The Irish standard., 1897-03-27

level crossings at present III the city are
standing menaces TO the safety of human
lives and limbs. The collision Of trains
with street cars have been unfortunate
ly of frequent occurrence, and foot pas
sengers have often been killed in walk
ing over these dangerous tracks. be-
lieve | am not mistaken in saying that
some three hundred people every year
are either killed or manned, owing to
these treacherous crossings. That very
fact alone ought to induce the authori
ties to wipe them, so to speak. out of
existence, and to compel the railroad
companies to erect arcades or viaducts.
as they do in Brooklyn and other cities,
over the streets on which the carriages
run. The system of street cars also needs
yeyry radical reform indeed. The over
crowding of these vehicles ought o be
put stop to. AS in Paris policemen are
employed in order that 10 one be per-
mitied to enter the trains, cars and
'busses SO long as all the seats are occu-
pied: while the municipal authorities
should compel the companies to put on
the streets a. sufficient number OF cars
for the sitting accommodation Of all. II
such system were adopted the citizens
Of Chicago would find life far more en-
joyable than it is at present. They
would not have to wat in the snow or
rain for the car that is in certain hours
of the day invariably chokful; nor if
they succeed in boarding it, will they be
compelled to hang on to the straps for
the bare life during the Journey.
With little hustling and enterprise,
all these defects will be remedied, and
Chicago will become q model city in ev-
cry respect She shall have New York S
elevated railroads. comfortable street
cars of Paris, and Paris clean and as
phalted streets, tagged sidewalks. and
all the other advantages peculiar to a
city whose proud boast it is that it
marches i'll the yau Of progress and llu-
manity.
The Worlds Fair left behind it the
legacy OF a permanent art gallery, we'll
provided With copies Of the old masters,
where the young and aspiring artistic
geniuses Of The city might qualify them
selves to walk in the footsteps of Van
Dyck o. a Murillo. The University Of
Chicago may discover q poet equal to
Tennyscn or Longfellow; and Lake
Michigan and it's natural beauties will
not be forgotten by the native bard on
whose shoulders the mantle of Eugene
Field is destined to fall.
Then, again. in that golden epoch
right betUsrae the Chicagoans, they shall
not be compelled to Sc to Boston or
New York for their literary pabuluinn.
Chicago has certainly enterprising book
publishers, but she has no magazine
which circulates 50 widely as one of the
leading magazines Of New York. Maga-
zines should be started on the banks of
Lake Michigan that would outrival in
intellect, illustrations and in circulation
the monthly periodaicals Of the Empire
City. Would not a seven or five-cent
magazine have an enormous circulation
under careful management in the COM
mercial and advertising departments,
and the selection of leading authors in
the editorial sanctum?
No limits can be fixed to the enterprise
and talent Of such go-ahead a communi-
ty as that OF Chicago. 1t SHOULD be the
ambition of every citizen to contribute
his share to make Chicago the future
brains of the United States as Paris is,
in the words of Victor Hugo, ''rhe brains
of Europe"
Fairmont, Minn.--T1le trial Of Lewis