River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1893-07-20
TIE OLD LIBERTY BELL
How IT Is Regarded by Worlds Fair Wis.,
itors- Stories Told bx the Guards.

the SplcnOOrS ana wonders q the W mite
City. To the sturdy. patriotic Ameri-
can it is an object Of generation. To
the uncultured, to the foreigner, it is
an object of interest and curiosity If
that bell had rlng for free Italy
when the lilies of Florence and the
white cross of Savoy were dipped in
blood in the old Garibaldi days it would
have been worshiped in the land Of
Virgil to-day. But Americans are more
cold-blooded and practical; yet Ameri-
can patriotism sometimes fiI.ds its vent
here even in tears.
Here is story one of the stalwart
Philadelphia reserve policemen told re-
Gently. but one of the hundreds of
episodes that are constantly falling un-
der their attention. The old bell, in its
yellow frame of beams, stands just in
side the entrance in the wide vestibule
of the Pennsylvania building.
zone day, a couple of weeks ago,
began the reserve, my attention was
attracted to an old gentleman who
stood just outside the door there. He
was tall. fine-loolSing, white-haired
man, about sixty-five years of age. He
stood for about five minutes with the
people coming and going past him, and
every once in awhile he would wipe his
eyes. ! didn't understand IL At last l
got up to get drink of water, and as !
passed him the old gentleman stopped
me, and, looking into my eyes, said:
Young man, want to tell you that
you have had greater honor conferred
upon you than has been placed on Gro
yer Cleveland's shoulders
Ilow's that?' | asked.
1.-The honor of guarding that old
bell, he went on; that bell is more
to me than anything in these grounds.
I've travelled seventeen hundred miles
to see it, and now I'm gong home con
tented, and then he broke right down
and began to cry. lie walked ont on
the porch, but in about ten minutes he
came back and asked me if he mightn't
just touch the bell. Between you and
me. said the great big policeman, Il
would have liked TO let him do it, but |
told him it was against positive orders
TO let anyone touch or handle il. Then
he left
Thousands of stories of love for that
been missed right here for want of a
historian. The other afternoon, shortly
before two o'clock man with a lunch
box under his right arm, and leading a
little lad of eight by the hand, entered
the building. Behind them came a
tired looking woman, the mother, with
little girl of six by the hand They
were what the world would call COM
mon people, in so far as wealth and so
cial standing went. The father, who
was about thirty-five, wore a fifteen
dollar suit of clothes, and the mothers
dress was cheap chintz
The father and son halted at the
bright nickel railing around the bell.
The man looked with sort of silent
awe al the bell for an instant, then he
took off his hat and held it in his hand.
He darted a quick, sensitive. inquiring
look around to see that he was not
overheard. and STOPPING. said, Load
enough though To be heard by gen
tleman near by: Take off your hat,
Eddie"
What for, papa?" inquired the lad in
surprise.
"Why, this is the old liberty bell !
was telling you and Helen about last
night, do you inind?'
The young patriots hat came off and
ii rema med off till he east last look
bacllv lrd at the tuneless old relic.
But there is another side TO these
patriotic expressions. 1t is the soulful
and abundant ignorance of some Amer
leans. The gratuitous distribution OF
one hundred and ten thousand copies
of the history of the bell has been but
as the rays of tallow dip in the alb
sorbing darkness of some American ig
norance.
''Oh, my Lord, it's awful to hear some
of the questions people ask, and the re-
marks they drop when they see the
bell. continued the reserve officer,
with world-weary sigh. Decent APP
pearing, nteliigent-looking people
most of them, too. But the worst are
the people who know it all, or think
they know it all They are mostly
youngsters
THE other day an old lady came up
to the railing There were a couple of
young girls with her about seventeen
or eighteen years of age. This old
lady was deeply impressed, and, turn
ing to the girls. said: There, my
dears, is the bell that rang for the
declaration of in dependence when my
grandfather, and your great-great
grandfather, was fighting in the revolu-
tionary war
"'Why, no it isn't, grandmother,
said one of the youngsters; that's the
bell that used to hang in the steeple of
the church that George Washington at
tended
"'It isn't anything of the kind spoke
up the other girl; that's the bell that
hung on the state house in Philadel-
phia. When the British entered the
city the bell was taken down and was
hidden in the Delaware river for forty
years 1t was cracked when they
were tolling it for George Washing
toms death
THAT'S only a sample of some
American ignorance continued the
officer Most of the people associate
the bell in some way with the declara-
ton of independence, but Pm blessed
If there isn't hundreds of Yahoos who
come here who never seem to have
heard of the declaration.
Glow about European visitors?"
s'Oh. there's thousands of them, but
they seem to be pretty well posted,
although some of the English are
awfully stupid when it comes to con-
Meeting the bell with our breaking
away from Great Britain. They know
that it is a wonderful relic and take
everything else for granted"
So far as the venerable relic is con-
cerned, there is a lack of description
about it, which would go far with a
certain class of foreigners, and good
many Americans too, in assisting them
TO understand its presence here. Three
little placards in English. French and
German. hung in the vestibule of the
Pennsylvania building. and setting
forth in about one hundred words the
history of its memorable ringing july
4. fT76, seem almost necessity.
Then there has been great volume
of epic poetry on the subject of the bel
and its historic voice, some meritorious
that will live. despite the historical
errors embodied in the verses. Others
that are worthless in every sense. The