THE SUPERIOR ADVANTAGES OF THE CITY of JOLIET, ILLINOIS. COMPILED BY Lifornia Univ Q, HOPKINS KOWELL .onal b( J ^_ lity JOLIET: HKPLTBLICAN STKAM PRESS. <;KITZNKK & HENDERSON, HOOK AXD JOB PRFNTEBS. 1871. WISCONSIN JOLIET ' < THE GREAT RESOURCES, AND SUPERIOR ADVANTAGES OF THE CITY of JOLIET ILLINOIS. COMPILED BY "HOPKINS RoWELL JOLIET: REPUBLICAN STEAM PRESS. GEITZNER & HENDEBSON, BOOK AND JOB PRINTERS. 1871. NTRODUCTORY. OLIET is the shire town of Will county, Illinois. It is forty miles southwest of Chicago, and has a population of about ten thousand inhabitants. The Des Plainc River, and Illinois & Michigan Canal pass through the city. The broad plain or valley of the river, with its fall of thirty fuct, within the city limits affords a spacious, pleasant and healthy site for a great manufac- turing and business city while the undulating bluffs on either side furnish thousands of charming locations for city residences. Its railroad facilities are not surpassed, except at Chicago, Being parallel with the head of Lake Michigan, it is on the great central air-line route of trade and travel, from ocean to ocean. This advantage can hardly be over-estimated. It is causing an increased yearly divergence of trade from Chicago, over the Joliet Cut-Off route. It also affords us local shipping facilities to Boston and New York as cheap as that city possesses. Few towns can be more healthy or as well supplied with the purest water. The gas works are ample for thirty thousand inhabitants. And there are over thirty miles of finely graded streets. The generous support of eleven flourishing churchtes ; and of schools in like proportion, are evidence of the liberality and public spirit of our citizens. For a fuller expo- sition of our superior advantages, we refer to the following pages. Does any one ask why we advertise our city ? We reply that it is to spread abroad a knowledge of those advantages, and strive to build up here what nature formed us for a great industrial and manufacturing city. 4: JOLIET: ITS RESOURCES We have every facility, and only need capital and skilled labor to attain this desired result. Do you again ask why we have waited until now to tell our story ? We answer, that we have only now got our resources together. We have just tapped Lake Michigan, and henceforth possess a never- failing flood of wealth pouring through our city. We have just dis- covered and developed the best coal mines in the West, ensuring cheap fuel for the million, and propelling power for machinery. We have just had a thorough scientific test of Jolict stone, confirming its superiority to all western samples. We have just gained access by rail, to the silver mines of Utah, enabling us to get their ores for smelting. And we have but just brought to light, through our artesian wells, those copious gushing fountains of the purest water. All of these, added to our previous vast resources, as hereinafter set forth, justify us in spreading before the world these facts, and this pamphlet. Justify us in efficiently advertising our matchless resour- ces, and holding out the inducements for labor, capital, and diversified industries to come among us. We are not wholly unselfish in this movement. We expect to magnify our own local prosperity ; but we promise that the benefit shall be reciprocal ; we agree to give you a full equivalant. We offer you good wages; cheap and pleasant homes; cheap fuel; cheap food ; large dividends on capital, and an equal portion in our onward growth and prosperity. Therefore, we say not in a pro- fane sense, but in a literal material sense, to the workman, the mechanic, the artisan, the manufacturer, the capitalist, and the enter- prising founder of every new industry, seeking a western locality, " Come, thou, with us, and we will do thee good." AJDVAOTAGES. COMMERCIAL FACILITIES. Joliet has commercial facilities superior to every city in Illinois, Chicago alone excepted. Only a brief investigation is requisite to establish this position. First It is on the great air-line route of trade and travel from east to west. Those great trunk-line railroads the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific, and the Chicago & St. Louis, with its Pacific con- nection both converge here, freighted with the boundless riches of the illimitable "West. Joliet ships a goodly portion of these treasures due east over the Cut-Off road, instead of sending them on a triangular passage via Chicago. This divergence of trade from Chicago augments so rapidly that a double-track line due east will soon be an imperative necessity. Hence our local dcalcars pay Chicago