Search Results for: chicago chronicle

2000 S. Prairie

Location: 2000 S. Prairie (Old 945)
Occupants: John Marshall Clark
Life Span: 1869-
Architect: TBD

Edwards’ Annual Directory of the City of Chicago, 1869
Clark John M. (Gray, Clark & Co.), r. 948 Prairie av.

Edwards’ Annual Directory of the City of Chicago, 1870
Clark John M. (Grey, Clark & Co.), r. 948 Prairie av.

Lakeside Annual Directory of the City of Chicago, 1876
Clark John M. (Grey, Clark & Co.) 201 Lake, house 948 Prairie av.

Lakeside Annual Directory of the City of Chicago, 1880
Clark John M. (Grey, Clark & Co.) 201 Lake, house 2000 Prairie av.

Lakeside Annual Directory of the City of Chicago, 1884
Clark John M. sec. Grey, Clark & Engle 201 Lake, house 2000 Prairie av.

Lakeside Annual Directory of the City of Chicago, 1885
Clark John M. sec. Grey, Clark & Engle 201 Lake, house 2000 Prairie av.

Chicago Telephone Directory, 1892
Clark John M. 2000 Prairie av. . . South-557

Chicago Tribune, January 19, 1892

Mrs. Mary E. Clark.
Mrs. Mary E. Clark, mother of John M. Clark, Collector of. the Port of Chicago, died last evening at 8 o’clock at her son’s residence, No. 2000 Prairie avenue. Mrs. Clark was 83 years old.

Chicago Chronicle, April 9, 1896

“BLACK MICHAEL” HOME AGAIN
Joy In Clark Family
Joy reigned supreme in the house of John M. Clark, 2000 Prairie avenue last night because “Black Michael” had returned to the family rooftree

“Black Michael” has been a pet in the Clark family for three months and when he disappeared Tuesday general regret was expressed by everybody from the head of the house down to the hostler. Michael is a Persian kitten only a few months old but he is the most playful of all felines along Prairie avenue Tuesday evening he was missed, and search proving unavailing, Mr Clark placed the following advertisement in a newspaper:

No one came to claim the reward, however, and Black Michael was given up as lost At 9 o’clock last night, as a reporter for The Chronicle ascended the steps leading to the Clark residence, he felt something soft brushing against his leg.

While waiting for the door to be opened Black Michael for it was he, explained his absence.

“You see” he said in choice Arabic, “over at P D Armour’s they have a Maltese cat, and I have been flirting with her for a week. I thought a great deal of Maria, and Tuesday evening I made a call. When I came heme the doors were locked, and I stayed away in a foolish fit of anger until 1 felt compelled to return and assuage the family’s regrets.”

Black Michael was received into the household with evident pleasure and the reward is off.

Chicago Tribune, January 9, 1898

At 2000 Prairie avenue Mrs. M. A. Meyer lives with her sons and daughters. She has been a widow for some time. She is the mother of Mrs. Levy Mayer, who has a home at 1815—one block north.

Chicago Tribune, August 7, 1918

MARSHALL CLARK TAKEN BY DEATH AT SUMMER HOME
John Marshall Clark, pioneer Chicago business man and one of the city’s oldest residents, died at his summer home in Marion, Mass., yesterday at the age of 82.

In addition his large business interests Mr. Clark once took an active interest In politics, being Republican candidate for mayor against Carter Harrison Jr. in 1881. Later he was a member of the board of education, collector of the port of Chicago, and was president of the first board of civil service commissioners in 1898.

Mr. Clark was born at White Pigeon, Mich., in 1836 and came to Chicago in 1847. He started his career as a civil engineer. During the civil war he served as general under Brig. Gen. Stough at the battle of Apache Canon. After the defeat of Lee he returned to Chicago and served variously as director and president of the Chicago Telephone company. He was a member and former president of the Chicago club, also a member of the Calumet and Commercial clubs. The Clark home in Chicago is at 847 North Michigan avenue.

Practical Horse Shoeing

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Horse Shoeing in Chicago
Life Span: 1840-1930
Location: Several
Architect: NA

Lakeside Annual Directory of the City of Chicago, 1904

Gregory James

Sloan David J.

Chicago Chronicle, April 18, 1897

There are more than 1,500 idle blacksmiths and horseshoers in Chicago who attribute their lack of profitable work to the advent of the bicycle. That is the estimate given by the secretary of the Horseshoers’ union, and he has good opportunities of ascertaining whereof he affirms. Not only are these men out of work, but there is little prospect that they will obtain employment for a long time to come. For the most part they are good mechanics, expert in shoeing horses and in the manufacture and repairing of carriages of every description. They are sober and would be industrious if they had the chance. A majority have families dependent upon them for support—aged parents, younger brothers and sisters or wives and children. When they had learned their trade they fancied they were secure against poverty and that as long as health and strength remained they would be able to earn a comfortable living for themselves and their loved ones and lay by a small sum yearly for use in the days when age or infirmity should overtake them. But now, through no fault of their own, they are threatened with want and are compelled to idle away their time as best they can, while their small savings are growing less day by day. They are as competent as ever and can shoe a refractory horse or make the necessary repairs upon a carriage or buggy as skillfully as ever before in their lives. But there are few horses to shoe nowadays and the vehicles that remain in use require less tinkering, for they are not used as much as formerly, and require fewer repairs.

