The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1893-05-06
THEYN|u noble ROBBED.
Visitors to The Chicago Fair Need Have
no Fear Of EYtortiOn.
CAN FIX COST THEMSELVES.
There Will be Accommo odstion OF Ali
Grades and the Visitors Can Decide
what They VIII Pay Tremendous Ho-
tel Structures In the Windy City.

" what manner Is Chicago to care for
lie millions of people who are to visit the
Columbian expositioni Are there to be
nough rooms and other accommodations,
Ind are the prices to be reasonablei These
re questions now being asked all over the
[ountry. lean throw some light on the
ubject, for have made 1t my business
or week past to investigate the hotel,
DOM and restaurant accommodations Of
his city. It Is my Judgment, after days
nd days spent in inquiries and compari-
ON of notes. that no man or woman need
ear being robbed or that any great diff
Lulty will be founf in securing comfort
.ble quarters in Chicago this year. AS to
ost, you may make that what you like.
here are to be accommodations Of all
rades and sorts, and it is for the visitor
himself to choose what he will pay. OF
pourse there Is certain limit to the ex-
bense--I mean a minimum limit, for tllA
upward notch have not thought It worth
while to look for. I assume that II one
wishes to spend hundred dollars day
Tor himself and wife he VIII have no diff
guilty In doing so.
On the other hand, II will be easy to get
along with moderate expenditures No
pne will expect to live as cheaply In Chi
rago in . year like this an he could in his
bwn country town or In one of the small
tities. In the average towns and lesser
cities board OF fair sort may be had at
from ~ to el5 week, rooms included.
N nhar S<xH Aau
But these are not the rates that are to
govern in Chicago this year. II would be
unreasonable to expect them.
| Only those who are willing to spend con-
siderable money will be able to live In the
hrst-class, old-established hotels of the
city. From "a to 81 per day are the regu-
lar rates of these houses, and these prices
do not include anything special In the
way of parlors or bathrooms. The hotel
keepers have announced that they will not
raise their rates for the fair period, but
this announcement is deceptive. They
bave already raised their rates from IS to
loo per cent. For instance, last week I
was in q nice room at one of the principal
hotels. 1t was roomy, elegantly fur
nished. steam heat and electric light, and
had gem of q bath room with marble
1t was reasonable. BY adding about IS
per day to this outlay for meals and minor
expenses found could live very comfort
hbly right In the heart of Chicago. I
liked it SO well that / decided to remain
for several months. But when went TO
the office to engage the room the clerk
said: "Glad to have you stay with US, but
after May 1st that room will be a. per day.
hfaxy 1efx Ia -
in the house. Rooms that are e2 will be
You hav> the privilege Of taking in a
you JUS what It is Mt the present time"
l nj. that this is the method which all
the andlords are following. Nominally
they 0 not raise rates, but they double
IN in many places treble the number Of
persons f.. a.room. II one insists upon
having room to himself he must pay for
iwo u ss-co people. This holds good
the city, in the hotels and in
the ISorld'. lair district as we'll. Inas-
much sc j,so .,-cat majority of visitors to
the xposi.to viii come in families or par
lies, thi- -uls does not work great hard
Bhip. y Goinc two or four in room, ac-
eordin'. 20 5izo and accommodations, the
taeSS i=b". w hoPo uoWh W " AodSoudDio
figure.
Probabl. no other city in the world has
today one-half the hotel accommodations
hat may be found right here in Chicago.
never saw anything like it. The exposi-
lion is a monster, and Chicago itself Is q
show worth travelling many miles to..see,
but its hotel structures, both in number
and size, are simply, tremendous and over
whelming. Always a city noted for its
hotels, the number has been more than
trebled and the capacity quadrupaed with
in twelve months. In the city proper per-
baps score Of hotels with an average ca
pocity Of 500 or 600 persons have been
Of the fair that the most wonderful growth
has taken place. In a territory compris-
Ing about three square miles near the
gates of the exposition there is city of
hotels that seem to have sprung up in
night.
Taking those hotels which are actually
In existence, and omitting from the count
those which stand on paper or In the ad-
vertisments and dreams Of their projec-
tors, there are IN the Worlds fair district
no fewer than 140 hotels of seventy-five or
more rooms each, besides a number of
emallcr COnCeTJs. Ouo nuuureu OI tneSe
houses are of brick or stone, andthe re-
frame structures. The total
number of guest rooms In them Is "a ,256,
DR. an average of about $50 to the hotel.
Into each Of these rooms the proprietors
expect to put from two to four guests.
Three, probably, will be taken as fair
average, and this would give capacity OF
h little more than 100000 persons. Most
of these houses are handsomely fitted and
furnished. They have the modern i'm
electricity, good drainage,
hot and cold water, bath rooms, every
thing that one could desire. Four out Of
five Of them are more elegant and COM
Portable than the average frst-class hotel
of twenty years ago. The modern science
Of building for rapidity of construc-
lion and convenience afforded-has been
Implied to its fullest extent In the mo jority
bf the hotels. The use Of steel and iron
beams, girderv and posts, galvanized iron,
hollow lath, tile, metallic roofs, and all
the other many improvements Of the last
ten years, one may almost say of the last
five years, has made these houses not only
handsome but safe.
It has been the delight of the para
.xro ,,hars ~ the prpss and the c0rtoonists