prices for pork and grain during the winter market, enabling us to challenge com- parison, and defy competition with all other towns. Corroborating testimony is found in the fact that wagon loads of pork and grain have, during the past winter, come from a distance of forty miles, past other market towns, to secure the higher prices paid at Joliet. Second Joliet enjoys a like superiority as a distributive centre for the shipment of goods, wares, and products, in all directions, too and from all parts of the country. Because, super-added to our great trunk and air-line route of trade, and our local railroad con- nections with each other, and numerous outside diverging lines, we also virtually enjoy the entire net-work of Chicago roads, owing to our suburban proximity to that city. Third Our canal gives us another commercial advantage via cheap lake and river transportation. "When made into a ship canal, as it soon must be, Joliet may ship cargoes without breaking bulk, via the lakes and Mississippi River, to all parts of the world. Our spacious canal and river basins afford us miles of superior wharfage. NATURAL RESOURCES. Nature has endowed Joliet, and "Will county with a profusion and vastnoBS of resources unsurpassed by any other locality 011 this continent if it is equaled upon the globe. This is a pretty bold Mertion, but let u* ee, JOLIET: ITS RESOURCES J^'irs t Are our commercial advantages, present and prospective a* set tort 1 1 in the preceding article under that head. We refer the reader to a candid consideration of its incontestible truths. Second Our Joliet marble and stone quarries, surpassing in quality and extent all others in the country. These constitute a source of wealth that will long endure after the gold mines of California Khali have vanished from existence. The products of these quarries readied nearly one million of dollars the past year finding a market in ten different states, and yet their development has scarcely begun. \Ve invite the reader's attention to an article headed " Stone,'" giving fuller details of this invaluable interest. Third A water-power unsurpassed in volume and durability is to be ours. We have the river Des Plaines for a mill-race, and Lake Michigan for a mill-pond, and a fall of thirty feet, within the city limits, Avith additional power just above and below us. This flood of wealth can never fail us, (unless Lake Michigan dries up) and is sure to found a city of extensive manufacturing propor- tions. Mr. Gooding, State Engineer of the Illinois & Michigan Canal, declares this water-power equal to any on the continent. The reader is referred to his article on " Canal and Water- Power," in another part of this pamphlet. Fourth Our fourth invaluable resource is found in the exten- sive coal mines of Will County, just below the city. This coal is superior to any in the state, and proves to be the only Illinois coal adapted to smelting purposes, and must soon build up an extensive iron interest here, besides our rolling mills. Moreover, our eastern capitalists can not fail to seize upon this point for establishing silver ore smelting-works, as great quantities of this ore now pass from the western mines, through Joliet, en route to Swansey, in Wales, for smelting. Mr. Reed, Engineer of the Pacific Railroad, furnishes our pamphlet a valuable article on this topic. Certain, it is, that Joliet is blessed with perpetual cheap fuel for domestic and manufac- turing purposes. Fifth A fifth resource is the best and most extensive cement gravel beds any where known; the shipments from which during the past year aggregate near a quarter of a million of dollars. The demand is yearly increasing. We furnish an article headed, " Cement Gravel," giving fuller details. Sixth An unequaled and inexhaustable supply of cheap build- ing materials ; including stone, brick, lime, sand, and even lumber. These facts are otherwhere fully set forth. ADVANTAGES. 