Charged to the Bicycle.
The woes of these artisans are directly traceable to the use of the bicycle. Thousands of young men who in former days were wont to take their best girls on a buggy ride on Sundays, holidays or of a pleasant evening have abandoned the practice. Instead they take a spin over the boulevards mounted on their two-wheeled steeds, either tandem or in pairs. They save money by the change, for they have no livery bills to pay and reck not that the liveryman has been obliged to sell half his stock and seldom has a call for that which remains. Citizens generally who once kept a stable of from two to a dozen horses, with equipages of various sorts, now find that one or two will be sufficient for their needs, for the sons and daughters of the household, and frequently the fathers and mothers and the grandfathers and grandmothers as well, have taken to the wheel as a means of recreation and exercise.

There has not been much diminution in the work of the downtown horseshoeing and wagon repairing shops; scarcely any in the shops owned or controlled by the express and omnibus companies and the leading wholesale houses. A few of the retail merchants have utilized the bicycle for the delivery of small parcels to their customers, and have thus been enabled to dispense with some of their delivery wagons, but as yet the horse has not outlived his usefulness in their service. It is in the residence districts that the bicycle is most in evidence, has got in its most deadly work and has driven the neighboring blacksmith and horseshoer to the verge of bankruptcy and despair. Hyde Park, Englewood, Auburn Park and Woodlawn a score of blacksmith shops have been closed, while many others are kept open merely as a matter of form. The forges, however, cast a less ruddy and more spasmodic glow. than was their wont three or our years ago, and “the boss” himself has taken his place at the anvil. He has fewer journeymen to look after and less work to oversee than he once had, and is looking forward to the advent of the horseless carriage as an event that will complete his ruin.

A Story of Adversity.
A horseshoer in State street who employed more than a dozen men three years ago and had all the work they could do was found yesterday plying his hammer vigorously on an old horseshoe. He paused a moment, wiped the perspiration from his sooty brow and said in a tone of sadness:

“Yes, the bicycles have played the mischief with my business. I used to take in $250 to $300 a week. Now I’m in great luck if I reach $100. I’ve got to do a good deal of work myself in order to meet expenses, for although business has fallen off rents and taxes are the same or greater. I have been living in the hope that the bicycle craze would expend itself and that people would return to their senses. But it seems a hopeless case. Everybody has gone clear crazy over wheels. I really believe the majority have wheels in their heads.

“What do I think of the horseless carriage? Well, it hasn’t got here yet, and I don’t believe it’s coming. But if it should be a success I suppose I’ll have to take my medicine with the rest. It can’t make business much worse than it is. I’m looking into the new machines, and if they are ever generally introduced I predict that there will be lots of accidents—oceans of collisions and breakdowns, which will make work for me. I’d as soon mend a carriage broken by electricity as one smashed by a runaway horse. And I’m going to be up to all the wrinkles when the time comes, if it ever does reach us. But I’m not going to fight windmills; I’ve got enough to do now in fighting to keep pace with the bicycle fever. That’s the only thing worrying me at present. If the mania continues I’ll have to put out a sign ‘Bicycle Tires Inflated Here’ and use my bellows for a pump.”

Having a Hard Struggle.
Three out of the seven forges in a West Lake street blacksmith shop were “dead” when The Chronicle man stepped in at the door. The proprietor, a picture of Vulcan himself, stalwart and muscular, looked moody as he surveyed his surroundings.

“Yes,” he said, with a sigh, “business is dull, and the worst of it is the dull season has only begun. People had to have their horses and buggies when the snow was on the ground, but now that pleasant weather has come I suppose they’ll take to their wheels again. It takes a mighty good man to make expenses in this business nowadays. so many people have sold their rigs and taken to the wheel. No; we get very little bicycle repairing to do. That’s a separate trade, and there are others to do the work. A blacksmith isn’t a success at tinkering bicycles. It isn’t in his line.

“The greatest falling off in my business, he continued, “is in the family trade. Two years ago I had fifty families at least, with from one to three horses each to keep shod, and buggies to keep in repair. I have less than half that number now. All the rest have sold their rigs and invested in wheels. But I am no worse off than my neighbors except that my investments in my business are a little larger. horseless carriages? Well, I suppose they’ll be the next thing to help along the work of driving us out of business. The way things are going is enough to drive a fellow to drink. But I don’t intend to quit the business; I can’t, in fact, for I don’t knew any other, and am forced to struggle along as best I can. It won’t do any good to kick, and so I’ll have to take things as they come.”

Heavy Teaming Not Affected.
At the shops of the express companies, the omnibus lines, and the leading wholesale dealers the customary activity was apparent. The superintendent of one of the largest of these establishments responded in cheerful mood to the reporters inquiries.

“The bicycle mania hasn’t hurt us any as yet, and I don’t see how it can. The large houses must have teams, and heavy ones at that. You can’t use bicycles for teaming heavy goods. The strongest, and largest draught horses in the market are required. We are not fretting, either, about the horseless carriages. They won’t affect us even a little bit. I tell you there’s nothing like horseflesh. It’s both convenient and economical. You can’t supersede it, at least for teaming purposes, unless you have straight, smooth roads, unobstructed by car tracks. Of course, I may live to see the horseless carriage on the boulevards used for purposes of pleasure, but for business in the heart of the city the horse will hold his own.

“Are we busy? Well, I should say so—busier than ever. You see a set of shoes doesn’t last long on granite block pavements such as we have downtown. Our horses have to be shod twice as often as formerly. They need the strictest care, for they are no ordinary plugs. It means a considerable loss when one of our animals goes lame or breaks a leg because of defective shoeing. We employ only the most skillful shoers, and as long as they are sober and attend to business they are sure of a job. Bicycles may have hurt the trade in some classes of work, but they have had no effect here, and I don’t see how they can hurt us if every man, woman and child in the city should get a wheel”.

