CHICAGO 



1311 



CHICAGO 



cent structure of steel and granite, with great 

 columns and allegorical figures in bas-relief, 

 the whole erected at a cost of about $10,000,000. 

 The square formed by Adams, Dearborn, Jack- 

 son and Clark streets is occupied by another 



"SPIRIT OF THE GREAT LAKES" 

 Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie and 

 Ontario are artistically represented by five fe- 

 male figures, built upon a rocky base at relative 

 elevations. A stream of sparkling water rising 

 in the basin held by "Superior" overflows into 

 the shell held by "Michigan," and so on from 

 shell to shell until "Ontario" surrenders her 

 pleasant guardianship over the unpolluted waters 

 of the greatest fresh-water lakes in the world 

 to the rough keeping of the turbulent "Saint 

 Lawrence." In ideal conception this is one of 

 Lorado Taft's masterpieces. 



fine structure, the Federal Building, which is 

 in the shape of a rectangle surmounted by a 

 cross and a crowning dome. The Tacoma, far 

 surpassed to-day by many other office build- 

 ings, is noteworthy as the first steel-frame "sky- 

 scraper" ever erected; the Masonic Temple is 

 notable as the highest building in the city 

 (354 feet in height), and the Continental and 

 Commercial Bank structure as having the 

 largest floor space, excepting two, in the United 

 States. 



A detailed enumeration of the office build- 

 ings would be both profitless and uninteresting ; 

 suffice it to say that they must needs be 



numerous and large to house the vast army of 

 people that is poured into the Loop district 

 every morning. Some of these buildings are 

 notable because of special architectural excel- 

 lence, some because of artistic interior decora- 

 tions, and some because of their luxurious ap- 

 pointments. Perhaps the most impressive 

 thing about all of them is the care and effort 

 that has been required to make them firm and 

 safe. The soil that underlies the city is an 

 unstable mixture of sand, gravel and blue 

 clay, and it is necessary to sink great shafts 

 of steel and concrete down to bed rock from 

 fifty to 110 feet below the surface in order to 

 make the foundations secure. 



Of hotels of all sorts Chicago has a large 

 number, both in the downtown section and in 

 the outlying 'residence districts. There are 

 also many theaters, ranging in size from the 

 Auditorium, which seats 3,747 people, to the 

 Little Theater, with a seating capacity of 

 ninety-nine. In all, there are over 600 theaters, 

 including moving picture houses. 



Libraries. Of the scores of libraries in Chi- 

 cago the largest and most popular is the Public 

 Library, which dates from the years imme- 

 diately following the great fire of 1871. It 

 has over a half million volumes, and the annual 

 circulation is over 3,000,000 volumes. One of 

 the most beautiful and complete library build- 

 ings in the country houses this collection, and 

 there are almost a score of branches in different 

 parts of the city, several of which are con- 

 tained in fine buildings. The other two large 

 libraries are the Newberry and the John Crerar, 

 the former occupying an imposing granite 

 building on the North Side, the latter housed in 

 temporary quarters on Wabash Avenue. These 

 are both reference libraries, and their .books 



THE ART INSTITUTE 



are not for circulation. The Newberry coin 

 tions are especially valuable on such subjects 

 as literature, history, music and genealogy, 

 while the John Crerar specialties in the natural, 

 physical and social sciences. 



