PHILADELPHIA, .TUNE 10, 1804.
OUR SECOND DAY’S EXPERIENCE.
A FAIR is not a bad sort of thing. As
-“*• we have had occasion to remark, if you
are on committees, and, like pianos and men,
have logs, it is pretty severe at first, but you
soon get used to it. Women, of course, can
not suffer in the way I have mentioned, and
probably have no disagreeable associations
connected with Fairs on that account. They
have, however, certain enjoyments, which ac
counts for their fondness for them, without
resorting to the deep physiological reflection
which just occurred to 11s. They are, I think,
much more sociable, more trusting, and equal
ly as fond of excitement as the sterner sex.
All these qualities have full scope at the Fair.
Put them on committees to attend, and they
entwine their arms around one another as if
they had been rocked in the same cradle; give
them male assistants, and they work them
with the same confidence and skill as an ac
complished overseer. A man, if unknown, no
longer represents an animal against whom all
the formalities of social intercourse are to be
brought to bear, but becomes a harmless, do
mesticated creature, who is whistled to as if
it was a matter of indifference who he was, if
he could only be made useful. Don’t do us
the injustice to suppose we complain of all
this, or the company ; we find it quite delight
ful. There is nothing in the world a man
likes more than to be bullied by a woman, pro
vided the woman be not his wife or his sister.
The Roman women, when they celebrated
the festival of the Bona Dea, turned all the
men out of the house, considered them not of
the slightest moment whatever, and would per
mit them to take no part in their ceremonies.
In the present day our Fairs seem to have
taken the place of these festivals ; but the
women, with more tact, do not turn out the
men, but make use of them. We men do pre
cisely what the Roman men did—we submit.
There is a certain absence of the formalities,
which is probably a necessity of city life, that
is really very pleasant. It is more like the in
tercourse at a watering place ; in fact, the scene
sometimes reminds us of the ocean at Cape
May at bathing time. The variety of the cos
tumes, the jostling, the pushing, the good
humored faces, all bent on enjoyment, and the
good-natured fellowship only require a breaker
to surge through the grand arch-way to com
plete the picture. We think, that in leaving
town in summer, it is the change of air that
benefits us; of course it has its effect, but
after all it is more the interruption of the mo
notonous current of our lives that does us
good. Nothing is so trying to the mind or
body as the eternal repetition of the same
thing ; and we venture to say, and we do say
it with great pleasure, that the public-spirited
men, who have devoted so much time to this
great work, to the exclusion of their ordinary
business, will be rewarded, after having recov
ered from their fatigue, by finding that they
go back to their affairs with their minds
brightened, and with their spirits improved.
WHAT’S THE MATTER,
It is a rare thing to find a daily newspaper
embarrassed by its overwhelming success.
“ On the contrairey,” as the genial Samuel
Weller used to observe, “ quite therewersc.”
It has happened, however, that just such a
bothering piece of good fortune has visited
Our Daily Fare. At the outset of our enter
prise, it was contemplated that the greater
part of our edition would be disposed of
through the plain and easy channels of its
daily sales at the Fair buildings. But sub
scriptions have come in upon us in such rush
ing streams from both city and country, that
we have been called on suddenly to organize
a corps of city carriers and all the machinery
for mailing and packing incident to a perma
nent newspaper establishment of the first
class. This has exercised us sharply for a
day or two, and “that's what’s the matter.”
Our clerical staff has been expanded until it
looks quite formidable; but large and active as
it is, it has been found unequal to the emer
gency. Very many of our esteemed friends
engaged in the excellent and paying work of
procuring subscriptions, acted on the sound
military principle of keeping heavy reserves.
But while that principle is a most salutary
one for the army, it is not quite so good for
newspaper practice, for these reserves have
come down upon us in such masses, at the last
hour, as to sweep away all our nicely arranged
plans, and to compel us to adopt new ones.
And that is a work that no ingenuity can
extemporize at midnight.
The necessary auxiliaries, however, have
been organized, the ponderous new books
have been made out, the machinery is in mo
tion, and by this evening we expect to find it
in easy and ample operation. Until to-morrow,
therefore, it is hoped that our subscribers will
cultivate the sublime virtue of patience, which
will be all the easier if they reflect that what
has been the occasion of a brief delay to them,
has been the means of putting much money in
the purse of “ the Sanitary” to aid the great
cause.
How aptly the following lines from Siiakes
pear’s King John applies to the soldiers of the
Union:
“ The peace of Heaven is theirs
Who take up arms in such a cause.”
“ the;sanitary ” and “ the Christian.”
People of active fancy imagine there is
some sort of rivalry between these two
Commissions. We have witnessed some very
lively controversies on this point. An over
zealous youth, of a disputatious turn of mind,
on the one side will encounter a sanguine
gentleman of combative temper on the
other, and they fall to it “ pell-mell.” But
there is no reason in the world for any such
argument. The two organizations are in no
ordinary sense rivals. Each one supplements
a distinct branch of the military service, and
together, like the beautiful colors of the spec
trum, they complement each other.
This was all explained long ago, but we still
find some right-minded, though wrong-headed
people, who will persist in confounding the
distinct functions of the two Commissions. As
far back as December, 1862, Mr. Frederick
Law Oi.mstea n issued an order to all the In
spectors of the Sanitary Commission, which
set the whole matter in a clear light. In that
order he instructed the Sanitary agents to the
effect that “the Christian Commission is a
body designed to supplement the Chaplain
service in the army and navy, as the Sani
tary Commission does the medical service.”
What can be clearer than that? The two
services do not jostle each other in any way,
and there is not the slightest occasion for any
thing like rivalry in the matter. So, let all
“perturbed spirits rest.”
THE WAY “THE SANITARY” WORKS
The steamboat “ Rapley,” chartered by the
Sanitary Commission, came from the White
House on Tuesday night to be loaded with
stores. Another steamboat was in process of
loading, on Wednesday afternoon, for the White
House. Thirty relief agents went down two
days ago, and twenty more were to go on
Wednesday. About half of these came up as
nurses with the wounded on the transport
boats. There are over one hundred relief
agents at the White House, distributing large
amounts of stores, feeding and taking care of
the wounded as they arrive at the landing from
the front.
THE CAP OF LIBERTY.
Many persons entertain the belief that the
Liberty Cap was first used in modern times as
an emblem of freedom by the French, during
the revolution of 1790. This is a mistake, as
will be seen by the following proceedings of
the Committee of Safety of Philadelphia, or
ganized early in 1775:
“Philadelphia, August 31st, 1775.—At a
meeting of the ‘ Committee of Safety,’ held this
day, Resolved, That Owen Biddle provide a
seal for the use of the Board, about the size of
a dollar, with a ‘Cap of Liberty,’ with this
motto, ‘ This is my right and I will defend it.’ ”