The keepers of livery tables and the cab drivers are the loudest in their complaints of ruin to their business caused by the bicycle. The demand for the conveyances they have for hire has fallen off from 50 to 75 per cent, and seems to be still decreasing. Boarding stable keepers are also complaining of a decrease in patronage, and they see no immediate prospect of an improvement. But the classes that have suffered the most are the blacksmith, the wheelwright and the carriage-maker and repairer. These have been compelled to curtail expenses by reducing the number of employes, while not a few have been forced out of business altogether.

Chicago Tribune, September 14, 1902

According to the city directory, there are more than 400 horseshoeing shops in Chicago. Two men to a shop means 800 horseshoers. By the rules of the shops, the average shoers should turn out a horse, shod all round, in an hour. And when it is remarked that the life of a set of steel toed shoes on Chicago pavements is from ten to eighteen days for the dray animal, up to thirty days at the most for the animal that is at least and lightest used, something of the magnitude of the work of the shoer is appreciated. On top of these facts is the greater statement that while the work of the horseshoer has been nearly doubled by the demands of the horse owners, no machine possible promises ever to take the place of the man who, with bent back and the hoof in his, drives home the nails that hold the iron to the foot.

To find a horseshoe has been regarded as a lucky omen time out of mind. Today, however, for the finder to recognize a horseshoe every time he sees it is becoming steadily more difficult. Once the horseshoe was an unmistakable quantity; today an up to date dealer in supplies must keep thirty-five styles of rubber shoe pads alone in his stock, while in the shoes themselves they range in weight from five ounces to two pounds each. When it comes to the shapes and materials of these shoes, only the nails that might cling to a lost shoe would serve to identify many of them as being cast from the foot of a horse.

James J. Gregory partnered with Michael Kelley and ran a horseshoeing business named Kelley and Gregory from 1892 to 1893. The business address was 4307 Cottage Grove (1892) and 4315 Cottage Grove (1893). In 1897 the firm changed its name to Daly & Gregory at 417 43d street. 1904 Thomas Jones…

Many Changes in a Generation.
Changes that have come about in the trade of horseshoeing since David E. Russell went to work at it in 1868 have been many. In those days the shoer made his own shoes at the forge and pointed his own nails. There were only wooden pavements or none at all in Chicago streets, and when a set of hand made shoes were tacked on a horse’s feet both the smith and the owner expected that these shoes, “sharpened,” would reset two and perhaps three times before they were worn out. In those days, too, a shoe that weighed a pound was considered heavy for even a dray horse.

Nowadays the machine made horseshoe drops from the machines faster than they can be counted; eighteen days’ wear on the cobblestones will grind a two pound shoe so thin at times that the smiths pulling off might cut his fingers on its edges; nails, stamped and sharpened ready for driving, come to his hand, but chief of his troubles are in the numerous pads of leather and of rubber that have been developed within the last five years and which are increasing in number at a still more alarming rate.

Pads for Horses’ Hoofs.
To the dealer and the smith it looks as if those men without originality enough to invent a new breakfast food or to write a book had turned their attention to patenting rubber cushions that shall keep the horse from slipping on frozen asphalt or boulevards, or prevent his injury from the steady jar that comes from a jog trot over the paving stones. The rubber companies almost everywhere have gone into the making of these pads, some being a distinct pad laid on the hoof and nailed to it with the nails that pass through the iron shoe; others showing an iron shoe with the rubber molded into it on the bottom and covered next to the hoof with layers of canvas to prevent the heating the hoof.

With the advent of these pads of rubber and with the increase in the size of the bars from which the shoes are made, a big dray horse of today weighs a good deal more than he would have weighed thirty years ago. The rubber pad on one foot will weigh a pound and a half; the shoe to correspond will weigh two pounds. Thus, allowing for the four feet, a big draft horse carrier fourteen pounds of rubber and iron on his feet, and the lifting of these weights through a long day’s drive involves an energy approaching the capacity of a steam engine of no mean proportions.

Looks Like a Torture Chamber.
“The man who shod horse in Chicago thirty years ago and who should return to it now,” said David Russell, “would think he had struck some kind of torture chamber in the ordinary downtown shop. He couldn’t stand under the work for all day. ‘Bull shoeing,’ we call it. Take a man even from one of the outlying shops in the city and he would break down before night. As a rule a drayman whose horse loses a shoe in the outskirts of the city where light horses usually are shod finds difficulty in getting his shoe put on. If he has the shoe that the horse cast he may get the work done; otherwise the smith is more likely to say that he hasn’t a shoe in the shop that will fit the horse.”

In the Russell shop virtually everything is heavy shoeing. The South Water street and the big machine shop sections are close at hand, and it os no uncommon thing for a team drawing a load of 13,000 pounds to stop before the shop for the purpose of having a shoe tacked on a horse.

With this class of horse the smith has much trouble, aside from the hard work. In the first place, pads are used on the feet of nearly half of these animals, and to suit the owner or driver in a particular brand of pad is by no means easy. Somebody has told him of a pad that beats the one he has been using for so long, and if that especial pad is not in the list of stock the driver frequently looks through the whole range for something like it before he finally decides to use the pad that he had before.

Difficulties of the Shoe’s Work.
Fitting an iron shoe to a rubber pad instead of fitting it to a horse’s foot direct requires a good deal of skill and judgement, and when both have been fitted the problem of finding enough hoof to nail them becomes an even greater proposition in so many cases.