7 Seventh A surrounding country unrivalled in the extent and richness of its agricultural resources. At our Will county fair last fall, the best judges pronounced the exhibition of stock, including blooded horses, cattle, and swine, equal to any at the State Fair. While samples of grain, dairy, and vegetable products, could not be surpassed in the East or West. Judge Randall treats of this sub- ject elsewhere. JZif/hth Our sightly and beautiful surroundings, healthy loca- tion, and artesian wells, affording an abundant supply of the purest water. yinth The rich and rare deposits at the Joliet Mound IVorfc. Those products are no where excelled. The bath-brick are quite equal to those imported from Europe; while the fire-brick, drain- tile, and stone sewer-pipe, are equal to the best. We invite a candid consideration of the resources here enumera- ted; and do not hesitate to ask what locality can show an equal record V What point so eligible for all diversified industrial and manufacturing enterprises, and promising so rich returns >r labor, and the investment of surplus eastern capital? CANAL AND WATER-POWER In a letter received by us, from the Hon. Wm. Gooding, of Lockport, for more than thirty years State Engineer for Illinois, he says, " If you can adopt some practical plan to make the commerual and industrial advantages of Joliet fully understood in sections of country where capital and population are more abundant than here, it must result most favorably to your city ; and consequently a large section of surrounding country. Even Lockport (dead enough at present) would sooner or later feel the influx to some extent, of cap- ital and labor. I have frequently expressed the opinion, which I never entertained more strongly than now, that the time would come when the six miles intervening between the lock here, at the running out of the Lake Michigan level, and the head of Lake Joliet, will be one of the most important manufacturing districts in t/ie world! This may seem somewhat extravagant, but what other section of country of similar extent embraces so many impor- tant advantages ? " In this distance is nearly half the fall between Lake Michigan and the Illinois River at its mouth or connection with the Mississippi and for water-power Lake Michigan forms an ample reservoir for all practical purposes, No one who has thoroughly investigated the 8 JOLIET: ITS RESOURCES subject, can doubt for a moment that this is to be one of the greatest commercial thoroughfares upon our continent, and that the Illinois & Michigan Canal is now a mere ditch compared with what it will be ; but the canal will probably be enlarged only to the head of Lake Joliet, and from that point, down the river, improved to admit river steamers of the largest capacity. " So much for water communication, and water-power. Then, Joliet is just upon the margin of one of the finest coal-fields in the West; so that cheap steam-power for manufacturing, can always be commanded. " The finest stone quarries that can be found any where, are in your immediate vicinity; and the quantity of superior building material is inexhaustible. "Joliet is already a great railroad center ; and more roads are coming; so that, with these competing lines of railroad, and the canal and improved river, cheap transportation may be calculated upon with certainty. " Raw materials can be obtained as cheaply at this point as any other ; and it could not be more centrally situated for the distribution of the products of the various manufactures. The surrounding country is unsurpassed for beauty and fertility ; and no more healthy region can be found even among the New England hills. But par- don me for stating thus hastily and imperfectly a few only of the facts which your meeting will doubtless consider and place i:i a clear and attractive form before our eastern friends. " I am opposed to any exaggeration of our advantages, but am quite certain that a simple and truthful statement of facts will aston- ish those who never properly considered them. " Truly, yours, "Wat. GOODING." RAILROADS. BY HO2f. H. N. MARSH, OF JOLIET. It needs but a glance at the map to show the almost unparalleled advantages of Joliet, as a railroad center. Few cities east or west possess equal facilities for procuring by rail, the raw material from the sources of supply, or of shipping manufactured goods to all points of the compass, as Joliet. "Westward, the C. R. I. & P. R. R. brings within our reach the fertile fields of Iowa, the mineral stores of Colorado, Utah and Ne- vada, and the boundless wealth of the Pacific coast AND ADVANTAGES. 9 By its branches and connections we have access to the agri- cultural riches of northern and western Illinois, southern Wis- consin, to the teeming cereal wealth of Minnesota, and the rapidly developing regions of northern Iowa and Dakota. By its'southwestern branch, to be finished early the coming summer, we shall have direct and rapid communication with southern and western Iowa, western Missouri, Kansas, and the regions beyond, from the Rocky Mountains to the Gulf of Mexico. All these immense regions are rapidly filling up with an intelligent and enterprising population; requiring vast supplies of agricultural implements and manufactured goods, which, as we expect to show conclusively, can