[1] In 1889 the total area (land and water) was increased from 43.8 to 169.9 sq.m.; in 1890 the land area was 163.49 sq.m.
[2] About 15 ft. in elevation; hence the possibility of the drainage canal.
[3] Among the last are many swing and “jack-knife” bridges, bascules, and a lift-bridge that can be lifted bodily 155 ft. above the channel. Steam, compressed air and electricity are used as power.
[4] By 1900 almost all were being built of a length exceeding 400 ft.
[5] The highest value ever paid in Chicago for land actually sold, up to 1901, was $250 per sq. ft. (1892); a few rental contracts have been based upon an assumed higher value. A municipal ordinance placing the extreme construction at 150 ft. was repealed in 1902.
[6] This is true of all the new large buildings. The “old” post office, completed in 1880 at a cost of $5,375,000, was practically a crumbling ruin within fifteen years; its foundations were inadequate. Years were spent in sinking the foundation of the new Federal building that replaced the old.
[7] Total excavation, 42,397,904 cub. yds.; of solid rock, 12,265,000.
[8] It has been conclusively proved that the Illinois is purer than the Mississippi at their junction. The undiluted sewage of the old canal drove the fish from, the river, but they have come back since the opening of the new canal.
[9] The cut was almost entirely through firm clay. It was estimated (1905) that the total freight handled weekly in the business district was nearly 500,000 tons, and the subway was designed to handle this amount when completed. The tunnels are 12.75 x 14 and 7.5 x 6 ft., all concrete. The cars are drawn by trolley wire locomotives on a track of 2 ft. gauge.
[10] The Illinois Central enters the business centre by tracks laid along the lake shore. Certain rights as to reclaiming land were granted it in 1852, but the railway extended its claims indefinitely to whatever land it might reclaim. In 1883 began a great legal struggle to determine the respective rights of the United States, the state of Illinois, Chicago, and the Illinois Central in the reclaimed lands and the submerged lands adjacent. The outcome was favourable to the city.