People's Pilot, Volume 2, Number 40, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 March 1893 — WORLD’S FAIR NOTES. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

WORLD’S FAIR NOTES.

Important Information for Prospective Visitors. How to Secure Accommodations—Fraudulent Schemes Exposed—The Dairy Display—Miscellaneous Items. (Special Chicago Correspondence.]

[L]ETTERS by the thousand are daily coming to Chicago full of inquiry concerning arrangements for visitors at the great exposition. The allabsorbing topic among those

who contemplate a sojourn of a few days or weeks in the city is, "board and lodgings.” Those who have friends and relatives here will be well provided for in this respect, but the countless thousands who are entire strangers without any means of obtaining information on this important subject will no doubt be glad to learn of a means of fully posting themselves, before starting out on their journey to this the present Mecca of civilization. In this, as in all other respects, the world’s fair authorities have made provision for the enlightenment of the public. A department, known as the bureau of public comfort, has been established for the express purpose of looking after the needs of the outside world. This bureau is a reliable source of information, and any contract made through its agency for rooms and accommodations will be lived up to, as it is part and parcel of the World’s Columbian exposition, having been created by the board of directors, to contribute as far as possible to the comfort and convenience of expected visitors.

The chief obstacle in the way of many who would like to come to Chicago is the difficulty of obtaining suitable lodgings at a reasonable figure. As a rule hotel prices are a little too steep, more especially at a time when any attraction of national importance is on. As in the present instance there will, of course, be a big demand for rooms, and the large number of visitors will undoubtedly have some effect upon hotel prices. Furthermore those who are unacquainted with the city will have some trouble in locating themselves in comfortable and convenient quarters.

It will be seen at a glance then that any arrangement whereby intending visitors can secure accommodations in advance, and have a place to go right into will be a great boon. This can be accomplished through the world’s fair bureau of public comfort, whose offices are in the Rand McNally building in this city. A letter addressed to that office will be sure to meet with a prompt reply and the fullest particulars will be freely given. "The plan upon which this branch of the world’s fair service is operated is very simple, yet very complete and satfactory. The hotel and rooming department has registered landlords and owners who have houses and rooms to rent in all parts of the city. These are listed under contract with the bureau with full description and prices thereof, the rooms being always first subjected to inspection. In this list may be found accommodations suited to the purse of the person of modest means or the more ample capital of the wealthy. A neat and respectable room for a married couple may be had for from one to five dollars a day, or a suite of more pretentisus apartments can be secured, and at as reasonable rates and with far less trouble than would be experienced were the parties to wait until their arrival to engage them.

This department has issued a printed circular, which may be had upon application, giving full particulars and containing blank form of application for accommodations. It is announced in this circular that provision will be made within the fair grounds for several large and handsome buildings wherein will be waiting rooms and parlors for the use of ladies and children, all comfortably furnished and provided with lavatories, retiring rooms, etc., and all in the charge of polite and intelligent attendants. These buildings will furnish desirable resorts and resting places for the people and will be free of charge to visitors. There will also be maintained in connection with these rooms, for the use of visitors, at moderate charges, parcel rooms for the checking of wraps, parcels, etc., barber shops, lunch counters, newspaper stands, stationery, toilet articles and other items of common everyday need. All this and much more will be provided by the bureau of public comfort and will come under the official supervision of the board of directors of the World’s Columbian exposition. The public is cautioned to beware of fraudulent concerns which are springing up to fleece the unwary stranger from afar. A number of “fake” enter-

