The most important problem, however, which the works to be
undertaken--and which must of necessity be soon commenced--will have
to solve, is not one of wharf accommodation or of increased facilities
of commerce. It is the better disposal of the sewage of the city, the
system in use at present being inadequate, and growing more and more
imperfect as the city and its population increase. During the early
days of Chicago, and indeed long after, the sewage question was
treated with primitive simplicity, and with a complete disregard of
sanitary laws.

The river and the lake in front of the city were close at hand and
convenient to receive all the discharge from the drains that flowed
into them. But this condition of things had to come to an end, for the
lake supplied the population with water, and it became too
contaminated for use. To obtain even this temporary relief involved
much of the ground level of the city being raised to a height of 14
ft. above low water, a great undertaking carried out a number of years
ago. To obtain an adequate supply of pure water, Mr. E.S. Chesborough,
the city engineer, adopted the ingenious plan of driving a long tunnel
beneath the bed of the lake, connected at the outer end to an inlet
tower built in the water, and on shore to pumping engines. This plan
proved so successful that it is now being repeated on a larger scale,
and with a much longer tunnel, to meet the increased demands of the
large population.

But to improve the sanitary condition of the city has been a much more
difficult undertaking, as may be gathered from the following extract
from an official report: "The present sanitary condition calls loudly
for relief. The pollution of the Desplaines and the Illinois Rivers