Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-09-12
On the Sightseeing Bus

A FEELING of sour depression, conse-
"A quent upon mailing the third i%nstallment
to Ephraim Lederer, led us to seek uplift
and blithe cheer. The sightseeing bus was
filled except one seat by the driver, and we
hoped aboard. The car was filled with Sir
knights and their ladies. save for one
bafled gentleman from South America, who
strove desperately to understand what was
happening to him. From some broken re-
marks he let fall we think he had boarded
the vehicle under the impression that he was
taking a taxi to a railway terminal, where
he wanted to catch a train for New York.
At any rate, when we approached Independ-
ence Hall he was heard to ask plaintively
if this was Broad Street Station. He kept
uttering this inquiry with increasing de-
spondency throughout the voyage.
TT WAS a merry and humorous occasion.
l. The gentleman who sits on a little camp
stool in the prov of the bus and emits his
tory and statistics through a megaphone is
a genuine wag. His information is copious
and uttered with amazing ~fuency. But we
were particularly interested in the Sir
knight who slept peacefully through most
of the ride, which was a long one, as we
were held up by the big industrial parade on
Broad street and had 20 take a long detour
I'D Thirteenth street. and Ridge avenue.
During a spirited wrangle between our guide
and the conductor of a trolley car, who as
serted that We were nesting on his rails and
would not let him pass, the droWsy knight
awoke and took a keen interest in the pro-
ceediugs. Otherwise he will look back on the
tour in a pleasantly muddled haze of mem
ory.
TNHE pathetic zeal and eagerness with
J. which the passengers hang upon the
guid3,s words is worthy of high praise. 1t
is ansindex of our national passion for self
Improvement. But after two hours of con-
tinuous cxhortation We began TO wonder how
much of it would stick in their minds. The
following, we imagine, is not an unfair rep
rescntation of the jumbled way in which
they will remember it:
Guide: Observation car now leaving
Keith's million dollar theatre for a syste-
matte tour of the City of Brotherly Love.
AS soon as William Penn had taken pos
session of the land he laid plans for a large
city at the junction of the Drexel and Biddle
families. On your left you see the site where
BENJAMIN Franklin, the first postmaster
general, discovered the great truth that a
special delivery letter does not arrive any
faster than the ordinary kind. Also on your
left is Blacks Hotel, where Benedict Arnold
was married. On your right is lndepend-
ence Hall, the Office of the only Democratic
newspaper published in We city. Further
down this street is the Delaware river
which separates the city from Camden, the
home of the largest talking soup factory in
the world.
WE ARE now turning north on Fifth
w street, approaching Market street, the
city's fashionable residential thoroughfare,
Directly underneath your comfortable seats
in this luxurious car pass the swift convey
ances of the subway, forming the cheapest
entrance into the great department stores,
By means of this superb subterranean pas
sageway ocean steamers arrive and depart
daily from all ports of the globe. On your
right observe old Christ Church buria
ground, all the occupants of which were i'm
ported from England. Under the large fla
Slab lies Benjamin Franklin, the first post,
master general, and his wife, the beautifu
Rebecca Graft, the heroine of Walte
SCOTS novel, Hugh Wynne," Now tour
ing past the Friends and Quakers' meeting
house, the birthplace of Old Glory. o.
YOUR left the Betsy Ross house, occupied b.
1000 poor orphan boys. Not far from her
is the Black Horse Tavern, the favorit
worshipipg place of General George Wash
ins'0n'
mQLE5'0 paon Market street: DirsctI
F.. "a A. ~ n