The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1900-06-23
A FAIR IN THE oLDEN TIME.
Memories of New York's World Ex-
position in 1853,

position in 1853,
From the New York Times
There's time enough for no end of
evolution in forty years." observed the
gray haired man, 80 naturally the
Chicago Exposition was another sort
of a show from the Worlds Fair we
had here in New York away back in
the SOS. But that was considered
wonderful thing in its time, and not
without reason, as 1t showed the en-
terprise of the American citizen OF
1858.
"It was not gotten up by the coun-
try at large, or by the state, or even
by the city, but was the work or an
association of private citizens, ana
though, of course, it didn't come with
in hailing distance of the Worlds Fair
held in London two years before, 1t
did credit to those who got 1t up.
II never pass through Bryant park
that / do not think of it, for that was
where the New York Crystal Palace
stood for the short time before 1t was
burned down. For beauty of architec-
ture that building knocked the spots
out of any other structure that has
been erected in this country, and we
young Americans were proud to show
it to Europeans, even while it was
surrounded by scaffolds.
New York was a small place then,
comparatively speaking, and Bryant
Park, known as Reservoir Park, was
so far up town as to be quite suburban.
| On the day of the opening the crowd
| was about as big as anything I have
seen here since, and, in spite of the
| heat and dust-it was the 14th of July
was as good humored as the New
York crowd usually is. The population
| of this city was then about 300, 900, but
| on that day il seemed to be nearer ten
million. There were visitors, of course,
| from all over the country, fiocking In
as fast as the trains could bring them
| in.
1.-The most important visitor was the
president of the United States, Frank
lin Pierce: but if you heard the hur-
rahing from the crowd around the Cry
stal Palace that day, when he came in
sight, coming down Forty-second
street, mounted on a big black horse
and attended by the Washington
Grays, you might have thought he was
George Washington himself Before
| SOlIB " NOlh " optii thC Aoii hc Nio'
appeared into a Sixth avenue saloor
to get a drink of brandy and water
and folks could not blame him for it
as the mercury must have been in thu
neighborhood of the nineties.
General Winfield Scott was here
too, towering above everybody else
and the place was fairly swarming will
governors, to say nothing of the dis
tinguished European visitors, though
New York didn't bank so high then oil
distinguished European visitors as i
does now. Bishop wainwright made th
opening prayer, and then there was tn
'Hallelujah Chorus and old Hundred
followed by no end of operate music
1.-THE Worlds Fair directors after
ward gave a dinner at the metropolitan
Hotel. I wasn't invited to 1t, l an
sorry to say, as was young enough a
the time, being just out of round jack
cts, to do full justice to 1t. The bill o
fare was so uncommonly grand that
was published in the papers, some
thing unusual those days. l remembe
1t began by being French, but droppe,
into American by the time it reaches
the roasts and in the pastry cours
were six different Kinds of pies. Ameri
cans ruled America at that time, an
they weren't going to give up their pie
to please the finest French cook eve
imported"