For in driving on one of these heavy shoes a corresponding heavy nail is used, and as the shoe that is discarded may not have been on the foot for longer than two weeks the difficulty of avoiding the old nail holes is to be considered. In general in shoeing these great animals the nail is driven as far up the shell of the hoof as is possible, often coming out at the clinching point full two inches above the bottom of the hoof. In the country shop today this “hold” of the nail is not more than five-eighths of an inch, and as a horse under such conditions can wear a shoe for four weeks the hoof by that time has grown till in fitting the new shoe the smith cuts out the old nail holes.

Mr. Russell said:

This weakening of hoofs by nailing is so great, that if a drayman’s horse loses a shoe at Twenty-second street and he drives the animal this far without it we find mighty little hoof left to hold a nail. No driver who is wise will drive a block if he can help it without having a lost shoe tacked on.

For a man who uses a dray team every working day of the year, he can hardly hope to escape a shoeing bill of at least $55; if he insists on pads with the shoes the bill will be from $75 to $80 a year.

With the driving horses the shoeing bill will be just what the driver wishes it to be. In most cases, however, he will insist on the rubber pad, as in winter especially the asphalt streets of the city become slippery until a horse cannot hold his feet. Frequently, with a driving horse, the rubber plate shoes behind must be changed in ten days, and in front they will scarcely last twenty days if the horse be driven every day.

In the experience of Mr. Russell, the horse of the present is much more easily handled in the shop than was the horse of thirty years ago.

Mr. Russell says while stepping cautiously toward a medium sized gray horse, which with new shoes and oiled hoofs, stood close to the door:

But not all horses are angels yet. This horse is 28 years old, and he has been coming here to be shod for fourteen years. He is full of metal, and occasionally he reaches out for one of us as we come up. But we know how to take him and we have no fault to find with him—whoa, Bill.

Horses That Cause Trouble.
Russell had stepped up to the horse’s head, passed down the right side of the animal, and lifted the hind foot, when without a second’s warning the creature struck out a kick that would have killed a man in reach of the steel toed shoe.

Yes—whoa, Bill—we know his tricks. We can hobble a young horse and cure him of that sort of thing in a little while, but the old horse will die that way.

As an indication of the evolution of the horseshoeing shop it may be remarked that no shop of any size can get along now without the telephone. Employers must use it to keep in touch with their drivers while they are waiting for the shoeing to be done, for often messages regarding loads and loading are imperative. Then the instrument is of especial use to the customer who may wish to find out how crowded the shop is at a certain time.

Up to the present horseshoeing has been a growing industry in Chicago. How far the automobile may effect it remains to be seen. But the fact that hand labor probably always will be necessary in horseshoeing makes it improbable that the horseshoers of the city soon will decrease materially in numbers.

Chicago Tribune, July 31, 1904

If the gaunt, tired eyed street car horse, which for years slipped and stumbled over the uneven pavements of Chicago’s downtown streets, could observe the foot-gear provided for well kept horses to-day, he would feel that he hadn’t received is just deserts. And he would have just cause for complaint. A few years ago the function of the horseshoer was simply to rivet a bar of iron to the hoof with little or no regard for the purpose it was to serve. The result was that a whole lot of horses were incompetently fitted as regards their footgear, and they were left to pick out the most assuring path in the pavement and trust to luck or the intervention of Providence to keep them on their feet. The horse-shoer felt little or no responsibility beyond the competent placing of the shoe. He didn’t care much whether it was the sort of a shoe the horse ought to have or not. He “shod” the animal and sent it back to the barn.

David J. Sloan, horseshoer at 4007-4009 Wentworth, about 1904. The Knickerbocker Ice Company was a large ice distributor and had stations throughout the city.

Today, however, the horseshoer goes about his work in a vastly different fashion. He makes a careful study of his business and knows absolutely the style of shoe a horse needs to best aid it in the work to which it is put. The present day horseshoer is something of a specialist. He doesn’t conclude the moment a horse 1s brought to him that all it needs is a set of shoes, but sets to work to find out the condition of the horse’s feet, and then forms the shoe to meet the specific requirements of the hoof, taking into consideration shape, deficiencies, and deformities. That is why the horse of the present day, particularly the city horse, has it on the one which traveled the pavement in years gone by.

City Shoeing Complicated.
Shoeing city horses is an occupation which presents any number of interesting and complicated angles to the brawny men engaged in this line of work. The country horse does not call for so much attention in this direction, for the reason that its hoofs come into contact with soft earth, or, at the worst, country roads. It has its daily frolics in open pastures, and, if shod at all, an ordinary set of shoes will do.

The city horse is a much different propositon. Its feet have absolutely no relief from jarring and stiffening contact with hard, unelastic pavements, and unless great care is exercised in caring for the feet the owner is apt to discover in a short time that he 1s burdened with a cripple, This is true of horses of every description from the heavy craft animals utilized in traffic to the high stepping roadster which is valuable for style only.

Unique Methods Used.
Up to date horseshoers, realizing the business value of protecting and safeguarding the hoof, have devised several unique schemes, each of which has proved of value. Most of them are meant particularly for fine driving horses, but the traffic animal also has come in for consideration and has profited immensely by the spirit of humane invention. The task of securing new shoes for a horse today is not unlike fitting the human foot. The horseshoer has outgrown the idea that any shoe will do for every horse, and is as careful to provide a “good fit ” as the shoe salesman who caters to the most exacting customers. He realizes that, with a horse traveling constantly over hard pavement, it is only a question of a short time until lameness develops unless the shoes are properly and accurately set, and when this occurs it reflects damagingly upon his ability as a workman. That is why the city horse today is something of an aristocrat in the matter of the attention that is paid to its feet.

