Chicago Roller Skating Rinks

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Chicago Roller Skating Rinks
Life Span: 1880-1887
Location: NW Corner Congress and Michigan Avenues, State SW cor 24th, Clark and Elm street
Architect: Messrs. Howard & Fox

Lakeside Annual Directory of the City of Chicago, 1885

Casino Roller Skating Rink

Bijou Skating Rink

LeGrande Co.

Chicago Tribune, September 17, 1880

THE RINK.
An Old Amusement Revived.
Since the days of the old Wabash avenue skating rink, when Mrs. Fox, Lillie Elliott, and Callie Curtis used to delight visitors to that popular resort by their graceful and artistic skating, Chicago has been without a suitable place in which this healthful exercise could be indulged in. Attempts have been made to make outdoor skating parks successful, but the patrons have soon found cause of complaint, and managers of these places have never met with much encouragement.

At last, however, Chicago is to have among her countless attractions a first-class parlor skating-rink, complete in all its appointments. Mr. M. W. Ferguson, of Louisville, Ky., has now in course of construction at the northwest corner of Congress street and Michigan avenue a one-story brick building to be used for this purpose, upon which work was commenced yesterday. The dimensions are 202 feet on Congress street and ninety feet front on Michigan avenue. The seats will be erected in amphitheatre style. The necessary waiting-rooms for ladies and gentlemen, skate-rooms, closets, and offices will all be elegantly finished in hardwood, and the structure will be surmounted by a showy truss-roof, creating a line effect trom the street. The skating floor, 60 by 180 feet, will have a level cement foundation, covered with a perfectly smooth and hard composition, rendering parlor skating a positive pleasure, and it cannot but become popular. Improper characters will be excluded at all times, the proprietor aiming to secure his patrons among the best class of people. Messrs. Howard & Fox, the contractors, state that the building will be ready for occupancy on or about Oct. 15.

Chicago Tribune, November 9, 1880

Last evening there was a preliminary opening of the Chicago Roller Skating Rink, on the corner of Michigan avenue and Congress street. On Wednesday evening the season and the rink will be formally opened. Mr. Furguson. the manager, has issued invitations to the best people of the city, soliciting their attendance en this occasion. The rink will be run In first-class style, and bad characters will be strictly excluded.

Chicago Tribune, November 26, 1880

Among the successful social events of the day were three skating sessions given at the Chicago Roller-Skating Rink, at the corner of Michigan avenue and Congress street. The forenoon and afternoon sessions were well attended, but the gathering in the evening was indeed a compliment to the managers of this new enterprise. Many of Chicago’s best people were present, and during the evening there were fully 300 skaters gliding over the surface of the rink. To become a graceful roller requires but little exertion, and many of the lady patrons have already become proficient in what would seem to the casual observer a difficult accomplishment. The scene was a very animated one, and judging from the attendance this new form of healthful exercise is rapidly becoming popular in Chicago. The skaters were materially assisted and entertained with good music, and Mr. J. R. Mayer gave exhibitions in fancy skating, which were astonishingly like the movements of professional skaters in the ice rinks. He got about on the rollers with perfect ease and grace, and was loudly applauded for his pains.

Inter Ocean, October 30, 1883

ON WHEELS.
Opening of the Roller Rink.
The roller skating rink opened its doors last evening with the most complete success. There were no less than 700 ekaters on the surface and from 1,000 to 1,200 of the society people from all portions of the city in the seats. The building has been newly whitened and painted, presenting an attractive appearance. An orchestra gave a well-chosen programme, and the verdict of all was a pleasant evening. It is the purpose of
Manager Ferguson to give weekly entertainments of a novel and interesting character.

Inter Ocean, April 20, 1884

THE CASINO RINK.
The Casino Roller Skating Rink, corner of State and Twenty-fourth streets, is fast approaching completion, and promises to be ready for opening on the day proposed, May 8. Mr. H. F. Jordan, the manager, has just returned from the East, where he had made several engagements with fancy skaters and polo clubs. The Bay State Club, of Chelsea, Mass., has won sixty out of sixty-nine games this winter, and are to start on a long Western trip. They will play three nights at the Casino Rink, with the Chicago club. Battie and Hackett, a line pair of exhibition skaters, from Boston, will be here during the week of the Republican convention. These young men are wonderful skaters, doing an act on stilts two feet long.

