Year: 1866

(From the Racine JOUrnaL)


One day last week we took it into our
head that we would give the Chicago peo-
pie surprise, or, IN other words, that
we would slip down there without giving
them any notice Of our coming, and put
them In hutter. But to our astonish-
ment when We got there, we found the
thing had got out, and the whole city
was all alive. We shall not give a de-
tailed account of our reception it is suf-
ficient to say that it was all we expected.
We conveyed oursef to the Revere
House, where a sumptUous repast was in
readiness for US. After dinner we strolled
out to see the city, independent of the
Board of trade. We hate formalities.
Chicago is decidedly an institution Of
itself It is larger than Racine but af-
ter a careful Investigation, we were con
vineed that it was IN consequence Ofthere
being more folks and more bOuses in it
than In Racine, and there IS no doubt
about their doing more business there
than is done in Racine, but thatls In con-
sequence of their buying and selling more
stuff


Chicago is a queer place, and is made
up Of queer people. Everybody is after
somebody, and somebody gets taken
down sometimes, and sometimes he don t.
Everybody Is in the streets a gOin it as
though they were afraid somebody would
get somewhere hEst---


Men IN Chicago get up from their pal
let of straw as poor and ragged as LARA
rus, and go forth to their task in sorrow,
and return clothed in purple and fine
linen, fare sumptuously, and lay their
heads on doRny pillows at night, rejoic-
ing, and the Prince of to-day Is Laz-
aroni tomorrow.


They are great on amusements. The
love of fast horses prevails extensively,
for they are q fast people. The pulpit
has declared war on the stage, and there
is fearful war Waging among the adher-
ents of these institutions at this time.
We are compelled to say, from what we
saw, that the people have not commenced
going back on the theatre much yet.
Of course we had no opportunity Ofjudg-
ing how matters stood with the church
but we presume it is all right. People
| that are in the habit of indulging in sin
| full practices during the week, usually
go to meeting on Sunday to wipe 1t out
Of course, as Grant and Sherman, and
| other distinguished persOnages visit the
atres and operas, 1t was proper for us to
do so. Now, it so happened that we had
never, in our long and eventful life, seen
an opera though we had heard, In our
youthful days, what was very much like
! it in Ohio, before civilization had cleared
away the forests and drove away the
wolves We have now ascertained that
| the music of those animals, when they
were able to congregate in sufficient
numbers, was decidedly operate. We
| had heard and read so much about what
/ she had on and a0hat she 1C0re to the
| opera, and how the men wore white vests
and kids, we supposed we should not be
admitted if we presented ourselves in a
common rig, and so we went over to the
/ fremont house, and hunted up our old
| friend, Charlie Rice, and tried to borrow


a white vest and kids Knowing him to
j be in the mule trade, we supposed he
would have such things but Charley
either could not or would not furnish US
with the desired articles. But we found


upon presenting ourselves at the ticket
office, that they grabbed our greenbacks
with the same aVidity that they did those
who belonged to the white kid fraternity


We now ushered ourselves, for the
! first time, into Crosby's Opera House
| Chicago. The fabled palace of Aladdin
could not have compared with it in splen-
! dor. We strOlled along down the aisle


with an attempt at indifference, with
which we hoped to deceive the audience
/ into the idea that we had seen nicer pla-
| ces than this was. Before we took ouI
seat we drew ourself up to our full height
and took a survey around the room, and
upon our honor, there was at least foul
/ hundred little double barreled things
/ leveled right at US, but having had some


experience where heavier metal was


used, we were able to stand volley
! They all soon came to an order arms,
except one old thing, and she was the


hardest looking of the crowd. She stuck
/ to her aim with a tenacity that boded evi


to US. We confess to have got littlt


nervous during the evening, for she con
tinued to draw bead upon us whenever
anything took place that she though


would please US. We felt sense of re
| lief upon getting out Of doors, and yet W.
shall always be haunted with a desire tx
! know what conclusion she came to res
| pecting US whether she supposed shC
had found her affinity or not.


Now we suppose it is due to our read
ers that we give learned criticism upor
the opera, but we cannot do it we dC
not understand the proper terms useC
by the modern critics. They were no
in Webster's old fashioned spelling book


nor in the Bible, and, of course, they


are outside of our reading. But we vii
do the best we can in our own way.


j Well, after sitting there about an hour
some of them hit the old triangle behinC


the curtain, and out popped about forty
men, more or less in front Of the stage
Some had one kind of an instrument, anC
some had another We think they haC


all the kinds there is, except the harp O


thousand strings. They spread them