Hammond Times, Hammond, Lake County, 17 June 1906 — Page 3

THE TIMES.

CANAL

WILL BE

When Indiana Harbor Canal Completed Three Cities Will

Be Consolidated.

Is

WORK

30

DONE

SEPTEMBER

Monster Celebration Will

Take Place in Which All

Cities Will Join.

Work on the great Indiana Harbor Canal, which is to make one city of Indiana Harbor, East Chicago and Hammond and connect Lake Michigan

with the Calumet river, is well under way. At the present rate of progress it is believed the canal will be comin September, and alrady arare being made for a moncelebration on Sept. 30, at HamEast Chicago, Indiana Harbor, Hammond and other cities in the Caluregion. The canal, when completed, will probably be the busiest waterway in the world. A further proposed improvement, which may follow the opening of the canal, is the dredging of Wolf river, near its junction with Wolf lake, to form an inland harbor, which, it is believed, would be the finest harbor on the great lakes. System of Waterways to Unite. In 1901 the directors of the East Chicago company held a meeting in

which it was decided to build the city

of Indiana Harbor. The excuse for the birth of this city was the fact that the company proposed to construct a canal four miles inland to the Calumet river at Hammond. That city now has a population of 7,000. In 1906 Attorney A. F. Knotts of Hammond, representing the United

States Steel company, with the word to go ahead and $75,000,000 behind him.

located the site of the city of Gary.

The excuse for the birth of this city was the fact that it costs several dola ton less to haul ore from the great ore deposits in the Superior reto the very maws of the blast furnaces at Gary than it does to take the same ore by boat to one of the Lake Erie ports and tranship it to Pittsburg. Gary now has a population of 10,000. Greatest Project of All. But in 1909 a project was launched, and will reach the first stage of comSept. 30 that will make both of the others pale into insignificance. It is no other than the building of a sysof deep waterways that will conall of the cities of the Calumet region in Illinois and Indiana with a nautical highway that promises to be the busiest ship canal in the world.

To celebrate the completion of the first stage of this great work when the Kast Chicago company at a cost of $5,000,000 will have cut a channel 100 feet wide and 15 feet deep from Lake Michigan at Indiana Harbor to the

Grand Calumet river at Hammond, the

residents of South Chicago, Whiting,

Indiana Harbor, East Chicago and

Hammond are planning the greatest

military, naval and industrial celebra

tion that has ever been held in northIndiana. The importance of this occasion to the 100,000 people embraced in what is now known as the Calumet region lies

in the fact that it is the opening

navigation from Indiana Harbor through East Chicago to Hammond and

thence to Hegewisch, East Side and South Chicago and back to deep water. The World's Workshop. In order to get a full appreciation of the vastness of the project and its great potentialities it is necessary to have a pretty good idea of the geography of the Calumet region. The region has no topography and it is probably a good thing considering the fact that it is destined to become the greatest industrial center in the world. A large amount of acreage in the

Calumet region is either just above or Just below the water. The Grand Caluriver is an aimless sort of a rivwith neither a source nor an outlet. It runs out of or into Lake Michigan, just as it happens to take a notion, and after meandering three or four miles south twelve or fifteen miles in a westerly direction and two or three miles north, it finally runs out of or into Lake Michigan again, just as it takes a notion. Many Natural Waterways. About the only thing that influences the current of the Grand Calumet river is the differences in the level of Lake Michigan and the flow of the Little

Calumet river into it at a point near Hegewisch called the Forks. The Lit

tle Calumet river actually drains a

certain area and in the Spring carries

off a large amount of water. In addition to the rivers of the rethere are a number of shallow lakes. The largest is Lake Calumet, the next in size is Wolf lake, partly in Illinois and partly in Indiana, and Lake George lies entirely in Indiana. The rivers, lake and artificial canals of the Calumet region are so arranged that their development as waterways will form what might be termed an outer belt waterway and an inner belt waterway. They play a part, so far as transportation by water is consimilar to that of belt railWith these facts in mind the progthat has already been made in rivand harbor development in the Caluregion is interesting. The United States government has appropriated sufficient funds to provide for the digof the channel of the Calumet river from the harbor at South Chicago to the forks of the Little and Grand Calumet rivers near Burnham. The

work has actually been completed for

about three-fourths of that distance

BUY

in the

HUB

the

Calumet

Region

"INDIANA

HARBOR"

We have a big list of attractive purchases in both improved and vacant property.

We collect rents, manage write insurance and do a

estates general

real estate business and do it well.

HN

R.

FAROV

CO.

