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December 14, 1928 WILMETTE LIFB · No. 7 of a -afaowiq why Meb~itan Chicqo Juu IW1'J toailrility of '*omlq the world'a fomnolt ~ caLt.T- '" ~twn cu weU a.s in bade lml*tanc:c-afttl that '" 4 uy Tclatlwly Ull'. t..llq Series on ·Metropolitan Chicago · · 4 authoritiea trcdict fi#Uat. tniUimL Mulatt.m for Matrotolttn CJrica&o witlri· &ifcUtM. · WHY CHICAGO .DID NOT PAY THE RAILROADS TO COME HERE II ID you know that, in the early days of railroading, many cities desiring railroad transportation found it necessary to he1p pay the cost of bringing in railroad facilities? It is a significant fact that Chicago paid practically nothing to attract the railroads! The railroad builders realized that Chicago They brought their formed the logical hub for rail transportation. _ tracks here voluntarily~ The reasons are clear-cut and easily understood. every 23::1' min.u tes. ore than one-tenth of all the freight car loadings and unload· ings of the United States take place in Me·tropoli tan Chi· cago! Within a five hundred mile circle of this city is located 70 per cent .of the coun· try·s railroad tracbge. Chicago offered a strategic, central location ··· easy of access ··· free from mountain barriers. Chicago was recognized as a natural economic cen· ter, in the very heart of America·s richest agricultural region -a region also abounding in valuable mineral resources. Chicago represented the ideal meeting place for rail and water. In the handling of freight alone, over n. ·utWOTit of rAilroodJ Withi" 500 ·tla of Oakqo, from War Depcartme"t majl. S.W,.ty ,_ 80,000 people are em· ""t of the COK"ttoJ'· railroad trod&ac· u '" tJau Af& ployed in Metropoli· · tan Chicago-more These very things than the entire popula· which attracted the railroads have played a tion of Rockford or East St. Louis. vital part in Chicago's miraculous growth. To anyone who has studied the facts, it is And added to these nature-given advan· not surprising that Metropolitan Chicago tages we now enjoy the good fortune of has grown, in less than one hundred years, possessing rail f~cilitits unequalled by from a trading post to a metropolis of any other city in the world! 4!1 million people. Railroads ··· location ··· ·agricultural and mineral resourcesTwenty-five railroad companies operate these are but a few of the reasons. 37 railroad lines terminating in ·Metro· To anyone who looks into the future, politan Chicago and interconnected here it is clear that Metropolitan Chicago by belt line railroads. A passenger train may well become the world's foremost enters and leaves Chicago every minute of metropolitan center, in both population . and trade importance. the day and night, and a freight train PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY OF NORTHERN ILLINOIS Supplying Electricity and Gas to 6.000 square milts. including the Metropolitan Area into which Chicago i.s growing. ··MctTo,-oUtan Cflfc:aco Includes th.e City of Chicago and the hnitory within SO to 75 mUu of Uaa CJatcaao CUy Hall. · ·