The North Side Casino Rink.
The announcement in The Inter Ocean of yesterday of a roller rink to be built on Washington boulevard was the means of causing Mr. A. G. Spalding to proceed promptly to mature plans and secure a location for a handsome rink on the North. Side. A site was secured on Oak street, between State street and Dearborn avenue. The lot is 268 by 155 feet, and the new rink will be of the same dimensions. It will be completed and opened July 1. The building will contain all the improvements and appurtenances of the South Side Casino. The floor will be of hard white maple, over a concrete foundation. The name of the new rink will be the North Side Casino Roller Skating Rink. It will cost about $25,000.

Chicago Tribune, May 18, 1884

THE CASINO SKATING RINK
The Opening of This Model Place of Amusement East Evening.
The success which has attended the opening evenings of the new Casino Roller-Skating Rink, corner Twenty-fourth and State streets, culminated last evening in the largest gathering of the elite of the South Side that the amusement places of the city have been favored with in many years. For the first time Chicago possesses a rink that is elegant and perfect in all its appointments. The floor is of hardwood and a marvel of smoothness, the entire ceiling is beautifully draped and perfectly lighted with the Siemens light. Of the arrangement of the seating too much cannot be said in its praise. Even with the floor are the main seats, with galleries above, containing elegant boxes from which the various performances of the evening, the superb skating of Miss Hattie Harvey, of Boston, which was universally admired, and of Mr. A. F. Smith, Of Iowa, and the graceful gliding forms of the innumerable skaters,were watched with enthusiasm by over 4,000 ladies and gentlemen. The entertainment of the evening was varied by bag races, hurdle races, etc., the participants in which were enthusiastically encored. The South Side, and in fact the whole city, has reason to congratulate the manager, Mr. T. B. Jordan, upon his success in giving them a first-class place of recreation, where the young ladles and gentlemen can be surrounded with all the care and oversight desirable, and it is the purpose of the management to make the Casino perfect in its exclusiveness to all quiet, polite people, as it is perfect in its appointments. Among those present were noticed Messrs. William T. Baker, T. W. Harvey, Cyrus Dunee, D. Harry Hammer, B. P. Hutchinson, John R. Walsh, and other leading South Side residents.

Inter Ocean, December 21, 1884

The Bijou Roller Skating Rink continues to attract large crowds nightly, and is serving a good purpose in keeping a great many of the young men, and not a few of the old ones, away from wicked Chicago of nights Tuesday evening last the rink was chartered by middle-aged and elderly married people who had never tried the rollers, and others were excluded. The attendance was large, comprising the most prominent citizens, with their wives, among whom may be named:

The Hon. Clayton B Crafts, Geo, E, Plumbe, N. M. Bassett, Thomas Carroll, B. H. Traill, David Oliphant, John M. Bice, George A. Philbrick, Dr. Bond, Charles Bassett, F. M. Hankinson, B. M. Shurtleff, W. W. McFarland, J. J. Waiser, Chas, A Hitchcock, Wm. Amerson, Ed & Austin, and Mr. Blackman.

At the start there were many falls, and many ludicrous scenes. Later, however, as the skaters gained confidence the tumbles were fewer, and no one was seriously hurt. Among the many gentlemen on the floor, Mr. Carroll was considered the most graceful, and the most awkward was undoubtedly Mr, Nelson Bassett. The ladies, of course, were all graceful After rolling until about 10 o’clock the order was changed, and dancing was indulged in until midnight It was an evening of genuine fun. A married people’s rolling club has been organized, and every two weeks they will have an ovening at the rink

Inter Ocean, January 14, 1885

A new rink, to be known as the Englewood Casino Roller Rink is to be opened at Englewood to-night. This rink is to be lighted by electricity, and will be under the management of J. G. Lightford, late of the Washington Boulevard Rink.

Chicago Tribune, May 1, 1885

The rink has come to stay, there is no doubt about that. It is no longer recognized half apologetically as a “craze,” but is as much a legitimate business as the theatre, the dancing-school, or even the dry-goods store. Reputable business-men of brains and wealth are owners of and interested in the business. Magnificent bufidings have been erected in every city of note in the land and millions of dollars have been invested. The church thunders against the rink, the salon shrieks in rage at the loss of its best and most profitable young customers. Moralists refer to the rink with a customers. cynical sneer, but so far without a reasonable argument or example of the evils they are so ready to predict. The class of “rinkers” who attend are of the highest respectability, and the steady attendance shows the sport to be pleasant and healthful. It is an exercise in which constant improvement can be made by the participants.