J. R, FAROVID 3403 Michigan Avenue

A. G. LUNDQUIST Telephone 34

INDIANA HARBOR, INDIANA

From the forks to Hammond the river is navigable for small boats. Much Work Done. The East Chicago company has apsufficient money to dig the

of Indiana Harbor canal from the harbor

mouth to what is known as the turnbasin, about three miles inland. There remains yet to be dug about a mile and a half of the channel before connection is made with the Grand Calumet river north of Gibson. When this mile and a half is comthe great outer belt waterway will be open to navigation. It will then be possible for a boat to start at Indiana Harbor and after passing through the industrial city of East Chicago and the splendid city of Hamwhich is destined to be the residential portion of the region, it could proceed, through Hegewisch and Burnham. through Solvay and East Side to South Chicago. The inner belt waterway is formed by the harbor at Indiana Harbor, an extension to Lake George and an outto Lake Michigan, which will be provided either by an extension to the Calumet river through Wolf river or by means of the opening of Wolf rivat a point near Roby. A Great Estuary Planned. The Wolf river project in itself is one of remarkable possibilities. The Chicago river is a narrow congested stream inadequate to handle the enor

mous amount of shipping which seeks

dockage along its banks. It is not only narrow, but it is hope

lessly so. The cost of buying the prop

erty along its banks necessary to make

the river the proper width would be

prohibitive. This makes it apparent that its usefulness as a deep waterway

is limited.

In the case of Wolf river, however, with the exception of the plant of the

American Maize Products company at Roby, there are no buildings along its banks. It will be possible, if the ownof property on both sides of the river are alive to their opportunity, to dedicate a strip of land 500 feet wide to the government for harbor purposes. A quarter of a mile back from the lake the river broadens out until it is finally a part of Wolf lake. At the point where the river and lake join it has been suggested that the width of the harbor be broadened to a thouor fifteen hundred feet. This would provide an enormous turning basin in which ships could propell themselves about under their own power. Wintering Harbor Provided.

It is proposed that this thousand-foot channel be extended in a north and

south direction for the full length of

Wolf lake.

A further advantage of this harbor over the one at Chicago is the fact

that it would be crossed by not to ex

ceed three bridges at its mouth and then it would be possitively free of bridge obstructions for a distance of three miles. The cost of such an improvement would be large. To dig a channel 500 feet wide and 30 feet deep for a disof half a mile inland and then and then to widen that channel to 1,000 feet for a distance of two miles would be a big undertaking.

However, the fact is pointed out that in such a harbor the cities of Lake county, Ind., would have the most magport on the great lakes. The sand taken out of the main channel would be used to fill in the shallow waters of the lake up to the edge of the channel, and factory site, with a magnificent water frontage, a perfect dockage, and the unparalleled railway facilities the region offers could be easily sold for enough to pay the cost of the digging of the channel. What is the use of having so many harbors and so many canals? That is

the question that is raised by those not

familiar with conditions in the Caludistrict. They do not realize that

the eyes of the industrial world are focused there, that already the manuof iron and steel in Pittsare convinced that they too will have to establish themselves in that inutopia where rail and water

transportation meet, at the point where nature has provided the most marvel

ous system of undeveloped waterways

that can be found anywhere.

They do not realize that already

scores of manufacturers of iron and steel products are seeking locations

along this wonderful Calumet river.

where they can receive their iron bilor their sheet or structural iron

at their own docks directly from the

mills at South Chicago and Gary by boat.

Good Land Is Cheap. They do not realize that the price of

acreage along the Calumet river is

now so low, at $1,500 to $2,000 an acre,

that it is making a terrific appeal to the manufacturers who desire the ad

vantages of rail and water transporta

tion at a moderate cost.

And when scores and scores of manu

facturing plants similar to the Inland

Steel company, the American Steel Foundries company, the United States

Metals Refining company, the Republic

Iron and Steel company, the Grasselli Chemical works, the Simplex Railway Appliance company, the Hirsch-Stein Starch, Glue and Fertilizer works, the Western Steel Car and Foundry comand a hundred others located along the Calumet river in the terribetween Hegewisch and Burnand the great plant of the Illinois Steel company at South Chicago locate along the rivers and harbors of the Calumet region there will be men enough employed to provide a populaof a million people for the cities of the region. Cities All Young. The cities of Hammond, with a popuof 30,000; East Chicago, 10,000;

Indiana Harbor, 10,000; Whiting, 7,000; South Chicago, 50,000, and scores of other smaller cities and towns swellthe figures already indicate that the advantages of unsurpassed trans

portation facilities has had a wondereffect in the last twenty years, for most of the cities were villages twenty years ago. $5,000 for Celebration. Sept. 30, 1909, will surely mark the completion by the East Chicago Comof the work of digging the canal, four miles long, 100 feet wide and 15 feet deep, which is to connect Lake

and will eventually provide the cities of Indiana Harbor, East Chicago and Hammond with a magnificent inland waterway, 200 feet wide and 30 feet

deep, at a cost of $5,000,000.

navigation between Hammond and InHarbor will be opened was made possible when Engineer M. G. Hausier. Jr., in charge of the work, stated that

the hydraulic dredges were progress-

The establishing of the date when ing at the rate of 400 feet a day.

WHITING LOOKING FORWARD

10 MOST PROMISING FUTURE

Standard Oil Company Will Spend a Million Dollars In Putting In New Machinery and Other Improvements.

