Ottumwa weekly courier. (Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa) 1872-1899, 1876-10-11
A Centennial Letter.

PHILADELPHIA, Oct. j, 1870.
Editors Cou1ier:-Last Sabbath was
a delightful day in Philadelphia, and
well did l enjoy it'll will tell you
how:
In city where there are go many
eminent divines, SO many fine church,
es, seats well cushioned, prayer and
preaching good and singing excellent,
and where the ringing, the Ginning
and the tolling Of the bells seem to
remind us of church and to promote
within us desire to attend, you
might well suppose that man.
brought up in a New England coun-
try town would naturally take his
seat among the gathered worshipers.
But Philadelphia is full and as have
done before in other cities, even at
home in Ottumwa, concluded to be
generous and leave the seat that I
might occupy to some other who
was suffering moro keenly from men,
DRY Of snaky tradition and conscious
sin, and so with couple Of friends
from Ottumwa, took the cars for
the geological gardens.
Hero is endless variety, from
tho prairie dog and squirrel to the
grizzly bear, tho rhinoccros and tho
elephant; from tho marmot to the gil
raffe; from the active monkey and
hyena to the sea lion; and in appear
ance from the groveling swine and
porcupinc, to the beauty of the gol-
don pheasant, the currassow and the
cock Of tho rock; from tho hare and
deer, to the fcrocious tiger and lion.
Here too, Is tho Tasmanian devil, and
variety Of snakes, quite number of
which are repulsive enough, and long
enough to claim a lineal descent from
the old serpent that stood upon his
tail in converse with mother Eve.
But then If he had not done SO, We
might have had no Centennial.
Leaving the gardens We took a
boat up the Schuylkill as far as the
"falls." On the trip our attention
was called to ''the cottage of Tom
Moore :" "Pcter's Island" SO named
from its former owner Richard Peters,
personal friend of Washington ;
the old residence of Benedict Arnold
Chat so beautiful spot should have
been trod by so great traitor)
"HilFs Mansion known as the home
Of Robert Morris. the great finarcier
of the American Revolution. On our
return we stopped At Laurel Hill
Cemetery. Approaching the gate We
were asked "if we owned lots In tho
ground" as much as to say thai
ground that had been hallowed BY
sorrow g tears, aud where stood "mon'
uments sacred to memory" was no.
to be profaned by the tread or gaze Of
the curious. But wc gained admis-
sion and passing through the groundl
looking at the large monuments Of
marble and of granite that stand or
the crest of the beautiful hill, where
We look down on the Schuylkill ant
along the Lansdown Drive, We Won
cred, especially as there came, with
i following of fino procession, a body
to be laid in the new grave, not fal
from Gen. Mead's; we wondered i
sometimes, when in the arms of dealt
pride might not find consolation II
thought Of the splendid funeral to b
theirs and the marble column tina
should mark their resting place.
). Tho objects of greatest interest Il
the visitor seems to be and deservedly
Thomas sOld Mortality" near the en-
trance; tho beautiful monument Q
) Horstman to his son, and in scclud
cd spot on thc.rivcr slope, shaded b,
trees of natural growth, in the cable,
rock. the tomb Of Elisha Kent Kane
3 Laurel Hill is not like Greenwood o
! Mt. Auburn, yet 1t is q beautiful spo
, and could bodies BIO buried with fee
. to the west the resurrection NOR
would call but few to a more delight
!. full awakening than those who shout
= hear the trumpet sound from Laurt
) Hill on the banks of the Schnylkil
!, From tho cemetery we passe
down to Lemon Hill and Fairmour
q Waterworks. Lemon Hill is an q
d tractivo spot. The grounds are tast
4 " laid out. "A monument to Lincol
Il here Toward Paramount Hill II
!. grounds are beautifully shaded, Il
q old trees meeting above the avenn,
i and walks. Looking at tho Fai
4 mount Waterworks we can but thin
a. with ease the faucet is turned
= the city for domestic use, or
l. quench thirst, how few realize Il
y great amount of labor and cxpen
9 that was necessary SO easily TO flrnil
i 20 simple and 90 great need.