The Wilmington morning star., 1946-11-10

Reports"
JOHNSON

The rolling nils OF pennsylvania
YES, l sew them, and I must ad-
nit they were lovely. This past
a,eok.ead l visited in Philadelphia
nth n of my school pals, and
w. 10 know what it's like to be in
ao historical city, even if it was
~. lust a few days. Friday night
mt Long and I were among the
cseeriag spectators at the Miami
vin2no a football game which was
,,aved at Shibe Park in Plila. We
I'D seats on the forty-five yard
Emo and were on the side of the
fiold that Polidor, student at Mi
.,,f chose for his record-breaking
rq ward touchdown dash. And it
,,as one of the most beautiful runs
1,.o ever seen. His interference
cleared the field perfectly and the
ona time that he was almost tack1-
I'd Polidor changed his pace and
threw off his pursuers. During the
half the cheerleaders from Miami
+5rew huge oranges into the stands.
Thew we're caught by the more ath-
lotic spectators and qui c k y
devoured. But during the last quar-
ter of the game. both teams began
IN NAV SO rough that orange peels
pelted the players and stopped the
game. As soon as they cleared
away. action was resumed and con-
tfnued until the gun ending the
game was fired. The only pauses
we're TO take the injured fellas off
tbe field. And these pauses were
more frequent than I can ever re-
member seeing in any other game.
Saturday was spent in sight-see-
iag. at which time I visited many
Of the historical shrines that 1 have
studied about since I was in the
fourth grade. Our first stop was
Independence Hall and the Liberty
Bell. The bell hangs from a mas
sive oak beam in the back room
Of the Hall. The Hall itself is To-
Gated in Independence Square. OF
course my companions were Yam
KEGS, so they took great pride in
s4owing me painted Genes of the
Civil War which depicted the de-
feats of the south. But when we
came to one case with the model Of
the USS Pennsylvania, I noticed
that all of them were silent. 1 de-
cided to investigate, SO I stepped
closer and read the placard on the
show case. 1t said, This ship was
destroyed in the Naval yard in Nor
folk by the rebel forces who caused
the armies Of the north to retreat
and abandon the ship" Needless to
say, silence reigned supreme when
! had finished reading the card,
and no mors needed to be said. I
didn't think of it at the time, but
now as I think back over the day,
can't remember any of them ever
mentioning the Civil War after that.
From there We entered Carpen-
ter's Hall, where l saw the very
first calendar that was presented
to Benjamin Franklin by an Eng
llsh scientist. I also saw the origin
al pen and inkWell that Washington
used in signing the Declaration of
Independence.
Betsy Ross house was next on
The list, and it was one of the
41aintest places I've ever seen. In
ted of being wide and only two
stones high, as most of our houses
are, 1t was very narrow and con-
.a1Aed four stories. The basement
lad a stone floor and was used as
he kitchen and dining room. High
y polished pewter dishes and brass
7ots swung in cranes beside the
Ire Just as if someone were pre-
2arlng the evening meal. On tae
afst floor is one large room, very
nucA like the modern iving-rooms
u today. 1t is called the flag
'ooTn' and contains antique furni-
NHe, among which is a huge table
@nich displays the original flag as
Miss Ross designed it. Bedrooms
containing old = fashion spool beds,
2Ad 1lre-places with warming pans
"uA2 beside them occupy the other
stories. There is only one bedroom
10 a floor. The steps are very mar
row and unusually crooked. AS l
stood upon them, 1 wondered how
me ladies' of the day every passed
up and down them with their hoop
cd and crinoline skirts. And I fear
Inc men of the day found it rather
uAcomfortable to twist up them in
'Ae heavily brocaded clothing they
wore.
CArlst Church was our last stop,
ana will not even attempt to de-
scribe It's majestic beauty. AS you
enter the courtyard surrounding the
C"ufch you can easily visualize
4len and women stepping grace
iuly from carriages drawn by
olg white horses, and hear the
Clcks OF heels across the cobbled-
stoned street. The church is white
GAo stands out clearly from its
oGao surroundings. The windows
Vi me church shine as brightly
as II they we're cut from price
JESS Jewels, and their rays cast
d warm and friendly light through
ouV the whole C church h. There
IS no carpet on the stone floor, and
oil Is SO quiet that your footsteps,
no matter how light, resound
llrQuoh tho .uho1a hodu 4ha