The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1892-05-29

shudder at the thought OF crossing II. even Of
the wings Of fancy. to ind out
Lake Michigan is CHASTITY stretch Of lifeles
| and insipd water. It's RACES are the spasmodi,
| contortions OF corpse tormented into lifellk,
motion by tho caprices Of an electric bat
tory. 1t Is the playground Of fierce storms
but It breeds none. 1t never becomes part OF I
hurricane. MS the sea does, but only the nipple
ment OF one.
The ocean has an immense soul. The LAks
has nothing but uncountable. Unreasonable
gallons OF green water that tastes bad. and. al
times. becomes dangerous either to drink OF
TO float upon.
The worst wrongs OF all are inflicted b.
Lake Michigan upon the eye. It denies you
all sense OF distance. Its atmosphere softens
nothing. 1t is true that very frequently rolls
OF floating carbon make black fog on its
surface. and shut out the prospect But
this curtain OF smoke is sometimes drawn.
and then you SEQ the Lake naked and gaunt.
You see all OF It ct once. You shrink from cal
cuatlns how far of the outer edge may be.
bvt you do not care II Is. as It looks. only ten
r,ocks distant. Nothing in the world would
fnducc you to traverse the distance. There 10
no telling what monstrous horrors. what fam
tas.ic unrealities exist beyond the pale blue
verge. 1t is bad enough where you are. 1t 10
most likely ton times more hideous the other
side Of the bourne.
All tho time that at least one passenger Is
thus considering. tho train roars and rattles
deeper and deeper into the wilderness OF trees
that are dead and waves that arc staEnant.
You look to the right There you zee the Lake
rntc from you by space Of sand. offal-
stmwn. You look to tho left You see. beyond
the bayous and the fen. green fields and treo
tops. Then in your Impotence you ask:
"Ifow soon before we get to Chicago p and
everybody who knows replies at once:
This is Chicago"
Yes! This is Chicago. already Chicago!
These swnmps and fcns and rotten trees and
rush edged slouchs are Chicago! That
stretch OF filthy sand is Chicago. That lower
ing bank OF smoke sclidned is Chicago.
The frogs that croak in the dark mysteries Of
yonder bayou have voice. the voice OF an Al
derman In tho Common Council Of Chicago.
Those tottering trunks. water soaked and rot
ten. bow to tho rule OF the Mayor Of Chicago.
Tho bitterns that mourn IN tho Jungle; the
tern that flcetly dodge the engine; the mud
ruffics that burrow in the banks OF the creeks:
the muskrats that flash in the pools: the snipe
that nts across the open: the snake that
wrigges his way through the moist under
brush: they are all citizens Of no mean city. cit
liens of Chicago.
To animated nature. burrowing. believing.
croaking. creeping. whizzlng. wriggling. with
ing. lodging. flying. datting. kissing. whist
ling: to animated nature seen. unseen. and OBJ
scene In these dccomposing wastes I lift my
hat politely. for thus. In her outskirts. do sa-
lutte Chicngo!
1T is ton minutes run through submerged
and malarial Chicago before we reach the dis
trict in which her municipal humanity dis
places her municipal reptiles. Tho fact that
we are getting into zone Of realities and
emerging from belt OF Nightmares Is made
patent by the great number OF railroad tracks
which converge on all sides OF us Trains Of
all kinds. passenger trains freight trains.
mixed trains. are gliding up and down on
either hand. Tho air is almost unbreathable
for the fumes Of their engines. Grim and
erimy figures mount guard at crossings. the
rs it appears. Of the Internal We
are going deeper and deeper into tho smoke
bank. cheap and gloomy houses Of wood.
spawned like rank toadstools out OF the dark.
wet soil. surrounding and growing thicker as
we proceed. Tho sky line Is broken by black
belching blacker smoke. The firma-
ment looks like part Of the earth upside down.
You think the trees ought to be growing topsy-
turvy. with their roots deep in those rich
Of carbon.
A bird soaring high must surely run risk Of
humping himself against the solid e1halatons
Of Chicago.
The cinders rain down perpetually. II 10
like the deposit OF its ashes BY tho Peak Of
Tenerifre.
You are saturated with horrible sadness
There comes over you o mournful fear that
you have parted forever with the sun. Hereafter
1t will never DO day any more. You must 30
RI n
cursed and forgotten by tho gods.
one Of natures outlaws. sentenced perhaps,
to be accommodated by blindness to your sur
like the eyeless fishes that live in
the dark Of the Mammoth Cave.
Everything is brown and ellis Of bitumen.
might be benefited BY the acrid
human beings unacclmated weep
and shuttle III unending protest Tho air
is full OF falling drifting flakes and scales OF
soft coal. And yet the tantalizing deposit
hangs suspended about nose high. 1t seldom
sheds itself In final shower to thus relieve
the breathing.
1t Is In this atmosphere that we arrive some-
what below the street level. and. hating In q
spacious station. alight at the end Of our jour-
ney The last beams OF the descending sun
light UP the depressing scene. Tho station yard
is full OF trains, bright with paint when seen
universal haze OF reek darkens everything and
wipes out all color. Freight cars abound. Ele-
vators upift their grimy towers all around us.
huge ditch yawns hard by. Its contents are
Of an indescribable chocolate. suffused with
green and shot with an unctuous purple Tho
odor OF it is not to DO described Throw q stone
into 1t and the concentric rings spread slowly
and sullcnly. exhaling. each ring. new and
horrible stencil. As the bubbles burst, like
beads on witchs oils. each minute explosion
|ibcrates fctor that speaks oloquently OF the
nature OF tho bed of the ditch. and OF the chem
Istry Of decomposition which goes on beneath
that stagnant. immo bile surface
You wonder. hastily. why this sullen MAS
matte drain is not filled up. Then you see a
dirty bridge revolving sulkily on its pivot to
allow the passage OF still dirtier tug. out of
every orillce Of which pours choking Hood of
bitumen. The churning OF the |
screws whips the contents OF the ditch into o |
lewis custard. and its laccrated bed gives up |
is horrors in hdeous resentment that Its |
,lumDers should ever have been disturbed.
Then you become aware OF even dirtier /
chvonerS, with long naked mAsts and no yisi.