The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1877-05-24
[ NUMBER 81.

ton of school-teachers preachers, real
and assumed members of the press"
politicians, merchants and others
which means the personal friends of
the management-were pushing their
| arduous way in through theElm avenue
gate and frantically scrambling for
seats. The crush of opening day at the
Centennial will long be painfully re-
membered by many readers, but all
that growing was outdoors in the pure
/ air of heaven. Here almost as great q
multitude was enduring the same strain
on mental, moral and physical energies,
but it was all indoors and much of the
time the atmosphere was filled with
j suffocating dust Did the discomfitted
visitors snap and growl and extempor-
iZe little feuds to be settled "after-
SCHOOL," Not bit of it. Every indi-
vidual determined not to be quite
obliterated by the crowd, but at the
same time the American free-born
spirit of good nature reigned supreme
and ephemeTal fortunes were endured
heroically, while the victims sadly
smiled and begged pardon. Here and
there to be sure the healthy Yankee
motto, Don't rread on me" was illus
! trated, but in such cases the crowd in
the immediate vicinity of the disput-
! ants would quickly decide who was
right and by the potent magnetism of
! pure moral force compel the Would-be
''bull-dOzer" to recognize the pettyness
Of his own personality and the holiness
OF abstract human rights. Up to this
time not one in thousand had thOuht
OF the Exhibition proper, and the only
remembrance those who left immediate
ely after the ceremonies could have
carried away was confused recollec-
ton of a gOrgeOusly painted pipe organ,
crowds, crystal chandeliers, crowds,
marble, bronze and clay statutes, crowds
elegant cases Of silver, gold and ceramic
ware, crowds, an iron fountain of April
like sprays, crowds, and the unfinished
roofs Of several miniature edifces
whose precise uses were undetermined.
For the inaugural exercises a gradually
ascending platform capable of seating
5000 persons, had been constructed in
the north transcept from the floor to
the organ gallery, and on this were
seated the most distinguished guests,
| the chorus of 1000 voices, and the
orchestra. But from this stage extend
ed lines of seats clear out to the centre
OF the building. Long before o'clock
/ every seat on the floor and nearly all
the seats ON the stage were occupied
and all that the representatives of the
press who had excellent positions,
geographically, could distinctly recog-
niZe, was that they were in some vast
auditorium with the colossal bronze
statue of 'Liberty'' in the back ground,
an indiscribable array of pavilionS,
courts, coums, arches and industrial
exhibits on both sides, a sea of human
heads in front, an ocean of anxious
cOuntenances behind, and rising wave
of very contented faces on the stage in
the distance, these gradually ascending
to the organ gallery on the north side.
On each side and towering far above
the main auditorium were two arcades
extending from the centre towers to
the organ gallery and these like every
other solid structure in the vicinity
were crowded with people who gazed
exaSperatlng enjoyment upon the misery
OF the victims below. Fancy $4,000
people, packed i'll one auditorium, some
on the main floor, some on the stage
and others on the balconies, arcades,
towers and cases surrounding the en-
closure, while numerous adventurous
spirits are perched upon every struc-
tural or ornamental projection left by
the architect and then remember that
this auditorium was but the tranScept,
a mere adOrnment of the real EXhibi-
ton edifice and you will have some
idea of the audience on the opening day
and the size Of the structure known as
the Exhibition Building. The entire
Union Army at the beginning OF the
War might have been quartered in this
tranScept, had the Main Building been
| then in existence, and only Brown
mind reader" could tell how long it
would have taken General Mcclellan to
| find them. After much exercise of
| Christian fortitude, the hour of two
finally arrived and then the great organ
pealed forth it's mighty waves of patri-
otto harmonies, one national air follow
ing another until Gov. Hartranft and
Staff of Pennsylvania and Gov. Bedle
Of New Jersey, entered when the music
was drowned by the cheer Of their
admirers. Both gentlemen had come
direct from their homes and though
Gov. Hartranft's handsome features
showed the effect Of travel, they lit up
with pleasure at the warm reception
accorded him and the bland counter
ance Of Gov. Bedle became ever more
childlike in it's innocent iov.
CONTINUED NEXT WEEK