The Lake County star., 1876-06-29
Centennial Letter.


From our Regular Concspondcni.l
PHILADELPHIA, June 20, 1875.
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 run
ming against one another or giving
the appearance ofa crowd, yet daily
frequentcrs of the spot readily no.
tice thicker dotting of the land
scapc and 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 indication of what the
gate receipts positively prove-that
the attendance now is fully three
times what it was three weeks ago.
Up to Thursday evening over one
million and u 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 arc easily
recognized as un-Amcrican. There
is the picturesque attire ofthc Turk,
and unique dress of the almon eyed
Chinaman. These Chinese seen
here arc of the higher class, who
dress rather differently from the
shiny sack and sabots of All Sin, so
familiar in most of our cities now
a-days. These national costumes
would perhaps be still more COM
monty seen if it were not for the cx-
trcmcly rude staring they arc sub
jectcd to by the curious eyes Of the
vulgar. That cntcrprising and SEN
sitive people, the Japanese, for in
stance, have donncd the American
fashions from plug hats to patent
leather boots, and from rear clc-
vation would be mistaken for gem
uinc Americans. This vulgar Gu
riosity has prevented II great many
foreigners from appearing in their
national dress, and us Il consequence
the grounds do not present that
picturesque appearance they should.
Next week | shall give some idea OF
the curious and interesting exhibits
Of these countries in the main build
ing.
At the northeast corner Of the
Government Building force of
workmcn is now engaged in put
ting up an iron lighthouse which,
when finished, will fully illustrate
the provisions made by the Gov
crnmcnt for protecting the lives and
property Of all who crave tho dam
gers of the deep. The base of this
structure is of wood, but will be
painted TO represent stone. TO this
the iron ilangs of the supcr-struct-
ure are bOltcd, and above this lis a
high iron cylinder Is feet in diam
eter, the whole being capped by All
ornamental tower. I'm the centre
of this elevation is a place for a re-
volving or fash light of the fourth
grade, and over one Of the dormcr
windows quite as ornamental as
they arc uscfuD is to be placed Il
fog bell weighing 1850 pounds
Both of these signals are operated
by clock work, which delicate yc.
massive piece of mechanism derives
its power from II weight of over BOO
pounds, and by q simple change Of
motion is made to revolvc the light
or strike the fog bell at the inter
vals required. The clock-work ex'
hibited is intended to strike first
three times, then twice, then once
and so on. This is the signal adopt
ed for one of the shoals on Long
Island, to which the light house now
Oh the grounds is to be removed af
ter the Exhibition. Near this new
attraction is the fog-syren, whose
very unsyrcnlikc roar has so Otter
startled visitors to the Exhibition
This car-splitting instrument is lit
tic more than Il very much elongat
cd horn blown by steam, and yet i
has been heard ut distance of 81
miles. The fog-horn is located ;
short distance from the Ohio STATE
Building, and some smart wag has
remarked that this is very appro
pirate. As it requires the use o
fresh water to generate its trcmcn
dous lung-powcr it can only DC usct
ut inland points, but even whcl
placed some distance from the head
land it has been found very effect
i've.
Agricultural Hall, which has beer
the most backward Of the larg,
buildings, presents an infinite vari
city of attractions to all who arc On
gagged or interested in agriculture
matters or machinery. Within th'
past few days the machinery ha
been put in motion to great ex
tent, and visitors can now see tn,
manner in which they work. Nor,
especially is this the case with tn,
many different makes of mower
and rcapers. Some Of these latte
machines arc remarkable specimen
of workmanship, and afford fin,
study for those who delight in me
chanics to follow out the apparent
lv comnlcx WORKING of the yariou