The principal opposition to the rink in the way of active hostilities comes from the churches, or at least from that portion of them which has always opposed every form of amusement except church sociables and checkers. But it is very probable that the opposition of the pulpit only increases the attendande at the rinks, for such is human nature.

The man or women who always opposes any new thing and is simply prejudiced on general principle will advance objections somewhat like the following:

The many thousands of roller-skaters in this city will smile to read these objections.
They have all been urged upon them, but by experience the skaters know they are not true. At all of the rinks, every evening. there may be seen family parties of the highest respectability, from father and mother to the little children of 5 or 6 years. The little ones take to skates like ducks to water. Those who wish it can be as exclusive as if in their own parlors. Those who may attend from improper motives soon find that it is no place for them. The rinks are all, without exception, in the best residence neighborhoods, and the very high character of the attendance can be seen at a glance.

The most virulent and rabid opposition to the rinks comes from the saloon interests. The rinks are opened in the evening at 7:30 o’clock and are closed, as a general thing. at 10:30 o’clock. The young man who has escorted a young woman to the rink, enjoyed a pleasant evening. and left her at her own door, having had a sufficiency of exercise, feels inclined to rest, and retires to pleasant and untroubled dreams. The saloonkeeper, meantime, sits idly by his place and amuses himself by abusing the rinks. In a number of small towns in this and other States the saloonkeepers, having sufficient influence with with local legislators, have had ordinances passed which impose so high a license on the roller-skating rink as to make it impossible for them to live. It is a singular fact that in these same towns the opposition from the clergy is fully as virulent as from the saloons.

The dancing-schools complain bitterly of loss of patronage, which they attribute directly to the popularity of the rinks, for the same young men and women who were in former years the steady attendants have transferred their patronage to the newer amusement. But thousands attend the rinks who would never go to a dancing-school. It is well known that in many families the line is drawn at dancing, though every other kind of healthful amusement is encouraged and indulged in freely.

The roller-skate is, in the principle involved, nearly as old as the bicycle, or rather its predecessor, the velocipede. At first it was a toy for children, and was called the parlor skate. It had three iron wheels in a line and was very difficult to stand upon and control, while such graceful figures and evolutions as now delight the eye were impossible and unheard of. Children used them to slide about on carpets and dodge around among the parlor furniture, often to the great damage of fragile articles. In pleasant weather some of the bolder youths would slide around somewhat on smooth sidewalks should any be convenient. The iron wheels were replaced by those of rubber in turn, but still the toy was nothing but a toy. Something like twenty years ago the double roller-skate was invented, it is said, by J. H. Fenton, who then was employed in a machine-shop in Zanesville, O. The inventor was a fancy ice-skater, and regarded as one of the finest experts in the country. The skates he made were with wooden wheels, of the same general pattern as those in use today, but rude in construction, and they would now be sneered at by any expert “rinker.” After developing the idea the inventor became an expert on rollers, and traveled through the country and throughout Europe giving exhibitions. Wherever seen the roller-skate became popular. In most large cities rinks were established in large sheds or barn-like structures, which were ill-ventilated, heated, and lighted. The high prices charged were almost prohibitory, and in the United States the sport made but little headway until a comparatively recent period. A toy skate was made for children, however, and though the price was still kept up at a ridiculously high figure many children were supplied with them, especially in neighborhoods where there was a good stretch of smooth stone side-walk. Within the last seven or eight years in England the pastime has become fashionable, and has continued so to the present time, notwithstanding the croakers. Rinks were established in various towns, and the attendance was from the best class of society. The popularity of roller-skating in that country, however, was a gradual growth, and did not come with a rash, as in the United States within the last year. The reasons for this may be interesting. The improvements on roller-skates, all covered by patents, were controlled by the manutacturers of the Plympton skate.

