The Republican journal., 1876-11-30
Our George at the Centennial.
Written for the Journal
PHILADELPHIA, Nov. IS

NUN ttHttilildi tIulh tiuSlltu lb |
earth will rise again" but when it rises from
Philadelphia, it will feel if it We're getting up
from rheumatic fever or had been run through |
quartz mill, it will be so thoroughly crushed |
| don't think Philadelphia has received sutl- |
cent notice from the newspapers. in the eX
ctement Of the Centennial, She had been neg |
lected. | skirmished round one day and gath |
cred whole wheelbarrow full Of facts which
may be of interest to the reader. | stayed away
from the ground one day. The colored popula-
ton of the city and surrounding towns had 'a
day" l didn't go, but the papers said they
turned out 'strong." and am willing TO believe
they did
Philadelphia. rs well as the resi- oi the state
of PENNSYLVANIA, is mostly owned by the PENN
sylyania Railroad and few coal corporations
The state is named after William Penn who
bought it of the Indians, instead of ti2htin@ for
it; hence the expression that the Penn is
mighier than the sword" This city il Situated
near the junction Of the Delaware and Sehuyl-
Kill river and is odd looking be ond description.
Dwellings and b,isines, block, arc as closely
connected a. the Siamese TWINS. 1t is called the
city Of homes. 1t is laid out in squares, and 50
are the people; they are the s,uare>t folk i'll
this country. There seems TO be plenty Of time
for everything. on never hear Of any body be-
ing born ahead of time, and they never die till
they are good and ready. roliteness crows wild
here. Every one is full OF it,. Ask q person Il
question in Boston, nd he Won't answer il tin
You have been introduced to him and presented
4 certificate of good moral character. Ask the
same question in New \ ork and before it can
be answered, the person to whom it j. addressed
will be half block on. streakng ii through the
air like sunbeam. But in Philadelphia any
body and everybody will not only stop and an
sWer your question, but will 90 and show You
what youare looking after, pay your fare in the
horse-car; give You Il guide book of the city,
and ask you home to dinner. | can back up this
statement BY Il man who is worth 5000 900; ;
Office hours from 10 till 3. The houses are all
alike, with one or two exceptions; all have
white shutters on the lower windows. white
marble loor-steps and silver plated bell-pulls
| 4 stranger once came here and undertook to
build house different from the others, but Il
| special meeting of the city council decided that
| the man was crazy, and he was Immediately
to that kind Of nonsense forever, and since then
| the houses have looked is much alike as Il litter
of pigs. These people are the only people in
| the world who can Keep white marble clean.
From sunrise till nine O'clock, the time is spent
by the servants in washing the sidewalks, door
| steps and shutters A servants usefulness is
| aot Judged by her skill A. a cook or house keep
| cr The first question asked her is, ''en YOU
keep the door-steps clean.' and if not, its no
use to talk further. Put half Il dozen Phalcl-
phia servants into an Old graveyard and they
would make it shine like brass anliron. When
any one dies here, the family cut the name of
| the deceased, and the date of his death ON the
doorstep, and when it gets filled up they re-
move it to the cemetery, and set it M over the
graves and buy Il new doorstep. In th, way
one keeps the memory Of his deceased friends
| with him all the time, right at his door, rs il
We're. In every front hall YOU will See q white
marble brick to keep the door open With. IT.
dog chases you, all YOU have TO do is to rash in
to An entry, seize one ol these bricks, kill the
dog and so about your business. l don't know
how many dogs have killed in this WAY ~net
| have been here When the policemen lind
man tight, they idst slip otf Il shutter from
window, and write the number of the hous,
and street on it, lays the man across il, and car
ry him to the station house, AMI send the shut
ter home the nest day. This j. a unlyerSt
custom. since Charlie i.o,- WA stoleu, every
+L.-.-- r-- r>.i- Az" h..l, nu g. NJ me -nutcr
are securely bultrd, and ii il iisc closing up :
store, TO get ready to retire IN 4 rhiEtlrlpAl
house. The churches vet back il little from TIA,
street, and are each enclosed by 4 hisll iroi
fence, the gate fastened by huge paddock, an,
suspended from the fence Il card bearing in lar4,
| letters this invitation, "Welcomc Strangers
\ sink drain, lead out ubytc 0,'pu,ti. IN,
their contents run ,Iou% the sides OF the etrer
10 the first corner, when ii dives down Il ruI1rlt
into Il sewer. As the streets are very level, thi
drainage does not hurry any, and it is easy tt
see the fitness Of the word Scent -tennial H..
side aoer-bcer, the city il supplied with " Nater
| lrom the FarmOunt Water Works the " ttrt
being taken from the -rhuyl,iiI. Visitor -ty
this Paramount water ,"Drla badly, but dil
not experience any physical inconE euicnrt.
| The water looked pure enough, and ,I"n't re
member Of finding but one baby in Nhat /
dranL. ion can tell 4 rhil1delphian becatt~.
| III elN N lI- l-tt'lI VII ne
| principle places of intcrr fare the titty Bank
i'll the city. and the interest Varies II the pril-
| eipc i5 in the officers and not in the EanL, the
interest j. greater than when this is reversed.
| The hor4e-rar system is reduced to i science.
| \ Philadelphia horse car conductor IL the most
wonderful piece of mechanism outside Marhiu-
| cry Hall. A ear seats II persons, Iy sitting
| /
what | am going TO say. was ON u ear one
day into which the conductor put los persons,
besides himself and the driver Iie tried to get
| Il gentleman and three ladies to get on them
and on their refusing he remarked to me in It
| tone of surprise, ''whv, ,d-m tina, man, lac wants
| Il Wioic cur," When the conductor begins TO
pack his car, after seating all he can, lie places
one passenger with Ais bAtk against the door ut
the extreme end Of the car, then he packs the
rest in sidewisc each side of this bulk-head
and then keys them ali in with another pussen-
ger At the other end of the car. A full car looks
like An exaggerated box of sarolines
In going over the bridge by the Arch Street
line, some one will be sure to observe to YOU.
'Stfan@er in these arts:-Well this bridge we
are going over is linger, there's another bridge
right under thiS-a regular old ripper-if you
come back by this line you will go through it,"
After being told this twelve times, the fact be-
gan to dawn upon me, and | yentured the Ie-
mark, that it raS a fine bridge, and as there
were two of it, that might say, it was pair
Of bridges. without any suspenders to hold
them up, and as | did not notice any trusses,
judged there were no ruptures in tile bridge
The man | said this to, did not live over two
minutes by the watch, | never saw Il man die
easier. After being in the city forty-eight hours
the stranger is waited on by a gentIemanIy po-
liceman, and asked if he has visited Carpenters
and Independence Hall: If not he is told that
he can consider himself under arrest, and is
Immediately led oil TO Chestnut street and
shown through the two buildings Here he
will see where the old Congress met, he will see
the Liberty Bell, whose voice i no longer
heard, on account of being cracked, aud hp
III