New-York tribune., 1891-08-26
UU4T CHICAGO NEEDS

TIE Tribune recently printed an article con-
ceming the pretensions of Chicago to be ranked as
ono Of the worlds great cities, in which we TOOK
tbe liberty 10 show that mere size did not give
riobt 70 the title of metropolis. An item in q
chicago newspaper just at hand suggests further
thought on this same subject
The paranraph in the Chicago sheet to which we
refer finds fault about the habit which the Dusl
ness men there have of driving downtown in one
horse bugges7 and feeding the animals oats on
the sidewalk. This is an old complaint on the
mart of the Chicago papers, but the number OF
husiress srnen who sin in that direction increases
rather than diminishes Indeed, as the reader
may very likely know, the use of the onehorse
buqqv is the only recognized way of going to and
from business in Chicago by those who can afford
IT, the strcetcars being patronized wholly by
neople with small salaries. Now. the question
which arises in the mind of The Tribune Is, Can
a city which nses the onehorse buggy as its typical
mode of conveyance be great metropolis
One thing we may safely say at the beginning
NJ our inquiry is that in none Of the present
crcat cities of the world do the businessmen ride
70 and fro in ne-horse buggies. Take New-AorK,
for example-the one-hOrse buggy is almost un-
known As we walk along Wall-st at noon we
do NOT find the curb lined with horses eating
on rs
aocl, Of bugges in front of the Produce Exchange
with the horses tethered in Bowling Green. Nor
vot do we observe the Broadway businessman
getting into his buggy at quarter Of IL and drlv-
inq homie to dinner But these are the customs
in Cbicaao. as we learn from her own papers In
nromincnt article on Western architecture i'll one
NJ tho leading magazines we are told that certain
snocc in the walls of the Cook County Courthouse
loft for n great arch which has never been erected
s now occupied daily by the bugges and horses
NJ the city and county officers, each animal being
unhitched and tied to the Of the buggy so that
he may eat his oats and hay out of the vehicle.
Indeed. il is said that the postal service Of Chi
cago is considerably crippled by the fact that the
postmen find difficulty in getting at the letter
boxes because of wisps OF hay balanced over the
tops Of them for the horses tied the lamp posts
10 nibbc at.
But. after all. can the fact of the use of buggicS
N ride 70 and from business deprive city of the
name of metropolis? We should say not. Ele-
vated or underground railways would be more
dignifed. but buggies are not fatal TO metrop0li-
tan claims. But the feeding Of the horses
is another question. Can town whose side
walks are strewn with oats establish it's claim to
bp one of the great cities Of the world? 1t can
not The foot of the pedestrian in Broadway, in
Piccadilly, in the Boulevards, does not slip on
moist oats Nor must it in Chicago If she would
be ranked with New-YOrk, or with London, or with
Paris Scattered oats to-day hold Chicago down
in second place Chicago has sold her birthright
for a mess OF oats i'm soap-bOX. But the horses
of Chicago must have their dinner at noon the
same as their owners True, but not in soap
and candle boxes We crave permission TO call
the attention OF Chicago to nose-bags Nose-ba gs
would be the salvation of Chicago. They are her
only hope, they are inexpensive and when properly
adjusted it is impossible for the horse to scatter
his oats about on the sidewalk Humble as they
are they will raise Chicago from city of the
second rank to a city Of the first rank. And
they must be adopted before the opening Of the
Worlds Fair. THE visitor from Berlin, from
Vienna, from st. Petersburg, must not be com.
pelled to sit down on the curb every few blocks
and empty the wet oats out of his shoes.