The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1893-07-31
RxroRTIoNATg


tortion.
RxToRTIoNATE RATES,
1t is TO DO hoped that at tho next
Worlds Fair in the United States the
government will give literally enough
in lite aid to be able to dictate that
there shall be none OF these concession
extortions on the people, such as are
pTactised here in the chair, electric
and launch m~onopOlies, A ride Of 100
yards on the canals and lagoons is
charged for ut 50 cent?, just the same
as Ii you go all around, aud a ride in u
chair half OF mn hour Is charged %
cents, The excuse is that they have to
'divvy" with the fair company, The
fair company is in partnership with
NIL tho bleeding operations on the
ground, from the fakes Of the Plaisapce
to the skin games referred 10. Its ex'
cuse, in turn, IL that only in this way
could the capital stock Of five and a
half millions have boon raised; only by
tho fact of these "diyvy' receipts being
thus pledged for its repaymenti which
Ia why / remark that next time tho
government should couple with n more
liberal appropriation q provision against
all gouges OF whatever description,
AS regards outside prices, aud some
OF those inside the grounds, the visit
ing public have really nothing much TO
complain OF. The conspiracy to charge
81 per day for n small room at q third
class boarding house, and at innumera'
BILE Indifferent private dwellings, was
buFsted early in the action, Its own
utter Righteousness and the sparsene'a
OF patronage bursted it, The same
would.be extortioners now solicit and
importune the public to come to them
at one.hRli or one-thIrd the money.
These people did not really know how
large a place Chicago Is. They didn't
appreciate the fact that it bad l,40O no.
tells, big and little, before the fair and
added 1000 more OF the same kind in
preparation for it, and that thor capaci'
ties, together with the almost 10000
boarding houses and as many more
rooming domiciles, were more than ade'
quato to the absorption OF any possible
patronage that the fair might receive.
They did not know all this at the start,
but they know it now, and many OF
them 10 their %pecnniary cost
LUNCH PRICES,
Prices for subsistence inside the fair
grounds baye been kept down to some
extent by the baskets OF the lunch bril-
gade, They are sill unreasonably high
ut some OF tho tony cafes, but, on the
other hand, they are not out OF the way,
nil things considered, at tho lunch
counters OF the Wellington Catering
Company. OF course tho rural people
who sell apound of wool these days at
Is or 20 cents and bushel Of wheat for
so look upon 10 cents for a cup OF coffee
(only two.thirds fully and ten cents
more for n thin ham sandwich or q
small piece Of pic as enough in all con-
science, measured by their knowledge
OF the first cost OF such necessities, and
they simply fall back appalled, at the
prices for n regular dinner in the cafes,
where about five pounds Of wool or two
busels Of wheat are necessary to get
them a square meal. These rural peo-
pie have IA hard time holding their own
against tho outdoor cafes that skirt the
green at certain places OF tho grounds.
They can take u seat at the little tables
and call for coffee or tea at
10 cents per cup, but the mo-
mont thoy unroll u sandwich or
open u basket they arc notified that
only cafe edibles are allowed TO bs eaten
at the tables. This rebuff spoiIs the
coffee or ten entirely, and many a mod
est school marin or other country cou-
sin is heard to think, Il not to cay to q
waiter: "Well, how mean a man you
arc" Looking ut these walters some
times and at their rough ways toward
the people referred to, l have been re-
minded OF the saying OF Joseph Addi-
son, that the most leartIess treatment
OF the poor Ia that accorded to them by
those who serve in the mental positions
OF life. With fifty empty tables in sight
and a cup Of coffee paid for Mt twice its
value, there is no seat whereat these
modest people may eat IL piece OF bread
us they sup their beverage; and most
OF oil, they are toldso in IL tone as CON
temptuous as that in which the slaves
OF the south used to allude to the poor
white trash" around them. A. W. q.