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

In week one gets sufficiently acquainted Will
the metropolis OF Misrepres entation to realiz
the astounding disappointment which It wi!
inflict upou the credulous Europeans who in
tend to visit IL during the next two years.
The first and most repulsive characteristic
| OF Chicago Is what Is known as Its business
centre. This centre is O district by no mean
Of extensive area. which contains the Cour
| House. tho Post Office. the Western Unior
building. and the Board Of Trade as its four
fold focus. Some years ago the business
population displayed tendency to spreat
out rs they call it In Chicago. The area o
Office room began to widen and the landown
| ers OF the centre" district contemplated will
alarm the possibility Of having to share thei
tenantry with an cver-increasing horde o
landlords. 1t was to obviate this that the own
| ers OF tho district devised tho sky scraper'
| order OF architecture. which is the principa
boast as tits the principal deformity Of Chicago
These monstrous Office structures are hardly
any Of them less than twelve stories In height
| A good many OF them are OF twenty-four-story
| altitude. A few contain nearly thirty tiers OF
| Offices. All their exteriors are In general ex-
preston alike. They differ only in details
trimming they call them in Chicago They
are all built Of stone. principally the dull. dark
gray stono excavated by convictp out Of the
Quarries OF Joliet Some pretendt to a flnickina
originality. Tho facades differ in design. In
one there ia an abundance Of metal work. In
another none at all There is single char
acteristic. however. common to all Of them.
the extraordinary quantity OF small Jail win
dows which pierce their walls.
great many Of them are built on q first
floor. a req de chaussSe OF dwarfed and dumpy
arches. In perhaps twenty instances all there
Is OF each arch Is the arc. The columns or
abutments are altogether lacking. and the
chord ofthe arch is supplied by the threshold.
Sometimes there are short, rudimentary col.
umns. terrible squat things that alright and
disgust tho critical observer It looks. in all
such cases. as il the weight Of the pile super
imposed upon these colonnades had driven
the columns SO deep into the soft. swampy
soil OF the city. that nothing but the arches
them selves remained visible.
Nor is this impression OF settling Alto
gether unfounded. Chicago stands upon q
quicksand. At well-defned. universal depth
there ia subterranean inflow OF the lake.
Beneath that lacustrine space Is moro or loss
solid ground. but hardly any OF the buildings
are erected on foundations running clear
through to this solid. substantial bottom. Most
Of the top-heavy structures are founded on the
auicksand. into the lower strata Of which the
lake flow percolates.
Hence 1t Is that several Of the larger build
inGs throb with tho pulses Of the machinery
they contain.
Take. for example, the vaunted Auditorium.
that curious combination Of hotel. theatre.
and q public hall tits an enormous collec-
ton Of rectangles. All its lines are the lines Of
correlated parallelograms Its model was evil
IDENTITY soap box. For tower 1t has long
macaroni box set on end. On the top OF the
macaroni box Is its cap q gray cube. that is
beyond doubt q match box. It is built Of a
dark. sombre stone. which looks exactly like
petrifed smoke. You find It easy to imagine.
after examining 1t, that Chicago genius has
found q way to convert her bituminous fumos
into building material.
It's ground floor has the appearances OF
settling fast into the qulcksand on which it
stands. Perhaps 1t is 80 settling. At all
events. 1t seems to DO descending into the SUBJ
terraneous ooze.
Sitting In the great hall Of the building whom
its fifteen or sixteen various engines are at
work. you are seized with CONSERVATION. There
is terrifying roll right and left. an inoessant
pitch fore and aft. Sudden chills and thrills
OF the overworked. under-founded structure
are distinctly perceptible
Even your Chicago cicerons confesses tho
existence OF these alarming phenomena, but
no says that they are not ominous OF danger.
that they indicate no structural debility. 1T
Is" says no. "one OF the peculiarities OF the
building" You find. sfterward. that tho Audi
forum does not monopolize this popularity
There are other less vaunted buildings which
have the Same spasms and shudderings whom
their machinery works hard and fast
The enormous height of the structures in
the business centre" has not been matched
by Troportionate widening Of tho streets.
They nre OF normal width As a natural con-
sequence the towering Office buildings on
each side practically alternate them. The
sidewalks look like thin ribbons OF granite
the wagon ways like ordinary foot paths. The
dwarfng influence Of tho loftiness OF the
buildings Is apparent and effective otherwise.
People look like midgets- You lose oil crlteria
OF size Your rule OF comparative measure
ment is withheld from you. A man walking
past . twenty-story structure looks half "a
big as man walking rast building with
only ten tiers OF windows. Tho man who
walks past building OF Eve 10. after all, your
normal unit In other words. by adapting
her houses to giants In her business cen.
tire Chicago has transformed her population
into horde OF pigmies.
1t Is In these streets. those deep cutters be-.
tween towering man-cotes. that one sees and
considers the people OF Chicago. So narrow
are the thoroughfares. SO high the buildings.
that they are sun'it and cheerful only when it
Is the hour Of high noon and the solar beam
drops perpendcularly. At other times they
are stepped In chill or sufrocating shadow.
Most OF the time they are rooted by the canopy
OF smoke. which descends 80 low that 1t rests
upon the buildings as upon abutments.
Perhaps II Is this sinister twilight which
gives to the men and women who swarm
among these warrens their haggard complex
ions. their sad and tired air. Like tho beings
80 terribly imagined by Edgar Poo. you hear
them laugh. you never see them smile. It Is
tho very thick and fury OF the Struggle for
Life. All OF them. men and women. equally
look desperate. They show each other none
Of tho small considerations Of politeness.
They elbow and squeeze and crowd each other. |
looking neither to tho right nor to the left. |
They have no time to get out Of each others |
way or to apologize for their ineessant infrac- |
lions OF the code OF pedestrian ethics.
1t 10 a modified saure qui peut . merciless and |
general panic born " desperate fear either