New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-08-06
A FRENCH VIEW OF CHICAGO
NOT EVEN ITS COCKTAILS RECONCILE MR.
UZANNE TO THE WINDY CITY.
THE FAsTIDIors FRENCBM,N FLIES 10 TIN
WILDERNESS TO SEEK RELIEF FROM
THE INCLEMENr LIFE OF THE

WILDERNESS TO SEEK RELIEF FROM
THE INoLEMENr LIFE OF THE
SATANIC PLACE
The author OF the Impressions OF chicago"
which appear below is NJ. Octave Uzanne' "rteI
much honored in his native France as man OK
delicate sensbiities and respected for his genera
accuracy of Judgment. He has during his life been
engaged upon many important literary works.
besides editing several periodicals. His powers OF
observation and his gifts in the difficult art OF
description led to his being chosen the special
Worlds Fair correspondent Of the Paris hius-
tratcd journal "I.Illustration," to which paper ne
has since the opening OF the Fair regularly ad-
dressed his Impressions AS a rule these articles
have been appreciative. Now. however. he speaks
in different tone, through a different medium'
witness the following letter, the first OF series
projected under the title of impressions OF Amer
ica." addressed to the Paris Figaro" under
Boston date line:
AFTER a soourn of three weeks at Chicago. IN
the midst OF thick clouds of SCOT which In less
than an hour corrode the skin dry or even TAR
the hair. annihilate the wilderness Of the best
Numbered linen, the moment OF departure Is not
attended by heartbreakng emotions. The daily
round at the Exposition with it's killing prone
nades devoid of agreeable stopping places for one
who wishes to lounge to rest; the sharp winds.
which at every moment pounce down upon you
from the north with unexpected impetuosity. are
not offset by the delicious cocktails which toward
evening delights to discuss with his 1r1enoo
across the celebrated bars Of Michigan-ave. Mel
Their the daily banquets. with their accompaniment
Of music. which no more DISCUSSES their emptiness
than browns the brutal noises made by those who
are drunk; neither the songs sung In the queer
quarters of the place nor the theatres. those
resorts at strange and so comfortable.
could cast a burden Of sincere and feeling regret
upon the light spirits which seize the traveller
at the moment he is leaving Chicago.
iS
CITY which a bitter irony has dubbed the Queen
of the Prairies everything is found to De IN 81"
cess-the proiusion and abundance OF the repasts
the splendor of the luxury the height OF the house
the auri sacra fames the hypocrisy OF the corrup-
tion the diabolical extension of industries, the
depth of the mud In the streets and the shabbness
of the rickety wooden structures which rise above
enormous granite facades. Everything is extreme.
from the easy way the natives spend their green.
backs to the Incidence OF the servants, VINO MINK
themselves seigneurs Of too grand type to deign
to clean the travellers shoes. who must therefore
in the morning descend in person to a special black
room to the negro bootbacks. One cannot dream
of a city of more be- wildering contrasts than TINS
Pearl of the West hose NAME Chicago by the
way signifies in the ID Indian dialect skunk
town Everything is ,ubservent to the word OF
command, make " The impulse toward the
conquest of the dollar overpowering that those
who have secured a fortune Immediately after
dixie gluttons who make parade OF the size OF their
bellies after eating) make haste to signalize the
event In enormous demonstrations In granite. erect
ing barbaric palaces. opening streets, establishing
railways without regard for the landscape or per-
spective From this there results lack Of balance
and harmony which stupefes the traveller In this
superhuman city, where to be fat seems to be
part of the law of life.
ut was therefore with feeling Of relief that
I quilted Chicago toward a certain evening by the
Erie Railway, which to conduct me to the
md mi NJ
ION the shores OF Lake Michigan did not feel
that enveloping sweetness Of living which belongs
to our italian and Scotch lakes. but felt myself
overpowered by those importunate visions SO ad-
miraby described by the genial Bostonian (sic)
poet In Gordon Pym.' for Chicago illustrates ana
interprets Edgar Poe. 1t exemplifes his greatness
and the total want OF feeling among its simple.
primitive often generous and kindly Western rus
tics throws valuable light on his genius. Not un"
til was leaving this formidable city. drowned Ia
the smoke OF its factories, was I particularly
struck with the nightmare of its grandeur and By
its diabolical power At that twilight hour. the
train rolled slowly along. I was able to judge Of
the immensely OF its suburbs. which In extrava-
gance are twice those of London: to form an
idea OF the superb phenomenal barbarity, to APP
preciate the distracting beauty Of the dark piano.
rama which unfoded itself. further than eye could
See. along the railway.
Under sky of suphurous and angry greenness,
on which the rays of the setting still trembed,
through deafening clang of engine bells. Of
screaming locomotives, and grooming grain elevators.
while express train crossed express train, the
earth, below the EARTH and in the air. accompanied
by the suspense of crossing shaking bridges.
looked for more than hour out upon an unknown
and frightful Chicago sihouetting itself against
background OF black white. gray. yellow and blue
smoke. In a setting grand that poet like Hugo
with his superb and cathedral-like epithets could
alone express the power OF the scene, the electric
hmm
lunar RAYS upon the torpid surface of long and i'm.
mense stretches Of canals. Tanneries mills, foun-
dries steam slaughter houses. smelling works.
oil reaneries came successfully into view with the
green and red signal lights The high chimneys OF
the foundres famed in the air like torches bridges
turned. between the puffs Of smoke slender cranes
revealed themselves at work, and vessels OF con-
siderable size with white double stacks and light
masts giided by the invisible water, lending TO
this moving phantasmagoria OF twilight note OF
still greater strangeness and unreality. This piano.
rama which swept by the immense window of the
car In which was. brought before me at every in
slant something more extraordinary and disturbing
Now Il was quarters traversed by immense avenues.
where the bars. with their red windows cast their
light upon the black, furrowed roadways now little
lakes whose waters seemed to move to the stroke
OF giant wndmllls now a wretched stretch Of coun-
try covered with factories, above which trains
passed on trestles of dizzy elevation so rapidly
that the eye could scarcely distinguish them so
quickly was the faky ribbon which they resemoeo
dsspated. The silhouettes Of vast buildings ago"
with the bloody splendor of metals In FUSION ae-
veloped themselves on the sky. rendered darker oy
the black clouds. and the train flew forward. i.s
alarm bell ringing ceaselessy Una, avn as
the fields OF Illinois passed by WIN d" ~
The a. night nj t has ALREADY come and the last hours
Of the giant city disappear MY eyes s streaked
by the electric light and see tracks Of the m rs
way, the yards. the water trousns a.t cars moved