The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1875-11-25

PHILADELPHIA, Nov. Goth, 1875.
At the present time, general attention
is directed to the city of Philadelphia,
owing to the near approach of the Gen.
tennial, and doubtless many Of your
readers would like to hear something OF
the character of the city which has been
selected as the best place for celebrating
the anniversary of the nations one hun
dredth birthday.
Possibly the first thing that would at
tract the stranger 8 attention Is the regular
manner in which the streets are laid out,
and the beauty of the long rows of build
ings, erected in solid blocks, succeeding
each other for miles, present q uniform
line of press brick fronts, with white
shutters and marble steps. The rsputa-
ton the city has gained Of being the city
of homes is well deserved, as Of its 140,-
600 buildings, all but 10, 900 are dwelling
houses, and Of this number go, 900 are tho
homes of mechanics. History tells us,
"the site of the city was chosen because it
seemed appointed for town on account
of its coves, docks, springs and lofty
land" but the visitor now wonders
where all of these advantages could ever
have been.
The CITY is also of interest to the strang
or from the large number of points OF
interest that are suggestive relics Of the
past, among the rest PENIS residence
but should VIM. Penn come to tho city
to-day, he would hardly recognize In the
small brick building once occupied by
him, and considered q marvel in the
wilds of America, his home surrounded
as it is on all sides by the great ware
houses that are crowded together and
tower far above che modest little Btruc-
ture. It is worthy of thought that this
has been matter of curiosity for upwards
of century and a half, on first account
ofits magnitude but more recently on
account Of the diminutive appearance 1t
presents sandwiched among It's more
pretentious neighbors.
But now, almost everything is Centen..
nial. Commencing with Centennial
grounds, Centennial buildings and Gen.
fennial Commission, we have innumera-
BILE institutions claiming Centennial no.
toriety, such as Centennial hotels, Cen
tennial restaurants, Centennial boarding
house agencies, Centennial boot-blacks,
and even the Cinnamon have caught the
Centennial fever, for we see them adver-
tizing Centennial laundries. but yet we
have not reached theprices that prevailed
one hundred years ago.
Our railroads have made arrangements
to land passengers direct at the Centen-
NAL grounds, but long before the visitors
reach the grounds, the main building in
its almost finished state looms up before
them ir is immense proportions, which
have not failed to astonish every behold.
er. Some idea of its magnitude may be
xI,af 70 NJ nfi ito nc a r.
ly q mile around it (48SS feet.) It Is com.
posed entirely Of glass and iron, and will
cost when completed upwards of one
million dollars. The other four build
ings, Machinery Hall, Agricultural Hall,
Horticultural Hall and the Art Gallery,
are proportionally large and in very
forward state of erection. From de-
scriptiye catalogue just issued by the
Centennial Commission we learn that the
Main Building covers an area of twenty
acres; Machinery Hall, fourteen acres
Agricultural Hall, ten acres Art Sal
lery, one and half acres, and Horticul-
tural Hall one and quarter acres. From
this we also learn chat the United States
government have an exhibition building
one and half acres, besides which nu-
merous smaller buildings, for the accom-
oClation of the different State commissions
ard various officers connected with the
Centennial, are springing rapidly into
view.
what has been the source of greatest
trouble to the commissioners has been,
how all the people who would visit US
could be accommodated, but this trouble
is being rapidly overcome, for within a
very short distance of the buildings sew.
eraI immense hotels are being built, and
agencies are at work to find every spare
room in private quarters, so that stran-
gers who desire can be sent direct to pri-
vate families.
But before the Centennial commences.
we are promised treat in the presence OF
| the great Evangelists, Moody and
| Sankey, who are expected to open here
on Sunday, the 2lst inst. A large build
| ing, which used to be occupied by the
Pennsylvania Railroad Company as a
| freight building, is being fitted up so as to
accommodate ton thousand people. AL
ready union meetings are being held in
the different churches, and it Is expected
that great interest will be manifested du-
ing their stay.