THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



35 



Photograph by International Film Service 



THE COLISEUM DURING A REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION I CHICAGO 



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Chicago has nominated a majority of the Presidents of the United States since' the first 

 nomination of Abraham Lincoln. The city -succeeds in capturing a majority of . -the Republi- 

 can conventions and gets a fair share of the Democratic gatherings. . *? ■ 



main aisle on the main floor of the estab- 

 lishment is nearly 400 feet long. 



And yet the structure covering that 

 block, 13 stories high, with four base- 

 ments below, is unable to accommodate 

 that vast retail business built up by the 

 merchant prince of the Middle West; so 

 across Washington Street there is a sec- 

 ond building, big enough in itself for a 

 princely business, housing a man's de- 

 partment store. 



Imagine a retail business that requires 



46 'acres of floor space, yet of v such high 

 class Itjiat more than 60 running "miles of 

 carpet^re' laid down to maintain : the quiet 

 elegante- of the establishment.' ; I.Fancy an 

 army 6"ft. shoppers so numerous'' that 77 

 passenger elevators. are sadly 'overworked 

 when high-water mark is reached, and a 

 volume of purchases that: requires 16 big 

 freight lifts to handle it. 



Picture a store that even in slack times 

 has 10,000 employees and in rush seasons 

 has to add 3,000 extra sales and delivery 