This company seemed to take the right course to suppress the sale of roller-skates and to prevent their popularity. Wherever a rink was built the skate company would be on hand to furnish skates for use, but the rink proprietor must pay a royalty on every pair and a rent for every time they were used. This left the proprietor no profit to speak of without a very large price of admission, which kept people away. Business-men didn’t care to invest in such unprofitable property, and the matter languished along, as far as the public rinks were concerned, until the burdensome patents ran out. But in the meantime the skates had become very popular among children, and many graceful skaters were developed among the young misses, who had no other practice than sidewalk skating. In some of the Eastern cities, notably Boston and Philadelphia, where there is occasionally a rage for physical as weil as mental culture, there have been thriving rinks for several years. In all large cities there were rinks which ran at intervals, or when the attendance justifled it. With the expiration of burdensome patents skates became much cheaper, and it was possible for a rink proprietor to own his stock and make a profit. As soon as there was a prospect of making money in such a venture magnificent skating rinks were built everywhere. Within the last year millions of dollars have been invested in rink property. In the City of Chicago there are three new and magnificent rinks which have cost over $150,000, besides a number of smaller establishments, which are equally respectable and nearly aa complete in their appointments. These rinks are generally owned by stock companies, composed of the best and most reputable business-men of Chicago. The prices and hours in all are about the same, For instance, the morning session is from 10 o’clock to 12:30, the women and children’s practice hours, and, including strap-skates, the entire cost is 15 cents.

At the morning and afternoon sessions competent and experienced instructors are employed to teach children and adults free of charge. These are all handsomely uniformed, and are polite and respectful, as at the slightest fault or well-founded complaint they are discharged. Saturday mornings are exclusively for children. In the afternoons, except Saturday, the sessions are for women, men, and children from 2:80 o’clock to 5:30, when music is furnished, and the admission, including skates, is 25 cents. The Saturday afternoon sessions are from 2:30 o’clock to 5:30. when the admission for adults is 25 cents and for children 10 cents, which prices do not include skates. The evening sessions are from 7 o’clock to 10:30, and the admission for all is 35 cents. The rent ot strap-skates is 15 cents; clamp-skates. 25 cuts. Parties owning their own skates are charged 15 cents for the use of the surface at any session. The private skates can be left at the rink, where they will be cleaned and cared for at the rate of 25 cents per week. The above prices are in a general way the prevailing ones in the first-class rinks of Chicago. They are certainly reasonable enough, and forcibly contrast the expense of the rink with the theatre.

With the advent of the modern rink and its wonderful popularity there has come into prominence the professional skaters—male, female, and child—generally traveling in couples or families, and, while executing the most astonishing feats on skates, are equally proficient with the bicycle. Many of them are gymnasts of a high order, and give in all a short exhibition of skill that is novel and pleasing. These artists command high salaries, and at present are reasonabiy certain of remunerative and constant employment. As the rinks of a city are generally some distance apart, and each has its own number of regular attendants, it is possible for the professional to secure several engagements in the same city. Rink managers are ever on the lookout for any attraction that will increase the attendance even of non-skaters; but the more intelligent recognize the fact that the regular patrons come there to skate and not to see an entertainment. Allowance must also be made for super-sensitive minds who might suffer a moral relapse at the sight of a variety show. At present the tendency is to draw it rather mild in the engagement and exhibition of professional talent. A prominent rink manager has this to say upon this subject:

Continental skating is somewhat tiresome, and so the intermission, when the exhibitions are given, give them a few minutes’ rest. No artist should be allowed to hold the floor longer than eight minutes. This gives the people a short entertainment which is not long enough to weary them, and they begin skating again with renewed pleasure. As to trained dogs and such attractions, their place is in a dime museum. Variety shows should not be tolerated in any place where people skate. Trained animals and vulgar variety exhibitions should only be seen where there is sawdust on the floor, a bar at one end of the room, and a liberal supply of cuspidors. The skating-rink should be as select a place as a church—not as solemn, of course, for it is a place of amusement and physical culture—but the eye and the ear should be free from temptation in a proper rink, and the conduct of the patrons, aids, and managers should be circumspect. The pastime should be kept on a high moral basis.

So far as heard of no demoralizing exhibitions have ever been given in a Chieago rink. This is perhaps due in a measure to the high class or attendance and patronage, which might be shocked at anything in any way objectionable. The reputations of the proprietors and managers are likewise pledged to prevent anything of the sort. Aside from the regular amusement of skating the added attractions consist of races between well-known skaters, exhibitions of fancy skating by professional artists, polo games, bicycle races, and occasionally a fancy-dress event, when those who choose can appear in costume—elegant, grotesque, historical, or comical. The managers recognize the necessity of dealing in “attractions” in a very careful manner, recognizing the fact that the mass of the patrons come to skate, or to learn to skate, and not to see feats impossible to them performed by professionals or high-class amateurs.

