Saturday, August 8, 2015

Chicago, the Dingy City-- Part 3: "The Smoke Horror"

Tuorists to Chicago are amazed at the air quality.  But that was not always the case.  Noted author Rudyard Kipling visited and was not impressed with anything about the city.  As far as its air, on Feb. 8, 1891, he wrote, "Its air is dirt."  It was a statement of fact.

Civic leaders and the Tribune campaigned tirelessly against the "Smoke Horror."

In 1976, the Tribune wrote:  "The wisp of smoke that enters your eyes and mouths... the falling soot that decorates our noses and leaves its trace on our linen becomes more and more disgusting...and yet nothing is done.  Marble fronts are blackened, costly goods are spoiled, valuable books and papers are defaced, washing bills are multiplied, and everybody made uncomfortable in order that a few persons may not be put to the inconvenience of attaching a smoke-consumer to their engines."

Those few persons would be the mighty rich folks.

Hack, Hack, and i Don't Smoke.  --Cootcougher

No comments: