"Why," sez he, "Chicago and three hundred miles around it wuz bought for five shillings not so long ago as your little town was founded, and now look at the uncounted millions it represents."
And then he boasted about the Board of Trade, and said its tower wuz 300 feet high. And, sez he, "While folks all over the world are prayin" for their daily bread, the men inside that building was deciding whether they could get it or not."
And after he talked about everything else connected with Chicago, and hauled up figgers and heaped "em up in front of me till my brain reeled, and my mind tottered back, and tried to lean onto old Rugers"
Rithmatick--and couldn"t, he wuz so totally inadequate to the circ.u.mstances--he mentioned "that they had 6000 saloons in Chicago, and made twenty-one million barrels of beer in a year."
"Wall," sez I, a-turnin" round in the buggy, "my brain has been made a wreck by the figgers you have brung up and throwed at me about the n.o.ble, progressive doin"s of Chicago, and," sez I firmly, "I wuz willin"
to have it, for I respect and honor the people who could do such wonders, and keepon a-doin" "em, to the admiration of the world. But,"
sez I, "my brain _shall not_ totter under none of your beer and whiskey statisticks." And as I spoke I put my hand to my fore-top, and I looked quite bad, and truly I felt so.
He glanced at me, and see that I wuz not in a situation to be trifled with.
And as we wuz jest approachin" the station where we wuz to be left, he ceased his remarks, and held his horse in.
He helped me to alight, and I thanked him for his kindness, and acted as polite as a person could whose brain lay a wreck in the upper part of her head. The last word Mr. Bolster said to us wuz, as he gathered up the reins, sez he:
"Thirty-six lines of cars come to and leave Chicago, which, with its immense shipping facilities, makes it the--"
But the cars tooted jest then, and I didn"t hear his last words, and I wuz glad on"t, as I say, I had thanked him before.
But good land! he would have carried two giraffes or camels willin"ly if he could have got "em into his buggy, and sot "em up by him on the seat, and could have boasted to "em understandin"ly about Chicago. But I guess he is well-meanin".
CHAPTER X.
Wall, after he left us we boarded some cars, and found ourselves, with the inhabitants of several States, I should judge, borne onwards towards the White City.
And anon, or about that time, we found ourselves at a depot, where wuz the entire census of several other States, and Territories.
There we wuz right in front of the Gole, and I don"t believe there wuz a better-lookin" Gole sence the world begun.
The minute we left the cars we found ourselves between two lines of wild-lookin" and actin" men, a-tryin" to sell us things we hadn"t no need on.
What did I want with a cane? or Josiah with a little creepin" beetle?
And what did I want with galluses?
They didn"t use no judgment, and their yellin"s wuz fearful; whatever else they had, they didn"t have consumption, I don"t believe.
After payin" our two fares, a little gate sort o" turned round and let us in to the Columbian World"s Fair--that marvellous city of magic; and anon, if not a little before, the Adminstration Buildin" hove up in front of us.
All the descriptions in the World can"t give no idee of the wonderful proportions of the buildin"s and the charm of the surroundin"s. The minute you pa.s.s the gate you are overwhelmed with the greatness, charm, and n.o.bility, the impressive, onspeakable aspect of the buildin"s.
The stucco, of which most of the buildin"s are composed, made it possible for the artist and the architect to carry out their idees to a magnitude never before attempted. It is a material easy to be moulded into all rare and artistic shapes and groupin"s, and still cheap enough to be used as free as their fancy dictated, and is as beautiful as marble.
Colossial buildin"s, beautiful enough for any Monarch, and which no goverment on earth wuz ever rich enough to carry out in permanent form.
Wall, as I said, the Adminstration Buildin" wuz the one that hove up directly in front of us.
[Ill.u.s.tration: The Adminstration Buildin" hove up directly in front of us.]
It towers up in the circ.u.mambient air with its great gilded dome, and seems to begen to us all to come and pa.s.s through it into the marvels beyend.
This buildin" is like a main spring to a watch, or the pendulum to a gigantick clock--it regulates the hull of the rest of the works. Here is the headquarters of the managers of the World"s Fair--the fire and police departments--the press, and them that have charge of the foreign nations.
Here is a bank, post-office, and the department of general information about the Fair.
And never, never sence the creation of the world has old General Information had a better-lookin" place to stay in.
Why, some folks call this high, magnificent buildin", with its great shinin" dome, the handsomest buildin" amongst that city of matchless palaces. It covers four acres, every acre bein" more magnificent than the other acres. Why, the Widder Albert herself gin Mr. Hunt, the architect, a ticket, she was so tickled with his work.
The dome on top of it is the biggest dome in the world, with the exception of St. Peter"s in Rome. And it seemed to me, as I looked up at the dome, that Peter might have got along with one no bigger than this.
Howsumever, it hain"t for me to scrimp anybody in domes. But this wuz truly enormious.
But none too big, mebby, for the nub on top of the gate of the World"s Fair. That needs to be mighty in size, and of pure gold, to correspond with what is on the inside of the gate.
But never wuz there such a gorgeous gate-way before, unless it wuz the gate-way of Paradise.
Why, as you stood inside of that dome and looked way up, up, up towards the top, your feelin"s soared to that extent that it almost took you offen your feet.
n.o.ble pictures and statutes you see here, too. Some on "em struck tremendious hard blows onto my appreciation, and onto my head also.
And a-lookin" on "em made me feel well, dretful well, to see how much my sect wuz thought on in stun, and canvas, and such.
There wuz Diligence, a good-lookin" woman, workin" jest as she always has, and is willin" to; there she sot a-spinnin" and a-bringin" up her children as good as she knew how.
Mebby she wuz a-teachin" a Sunday-school lesson to the boy that stood by her.
He had his arms full of ripe fruit and grapes. I am most afraid for his future, but she wuz a-teachin" him the best she could; you could see that by her looks.
Then there wuz Truth, another beautiful woman, a-holdin" a lookin"-gla.s.s in her hand, and a-teachin" another little boy. Mebby it wuz the young Future she wuz a-learnin" to tell the truth, anyway, no matter how much it hurt him, how hard it hit aginst old custom and prejudices. He wuz a-leanin" affectionate on her, but his eyes wuz a-lookin" away--fur off.
Mebby he"ll hear to her, mebby he will--he"s young; but I feel kinder dubersome about it.
She held her gla.s.s dretful high. Mebby she laid out that Uncle Sam should see his old features in it, and mebby she wuz a-remindin" him that he ortn"t to carve woman as a statute of Truth, and then not be willin" to hear her complaints when she tries to tell him about "em, in his own place, where he makes his laws, year in and year out.
If he believes she is truthful--and he must, or he wouldn"t name her Truth and set her up so high for the nations to look at--what makes him, year after year, act towards wimmen as if he believed she wuz a-lyin"?
It is onreasonable in him.
And then there wuz Abundance, a woman and a man. I guess they had an abundance of everything for their comfort, and it looked real good to see they wuz both a-sharin" it.
She wuz a-settin" in a chair, and he wuz on the floor. That might do for a Monument, or Statute, but I don"t believe they would foller it up so for day after day in real life, and they hadn"t ort to. Men and wimmen ort to have the same settin" accommodations, and standin" too, and ort to be treated one of "em jest as well as the other. They are both likely creeters, a good deal of the time.
Then there wuz Tradition. Them wuz two old men, as wuz nateral--wimmen wuzn"t in that--woman is in the future and the present. Them two men, a-lookin" considerable war-like, wuz a-talkin" over the past--the deeds of Might.
They didn"t need wimmen so much there, and I didn"t feel as if I cared a cent to have her there.