New York gives unsolicited advice on food, dress, and culture. Adelaide Hollingsworth donates a 700-page book with recipes and advice for women on how to be homemakers. A journalist named Jacob Riis warns Chicago to clean up its streets, a monumental task. Carrie Watson, owner of the biggest brothel, doubles her staff in anticipation.

After his failed election, Carter Henry Harrison becomes editor of the ChicagoTimes. He announces he wishes to run again to be the “Fair Mayor” if the public wills it. Most leaders and newspapers oppose him as they believe he represents the old, artless Chicago, but the working men consider him their ally. 

Prendergast is confident he plays a major role in Harrison’s rising popularity. He believes that when he wins, Harrison will owe him the appointment of Corporation Counsel, because that’s how the political machine works.  Prendergast writes postcards to men he trusts will soon be his associates. Trude receives and keeps another rambling card. Harrison is elected to his fifth term in April 1893. He does not even know Prendergast.

Summary: Chapter 24: The Invitation

Holmes invites Minnie’s sister Anna to visit and attend the Fair, intending to allay Anna’s suspicions about himself. She plans her visit in June.

Summary: Chapter 25: Final Preparations

The death toll rises, and union carpenters strike for a minimum wage and other conditions. The Ferris wheel remains unfinished. The white paint requires constant patching.

Burnham feels optimistic despite these setbacks, especially when McKim organizes a banquet in his honor. Progress is evident. Over 200 state buildings and exhibits have been erected. Plenty of non-union carpenters take the strikers’ places. Olmsted’s birds arrive. Buffalo Bill opens his Wild West show next to the fairgrounds early and sells out immediately. However, the unfinished reality of the fairgrounds does overwhelm Burnham. Packing crates, boxcars, rail tracks, and temporary roads lie everywhere.