be manufactured here more cheaply, and distributed more readily and economically than from any other point. The Chicago, Alton & St. Louis railroad, by its main line, its branches and connections, open up to us a highway to the regions south and southwest; bringing to our doors the cot- ton of the gulf states; the iron and other minerals of Missouri, with its hemp, its flour and grain ; the fruits and cereals of what was once our own Egypt, Egypt no longer; and opening up in all those rapidly developing regions a market for our own pro- ductions ; and for our manufactured goods, as fast as we are able to supply the rapidly increasing demands. By the Joliet branch of the Michigan Central (Joliet Cut- Off), we have a direct communication with the east, including not only Xew York, and the Middle States, but New England and Canada; and with the lumber regions of Indiana, Michigan, and the Canadian provinces. And it is worthy of notice, that grain, cattle, pork, and indeed all our western productions, are shipped from this place to all points on the Atlantio seaboard from Baltimore to Quebec at the same rate paid from Chicago. And goods from all the eastern sources of supply are laid down in our depots in the same time, and on the same terms as goods destined to our magnificent neighbor on the north. Our two railroads connecting us with Chicago the Chicago Rock Island & Pacific, and the Chicago, Alton & St. Louis, give us almost hourly connections with that great city of the West. Fourteen passenger, and twenty freight trains, like vast shuttles, daily alternate between the two cities, filling up the web of western business with the plastic woof of enterprise. The lumber and iron of Michigan and Wisconsin ; the copper of Lake Superior, and the coals of Pennsylvnaia, are laid down at our doors, at a rate of freight so low as to make scarcely 1* 10 JOLIET : ITS RESOURCES a perceptible difference in their cost. And by way of Chicago we hnve additional connections with all the business centers of the eastern seaboard and interior, and on the most favorable terms as competition with the Cut-Off compels all roads to ship freights to Joliet at the same rates charged to Chicago. The new Joliet & Aurora Railroad already surveyed and to be built as soon as the spring opens, short as it is, will undoubt- edly form one of the most important links in our various railroad connections. By it, the stone, lime, coal, etc., so much needed in that direction, can be delivered to them at a mere fraction of the expense as via Chicago; and must draw largely upon our abundant supplies of those materials. The vast shipments of grain, cattle, etc., from the teeming southwest, over the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, instead of paying tribute to the elevators and Stock Yards of Chicago, will be brought here, and shipped east, by the Joliet Cut-Off, and other roads, which will soon be needed to take the produce offering at this point, to the markets of the East. It is understood that one of our most important trunk lines has recently made arrangements for building a branch road from some point in or near this city, to the Wilmington coal fields. This will open up another avenue to the cheap fuel so abundant on our southern border ; and tend greatly to the development of our resources as a manufacturing city. There are many other indirect connections with finished lines, as well as new roads contemplated, to which space will not permit us to refer ; but we think enough has already been said to establish our claim to the possession of railroad advan- tages equaled by few of the most favored cities of the land. AGRICULTURAL RESOURCES. BY JUI>OK RANDALL, OF JOLIET. The agricultural resources of the region immediately sur. rounding the city, although in many respects similar to the wide prairies throughout the valley of the Mississippi, are in other respects, greatly superior. They consist, first, in a broken, irreg- ular surface; giving romantic variety, innumerable springs, limpid brooks, and other sources of the purest water, in great abundance. This condition is not confined to this city, but the county of Will, and the surrounding counties of Cook,Du Page, Kendall, Urundy, Livingston, and Kankakee, all partake, in a AND ADVANTAGES. 