One of the schemes devised for the protection of a horse’s feet is a leather pad, which entirely covers the lower portion of the hoof, outside of the shoe. This relieves the jar when the foot ls brought down on the pavement and has been found to be of great value. If a horse is afflicted with particularly tender feet the space between the pad and the hoof may be packed, so as to afford additional relief. This system of shoeing is employed for both draft and carriage horses, but is more available for use on the former, which are not called upon for
speed.

Rubber Pad for Asphalt.
Another benefit the horse has reaped through the study that has been devoted to his business by the horseshoer is sureness of foot when traveling over slippery pavement. Asphalt is particularly treacherous, and it is no uncommon sight on a rainy day to see five or six horses fall in a walk of three or four blocks. To counteract this condition the horseshoer has invented a rubber pad which fts over the shoe and prevents slipping. Owing to the cost of these they are not generally used except for driving horses owned by men who are particularly solicitous for their welfare.

Shoes have been perfected for practically every aliment to which the horse’s foot is heir, and animals which years ago would have been discarded as cripples now travel about in easy fashion, with their afflictions unnoticeable. The greatest problem confronting the horseshoer in cities today is maintaining the hoof in such condition that it may be utilized time and again in resetting shoes. The character of city streets makes it necessary, that shoes should be fastened on securely, otherwise they will be wrenched off before the horse has traveled many blocks. When this occurs repeatedly the hoof naturally wears down until it frequently is a difficult matter to find sufficient holding space for the nails.

Handwork Still Best.
The horseshoer is one of the few craftsmen who has been able to meet the competition of machinery and still make his handwork stand out over that accomplished by invention. In years gone by all horseshoes were made by hand. Progress, however, brought forward the machine made product and such shoes are used in large numbers. But owners of fine horses, which require particular work, prefer the hand made product and in shops where valuable driving horses are given thetr footgear the machine made shoe is not generally used.

The Lakeside Annual Business Directory of the City of Chicago for 1907

Inter Ocean, September 5, 1909

MOTOR CARS REPLACE HORSES.
When the automobile made its advent into industrial history, It was undoubtedly looked upon as a thing of pleasure and luxury, It is. doubtful whether the frst builders realized to what extent It would eventually enter into the commercial world as a new means of transportation, and it Is only In more recent years that one has heard much comment upon the automobile as an industrial economy and a business necessity.

Professional men, probably physicians, were first to find out that a small motor car is not only practical, but that one properly designed and constructed is actually cheaper to maintaln and more reliable than the horse and buggy,

Few people are interested in generalities when it comes to buying an automobile, especially for business use. One might make any number of assertions to the end of proving that the automobile is cheaper than the horse-drawn vehicle and convince no one while a single working demonstration would bring about the desired conviction.

Rural mail carriers do not receive large wages bf any means, but they must have some means of transportation. The small motor car is proving more practical for their use than-the horse-drawn vehicle. Here is one example which will serve to Illustrate the point. W. A. Johnson, a rural carrier in Ottawa, Kan., decided after careful investigation, that a small automobile would answer his purpose better than his three horses and wagon. As a result, he purchased a Brush runabout complete a total outlay of $610, which was only a little more than he had invested in horses and equipment.

The route Mr. Johnson covers is covers is twenty-five miles long and is through the hilly country west of Ottawa. Not only are the roads rough, but the hills are real hills. On the route, Mr. Johnson has eighty-four mail boxes to make each day, and he covers this run with ease in three hours in his runabout. It was a big day’s work with horses.

Mr. Johnson has always kept close account of his expense for maintaining his machine and finds that it is costing him Just $61.80 a year to run It. His repairs so far have amounted to less than $10.

This is, of course, much cheaper than he could keep even one horse, and he has more than one-half of? his time to devote to anything he pleases, He says, “The little car I am driving is proving very reliable in every way, and I would not think of going back to the use of horses for my work.”

So It seems to be with thousands of physicians, contractors, mall carriers, salesmen, farmers, and in fact every one who has given up the horse and buggy for a small runabout like the Brush.

NOTES:

¹ James Jacob Gregory (January 13, 1865-May 5, 1907), Resided at 4323 Cottage Grove.

Stag Athletic Club

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Printers’ Row

Stag Athletic Club, Commonwealth Edison Sub-Station (1904)
Life Span: 1897-Present
Location: 77-79 Plymouth (Old), 521 South Plymouth Court
Architect:

No Listing Found

Chicago Tribune, October 12, 1897

From all points of view the new athletic club which is being formed in Chicago under the name of the “Stag Amateur Athletic club,” is likely to prove an important issue in various branches of sports.

The club, which has been the pet idea of Harry Romaine for some time, was only broached last Thursday, and it was immediately seized upon as a feasible scheme by the parties to whom the idea was imparted. Measures were at once begun to put the plan in operation, and as a result nearly 600 members have signed the lists, a site has been selected, and plans are nearly ready for submission.

It is proposed to have 1,000 members at $10 each and when that number is secured to raise the initiation fee, the amount of which has not been decided.
The club will be patterned after the big athletic clubs, but is in no way competing against any of the local organizations, and its purpose is to allow those in moderate circumstances to become members.

That there are a large number of people In Chicago desirous of entering a club and who are fond of such athletic sports as boxing and wrestling is the main reason given for forming the club.

Locate in Plymouth Place.
Harry Romaine and Billy Myer have had their eyes on several locations for the club quarters, but as several were out of the question they decided on 77 and 79 Plymouth place as the site, and already have had plans drawn for remodeling the building into a comfortable clubhouse.

