Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1894-11-11
AFTER THE GREAT WORLDS FAIR
CHICAGO EXPERIENCES A Rpsc-
rfoS.
Merchants Living on uopc--creat
Depreciation IN ncnts-Lsndiords
Deserving OF rity-Ths People Liv-
ias On hope. aud Prospects.

~~f'~ $3.50 @'tNFN>t"f
Chicago. Nov. IA year has passed
since the Columbian Exposition was 1t
the zenith OF It's glory. That month OF
October will never be forgotten; cs-
pecially the 9th. when 7sl.Ooo people
paid their way into the White City.
This day has been set aside MS an an
niversary worthy or celebrations com
memornting. as II docs not only the
pride OF civic glory. but the great and
devastating fire which left Chicago
heap OF smouldcring ruins and sent
Mrs. Leary and her COW echoing down
the alsles OF posthumous fame.
That the 9Th was worthily celebrated
here goes without saying. The old
time dignitarles shone again In rcmlnis-
cent glory and. warmed up with cham
payne and other good things. revomped
the glories OF the past. and told an old
tale over again. But there was one
thing which they did not tell about
and that one thing Is painfully appar-
ent to the visitor who remembers Chi
cego in the days OF the Worlds Fair.
They did no, tell'of the travail through
which the city has gone the past year.
due to the reaction after the fair. II
was well-beloved minstrel who pro-
phetlcally announced through his lyric
muse set to the tuno OF this clnsaic air.
After the BAH IL over" the dire mis-
fortunes that Should visit the city
~ aud
one OF those misfortunes came, lenvius
the whole business community wildly
shreking for the ono thing Pandora
left In her cnsllct OF illa-llope And
that's what most OF the merchants here
have been living ON the pust year.
The FIRST thing the newly arrived
stranger experiences on allghtlng IN
Chicago IL pang VI pity for the land
lord. whole blocks OF residences lie
Idle with uucnnny posters emphnalzlng
their deserted aspect. Perhaps one or
two occupied houses remain Ia one
block, the unfortunate tenants having
taken leases which keep them there,
This general emptiness does not pre-
vail only In the Hyde Park district.
whore the fair was held, but In ull
residence distriets on the West, az well
rs the North Side, or the South; in
kensngton as wen as Woodlawn or
Lincoln Park districts, Indeed, riding
IN on the train from the suburbs from
any direction the mpnolOny Of vacant
houses is painful,
Prices? Why, you can get flats in
Chicago Just now for any hgura. On
the South Side enc can get beautiful
seven and eight room fats, flttud with
natural gas piped from the Ilooaicr
state. hundreds q miles away. furnace
heated and 'all modern improvements"
for $50 n month, and II you want TO 80
| out far enough stlll leau than that,
/ The sltme Kind OF lats at Twenty
| second street last year were renting for
| and $50. Out whore the fair dis
| trlct began four-room apartments at
| $40 and sl2 IS no unusual figure, out
| Of curiosity visited n dwelling on
| Fifty-nlnth street. where ! had esHaycd
| to get rooms Just before the fair open
| cd. The lady OF the house offered me
! her front room then FOR 500 month.
"Wlll you Put any one else In hprcY'
asked timldly. for her face was OF the
Gordon type, and the draft made her
bangs wiggc In an aggressive way,
"Well. | may put two more In but
you can depend that ] viii put no more
| in than that" she rejolnod.
| could rent the whole building now
for that much In fact, had difficulty
IN getting away at all. The ngent,
sccntlng n deal, treated me TO lnnum-
cradle cocktails and even suggested
that should occupy box at the the
ator with him thai evening. It's a5
| much as a mans life Ia worth almost
IN Chicago Just nov to take a look at
vacant house.
As TO the business OF the city. to talk
of II to merchant Is TO bring a cold
| sweat out on his brow. Never has
Chicago passed through such period
Of depression. The grea, index 10 the
business activity Of n city Is invariably
It's newspapers. but hardly any Rdvor-
tlHing was done OF All this summer.
"Whata the good Of advortislng2 No
boly's got any money to buy" was the
way the merchant put II. one o. tho
greatest dailles In the countiy---n morn.
| Ing paper--cane out once ut least this
\ summer with lees than 100 lines OF adj
vertising display, Many smaller peril
odcals died from luck Of nuurlshment.
1 and have II from the very best au-
tnorlty, the owner OF paper. that
only Two dailies In the city made ex-
penses. But things are picking up now,
Winter goods are coming In and the
harrassed merchant is beginning ia
advertise again The advertising agent
Is beginning TO put on his old clipper
air end leayea the Rlalto to be paced
by embryo iamlets. with whom he
has some affinity when times are hard
ever. before the vacant houses MI
up and multitudes throng the streets
as OF yorp. But you can't tell this ~
q ChicnRoen. II there IL one thng
the inhnbitnnt OF the Windy city
prldos himself upon Il IN his civic
pride. BY System OF arithmntlcal
progression that would puzzle Cam
bridge senior TO figurc out he shows
you plainly that there are NOR,
people than ever In Chicago. It's nc
,ise 10 point out the columns OF vacant
houncs advertised daily. IAN tran
sient. my dear sir" he reJoinu. 'Ev-
erv city has a vast fiunting poulation
hut Chicago more than any" And
then he viii proceed to chow you by
the school census that Chicago viii
ncst cenaus have 100000 Inhabitants
Won spring the census OF 1921 upon
him showing 1.01g. $50 people. but this
nniy makes him laugh, ana he viii
! urove 10 you that IN 1928 there were
600 900 Inhabitants hero. SO enthus
laatlc 10 the Chicagoan on this matter
III population that the Two Million
, cluh IL an established institution here
~ ia needless TO add that over thel
i,annuats the future population OF Chi
ca,so " lltnitlera But this muttcr OF
r,yie prlde In what makes chicDgO "
abead and try to DO everything better
,hon nny other city does IL, or at leasl
al more OF II, for quantity AWAY
tells IN Chicago, whether quality Hoel
with Il or not The Civic Federation
, 1. 4 great example OF this spirit. II =
, a. echo and a very powerful one n