The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1876-05-20
Centennial Illusions.

Our Philadelphia friends are awakening
from their Centennial illusions. One was
that oil the people of Europe would hurry
over to their placid town and there abide for
six months. But there have been half
dozen exhibitions in Europe within twenty
five years, and foreigners, we are afraid, do
not care enough about quartz mountains and
machinery to run the risk of stormy mid
ocean trip.
Nor have our Philadelphia friends utilized
their advantages. Instead Of accepting the
Exposition as material benefit, the results
of which would be felt for long time, they
have done everything to keep people from
their CITY, The advance in hotel rates,
which was officially announced as twenty
per cent was a blunder Vienna showed
this in the long range of magnificent hotels
which stood tenantless. Philadelphia
passes through the same experience now, and
it will be June before its people are wiser.
There is no remedy for outside extortion ex-
cept the Vienna remedy but we are sur
prised to hear of inside extortions. Core
spondents write us that they have to
pay unusual prices for food and beverages.
One angry German goes into details on the
beer question. The glass, he says, is much
smaller than it should be; there is false bot
tom, and the walters give him one-third beer
and two-thirds froth. This may seem
small matter to write about, but any great
enterprise like this depends for its success
upon small matters Not long since riot
took place in Frankfort arising out Of the
beer question. There had been either an in
crease in the price of the beer or reduction
in the size Of the glass-we are not quite sure
which-and the people, who had much
stronger feelings about the integrity of the
beer mug than that of the German Empire,
took to window smashing.
This complaint from Philadelphia is
typical of the manner in which the
Centennial is managed. Thus. on the
opening day, as one Of our correspond
ents noted at the time, the press accom-
modations were something like the &C
commodations vouchsafed to beef cattle on
cattle trains. We paid no attention to this,
because rs general thing we have little
sympathy with press complaints. Most of
them when sifted down turn out to be efforts
to dead head" or blackmail, and we always
direct our own people to attend to their
business, ask no favors and accept none.
But in commenting upon the Centennial
management this press complaint comes be-
fore us as fair idea of the manner in which
the show is managed.
The truth, we fear, is that the Centennial
is running itself 1t needs head. So far
as it represents individual energy it is well.
So far MS it shows what q people can do
toward identifying and aiding their city it
deserves commentator. But in the large
sense there are many things to deplore.
What was to have been a great national ex-
hibition Of skill, genius, energy and taste
threatens to become county fair. The
only way to save it is for some strong man
in the management to take hold of it, bring
order out of chaos, stop abuses, eliminate
the narrow, selfish spirit, prevent it from
degenerating into q mere advertising scheme
and make it what it was intended to be--a
Worlds Exposition in the largest sense of
the term.