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Show Centennial Notes. Fifteeu years ago Philadelphia war dubbed by the New York JUraht, the hig villagr' on the D 1 iware. Il was truly a quiet, orderly cily then; to day it popu!.ttio.i iu over 800,000 A great channo haa taken place; its former staid and quiet louk is gone. Then, the Qurkr-r population seemed everywhere conspicuous; to - day, liroadbrim ia almost a curiosity. Few of the Quaker ladiei don tho costume of a hundred years ago. A few extra frills and a curtailing of the old time bonnet marks the euro and certain change from the primitive costume. Il ia truo the homes of tho Quaker city in tho side and back streets retain re-tain much ol their former appearance, appear-ance, with tho regular lines of pressed brick aud marble-faced buildings. As ot yore, the first duty of a Philadelphia Phila-delphia liuly is to clean tho pure white marble steps in front of the house and scrub tho brick sidewalks, but it is in the business afreets that tho change is most noticeable. The staid old stores are fast disappearing, and in their stead havo sprung up palatial marts that outrival Paris in ntyie and splendor, curious specimens speci-mens of mixed architecture French, English and Dutch com bincd with, in eorao places, jutting poruco3 eupporicu oypoiisneu Aberdeen Aber-deen granite, and quaint, old-fashioned gables facing tho street, fancy cornices and elaborately - finished window and door frames. Some of tho stores aro beautiful, the fronts being twenty feet in the clear with plate glass to the top, none but the rarest and most costly goods to be seen. I am free to confesa that Chestnut street to day is as interesting interest-ing to the visitor as parts of the groat Centennial show itself. Over $2,000,000 are disbursed weekly by the visiline; population, at the lowest estimate. It. ought to ; make the city ol brotherly love lively. I think that when this influx of" wealth stops you will see the dullest' large city on the continent. Some S00 street cars are running day and night; in some parts of tho day so loaded that you cannot gel a "standing "stand-ing seat" even. 1 remember tramp ing all day through tho grounds and then having ti walk home four miles a Iter ward j. It may truly he said that there are few pleasures wiUiout their drawbacks. All the places of popular resort are crowded. Independence hail with the sacred relics o the struggle tor independence are arranged in a very attractive mauuer, but it is impossible lo see them comfortaoly a perfect jam of visitors from morning until evening. Tne mint is also crowded, and in fact every p-aint of interest ia overdone with eaer sight seers. In ihe Quaker graveyard, Fourth and Arch streets, two slabs baar the; simple names Benjamin and Deborah Debo-rah Franklin. The wallj has been removed and iron railings substituted, so that visitors may look upon the last resting place of a soap boiler's son wtio was afterward called the mot distinguished philosopher of modem times. Around the spot were several enterprising vendors of fac similes ot old newspapers, of revolution-try time. Every conceivable dodge is resorted to by street merchants to do business. They swarm upon all the avenues with guide books, blanket straps, neck ties, pencils, au1 a thousand notions. As we approach the Centennial grouuds, the crowd 1 are swarming around the entrances aud exits. All the hotels near the grounds are crowded charges from SI to $0 per day, $1 to S-.oO for rooms on tiie European plan that is pay for what you cet, and from $2 to 5 on the American, pay for what you do not get. Woe be to you if on presenting your-aell your-aell at the entrance gate you oiler them a dollar aud expect the change. I did so once but only once for I lost just one hour trying to get it changed, and theirbought a pair of soektt so as to get the filCy cents. I could have waited longer at the exchange ex-change ofliue; but wanted to gain timo. Near the entrance gale Tuft's soda water fountain attracts attention by means of a calliope or steam piano, which is being continually pounded to popular airs. When that din ceases some industrious bell ringers Irom the top of machinery hall are tapping "Auld Lang Syne," and other familiar old time melodies. Should they cease you may hear some splendid music from a large brass baud near by. These combinations, with the incessant roar ol locomotives on all sides, make you feel that you are at the Centennial. As you enter the grounds you first decide what moat interest you. You can choose from 189 objects of interest. The main building is on your right, and machinery hall on your left. In front a huge fountain from France is playing. play-ing. Three immense femala figures support the vase. As it was for sale 1 fondly hoped some one would pur chase it for our Washington park, but am afraid they will forget to do so. A little narrow-gauge railroad carries car-ries you around the grounds for five cents, at the rale of fifteen miles an hour. This ia eaid to be the only enterprise making money. It is always al-ways crowdfd, and is a very good introduction in-troduction to the many point of interest. in-terest. I went lo the Pacific building, the headquarters 01 visitors from the "slope." Our papers are on file there, and every convenience is ten-dertd ten-dertd to all who call. G. M. Oltin-ger's Oltin-ger's painting is on exhibition, aur-lOunded aur-lOunded by American llaga, but hung loo high to he bccu lo advantage. Judge Haydou ia untiring in his cflorts to serve the interests of all visitors from Utah, and works hard to fulfill the high mission of commia-aioner commia-aioner frnm the future backbone slate of the Union. Ditlcrent panela represent re-present the beautiful woods of California. Cali-fornia. A huge case exhibits tho BilkwormB anil products ol the first weavers. The California building haa little to recommend it as representing repre-senting the golden state compared with other state buildings. One doea not know what to look at first. At every turn something novel and attractive meets tho eye. I wandered by the lakeside, and on its grassy shores were representatives of of Egyptian, Tunisian, Turkish aud Greek marts of trade. Crowds of verdant onea are buying shawls, pins, ifwi'lrv and brie-a-brae of all kinds. In looking at tho jewelry in the Jerusalen mart, I thought it amtdt strongly ot Brummagem. I am afraid it had never been wilhin , a thousand miles of the holy land. The distinguished foreigner were mostly jews ; all of them spoke French, and swore iu it, too. I must say that there is a great deal of humbug hum-bug about this part ol the world's fair. The way the students of nature from the cow counties look al these importations im-portations is laughable. They a!) say they are stared at from morning until night. Well enough the Greek should aay: "Ven ze pepel pay zair money to see ze fair, zay do not pny to zee me ! " On account of the excessive ex-cessive staring they met with they have partly donned European costumes. |