April 14, 1973 -- Chicago River Fishing? Not So Fast ...

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April 14, 1973 – Three days after Mayor Richard J. Daley appears before a U. S. House of Representatives panel, asserting that it will be possible to stock the Chicago River with gamefish if Congress would permit an increased flow of Lake Michigan water into the river, the Illinois Department of Conservation swims the assertion back upstream.  Earlier Daley had said that if enough clean water were diverted into the Chicago River, “Loop workers by next year would be catching salmon, trout and bass” and be able to barbecue them on the banks of the river.  Al Lipinot, the chief fishery biologist for the department, says, “Developing fishing in the Chicago River system is not impossible, but it is highly improbable.  And it would very likely take a long, long time.”  [Chicago Tribune, April 14, 1973]  Bill Harth, a fish conservation supervisor for the Department of Conservation, explains that simply diverting fresh water from the lake is not enough. He says.  “We’d have to learn about the type and quantity of pollution now present.  We’d have to stop pollution entirely, and somehow clean sludge from the riverbed.  It would take a lot more than mere flushing with Lake Michigan water.  The Chicago River pollution problem is a tough one.  We know it’s bad just by looking at it.”   It took some time before the images Mayor Daley glimpsed in the sewage-laden shadows of the river surfaced.  When the nonprofit Friends of the Chicago River organized in 1979, there were less than ten fish species in the river.  The organization says that today there are more than 70 species, including largemouth and smallmouth bass, carp, perch, crappie, bluegill and catfish.  

April 14, 1960 – Mayor Richard J. Daley announces that the city will build a fixed bridge over the south branch of the Chicago River, rather than a lift bridge..  The decision comes after the federal bureau of public roads rules that federal highway funds cannot be used to pay the extra $8 million that a lift bridge would cost.  The new bridge, which today carries the Dan Ryan Expressway over the river, will instead cost about $2,600,000.  The bridge will allow a clearance of 60 feet for ships using the south branch, a height that will prevent some cargo ships from reaching docks south of the bridge, another blow to commerce on the river.  Thomas H. Coulter, executive officer of the Association of Commerce, says of the federal government’s decision, “This is another example of what happens to the best interests of local communities when the federal government embraces local responsibility.” [Chicago Daily Tribune, April 15, 1960] The bridge over the river is shown in the above photo.  Halsted Street is the road on the left side of the picture, running form top to bottom.

April 14, 1925 -- Grover Cleveland Alexander leads the Cubs to an an 8 to 2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates as 40,000 fans watch. Reporter Irving Vaughn shows sports reporting the way it used to be done . . . " [Grover Cleveland Alexander] swung that good right arm and that trusty bat and when the last ball had been lifted into space for the final putout a howling mob of enthusiasts poured out of the north side park to spread the news that Bill Killefer's Cubs had marked their opening battle of the National league's jubilee year with a clean, thrilling triumph over the best the Pittsburgh Pirates could offer."  [Chicago Daily Tribune, April 15, 1925] Alexander, a 14-year veteran, went the distance while going 3 for 3 at the plate, hitting a home run in the second, a double in the fourth, and a single in the seventh that drove in a run, the last hit described this way -- "[Alexander] came up again in the seventh. There were three Cubs on the corners and young Mr. Yde was tottering. Alex cracked him for a single that drove in one run and a few minutes later five more Bruins and planted their spikes on the counting station." The Cubs finished the season in the cellar. losing 86 games. The Pirates, vanquished so handily by Grover Cleveland Alexander in the season opener, won the championship with 95 victories.

J. Bartholomew Photo

April 14, 1905 – The will of Benjamin Franklin Ferguson is filed in Probate Court, revealing that the lumber merchant has provided a trust fund to be managed by the trustees of the Art Institute in the amount of $1,000,000 (close to $30 million in today's dollars).  The fund will be known as the B. F. Ferguson Monument Fund and it is to be “entirely and exclusively under the direction of the board of trustees of the Art Institute of Chicago in the erection and maintenance of enduring statuary and monuments, of stone, granite, or bronze, in the parks, along the boulevards, and in other public places commemorating worthy men and women of America or important events of American history.”  [Chicago Daily Tribune, April 15, 1905]  The director of the Art Institute, William M. R. French, says of the bequest, “Chicago already is fortunate in possession of a number of notable pieces of art, work of a character that is not surpassed in any city.  The city’s future in art is now assured, and it is great.  I do not remember of ever having heard of such a fund being established before.  It is a splendid thing.  It will give encouragement to our local sculptors, and not only will keep them here but will attract the best talent from elsewhere.  It is a long step toward making Chicago the ‘city beautiful.’”  Sculptor Lorado Taft says, “For eighteen years we have hoped that some incentive would be furnished for the establishment of a school of sculpture in Chicago, and now it seems too good to be true that the incentive has come.”  The photo above shows the Lorado Taft's "Fountain of the Great Lakes," the first sculpture to be commissioned by the Ferguson Fund.