The Portland daily press., 1876-05-17
Centennial Notes.


vailing of the Witherspoon monument will
take place. Gov. Bedle of New Jersey has
been chosen orator for the occasion. For the
4th of July quite number of demonstrations
have been arranged. The arrangements for
the unvaling of the Humboldt memorial will
be matured in the course of a week or two On
the 4th of July the ceremonies attending the
unvailing of the monument to Religious Lib
erty and the Catholic temperance fountain will
take place.
A business man who understands the value
of advertising, occupies an entire page Of re-
cent number of the London News in setting
forth the excellence of the goods exhibited by
him at the Centennial. His advertisement is
in sixty-f6ur different languages.
Mrs. Maxwell, the celebrated huntress of
Colorado, exhibits large collection of stdffed
animals and birds killed by her own hand, in
cludlng buffalo, Rocky Mountain lion. and
grizzly.
''Pm Philadelphia alderman" said a stout,
pompous little man, as he approached the turn
stile on the opening day. "Oh, that's no mat
ter" answered the gate-keeper, that don't ex-
clude you. Pay your fifty cents, and you can
go in just the same as the rest"
Rotherel's "Battle of Gettysburg continues
to excite much discussion, and criticism-the
most of it hostile. Much of the figure, draw
ing and coloring is good, but the sky and back
ground generally are poor, and the whole pic
ture has confused and gummed appearance.
1t is fortunate for Rothermel that there are no
Burnets or Camphausens in the same gallery.
The great steam engine of the Centennial
weighs 800 tons; will drive eight miles OF shaft
ing; has fiy-wheel thirty feet in diameter and
weighing seventy tons; is of ], 400 horse power,
with a capacity of being forced $500 horse
power; has two walking beams weighing TWEEN
ty-two tons each two forty-inch cylinders, a
ten-foot stroke, craDk-shaft nineteen inches
in diameter and twelve feet in length; connect
ing rods twenty-four feet in length. and piston
rods four and one.quarter inches in diameter.
A set of false teeth that belonged to George
Washington has been sent to Philadelphia, and
will be exhibited at the Centennial A patri-
otic citizen says he was very much relieved
when he saw them, because if George had up
set while crossing the Delaware he could have
hung onto the bottom of the boat by such teeth
as those, until the Nation had had time to turn
out to his rescue.
One of the principal points of interest about
the city Just now is Old Independence Hall
The original Declaration of Independence and
the original commission of Washington as
Commander in Chief of the American armies,
which are IN. a fre-proof safe fully exposed to
view, attract great attention from all visitors.
The National Museum, in the same building is
also largely visited.
The story of the Michigan Centennial build
ing is reminder of Edward Everett Hae's re-
cent bright romance of the "Lost Palace" 1t
will be remembered that in that pslace car
was lost and never found. In this case in real
life the Michigan building was all made in that
state and then taken apart and sent in pieces
to Philadelphia by rail- Several of the cars
that it was packed upon have gone astray.
Nobody knows where they are. All track Of
them is lost: and the Michigan building conse-
quently is incomplete and cannot be put to-
gether.
Cattle said to be the heaviest and best in the
world have arrived at Philadelphia for exhibi-
tion-among them an OK weighing 1000 pounds
and heifer weighing $500 pounds
The exhibitors and attendants from the Hap
py Isles afford a strange contrast to those of
the Flowery Kingdom next to them, for the
former are dressed like Americans, bear them
selves in very gentemanly and pleasant fash
ion, and for the most part speak English flu
emily. The latter are clad in their womanish
robes of silk, wear long pg-tails, and speak lit
tie if any English. The former are progressive
Mongos, the latter stanch conservatives, and it
is queer to see them side by side, so alike and
yet so different. This shows that though ns-
ture is much, the impulse of direction is still
more Japan is bound to be more and more pro-
gressive and China must be more and more
conservative; nor will it be very surprising if
she should abrogate her treaties and close her
ports even in this Centennial year.
The resident correspondent of the Tribune
takes quite felicitous quotation when he de-
scribes the starting of the machinery on the
opening day. As the countless wheels turned
the bands started on their rounds, cogs fitted
into their places, pistons drove back and for
ward and up and down, performing their in
finitly varied functions, and all at the single
touch of these two meu. The spectators could
not fail to be reminded of the famous kiss by
the fairy prince to the century asleep princess
in Tennyson's DAY Dream.
A touch, kiss, the charm was snapt
The palace banged, and buzzed, and cacked,
And all the long-pent stream of life
Flashed downward in cataract.
Every dozen yards or so the visitor stumbles
upon mass of many.colored marble, labelled
''Soda-water; all kinds of favors," and is So
licited by one of the half dozen attendants, or
by ali of them in chorns, to ''take glass Of
the American national drink" Some of the
fountains have been run up to height of
scores of feet they are inartstic and ungainly,
and not only spoil the view of the principal
avenue, but seriously obstruct the passage
way. young Frenchman has christened the
prin cipal fountain "The Quaker Meeting
house." 1t is great, clumsy, sombre looking
structure, and well deserves the name