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I'HII.ADELPHIA, JUISTK O, 1804.
OUR FIRST DAY’S EXPERIENCE,
nnO tell the honest truth, our experience in
x Fairs has been of the .most limited character.
We have, in rural neighborhoods, attended
fairs, and, in a meek sort of way, have erected
churches, enlarged chapels, improved ward
robes (clerical), and performed, often, good
works, which modesty and want of space for
bid us to mention. This we have done mainly
through the agency of worked slippers and
embroidered suspenders. Not wanting these
articles, of course, enhanced our merit in our
own eyes, and paying a good price for them,
enhanced our merit in the eyes of others. We
found the business gratifying, easy and meri
torious. it never struck us, until two days
ago, that a fair had to be got up. We some
how received the impression that slippers and
Afghans, and all those breezy and fleecy sort
of things that women wear, got themselves
made up, and, with a little carpenter and join
er work, made up a fair. Of course, now we
come to reason about it. we see our error, but
then we had never been on a committee.
Being on a committee, in fact, on three or
four, the point from which we regard the mat
ter is different. A fair, regarded from the top
of a ladder, or in connection with a glue pot,
impresses men somewhat differently. Your
feelings are not so concentrated; then, perhaps,
you feel it all over you, more especially in the
small of your back and in your legs. These
emotions were entirely new' to us, and, up to
the present time, have increased rather than
diminished. We are in hopes, in a day or two,
to be “ off” our legs again for a few minutes,
and to experience other sensations, if not of a
more novel, at least of a more interesting cha
racter.
Our critical judgment, perhaps, has been
more exercised than our legs. We have agreed
with every female member of our committees
on every suggestion that they have made, and
when you consider the variety of the sugges
tions, and their utter inconsistency with one
another, you may imagine the mental strain
upon us
We have expressed a decided preference for
so many colors ; we have been so certain that
articles hung crooked and hung straight, and
ought to be up and ought to be down, that
our mind is in a perfect whirl; our critical fac
ulty is so exasperated that our toilet, which
formerly gave us no trouble, has become a
matter of the greatest concern. To part our
back hair properly now seems impossible,
our cravats are always crooked, and it takes
us at least a quarter of an hour to put our
us, Daily Dae
lint on perfectly straight. Strange suspicions
are instilling themselves into our domestic cir
cle ! This devotion to our person is miscon
strued, and gives rise to injurious reflec
tions. This particularity about the parting of
our hair seems suggestive not of other part
ings but of other meetings. We are consid
ered conceited, when wc only desire to bo
correct; the victim of some designing female,
when we are only a sacrifice to an over-exci
ted sensibility.
THE FEAST OF TANTALUS.
It seemed to be the rule, whether laid down
by the authorities or established by common
consent, we know not, that the opening day
should be one of exhibition and not of sale.
The first day of general admission would thus
find the Fair nndiminished in its proportions,
and shorn of none of its attractions. The
rule, we think, was a very good one, but a
very trying one to the parties interested. The
tables were ready, the guests had arrived,
the waiters were on the alert, but no one was
invited to partake of the Feast. This, to an
ardent saleswoman, was trying; to an enthu
siastic youth, burning to possess some of the
handiwork of his lady-love, positively exaspe
rating.
The Restaurant Department, was, of course,
absolved from all restraint in this particular,
and was in the active fulfilment of its destiny.
This increased the uneasiness elsewhere. Per
sons were observed eating ices who ought to
have been buying pincushions; reckless ex
penditures were noticed in poundcakes, which
should have been reserved for walking-sticks.
To the eyes of the other Committees, they
seemed to be eating not the usual articles of
diet, but letters, newspapers, chinaware and
cabinet furniture. The day, however, at last
came to an end, and left the unemployed fresh
for the morrow. The day of that morrow
finally dawned, and wc are glad to hear that
both sellers and buyers have fairly avenged
themselves for their former self-denial.
THE TEMPORARY CLOSING YESTERDAY.
Shortly after noon, yesterday, the Executive
Committee of the Great Central Fair deemed
it advisable-to close the buildings until this
morning, at 10 o’clock. This was not from
any imminent danger, as was currently report
ed, but from an excess of caution on the part
of the Committee, who wished to put the oc
currence of accident beyond the pale of ordi
nary possibilities. Of course a great many
absurd reports were started into immediate
circulation by those not well informed about
the matter, and Rumor unfortunately had, on
this occasion, a large addition to her usual
number of tongues. Some had the “ trusses”
giving way, others had the 4 ‘ braces ” caving
in, and still others had the “abutments” of
the “gothic arches” falling down. A great
many other startling things had likewise hap
pened. All this had the appearance of a very
alarming condition of afl’airs, especially to
those to whom the mystical technicalities of
builders and architects were like so much
Greek. When you come to talk of the infirmi
ties of “braces” and “girders,” and "abut
ments” and “trussed arches,” it is not diflficult
to get up a panic on a very slender foundation.
11 e have a painful recollection of a severe shock
once experienced in our editorial person by being
told, on a Lake Erie steamer, that the “cylin
der crosshcad was working loose.” IVhat this
might be was a profound mystery to us—that
might mean anything, from a trifling delay in
(he voyage to the instant explosion of the
boiler. It was, however, all set right, in
about a minute and a half, by a few turns of a
screw. So in the present, case, of the Fair
Buildings, the whole matter amounts to
nothing more than the shrinking of a few
short pieces of scantling, which does not im
pair the security of the building at all, and
which will be set right by the judicious
expenditure of a dozen pounds of nails. The
arches of the Union avenue are in no more
danger of falling than those of the cathedral
opposite, for their foundations are in the solid
earth.
GUR KIND NEIGHBORS.
We trust that the visitors to the Fair will
not forget to note the contributions to its
attractions which were due to the exertions of
our “more distant” friends. We refer espe
cially to the gifts and labors of many warm-
hearted “Jersey Blues” and “Blue Hen’s Chick
ens,” as well as of those in our own State. In
the great cities, where every facility for varied
and ingenious work is at hand, it is sometimes
no easy matter to give a striking specimen of
attractive handiwork; and, when we carefully
examine what many ladies have done who
are unprovided with such aids, we must
warmly acknowledge the zeal which has been
displayed.
THE GRAND ISSUE.
There is one great thought about the present
war that should never be forgotten. It is
this: the cause of free government is on trial,
here and everywhere, now and for all time.
The Union soldiers are fighting the battle of
republican freedom for all the world as well as
for ourselves, and for all coming ages as well as
for the present.
Great, then, as our home efforts appear to
be, they are dwarfed into insignificance when
viewed by the side of their noble work; and
we shall have to surpass by far everything yet
done before we accomplish anything approach
ing the height of their deserts.