper use of their own rolling stock and main lines, all

because of the congested condition of their terminals, in which there

were tracks enough, but tracks so badly placed and arranged as to

deprive the roads of the full benefit of their aggregate mileage.

The bad arrangement of terminal tracks was not alone responsible for

the congested condition which then prevailed at Chicago, New York,

Pittsburgh, and many other points. In an equal or perhaps greater

degree the habit of hauling all the freight into the heart of a city

and then hauling most of it out again was the cause of the trouble. If

freight stations and yards located close to the center of the business

district of a city were inadequate under the conditions that obtained

in the winter of 1906-7, what will be the result at the next test,

which will surely be a more severe one?

The conclusion is inevitable. Either nearly every one of the great

railroads must increase and improve both its main line and such of its

freight houses and yards as are now located in the heart of the city,

or they must cease to bring all freight into the congested business

center. Separate roads operating separate and independent rights-of-way

to the separate and independent freight houses cannot do the work.

Year by year the railroads have gone on straightening their lines,

reducing grades, and building additional tracks; and the result has

been large savings in operating expenses. The time has now come to

devise some plan whereby the enormous terminal costs will be lessened

materially; and that city will benefit most wherein this problem shall

be worked out first and best.

This report does not attempt to dictate; or to discuss the practical

questions of railroading. Its aim in respect to transportation is the

same as in regard to all other matters of Chicago’s welfare, namely, to

incorporate such generalizations as are obviously true, logical, and

helpful; because it is recognized fully that unless the railroads have

power to improve their terminals, this city will be hopelessly left

behind in the struggle for commercial advancement. The same spirit that

is evoked to bring about other improvements is necessary also in the

case of the railroads.

[Illustration: DIAGRAM A.]

[Illustration: DIAGRAM B.

LXX. CHICAGO. ASSEMBLING-INTERCHANGE; DIAGRAMS ACCOMPANYING THE REPORT

OF THE COMMITTEE. C. W. HOTCHKISS, CONSULTING ENGINEER.

(A) Present method of handling interchange of freight on railroads in

center of city. (B) Proposed method of handling interchange of freight

on railroads by means of a belt line and clearing yards, disengaging

the center of the city from existing freight congestion.]

In order to obtain for the community as a whole the greatest economy

per ton handled, no goods should be carried into and out of the

congested business center except those needed for construction, for

retailing, or for consumption in that territory. Goods that are now

brought into Chicago as a center, and from thence sold and distributed

to the country outside of Chicago, should be stored at some point

most convenient for the purpose,—most convenient for deposit and for

reloading and carrying away to other points. It is obvious that the

spot chosen be one most convenient for the shipping public as a whole;

and therefore if common ground for such a great general depot can be

found for all the roads, it will best answer the purposes of quick

handling and of lowest cost per ton. A central depot, and common track

facilities which should form a part of it, would bring about time

and money saving both to the railroads themselves and to the trading

public. For the sake, therefore, of the best interests of all the

citizens of Chicago, it is proposed that great machines owned and

operated in common by all the railroads be created to handle freight

business.

[Illustration: LXXI. CHICAGO. SKETCH DIAGRAM OF DOCKS SUGGESTED AT THE

MOUTH OF THE CHICAGO RIVER FOR PACKAGE FREIGHT STEAMERS.

A careful analysis of the entire freight traffic of Chicago shows that

ninety-five per cent, in and out, is done by the railroads, and only

five per cent is done by water. It is the opinion of leading merchants

and manufacturers of this city, as well as of traffic managers of both

rail and water transportation, that this average percentage of tonnage

will not change in the future. This being the case, the location of a

great common freight depositing and reloading station for all the roads

should be located at a point most economical for them as a whole, at

the common center of gravity so to speak. This center of gravity is

at or near the location shown on the diagram. Here should be trackage

capable of handling in the best manner all freight trains coming into

or departing from Chicago, which are intended to do business other than

local and suburban. It should be so arranged that individual incoming

cars can be promptly placed beside the intended unloading platform or

warehouse, where the goods can be handled with dispatch, and as largely

as possible by machinery. The car so unloaded should be at once placed

at the platform from which it is to take its new load, and then be

entrained and started away to its next destination.

At this freight center may be the great warehouses of the city,

arranged in reference to the tracks and service. These mutual relations

must of necessity produce economy of handling goods, and economy of

the closest sort. If the car and track service be perfected from the

freight train standpoint, Chicago will have an advantage not possessed

by any other trade center of the world, and her equipment will be

fully equal to her destiny. The principal results would be the quick

handling of freight trains by all the roads, their rapid unloading

and reloading, and their exemption from passing into or through the

crowded city. This would result in an enormous saving every year.

