Bonners Ferry herald. [volume] (Bonners Ferry, Idaho) 1904-current, 1916-12-05


~ 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 4, 1776, was the climax OF
long series of deliberations.
In the building which had been
erected as a state house for the use
of the colony of Pennsylvania In 1875
the Continental congress had sat dis
cussing the vital matters pertaining to
the prosperity of the colonies, says
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-
| tons 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.
1 MOSI AlueTlCduS dIt WIN
| 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 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 10
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 nc
glass in the windows. The room was
not really finished until 1745. The
next part of the building to he 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, tht
steeple being added in 1853. After
the revolution there was considerable
, dissatisfaction with the wooden steeplt
and it was finally declared to be dan
=, gerous and was taken down. In 1S1;
the wings were altered to provide !
greater amount of space which wa'
needed by The county commissioners
and in 1918 the entire properly wa
purchased ny the city OF Philadelphia
A few yenrS later Il survey Na
made OF the tower 10 determine wheth
err new bell could be mounted upol
it. All of the walls were found to b.
thick and Stanch except for Sigh
crack in the wall over the arch of tn
u 'arge palladian window probably du
5 TO the great width of. the window
= 'pening and its arch. This was no
considered n serious objection HOY
ever, to putting up cIDola Simiia
to the original. A bell weighing ACC
pounds was placed IN the tower ant
. beginning with December, 1928, struc
!, he hours by means of new sort q
= clockwork Another bell was hung 1
= the tower IN 1876
Not Injured by Reservations
s Whatever changes or restoration
6 have been made, the spirit of the oil
+ architects and builders has been re
o Spected and today, as in Colonial day
he state house typifies the refine
simplicity and sincerity which ha
been left as Il precious legacy Arch
E. tects take their lessons from it, an
l. patriots take theirs.
But satisfactory as are the propo
h tons and the panelling, the treatmer
: Of doors and windows and the simpl
II furnishing which leaves the interiC
n unspOiled. there is one object, with n
esthetic claims. which yet eclipses a
r the others-the Liberty Bell, whiC
lie rang out the glad tidings thar the Coz
re tinental congress had dared to sign II
lie Declaration of Independence. Parent
'e bring their children to gaze upon
and to tell them the story of how
!. was cast in England but cracked
landing, so that it had to be recast
w Philadelphia, when the inscriptic
proclaim liberty throughout the lar