Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-01-02

WHAT IT NAY LEAD TO IN THE WINDY CrrY-A DE-
scRrPrIox or TIE IMAGINARY sPLRNDoR or TIKI
''cHRIsroPHxR COLUMBUS IorIL"-LuxuRY
oALoRs-so cHrLDsEx ADHrrED.
From the Boston Transcript
81 don't want you to spare no expense" says
Mr.. Dollars to his architect. "This hotel mus,
be the biggest thing in Chicago-ths biggest
thing on earth. II must cover more ground
have more stories and make more show than
any other hotel in the country. Eighteen
ninety-two is close on to Us; the hotel must be
ready Tor exposition business. ! am going to
show them New Workers how to do things in
style"
Il will do my best to please you, sir" replies
the young architect II will make q rough
sketch, sort Of project, Of the building to-
night and you shall see it tomorrow. Let me
see-you said the lot contained $4,000 square
feet, believer"
Eyes: the lot Is bounded by Grand and
Splendid streets. Boom Boulevard and South
166th street You will find the dimensions on
this map. I want all four fronts to be az
ornamental and imposing as you can make
| them"
Eyes, sir. All right"
Not long after the conversation above re-
| corded the plans for Mr.. Dollars great hotel
are completed, the contracts for the work
awarded, the work itself begun by an army of
laborers. and, to make long story short. the
most palasial and expensive hotel in the world
is an accomplished fact
1t remains to describe 1t.
Tho style is best defined as composite, but by
this the order of architecture made up of the
Ionic grated upon the Corinthian must not be
understood. 1t is the composite of the great
west, in which all orders are drawn upon, but
| none slavishly followed The result is a new
style, grandiose, startling and superlative.
Envious eastern people may call il bombastic,
but it is to be borne in mind that all new ideas
gain ground slowly.
The material is iron. cast in imitation OF stone
and painted in SIX different colors to simulate
marble, sandstone, granite, &c. There are six
teen stories. very lofty ones, too, and a central
dome surmounted by q colossal "bronZine"
statue Of liberty. From the four corners
square towers rise to dizzy height, overlook
ing and dominating the entire city. From the
platforms at the tops extensive panoramic
views are to be had Flags wave from tall
stats over all.
The four fronts present a most striking ap-
pearance A bewildering profusion of projec-
tions-bay windows, balconies, massive col
umns, frets, friezes. cOrnices, turrets, string
courses, statues, holdings. buttresses, pilasters
reI,efs, crockets, brackets, gargoyles, carya-
tides, panels, tablets, corbels. canopies.
nation to the fscades. There is nothing tame,
nothing conventional in all this. The effect is
simply astounding.
After mature deliberation Mr.. Dollars had
decided to call his hotel the Christopher Col
nmbus hotel-no. beg pardon. the Hotel
Poor man! he had never even heard Of Left
Ericsson.)
His friends had suggested several other
names-the Nnteenth Century hotel. the
Seek-No-Further, the Razzle- Dazzle, the Vati-
can, the Kremlin, the Piccadilly, the EscOrial,
the Grand Trianon, the Schonbrun, the Hotel
de Veal, the Hotel d'AgOny and the Hotel
Looking Forwards. not to mention the various
Ang 10 maniacal names, which, it was learned,
had all been used.
Directly over the largest terra Gotta sign. in
raised letters feet high, The Hotel Christie
pher Columbus" a colossal effigy of the dis
coverer stands on a huge sphere representing
the earth. The statue, by Mudd Of Chicago, is
IN metaized papier mache and the hollow globe
supporting it is Of zinc. Columbus points to-
ward a vacant lot on the other side of splen-
did street, where painted advertisement on a
15-foot fence counsels all the world to Use
Prairie Blossom Soap"
The Office of the Columbus is q hall of vast
proportions in the center of the house. staff
of twenty clerks, wearing evening dress and
diamonds, oficiate at the desk. Bazaars Of
every imaginable variety open upon the great
hall, which ID brilliantly lighted by 800 electric
arc lamps and whose red, white and blue
mosaic pavement OF marbleized pine is trod
day and night by thousands Of hurrying feet.
The walls are hung with heavily embossed old
gold and ivory-tinted paperine IN foliated pat
terms. The $4,000 eau de cologne fountain
throws its scented jet 20 feet into the
air continuously. GOldine cages hang here
and there, containing parrots. canaries and
mocking birds. There are signs in Volapuk on
the walls. and staff of interpreters is retained
for the convenience of foreign guests. Near
the desk is the central telephone exchange,
from which wires radiate to every one of the
5000 rooms and suites in the house. In niche
specially illuminated by score Of incandes-
cent lights is enshrined under plate glass an oil
painting by DuSang Of Paris representing THE
massacre of st. Bartholomew" work 20x30
feet in dimensions aud costing Sl00, 900 The
draperles OF crimson velours which surround
it are massive. From the Office one ascends to
the parlor floor, either by one of the six passen-
ger elevators or by climbing the SlO0, 900 grand
staircase, modified copy OF the marble stair
case at Versailles, with marbleiZed pine steps,
covered by Brussels carpets, and mqgnifi-
Gently enriched by metaliZed statues, busts aud
groups, III inches or on onyXine pedestals, by
tubs of brilliant artificial flowers, by cages Of
song birds imported from southern chimes, by
oil paintings from the ateliers of Corot BEN
jamin Constant, Van Beers, Jean Feraud and
Hans Makart, framed in heavy gilt mouldings
set into the wall, protected by plate glass, and
lighted by rows of electric lamps concealed be-
hind the aff1uent folds of crimson velours dra-
peries. The subjects Of the pictures, which
cost from ten to forty thousand each, are dis
tinctly set forth in French ON the frames UNI
derneath ike salon numbers, and are as fol-
lows: ''Pariennes a Trouville," "Apres lie
Crime" "Aimees aux Folies-Bergeres," IL
Amour en- Bateau," '.Interieur du bagne: les
travaux forces" Lies Venus Modernes," Mai
son de Fous," lie Berceau Vide" 'Au Sc
cours," la Tentation de Saint Antoine"
.Horreurs de Ia Guerre," "L'Assassin a
rGuvre," LA Corde au Cou." .Tue-lar'
The elevators are upholstered in scarlet silk,
with stamped leatherette cushions on the seats
and terra Gotta friezes. They are lighted by
clusters of incandescent lamps in blue and
yellow glass shades. The metal ropes are
nickel plated and the elevator boys On COM
mon with all the other servants) are dressed in
evening costume.
There are twelve dining rooms and restau-
rants, designated by original titles, and the
twelve kitchens are conducted by cooks of as
many nationalites. The English chop house
and the Renaissance restaurant remain open
| all night. Hand-painted menus are provided.
The china is superbly decorated. During table
d'hote hours in the French sale Manager an
orchestra plays choice airs. The tables are
ornamented by bouquets Of WAX flowers, set
pieces of confectionery, DC. The chairs, which
| seem to be of cunningly carved antique oak,
| are of iron covered with stucco and grained.
50 - Al IL