St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1911-10-14
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.si,ss;e A LETTER FROM CHICAGO
Chicago, ILL.,, Oct. 9, 1911.

have been here few weeks, but
don't know much about Chicago. In
fact, no suburban resident can truth
fully say that he knows Chicago, for
he may know it when he goes to bed at
night and wake up in the morning and
find that something has been changed.
In fact, Chicago is city of constant
reconstruction. Fine buildings are be-
ing torn down to make room for sky
scrapers. All the big concerns want to
be in the LOOP" and consequently
everything is going into the air. Under
the new ordinance, which went into eff
feet September l, 1911, buildings are
not allowed to be over 200 feet high.
The limit formerly was 26O feet, and
in order that no one who contemplated
high building might be shut out by
the new ordinance, the Office issuing
permits was kept open until IL o'clock
midnight on the last day in August in
order to allow the filing of applications.
Chicago is such a mass of electric
wires and rails and communications of
all kinds that it is found that electro
lysis is injuring steel-framed buildings,
bridges and underground pipes. Some
OF the water mains have become SO
softened by escaping electricity that
emergency pressure would be apt to
burst them, and therefore remedial
measures have been reported by the
engineers as necessary. There is moth
ing alarming in this that cannot be cor
rected, but it shows the enormous
amount of electricity that is in daily use
in the city.
took ride on the Metropolitan
branch of the elevated railroad Sunday,
making the loop and returning to start
ing point, distance of about thirteen
miles, for nickel. A portion of the
elevated tracks are quite high on this
line, and at any point you can see over
the roofs of two-stoly buildings. The
highest point is where the tracks run
above the elevated tracks of the B. & @.
railroad, and at this station, near
Douglass Park, patrons are saved the
sxertion of climbing the stairs by the
introduction of the moving steps. You
simply step on them and they carry you
to the top. This system is also in
vogue at the Boston store, but l have
not yet found any moving floors, such
as are in use in several of the stores
in New York City.
To-day. October 9, 1911, will be cele-
brated as the anniversary Of the great
Chicago fire, when the city was almost
wiped out of existance. It will be a
day of glory for the Coolest inhabi-
tants, whose memories of the cause
and occurances of that date differ as
much as the memories of the oldest in
habitants Of st. Tammany Parish do as
to the coolest winter, the hottest sum-
mer and the earliest frost, or perhaps
even as to the late day in May that
fires had to be kept burning. Chicago
Is essentially a city of progress and
may be depended upon to put into ex-
ecution any ideas that gives promise
of good results. The loss by fire in
Chicago in 1910, was S., 900, 600.
At present moral wave is washing
over the department of police. An ex-
animation by the civil service commits
sion int the fact that gambling was
allowed during the wrestling match be-
tween Gotsch and Hackenschmidt has
resulted in the dismissal of one police,
officer and one lieutenant, and it looks
as If officials higher up may be reached
before the investigation is over. The
Record-Herald first made the charges
that resulted in the investigation, and
1t printed snap shots of the games as
they were being conducted. The news
phpers take an active part in detective
work of all kinds, and when they find
out thing they are not afraid to pub
lish it Another thing, everybody
reads the papers. They are for sale on
almost every street corner and are
read by the busy man while he is rid
ing in the street car.
The weather here fer the past
week has been cloudy, with occasion
al rains, the temperature ranging
from so to 70 degrees. In fact, it
does not seem much cooler here
than I expect to find it in St. Tam
many parish, but Chicago is notable
for it's changeable weather and the
Thermometer may register quite diff
ferently within the next day or two
The many theatres and places OF
amusemnt sem to be well attended
and the picture shows, which are in
nearly every block in some sections;
arc kept so crowded that one fire.
quently has to wait ontside until
some of the audience come out
The vaudeville performances in
these shows are very good and the
arrangements of the theatres are ex-
cellent. Sometimes you find three
or four of them under the same
management, and when you visit
ore OF them check is given you for
five cents, which entities you to ad-
mission into another show on the
payment of five cents more. The
audiences seem to enter thorough
" into the performances, and ! have
even seen them applaud especially