El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1898-05-13
CHICAGO LETTER.


the State Troops.-The Advance In
Wheat.-The Great Fires.-HOf-
mann. the Wonderful Pianist.-The
Close of Theodore ThOmas's Sew
enth Sea- on.
Special Correspondence Of the HERALD.
CHICAGO, May 1O.-Public interest
here is divided between the war and
the wheat pit in the Board of Trade.
Sensational developments in both have
kept US on the jump to keep up with
the times. So rapidly have things
moved that we feel like Brer Rabbit
in Uncle Remus's tales: He didn't
know what minute would be de next"
Probably no city in the country except
Washington is 60 wrought up by the
war excitement. All day long the
streets in front of the newspaper Of
aces are blocked with crowds watching
the bulletins as they are chalked up
on the big blsckboards. When an I'm
portaut item of news goes up there sre
cheers and surgipg to and fro and
people down in the next block come
running down to get the latest infor-
nation. You have only to mention
Dewey on the streets to start . conver-
sasion with any body. The Chicago
Telephone company sends war news to
hundreds of drug stores and other sta
tions all over the city, and little
groups gather round tho windows to
hA ant
ought to run the war.
The Illinois state troops now being
mustered in at Springfield have had .
hard time of 1t, owing to the criminal
neglect Of those in authority. When
they arrived 1t tho fair grounds which
were to be their camp, after travelling
all night without sleep. they found sb-
solutely no provision made for
their accommodation. Not man,
except some favored OFF,
GERS, tasted food until O'Clock that
afternoon. For . week, during . per-
iod of unusually cold, raw weather,
these men, living In open sheds and in
tents, had only about one blanket for
each four men, no suitable shoes, and
insufficient food. Innumersble colds
and mos . few cases of pneumonia and
fevers have been tho result, several
having resulted fatally. This mis-
management is openly charged by the
Chicago Times-Herald upon Governor
Tanner, who has spent his time since
the declaration OF war trying to secure
q msjor-general's commission. He has
utterly failed, and the state heaves q
sigh of relief. Officers and men will
be heartily glad when the orders come
to send them away from Springfield to
Chickamaugs and Washington, where
they will at least be free from the
dominion of political jobbery and ne
glect.
The advance in wheat fulfills the
predictions of the young wheat king,
Joe Letter. Both he and Mr.. Armour
said six months ago that within q year
wheat would be selling regularly for
$1.50. 1t reached that figure early last
week, and since that time has been
rising, selling May 9, At S1.75. Mr..
Letter controls practically the whole
supply of available May wheat, and
does about what he likes with the
price. The bread riots in Italy and
the scarcity in France have more to do
with the advance than the war. Lei
ter's sales are almost wholly to foreign
buyers who are obliged to pay what
ever he may ask. July wheat has also
been rising rapidly. On March Is it
was quoted at 81 IA; on May at 81 06
3-8, and Saturday and Monday put
many brogers in . tight place. Robert
Lindblom & Co., . large commission
house, we're unable to deposit the large
margins required by the sudden rise,
and made an assignment. This is the
first large failure during the present
boom, but it is not likely to be the
last.
Chicago has had number Of des-
tructive fires during the past few
weeks. First came the frightful dis
aster at the Aver building in Wabash
0V0nuo, III WuACA All00u P0Opi0 W0T0
burned to death and buried in the
ruins. Not until three weeks after
the fire Was the debris entirely re-
moved aud the total loss Of life dean-
itely known. The construction of the
building wac pronounced criminally
faulty by the building Inspectors, but no
criminal action has bean taken against
the owner. Civil suits for damages
have been brought by families Of one
or two of the victims. Other fires
have resulted in great destruction OF
property, among them being those in
the Tosetti and Monroe restaurants
several months ago, and the hide aud
hair department of Armour's plant at
the stockysrds. The latte r destroyed
an immense two-story frame building
in which hundreds of women were en-
ployed, who escaped, strangely
enough, without serious injury. II
the fire had reached the glue factory
| near by, there would have been ter
rible destruction. Every time there