Evening star., 1901-04-23
Foreign Comment on Conditions in
Western Cities.
LABOR AND IT'S REMUNERATION
interesting information in Con-
suIar Reports.
TIE GROWTH OF TRADE

| Copies of the annual reports of Mr..
| Wyndham, the British consul at Chicago,
| together with those of the vice consuls at
ST. Louis. Kansas City, st. Paul, Denver
and Omaha, and reports upon the trade OF
Milwaukee and Duluth. have Just been re-
ceived here, and are undoubtedly of great
| interest to the commercial circles in that
| section of the west. The reports generally
attest to a very prosperous condition OF
| trade and furnish many interesting in
| stances of the view taken by an English
| man of American enterprise and methods
of business. For instance. in describing a
department store in Chicago Consul Wynd-
ham says: "a department store means an
| aggregation of many trades under one roof
and management; enabling customers to
buy everything necessary for life without
| leaving the building" He also comments
| upon the advertising methods of these
| stores, pointing out that the main object
| is to get the people in the stores and not
especially to sell any one branch of goods
whose sale is heralded in the daily news
papers. ITO this end, the consul says,
many firms spend several hundred pounds
| a week" "a.
Trade In Chicago.
| The export business Of Chicago during
1900 in farming implements is shown to
have been the largest on record. Chicago
cessful year. and are probably in better
position than ever. The manufacture of
Shoes which has been monopoly Of the
| New England states, Is now said to be
| rapidly moving it's center to the west. In
| this connection the use Of the word boot
| in the United States is referred to, and is
shown to mean high boots in this country.
An English boot is in America simply
| shoe" Brewing in the Chicago district is
| shown to have been far from satisfactory
| during the past season. though the sales
! showed a slight increase over 1899. In
breeding and raising live stock the past
year is stated to have been remarkably fa-
vorable In toe Chicago district. The consul
| cautions exporters to send only good breeds
of cattle to America. The American farm
er, he says, will pay good prices for good
| cattle, but doesn't want inferior stock at
all The quality of meat, he says, has inn
proved of late, and the lank animals of ten
| years ago have been replaced by sleek
looking cattle of medium weight.
The Chicago Schools.
| AS to Chicago schools, Consul Wyndham
| says: "a citizens committee has point ed
out the necessity Of teaching fewer subjects
in schools. and geography, history and
English more thoroughly
| The sale of fish In Chicago Is stated to be
very large, and is predicted to increase on
account of the large Catholic popula ation,
and the rising price of meat The output of
flour was the largest on record. The export
trade, however. has been less satisfactory,
on the whole. than was anticipated. THE
millers state" says the consul, that freight
rates discriminate against flour to the ad
vantage Of wheat, and they look forward to
| the future when no American wheat will
be ground in European mills" The gold
output OF the Chicago consular district Is
set down estimated at about 100000
pounds sterling. The fire insurance compa-
MES doing business In the United States
had very bad year during 1860. The Chi
cago claims were about fS0O,000, or 55 per
cent of the premiums
About one-fourth of the iron and steel
produced in America, it is said, is embodied
| in the machinery of Chicago's manufactor-
les. AS to the need of a good system of
storing water for irrigation purposes In this
section of the west, the consul says: ut Is
thought that the government should under
take the task Of building dams for the ben
eft of the general public