Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-08-08

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"Do the movies really move in Pbn,.
delphia?'
Philadelphia people are proud Of thai.
reputation for conservatism. They Ar,
slow to change and never in a hurrn
Consider their City Hall.
That vast and ugly building covs..
nearly five acres of ground at Bro,s
and Market streets. 1t is the center :,
the city's activity. On the top of a tow..
at one end of the building, rising sss
feet above the ground, stands Winis,,
Penn. looking down over the city wh,cA
he founded. William, in bronze, is ~
feet tall and of a comfortable plumpns,,
with a waist line of some "a feet. But h,
is too far up in the air for one to tan
by the expression of his face what h.
thinks about the situation.
He would certainly be moved to wrv
and ironlc smile If he could read the IN.
scription on the big bronze tablet inss,
at one side of the main entrance:
1s7O-19O1.
The commission, having discharged
its Trust Now Turns over the Build
ing to Councils.
Nobody in Philadelphia seems to thlnt
that inscription funny. What 1t mean,
is that it took thirty.one years to build
the City Hall-and the job doesn't appear
to he entirely finished now. Nobody
knows how much money was spent
There are many estimates, the most con.
servative being S25,OOO.OoO. Certainly
the commission is too modest in its state.
ment. Its members not only discharged
their trust; they did all sorts of things
to it, and when. they got through only
man with strong sense of humor
would have referred to it as a trust al
all.
An outsider wonders whether 1t was
further humorous intention which led
the commission to equip every Office In
the City Hall with great door of heavy
iron bars. so that each floor bears a close
resemblance to the cell room of a pent
tent!ary. About the building are indh
cations that the announcement Of It's
completion in 1901 is not intended to DO
taken too seriously. Almost always there
are from three to half a dozen large
bronze Philadelphia worthless lying on
their backs in piles of sand and waiting
patiently for the contractors to complete
their pedestals. This great political plum
tree, which bore plenty of fruit for thirty
one years and is not yet entirely barren,
is only the most striking feature Of
political situation which long ago won
III. a.. ,t.t ne haia
corrupt and contented."
1t was to Philadelphia that Chicago
was indebted for Charles #. Yerles, Whose
sinister dominance of the local transpor
tation situation the people of this city
We're finally able to break. From Phila
delphia also came the shrewdest pot.
clans of a generation ago. who taught
Chicago ward workers most of what they
know about how to make public Office
profitable. That they have not been abls
to operate so successfully and so con.
tinuously in this city may be set down
to the credit of the public spirit of Chi
cago citizens-a spirit which in the city
of Penn only flares up at rare intervala
But tho real conservatism of Philadeh
phia shows itself in many ways. Social
custcm, society itself, is almost un'
changeable. Even the proper place Of
residence is absolutely fixed. To live
anywhere north of Market street is to
class ones self as a social parlah.
A Chicago man. in Philadelphia for
day, called up one of the old and fashion
able clubs and asked for a friend whom
he had not seen for many months.
"Mr. Blank is not in the club" he was
told.
"Win you tell me where I can reach
him?"
"The rules of the club do not permit
us to give any information about mem
bers."
But am anxious to see him, and !
shall be here only "a hours"
The Chicago man was inslstent,
happened that the governors of the club
were in session and the clerk finally
agreed TO ask their advice.
Il am told to emphasize the fact thai
the rules of the club do not permit IN
formation about members to be given out
But in this case 1 am allowed to make
an exception. Mr.. Blank died year ago
last month"
Chicago ousewives-especially thoss
living in the suburbs-would be amused
If they were not enraged. at the methods
of Philadelphia department stores.
In Chicago one may buy what no
pleases at any of the big stores. and
will be delivered at his house in Lake
Forest or Hinsdale the same afternoon
or not later than the next day, Not 50
in the City Of Brotherly Love. All the
stores there have one day in the week
for delivering goods of a certain kind
II you buy furniture on Saturday, Tor
instance, it will not be delivered at your
home in the suburbs until Friday OF the
next week. Groceries will all be sent oW
on Wednesdays; and so on.
Once year most of Philadelphia goes
on grand spree. 1t is the Mummers
parade, held TO celebrate the coming oi
the new year. Quite characteristicany'
this most gorgeous and gay of strees
shows does not begin until o'clock on
New Years morning. After spending
most OF the night in revels the descene
ants OF the Quakers start in all over
again with sunrise.
The parade, in which more than lS'VVs