11 large degree, of the characteristics just mentioned. A glance at the map shows that nearly the entire surface of these counties is drained toward this city. The Kankakee, the Des Plaines, and the DuPage rivers, all meandering through a wide scope of fertile country, unite their forces within the limits of this county, a few miles below the limits of this city, and form the majestic Illinois, which carries these sparkling waters downward to the " Father of Waters." Manifestly, the valley of all these three great rivers must be unsurpassed in fertility ; and the natural law which induces pro- ductions to flow down the rivers in whose valleys they are- raised, points to this as the great basin in which those productions intermingle, and seek their destination to the markets of the world. Our agricultural productions, then-, may be said to be as wide and varied as these fertile and extensive valleys. The great staple is corn. It is grown in quantities vastly beyond the wants of tire population; and thousands of cars are freighted for distant markets. Wheat, rye, oats, and barley are produced in large quantity, but here, at least, "Corn is King." It goes to market in bulk. It is done up in lard and beef-steak, and- rolls away in the fumes of whisky. It is so natural to the soil and climate, that innumerable fields may be found in Illinois where more than thirty successive crops have been raised without manure, and without perceptible diminution. This corn, and the beef and pork fattened with it, constitute a very large por- tion of our railroad freights. We have in this immediate locality, not only the exceeding natural fertility of the soil, but also fertilizers in inexhaustible quantities. The salurian rock on which our city is founded, lying beside our coal fields, contains the lime requisite to ferti lize for centuries. Inexhaustible beds of marl are laid away in the great conservatory of nature, ready to leap forth at the call of the husbandman. The Rocky Mountains and the distant plains of Texas send us immense numbers of animals; and all concentrating here, add to our local power of fruitification. The centers of com- merce always furnish by unavoidable waste, large quantities of fertilizing ingredients. The importance of these will be seen when it is reeolleted that our city is in the thoroughfare of the Pacific trade, and at the point of the crossing of the commerce between the Mississippi and the Lakes. 12 JOLIET: ITS RESOURCES It is believed that very few locations can be found possess- ing so large advantages to the husbandman as the valleys of these rivers ; and that a very dense population is inevitable. The day of large corn-fields and wheat-fields has undoubtedly passed away, in this section, and smaller divisions become a necessity. No location can be found better adapted to dairy purposes. The pure water, and the large amount of moist land, susceptible of easy drainage, make the grasses luxuriant, and the eye rests almost constantly upon localities suggestive of cheese factories; while the great prairies west of us are daily putting up their supplications to furnish them with such luxuries. It is not our purpose in this short article to go into particulars; but by this general description to call the attention of all husband- men who desire to find locations, to this section, as offering inducements of more than an ordinary character. STONE. BY IIOX. \V. A. STEEL, OF JOLIET. It will not be deemed inappropriate in a pamphlet pre- pared to set forth some of the natural advantages of Joliet, that special mention should be made of the item which heads this article. In the construction of manufactories, business blocks, foundations for residences, or residences themselves, it is import- ant to know that stone of good quality is near at hand, and can be obtained at moderate cost. Joliet possesses this feature in a pre-eminent degree. Within the city limits, and lying adjacent thereto, in every direction, are quarries, developed and inexhaustible, of the finest stone ever yet discovered within a distance of seven hun- dred miles north, south, east, or any where west of this point. The stone is white in color, and is magnesian limestone of the best quality, weighing from one hundred and sixty to one hun- dred and eighty pounds per cubic foot. Throughout the northwestern states it is called " Joliet marble," for it accepts any character of finish, ( even the finest,) and is used largely for monumental and the other higher grades of work. These quarries are all stratified. The strata ranging from two inches thick up to forty-two inches. This natural arrange- ment enables owners of quarries to produce the material for use at a comparatively small cost. AND ADVANTAGES. 