The Portland daily press., 1893-02-23
ROOMS FOR THE MILLION. !.
How worlds Fair Authorities Will Take
e as.ss51;:I Care of Visitors. "a 81
fSpecial Correspondenoe.7

distinction IN MS own country and who
represents III a prominent capacity the
interests Of the sister republic during
the continuance Of the Worlds fair,
and an American of equal distinction,
whose name is a part and parcel OF
the great project, sat vfs-a-vis at a
table in the cafe of one of the SWEETEST
of Michigan avenues hotels the other
evening. A dinner that did full justice
to the Americans fame as an epicure had
been disposed of, and the two diners out
had gotten down to the pleasures OF cafe
noir, when the door opened and mil
itary looking man with grizzled features
and that peculiar gray mustache and
goatee which distinctively remind one OF
frontier service entered the apartment.
The American host and the newcomer
exchanged a military salute. Then the
former asked:
'.And how are things going in your
department, major? You are mighty
lucky in having quarters down town
and not being compelled to travel to the
park these blizzardy days"
'.We are in the swim, general" was
the response of the grizzled veteran as
he inclined his head in recognition of an
introduction to the Ffenchman and
reached over his hand for the menu.
Cover 1900 letters in the first mail this
morning" ~.
some thousand letters" calculated the
Frenehman, only he said it with that
peculiar pronunciation that only those
to the manor born can reproduce in
print. "That is what would call one big
correspondence"
'sThat is mere nothing, monsieur, re-
piled the veteran. I'VE will be getting
them by the wagon load in a month or
sou and the Frenchman shook his head,
shrugged his shoulders, elevated his eye
brews and generally indicated that, as
our Irish friends would say, He couldn't
make it out, begorra, at all, at all"
A goodly number of people were just
as much surprised as was the French
man when tie Worlds fair directorate
decided to add hotel and rooming de-
partment to the bureau of public COM
fort. They were inclined to look upon
it as something of an aping of that SIS
tenn of paternal government that pre-
walls in European countries, but which
has always been frowned down on this
side of the Atlantic as hardly in conso-
nance with the free air Of a republic.
But the directorate argued that it was
its duty to cooperate, to the best of its
ability, with the citizens and household
ers of Chicago and vicinity in securing
suitable and desirable lodging accom-
medations at fair and reasonable rates
for expected visitors, on the ground tfat
tens of thousands Of people would be de-
TERED from visiting the fair unless salts
factory assurances could be given them
on this point.
What better assurance, argued the dl-
rectorate, could possibly be given than
the fact that the exposition authorities
themselves, would undertake to house,
them? AS to, the question of eating, they
could look after that without. assistance
There will be plenty of restaurants and
maybe, judging from the looks Of things,
plenty to spare. Anyway. a man can get
along on half rations if he has only a.
comfortable place to sleep. Rest for the
body and mind is infinitely more bene-.
fetal than gorging the stomach, when
only modicum of sleep accompanies it,
And SO the Worlds fair people went:
into the rooming business. They di-
vided the city into districts and sections,
prepared an official register and invited
parties who proposed to have furnished
rooms to let next summer to send in a
full description; naming the prices, au-
thorizing the department to inspect such
accommodations, likewise authorizing it
to let the same from day to day, week to-
week or month to month, and to collect
the rent in advance. The response was
. instantaneous. 81
{ Over. 10000 householders, many Of
them well to do people living on fashion
able thoroughfares, and whose pride
would not permit of their putting a "To
Rent" sign in their window, or even adj
yertising vacant accommodations in the
newspapers, have already listed with the
exposition authorities, These 10000 can
furnish facilities for 40, 900 or $4,000 peo-
Pile nightly. Before the LIST of May it is
expected the list will have doubled, and
it is not outside the province of proba-
bility that along in midsummer 100000
people will nightly be thanking the fore
thought of the directorate for the COM
Portable rest they are nightly enjoying.
The modus operandi is very simple. A
citizen Of Ohio, for instance, writes the
bureau of public comfort that himself
and wife expect to take in the Worlds
fair on the 18th, 18th and 18th of Au-
gust; that they have never been in the
city before; that they are in doubt about
being able to secure Accommodations with
in their means, and that they would like
to know all about it, intimating, more
over, that certain figure is as high as
they feel they can afford to pay per day.
The department replies that it has on
Its list just such quarters as the corre-
bpondent desires and at the price he
names, and that, if he will forward the
amount called for, covering the number
f days to be spent in Chicago, they will
torward him rental certificate, which
hill secure to himself and his wife the