Such a scheme can be carried out here, because the entire surrounding

country is flat.

The relief from the congestion in the city now caused by bringing in

and carrying out goods not to be consumed there will result in less

crowding in the city, and also in the saving of its pavements, in much

less dirt, and finally, in a mitigation of the smoke nuisance, because

of the removal of freight engines and manufacturing to the new freight

handling locality.

[Illustration: LXXII. CHICAGO. SKETCH DIAGRAM OF DOCKS SUGGESTED AT THE

MOUTH OF THE CALUMET RIVER FOR BULK FREIGHT STEAMERS; ACCESS TO BE HAD

WITHOUT OPENING OF BRIDGES.

Together with this freight handling center should be a harbor in

connection with each of the two rivers, the Chicago and the Calumet.

These two harbors should be connected underground or overhead by

freight ways operated electrically, and they should also be connected

with the freight handling center. The four elements, namely, freight

center, two harbors, and the connecting systems, will then form one

complete machine for doing almost all the transportation of goods for

Chicago for all time. No doubt the present tunnel railway system should

be tied up with and form part of this machine: all probably to be owned

jointly by some general utility corporation. In such case any merchant

or manufacturer, located wherever he may be, could, in the shortest

space of time and at lowest cost per ton, receive goods from the great

depository (the freight center) or send them to it for entraining.

The present underground system of tunnels already extends under all of

the streets in the old business district of Chicago, and is extending

on the North, South, and West Sides. It is connected with all of the

railway freight stations, its floor is about 40 feet from the street

surface, and is connected at that level with chambers under many of

the leading commercial and manufacturing establishments and office

buildings of the city, from each of which freight elevators deliver

goods to and from the shipping-rooms above. Any existing tunnel system

can be utilized as far as it will go in carrying out a complete system

of underground distribution.

The freight handling center should become a perfect machine in itself.

Trains of freight cars coming to or going from the city should be

handled there, so that the individual cars may be placed at the

particular warehouse from which goods are to come, and from these cars

the new trains should be made up in station order. No considerable

car supply should be kept on hand in this freight yard. In the course

of time, when the freight business of Chicago shall have greatly

increased, the present freight-car yards will be needed for storage of

cars, and holding those needing repairs or rebuilding. The yards will

then perform an important function, for when more cars are needed at

the great central freight machine, they can be sent thither from each

of the separate yards. Should a surplus of cars exist at the center of

any road, this surplus can be withdrawn to that road’s own yard.

One of the large retail merchants of Chicago, when in need of a fresh

case of goods, now telephones to his own storehouse situated far from

his shop, and through the underground tunnel quickly receives goods in

a sealed car. This method of supplying the merchant’s needs illustrates

what will happen to all merchants when the central freight depot shall

come fully into existence. A method that will work with precision,

quickness, and close economy will relieve the down-town streets of

freight traffic now hauled over them, and therefore make the streets

cleaner and more lasting. Will not these great general facilities

profoundly affect for the better the material prosperity of Chicago

as a whole? When this system shall be put in operation, the better

street plan, and the enlargement and improvements suggested for parks,

parkways, and the Lake front, will cause the city to become permanently

and highly prosperous.

In connection with the freight diagrams, the one numbered LXXIII

should be considered. It shows a radical change in warehousing, and

perhaps manufacturing, which will take time and cannot be put into

effect abruptly, but is undoubtedly the logical outcome and ultimately

must prevail. It also shows the present tendency of growth of both

manufacturing and warehousing which seems to follow and cling to belt

lines of railroad, especially when such lines run beside the River or

Canal, where every sort of freighting economy now in vogue can be made

use of. It is evident that while present methods continue in use, and

until the great freight scheme can be put into operation, some common

facility railroad highways must be introduced in order to improve the

handling of freight in the direction of quickness and cost. The diagram

(No. LXXIII) shows what these freight common facilities should be,

namely:

1. An inner loop (A),

2. Loop (B), connected as shown with the inner loop,

3. Loop (C), also connected with the inner loop, and finally, loop (D).

If these three loops be wide, many-tracked, and operated for the

benefit of all railroads, then the movement of freight can be increased

in efficiency; and such manufacturers and warehousemen as build against

the loops can be accommodated with everything needed to carry on their

individual activities. Freight stations can be located on these loops

wherever required, and each can be certain of quick and cheap service,

the common facilities being operated by the railroads. A detail diagram

for freight in the center of the city is shown in No. LXXIV.

