Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1890-01-18

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WHAT A HALF CENTURY HAS WROUGHT.
Chicago is in latitude Al degs, 81 min,
20 sec. longitude, 81 degs., 80 min. W.,
with lake exposure which is especially
noticeable at that season of the year when
the small boys do most go in bathing. The
site of Chicago was determined by the
Chicago river, up the south branch of
which, the historian says, the Indian
padded his canoe ages before Sir George
Pullman invented his justly celebrated
hingeless sleeping car blankets or Philip
Armour introduced his juicy side meats
and succulent leaf lard into the great
seething marts of trade. Here, where once
the rank thistle nodded in the wynd and
the dusky warrior, innocent eyesher of the
knowledge of gunpowder or Persian
powder, warred with the turbulent Sioux
or the more peaceful Chippewa, now a
mighty metropolis, laying hold upon the
entire national system of railway traffic,
sits calmly at the foot of great chain of
lakes and calls attention to herself by
means of good reading notices in the press,
prepared by the skillful hand of such men
as Charles Dudley Warner. of Hartford,
Conn.,. and published by our esteemed
contemporary, Mr.. Harper, whose neat
little journal of civilization is printed at
the west end of the bridge.
Although the location of Chicago is to
all appearance on a low, flat piece of land,
1t is matter OF fact a sort of watershed
none the less and the dividing line between
the great valley of the st, Lawrence and
the Mississippi. This makes it healthful
and fills tho air with vigor, for the city is
fully eighteen feet above the level of the
lake. Climbing this height by easy stages,
one is enabled to look down upon the lake
which lies at his feet, and a sunrise viewed
from the crest of Michigan avenue is well
worth getting upto witness, even though
one has been up until quite late the even
ing before.
Marquette, the Jesuit missionary, in
1873, was the first white man to set foot on
the site where since so many eminent and
extensive feet have been set He was on
his way to catch Milwaukee train and
got bridged there. Subsequently he, La
Sale, Joliet and Hennepin passed down
from the lake via the south branch of the
Chicago river to the Mississippi.
In 1904 the government built Fort Dear
born at the mouth of the river. and later
on some Indians, whose stock of Cau-
casian pelts was running quite low, killed
the garrison and sent in their report.
Aug. 10, 1888, Chicago decided to become
Incorporated, as twenty-eight people had
arrived there since the massacre of 1872,
and, after Incorporating, the entire popu-
ltis n decided to hold the worlds fair a.
that point in 1872. Chicago was then getting
one mail per week via Niles, Mich. Now
Niles is glad to get the most of her mail
from Chicago.
The first newspaper was issued by John
Calhoun, Nov. 20, 1888 This was rapidly
followed by another copy of the same,
which appeared Dec. g. Some of tho old
Subscribers and advertisers are still alive
aud point to themselves with pride.
1t was at about this time that 50 was
paid, or where paid rather, perhaps as a
lawyers bill by the new city. Since that
prices have advanced, however, and now
Chicago pays more than that to lawyers
every week. Hon. J. ID. Cation was paid
for legal services for 1881 $50. This sum,
together with what he got for his muskrat
skins, kept him in good style. 1t was
about this tlmethat large black bear was
killed i'm front of the board of trade build
ing, and William Bross saw a large gray
wolf run by his house on Michigan avenue.
Within half century how all this has
changed. Tho little paper which then
briefly announced the death by mas sacre
of it's choicest subscribers or joyfully
referred to the arrival of the mail from
Niles for the current week. has given
place to mammoth and handsome jour
industry. Where old Chief Polkadott,
dressed like dish of sal I'd, viz, with oil,
addressed the multitude, now such men
as James Russell Lowell speak briefly on
some occult subject like Shakespeare and
then regret afterward that they did not
Spcdh Oli lllt tsublcCt thcN dSttcu w SpcdN
on.
Where once Loooo, daughter of the
chintz bug that cleans s-out-the-corntield,
was wont to deck herself ont in the coon
skin shoulder cape and burlap leggins of
a crude civilization, now beauty In Pa
risian gowns aud the rich gear of Mr.
Worth, dazzles the eye of the savant and
proves that halfa century in the history
ofa typical Am erican city means a good
deal.
Chicago does not pity herself She does
not feel sorry for herself. She accepts her
humble lot, pays the park tax on 1t and
goes on about her business. She has been
burned out once and, like Boston, made a
big hit by it, So the kerosene lamp of
Mrs. McGinty, or whatever her name may
have been, was the beacon light To show
the city in which direction beauty and
prosperity lay.
She has tried various kinds of pavement
with sorrow and loss and dscouragement,
but now she is on the right track. You
can ride about Chicago now for day at a
time without jolting your soul into the
soles of YOUR boots, and you will see some
handsome houses and magnificent public
and commercial buildings, too. l would
like to see one American city, however,
start. of with the idea shat handsome
building, private or public, needs lots OF
ground to give it proper setting. Ground
gets so VALUABLE, however, that IA beautiful
where land is plenty, on the start, fines
itself surrounded by bakeries, rum holes
and livery ables. am only surprised
that the capitol at Washington isn't
engulfed in candy, confectionery, under
taking. embalmlng and ice cream, instead
of facing thousand cheap boarding
houses, with the city and the treasury al
its back.
The grippe is getting to be am old theme
and so / will touch lightly on it here. I'm
lust convalescing, and if it will let me
alone will let it alone. Avoid ii, gentle
reader, if you eau. Do not laugh at 1t, ol
treat il lightly. Fight shy of it, pass by il
and light out, l was the picture of health
when it came along and touchd me gently
on the larynN. Now ! am pale and s'd
The doctors did not exactly know how e
deal with it at first. They had to look
about little and see for themselves.
could not eat anything for several weeks
1t was not for the same reason that ! die
not eat when was publishing paper IL
Wyoming, however. This time l had thu
opportunity without the desire. Then
had the desire without the Opportunity.
This symptom was followed by feverhaN
fever cough, heaves, dimness of sight
loss of sleep and hair, pains in the joints
back and chest. Everything that wa