The chief feature will be the gymnasium, 100 by 50 feet, which will be fitted up with all the modern paraphernalia and all the latest contrivances intended to put muscle upon the body.

In the basement there will be the tanks, baths, and bowling alleys, while on the upper floorg will be arranged a handball court and training quarters. Members will not suffer for want of a boxing instructor, for several well known boxers have been spoken to with a view towards obtaining a first-class man to take charge of that department. Among them are Choynski and Tommy Ryan. It is thought that Choynski will accept.

No professional goes, it is said, will be allowed, as it is the idea of the club to give matches of a limited number of rounds under the rules of the Amateur Athletic union, in which organization the new club will ask for membership. It will try to bring out the best local amateur talent in Chicago and other cities.

The opening nights it is proposed to hold tournament of matches. Bag punching and wrestling will also be a feature of the program.

Romaine said regarding the proposed club last evening:

To Hold Amateur Bouts.
“We are not competing against any of the local clubs, such as the C. A. A., but have started the club with the idea of forming an organization which those in moderate circumstances can join and help to foster athletic sports of all kinds.

“The boxing matches will be merely tests of science and will not in any way be slugging matches, as we will bring them off under the A. A. U. rules and we hope that this will be an incentive to the amateur boxers of Chicago.

“The club has already, a large number of men on its lists and we have applications from many more. Several Board of Trade men will join and I expect a number of C. A. A. men will also become members.

“We will be governed by the A. A. U. rules and will also have the usual bylaws and rules.”

The club will apply for incorporation papers and it will probably be a month before the doors of the new club swing open to its members.

Romaine says neither Hankins nor M. C. McDonald is connected with the new club, although Hankins has sent in an application. Colonel J. D. Hopkins has applied, as has also Malachy Hogan.

Chicago Chronicle, October 14, 1897

STAG ATHLETIC CLUB.
New Building Under Way.
Work has been commenced on the building of the new Stag Amateur Athletic club. The ground has been leased from the R. J. Gunning company and the contractor began work yesterday. The new building, which will be at 77 and 79 Plymouth place, will be modeled after the modern athletic clubhouses and will cost when completed $50,000. The work will be pushed to the utmost and will be finished in less than thirty days.

The new club will be opened to its members Nov. 10, when a large reception will be held. The charter membership promises to reach 1,000.

The first floor will be fitted up with club-rooms, a handball court and a gymnasium 150 feet long and 50 feet wide. In the basement will be a swimming tank, Turkish baths, dressing-rooms and bowling alleys. The second floor will be given to an exhibition hall, with a seating capacity of 1,700 In addition to these the club will have a billiard and pool room and a large cafe.

“Billy” Meyers has been engaged as instructor in boxing and other trainers will be engaged for the opening of the club.

Chicago Tribune, September 15, 1903

STRONG MAN-IN FURNITURE WAREHOUSE
steady work; good wages. Spiegle’s House Furnishing Co., 77 and 79 Plymouth-pl.

Inter Ocean, November 20, 1904

The Chicago Edison company has purchased from William Patterson the property at 71-79 Plymouth place, 50×100 feet, with two story building, for $80,000, as against a board of review valuation of $65,500 for last year. The company will utilize the property as site of one of its branch stations.

Chicago Tribune, December 3, 1904

The facility with which business can be done under the Torrens system was illustrated yesterday in the purohase of the property at 77-79 Plymouth court by the Chicago Edison company, the transaction, Including two conveyances and a trust deed to secure $40.000 of the purchase money, consuming less than an hour.

William M. Patterson first conveyed the property to Frederick A. Sadier for $80,000, and the latter after executing the trust deed transferred the holdings to the Edison company for the same consideration as in the first conveyance.

The property fronts fifty feet, with a depth of 100 feet, and is improved with a two story brick building. This will be replaced by a three story building, to be used as a substation by the company. The sale of the ground was estimated to be on the baste of $1,044 a front foot and $10.14 a square foot.

COMMONWEALTH EDISON SUBSTATION
521 S. Plymouth Ct. (near Harrison St.)

Equipped for DC 1906, rotary converters 25 hertz, owned by Chicago City Railway. Served surface lines only.

Originally installed 1 1,200 kilowatt rotary converter, total 1,200 kilowatts. 1908 added 1 1,200 kilowatt rotary converter from 20th Street, total 2,400 kilowatts.

Remains a Commonwealth Edison substation, decommissioned as CTA substation.

Star Accident Insurance Building

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Printers’ Row

Star Accident Insurance Building, Morton Building, Hotel Morton, 538 S. Dearborn Building
Life Span: 1896-Present
Location: 352-360 Dearborn (Old), 538 South Dearborn Street
Architect:: Jenney & Muncie

Lakeside Annual Directory of the City of Chicago, 1904

Star Bldg.

Chicago Tribune, June 5, 1896

THE STAR ACCIDENT CO., CHICAGO.
To Move Into a New Building-A Record of Eleven Years.
There is probably no better known accident insurance company in the country than the Star of Chicago. In its eleven years of active business its policies have reached every state in the Union and Canada. It is now the oldest accident company, and today stands at the head of the mutuals. Every year has marked some advance in its history. It has kept apace with the requirements of the public and the necessities of the times. Every year some new hazard is brought to the attention of the public, and must be provided for by the accident insurance policy. Electricity, bicycling, trolley car, etc., must all be given attention.

The Star has at all times endeavored to give its members the best protection for the least money. How well it succeeded in its eleven years the following statement shows:
In 1884 it paid $260.71 in claims; in 1885, $1,855.53; In 1886, $5,265.23; in 1887, $24,859; in 1888, $45,408: in 1889, $70,819; 1890, $65,383.59; 1891, $85,250; in 1892, $84,423; in 1893, $114,131; In 1894, $71,982.41; 1895, $72,359.20.