[Illustration: LXXIII. CHICAGO. DIAGRAM OF THE CITY AND SURROUNDING

COUNTRY, SHOWING RAILROAD CIRCUITS, B, C, D, AND E, WHICH ARE, OR MAY

BECOME, TANGENT TO THE INNER CIRCUIT (A).

The diagram also shows the existing industries, and the probable trend

of growth away from the center of the city.

It is proposed to extend the freight lines to the Lake front piers and

harbors. The excursion-boat piers, as well as the recreation piers and

those at the harbors, are to be thus connected. It is probable that

many of the present freight houses of the railroads will remain and

carry on their functions as at present, except as to goods now hauled

into and out of Chicago, although intended solely for outside trade. As

they are already connected by tunnel, they can be and will be used for

the city-consumption trade, and to supply the great number of smaller

retailers and others who cannot afford to operate separate individual

freight elevators from their shops to the tunnel railroad.

At the present time much of the near-by farm stuff for housekeepers,

hotels, and restaurants is brought into the city on wagons which

load late in the afternoon and travel at night, reaching the general

market at South Water Street or West Market at dawn. Much if not all

of this freightage can be done cheaper to the truck farmers, and more

satisfactorily to the consumer, by cars run at night on the trolley

and elevated lines. Between one and seven o’clock in the morning these

roads should render this important service. The saving of wear and tear

on roadbeds due to the elimination of heavy teaming is, all by itself,

enough to recommend the adoption of the above suggestion. Besides, the

convenience of both producer and consumer is to be considered, and also

the saving of time and the cheapening of provisions.

The proposed street plan of Chicago is based on a system of circuits

and radials. This is also true of the railroad and traction systems. As

shown on the accompanying diagrams, the heart of Chicago is surrounded

by a circuit of railways, which may be said to follow Michigan Avenue,

Canal Street, Sixteenth Street, and Kinzie Street. Following the same

lines, a subway circuit may be constructed for handling freight, and

another for passengers, the latter running, however, on Twelfth and

Washington. To this circuit would be tangent three others enclosing

areas increasing in size around the center of the city as above

described. By means of these circuits a complete system of distribution

of passengers and freight may be secured. To the inner circuit will

relate the various services of distribution of the elements of life,

produce, and commodities for manufacture; and on it should be placed

the freight substations, the markets for general produce, the main

post-office, and postal substations. The various services for water,

sewers, power, telephone, and telegraph, also may be schemed on the

inner circuit as a basis. To it will also correspond the inner circuit

of boulevard circulation.

Although these various circuits do not correspond in exact detail

to one another, they may be said to be virtually superposed, and to

serve not only the intensely active center of the city, but also the

enclosing zone as far as the second boulevard circuit—Michigan Avenue,

Twenty-second Street, Ashland Avenue, and Chicago Avenue—an ideal

condition if the main circulation of the streets be left free and

uninterrupted in its working.

The center line on which balance the circuit A, and all the others to a

greater or less degree, is the axial line of Congress Street. The two

great arteries, Halsted and Congress streets, may be said to form the

grand crossing, at the intersection of which it is proposed to place

the civic center. The base of this civic center touches the west side

of the inner circuit, tangent to which are all the other circuits. The

importance of this inner circuit will thus be seen. The tangent or line

of coincidence extends from Lake Street to Sixteenth Street. It may

be used as the clearing-house for all the interests above described,

coming to and going from the heart of the city.

[Illustration: LXXIV. CHICAGO. DIAGRAM OF THE CITY CENTER, SHOWING THE

GENERAL LOCATION OF EXISTING FREIGHT YARDS AND RAILROAD LINES, THE

PRESENT TUNNEL SYSTEM AND PROPOSED CIRCUIT, AND CONNECTIONS FOR ALL

THESE SERVICES, RUNNING TO THE CENTRAL CLEARING YARDS.

The passenger lines entering the densely inhabited parts of the city

should not cross each other or carriage roads at grade. Much has been

done already, and much more is proposed to eliminate grade crossings.

In European cities, and in some American cities as well, the railroads

have taken great pains to beautify their rights-of-way, a step very

important to the roads themselves, to individual passengers, and to the

community at large. Cleanliness and pleasing treatment of the roadways,

the embankments, the drainage channels, the fences, the yards, and

the stations, large and small, insure better service on the part of

the railroad employees, while the appearance of the city is immensely

improved thereby.

