One For The Road: Happy Birthday, Charles Yerkes
By Samantha Abernethy in Arts & Entertainment on Jun 25, 2012 10:40PM
Charles Yerkes was a controversial robber baron figure in Chicago in the 1880s, and he was born on this date in 1837. The businessman moved to Chicago in 1881 and used ruthless, reckless tactics to consolidate control over the young Chicago transit system. According to Chicago "L":
Yerkes, in his own words, liked to "buy up old junk, fix it up a little, and unload it upon other fellows." Although this might be somewhat of an exaggeration - his railways were usually better off after he'd managed them than before - but certainly his robber baron philosophies had not earned him many allies in the city government or in the press. In 1899, Yerkes had attempted to secure a no-cost extension to one of his street railway lines for a period of one hundred years. Yerkes was accused of handing out over a million dollars in bribes to secure the passage of his franchise and during the City Council meeting a mob surrounded City Hall, demanding that Yerkes be repudiated. If Yerkes did bribe the aldermen, it was to no avail; the proposal was voted down. Politically and socially ostracized for his "rapacity," Yerkes left Chicago in 1900.
Yerkes also donated to the University of Chicago to establish the Yerkes Observatory in Williams Bay, Wis., and one of the craters on the moon was named after him. It wasn't necessarily because he was a big fan of astronomy or philanthropy, though. According to the Yerkes Observatory website, it was more of a PR move.
Playing to Yerkes' vanity, [astronomer George Ellery] Hale tells him of the recognition that James Lick earned by building his observatory. Yerkes' name will be remembered for all times if he builds the largest telescope ever. Furthermore, Hale tells him, the mounting and tube can be finished in time to be displayed at the Columbian Exposition that will open in May, 1893.All of this goes to Yerkes' head and he agrees to buy the disks and the telescope mounting. He likes the idea of putting his name on something that will be "the biggest in the world". "I don't care what the cost, send me the bill!", he announces to the local journalists. The papers claim he will spend a million dollars to "lick the Lick."