Milford chronicle., 1957-04-26

but was cracked while being test
ed. John Pass and Charles Stow,
Jr., two ingenious workmen of
Philadelphia, recast the bell. The
tone was not satisfactory, so it
was cast again by Pass and Stow
in 1853. Today the visitor looks
upon the bell from its third cast
ing.
AS the official bell of the Penn
sylVania State House, the Liberty
Bell was intended to be rung on
public occasions. These included
the times of the meetings Of the
Assembly and courts of justice.
During the Revolution, when the
British Army occupied Philadel-
phia the bell was removed to Al
lentown, Pa, where it was hidden
for almost a year. It was return
ed to Philadelphia after the de-
parture of the British. After the
Revolution, the bell was tOlled at
the deaths of heroes of war and
the leading citizens of the nation.
1t is supposed that the bell crack
ed in 1885 while being tOlled at the
death Of Chief Justice John Mar
shall, the great interpreter of the
Federal Constitution. Efforts to
restore it's tone were unsuccess-
full. Now located in independence
Hall, the Liberty Bell is the most
loved symbol of patriotism in Am
erica and it's reputation as an en-
blem of liberty is worldwide.
The next room we saw was the
Assembly Room or Declaration
Chamber. The United States was
recently formed on September z,
1887, when the Federal Convention
completed its work on the Con-
stitutiOn and referred it through
Congress to individual states for
ratification. Both these great de-
cisions were made in the Assem-
bly, Room or Declaration Chamber
in Independence Hall, then known
as the Pennsylvania State House.
1t would still be merely the old
State House if independence had
not been won, and if the Constitu-
tion had not been ratified and put
into effect. We also saw the thir-
teen tables and chairs which is
supposed to be the way they were
when the delegates of the colon
les met. We saw the original Ris-
ing Sun chair in which the Presi-
dent sat. Caesar Rodney, George
Reed, and Thomas McKeen signed
the Declaration of independence
from Delaware. They were restor-
ing the rest of independence Hall
so we left and went to Congress
Hall.
At Congress Hall we entered the
room used by the House of Repre-
sentatives. We sat where the rep
resentatives sat while our guide
told us about the building. He
said that the United States Con-
gress met in this hall from 1880
to 1900. George Washington was
inauguTated here for his second
term of office. John Adams took
the oath of Office as President in
the same room four years late. 1t
was here that John Marshall, la
ter Chief Justice of the United
States, announced the death of
Washington 1899, and repeated the
famous phrase first said by Light
Horse Harry Lee, First in war,
first in peace, first in the hearts
of his countrymen. In this build
ing the Representative were on
the first floor and the Senators on
the second floor. 1t is supposed
that we got our upper and lower
houses in Congress from this.
Next we saw Old City. Ilall which
is now a museum. During the time
that Philadelphia was capital of
the United States, Old City Hall
was the United States Supreme
Court Building. The United States
Supreme Court met on the second
floor of this building from 1871 to
1900. In the building we saw col
onial fire hats, matches and other
fire equipment We saw many mo-
dels of fire engines, wagons. milk
carts, and ships. We saw many
flags and the one that interested
me was the one which had fifteen