Life In A Great City

[Special Chican Orrosondonce.l Wlien the weary and dust-covered traveler [rom Uie Kast or West, Xorth or 6outh, arrivés In Chicago and Bteps into the neatly-fiirniKhed waiting rooms of uno of the numcroua depots, bis eyea will encounter ploinly-printed placardn vrith the iguitii'ant iiiHcription 'ilewuro of pickpockets and confidence men." Xatnitli standing the paternal care and suggestive arniiiii thuB thruet upon him, the young man who conies from rural tioMs or n ppaieful hamlet tor tuo purposo of eecinj; every thing th:it íb to be Been in tbig great city falls an easy prey to the clumsilycouceivcd schemes of proft;HHionnlswiudlcrs aud ptttv extortionere; and betore the sim lias Het iw readv to return tb the obsrnrity o( his nativo lieth- dejected, dinpruntled, disgustad, disBatistiod. hut wiser nud more thoughtful thiin vrhea he arrived at breakfast time. If the render is tm disponed we will nccompany jroimg Jphnnv BaB60d, the Adonis of Waybnck, trom the time of his arrival in ('liicatro in the moriiing until his departure in the evening, playing the intereftting part of unobserved obnervera. Johnny, we notice, ím i fair, freekled country youth of perhaps twentv-two or three, who has aihieved a reputation among the belles of Wayback aa the moet accommodii ting. most fascinating and martest dispenscr of calicóes, red Inning, patent medicines and stove-hooks in all of Backwoods County, a tact which is known to no one botter than to Johnny liiiiisflf. Healizing that a trip to f'hic :tfro, about, whirh he lias heard and rand bo niuch, would preatlv enliance his inportanee in the eyes of the pood poople o( Wayhat k, he packs Iiíh new btjff vulirto, buya a ticket and leavca the preat commercial emporium of hin native place teeming with ploasant expectations. His inner consciouxnees télls 1. 1 in that his abiKties will hu rel v be rocoirnized in the great cit3', and that ha is dewtined to play an important jart in the local bistorv of the Garden City, although his visil will be liiuited to a few davs. Thoughts like these we read upon the deep, thoughtful and freckly brow of Joiiniiy iiH he leaveH the car whieh luid the Iiodor of convcviti(i liim frora the metropolis of Barkwooda i'oiintv to the metropolis of the (Iroat West. I-'irtnh grMping hia valise - for wima one hun told hiin to beware of bold thievun who run up to a man and uteal his liatrape- he reaches ono of the depot exit and lind hunself siirroundivl bv n BCorfl or inoreol expresB-inen, hackdrjvere, hotel-runners and otlier worthy poraonanon Iniatil upon the comfort of Btraufiar. -juiJ y#t pleased - hy the attriitini.ri showrrcd upon him, Johnnv ia finullv cmrriod off bp a redhfaded expietM-tiian, thiinipi-d u[)on the hard naat of a reuiitrkablv comfortless vehicle Irawii bv a specimen of the equino whose powsesaiun would not have B ii v t1 d b I o o d y [üehard III. (rom the wrath of ptiileIbss kii-hmond, and af ter beinp driven aroinid the most disnial part of the city lor huif un bouror loncrer ti niU himself in the dingy Baloon attachroentofa still dineier boardinghouse located about two bloeks from the depot ia which lic arrivod. The oxpresB-man pockets the modest Biim of oneand a half or two lars for the trip, besidea a percentage ot flfty cent on the dollar from the "hotelkeeper," who will entertain hia guest at the rate ol only two dollars a day, a remarkable reduction from the regular price of the establishment for which, so thedirty bar-keeper suya, Johnny is under obligationB to the express-man who informedth "house" of the honored gueat'B exalted n. 1:1 1 position and laflnmca among the ¦ubstantial citizns of Wayback and the ¦urrounding country. Highly fltittercd by these compliments, tor whioh he pays one hundred per cent. over the regular tariff of the house, our friend devours a miserable breakfast, while the bar-keeper and his friond, the expressman, ure engaged in a whispering conversation with two or three (fentlemen of rathex problemática! appeanince whose wild geticulations indícate