, 1880-09-05


Crib Is proven. by his resignation, and the
cause OF his resignation proves that he has
the same pecuniary aspirations as any
man on shore. There have been base SLAM
ders to the effect that there was no such
thing as q Man at the Crib,-in other words,
that he was a myth, like Pocahontas and
William Tell. There have been other stories
that the Man at the Crib was sort Of ne'er-
do-well, vino spent his time with his legs
dangling over the edge Of the Crib, fishing
for perch. All sorts Of popular myths and
legends have been associated about this man
without country, none of which have
done him justice Now that the Man at
the Crib revisits terra firma and becomes Afr.
Charles Kahlstrom, we find him to have been
a Woodworking, faithful public servant, who
has Voluntarily exiIed himself to- a waste of
waters for the public good, and for a mlsera-
bic pittance. It he had proved one-haH as
lazy as the majority Of the city'B sery-
ants who fatten at the public crib, any cold
winter night he might have plunged the whole
City Of Chicago into .direfuI confusion and
extreme distress by cutting off the water
supply. No one can tell the suffering he
could have entailed upon this community
lad he not kept his eagle eyG upon the well
and prevented the accumulation Of Ice in it
which would have choked up the great con-
that kind Of a man. Any night had he failed
to kindle his warning light some ship or
steamer might have run into his home and
gone to the bottom in consequence. But he
was not that kind Of a man either. lie has
always been vigilant and alert in the dis
charge of his duties. He has always real
lied his responsibilities, ana been Jealous ir
meeting them. The city has always had Its
supply Of water. His beacon-light has never
failed to blaze out upon the lake, showing
the incoming mariner that the Man on the
Crib was at his post; In the wild storms Of /
spring and fall that have pounded against
his home, amid the furious waves that
have sought to overwhelm him, In the freez-
ing blasts Of winter that have shrouded his
habitation with ice, he has never failed day
or night to perform his duties. regardless of
personal suffering or Inconvenience. He had
become as storn.-proof and hard and tough
as the Crib itself, and tha whole city. whose
fate reposed in his hands, never once Ques-
toned its security, never once dreamed that
he might get washed overheard or become
sick. People came to rely upon him as they
did upon Old Probabilities. There were very
few persons who were not overwhelmed with
surprise when they learned that Old Proba-
uiliies was dead, for they had come to look
upon him as one Of the countiy's institutions,
or one of the foundation principles Of repub-
licanlsm which are supposed to last forever,
an idea, plan, system, rather than
child Of mortality. Very much the same in,-
preston mas obtained as to the Man at the
Crib. Most people have classed him in
the same categ0rywith our Carter's eagle,
the canal improvements, the Sewerage Fund,
the system of public education the building
of the City Hall, and other things that 70 on
forever. But now he suddenly turns up as m
entity instead Of nabstract idea "a man with
human needs, who must have bread and but
ter, and cannot live upon air and water alone,
which are about the only advantages that he
can enjoy at the Crib. It appears that this
faithful man has been working for only
$1,000 per annum, while plenty of able-bod-
led barnacles are standing round the City
Hall and getting twice and three times that
amount for not doing SO much hard work in
a month as he did in day. He modestly
asked for an increase Of $500 per annum,
whereupon he Is notified he can quit, and
the best Mayor Chicago has ever had Is ell !
gnged in the pfcayunish business of trying to
find some Que WHO will ill his place at the
present salary -. RI
It is to BE- presumed he will find soma diff,
Guilty In filling the place With good and
competent man. It is not very desirable
location for any one who feels the ties Of
sympathy connecting him with his fellow
beings, or who likes to have some one to-
speak to now and then. The Man at the
Crib has air, but almost always too much of
it. he has plenty Of water, but no beer near
by, and water is the last thing in theworId
any Of Carter Harrison's constituents want
even by the glassful, much LESS by Lake
full: He has q house, but Its basement Is
full Of water, and. he can never make an
affidavit at night that 1t will be there In the
morning.. II He wants to subiet, he can't do
TITLE has no sawerage,* no gas, no side