. Our Philadelphia. Fif-teenth as I could imagine—dinners in French restaurantsthat, after Belmont and Strawberry Mansion, struck meas typically Parisian though I do not suppose they wereParisian in the least—the flaring and glaring of millionsof gas lamps under Philadelphias tranquil skies—a de-lightful feeling of triumph that Philadelphia was the firstAmerican town to do what London had done, what Parishad done, and to do it so splendidly—^burning heat, Phila-delphia apparently bent on proving to the unhappy visitorwhat the native knew too well, that, when it has a mind to,it can be the most
. Our Philadelphia. Fif-teenth as I could imagine—dinners in French restaurantsthat, after Belmont and Strawberry Mansion, struck meas typically Parisian though I do not suppose they wereParisian in the least—the flaring and glaring of millionsof gas lamps under Philadelphias tranquil skies—a de-lightful feeling of triumph that Philadelphia was the firstAmerican town to do what London had done, what Parishad done, and to do it so splendidly—^burning heat, Phila-delphia apparently bent on proving to the unhappy visitorwhat the native knew too well, that, when it has a mind to,it can be the most intolerably hot place in the world—sweltering, demoralized crowds—unexpected descentsupon a household as quiet as ours of friends not seen foryears and relations never heard of—^brilliant autumn days—an atmosphere of activity, excitement and exultationthat made it good to be alive and in the midst of Centennialcelebrations without bothering to seek in them a moreserious end than a seasons PHILADELPHIA FROM BELMONT THE FIRST AWAKENING 213 III But, without bothering, I could not escape a dim per-ception that Philadelphia had not turned itself topsy-turvyto amuse me and the world. Things were in the air Icould not get away from. The very words Centennial andColonial were too new in my vocabulary not to start methinking, little given as I was to thinking when I couldsave myself the trouble. And however lightly I might beinclined to take the whole affair, the rest of Philadelphiawas so far from underestimating it that probably theyounger generation, used to big International Expositionsand having seen the wonders of the Centennial eclipsed inParis and Chicago and St. Louis and its pleasures rivalledin an ordinary summer playground like Coney Island orWillow Grove, must wonder at the innocence of Phila-delphia in making such a fuss over such an everydayaffair. But in the Eighteen-Seventies the big Interna-tional Exposition was not an everyday affair. Euro
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