Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1876-06-01
Centennial Letter.
From our Regular Correspondent.

Splendid Weather and Splendid
,Sights-~The attendance Increasing
-More about Uncle Sans General
Display--Postal Facilities on the
Grounds-,Sonae Interesting SrIjec
for Future Leters-A .te'o other
things briefly mentioned.
PHILADELPHIA, May %, 1876.
The attendance at the Exposition
increases somewhat and has been gen.
orally better than last week For
some days past the weather has been
most delightful. and aside from the
slight drawback of few unfinished
buildings, ETC., this is really the pleas
ATTEST time TO visit the Exhibition
The trees, flowers, grounds and all sur
roundings look as fresh and beautiful
as May Queen, and Paramount Park
is just now the most attractive place
to be found anywhere. There is no
dust and oppressive heat to be encoun-
tered, and travel both on the road and
about the city is not accompanied with
many discomforts which will be insep-
arabic from it in midsummer. Yet
most likely the great rush of visitors
will come then, for Americans as a
rule, select the season of the year for
pleasure trips, when travel is burden
rather than pleasure-when IL is too
hot to stay at home. There are still
people who do not realize the dlscom.
forts of two in bed, in a seven by
nine room, in the middle Of July. and
that is why the crowd is expected to
De the largest about and after the glo-
rious Fourth
Last week l gave a pretty full out
line of the government agricultural
display, but only "fooled round the
edges" of the United States building
proper, which [ think viii, after all,
attract as much notice from the average
visitor as any part of the exhi-
bition. Uncle Sans" Centennial
Branch Post Office" which occupies
space forty by sixty feet in the south
west wing of the building, is as COM
plete and well-ordered as any city in
the country possesses 1t is enclosed
by walnut partition with glass front.
and has five hundred convenient lock
boxes. There are ten carriers employ
ed, and SO boxes for depositing mail
stationed at various points on the
grounds. The clerks speak all lang
uages and the deposit boxes are letter.
ed in English, French. German, Span
ish, Italian and japanese. Hourly
trips are made to the main city post
Office by the Centennial mail wagons,
which are handsome vehicles with
drivers in uniform. One of the car
riers is a John Chinaman, whose quque
hangs down his back as natural as the
curl of pigs tail.
The space occupied by the Post
Office Department, proper, is 40 x 40
feet, and displays many interesting ex-
hibits. The little Envelope Machine
and nickle plated Baxter Engine, men
toned before, which is now turning
out 22, 900 envelopes per day, with the
new Centennial Stamp, attracts a con-
slant crowd around the bronze railing
by which it is enclosed A model
nIail-catcher upon a car inside the
building, built on scale of one inch
to the foot, and near the envelop-ma-
chine, calls forth the admiration Of
the younger visitors. This car runs
on track twenty feet in length, and
catches mainiature mailbag as it
passes along at full speed, illustrating
the practice of the fast mail trains.
There are cases containing specimens
of all mail-bags, pouches, ETC., used
by the department. Specimens of all
the locks and scales used, and samples
of making and cancelling stamps, to-
gether with six highly ornamental
! frames containing specimens of all
stamped envelopes, official envelopes,
postal-cards, and postage stamps ever
used in this country. These are fur
nished by the Columbian Bank Note
Company, the present contractors and
are valuable directory to the stamp
gatherers.
The Interior Department makes a
good display. The Patent Office shows
5000 models arranged in classes, Co.
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