that they undcrutand and fully iipprocinte the eire of Johnny's pockot-book and the extent of his gullibility; and then and there they form a conspirary to becoroe the posgesors of the ingeuuous youth's hard-carnd savings. Ar soon as otir friend frora the country lea ves the hotel" on his sieht-Beeing expeditionheia "potted" by the conspiratora, and when he reaches State strect, the most wondorftil commercial thoroughfare o th West, he is accosted by a shabbyeentcel (entleman of uncertain age who, af ter a great deal of etutterintf and muttcrrng, manares to i"forra him tliat owíiir tn luii ii kni'HK and ImsineaR reverse and alveritie of too delicate a nature to be mentioned to struner litfindBliimBclf cnnwlled to dispose of loine precious famiW owels of irrout intrinlic MÍhrtí. The jeveta, n fact, are worth ev. cr.v ceor of thrt'e hunliitf d'illars, but priie orbidn him tn Heil them tohtafrfend wtio would placllv p:iv Oie full ainount. Jóhnnv lüokH to liiin lik h me n who nuptit bf abl t jodg anl uppreriatu the freum, and as be is a atnuiMr wlioni the unlortuoatc ecntloumn wlll pnbalily liever moot aiin, he would be witlintf to let him have the eotire lot for a paltr.y twciity dollarH. Here the now ITMfdAg unfortunate disclose to Johnny'R view iv HpiirklniL' set of jewelry einbclIiHlitHl with "diamond" and "ruMM," rinir wlione BplenilorM tlirow Kulunoor'H Bpnrkle in tb ¦hart 1 nncln mihhhím' ' old" chaiu wlioüo weinlit uulJ uiuke uiuu.v arfes if allnwed to go through PhiladelpMu's j{éat mi.it. Johnny beeton ons flanee upou the weepintr suffetw and a moment later becomes the possessor of geni which will make liim the gruatest man in Wavback. Chuckliug to lninself over hin grand gooi Ittck and vondmring hut the girlsat homo will tav wlien ho displays hm riches before tlimr faseinated eyes, his attention is attractod hj the deatening noise einana-tinf trom a croWded room decoratod with hugi blackboards biscribed with cabalistic letters and innumerable (unica. Curiosity prompt! liim to enter the room, and aftur queationing two orthree ot the roarinf gentry as to the causes of the excitement he is informed that he is within the sacrei preciucts of a "grainand stock exchange,' where he can buy a thouoand bushcls o wheat for ten dollars, with everv chanco in tho orld of ontWttnjf the ten into a hun drod dollars bcfore the clock strike the next hour. An insenioua machine sur mountnd by a clock - it modem wheel a fortune - so Johnnv observt, forms the center of attrartiun, and when he learns that this clock makes quotations with automatic rcgularity, he buys a thousand bunhels of wheat for ten dollars and concludcs to wait until his ten dollars hare Chafiged into fifty at the least. Uut, alas his ho)CB are nipped in the bud, for scarc five minutes have passcd until the clock haa droppod his whiat two cents per bushcl, and he is requested to put up another ten dollars in the ghape of margina. Before our poor friend has time to dónate nother hard-earned X to the greedy machine, he is inforrned bv a benev olent gentleman that whfiii'ver whoat drups a, cent below the figure at which t is bousht tlio buyer has to put up ten dollars to cover his margin, whereas he makes ten dollars whenever the quotation rises one cent above the purchase price. Johonv is also told that the machine which he admired so muoh is fed every raorning with hundreds of pre-arranged quotation tickets. Aftor listening to these setiHÏble remarkH he condudes to let the machine alone, and leaves the "grain and stock exrhange" - known in Chicago parlance as a "bucket-shop"- a poorer, but a somewhat wiser, specuiator. To compénsate himself for his financial loss, Johnny now wisely concludes to visit one of the beautiful parks for which Chicago is justl y famous, and a half hour later we soe him seatedupon a rustupark bench overlookincr grand Lake Michigan, upon wliose mighty bosom a üeet of busy craft is constantly carrying vast fortunes to and from America's most frequentod port. The scène in its unparallelcd graiificur inspires