The St. Cloud journal., 1876-02-24
P1rrsDURo, Pa, Feb. 10, 1876.

give tho exact dimensions when de-
scribing anything Of the kind, and it
is not for me to depart from old
time-honored customs, but not having
the re,notest idea whether there are
five hundred or five thousand feet in
a mile-owing to an utter incapaci-
ty for acquiring any sort of mathe-
matical knowledee-it is difficult to
b, exact in this particular !; however,
it was a very long building.
AS soon as the doors were opened
e the public the public made a
grand rush. Both cities were throng-
ed with visitors and sight-seers, and,
indeed, there was much to see; the
interior of that huge hall presenting
q truly dazzling and delightful spec
tacle. The gr eat Eastern and West
ern cities were there represented,
while all our own merchants had, as
it were, put their best foot foremost,
contributing their choicest wares to
enhance the general attractiveness
Of the scene. In the centre of that
spacious apartment was q fountain,
designed and patented. by George
Finley, Esq, who visited St. Cloud
in former years and still remembers
the place with interest. This. foun.
tain is something entirely new and
far surpasses the old styles in artistic
ingenuity. The fixtures are set in
motion by the force Of the water
which forms a rotary action, in oppo-
site directions, and is flung lout In
various fantastic shapes, and which
cast showers Of spray over a border
Of moses, ferns and amphibious
plants encircling he basin. There
was an art gallery filed with the
choicest paintings. Among the
most noticeable Of these was
an Ophelia, "done'' by a young
Pittsburg artist of great promise,
Miss Ella Beson. This picture ere.
ated quite a furore among New York
connoisseurs, and eventually became
the property Of VIM. Thaw, ESQ.,, one
four wealthiest and most influential
citizens. Miss Beson is now busily en-
gagged on a cleopatra" to be exhibit
ed at the Centennial.
But to return once more to the
main subject. There was a suite o1
apartments fitted up with royal mag.
ni6cence; there were profusions of
rare flowers, exquisite sculpture,
statuettes, bronzes, curious and intri-
cate carvings and numerous articles
Of vertu hitherto unknown (there.
fore, necessarily nameless) delicately
painted china (which, by-the-way, ii
fast superseding the use of the band
ed styles formerly 50 popular), dainti.
ly cut glass ware, gorgeous carpets,
sumptuously upho lstered furniture,
all kinds Of musical instruments and,
in short, everything that brain could
devise and more than pen can de-
scribe was there collected in one har-
monious whole-each the best after
it's kind.
We did not join in the first rush,
not being fond Of that sort of fame,
but meeting many who had attended
heard how perfectly splendid" it all
was, and that we really must 60, e.
pecially for reason of a woman who
told fortunes for a quarter of a dol.
lar, and a man who manufactured
popcorn balls right under ones very
eyes, and actually handed this envia.
ble delicacy out hot upon receipt of a
nickle. At first we shifted d1sdainfnlly
| at the mere mention of such paltry
allurements, but after hearing the
same story many times repeated-al]
| about the fortune teller and popcorn
vender-tbe charms which had
powerfully impressed so many minds
finally awoke a responsive thrill in
ours and we also began to yearn for
q sight OF those marvels. Not, so
much on account of the gypsey
prophecies did We pine, for the future
was certain to reveal itself at the
cost only Of, little patient waiting,
but the second grand. inducement
was of an entirely different nature
advantages such as this, occurr-
ing but once in q life time must be
secured now or lost forever. Deeply
impressed by these considerations we
| went to the Exhibition and instead OF
wandering around, gaping at every
thing, as did those not so we'll posted,
| we gazed neither to the right nor the
left, but marched directly up to the
popcorn man, which individual if
not distinguishable like Daniel by
a blue Cor was it greenD cotton um-