Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1876-06-29
Centennial Letter.

The "RusA' has Commonwealth Ove,'
a Ni!lion and a Half Of People so
far-,Somethtng Aboast the F'oreiga-
ers-1'he Lighthouse and the Fog-
horn--AgricuhmaJ Hall.
From our Regular Correspondent.
PHILADELPHIA, June 27, 1876.
The great crush which has been
, predicted all along appears to have
really begun. Anywhere from fifty
thousand to one hundred thousand
people can distribute themselves about
the grounds without ever running
against one another or giving the ap-
pearance Of a crowd, yet daily fre-
quenters Of the spot readily notice a
thicker dotting Of the landscape and
a more stirring aspect of the buildings
such as has appeared for the past four
days. The great number Of new
faces. one meets, too, is another indica-
ton of what the gate receipts positive
ly proye-that the attendance now is
fully three times what it was three
) weeks ago. Up to Thursday evening
over one million and half of people
have entered through the gates, and
the cry is ''still they come.''
And all these are not ':home folks. !"
The proportion Of foreign visitors is
not very large as yet, though there is
quite sprinkling OF costumes and
faces that are easily recognized as I'M
American. There is the picturesque
attire of the Turk, and unique dress
Of the almon eyed Chinaman. These
Chinese seen here are Of the higher
class, who dress rather differently from
the shiny sack ana sabots of All Sin,
SO familiar IN most of our cities now-a-
days. These ndtio nal costumes would
perhaps be still more commonly seen if
it were not for the extremely rude star
ing they are subjected to by the curl
Gus eyes of the vulgar. That eater
prising and sensitive people, tha Jap
anese, for instance, have d0ndsl the
American fashions from plug hats to
patent leather boots, and from a rear
elevation would be mistaken for gen
uine Americans. This vulgar curiosi-
ty has prevented a great many foreign
ers from appearing in Their national
dress, and as a consequence the grounds
do not present that picturesque appear
ance they should. Next week [ shall
give some idea Of the curious and in
teresting exhibits of these countries in
the main building.
At the northeast corner of the Gov
ernment Building a force of workmen
is now engaged in putting up an iron
| lighthouse which, when finished, will
fully illustrate the provisions made BY
the Government for protecting the
lives and property Of all who crave the
dangers of the deep. The base Of this
structure is Of wood, but will be paint
ed to represent wood. To this the
iron fangs Of the super. r.structure are
bolted, and above this is high iron
cylinder Is feet in diameter, the whole
being capped by an ornamental tower
In tn ecentre Of this elevation is a.
place for revolving or flash light Of
the fourth grade, and over one Of the
dormer windows (quite ar ornamental
as they are usefuD is to be placed a
fog bell weighing 1850 pounds. Both
of these signals are operated by clocx-
work, which delicate yet massive piece
of mechanism derives its power from a
weight of over 800 pounds, and by a.
simple change Of motion is made to re-
volve the light or strike the fog bell at
the intervals required. The clock
work exhibited is intended to strike
first, three times, then twice. then
once, and so on. This is the signal
adopted for one of the shoals on Long
Island, to which the lighthouse now on
the grounds is to be removed after the
Exhibition. Near this new attraction
is the fog-syren, whose very unsyren-
like roar has so often startled visitors
to the Exhibition. This ear-splitting
instrument is little more than very
much elongated horn blown by steam,
and yet it has been heard at distance
of IS miles. The fog-horn is located
a short distance from the Ohio State
Building, and some smart was has re-