The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1893-09-12
A Countryman i'm CRfcago.

mes acras
iafipl&e&Eass1 With sGlttteriAp
IGSQWp enGircling the Masonic Tenn,
Ma JshiniAg from a height which
hseemFS pid&eayeE is a scene which
one. feefsInSlined3to dwell on. III
Is spfepdf&, brilliant and dazzling,
Chtcago's"gake'frou Is extreme
ly pretty but its beauty is sadly
marred. i cannot think that the
stretch Of lawn on which at any
time one sees some hundreds of
lazy or tired humanity lying in
easy restfulness, with the expanse
of sapphire waters bounding the
Eastern horizon, would be SO ex-
quisite as Charlaston's Battery
and White Point Garden even if
the eight or ten tracks of the Illi-
nois Central skirting the waters
edge, with squadrons of smoking
locomotives constantly deploying,
did not intervene to make the
view obtrusively imperfect, but it is
nevertheless one which has charms
that r not common.
The Chicago "boulevards" are
not less agreeable to the eye than
the fashionable residence streets of
the average city but the compare
tive infrequence of the soap signs
and bill boards yield to them O
peculiarly pleasing aspect which
they otherwise would not possess.
The Chicago parks r in a way
handsome. That is to say, they
are we'll kept. The grass is as
green and velvety as one could
wish and the lagoons with the
small boats carrying cargoes of
sweethearts are refreshing. The
trees though are young and groves
of saplings do not impress one to
the same degree as do great elms
and oaks. The ground is of course
drearily fiat and that is a defect
which time will not remedy. Art
and money cannot make landscapes
that are entirely satisfactory in a
country where there r no ravines
nor real, genuine hills.
After going to Church on a Sun
day morning and listening to a
Texan deliver q most excellent and
eloquent sermon 1 journeyed out to
Lincoln Park and spent the after
noon. Troops of people were there
and evidently from their dress
most of them were men and wJ-
men and children whose hands
were used to toll ten hours q day
for six days in seven. Some were
strolling, many were pic nicking
under the trees, hundreds were
lolling on the grass and here and
there was a group playing cards.
In q sense there seemed to be q
Nnf M ,>fsrNt,c lsoro.osl H.
Sabbath just as if the knowledge
that it is set apart and made sa-
cred had not found its way to those
remote but populous regions. One
who has ever a dim recollection
Of the Shorter Catichism is at first
shocked at the scene but as his eyes
grow familiar with it the conviction
forces itself that there is deep rest
and recreation pervading it all.
Face to face with these people en-
joying their Sunday as school chill
dren sport in their midday recess
many of us at this distance too
willing to condemn them as har-
dered sinners and decorators of
the Sabbath gladly recall and obey
the Scriptural behest which forbids
us to judge lest we be judged our
selves. While our party, there were
thirteen of us, were being driven
over the park in a spark phfpton"
the driver suddenly drew rein in
front Of old Abe Lincoln's statue.
Then with amiable copdescension
and in the Chicagoese language he
informed us that his grand father
was q Darnell and cousin of the
statues original. He was O white
haired youth with a red face, was
this patrician on the box, and told
rne that his name wasNOiler. Thus
we were taught that Chicago is
teeming with kin of the great and
thereafter none of us would have
been surprised to have encoun-
tered a Norwegian prince in the
person of a cable "a conductor.
Washington Park is not so pop
ular as Lincoln but it is more beau
tiful. 1t contains flowers lovelier
than can dream of and the
visitor to Chicago who does not see
it is unfortunate. And when one
rests his tired feet on the cool, soft
sward he comes to believe that per-
haps Nebucadnezzar's fate was not
SO bad after all:
Monday morning after my arri-
val in Chicago 1 embarked in a bus
and rode down to the Worlds
Fair. It is generally and vera
ciously advertised as the greatest
show on earth, The characteristic
of it that impresses you, Expresses
you, knocks you down and strikes
you dumb is bigness. The moment
after you enter the gates you are
stranded. Perhaps you have a
portable library of guide books
and eight or ten reams of maps
and charts which you have been
diligently studying for weeks but
you are lost, dazed and COMPOUNDED
just as you would be should you
land in the moon. There are q
thousand courses open to you.
You can for q dime take a trip
over the intramural railway, an
elevated road running around the
grounds but "within the walls" as
the name implies, and it will afford
you an excellent view of the way
the trees appear to the sparroWs
and the walls to the chimney
sweeps, You will land in the re-
gion of perplexity again. You
might then interview the gorgeous
parsonage in blue apparel whom
YOU are ant at first plance tn toka