[Illustration: LXXV. CHICAGO. DIAGRAM OF THE CITY, SHOWING COMPLETE

SYSTEM OF INNER CIRCUITS.

(1) General traction subway circuit. (2) General railroad freight

circuit.

The terminal stations in the city should be either above or below the

street levels. They should be centrally located, but always arranged so

as to avoid the closing of streets. The two best available locations

for permanent passenger stations for all the roads are, first, between

Canal and Clinton streets from Lake Street to Twelfth Street, and

on Twelfth Street widened as proposed. In the case of the terminal

stations between Canal and Clinton streets, the tracks either under

or over street grades may be allowed to extend out to the street

curb lines and possibly farther. Whether under or over the grade,

the railroads should be allowed to occupy this entire space. In case

the overhead system be adopted, there should be two open plazas, one

preferably at Washington Street and the other at Congress Street; and

the plazas should have no tracks above them, except passovers on each

side of the plazas.

[Illustration: LXXVI. DRESDEN. VIADUCT AND RAILWAY STATION (HAUPT

BAHN-HOF) PASSING ABOVE THE NORMAL STREET LEVEL, ILLUSTRATING THE TYPE

PROPOSED IN THE OVERHEAD SCHEME FOR RAILWAY STATIONS WEST OF THE RIVER.]

In case of overhead installation, the roads may, for the present,

burn coal in their locomotives. In case of depressed rights-of-way

coal cannot be burned unless the spaces from street to street over

the railways be kept open. In the long run, it will be very costly to

do this, because all this space from street to street, so long as not

needed by the railroads, could be used for markets, commercial booths,

and warehouses, the rentals reducing the cost of operation to the road.

[Illustration: LXXVII. VIENNA. A RAILWAY VIADUCT PASSING OVER AN

IMPORTANT STREET.]

In case of elevation, the viaducts over the streets should have

sidewalk lights between the rails, and these viaducts should be freed

of posts, deep girders being used; the walls and pavements should be

as nearly white as possible. The Eighth Street subway under the Union

Station yard at Washington, D.C., is a good example of what such a

structure should be. There is no reason why these viaducts should

not be very attractive when brilliantly lighted. Each should have a

handsome police house in the center, with windows arranged to give a

clear view of the entire space included under the tracks. There is no

reason why this construction, even if elevated, should not present a

very pleasing appearance as seen from Canal Street or Clinton Street.

Whether there are buildings or only unoccupied spaces beneath, they can

be enclosed by masonry walls extending high enough above track level

effectually to screen the trains from view. Such a structure would

be similar in general effect to the great Roman aqueducts. It might

be made not only of practical value, but at the same time a highly

interesting and even a grand architectural detail lending orderly

distinction to that part of the city.

[Illustration: LXXVIII. SUGGESTED LOCATION AND ARRANGEMENT OF THE

RAILWAY PASSENGER STATIONS WEST OF THE RIVER. SUBWAY SCHEME: 1. PLAN

OF STREET LEVEL. 2. PLAN BELOW STREET LEVEL.

The Twelfth Street location would extend from State Street west to

the South Branch of the Chicago River, straightened as shown on the

diagram, according to the design for the passenger stations of Chicago

which was made and published years ago. Here the purpose is to care

for passenger service of every sort, except that of roads coming in

on the West Side system. These stations should open on the great

Twelfth Street Boulevard, which in front of the stations should be

two hundred and fifty feet wide, and east and west of the stations

should be one hundred and eighty feet in width. This boulevard would

begin to rise at Michigan Avenue, and at the final elevation, which is

at the level of the main floor of the stations, should pass over the

River on a double-deck bascule bridge. This thoroughfare should come

to the present street level at Canal Street, where there is to be a

round-point from which a new street should extend to the civic center.

As a one hundred and fifty foot wide boulevard, Twelfth Street should

continue westward until it joins the West Park Boulevard now existing

on the same line, west of Ashland Avenue. The present rights-of-way

of the railroads passing under Twelfth Street can go into business

use without loss to the corporations owning them. The freight systems

and trackage for all of these roads should be underneath the proposed

passenger stations and their yards.

[Illustration: LXXIX. SUGGESTED LOCATION AND ARRANGEMENT OF THE RAILWAY

PASSENGER STATIONS WEST OF THE RIVER. OVERHEAD SCHEME: 1. PLAN AT

STREET LEVEL. 2. PLAN ABOVE STREET LEVEL.