In 1896 Secretary Quincy informs us the policy of the Star will be changed, and will cover a much wider field of action than in the past.

The new building of the Star Accident Company, at Nos. 352, 354, and 356 Dearborn street, where the company will move on the 1st of May, is one of the finest twelve-story buildings in the city. The company will occupy the entire third floor, and as much additional space as will be required for the extended operations of the future.

During the year 1895 the company has written over ten millions of business, paid over seventy-two thousand dollars to its members for injuries, and closes the year with over fifty-two millions of business on its books. There was not one claim due and unpaid at the end of the year, and a surplus of twenty-one thousand in cash and in interest-bearing bonds to the credit of the company.

The accompanying cut represents the new building, which is a credit to the insurance interests of Chicago.

Chicago Chronicle, July 26, 1896

The newly erected Star Accident Insurance building, 352-356 Dearborn street, will be managed by Harberer & Delosse.

Inter Ocean, October 17, 1897

State of Realty Field.
A loan of $140,000, at 4½ per cent, for a term of years has been effected by C. C. Heisen on the Star Insurance building, Nos. 352 to 356 Dearborn street, replacing a loan made a year ago for $190,000.

Inter Ocean, March 28, 1909

Former Vice President Levi P. Morton of New York has bought the Star building, at 352-4-6 Dearborn street, from George H. Wilson of Chicago and L. H. Cheeseman of Detroit, Mich. The consideration named in the deed is $1, the purchaser assuming incumbrances amounting to $180,000 and transferring other property in part payment. Callistus S. Ennis & Co. and Walter H. Wilson & Co. negotiated the several deals necessary to consummate the sale.

The Star building is a twelve story and basement steel construction, fireproof structure, occupying fifty feet frontage on Dearborn street and extending through to Federal place, a depth of about sixty-seven feet. It was built by C. C. Hetsen about fourteen years ago.

Chicago Central Business and Office Building Directory, 1922

Chicago Tribune, November 27, 1985

Buildings to become hotel
Paul Stepan & Associates completed the purchase of the Morton and Duplicator buildings at 522-538 S. Dearborn St., Chicago. Stepan plans to combine and renovate the two structures into an 85,000-square-foot 140-room hotel to be operated by The Management Group.

Chicago Tribune, August 17, 1986

MORTON HOTEL SET IN S. LOOP
The Philipsborn Co. of Chicago has arranged an $8.15 million open-end construction loan for the renovation-construction of the Morton Hotel in the South Loop Printers Row area.

Work on the 135-room hotel at 524 S. Dearborn St. will include renovation of the 12-story Morton Building and the nine-story Duplicator Building and construction of a third building. Both existing buildings are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The hotel is being developed by Morton Hotel Partners, a limited partnership. The architect is Booth Hansen & Associates of Chicago and the general contractor is W.E. O`Neil Construction Co. of Chicago.

The Chicago-based Management Group will handle operations at the hotel, scheduled for occupancy early next year.

The Morton Hotel at 524 S. Dearborn St. i the South Loop will combine two renovated historic buildings with new construction. It is scheduled to open early next year.

Chicago Tribune, January 25, 1987

By Karl Plata
The Hotel Morton is both new and old, both high-tech and traditional.

The recently opened hotel at 500 S. Dearborn St was created by an $18 million joining and rehabilitation of the 100-year-old Duplicator and Morton Buildings.

The aim of the new downtown hotel is to combine the latest in high-tech features with the’ old-fashioned personal service of a small hotel.

During a last-minute rush to open the first 74 rooms on Dec. 31, sales director Terri Hoffman; helped by making beds. (Another 36 rooms are ‘ scheduled to open in September and the balance, of the 163 rooms are scheduled to be completed by the year-end.)

When a visitor recently approached the hotel in the South Loop’s Printers Row area, a uniformed doorman opened the door with a cheerful welcome. Just inside, the concierge took his coat and directed him to the small but comfortable lobby. During a tour of the facilities, officials exchanged pleasantries with workers putting the finishing touches on the first phase of the hotel.

“You’re not just a number here, you’re a person,” said M.P. (Mif) Whittlesey, regional sales director for the Chicago-based Management1 Group Inc., which operates and co-owns the Hotel Morton with Paul Stepan & Associates of Chicago. “We work on name recognition so we will get that repeat business.

“When a guest returns, the employees will know his name and they will know his idiosyncrasies.”

The hotel was considered a risky venture by some industry observers because of its location and the proximity of the huge and recently renovated Chicago Hilton and Towers a few blocks ftwfty After only a couple of weeks of being open, the Hotel Morton has been achieving a 50 percent occupancy rate.

“In January, in Chicago, that’s very good,” Whittlesey said. “There was a hesitancy at first because people did not want to go to a hotel they didn’t know,” he said. Hoffman said the hotel has attracted just the clientele it was seeking: people with business in the growing LaSalle-Wacker Drive financial and service district and visitors to the burgeoning ‘ residential development in the South Loop.

Despite the skeptics, Management Croup officials were convinced the new hotel would work. “There is a lack of hotel rooms of that nature in the area, a small, intimate hotel,” said C.A. Bud Cataldo, president of Management Group.

“The Hilton is a major convention-type hotel, and a lot of businessmen prefer to have a small, intimate property that doesn’t have conventioneers. There really isn’t anything of that nature on the upper scale in the downtown or. South Loop areas. We thought that was the first need.

