The Arizona sentinel., 1876-04-22
APRIL 9, 1876
OUR PHILADELPHIA LETTER
The Centennial.

PCAA'ANoNS 10 AINStA at hand. All the hopes and fears, the fortunes and misfOrtunes of patriots, and all who wished for liberty, truth and right, are en- braced in those one hundred years And what do we see |? What grand spectacle do we be- hold ? A nation which one hun dred years agohad only three mil lions of souls, now composed of over forty millions of happy and prosperous people, skilled in arts, in sciencesand arms, and in every thing that makes people great, and prosperous, and happy and independent! This is America to-day. And now this free and grand America is about to make her Centennial Exposition, to which she has invited the whole world And the nations have mo- bly, responded. Nearly the whole world will be represented at Phila- delphia this summer, having with them everyth ing that pertains to human advancement. This glori ous spectacle we cannot all wit ness, but we will give to the read CTS of the SENTINEL our Philadel- phia letters, during the eXposi- ton.
 PHILADELPHIA, April 1st, 1876. Editor Arizona SentineJ :-
 Centennial matters, and, indeed, all other matters have been over shadOwed by the developments of the last fortnight. Men can think and talk of nothing else. They throng about the bulletin boards of the newspaper offices, and the question of greatest inter est is, who will answer to the call of "next."
 The committee now inYestigat- ing the affairs of the Naval De- partment, at Washington, will meet here in a few days, to take  testimony in regard to the recent sale and removal of the Navy Yard here. It. is charged that the contract for removing the yard was given to National Mckay, of Boston, at a price far above the other bids, and that there were great frauds connected with the removal of material. Rafts of timber and scow loads of copper and iron fail to reach their destina. ton, and it is charged that the profits accruing from their sale went to line the pockets of Mckay and his silent partners.
 So much for fraud and cOrrup- tions, and now to a subject which is free from the least suspicion of either. In my last letter, I gave a brief description of the princi- pal exhibition buildings, with the exception of Memorial Hall, which merits special notice, both on account of it's beauty, and the fact that it is to be a permanent structure, and is designed to be the receptacle of an industrial and | art collection, on the plan of the | celebrated South Keusington Mus l em, London which had done so much to advance industrial and | decorative art in England. The editice stands on an elevation, a short distance from the Main EX- hibition Building, is 365 by 210l feet, and 50 feet in height and is built of iron and massive granite. } Beautiful collOnades extend to the | not very lofty towers which form the corners, and upon each of which is perched huge Ameri- can eagle with wings outspread | for flight. Above the great dome rises to the height of 15O feet, and | terminates in a massive bell sur mounted by a colossal statue of America, while at the four cor ners of the base are figures repre- seats the four quarters of the globe. Th e main entrance is throuph three vast arched door