Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1876-05-10
TIE CENTENNIAL.
Preparation for the Opening Of the Gem
tennial Exposition at PhiladeIph a,
To-Day.
A Gala Time Anticipated-The City
Filled with IllustriOus Visitors
aud Guests.
The Buildings and Grounds Ready fer
The 0ccasiOn-The Civic and Mill.
tary Display OF a Grand Scale,
Etc, Etc.

EtC', Elc.
PHILADELPHIA, May 9.-Rsin has
been falling steadily since last night
with no prospect OF speedy cessation.
J Some fesr is felt OF serious interference
! With the opening cerem 0uies of the
/ great exposition tomorrow. The rain,
| however, does not iuteriera with the dis
| play Of benting, which is profuse
! throughout tie city. There is great
influx Of visitors, and thronss of stran-
! gers are on the streets. The attendance
at the Centennial grounds 10 morrow
promises to be very lafge, ami TO repre-
! sent large proportion of the nationali-
| Ties OF the world. Among the distin.
| guisbed visitors arriving to-day are
| President Grant and wife, guests of Mr..
! G. w. Chiids; the emperI Of Brazil,
| who joins the empress at the Centen-
nisI; Governor Rice, of Massachusetts,,
with his full military staff; Secretaries
| Fish, Robson, B,ist)w, Taft. and
! Chandler; Attorney. General Pierre
| pOnt; POstmGs ,er-G enerai Jewell; Chief
| Justice Waite, and Governor Hartranft
! All are accompanied by their wives, and
are entertained as guests by various
! prominent citizeDs. The arrangements
for tO-mOrrOW's exercises are in favor
| able state Of advancement, exhibi,
ton matters being much nearer com
pet OF than there was ground to antici-
pate. Some Of the departments are
in complete readiness; others are near
ly so, and there are but few which are
| not in some considerable degree ready
for visitors. Still much will remain to
be done after tomorrow before all the
details are arranged. Special palace
trains will be run into ecity this after
noon by the Pennsylvania railroad COM
p2Dy from Washington, bringing hither
the members Of congress to be- present
at to-mOToW's ceremonies. The gates
of the grounds will be open tomorrow
morning az nine o'clock. The inaugu-
ration ceremonies will commence at if
teen minutes past ten in the morning,
and will be concluded aGOut one in the
evening; after which the main build
ing, machinery hall, and memorial hall,
reserved for invited guests during the
ceremonies, will be thrown open to the
public. President Grants escort to the
grounds will be Governor Hartranft,
with = division of Pennsylvania and
New Jersey tTOops. Various military
and society parades will take place in
the morning previous to the opening,
but there VIII be- no general street
parade as part Of the inauguration cere-
monies. Mayor StOkely issues o proc
lsmation calling on all citizens to Ob-
serve tomorrow in a manner fitting it's
importance; no proclamation was neces-
sary, as everybody fully realizes the i'm
pOrtsnce Of the day. Independence bell
and the church bells OF the city are to
be rung half an hour at sunrise, and
sgain at sunset. Tne Brazilian steam
corvette Nethershy arrived here last
evening to remain until Dom Pedr0's
departure. She exchanged salutes of
twenty guns with the Unitei States
Ir;gate Congress. The Nethershy will
return on July 4th for the express puT-
pose Of saluting the American flag.
Our Philadelphia Letter.
From the Regular Correspondent OF the
Appeal
PHILADELPHIA, May 6.-O1 my ar
rival in Pniladelphis from Washington,
l was surprised to find SO great au i'm
prOvement in the atmosphere; il is purer
and more invigorating here. My friend
said it wss because there is no congress
in Philadelphia, but there may be an
additional reason: there are no Nicolson
psvements in this city to absorb water
and emit malaria, and Boss Shepherd has
not been mere with government Rp-
preparation Of thirty million dollars to
build nOXiOus and imperative sewers;
but, above all, the natural situation Of
Philadelphia is sanitarily superior to
that Of Washington. Ii the Father Of
his Country selected the seat OF govern
ment with desire to kill of politicians,
he made an excellent selection, and his
hsua faiIod fO Oiua him
glory for his nOblest work; he could
hardly have found another location on
the continent that combines so many
unWh 0le3ome advantages. Here the
young girls have brighter cOmplexions,
and the young men have not that hang
dog, hackneyed gait and mien peculiar
to Washington adolescence, PerhaI S it
is becsu5e they are not government
clerks, and do not live in eternal trepi-
dation OF loss of office.
/ propose to write q series Of letters
from this city during the Centennial ex.
position. A distinguished author has
said that anyone who will only write
what he sees and hesr3 with veracity,
will blunder into writing good book.
hope to bIuuder into writing readable
letter by this rule. l shall not write in
the interest Of the exposition or the eX-
L
contain useful and interesting infOrma-
ton to those of your readers who will
not, and be helpful to those who will
come to the great show.
To those who propose to spend less
than two months in Philsdelphis, l
would earnestly say, do not come now.
The exhibition will be insuguTated with
much ceremony on the tenth Of this
month, and the hotel-keepeEs are very
anxious to see you, but everything is in
8 very immature state OF advancement.
at present there is one of the greatest
exhibitions of scatfOlding, boxes, lum-
Der and dust that the world has ever
| seen. At many points cosmos Is rising
cut Of chaos, tut not for two or three
months yet will the panorama reach its
| cIimacteric of beauty and order. For
| those who can come but once and spend
| ouly limited time here, it will be found
| much better to defer the visit until Sep
| tember or October, or ct least until Au-
! gust. By that time hotel and boarding
| housekeepers will have learned that all
! the world and the rest Of mankind are
! not tributary to their pockets. Better
! accommodations will be obtained at
more reasonable prices, and the eXposi.
ton will be seen to the very best ad-
| vantage.
OF c0urse everybody here is expecting
the city to fill up Immediately, aud the
| bcnest old Quaker-spiders that have
spread their ne's for flies, are almost in
| Vulnerable. l interviewed two or three
hotel. keepers yesterday, by asking them
what they would charge me for two
/ rooms and board; l found that the
! prices range from eight 20 twelve dollars
| per day. l explained that wanted the
/ rooms during the entire tsrm of the ex-
position, but they would not submit to
! any reduction OF price, saying that there
was every probability that they would
| not have q vacant room, and that they
would be compelled to turn away many
whom they would be unable to accom-
modgte. told them that l thought
they were mistaken; that there was an