The independent press. (Abbeville C.H., S.C.) 1853-1860, 1857-07-17
fou THE INDEPENDENT rEEss.1
Philadelphia "Reminiscences.

such observations IA the city Of Philu'lrl phn,
and it's associations and connections, might nf
ford me during my stay there beg leave of
II small space in the Press now to redeem, rs
lar "A In"y be- my violated faith.
The city of Philadelphia is, by far, the most
hea"'i'" aud Il must c"nfcss) the most pleas
ant city, have ever visited though | have
never visited very many.--It is situated in n
beautifully level country, between the rivers
Delaware ON the cast and the 5cl,uykll on the
west, and was founded, if mistake not, in the
year 1852, by William Penn, of whom every
man, woman and chill in this country have
read or heard. Its population, in June, 1851,
was, IN round numbers, five hundred thousand;
ny this time, presume it must he ak hundred
Thousand or more. Not great deal less than
the ontire population of the State of South
Carolina 1havc very little idea Of tho en-
tent of territory occupied by this vast aggro-
Cation of souls but may sny that the streets
are abundnntly wide and not far apart, public
parks of ample size numerous, houses suili-
cirn'ly cnpacious and rs general rule having
not more than single family to each. Hence
the area Of the city must be quite ':conscra-
Die" l was told that the pavement on Broad
street is some fourteen miles in length The
breadth, Of the city, ~ the narrowcst part, is
over two miles
Running along under many Of the lnrg"st
and finest buildings, and following the course
of Dock street. for considerable distance into
the very heart of the city, is the once mariy,hh
Dock creek, Of which older writers used to
speak rs II fine skating place for boys durin:,
G,,,v,. q.
mining t" be seen | Several other creeks nn.,
smaller brooks, | was told, course their sublcr-
aneous paths through the city in like llnnncr
Washington square, one of the very rrct,icst
of nll the lovely l'nrks, WINS once the burial
ground of those VIII" fell in the glorious $tr,iy.
gle for freedom. trwur,ls IF two THOUSAND of
sleeping patriots still rest beneath, the grass
covered soil, where now tho merry voice Of
lnipy childhood, the sweet song. of f.atI.crcl
! 'nin~trcls and the gay chatter Of skipping and
clanhcring squirrels nll c"nspirc to gladden.
tn. hearts Of even the most gloomy nnd de-.
pressed of cnrth's discontcntcl tenants that
tread it over.
There arc some fifteen or twenty, I should
suppose. Of those public Pnrks, oil rejoicing in
almost perpetual vcrtlurc. Tho 'grun.l OLD
oak" sprca Us her protecting nrn,s--tl,c 'lur,liy
pine rcnrs his stately hcal-thc weeping viii
low sighs i'll the brc"zc-whilst the fragrant
| almond and magnolia contribute their sweet
perfume. In fair weather, an afternoons stroll
! into one Of those resorts is cNilarut;ny in
the highest degree. They are crowded. on
such occasions, with oil classes and sizes in
society; all ut seemed to meg will, q common
object.
have already spoken to you, in n former
| letter, Of "lniepcnIencc lLnll l might say II
good deal more about it, but lest tres,,as.
upon your space, shall forbcar.
The other public buildings nrc numerous
and generally of good style, though no finer
thnn | have seen elsewhere. The United
| States Custom House and United States Mint
! nrc two of the most elegant md substantial
visited the mint, and, for the first time in my
life, saw poor men and womcn making money !.
If 1 only possessed the onc-hunilrclth per cent
! of the legal tender" saw there, 7 verify be-
lieve, as poor statesman Us l am, might
make myself formidable competitor for the
seat recently vacated by the death of our
l"mcnted Butler! The specie mctals--coppcr,
| silver and gold-are first rolled out into sheets
of the proper width and thickness then cut
out into the requisite sizes, and finished OF by
one stroke to each which bcantific5 the two
faces with handsome pictures Of tho cnylc,
goddess Of liberty, &c., and then the process
is completed by counting out into various sizc,l
rolls, marking and placing securely away. 1
saw fifty dollnra, in foccent pieces, counted out
by one man in less time than take to tell it
Tho officers Of the Mint found quite courte-
ons, and apparently pleased to conduct ME
round and explain every thing connected with
the business.
The Fairmount Water Works occur next to
mo- This is truly grand design, and mng-
nifcent execution. 1t is situated on the Schuy-
kill, short distance above the boundary line,
and supplies the whole city with m abundance
Of water. The process is simple. Several
huge w"ter-whcels, kept perpctually in motion
by watcrpowcr, are forever driving up col
urns of water through fnvcc-pumrs into
tho reservoirs above which stand upon an
artificial elevation fifty feet above any other
point iu the city. From these reservoirs 90
out cnstron conduts, rnnfying in every tli,
rcctIon throughout the city, until every house
is supplied with water sufficient for every rur-
| pose. The main reservoirs, four in number,
contain upward Of twenty-five millions gallons
of water Many large ice-houscs arc situated
along the rivers from which are distributed
daily, throughout the city, immense quantities
OF ice ut cost Of almost nothing. l suppose
from what was told me, that n large family
con procure daily supplies of the great refrg
Grant hid down ut their vdty doors, at nn ont
lay of some twelve and-a-hnlf cents per week
You would naturally suppose Tint, in this
"City of Brothcrly Love-" as it is now rather
facctiousy called, churches and religious iusti-
tutions abound; and so they do. Tho Quakcrs
have some twelve or fifteen houses of worship.
attended one on one OCCASION, and saw some
things that pleased Inc and some that did not.
! The sensible. and neat stylo Of dress adopted
Eby most of the QuIkers male and female,
admired, as well rs tho 2plain, unostentatious.
lstSle of tho church builtling, and tho remarka.