13 The prices of stone at Joliet are, as near as may be, as follows : Rubble, the article chiefly used in constructing manu- factories, shops, foundations, etc., five dollars per cord. Dimen- sion stone varies from twenty cents to fifty-one cents per cubic foot, according to grade. The amount shipped from here by railroads and canal during the year 1870, reached about one million one hundred and twenty-five thousand cubic feet (or about twelve thousand car loads) ; and the demand indicates that this quantity will be increased annually. In the spring of 1867, the United States government, in view of the erection of extensive government buildings in the western states, ordered that a board of scientific officers should proceed to ascertain minutely the properties of Joliet stone; applying to it all the tests which science has discovered for such purposes. The buildings to be erected were intended to stand for all time ; and hence the government went to consider- able expense in procuring machinery, and otherwise, to make the tests, so that there might be no mistake as to finding the best stone in the western states. The board performed the work, and we insert the official report. First. As to the properties of Joliet stone Density 2.6440 Crushing force in pounds 58853 Crushing force in pounds per square inch 14708 Began to spawl 5 7 833 Breaking weight to transverse strain 15850 Transverse strength S.= _?^- =248to320 4 B.13- S3 Tranverse sample, 4 in. xj8 in. x 20 in., and Crushing sample 2 in. x 2 in. x 4 inches. Second. To ascertain the absorptive properties of the stone, the samples were placed on the boiler of a steam engine, in motion, and remained there sixteen days. They were then weighed, and placed in water, where they remained three days and nights, and were again weighed, with the result given below. /Sample, No. 1. GRAINS. Weight before steeping 8211.8 " after " 6382. Increase in Weight 170.2 Increase per cent , 2.78 14 .FOLIET: ITS RESOURCES Sample, No. 2. <; RAINS. Weight before steeping 5640.5 " after " ..5800. Increase in weight 159.5 Increase per cent 2.8 The superior quality of Joliet stone had never been doubted, but the foregoing results established incontrovertibly that no stone yet discovered in the western states could cope with it. This truth is further proved by the fact that Iowa, Missouri, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and perhaps other states, are ordering heavily from these quarries. Reference may be made to the customhouse atDes Moines, Iowa (three hundred and iifty-seven miles, from Joliet); to the custom house at Madison, Wisconsin ( one hundred and thirty-eight miles from Joliet); to the new county buildings erected at St. Louis (two hundred and forty miles from Joliet) ; to the extensive U. S. arsenal build- ings on Rock Island, in the Mississippi River; to two bridges built by government, to connect said arsenal at different points to the eastern shore; to a bridge connecting Illinois and Iowa at Dubuque ; to the United States marine hospital at Chicago ; to the new Penitentiary just completed, in Indiana; to the stone portion of the national Lincoln monument at Springfield, Illi- nois ; the magnificent State Capitol of Illinois, now being con- structed; and to innumerable court houses and jails, built in this and other states. There are at work in the quarries thus far opened here, from five hundred and fifty to seven hundred and fifty men. The demand is still increasing; and it is beyond doubt that still other quarries must be opened. It is worth mentioning, in this connection, that large parcels of vacant ground upon which manufactories must shortly be erected, both within the city limits, and immediately adjoining, will require no excavation for foundations. They afford a solid stone foundation within a few inches of the surface. These lands too, are near the water-power, canal, and railroads. COAL AND IRON. BY I. R. ADAMS, ESQ., OF JOLIET. Near Joliet, and in this county, are the finest coal fields in Illi- nois, underlying thousands of acres of rich farming lands, aiid producing over five hundred thousand tons per annum- AND ADVANTAGES. 