Los Angeles herald., 1891-10-11
FROM CHICAGO.
THE WEATHER AND OFFICIAL
GUESSWORK.
How Chicago Grew to a Mil!ion-Tabu-
lous Values of Business Realty in the
City-The Tall-Building Craze.
Special correspondence to the R4nA1D.

Special correspondence to the EnrALD.
CHICAGO, Oct. 8, 1s9l.-The long and
almost unprecedented spell of dry, sultry
weather was at last broken few days
ago, much to the relief and delight of
everybody in this huge city. The change
of temperature was preceded by show.
er-the first for several weeks. Then
followed three days OF comfortable
weather, but now it is hot again, though
the probability clerk, who earns(D his
salary by sitting in the high auditorium
tower and manufacturing guesses by
machinery, tells US it will be 'cooler
tomorrow Perhaps it will and per-
haps it will not. No sure thing because
the signal service chap happens to guess
on the cool side. He did that same
thing almost daily during the late hot
spell, and got himself talked about by
thousands of people, who, while mop
ping their faces with whole square yards
of handkerchiefs, denounced him be-
tween mops as a miserable official to
whom truth was stranger than fiction.
But weather or no weather, hot or cold,
wet or dry, climate or no climate, the
business of this wonderful city goes on
Just the same, and more than a million
people within its limits continue to
''scratch gravel" for existence, the big
fish rapidly swallowing the little ones,
and the whales and sharks growing fat
ter by crunching their helpless prey.
Chicago now has population Of one
million two hundred and fifty
three thousand, or whereabouts. Her
growth" during the past three years
has been magical" the people say.
Yet really there was no particular
magic in making a city grow" by an
nexing portions of Indiana, Iowa and
Wisconsin. If Los Angeles, with the
consent of the surrounding natives"
should annex Pasadena, Santa Monica,
Wilmington, San Pedro, Long Beach,
Redondo, Downev, Anaheim and all the
intermediate settlements, what rapid
and splendid growth" the Angel city
could boast of Within the limits of
this city there are yet thousands of acres
covered with nothing but vacancy, SO to
speak, but dotted over with stakes out
lining 'town lots" in new subdivisions,
with liberal outfit OF real estate agents
sign boards. Yet with all this unoccu-
pied land, which is being held out of
use for speculation, the already occu-
pied portions of the city are crowded
thick with buildings and people,
and becoming more and more
crowded as the weeks pass
on. What the conditions will be
when the Columbian exposition opens,
it is difficult to predict, except that by
that time, we may be sure, the people
here will be literally running over each
other, like thousand mice in peck
basket.
So valuable, in commercial sense,
has land in the business centers OF the
city become, that few feet of the
precious space can be bought or leased
only at fabulous prices. In leisure mo-
ments l have gathered some interesting
facts and figures relating to ground
values in business localities, and will
present them in future letter. In that
connection it will also be In order to say
something about the fall building
mania which broke out three years
ago, took on renewed energy with more
alarming symptoms as soon as the Column
bian exposition was voted to come here,
and is now raging as it never ragged in
any other city on earth. AS yet the at
mosphere above the ground surface has
not been monopolized, subdivided and
put on the market at so much per
front foot. The owner of piece of
ground can occupy as much space above
the ground as he sees fit to appropriate.
1t is only question as to how high his
means will allow him 10 rear his build
ing and how easily he can induce ten
ants to pay him big money for the
privilege of riding daily in dark, red
hot elevator, from the ground floor we'll
up toward the clouds. The enormously
large, high, costly buildings either
erected or now in process of erection
here, make up picture such as is not
equaled anywhere Gin the United States;
a picture that the thoughtful man is
prone to study with wonder and appre-
hension. Especially after he has learned
that the huge cloud-brushes henow sees
are small compared with what are yet
to come, and that work viii soon be
commenced on a building thirty-six
stories high He feels like asking the
question: Where will this thing
stop" But who can answer the in
quiry?
The California exhibit continues to
attract hundreds of visitors every day,
and to keep California before the peo-
pie with excellent effect. had supposed
all along that Major Truman, as mana
ger of this exhibit, was the right man
in the proper locality; and personal
observation has more than confirmed
that belief. He is the man of all others
to handle the exhibit, and the display
itself is great.
1t is very interesting to Californians to
see and hear the visitors. Many of
them write some kind OF comments on
the lines opposite their names, as your
readers are aware. These comments are
all more or less interesting and some are
quite amusing. For instance, f. M.
Beckerman, of Chicago, writes mourn
fully: sit costs too much for poor man
t. get there" Mr.. Beckerman probably
does not know how cheaply and easily
he can get from Chicago to California
over the Santa Fe route. Nor does he
realize that the cost to him of living
here one more winter above what it
need cost him to live comfortably the
same number Of months in California
will more than exceed the cost of his
journey to the coast-and back again,
too, should he decide to return.
The daily visitors are from here,
there and where-representing a
wide range of territory and many vari-
cites of climate. Today one visitor
wrote: Something to be proud Of"
Another: "Going to Los Angeles to-
day."
Another: Enchanted"
Another: tFineet place on EARTH"