No more modern or perfect machine could possibly be devised for both

passenger and freight in a great city’s heart than that included in the

two schemes above shown and explained. Of necessity they should have an

ideal street-car connection with all parts of the city. To accomplish

this result it is proposed:

_First_, to carry the elevated loop along the side and east of the West

Side passenger system; along the side and south of the Twelfth Street

passenger system; thence over to the Alley L as at present, around by

Lake Street and across to the West Side passenger station, forming a

complete overhead circuit.

_Second_, there should be a surface street-car circuit following the

same route, with minor circuits within it.

_Third_, there should be an underground street-car system following

substantially the same route as first mentioned above, but extending

under the main branch of the River and running east and west at or near

Michigan Street. Two extensions of this service are shown north of the

River, two south of Twelfth Street, and one west, at or near Ashland

Avenue.

This entire system of stations and street-car routes is shown on

diagram marked No. LXXX. If carried out, many times the present number

of people can be handled in the center of Chicago; and all streets can

be kept open on their present level north and south, east and west,

giving every possible opportunity for circulation on foot and in wagons

and carriages, since surfaces would be available for carrying people

below and above the present grades.

The better circulation of people on the streets and on street-car

systems is not all or even the principal gain anticipated. Of first

importance is the restoration to general business of the territory

from State Street to the South Branch of the River, and from Van Buren

Street south to Twelfth Street. This area is almost as large as our

present central business district of Chicago, in which there can now

be no extension of such of our great industries as can succeed only

when operated in the very center of the business district. Present

conditions are crowding out enterprising men and vast capital. This

new area must be added to the old, and by no other means than those

proposed can this be done. The regions north of the main River and

west of the South Branch are filling up solidly and very rapidly with

business, such as is not and never will be done on the old location

from Van Buren Street to Water Street; meanwhile there is the most

urgent necessity of extending the space for the kind of business that

is and always will be done on such a location as the one proposed. If

this is the case now, what will be the case ten years hence? We cannot

act too promptly in regard to creating and maintaining perfect street

circulation, car circulation, and extension of area for the heart of

Chicago. We cannot get ready too soon for the enormous extension of all

those facilities the necessity for which is already pressing.

By the arrangement of passenger stations at Canal and Twelfth streets,

the business center is convenient for pedestrians, and with the

addition of the underground and overhead loops, the entire business

district is within easy and comfortable reach. This applies to both

through and suburban passenger traffic.

This report does not go into details of the roadways and stations,

either trunk or intramural. Routes are suggested which seem to be

the natural and logical ones. The expert engineers will find the

best solutions of the constructive and mechanical problems as they

arise. But all citizens are interested to see that the best and most

comprehensive general schemes shall be adopted, and that in carrying

out of any one of them, every detail shall be designed and executed

with regard to its effect on the senses as well as on the basis of mere

mechanical or constructive excellence. A million Chicago people who

habitually use railway facilities will possess a higher average of good

citizenship when the irritation of nerves is reduced to the minimum,

and within a few years most of the waking hours of a million Americans

will be spent in the business center of Chicago, where unpleasant

sights and sounds should be abolished. The community will get far more

out of its million workers when their nerves cease to be wracked by

irritating conditions.

[Illustration: LXXX. CHICAGO. DIAGRAM OF CITY CENTER, SHOWING THE

PROPOSED ARRANGEMENT OF RAILROAD PASSENGER STATIONS, THE COMPLETE

TRACTION SYSTEM, INCLUDING RAPID TRANSIT, SUBWAY, AND ELEVATED ROADS,

AND THE CIRCUIT SUBWAY LINE.

The last is designed,—(A) To connect all railroad stations with one

another. (B) To connect passengers from all points of the city within

and without the center with the railroad stations by transfer from

the subway line proposed in the Arnold Report. (C) To supplement by

transfer the interchange of passengers from traction lines going

through the center from the North, South, or West to any point in the

city.

Again, the noises of surface and elevated road cars is often

excruciating. It is not denied that this evil can be largely mitigated.

These conditions actually cause misery to a large majority of people

who are subjected to the constant strain, and in addition they

undoubtedly cause a heavy aggregate loss of money to the business

community. For the sake of the state, the citizen should be at his

best, and it is the business of the state to maintain conditions

conducive to his bodily welfare. Noises, ugly sights, ill smells, as

well as dirty streets and workshops or offices, tend to lower average

efficiency. It does not pay the state to allow them to continue.

Moreover, citizens have pride in and loyalty to a city that is quiet,

clean, and generally beautiful. It is not believed that “business”

demands that our present annoying conditions be continued. In a state

of good order all business must be done better and more profitably.

