Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1876-07-14
FROM PHILADELPHIA.
The Fourth, ia the Cradle Of Independ-
ence.
PHILADELPHIA, July 5. 1876.

ence.
PHILADELPHIA. July 5. 1876.
To the Editor Of the Free Press and Times:
A great exclamation point would perhaps
best express ones feelings, yesterday fore
noon. as he stood in front of.Old lndepend-
ence Hall listening to. but not hearing, the
exercises and looking on the large crowd.
1t was my good fortune. from an intel
lectual standpoint, to obtain standing
place about twenty feet from the stand. as
there was afforded the opportunity oil hear
ing most of what was said or read. and
also had good view Of many eminent and
great men. among whom were Gen. Haw-
ley, Senator Ferry. r. B. Hayes, Bishop
Stevens. Bayard Taylor. Dom Pedro, and
many Others.
From a physical standpoint. however, it
was my bad fortune TO obtain that same
standing place, as the mighty crowd Iammed
me into a space not six inches IN diameter I,
from the effects of which | am yet some
what the worse.
So long as stayed the exercises were OF
the highest order. The welcoming speech
of General Hawley had the true cordialIty
in it. Ferry's speech on accepting the posi-
ton of presiding officer was good, though
little after the Fourth of July order in
years past when orators used to talk abOut
1.-THE great American eagles soaring aloit.
ETC." The music and singing by chorus
of at least fife hundred. have no doubt
was grand. The only piece | heard was
-. The poem of Bayard Taylor drew out
the heartiest applause. As this will doubt
less find its way into most OF the newspa-
pers. it would be improper for me to attempt
10 give an outline of 1t. Those who only
read it, though, will miss the double plea
sure they would have had in hearing 1t re-
cited mot ready by its author, who seemed
to throw his whole soul into 1t.
The heat of the sun was 50 intense that
dared not remain to hear Mr.. hyarts
speech | saw him advance to the platform
but did not hear him speak. Those who
did were very enthusiastic in their praise oil
the speech | should not omit to say a
word about the reception OF the reading oil
the original Declaration of independence. BY
Richard Henry Lee. As it was held up
before the crowd, deaiening cheers greeted
it, such cheers as only crowd Ht thou
"a nds-the number OF which dare no; es-
timate-ean give. At the close OF the read
ing the cheers were renewed. The exer-
cises above alluded to were the principal
ones of the day, though by no means were
they all or even small part.
Monday night spent about four hours
watching the torch light procession. My
opinion Of this procession. frankly ex-
pressed. is that it was pretty long but slim
affair. | didn't wait TO see it all, and may
have missed the best of it. What did see
was devoid of riginality and interest. being
merely hum affair, with few brass
bands, transparencies and any quantity OF
cow-bell ringing and horn footing which
would have done credit to lot Of ras-a-
mullins. Every fourth or fifth wagon con-
tanned an advertisement Of a sewlng-ma-
chine, brewery. candy shop. OF some other
hulnbug. the proprietOrs Of which seemed
to think that the public ear must be fond
of footing horns and torpedoes.
According to the Philadelphia papers the
above statement Is cont0unded lie. Ac-
cording to a few expressions from impartial
observers 1t is the profound e. truth. And
this clatter- banging kept up all night. The
procession was some like the drunken man :
la mp post procession 1t seemed a. II 1t
never would pas.
But this i time when We should have
" charity for all and malice toward none,
so have forgiven the PhilaCelphians and
their guests who aided them in their demon
iacal celebration, and intend 10 devote the
balance of my time to seeing the Centen-
NAL. To-day we were To 60 through the
main building. After going about third
through it became played out and left.
CHEAP AND GOOD LIVING.
A great many have unjust ideas Ct the
folks here. They expect to have TO pay
fifty cents every tins they open an eve.
This is not the case. One can board as
cheap here IS anywhere else. lie can get
good board by the week. or he can hire q
room and board at restaurants OF Otherwlse
as he chooses. Ny friend and myself have
adopted the latter plan. We procured a
/ good room on nice street e. trSt-cidsS }
in a five story house on the FIRST floor "A IA
| Frenehman-tOr fifty cents apiece day
/ One can hire room still cheaper, but Tor
that person can get nice one and have
1t taken care Of. There are several good
restaurants that we have found where q
good meal may be found for twenty-five
cents This meal Will be substantial but
not fashionable one.
The most outrageous thing We meet with
is the street car fare. One pays seven cents
for the privilege of hanging to strap.
with room for only one foot On the h)or, to
ride to or from the grounds
Of course, If person wants to live econ
omicAlly here he must avoid the hIgh-t0ned
I restaurants near the grounds. at some Oi
which be has the privilege Of viewing a
corps Of negro walters and tasting q sample
of beei-teak for eighty cents.
This Is the greatest place for hotels ever
heard Of. Every third building, On our
route, Is dubbed hotel, generally with a
big name As rule. they had better be
avoided by persons who desire TO consult
economy. One can find much more com
Portable quarters. Yours,
joins DARBY.