The Le Grand Roller-Skating Rink is on the corner of North Clark and Elm streets, a handsome and extensive building, pleasing in its general style of architecture of red brick, with cut-stone trimmings. It is owned by a company of well-known capitalists and is stocked at $100,000. It was opened the evening of Nov. 3, 1884, and upon that occasion the receipts were $800. The report of the Treasurer states that the receipts for November were $4,965; for December, $1,585; for January, $4,550—a total of $14,052. The expense of conducting the business was $5,902, which gives a net profit of $8.150. The company was in debt when the rink opened for business and the earnings up to Jan. 3 were applied to paying the indebtedness and making changes and improvements in the building and skating surface. The expenses during the first three months were larger than they will be in the future. The company is now free from debt, and by resolution of the directors will pay a dividend of 2½ per cent out of the earnings from Jan. 3 to Feb. 1 on demand at the office. The success of the enterprise is now assured, and the managers expect to pay dividends monthly equal to if not greater than the first one.

The dimensions of Le Grand are 210×150 feet. There are five large exits. It is comfortably heated by steam. and lighted by electricity. twenty-three are lights being used. The interior is very handsome.The first thing to attract attention is the skating surface, 97×188 feet of smooth asphaltum composition laid on hollow tile, and claimed to be noiseless. Around this is the bieycle course, also laid on asphaltum, ten feet wide, twelve feet on the curves, and twelve laps to the mile. The seating capacity is 3,000, in comfortable chairs raised in successive tiers, on the ground floor and in the balcony. The average attendance per day is estimated at 450. Saturdays the number is largely increased. The parlors, dressing-room, skate-room, and promenade are on a level with the skating surface. The club-room contains ten separate dressing-rooms for the use of polo and bicycle clubs. Opening out on the balcony are handsome parlor and supper rooms for private parties. A handsome pagoda for the band is suspended from the middle ot the rink. The musicians reach their places by a ladder and afterwards draw it up, when there is no obstruction to the free movement of the skaters below them. The music, being in the centre of the building, is equal in tone to all, and is considered preferable to having it at one end of the rink. There is a telephone for use of patrons, The windows are made partially of stained glass, which gives a very pretty effect to the inside in the daytime and 1o the outside at night. Music is furnished by Hand’s orchestra. A rink without music would be like soup without salt. The manager is Mr. George M. Irwin, and the condition of the rink testifies to his efficiency.

The Le Grand company proposes very extensive improvements and additions. The front of the roof on Clark street will be fitted up as a promenade for summer with chairs and awning, but no beer. By April 1 they will have built and completed a natatorium adjoining the rink, exceeding in size and appointments anything of the kind in the United States. The tank will be 180 feet long and thirty wide, built of white enameled brick decorated with fancy colored tiles. The building will contain a system of hot, cold, Turkish, and Russian baths, and expert teachers of swimming will be employed. Neither this rink nor any of the others is open Sundays. They all pay an amusement license the same as the theatres.

The Washington Bonlevard Rink is one of the latest built, and has already achieved a wonderful popularity. It is owned by the firm of Willoughby. Hill & Co. It has a handsome exterior of red brick with the latest and most approved style of rink architecture. The “Boulevard” was opened for business Oct. 1, 1884. when, from the attendance, the gratified proprietors saw that the venture was an instantaneous success. The building is on the corner of Curtis street and Washington boulevard, in dimensions 125×200 feet. The skating surface, as in all the other rinks. is very expensive, this one costing $7,500. Its dimensions are 76×180 feet. In its preparation great care was taken. First there was laid down two and a half feet of asphalt, on top of that 2×4 joists, and the intervals filled to a level with concrete. Then pine boards 2×6 were laid across, and the surface was completed at last with maple flooring prepared especially for the purpose. But even after this it must be planed down and sand-papered, a very expensive job. This floor has its advocates, as well as those of asphaltum composition. It is hard and comparatively noiseless. To test its solidity it is only necessary for a beginner to sit down upon it suddenly. The electric lignt is used. The attendance, even during the recent bitter cold weather, was always good, estimated by the manager, Mr. Stanwood, at from 700 to 800 per day. Exhibitions are given by professionals as often as it is thought to be desirable, and the usual races and contests by amateurs. When the subject of steam heat was mentioned the manager desired to call attention to the engine-room. This was carpeted and as neat as a parlor, while the engine itself ran with no more noise than an ordinary clock. The heat of the rink is kept at 68°. The system of ventilation is perfect. The skate-room is neatly kept and is a perfect system. All employés are uniformed and wear badges and numbers. There are a large number of patrons who own their private skates, and these are taken care of and kept in good order. The women’s dressing-room is handsomely furnished. The gents’ dressing-room has a cigar-stand attached. The cloak and coat room has its efficient system of checks and attendants. The roof is supported by the Ohio bridge-truss system.