“The other thing is the burgeoning area: the South Dearborn, Dearborn Park areas, Printers Row that is just starting to explode with yuppie residential, the renovation of Dearborn Station, One Financial Place. There’s a lot of very positive happenings.

“We felt it was the future area for development in downtown Chicago as an alternative to being Near North and Gold Coast” Cataldo said Stepan and the Management Group decided on the rehab project because the price was right for a relatively small hotel.

“It was a project that was not too large in scale but yet would offer that convenience.

“Thus far, all of our advance bookings indicate the financial community feels the same way about it It’s about as close as you can get without tearing down some big buildings.

“We feel we’re going to have a blend of both the commercial business and the residential who are moving into the area. The River City development is finally starting to take off and I think I there’s a lot of new residential that will continue to grow area new shopping and the Dearborn Station.

“I think it’s going to be a very healthy and viable community.”

Hoffman said local residents have accepted the hotel .wd have referred it to visiting friends and relatives.

“We’ve had a tremendous response from the neighborhood,” Hoffman said. “It’s like their hotel. People who live, in the neighborhood were wanting oy, watching the progress.”

Whittlesey said the hotel also has had good response from small groups attending functions at nearby museums and conventions, although the hotel is not actively seeking convention business.

He said a major attraction is rooms that don’t look like they belong in a hotel.

“You have, more of a feeling of being in someone’s guest room,” he said.

Each room, with its 12-foot ceilings, features two original works of art on the walls, a video cassette player, a television, two telephones and a fully stocked bar. A Pierre Cardin bathrobe is in each room. Eighty percent of the rooms have king-size beds and 20 percent have double beds. Prices range from $110 to $140 for a single and $130 to $160 for a double.

Amenities include 24-hour room service, a complimentary full breakfast, complimentary cocktails and concierge service. Complimentary limousine service is provided throughout the downtown area.

The concierge can get video tapes from nearby rental businesses until the hotel develops its own tape library for guests.

The hotel also provides credit cards for its guests to use at nearby restaurants, with the charges to be added to their bills. The second phase of the construction project will include a full-service, first-class restaurant, although the hotel already has a full-service kitchen in operation for catered events.

Hotel officials are especially proud of the computerized instant checkout service provided for guests who register with credit cards. Guests will be able to tie into the computer via the televisions in their rooms to get an up-to-the-minute look at the charges.

Bohemian Brewing Company

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Chicago Breweries

Bohemian Brewing Company, Atlas Brewing Co., Atlas Beverage Co.
Life Span: 1891-TBD
Location: 684 to 706 Blue Island avenue, corner Twenty-first street
Architect: NA

Lakeside Business Directory of the City of Chicago, 1892

Bohemian Brewing Co. of Chicago,

Lakeside Business Directory of the City of Chicago, 1899
Atlas Brewing Co. 680-706 Blue Island av.

Lakeside Annual Directory of the City of Chicago, 1904
Atlas Brewing Co. 680 to 706 Blue Island av. tel. Canal-966 and 967

Lakeside Business Directory of the City of Chicago, 1907
Atlas Brewing Co. 706 Blue Island av.

Lakeside Business Directory of the City of Chicago, 1911
Atlas Brewing Co. 2107-2129 Blue Island av. tel Canal-967

Inter Ocean, December 22, 1891

PURE BOHEMIAN BEER.
The Bohemian Brewing Company had an opening reception yesterday at their new and splendidly equipped brewery, Nos. 684 to 706 Blue Island avenue, corner Twenty-first street, when, from 2 until 7 p. m. a constant stream of visitors from all over the city inspected it. Chicago has at last a brewery which makes a pure malt and hop Bohemian Pilsener beer equal to the best imported Bohemian Pilsener, with all its characteristics of body and flavor. They do not intend to compete with the concerns making inferior beer at cheap prices, but, making the best as they do, to charge a fair price. In the spring they will commence bottling, and have already received heavy orders. The officers are well-known West Siders, John Kralovec being president, Charles Vopicka vice president and secretary, and Otto Kubin treasurer.

Chicago Chronicle, January 1, 1897

The Atlas Brewing Company,
Which has built up an excellent business since its establishment in 1889, is one of the best equipped breweries in Chicago. Its annual capacity is 150,000 barrels. The popular brands of its brewing are the “Genuine Bohemian Lager,” “Granat,” “Pilsen.” Still another brand, which will not have its equal in its high grade qualities, will be put on the market this year. The offers are Charles J. Vopicka, president; Otto Kubin, secretary and treasurer,

Inter Ocean, January 1, 1902

Atlas Brewing Company.
Few of the Chicago breweries have had such a prosperous year as the Atlas BrewIng company of 680 to 706 Blue Island avo. nue, which under the capable administration of President Charles J. Vopicka increased Its output to such a gratifying extent that the management was compelled to increase its storage capacity considerably.

Otto Kubin, secretary and treasurer of the Atlas Brewing company, reports an increased demand for the firm’s product among the out-of-town trade, which has reached al. most twice its former proportions. During the past season the Atlas Brewing company made a decided hit with its tonic specialty, manufactured from pure malt, hops, and pepsin, and which has become exceedingly popular under the name of “Pettomaltine.

The Atlas Brewing company Is equipped with all the latest improved machinery necessary for manufacturing the high-class products which aro making the company’s output justly popular, and the management is more than pleased to have interested vis. itors examine the complete plant and ob. serve what care and Ingredients are employed in the manufacture of its product.

1914 Atlas Brewing Company

Prohibition Era

Atlas Beverage Company produced a series of beautiful advertisements to promote their beer during the prohibition years.

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