Whiting, the peat of the Standard Oil company's largest refinery, is lookforward to a most promising future, both from an industrial standpoint and also from the real estate man's point of view. The Standard Oil company has alcommenced work on certain imat their crude oil distillplant, the cost of which will agsomewhere about a million doland will for the next year give employment to a large force of mechanand laborers. So far there has been chiefly laborers employed and pipe fitters, who are engaged in disand otherwise preparing the stills for such auxiliary apparatus as is necessary to equip them for the double duty of making illuminating and parafine distillates with one opera

tion, whereas this heretfore has required two and sometimes three dis

tillations.

Immediately upon the receipt of the

steel, which has been ordered, the boiland machinists will be put to

work. After the machinists pipefitters will be put on, then carpenters, etc.. so

that by the end of the summer there will have been made an addition of several hundred men to the working force. It is estimated that it will take

over a year to complete the contem

plated improvements. Of Whiting's other industries, the Petrolene Paint company, on Schrage avenue, and the Westrumite company, at One Hundred and Twenty-first street, are both in a very flourishing condition. The Petrolene company is a growing manufacturing concern which started

out a few years ago in the business of

making roofing paint. A floor covering was later made which became in such demand that the paint business has been practically abandoned. The floor covering is an imitation of parquette

floor covering and is not only attractin appearance, but is also very dur

able. The working force has recently right of

been increased, and it orders continue to come in as they have been, another addition will soon have to be made. The directors of the Petrolene comare: President, Frank N. Gavit; vice president, L. A. Mattern; secretary and manager, Starr Stowell; treasurer, Fred J. Smith; James Gill. G. J. Bader and William Grisdale. The Westrumite company is now in the midst of a great rush, as they at present are figuring on several confor the paving of streets, which is their specialty. A paving material is manufactured by this company which consists of a mixture which is said to bo about the best process yet discovfor auto roads, etc., as it is almost

an absolute cure for dust. The name is obtained from L. S. Van Westrum, who developed the process in Germany, and who is now in America starting factories in various parts of the United States. The factory for this

end of their business was started in Whiting about four years ago. While they do not employ many men during the winter months they carry quite a large force all during the summer. A short time ago Joseph Ostrowski purchased the old paint factory on Center street and has converted the building into a first-class grist mill.

where the grinding process is carried on on quite an extensive. scale. AlMr. Ostrowski does not employ a great number of men. he is the means of putting one thousand individuals to work in a day-eating bread which is made from the wheat ground at his mill. The planing mill of L. Fischer, on One Hundred and Nineteenth street, is doing a rushing business in the manuof sash, door and building maThe present force is quite extensive, and as building increases it will be neto add to this number. The Whiting men who work in difcities in the Calumet region are soon going to find it much easier than formerly to get from one city to the other. One great boon to the working man is the new interurban air line, beWhiting and Indiana Harbor. This road is now under construction

and when completed will connect four large industries, they being the BufAmerican Steel foundries. Standard Forging and the Standard Oil plants. The route commences at the Buffingcement plant, from where cars will run to West Alder street. Indiana HarFrom this point cars will be run to One Hundred and Thirty-seventh street, Michigan avenue, Canal street and thence to Whiting city limits. In

Whiting the Pennsylvania company's

way will be reached and fol

lowed as far as Fred street, where the cars will branch northward to One Hundred and Nineteenth street and proceed along this thoroughfare to the corner of Schrage avenue and One Hunand Nineteenth street. This route will be much more direct than the present car service. The three county gravel roads, for which two contracts have been let, will also be the means of better and easier traveling. The contract for the first gravel road, which is from Roby to Robertsdale, has been awarded to HenS. Davidson of this city. The secthe contract for which is yet to be awarded, runs from Putnam's corner. in Whiting, to Stieglitz Park, D. H. Satout of Indianapolis has the contract

for the third, which is from Stieglitz Park to East Chicago. The building of

these roads will also be the means

giving many men employment

summer, and in addition to this t

will also be greatly welcomed by p

ple who have occasion to do any trav eling on either of these three routes, as they were in a terrible condition. The most important public work laid out for the coming season is the transof the sand dunes along the lake front, between Front street and White Oak avenue, into a more or less (Continued on Page Eight.)

Class

Are

You

In

?

The world always has been divided into two classes-those who have saved, those who have spent-the thrifty and the extravaIt is the savers who have built the houses, the mills, the bridges, the railroads, the ships and all the other great works which stand for man's advancement and happiness. The spenders are slaves to the savers. It is the law of nature. We want you to be a saver-to open an acount in our Savings Departand be INDEPENDENT.

Michigan with the Grand Calumet river

One Dollar Will Start An Account

ndia Stat

Harbor

Bank

INDIANA HARBOR

priced for this sale 1.95

1 lot Men's 2.25 Best Calf Shoes, with London toe and tip, all solid leather, sizes 6 to 11, priced for

this sale at

1.69