15 There are ten shafts now opened, and many more are being located, in order to supply the demand for this favorite fuel which is unsurpassed for steam and grate purposes, it having a long and clear flame. "With the abundant shipping facilities, it can be delivered here at a figure but little above the cost of mining, giving us a cheap steam which is material to the successful operation of manufacturers. This coal is what is termed by geologists No. 2 coal, being the same strata that is found in the Big Muddy and Chester fields, and has a less amount of ash, (only 3 per cent.) than most bituminous coals found in Pennsylvania, giving it so much more combustible material, and specially adapting it for the working of iron. The analysis made by Prof. Seibel, shows : Carbon 81-10") Hydrogin 57 Xitro and Oxygin 9-7 I Coke, 60 per cent. Sulphur -3 Water ioo-Sj The analysis compares with the best English bituminous coal. During the past year, a large rolling mill compared with any in the country for architecture and general plan, commenced working with- in our limits. Its Avails are built of the same stone on which our city rests, and which forms the solid foundation for its ponderous machinery. The works are in successful operation, turning out over one hundred tons of railroad iron daily, and so well are the proprietors convinced of the value of the coal, and the importance of Joliet as a distributive point, so essential to manufacturers, that they are making plans, and will probably commence work early in the spring on an immense Bessemer steel works, to cost not less than three hundred thousand dollars, and vrill employ one hundred men in addition to the three hundred men now at work. There is but little doubt that a good coke can be made from our coal, as the analysis before mentioned shows the coke to be sixty per cent., giving us a cheap fuel for foundry purposes. The largest foundries in Chicago are getting their moulding sand from here. The railroad connections, the low taxes, cheap building mater- ials, and advantages above named have already called 0119 stove manufactory here, and a visit will show to others, that soon we will be able to drive the Kastcrn foundries, who are now manufacturing for the "Western trade, from the field of competition, as Lake .Superior pig iron is as cheap here as in Buffalo, and the freight* and their profits can be pocketed by our fortunate stove founder. 1 6 JOLIET : ITS EESOTJECES Not only to rolling mills and foundries has Joliot the advantages above named, but to any person looking for a new field of industrial enterprise, a close investigation will show that for other bi-anches of manufactories there is the same auspicious opening. All we ask is an impartial investigation to insure a verdict hi our favor. SMELTING ORES. BY SAMUEL B. EEED, ESQ., OF JOLIET, ENGINEER OF THE GEEAT UNION PACIFIC EAILEOAD. The geographical position of Joliet is admirably adapted to the successful working of the reduction of ores, being on the direct line east from San Francisco, via Pacific Railroad, and from Colorado and all the rich mineral country west and southwest, tributary to the Kansas Pacific Railroad which will soon be completed from Denver, west to the Pacific Ocean. These roads pass through, and are contiguous to, large areas of rich silver mining country, whose products must find a market in the East. It is impracticable to reduce the oars successfully in the mountains, owing to the great cost of transporting and putting in operation the necessary machinery the great scarcity and cost of fuel in the mining districts the absence and cost of iron for desul- phurating the ores with economy the great cost of subsistence and tools for men and teams, and the high price of labor. There is no location in the country that possesses superior, if as good, inducements as this, for capitalists to invest in mills and furna- ces for the reduction of the rich silver ores that are now being shipped from the various mining districts in the Rocky Mountain country, contiguous to the line of the Central and Union Pacific Railroads to c5 the Atlantic sea-board, and thence to Swansey, in Wales for reduction. Joliet has an abundance of water-power for driving the neces- sary machinery. Also, fuel, admir ably adapted to smelting ores of that nature, in inexhaustible quantities within a few miles, which is being mined and shipped to market extensively by canal and rail. Iron filings and old scrap iron at nominal rates for de sulphurating the ores with economy, cheap and abundant labor, and situated in the midst of a rich agricultural country, subsistance of all kinds will always be obtained at the lowest rates. Even if the ores were reduced in the mountains where mined, the lead and copper which is thirty to seventy per cent, will be lost, because it will not pay trans- portation to market. If reduced here, it will be valuable, and greatly increase the net proceeds of the ores. There are not mills enough on this contuient to reduce the ores as fast as they are now being AND ADVANTAGES. 