Lexington weekly intelligencer. (Lexington, Mo.) 1871-1887, 1876-06-10
OUR PHILADELPHIA LETTER.

uOtp tfVlOIc StouSS thHs
ut the rapidity of my journey across the CONT
neut; and, in writing you, it seems both peril
uent and appropriate to ask if there be no limit
to the triunphs of science-is space to be utterl!
annihilated? Already, in the transportation o
Thought. neither time nor space are consulted
and who can now say what the future may no
do TO Quicken the transportation of matter?
1t was but seven days from the time 1 stood OIL
the beach, at the Golden Gate, and gazed out OF
the broad Pacific ocean, until the same eyes Wei
strained to the vanishing point over the brinJ
waters of the mighty Atlantic, having crossed
the continent from ocean to ocean, doubling oul
continental Cape Horn on the way-all within
the space of seven days. Surely this is u won
DEF full AEGEAN age which may find q fitting ter
minus only in the endless wonders OF the grea'
centennial, to witness which 1 have crossed INT
American contiseut. believing that all who can,
should attend the centennial show, and mol
henceforIh be running to every one that comes
along.
1t is q solemn yet interesting thought to con-
slider that when this great show is repeated III
the year 1876, it will be to a world of people
now unborn, to q world ofpeople among which
shall mingle not one single soul now in being
and, in view of the mighty strides. of science. IN
tuC puSts IL AhnN now BOY sh"e NV
genius OF man may not, by that time. have tun
neled through the clouds an aerial highway, over
which the multiplied millions OF the twentieth
century shall then find a still more rapid transit
to the next great centennial. .4
Now. in regard to this great centennial exhi-
bition, of which 1 proposed to write you. 1 hardly
know how or where to begin-the magnitude OF
the task appsls me. Seven days ago l entered
Paramount Park with active feet and eager eyes.
intending to See the great exhibition in all Its
magnitude, and at every angie; and though
have not wasted q single hour. 1 am now, at the
end of that time. hardly through the vestibule,
and still the great multitude of curious, inge-
NOUS and wonderful things 1 haye seen has SO
bewildered my brain as to leave me with confus-
ed ideas of all.
The whole wide centennial grounds are a per-
feet labyrinth of the wonderful. The very
bowels OF the earth. it would seem. have been
dug up; the heavens have been iOwered; and
every one of the four quarters Of the globe has
been ravsged for the wonderful in art, in science
and in nature to help adorn and aggrandixe the
day We are about 10 celebrate. Money has moi
been spared; distance has been disregarded, AND
climate ignored, and Pagan, and. protestant,
heather and barbarian have joined hands to help
rear the centennial monument so high, we trust.
t rat the flags upon its summit shall forever wave
above the storms which may rage at its base.
In all the departments through which l nave
been, the curious and wonderful, the rlch, anu
grand, and costly, are heaped together so thick
and wide as to make your steps q literal wade
through wondsrsi aud 1 have realized, most for
chilly, that it Is, indeed. poss ible to have too
much of good thing, for 1 am already wearied
with looking at the endless wonders which meet
me ut every step. I am jaded both in mind and
~bOdy-yea, absolutely surfeited with sights. the
contemplation of which, in piece meal, and at
intervals, would have absorbed my highest
thou hts; and if you visit the centennial do not
attempt. as 1 have done, to see il all in u day.
nor a week,-nor q month may, not in the
whole time of its continuance-it cannot be done
intelligibly .-certainly not satisfactorily.
Very many of the things on exhibition here are
about as Ineligible to ne as a Greek testament
to a Comanche Indian. To u man skillediin the
science of mechanics. a great pOnderous iron
pyramid of tubes, pipes, wheels and chains. to
utilize the waste heat of steam boilers, would be
doubtless an object full Of interest; but to my
mind it was As meaningless as the ceremOn of u
Japanese funeral. anu 1 cannot describe it, nor.
indeed, lntelliglbly, any other Of the most useful
and most wonderful things to be seen. If could
l would describe some of the few have seen and
cOmprehendsd, but 1 cannot. / have seen SO
many. and in such rapid succession, as to leave
lHe without distinct Impressions of any.
And. however competent he may be, the man
who writes up this great exhibition in all its
wOnderfulness, in all its immensely, must have
O life we'll prolonged in years, extending even to
the next centennial; and even then l AIN not sure
that the trumpet of 1876 will not be sounding in
his ears long before he is done.
An interesting feature. and one of the few
which has imprinted itself upon my memory, is
to he found in the center of the main building.
There, inside and protected by u crystal wall.
are the relics Of Washington; the actual things
used and handled by the hands now Wondering
in the tomb at Mount Vernon. Hooked at these
things with a feeling of reverence. akin 10 ado
ration. Among them was the old iron treasure
box and the leathern, brass-nailed medicine
chest carried by him through the fearful DAYS OF
'76: also the same camp kettle. pew,er plates
and iron knives, which, a hundred years ago.
were the luxurious comforts of Washington
Beside these, upon the actual bed upon which he
slept. Law in sile nt eloouence the identical sword
and pistols of the only man living or dead with
out match and without model. The tent poles
and tent under which alone he sheltered, were
ALEC there. and the same iukstaud. from which
he never penned II word or line his country
would sxpunge, was also there; and it was mos,
fitting that within the same pavilion should also
be placed the war saddle OF Baron DsKslb, the
sword gwen by Franklin to Washington, aud
the brass-buttoned coat which, on the 9Th of
January, 1915, covered the stalwart shoulders OF
the hero of New Orleans