Excerpt from The Chicago Public Library: A Handbook The exterior is of Bedford limestone with a granite base. The foundation rests on piles, the tops of which are driven to an average depth of 74 feet below the side walk. The walls are of solid masonry construction, and the floors are of steel beams and hollow tile arches. The building is practically incombustible. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.