17 mined. (And the mining business is in its infancy yet ). Conse- quently, large shipments are continually passing through Joliet, on the way to Swansey, in Wales, for reduction. If mills for smelting ores and separating the silver and gold from the baser metals, were in successful operation in Joliet, no matter how great their capacity, they would be crowded to their utmost extent. BUILDING MATERIALS. LIME, BKICK, SAXD, STONE, AXD LUMBER. These articles comprise the raw material, and chief expense in the construction of buildings, and the enlargement of cities. When found upon the localities where used, the expense in building is much less than when such heavy materials are transported from other points on wagons, cars, or boats. Two of these, viz. : Lime and stone of prim quality, exist in great abundance within the city limits of Joliet. A like abundant supply of superior building sand, and clay for brick, are found within a mile. While lumber is merely a fraction above Chicago prices, and is actually below the quotations in New England, and the state of New York. The reason of this seems apparent when we reflect that the pineries of Michigan and Wisconsin float their treasures of the forest directly to our doors, upon river, lake, and canal craft. There- fore, we confidently claim for Joliet a precedence over every other locality that can be named, either east or west, for its abundant and cheap supply of raw materials for building purposes. For its abun- dance, because there are no limits to the supply. And for cheapness, because these supplies are found at our very doors, thus saving the great expense of transporting them, either by rail, by water, or upon wagons. Hence this is the place of cheap homes for the laborer, the artisan, and the mechanic. Of cheap blocks for businessmen; of cheap manufacturing establishments; and for the founding of all diversified industrial enterprises. In short, : the most promising field for co-operative labor and capital to achieve a complete successl Joliet holds out a cordial welcome to all of these classes, te whom we can supply the "sinews" for building, at a trifle above first cost prices, and yet have enough left to export for the building rip of surrounding cities. For a knowledge of our other advantages we refer to the various articles found in this pamphlet. CEMENT GRAVEL. Three or four extensive deposits of this material are found at Joliet, and more may yet be discovered. The qualities of this gravel 2 18 JOLIET: ITS BESOUBCES are unlike, and superior to, those of any other gravel deposits known in the country. It is true, that water lime, and the ordinary cement of commerce are found in many places. It is equally true, that there are numerous deposits of free gravel to be found in some states. The one is cement by itself, and the other gravel by itself. But here these substances, or their properties, are happily blended in one mixture known as the Joliet Cement Gravel. It is similar in appearance to ordinary gravel, being readily removed by the pick and shovel. But there is diffused through the mass a subtle mixture of cement ingredients, which gradually hardens into one solid compact substance when exposed to the action of the sun, air, rain, and travel. Hence its great value for grading streets, drains, avenues, walks, etc. About thirty miles of streets in Joliet are graded with it, afford- ing some of the best drives any where to be found. Many streets in Chicago, Riverside, and other suburban towns of that city, are using the same material. Even Bloomington, Springfield, and Alton have sent orders for it. The entire shipments of 1870, foot up in value about $200,000, and the demand is rapidly extending. To work these mines of wealth, affords employment to many laboring men, and adds not a little to the revenues of our railroads. Fortunately the supply in ample for many years to come. ARTESIAN WELLS AND WATER SUPPLY. Artesian wells are obtained by appliances for boring into the outside crust of the earth, and bringing to the surface those liquid treasures that the God of nature had long since stored up in their deep, dark, vast recesses preparatory for the use of man. At Syracuse and Saginaw, the product is brine, affording salt to supply a nation's wants. At Spring Lake and other Michigan localities it is mineral water, strongly impregnated with medicinal properties for the " heal- ing" of the people. At Chicago, Jolirrt, and most other points, it is common water for domestic use. We have four of these wells; one at the prison, one at the rolling mills, one at the tank of C., A. H P5 [^ o w , p g .< ^ ^ s Qi O o O 00 ViO CO 1 _^> O - r III Q O (^ -." <-'^ '' J _ A~~ W A~ I < A~- 1"^ ~. *JJ {^> ^N lij v-N ^^^ *^J , . OO O i IC^- i^HOr-li-H^HOi ' O O i < IT I r- 1 '"' H r-^ . . . ^ . . . "R . . . . . . . . . ^ ^ O cq i I i I