Bridgeton pioneer., 1916-10-26

~ not an act of sudden passion
~ nor the work of one man or as
sembly, according to George
Bancroft in his History of the United
States," and the declaration which was
made July A, 1776, was the climax of
long series of deliberations.
In the building which had been
erected as state house for the use
of the colony of Pennsylvania in 1876
the Continental congress had sat dis
cussing the vital matters pertaining to
the prosperity of the colonies, says a
writer in the New York Herald. Here,
on motion of John Adams, George
Washington had been placed in COM
mand of the American army, and here,
on the most eventful day of all, the
great declaration of rights and inten-
tions was presented by Thomas JEFF
ferson, 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 it's 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
gerOuS and was taken down. In 1918
the wings were altered to provide a
greater amount Of space which was
needed by the county commissioners,
and in 1918 the entire property was
purchased by the city of Philadelphia.
A few years later survey was
made of the tower to determine wheth-
er new bell could be mounted upon
it. All of the walls were found to be
thick and stanch except for a slight
crack in the wall over the arch of the
large Palladian 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
to the original. A bell weighing 4,600
pounds was placed in the tower and,
beginning with December, 1928, struck
the hours by means of new sort of
clockwork. Another bell was hung in
the tower in 1876.
Not Injured by Restorations.
Whatever changes or restorations
have been made, the spirit of the old
architects and builders has been re-
spected and today, as in Colonial days,
the state house typifies the refined
simplicity and sincerity which has
been left as precious legacy. Archi-
tects take their lessons from it, and
patriots take theirs.
But, satisfactory as are the proper
tions and the panelling, the treatment
of doors and windows and the simple
furnishing which leaves the interior
unspOiled, there is one object, with no
esthetic claims, which yet eclpses all
the others-the Liberty Bell, which
rang out the glad tidings that the Con
tinental congress had dared to sign the
Declaration of Independence. Parents
bring THEN children to gaze upon it
and to tell them the story of how it
was cast in England but cracked in
landing, so that it had to be recast in
Philadelphia, when the inscription
proclaim liberty throughout the land