The morning call., 1893-03-26
THE HEdIRA TO CHICAGO.

Well-bred highway robbers always leave
their victims money enough to get home
with. This is in line with the practice
of the bandits of Sicily and Calabria,
who make it a rule never to de-
spoil the traveller of his last coin. The
custom seems 10 be commencing Itself to
parties nearer home, who expect in few
weeks to have a rich body of defenseless
wayfarerS at their mercy.
The Chicago Herald draws attention to
the fact that innkeepers. "of high degree
especially" have combined to demand dur
ing the fair season s6 to SIC a day for board
and rooms which they are now glad to rent
at SIS TO 81 At the present time these inn
keepers are always pleased to rent rooms
by the week, at n considerable reduction
from transient rates; now they decline to
name any terms whatever for weekly
boarders during the fair season, preferring
to levy their daily toll The Herald advises
visitors to refuse TO submit to such eXac-
lions. 1t says that the phenomenal increase
IN hotels and boarding houses in anticipa-
ton of the fair inSures ample accommOda-
tiun for all cOmers. And it counsels stran-
gers 10 set their faces sternly against extOr-
tion.
These be brave words and it may be
hoped tnat they are based on realities. A
very large proportion of the people of this
State propose to visit the fair this spring or
next summer. Those who are sensible viii
not leave their home on the slope until
they have secured their rooms al Chicago by
such cast-i:on compact that it cannot be
eYaded when they reach the battlefield. It
Is an undOubied fact that caraYansaries on
a colossal scale have been erected by the
lake and that almost every Chicagoan
stands ready for price agreed upon to
yacate the whole or part of his house to
accommodate visitors. Bat in operations
on a vast scale confusion generally ensues,
and it often takes time TO bring buyer and
seller together. a traveller who reaches
Chicago tired. dusty and impatient may
have to submit to any terms which are de-
manded II he has not made his arrange
menls beforehand. The hack-drlvers are
pretty sure to be in league with the inn
keepers and it is odds that the police have
been admitted to the compact.
Those who visited the Paris exposition in
1889 have a painful recollection of the
thorough fashion in which they were bled
There was a snguarly adroit method in
the business. Every article which the
stranger could need. from a suite of apart
ments to a pocketcomb, or bifteck aux
pOmmes, was raised in price and the ad-
vance was so uniform that competition was
killed. II was still possible Tor Uae whu
could speak French and knew his Paris to
obtain food, shelter and raiment at rates
which left a little pocket money in the
wallet. But strangers who could not
speak the tongue and could not tell where
to look for furnished rooms or cheap res
taurants were only left just coin enongh to
get home. When complaints of extorton
were made the answer was that you could
not expect a Tour d'Eiffel for nothing. 1t
is Teckoned that the city of Paris realized
more out Of the board and lodging Of the
strangers who filed the city than the whole
exposition cost.
Common report does our Chicago friends
injustice if they are apprentices in the art
OF which the Parisians are past masters
In the Mississippi Valley it Is a byword
that whatever you buy at Chicago you will
get less for your money than anywhere else
in the world. II that is the case in piping
times of peace, what can You expect when
the Worlds Fair bugles begin to blow? At
Philadelphia seventeen years ago hopes
were cherished that the Centennial would
prove a mine Of wealth, but the descendants
uI lut NJuhktrS were TOO SlalQ ana Vutu0uS
TO pluck the goose they held in their
clutches. There IS a touching story of a
Chicagoan who, hearing that a friend had
been served with STEAK in Chestnut street
for mere dollar. yelled his face and wept
over such a melancholy example Of lost
opportunity. His fe!lOw-townsmen, he
sObbed, would not have so neglected the
windfall Of Providence.
San Franciscans who are buying S72-
rOund-trip tickets to Chicago should OBJ
serve two or three simple rules. FIRST,
they should not start till they have secured
lodgings with board at a stipulated price.
1t is best that the bargain should specify
the distance of the lodgings from the expo
sition buildings and from the business cen
ter. Chicago spreads over large stretch Of
country, and people who have houses any
where on the prairie are likely to advertise
for lodgers. Next, visitors should supply
themselves before they leave with all the
clothing they will want, so as not to be at
the mercy of the Chicago clothiers. And
finally, every visitor should put away in
some secure inner pocket money enough to
pay for his return journey. He is a foolish
general who does not look out for his lines
of retreat.