The Caldwell watchman. (Columbia, La.) 1885-1946, 1916-09-01

~ not an act Of sudden passion
nor the work Of one man or as
sembly, according to Georg
Bancroft i'll his "iiiStory Of the Unitet
States" and the declaration which wa
made July 4, 1916, was the climax O
long series of deliberations.
In the building which had beef
erected as a state house for the ust
of the colony of PENNSYLVANIA in 173(
the Continental congress had sat dis
cuSsing the vital matters pertaining tC
the prosperity Of the colonies, says q
writer in the New York Herald. Here
on motion Of John Adams, George
Washington had been placed in COM
nland of the American army, and here,
on the most evcntful day of all, the
great declaration Of rights and inten-
tons was presented by Thomas JEFF
fcrson, signed by the men whose names
are inscribed high in the rolls of Amer.
lean history and read from the steps
of the famous building to the crowd
waiting outside. Here, too, the Con.
stitution of the United States was
adopted.
Most Americans are familiar with
the present external appearance Of
this Cradle of Liberty" few know so
much about its interior, which is nobly
inspiring.
The land for the building was pur.
chased in 1870 and a committee was
appointed to carry on the building
operations, one of the members being
DR. John Kearsley, who had been so
successful with the building of Christ
church.
independence Hall First Built,
The first portion to be finished was
independence hall. room 80 BY 40
feet and almost 20 feet high. The
work dragged, and when the legisla-
ture was ready to occupy it the south
wall was unfinished and there was no
glass in the windows. The room was
not really finished until 1745. The
next part of the building to be COM
pleted was the judicial chamber, of
the same size as independence hall,
and separated from it by three arches,
The tower was built in 1850. the
steeple being added in 1853. After
the revolution there was considerable
dissatisfaction with the wooden steeple
and it was finally declared to be dan
serous and was taken down. In 1918
the wings were altered to provide a
greater amount of space which was
needed by the county commissioners
ana in 1918 the entire property was
purchased by the city of Philade,nh;a
A few years later survey was
maze OF the tower to determine wheth-
er new bell could be mounted unon
1t. All Of the walls were found r. no
thick and stanch except for a slight
crack in the wall over the arch If tho
large ralladlan window, probably due
TO the great width of the window
opening and its arch. This was not
considered a serious objection how.
ever to putting up a cupola similar
10 the original. A bell weighing 1900
POUNDS was placed in the tower and
beginning with December, 1928, struc1,
'he hours by means of a new Sort Of
eiockWork. Another bell was HING IN
the tower in 1876. "
Not Injured by Restoration,
whatever changes or restore .,ons
nave been made, the spirit Of tho old
alcNa'eets and builders has been re-
spected and today, as in Colonial daxs
the state house typiies the refined
sln'p',clty and sincerity which has
. oeen 'eft as precious legacy. Archi.
'eets take their lessons from II erd
patriots take theirs.
tio,s 49,, . 40 as are the, propor-
, w n ana the panelling. the treatment
81 doors and windows and the s,mn1e
furnishing which leaves the ,ntsr,or
ss.h"tia there is one object, with no
e est claims, which yet eclinse SOS a au
r rne o OH. rs Liberty Bell, which
rang out the glad tidings that ~ ron
nae1a ,a. congress had dared to sign the
p h's, OF Independence. parents Dor
and to I ten emit children to gaze upon it
w vns .. o,s ten l.. them the story othow it
I "uS east In England but crseked in
n ,anuing. so that it had to be- aas+ IN
"rroc Ieipni a. when the inscription
ioc'''m liberty throughout ,ha ,ond