With things as they should be, every business man in Chicago would make

more money than he does now.

[Illustration: LXXXI. CHICAGO. RAILROAD RIGHTS-OF-WAY AND PROPERTIES IN

THE CENTER OF CITY AND THE EXISTING RADIAL ARTERIES.

In regard to the mail service of Chicago this report can have little

to say. Only expert public officials trained in handling the mails

are capable of discussing it; and apart from the pneumatic tube or

other circulatory system it does not affect our special problem. From

motives of economy the Federal Government has incorporated post-offices

in the same buildings with United States courts and other public

offices. The time has come for a change in this respect, and it is to

be hoped that such a building or buildings as this service will need

in order to do its great and fast-growing business will be located

where needed for post-office purposes, and be designed as to subserve

these special functions. The Federal Government should work out a

complete scheme for handling the mail matter of Chicago. The location

of the central post-office and substations should be determined with

a view to economical reception and distribution, all having reference

to one another, to the railway mail stations in the city and suburbs,

and, as before stated, to the general system of railway circuits. If

it be possible to determine the future route of overhead, surface,

and elevated street-car systems, they should be brought into the

consideration of the Chicago mail service scheme. Strict economy and

quick collections and delivery are all involved in this study.

The general trend of improvement is in the direction of central plants

for heating, lighting, and power, because such plants are found to

do the work more economically than separate stations. The individual

buildings would, in such a case, cost less initially by leaving out

much of the mechanical work now installed; and also they would make

saving by greater cleanliness, due to improved atmospheric conditions.

For it stands to reason that the abolition of a large majority of the

smokestacks of the down-town district would improve the air we breathe,

and relieve us of much of the cost of cleaning buildings, inside and

out, and of protecting goods.

[Illustration: LXXXII. CHICAGO. DIAGRAM OF GENERAL SCHEME OF STREET

CIRCULATION AND PARKS IN RELATION TO THE AREAS COVERED BY INDUSTRIES

AND MANUFACTURES (RED). THE CENTER OF INDUSTRIES IS INDICATED BY A

STAR. RAILROAD PROPERTIES AND LINES IN BLUE.

The embellishment of stations and station grounds of railroads first

began in this country on the Boston and Albany and the Pennsylvania

roads. It is now a feature all over the country; it adds immensely

to the pleasure and comfort of travel, and especially of suburban

travel. So strong is this attraction that many an owner of a large

subdivision in the suburbs not only recognizes it, but he puts into

practice at and near the station all the arts of landscaping at his

command. In a very few places especial pains have been taken to plant

for winter effect, as well as for effects depending on full foliage

and blossoming shrubs. New winter effects should be studied in the

parks, boulevards, playgrounds, and for all stations. It generally

calls for expenditure of thought; but very little, if any, extra

expenditure of money is involved in procuring charming results.

As a rule, the general aspect of our suburban stations is not

pleasant. They should be bright, cheery, and inviting in a high

degree. More study, not more money, is needed for this work. Let the

architectural schools and societies take up this topic; it demands

artistic imagination as well as skill. Let the man who undertakes

this problem think of the hundreds or even thousands of people who

must habitually use the given station, and let him do his utmost to

bring into being for these people something that shall be a joy to

them. A delightful station conduces to cheerfulness as a man goes

to work and as he comes home, while a shabby or neglected station

produces the opposite effect.

The problems of transportation have been viewed entirely from the

standpoint of the paramount interests of Chicago as a commercial

city. It has been assumed that what is for the greatest advantage

to the city as a whole, will also be of the greatest benefit to the

transportation lines both collectively and individually. Just as the

realization of other portions of the plan call for harmonious and

united action on the part of civic authorities, so the carrying out

of the recommendations in respect to transportation will necessitate

unity of action on the part of the managers of transportation

facilities. Each must yield in some particulars in order to bring

about the great end sought; but whatever concessions may be called

for, they will be found insignificant when compared with the great

gain which will result to the transportation systems themselves

from creating here in the central metropolis of the United States a

complete system of handling both freight and passenger traffic so as

to promote the convenience of the people, and to enhance the commerce

of the city of Chicago.

[Illustration: LXXXIII. THE VIADUCT AT AUTEUIL OVER THE RIVER SEINE,

PARIS, FRANCE.]

[Illustration: LXXXIV. CHICAGO. THE CENTER OF THE CITY LOOKING WEST,

SHOWING GRANT PARK, THE HARBOR, AND THE CIVIC CENTER.