The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1876-06-15
CENTENNIAL LETTER.
PH1LAprIpH1A. June 18th, ,76.

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PHILADELPHIA, June 18th, '76.
Editor Democrat-I feel sorry for
hat large class of your readers who
ire too poor to visit the ga-torfous
exhibition, or exposition,
Il see it spelled both ways and hay
ing been once poor myself, | feefthat
1 owe it to them to furnish them a
few items, upon which to feed their
curiosity until our next centennial.
By the way, I have struck upon a
theory of economy, that if put in
practice will enable the poorest Of
country editors to cut quite a swell
at our next centennial. Il is this:
Let the impecunious editor above re-
ferred to, strike off one extra copy of
his paper each week and sell it for
five cents-let him lay the nickel
thus obtained carefully away each
week, and when the cannon ushers
in our next centennial he will find
himself the possessor of $3.50, with
which he can ~"splurge'' for several
months. A far less amount than
this may answer the purpose, as, in
the discussions I have heard relative
to the next estand" to be made by
this great irrational show" Eaton is
frequently and prominently mention
ed.
I have discovered since l com
mencsd this letter that it is utterly
impossible to describe the Centenni-
al, or even give an idea of its i'm
mensity, and must refer your read
ers to the beautiful illustrations
printed on the outside of the DEMO
GRAFT some weeks since.
1 am pleasantly located in an SIX
1Oroomust opposite machinery hall,
and l am lulled to sleep nightly by
the humping, fixing, whizzing and
buzzing of a Thousand different noisy
inventions which are running day
and night, interspersed with all the
ordinary screams Of steam whistles,
and a large number ofnewly discov-
cred noises that some inventive ge-
MUS has adapted to "go' by steam.
But every apparent annoyance has
its compensation, and I can thank
the inventors of these distracting
sounds, that they prevent my hearing
the buzzing Of the. myriads of mos
quitoes that seem to have engaged
my room prior to my arrival-and in
addition to this advantage, after ]
have once gone to sleep amidst all
these difficulties, l defy any number
of centennial bed bugs to disturb
that slumber. For all these com
forts, including the amusement fur
nished by a family OF about SoJapan.
ese, who have rented the back yard
upon which my front window opens,
as a camping ground, l pay $lS PEI
week with breakfast thrown in. AT,
ter awaiting myself OF having one o.
those breakfasts "thrown in" | fell
that it was worth SIS per week to be
permitted to get my meals where
pleased.
Philadelphia is a larger town thar
Eaton, but in many respects resem
bles my own, my native town.
They have Sidewalks and shade trees
here, and a city Hall; but l have moi
noticed a Court House or Jail. Speak
ing ofjails, / know ofnothing that is
more needed here than a nice, large
and commodious jail, and If "impo
sition' is a jailaole offense in Penn
sylvania, the proprietor OF the lnstl
tuition would have q lively time IL
giving accommodation to his Gus,
toners. "Imposition" is no name
for it. Robbery comes nearer the
mark. "From early morn till dewy
eve" the unwary visitor is imposed
upon in every imaginable shape and
form-by every imaginable sort o.
person, including hack drivers, pa.
per vendors, boot blacks, shop keep
ers, beggars, gamblers and mounte.
banks, who approach their intended
victim with every variety of address
and he is indeed fortunate who es-
capes them all with the same amount
of money in his pockets that he had
when he started to arun the gantlet.'
Let q man get a dollar bill broke
here on Monday morning and he will
have but little of it left on Saturday
night. One gentleman relating tc
me his misfortunes, said that he and
a friend stepped in to what appeared
to be a soda water stand and called
for a glass of lemonade. A boy was
in attendance, who invited them to
a backircom and seated them; while
the boy was preparing their drinks,
a side door opened and in stepped
two beautifully painted damsels in
(what he called full undress uni
form. They approached the table
and requested to betreated, ofcourse
the drinks were ordered. After the
refreshments were disposed OF, my
informant and his friend arose from
the table and approached the bar,
when, to their astonlshment, instead
Ofthe Smo0th-faced boy, they saw be-