prises have already been unearthed by the sleuths of the Chicago press, and every effort will be made by press, police and world’s fair officials to prevent imposition upon the people. Complaints are becoming plentiful of alleged fraudulent hotel schemes in connection with the world’s fair. In many cases money for rooms is collected in advance, and persons who have paid it are beginning to suspect there will be no rooms for them to occupy when the exposition opens. A resident of Chicago says that while in Philadelphia last November he was shown the picture snd prospectus of an enormous hotel to be erected within six blocks of the exposition. All railway lines to the fair were to pass the door and other advantages were claimed. At the solicitation of the agent the Chicago man bought two tickets for one dollar and seventy-five cents each, securing the option on two rooms, the understanding being that he would have to pay a like amount on registering and one dollar a day for furnished rooms thereafter. A few days ago the Chicago man visited the local office of the hotel in one of the skyscrapers to inquire how the big enterprise was progressing. He was told that nothing had yet been done toward erecting the building. There was too much water on the pro-

posed site, but the projectors said they were going to have some lumber hauled down there soon and build some kind of a hotel. They could not, they said, carry out their original plans, but they would fill their contracts. Money advanced for tickets would not be refunded. The Chicago man left the office impressed with an abiding faith in the statement of a bona fide hotel man who told him the whole scheme was one of the bigest fakes that had yet been sprung on the public. These swindling schemes, of course, assume to be official world’s fair branches and the most seductive inducements are held out to trap the unsuspecting farming people. Nothing can be more transparent, however, than some of the announcements made and scattered broadcast throughout the country. The certificates issued by these concerns bear upon their faoe the evidence of fraud, and it is to be wondered at that they have succeeded in winning the confidence of even the most unsophisticated. The only genuine and reliable bureau of this kind is that issuing printed matter bearing the name of H. N. Higinbotham, president of the world’s fair. Among other provisions for the entertainment of guests, the exposition has arranged a special bureau for the reception of visitors who make their living by stealing and picking pockets. The bureau is in charge of a competent officer, who has a wide acquaintance

among the men he is to receive and who knows how to make their presence as innocuous as possible. This officer has laid his plan before the council of administration, where it is now being considered. In outline the plan provides for a detective force of from three hundred to five hundred men, taken from the police force of all cities in the United States having more than twenty-five thousand population. In addition to these there will be officers from London, Berlin, Paris and other capitals, detailed for the service by their governments. To secure the advantages offered by men from various parts of the country it is proposed to furnish them transportation to and from Chicago and allow them a reasonable sum for living expenses while here. In a large number of inquiries by letter it is found that nearly all the cities are willing to furnish two or more men and continue their salaries for the experience it will give them and for the protection it will afford visitors. The men will report in Chicago about April 5 for organization. They will work in pairs, no two of them from the same locality, so as to expand their usefulness. When a notorious criminal is discovered in the grounds he will be turned over to the Chicago police, identified or registered by the Bertillon measurement system and invited to leave town or take his chance of punishment. By this co-

operation of the city and exposition forces it is believed criminals can be apprehended and sent out of town so soon after arrival as to convince the whole fraternity that the city is a good place to avoid. An interesting feature of the exposition is the dairy department. Out in the southeast corner of the grounds are the stables which already contain some of the most famous of America’s Jersey milch cows. Among the number is one sleek-coated bright-eyed creature that is valued at fifteen thousand dollars. A pretty high price for a cow, truly, but this one is not of the common herd. She has a record and a pedigree and every requisite to fit her for the upper tendom of dairy stock. This valuable animal is known as “Signal’s Lily Flag,” and is the property of W. E. Matthews, of Huntsville, Ala. She is the champion butter maker of America, and has a record of 1,047 pounds in one year. There are forty-four of these animals gathered by the American Jersey Cattle club of New York from twentytwo states. They are entered in the great dairy competition, by which is to be determined the best grade of dairy cows. Haltered by twos in double rows of stalls separated by a passageway twenty feet wide, these animals enjoy a uniform temperature

