ILLINOIS. 



433 





gress Fahrenheit. The exact depth of the well 

 at the time water was struck was 694 feet 5 

 inches. The diameter of the bore from the 

 surface to the bottom is five inches. Fragments 

 of the rock last penetrated were brought to the 

 surface, and closely resemble Athens marble. 

 Traces of iron are discernible immediately above, 

 this rock. The surface of the ground on which 

 the well is located is two or three hundred feet 

 below the level of the surrounding prairie. 

 While in the first well the stratum of Joliet 

 marble passed through was over one hundred 

 feet thick, in the second well, only nine feet 

 distant, it was over two hundred feet in thick- 

 ness. The water has a head of about one hun- 

 dred feet above the level of the city. It is pro- 

 posed to enlarge the new well to eight inches 

 in diameter, for the purpose of power, and also 

 to enlarge the old well to twenty inches. Dur- 

 ing the months of November and December 

 the water from the new well was permitted to 

 flow into ponds covering an area of twenty-five 

 acres, in order to obtain a supply of ice, and 

 12,000 tons have already been stored. The 

 well was bored in accordance with directions 

 given by Spiritualists, on whose charts it was 

 marked down that water would be struck at a 

 depth of seven hundred feet. 



On the 17th of April Crosby's Opera-House 

 and Art building was inaugurated. It has a 

 front of one hundred and forty feet, and four 

 stories high, is of Athens marble, and in the 

 modern Italian style. The theatre has an au- 

 ditorium 86 by 95 feet, and 65 feet high, finished 

 ' in the composite style. Three thousand persons 

 can make their exit in from three to five min- 

 utes. The building cost $400,000, and occupied 

 a year in erection. 



On the 30th of August the Chamber of Com- 

 merce building was dedicated. This fine edifice, 

 constructed by the enterprise of the Board of 

 Trade of Chicago, cost $400,000. The main 

 building is 93 feet wide, 181 feet deep, and 100 

 feet high. The main hall used by the Board 

 of Trade is 143 feet by 89, and 44 feet from 

 floor to ceiling. It receives light through 

 eighteen colored windows, and is adorned with 

 paintings, frescoes, etc. 



Attention having been called to the evils to 

 be apprehended from the discharge of the sew- 

 ers into the Chicago Eiver, an act was passed 

 by the Legislature on the 16th of February, pro- 

 viding for the completion of the Illinois and 

 Michigan Canal, upon the plan adopted by the 

 State in 1836, which was to make a cut through 

 the ridge dividing the waters of the Mississippi 

 and its tributaries from those of the lakes deep 

 enough to cause the waters of Lake Michigan, 

 to permanently flow into the Desplaines, and 

 finally into the Illinois River. The effect of 

 this would be that twenty-four thousand cubic 

 feet per minute of Lake Michigan water would 

 flow through the city, carrying away all im- 



Eurities, and absorbing all noxious gases. The 

 mgth of the work to be done is twenty-six 

 miles. The present level of water in the canal 

 VOL. T. 28 A 



is eight feet above low water in the lake, and 

 the canal is to be cut down to nine and a half 

 or ten feet below ordinary water in the lake. 

 The work commences at Bridgeport, five miles 

 from the city, and terminates at Lock No. 2 on 

 the summit. The work was let on the 26th of 

 September, for $997,641.45. The earthwork 

 contains 2,425,865 cubic yards, and the rock- 

 work 364,649 cubic yards. The work 13 to be 

 finished by the 1st of September, 1868, or the 

 contractors are to forfeit twenty per cent, of 

 the work already completed, to the city of 

 Chicago. 



The work on the Lake Tunnel has been 

 steadily continued, and its completion is ex- 

 pected in October, 1866. During the year the 

 seven cylinders at the crib were forced down to 

 their places. They are nine feet in diameter, 

 and were forced down by screws, a pressure of 

 sixty tons being required to drive them through 

 the hard clay. This work was completed on 

 the 31st of November, and operations were at 

 once commenced on the shaft. At each end 

 nearly twelve feet per day are being excavated. 

 The tunnel has been carried out from the shore 

 end 4,280 feet. The soil passed through is a 

 hard blue clay, interspersed with pebbles. It 

 is necessary, however, for the masons to keep 

 close up, or the clay would begin to flake off, 

 and in a short time the water would be admit- 

 ted. A shaft is to be extended sixty feet east- 

 ward from the crib, with the view at some 

 future time, as the harbor fills up, of carrying 

 it a mile further out, to renew the supply of 

 fresh water. 



The total cost of the buildings erected in 

 the city of Chicago during the year was $7,- 

 510,000. The valuation of property, real and 

 personal, is $64,709,177. 



The following table exhibits the total amount 

 of flour, and fine and coarse grains, shipped from 

 Chicago during the year : 



Flour, barrfels 957,569 



Wheat, bushels 6,928,653 



Corn, " 24,277,221 



Oats, u 8,773,403 



Eye, " 717,795 



Barley, " 460,210 



From the first of April to the close of the 

 year there were received 262,374 head of beef 

 cattle, against 279,383 for the same period for 

 the previous year, and 459,871 live hogs. 



The losses by fires during the year amounted 

 to $1,205,006 ; insurance, $942,142. 



The election held in the State during the 

 year was for the choice of local officers. In 

 the various counties the Eepublicans retained 

 the control of ah 1 which they held during the 

 previous year, and gained twenty an which the 

 opposition had at the previous election chosen 

 the local officers. 



The division in the Legislature of the State ac- 

 cording to political associations was as follows : 



Republicans 14 



Democrats 11 



Republican majority,.... 3 



Homo. 

 51 

 84 



IT 



Joint ballot. 

 63 

 46 



20 



