The morning call., 1892-02-21

! Another we'll walled-in place is the Re-
/ fJTmatOfy, with slender chimney tops show
/ ing over the rough wall top.
Here and there quaint ivv-grOwn
| church, safe hidden from pryiug eyes, be-
| hind Its walls tolls each Sabbath day a
| gentle call to the living, just as it has done
! for two centuries, perhaps, for the genera
/ lions now sleeping In qurt about it.
Drays are broad and short, express wag-
Ons democrats are broad and hung low.
! Carriages are in endless variety and every
where. COl0Ted people are seen more fire.
! Quently, and for hire" bangles over the
| heads OF the colore1 drivers Of divers and
| various kinds of rigs. Great scOOp-shaped
| canyases cover them, matched In odd cOl0rs
| gay tassel hangs within reach Of the driver,
| who may pull the front OF the canvas over
/ like a hood
One may be crammed full of household
( moyables, another running over with col
0Ted folk Of all ages and sizes, smiling from
under the Tapping edges, or dangling over
! the wheels; or another az your COrreSpOn-
dent saw packed with tired sheep, the jolly
/ Iehu hanging tight to the tassel to keep the
bieatng cargo inside, and leading an i'm
menSe band OF sheep, struggling through the
smooth, broad streets.
The city IS laid out very regularly, is well
! lighted, its business portion Is most sub
sJantial; the buildings average, perhaps,
SIX stores IN helEhtb, ana awnings stretch
over almost all the walks. Like New York
II Is bare Of trees or shrubbeTy, except in
the newer portions.
1t Is almost unnecessary 10 mention the
fine Libraries. the art schools, the medical
schools, the franklin Institute for Fine Arts,
its many public buildings OF all kinds. The
foundations for all these were laid in
: FTanklin's time or before, and many of
them are the direct result of his small be-
| ginnings. Probably no city in the Union
has so much public spirit, does 50 much for
la, h,- ar4a r..
societies aud does so little talking on the
subject.
Without doubt the most interesting build
ing in America to-day is the state House in
which IS Independence Hall, where the
Declaration of Independence was signed
in July, l776.
Here every visitor finds himself sooner or
later. Inside are valuable relies. all con-
nected with the history 0f a nations birth
or Of the men who thought and planned
and worked for her.
Several Of the rooms are still used for
Offices, but the two large rooms on either
side the main hall are reserved for the pub
lie; the one on the left Of the old Senate
chamber Is filled with things that really are of
no intrinsic value, but merely from assOcia-
| ton have become so; A small piece of the
Wampum belt, which was used when Penn
made bis original Indian treaty; a mantel-
she'll upon which Washington laid the Con-
stltutlOn when he first received il; the
ew IN which both Lafayette aud Washing
ton sat; personal relics from the homes of
almost all the public men Of the time
banners, flags and battle relics, rare old
books, or papers or letters. State documents,
ur Indian curl0S. In this place is also found
the hand-hewn rough oakeu framework,
with It's rusty old chains, from which the
Liberty Bell hung, splintered and worn,
brown aud chlpped by reliC-hunters, until
to-day 1t IS rallied in to keep it safe
just opposite is Independence Hall, not
very large, perhaps thirty feet square the
original table and chairs still on the low
small rostrum, back Of which hangs a du-
plicaIe OF the Declaration of Independence
About the walls are fine portraits Of the
sgnerS Of the declaration and members of
the FIST Colonial Congress. Around the room
arc chairs, which il seems were the ndivid-
ual property Of the members and not alike.
The building is long and narrow with q sec
Ond story over the center only, and over all
the Cupnla, from which the first tones Of
Liberty Bell sent peal after peal through
the land ringing out the proclamation Of
independence. 1t now hangs from the
dome over the winding stairway, ten or
twelve feet high symmetrical and shapely
the watchword Of the nation craven upon it.
Cracked and usees and silent? No. Its
peal Is heard ringing down the centuries
over a mighty land proclaim liberty
throughout the land unto all the inhabitants
thereof" MRS. l.. f. THANE.
February 8, 1899.