The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1880-08-12
OUR CHICAGO LETTER.
The Strides of the Western Metro,
polls.
The Demon of Gambling OmnipO
tent.
HaneOek's Political Genius-Drifl
Of the Campaign.
Correspondence SALT LAKE HERALD
CHIoAeo. August 2. $50.


souls in Chicago; still we are nc
8, happy. St. Louis is distsnced in tn
= race, yet the eager strife goes on ant
~ the rush for wealth ia just as appalin
/ as ever. l have the misfortune t
q occupy an Office adjoining the Boar
of Trade Hall, where from $50 q m
o to p. N. the speculative demons o
y commerce daily hold high carnival
At times the noise produced by tht
= 500 or 600 persons Who here coDgre
} gate is almost desfenipg. Talk abou
the Tower of Babel This seems Il
; be competitive exhibition OF pro
u fessionsl shouters and shriekeT,
rather than meeting of merchant.
and traders for the sale OF certain
{ commodities. Sometimes these SOC
: hoWlers are ell stretching theil
, Threats at once, making a confused
u argon of DESCENDANT sounds, COM
pared with which the mingled bray
j ing of asses, squealing of pigs. bark
ing OF sea lions and croaking oil
turkeys and peacocks become rare
harmony. Give SO or 10000 Au-
gust" want 5000 September
wheat" "I'll buy put October;
''I'll sell a call August ~ A dis
patch ia read by the secretary. indi-
eating sales in other cities, or crop
prospects else1heEe, and the silence
in which this is received ia followed
by an intensified yell, reminding one
of demons rather than human
beings. How business can be trans
acted in such q tumult passes COM
prehensioD; but it is done, and the
Board OF Trade spectators, who
stretch their throats aud provoke
bronchial complaints pass in society
as highly respectable and dis
tinguished in business circles, and
many smart boys consider it high
privilege to be admitted to the sacred
precincts, as disciples OF the bowling
dervishes, looking forward to the day
when they will bs able to stretch their
lungs III competition with the noisiest
of the crowd. Il would be an inter
esting study to follow the fortunes Of
some of these spectators, and might
be q useful lesson, if anybody could
be got to listen to it; but the thou.
sands of wrecks before them do not
seem to deter fresh victims from
entering the speculative arena. We
are now told that the immense hall
employed by the board is far too
limited in dimensions for the demands
Of the business transacted and that it
must either be greatly enlarged or q
chamber double its size erected toI
accommodate the mad rush for
entrances to it's charmed circle. A,
stranger would tuiuk 10 viewing the
neighborhood washington, Clark
and LaSalle streets) and the inter-
vening alleys that no intending specu-
lator of any variety or grade could
fail to find sufficient opportunity
Already to employ his propensities or
means; for aside from the regular
and Legitimate" trade exchanges
the locality ia filed with "fool rooms,
"bucket shops" and exchange"
offices OF various kinds, supplemented
with az abundant supply of whisky
saloons, and is appropriately de-
signated Gamblers Alley" Thou
sands of men and boys of all ages and
classes, daily throng these vile haunts,
where all sorte of inducements are
held out for betting and gambling, on
every conceivable commodity or con. |
est-from cargots of grain to base
ball games and horse-races. This
speculative mania sbsorbs number
of persons in Chicago, probably
equslling the population OF Salt Lake
City, and is daily gathering in its
victims. Five years ago this species
of gambling, Il do not now refer to
board of trade operators) was hardly
known here; now Chicago is only
second to New York in It's speculative
allurements. OF the blesr-eyed,
bloated wrecks graduated at these
schools of vice, soaked in whisky and
prepared for any Wretched end, l need
not write, but tell you that an earth
quake or a pestilence would be a
moral blessing compared to the ex.
istense of these dens of infamy, where
many OF our youth are receiving regu-
lar lessons of idleness and crime, in
their attempt to prove that money
is the true passport 10 honor and
lame, no matter hoW acquired, and
that honeat labor if not absolutely
disgraceful, is dissgreeable and I'M
worthy their attention. Can We
wonder that morality and virtue are
held at n discount, while fraud and
knavery are legitimatized; when mad
speculation becomes the corner stone
OF the western metropolis?
You have read Hancock's letter OF
acceptance; also his letter to General
Sherman in 1876. The frs. strikes
people, not politicians, as about the
best campaign document that has
appeared; the latter could not have
been more admirably timed to the
present exigency had it been written
yesterday; it shows Hancock as q
man of brains and versatility, with
statesmsnlike breadth sDd Journals
tic perception of the fitness OF words.
The republicans will call for no more
of Hsncock's private correspondence,
| for this letter is q dose that will Go
the democratic party as much good
as the violent sbnse of its candidate
by the Tribune of this city, which hiss
really become serviIe in its scandslous
attacks upon Hancock. So far the cam
paign maintains fully the promise of
its suspicious opening; but with the
eud OF dog days q more definite type
of aggressive warfare may be looked
for. The fight will be bitter one
and intensified greatly by the general
admission that it is to be a death
struggle. One or the other of the
combatants will be known no more
as such in national sdsirs after the
4th of March next, and it seems not
unlikely, in any event, that the CAM
paign of 1884 will be conducted by
entirely new political organizations,
upon issues altogether outside of those
now before the people. One thing at
time, however. The first business
is TO ''ss7e the country" this time,
and as everybody is likely to devote
themselves to this occupation, the
enterprise will doubtless be eminently
successful. As a straw" I will
merely add that the democrats are in
great good humor, while their oppon.
ents are correspondingly snlky and
cross. E. n. I.