Show THE CHICAGO we have at present six elders who axe are engaged in the great task of preaching the gospel to the denizens of this great metropolis those who are acquainted with this community know that the people here are industrious and enterprising it seems their whole lifes aim to is to hustle to accumulate wealth and to eat drink and be merry for tomorrow we die this is evident from the mam moth stores the numerous factories of various kinds employing hands that number into the thousands and the vast numbers of theaters and other waceli places of amusement which vary in morality as josephs coat in colors it would be unjust judging from fram the many magnificent churches that I 1 grace and beautify the city in all parts to say that there were not some whose ambition and aspirations did not extend above the top of their heads the great city has it is true the undesirable name of being immoral and wicked but considering its 1 population the people who live here seem to think chicago is as good as any other city and this we have no reason to dispute the great greaf majority of the people are those known as the working class and these have to earn their bread by the sweat of their brow in very deed rents usually being too high near their place of business they have to secure houses in remote districts thereby being compelled to ride to and from their work each day on the street car in order to get to their ata and 8 in the morning it necessitates their arising early enough to make the distance which varies from two to fifteen or twenty cottes or thereabouts six is usually the time they are te released leased to return home from work with these circumstances and conditions in view it is not difficult to imagine 1299 lue why people in chicago are not enthusiastic religionists and one reason why our task to interest many of them tham in mormonism is great they have as an they say their own church to attend to and dont care to bother reading anything about any other we however ho weArer find some exceptions to this rule the men being away to their work in the daytime day time the he women are the only ones at home and the treatment we receive is regulated according to the wood mood the house wife ha happens ens to be in which we ring the bell be it ft f she has just had a bout with the cook and in toa OBe quence sequence thereof her feathers are ruffled up a little one may look for a well sir what to is it mormonism Stor monism no j get gg oat of here accompanied with a bang of the door on the other hand if she Is modera moderately fely pleasant one may receive 1 I would ye were either hot oi 01 cold smile and an indifferent no thank you or possibly be invited in the elders express themselves that inthey if they had to depend entirely upon the hospitality of the people here for their meals they would have occasion to fast when perhaps they really desired not to chicago to is infested by a class of in known as tramps though of courts course we dont want it understood that we class ourselves with them and men who outwardly appear good and respectable but are wolves and rascals these go about from house to house representing themselves as one thing and eL another nother they are invited in by some good lady and when in take take advantage of the mans absence and after insulting the lady plunder the premises those occurrences have become so prevalent that people have grown suspicious of every stranger that comet comes to their door no matter who they represent themselves vez to be As a means of protection therefore every front door is provided with a big strong chain which when fastened to the door will only admit of its the door being opened a few inches it is often the case that we have to do con talking through the little apper ture before we manage to convince people that our motives in calling tire are good enough to induce them to open the door sometimes we fall fail at other times we are successful then a gain again the people are not neighborly and friendly one to another as is customary in other cities even those residing in the same building scarcely know each other though they may live there tor for years ahls s then accounts for our not being entertained with dinner thrown in very often by those upon whom we call the people of chicago almost universally ver sally live in flat buildings and admission thereto is generally gained through a common entrance each family has a private hall and a speaking tube which connects their departments with the lobby the door is usually locked but can be readily opened from above by pressing an electric button if the family desire to admit the one ringing the bell it if not they can very conveniently speak down the tube there is nobody home or we dont care for any today thank you and the one who rang the bell can of course govern himself accordingly we are learning to despise the very looks of these theae miserable things more and more every day as they greatly hinder our work in some of I 1 these large flat buildings there are as many as forta families but usually I 1 in these very large flats a uniformed private police prevents any ml missionaries solon or other peddlers from entering the building in calling upon the people the other day an old dutch lady answered answered d the door we told her we were missionaries and had called to talk with her about the gospel she looked at us a little astonished and remarked veil ivell vats de matter mit de gospel we told her that the gospel was all but the people seem to think so at least that was our impression that day from the treatment we had received the elders laboring lab loring in chicago are as follows joseph E fardon charles A haacke jos joe A hulme heber he ber J jos L mccarey E M boyer the latter the president of the confer ence has just been released to return i home the news is a welcome visitor EDW P MIDGLEY |