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Chicago fire kills 300, destroys 17,000 buildings.

Indictments returned against William "Boss" Tweed of Tammany for stealing millions from New York City.

1872

Dissident Republicans, unhappy with Grant, nominate crusading journalist Horace Greeley; Vice President Schuyler Colfax accused of accepting bribe from Union Pacific Credit Mobilier construction company.

Congress refuses to authorize operating funds for Freedmen's Bureau; Bureau closes.

Authorities arrest Susan B. Anthony for attempting to vote; voters return Grant for second term; Greeley dies from mental strain of campaigning.

1873

Presidential proclamation authorizes Centennial Exposition for 1876.

Rumors of corruption in the Grant administration continue to circulate.

Collapse of Jay Cooke banking house touches off panic leading to three-year depression.

1874

Eads' Bridge, world's longest arch, spans the Mississippi at St. Louis.

General Custer confirms discovery of gold in the Dakota Territory.

Cartoonist Thomas Nast draws an elephant to represent Republicans.

1875

Gold prospectors illegally overrun Sioux lands in the Black Hills.

Grant's secretary, Babcock, linked to "Whiskey Ring" scheme to defraud the government of liquor taxes.

Secretary of War W.W. Belknap grants Army trading post licenses in return for cash bribes.

THE INTERNATIONAL CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION AT PHILADELPHIA

A GLIMPSE OF FAIRMOUNT PARK — THE BUILDINGS AND THEIR SURROUNDINGS — SIXTY ACRES ROOFED OVER — THE WORLD'S TROPHIES AT AMERICA'S FEET — WHAT THERE IS TO SEE AND HOW TO SEE IT.

To-day the grandest spectacle ever witnessed on this continent — and one unlikely to be repeated on our shores for years to come — will begin its six months' existence at Philadelphia. The Nation's hundredth year will be inseparably associated with never-to-be-forgotten memories of the choicest products of every branch of industry and useful and ornamental art. ...

Charleston News and Courier
May 10, 1876

70

"Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States."

Rain at dawn yielded to sunlight through the clouds. Special passenger trains from downtown Philadelphia pulled into the new Pennsylvania platform one after another, disgorging crowds.

"My countrymen. It has been thought appropriate upon this Centennial occasion to bring together in Philadelphia, for popular inspection, specimens of our attainments in the industrial and fine arts. ..."

Spectators, with umbrellas, flowed through the main gates beginning at nine. They found imposing buildings — Machinery Hall and Main Hall side by side — and, beyond, avenues and paths, fountains and monuments, beautiful and colossal. There were halls of agriculture and horticulture; a hall of the U.S. government; and another devoted solely to women's crafts and domestic activities. There were campgrounds for visiting Bedouins and for Army demonstration units. There were massive flower beds, and reflecting pools. There were statues representing Columbus, religious liberty, and Moses striking the rock for water. There were also, by design, many, comfort stations, popcorn stands, and restaurants — French, German, Japanese, Tunisian, and more.

"That we may the more thoroughly appreciate the excellencies and deficiencies of our achievements, and also give emphatic expression to our earnest desire to cultivate the friendship of our fellow-members of this great family of nations. ..."

Four thousand people quickly filled the special stands in front of Memorial Hall, which was granite and had a great glass dome surmounted by Columbia with arms outstretched. Inside were more than thirty-two hundred paintings, more than six hundred sculptures, and, in a separate building, something completely new: an exhibit of more than twenty-eight hundred photographs.

"... the enlightened agricultural, commercial, and manufacturing people of the world have been invited to send hither corresponding specimens of their skill ..."

A symphony orchestra played anthems of the sixteen nations represented. Since the host country had no official anthem, the orchestra played "Hail, Columbia."

"To this invitation they have generously responded"

At 10:30, drums and cornets announced President and Mrs. Grant and Emperor Dom Pedro II and the Empress Theresa of Brazil. No reigning monarchs had ever before visited the United States. A huge military escort of soldiers, sailors, and marines marched them to the platform.

"The beauty and utility of the contributions will this day be submitted to your inspection by the managers of this Exhibition."

The orchestra played the "Centennial Inauguration March," a new piece composed by Wagner. After a prayer, a hymn, a cantata, and presentation of the buildings, the President spoke:

"While proud of what we have done, we regret that we have not done more."

Grant finished at twelve. Accompanied by an organ, eight hundred choristers sang Handel's "Hallelujah Chorus." Bells began to peal. From a hill overlooking Fairmout Park, artillery fired a hundred-gun salute.

"And now, fellow-citizens, I hope a careful examination of what is about to be exhibited to you will not only inspire you with a profound respect of the skill and taste of our friends of other nations ..."

Marshals organized the U.S. and foreign dignitaries into a long procession. Rank on rank, the notables proceeded along the walkways to Machinery Hall.

"... but also satisfy you with the attainments made by our own people during the past one hundred years."

In the Hall, President Grant and Emperor Dom Pedro climbed the iron stairs of the dual-cylinder wonder and showpiece of the exhibition, the Centennial Engine. Twenty boilers in another building powered the fifty-six-ton flywheel and the twenty-seven-foot walking beams of the fourteen-hundred-horse-power engine. George Corliss of Providence demonstrated one of the two silver-plated cranks that would start the engine. Below, among his fellow commissioners, George Hazard gazed blankly at the mammoth machine. He could not quite believe the moment had arrived after so many months of struggle and doubt. He was gratified, exhausted, lonely in the vast crowd. Dom Pedro turned his crank. President Grant turned his. The great walking beams began to shunt up and down. A thrill of response, a wordless exclamation like a rushing wind, rose around George, and then he began to hear the other machines in the hall. Turning, cranking, thumping — all driven by the Corliss engine, by U.S. industrial might.

"I declare the International Exhibition now open."

George wrote:

Please be my guests for a week's reunion of the Main and Hazard families at the Centennial Exhibition, Philadelphia. It will be my honor to underwrite all travel expenses, meals, incidentals and lodging commencing Saturday, July 1.

"When I first saw Los Angeles three years ago," Billy said, "it wasn't much besides unpaved streets and some old adobe houses. Now we're tearing up the whole place and building hotels, warehouses, churches. The town's going to boom. We'll be sixty thousand instead of six thousand soon. I've banked my family's future on it."