, 1884-10-10
A Breezy Letter from the Lake
side Metropolis.
Hard Times in Manufactures
Make Hungry Men.
Fancy Figures for the McCul-
lough's Programmes.
Special Correspondence of The Leader.

ohe occaslOn, dropped into n rcady-mad,
clothing store to purchase n suit O
clothes. The individual who presided
over the establishment was of unmis
taxable Hebrew origin, and displayed tn,
anxiety and agility in making a sale, Sc
characteristic Of his race. Finally a suit
was produced which seemed to be salts
factory to the would-be purchaser. II
was a good fit, apparently; the texture
was good, and the price reasonable.
But" said he, shifting the air sus-
piciously, there's one thing about it that
Won't like"
WAT vas dot, mein frent,'' a~nxiously
inquired the son of Abraham, tdking up
another handful of slack m~fhe back Of
the coah to make it 6tT neatly over the
breast. 49,
"Well, to tell you the TRUTH" replied
the customer, THE clothes seem to stink
most ~villainously."
"Oh, vas dot ALP said the dealer in
ha~nd-me-downs, drawing a long breath Of
relief. "Vell, 1 tell you, mein trent,
gonftenshially," sinking his voice to a
whisper, 1T vas not de clodings dot
stinks-it's mel'
[ was strongly reminded of this anec-
dote the other day, while walking down
South Clark street. That street. for two
or three blocks south Of Van Buren,, is oc-
cupied almost exclusively by the lowest
and dingiest class of pawn-shops, whose
business is mostly in secondhand cloth
ing. 1t is a sort of Chicago Baxter street.
The windows are filed with cast-off relics
of gentility, and swinging from hooks on
the outside are old peaiackets, dilapidated
overcoats, faded un forms and all sorts Of
melancholy looking garments. The smell
which prevades the atmosphere is indie
scribable, and is enough of itself to Danish
any idea of becoming a purchaser, even
if the articles displayed were calculated to
inspire such IN idea. Some one does buy
them, however, or the dealers would not
advance currency on them. But it shows
pretty plainly that there are a good many
people in this village of Chicago who are
almighty hard up, when so many of these
establishments flourish. And there are a
good many people hard up here.
The Herald, after a careful investiga-
ton, stated the other morning hat there
are 10000 idle men in the city. l believe
the usual calculation is that each adult
male represents a family of five persons,
and if we accept this calculation, and as
sumo that the Herald statement is correct,
the unpleasant conclusion is reached that
$50, 900 persons, or one fourth of the
population of Chicago are having a lively
hustle for their daily ~provender. If this
is true, and | am very much afraid it is,
things are in a pretty bad shape. and as
similar reports come from nearly all the
manufacturing districts in the country
more especially from the coal and iron
regions of Pennsylvania wouldn't bt
at all surprised to see some very lively
times this winter, when things get down
to the starvation point. 1t is true tina
the Republican party claim to have 1
contract with Divine Providence by which
we are all to become millionaires imme
diately after Mr.. Blaine is elected, bur
somehow | can't place that firm confidence
in their claims that l would, for instance
in a check signed by Mr.. w. H. Wander
bilt or Moreton Post
The weather for the past few days hai
been unusually warm, not to say hot, an,
those leaders of '~'Sassiety," who hav'
returned home from their summering b,
the sounding sea, are probably wishing
they had remained a while longer, al
though, as a general thing, it is cooler il
Chicago than at any of seaside resorts
The theatrical companies which havI
opened the various places of amusemen
for the Winter season, are playing to tn.
traditional array Of empty benches, an,
business of almost every kind seems to b
at a comparative standstill. 1t was yer,
lively around the Corn Pit in the Boar,
of Trade, though, last week, and, 70
that matter, is yet. The gentlemet
who engineered the corner in SEP
TENDER corn seem to have a fri
grip on the October option. also, and if
is true, as is rumored, that Mr.. ia
Gould is backing the deal, the unfortu
nate shorts are likely to suffer anothe
squeeze. II is said that the profits of tn
clique on the September corner were i
the neighborhood of 50, 900, 900. hay
no doubt that the portion of the boodl
which falls to Mr.. Gould will be very &c
ceptable to that gentleman, as he is n
ported to have been quite unfortunate i
Wall sire tely. 1t is quite unnecei
sary to state that there is great sympath,
felt for Mr. Gould by his employees in tn
Western Union Telegraph Offices through
out the country.
As you will have seen by the press di
patches, John Mccullough has con
pletely broken down. The physicians ca
his disease progressive paralysis and sa
that he will probably never be able to II
sumo the stage. The programmes Tor hi
last performance, Vi.gsnias. at McVicl
er'g, are beng sought for as memento,
tof'tbe stricken actor, and are said to