the young country man Tvith poetical Bentiments, and as he sees a noble ship entering the harbor he is tempted to give utterance to ome grand thought anti immortal sentiment, but while he is collecting the linguïst ie droes for the production a young gentleman of dudish propensitiei intermpts his reveries and reciuests the honor of sharing the bench with a young man who seems so deiicately to appreciate the beauties of nature. Soon the acquaintanee between the two kindred souls ripens into friendship, and when they part lato in the nfternoon it is with feelings of mutual regret. More pleascd than ever, and joyonsly laying out his programme for the coming uay, Johnny returns to hm "hotel," t ii l,i 'h an earlv supper umi retireB to h8 room totakean inventor? of the trenHuivfl purchased in the morniiifL. While ltioking in the incruioát recesses of his íiikííIo vest-pocket for the . precious p a c k a p e, his eyefi Buddenly "lose their lustor, a sickly );ill(r eroopfl over h8 face, and, ]onfr before heknows it, we, whu have followed his footstepa, know tliat theclever ana elegant gentleman wuo was no cnchanted with Johnny's admiration ol nar ture's beauties ia now connting hin money in the back room of suine saloon and laughing at the conceited youtli's freshnes; and we aleo kuow tbatwhcn .lolmnv, reeorting to thot lastrefuge of all unfortunates, tukt-s his precious gema to the uncle at the pawnshop on Clark street ho will learn with dismay that his diamond are paste, his rubies red glass and his gold chai n worse than broes. Knowing all thls, wo are not surpriscd when we nee Johnny wending his ray to the bar-room where the dirt v dispcnser of poisonotiB diinkn ie ready to express volraes of hvpocritical sympathy with the luckless youth whoni he finally rompéis to "put up" his valise and contents for the day's board bill. We aro till less urpriaed when, an hour later, we nee poor Johnny walking into the depot, dejei ted and sad, to make use of his return ticket to Wayback. Poor fellow, he knew all about the city and its sharpers and its wickedness, and yet, like thouHnnds of his ilk, was "done up," as the confidence men would put it, "in three rounds." Here 1 will leavo the rendors who have accompanied me on my shudowing trip alter our WaybacK friend bo that I may liare an opportunity to address a few wordu to those who contemj)late paying a visit to thie city. Ncver en trust your pcrson or your hadrage to the caro of unscrupulous exprossmen, httck-drivere or hotel-runners whon arriTtnc in Chicago. Few, if ny, reputuble hotels tmploy "runners" of the das usnallr eurroonding depots, and ' their proprietora have little to men or hack-drivera. If jou do not know where to establish your headquartera durinjj your visit, apply to a depot passender apent for information ronrerninf? t lie vaiious hotels and their charges, which will be cheerfullv piven without compensation. Manv express-men and runners are in leapue with confidence-men of everv varietv and divide with them the ¦poils (umiMlied by conflding stranjiers. Nover buy goods Irom perHons who offer "barcjiinfl" on the atreeta. Nomatterhow plauHible a story a man rnn v teil yon, consider bim a swindler, and if lio is obnoxiously persistent in liia ondea vors to entrpyou rive him a pood, old-fashioned kick. lieware, likewiRe, of chance acquninti ni-. They are frequcntly pick-pockets and "shovers of the qneer," and I haveyet to hear of a person who ba profited bv tnaking Kuch friends. Keep out of al! taickot end pulicy shopH, no matter huw aliuriup they may be to your curiosity. Ten to one, you will play "just a littlo" if you viait them, at the loss of your money md self-respect. If you follow my advice your vint to hicapo will Uu picasant and profitn!lcv Therc is mnch to be seen in 1 hie niaivclon city with it beuntiful parks. its grand structuren and unrivMliMl boulevards. Jts :UrtiufH8 oen and its peop'c wijl ivc you a nearty wolcome, and if you avoid tliieveH uid sharks you will rome aain. Jobnuy Havneed's exwrifiirc nood not bevour