New-York tribune., 1871-09-07
CuIOAGO AND A SUBURB.

nHRDENING AND A PRECOCloUs VlLLAus'
IFRoM OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,
CHICAGO eAug. 29.-lt was mehtloheu III Va"
d0.cr,nton Of the proceedings OF the convention u
,., Coneee protessors last week. that sn ex'
or.,or made nv them 10 view some landscape G"F
IN the vicinity Of this city would be made tne
a suhaeouent letter. The Convention comprlSeu , lu
,duals from dozen States, including some Ir0in $50
distanoes. to whom Chicago was entirely new ~
hd No. saen II for several years. And TO Anyway ~
1 Nv. w on Chicaoo within at least Ave years. 1t is
- oroa, extent a new and scarcely recognlLaoe
citv All the world knows that there was nO'nne 49,
Indian trading post OH its site rev uecaueS" "eV' "
not the fault of the press all the world does no'
also Of its recent improvements: It's Lake l"uuel on"
Cr,h for water supply it's Calumet River lmproVeuen
81 Ch,cooo. its street tunnels under the Chicago
p,a IN the cty proper its reversal Of the now o In
river 40 that 1t runs from the Lake instead OF to"u "
and Its Breakwater, prominent feature oi 'ue
erwise monotonous lake view. But theTe al' o' ,o:
cities and recent improvements that, though VI
sort are subjects Of pride the inhabitants an" OF
est to visitors. ia
Cb,c.Vo "a the embodiment Of the Northwest hao
that entire section Of country set OF 10 ouilo io ee
somethng which should exactly syrrDohze IN WOOD anu
stone the characteristics Of the people, couo nave
succeedod no better than it has in this CITY, Chahge;
alteratiop Improvement these are the nxeo laws ol
o1,s,epoe alike OF the city and its inhabitants AS to
the latter the very boOblack has more than one IRON In
the frehe carries roll OF newspapers under MS ieU
arm while his right busy with the blseking brush one
eves the boot and the other the lookout for pur
ohasars OF newspapers and II the boot covers tender
corns they are liable 10 great sggravanon from the
erstic movements Of the brush And even these oa'ns
sneak with the ore rOtundo Of the region. gen.
tIeman declines their profered services saying
that his boots have just been bacKeneo;
an urchn gives critical look at the boots and replies
disparagingly: ayes, I see-by another artist" Get
anybody to tell the history Of any OF the more prom
nent men Of the city, 1t is precisely the same thing
In different shape he took great pride In carrying on
two or three sorts Of business at once-perhaps DONG
90 now or he had many ups and downs making Dis
po" in business and losing it in some other that
IA widely different. Nobody seems to think that the
wonderful variations Of fortune, OF success and failure
which the popularity of the place. have anything 10
do with the marvellous way In which men practlcay
educated in any business always ready to plunge
headforemost into any other
The chief architect Of Chicago-whoever he may be
oan say OF IT, in reference to the last Is years. that he
found II wood and leaves 1t stone. One Of the first stone
houses hotel built in in what is now the heart OF
the business portion OF the city, was then caed lay
lors fOly" and for several years afterward Vstors
used to be dragged about through the muddest OF hgn
ways to this and two other "stone foilies
that spranG UP in other parts Of the city, as they
were among the wonders OF the world The mud OF
those days was something utterly unfathOmable even
the that tempests never wrecked
have gone down out Of sight in the thorouEhfares
of Chicago when heaven was all tranquility.
Some OF the most original OF civic expert
ments were tried upon this mud. One was an
attempt to bodily leaving mere dry bitches as
streets. Two difficulties supervened: the excavation
never touched bottom and the bitches were never dry
But cellars became Easements and the citizens reoced
having thus added another story to their buildings
When this plan was decided failure the other ex-
treme was adopted with better success the grade OF
nearly all the streets raised from two to six feet ana
more above their original level depending on their dis
nvf nta uQ N
buildings which by time largely constructed
Of stone beginning to be toeraby heavy Chicago
In general hoisted, only few old buildings remain
ing In some Of the streets with their first stories be-
nesh the pavement level In these reconstructed streets
the Nlcoson pavement is the rule; and where 1t has
been laid longest traffic is heaviest for instance,
In Carkst, 1t Is already worn into rutS and hollows
CtiSens say that this sort Of pavement Is not laid
with - much Eastern cities and In the
solitary instance where the writer some wOrkhen
putting 1t down. the Of coal tar In preparing the
blocks did not to have been very liberal
We all know the story Of the new androns 1t is easy
to commence such changes but not to know where 70
stop Houses of good size that had been built in what
were fashionable good business quarters found them
sevee left behind by changes in the locality Of fashion
or trade In their propretors would have put
I'D partitions In them and let them as tenement houses
the Chicagoans lifted the houses mp, dragged them to
,uVfe-e the improvements were taking place, ana re-
o,arteo them. II in the streets undergoing the
Dss small buildings that would be
ont NJ nIaoe the beauties, they pulled
mn DRAGGED out of tho city, and set down somewhere
the prairie why speak Of these things as Of the
pasti They part Of the present and one may see
the PROOFS now at any moment In the new avenues
of iha city, Certainly" less here than anywhere
30 the household gods plant a liked FOOT There
ia a popular on dit here to the effect that
many of the new stone buildings are constructed In
authorization Of the next moving time; having large
wheels beneath that can be readily raised with them
when 1t Is necessary lift them out of their present
foundations and large handle to pull by, securely
fastened in each building and hidden only by stone
facing Be this may, the number Of new buildings
ooio0 nm IA noticeable in all the prominent streets The
tsk NJ the people about buildings sounds like Pine
at or the Real Estate Exchange, In New-York' two
wears ago. 1t would seem that any man who has con-
ddence n his luck, begins to build his tower without
counting the COST and trusts to his luck to help him
throuOb MANY OF these structures loaded with
mortRages I'D to the ridge-pOle. There are out
two divisions OF respectable citizens; those who
lend and those who borrow, and as those VINO lend'
horrow LARGELY from the East the distinction
IA not wide difference. The high rates Of Interest make
these investments desirable for Eastern capital ana cap
ia of some must he easy to borrow Wnefe eh can
agp to nut up large buildings without any money worth
naming These enterprises succeed, moreover, IN nine
cases out OF ten you think Smith VIII finish that
hotelt" "Oh yes; an insurance company have prom
ised him enough to carry him over the third tier OF
beams" Where did Brown get his last loan see he
at work agani" "He got hold Of some Down-Easter or
other" "Jones is all right with his block. He's man
that knows how to shin when he's short. He can get
money, Sir, II it's anywhere on this planet"
The absence Of the element which painters call repose
ia inevitable In any faithful picture OF Chicago but there
IA more of 1t in old North Side than elsewhere and
afew dwellings there surrounded by old-fashioned
0ardenA that have little of the Of In the