of sixty degrees. They are bedded knee deep in straw, and an air of tidiness prevails quite in keeping with animals valued at fifteen dollars a pound. Among the states represented in this stable are: Alabama, 3; Connecticut, 5; lowa, 3; Illinois, 2; Kentucky, 6; New York, 7; New Jersey, 4; Massachusetts, 3; Michigan, 1; Minnesota, 1; Ohio, 1; Missouri, 2; Wisconsin, 2; Pennsylvania, 3; Vermont, 1. Alabama leads with the champion butter maker of America. Massachusetts comes next in order with “Eurotissima,” an ex-champion with a record of 947 pounds of butter in a year. This animal is owned by D. F. Appleton, of the Waltham Watch company. “Islip Lonx,” with a record of 700 pounds, ranks next. She is owned by Judge Foster, of Minnesota. “Little Golidy,'’ belonging to Mr. Matthews, of Huntsville, Ala., has a record of 34 pounds 81/2 ounces of butter in one week. “Alteration,” of the same herd, has a record of 24 pounds and 1/2 an ounce for the same period. Taking the past records of the forty-four cows, their average, per head, is 19 pounds of butter each week. The first of the calves born on the exposition grounds is the property of Frederick Bronson, president of the New York Coaching club. Chief Buchanan has asked the privilege of naming the little aristocrat but while he is searching for a title, John, the colored attendant, has dubbed her “Baby Bronson.” John watches over the baby in her crated box as solicitously as a nurse

would watch a princess, and he declares his ward has as much sense as most babies. The stable boys declare that John has not left the grounds since his pet came, for fear something might happen to her in his absence. The whole herd of Jerseys is in charge of V. E. Fuller, superintendent for the American Jersey Cattle club, which makes the exhibit. They were selected from thirty thousand standardbred cows. The roster of the exhibitors includes the three Vanderbilts, John D. Rockefeller, Theodore A. Havemeyer, C. I. Hood, H. M. Flagler, all New York millionaires; John Boyd, of Chicago; Ayer and McKinney, of Philadelphia, and J. J. Richardson, of Iowa. It is said the club membership represents more wealth than any other organization in the country. With such wealth to back the management the animals are treated like royal beings. They are bedded as luxuriously as can be with straw, the floors are scrubbed daily with a solution of lime and water, the drains are purified with dilute sulphuric acid and their diet is as hygienic as if they were patients in a hospital. Milk from the Jerseys is sold to people who call for it, and the demand is much greater than the supply. “There are not less than ten babies,” said Assistant Superintendent Goodell, "whose lives depend on these cows. Physicians had given them up to die,

prescribing as a last resort the milk of these Jerseys. You can imagine with what eagerness the parents of these children applied for the privilege of purchasing. In nearly every case the babes improved from the first.” The other day a shipment of Guernsey cows was received and the animals installed in shed 2. There are twelve of these cows from the states of Massa chusetts and Connecticut, but keepers in charge are under instructions not to give out information. The shipment is the first sent out by the American Guernsey Cattle club, with headquarters at Farmington, Conn. Other shipments are expected in a few days. Although real exhibits are still scarce in the Agricultural building their coming is foreshadowed in the rapid construction of booths. The settings for the exhibits of Illinois, New York, Wisconsin and Iowa are taking shape already. The contribution of New South Wales and some products from Lincoln, Neb., are about all the exhibits actually here, but advices from exhibitors generally indicate that shipments will begin shortly. Plans for booths are sent to Chief Buchanan for approval daily and speedy action is taken on them. Most exhibitors commence work on the structures immediately after they have passed through the fire of criticism in the office of the director of works. In consequence it is believed that the work of preparation is remarkably well advanced, even if the Agricultural building is nearly bare. It will be short work when the time comes to erect the cases, stands and booths and to fill them with exhibits.

Illustration of a small cow or a calf lying on the ground within a fenced area. There is a large black letter "L" which is the first letter of the adjacent text area.

An illustration of a black Jersey milk cow with a man holding it by a short reign (not visible, but implicated by a strap around the animal's muzzle and across the cheek). They appear to be in a barn structure. This is an illustration to accompany the World's Fair article in the surrounding text. A caption under the illustration reads: "A $15,000 BEAUTY."

A $15,000 BEAUTY.

Illustration of the stock barns at the World's Fair (as described in adjacent text boxes).

THE STOCK BARNS.

AMONG THE JERSEYS.