The Casino Roller-Skating Rink is at the corner of State and Twenty-fourth streets. It is one of the largest and best in the city, and is owned by a stock company, the President of which is Mr. A. G. Spalding. The dimensions of the “Casino ” are 125×204 feet, and it is a noticeable building in that part of the city. The windows are all of stained glass, and in the inside fittings much expense has been incurred. The building is forty feet high from the centre of the truss roof to the floor, with side walls twenty feet in height. The skating surtace covers an area of over 16,000 square feet, its extreme length 190 feet, and width eighty-six feet. It is made of white maple strips laid lengthways upon a sub-flooring of seasoned spruce over cement and cinders. This floor cost over $7,000, while the total cost of the rink, including the skates, was $50,000. It will seat 3,000 spectators on the main floor aud in the gallery and private boxes. The last are quite ornamental and must have added considerably to the expense of the rink. There is an attendance here every morning of from fifty to 100 beginners, all of whom are provided with instruction free of charge.

The “Casino” was opened about one vear ago, and was the first of the large rinks. Its remarkable success bas had much to do with the establishment of the others. The illumination is produced by the improved gaslight known as the “Siemens,” which is similar to but more mellow than the electric light. Among the instructors are two women. The band stand is on the west side of the gallery, and is projected some distance from its front. The music is furnished by the First Regiment Band. A change in the management has lately been made, and Mr. Charles B. Whitney, formerly of Boston, is the present manager. Some changes in the interior have also lately been made. The refreshment-room has been discontinued and its place taken up by the skate-room. A very large coat-room has been added, with facilities for 1,000 garments to be safely checked. The women’s sitting and toilet rooms are well furnished and in charge of a colored woman, who is in constant attendance. The gents’ room is used also for a smoking-room. The skate-boys are uniformed, and none of them are allowed to receive any gratuity for their services, which does away with a serious annoyance. The skate-room is very neatly and systematically arranged. Every pair of skates is cleaned and oiled after using. Experienced repairers have a bench where any needed work is done. The stock of skates includes 1,000 strapped skates and 500 with clamps. In cleaning the surface it is first dry-swept and then brushed. It is often necessary to sandpaper parts of the surface, and a machine invented for the purpose was being experimented with at the time of the reportorial visit.

The oldest rink in the city is that known as the “Palace,” on the corner of Michigan avenue and Congress street. It has a good surface of asphalt, and though not so large as the three new rinks spoken of above is well patronized. Other rinks are the “Princess,” on West Madison street, near Ogden avenue, and a very pretty rink near Thirty-ninth street and Cottage Grove avenue.

Moody On Roller-Skating.
Mr. Moody, the evangelist, at a revival meeting recently said:

Excerpted from Chicago Tribune, January 30, 1887

Work Begun on the Great Convention Hall At Last.
Work has been commenced on the convention hall and hotel building to be erected by the Grand Auditorium Association on the half block bounded by Michigan and Wabash avenues and Congress street. The contract for the excavation was let ten days ago, and Monday the first shovelful of earth was removed. The ground was frozen, and as the men were behind the buildings scattered over the property their presence was not known to but few until yesterday, when, the weather being pleasant, operations were begun in earnest. At 8 o’clock yesterday morning 200 men and thirty teams were as busy as they could be, some taking out dirt and others tearing down the structures. The old rink at the corner of Michigan avenue and Congress has almost entirely disappeared, and by the latter part of next week there will be no trace of it or of the other buildings, except the Hotel Brunswick. The lease of the proprietor of the hotel runs until May 1, so it will not be disturbed until he vacates.

Chicago Tribune, October 12, 1899

OLD LEASEHOLD SUIT DECIDED.
Le Grand Company Awarded a S35,000 Judgment Against North Chicago Street Railway Company.
Litigation which has occupied the attention of Judge Tuley intermittently for thirteen years was closed yesterday by a decree finding the North Chicago Street railroad company liable to the Le Grand company for $35,000 damages for ousting the Le Grand company and its roller skating rink from property it held under lease and on which the street railway company then built a power-house.

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