efot
e tfeeting gl)]s. about every-
I country that's great.
C )U IMAG TNE Ford actually
b the signing of the Declara-
N k iey. e would have stood
td it 'c of the Continental Con-
:gy approving, entirely unsure
1a exl tly ias being said, and ig-
i f nitportance.
, wolev'or the czar will be, the next
iround, I won't be Ford. Jimmy Car-
sabot to cash in his chips. And
knows what he's going to do, after
nis his way into the Oval Office.
he'll dig in his heels and clamp
on the counter to the point where
Ctroal Guard, faced with a show-
111 come over to the other side.
-a's the key to successful urban revo-
yetling the National Guard to
e sides.
t ie keep returning to this point:
:ear, the fireworks will be the only
buhtrsting in air.
IIRD AROUND TOWN is that the
teiy best place to watch the fireworks
hid the Capitol - so the huge build-
:nds between you and the ear-split-
exptosions. Through some godawful
tlic process they're going to trace
-ontry's history - starting off with
f green blasts to stand for the un-
red continent, then lots of loud blasts
mbolize the Revolution ... I wonder
they'll do when they get to the war
12. Retiember the burning of Wash-
See WRESTLING Page 12
p en Heshr is a Senior Editor of The
csirie/zlt luieltering oat the summer
.-C.
AP Photo
Looking back
SELLING THE BELL:
By JAY LEVIN of whom are just popping into town for a all spectators. And so the crowds s
Special to the Daily day. proportion, wandering about then
PHILADELPHIA - Two hundred years And throughout the past week, tourists downtown streets o fthe city's famo
ago tomorrow, in a spired red brick have not been jamming the city's historical ciety Hill neighborhood, gawkingz
building which still stands amid the glossy sites in numbers many had earlier pre- bedroom where Betsy Ross stitched t
skyscrapers overlooking the murky Dela- dicted. er the first flag and the church pew
ware River here, white-wigged John Han- They're here-waiting patiently on mod- George and Martha prayed.
cock took up his freshly-inked quill and erate lines to view Independence Ball and But of course the single best know
scrawled his elaborate signature on the the Liberty Bell tinder the hot July sun, torical object in Philadelphia is the L
newly adopted Declaration of Independence. wielding cameras and brochures and relish- Bell, the ill-fated clanger whose thun
That moment marked freedom for the ing two staples of Philadelphia fans: fla- rings signalled young and old alongc
new 13 states from Mother England, and vored water-ice and hot, twisted pretzels, stoned streets to the first public rea
presumably coaxed tears of ioy from the heavy on the mustard. the Declaration of Independence on
well in
narrow
Dus so-
at the
togeth-
where
in his-
iberty
derous
cobble-
ding of
n July
eyes of young Thomas Jefferson, who spent
long, candlelit hours toiling over the docu-
ment's text, and Benjamin Franklin, print-
er-statesman-sage-electrician, who made
the City of Brotherly Love his home and the
fight for freedom his life-long cause.
And although the original Declaration of
Independence today lies tightly enshrined
120 miles down the Pike in Washington,
Philadelphia, the city where it all began,
has dressed itself in its Bicentennial finery
awaiting tomorrow's big birthday bash.
This metropolis of better than two million
souls has taken great pains to splash itself
in patriotic shades for the holiday. Star-
spangled trolley cars frequently clatter
past Independence Hall, while the hundreds
of full-sized American flags along trendy,
refurbished Chestnut St. flap gently in the
balmy summer breeze. Traffic directions
downtown are painted in appropriate hues
on the canvas of black asphalt. And the
shape of the Liberty Bell, Philadelphia's
nearest thing to a corporate symbol, adorns
many a street light.
TOMORROW, PRESIDENT FORD, Penn-
sylvania Gov. Milton Shapp and Mayor
Frank Rizzo will be only a few of the lu-
minaries assembled to witness 35,000
marchers and 85 bands parade from Inde-
pendence Hall to the "Parkway," a wide
boulevard turned street fair. There will be
firework displays after a week of prelimi-
nary bursts of brightness in the nighttime
sky. There will even be a 47-foot high choc-
olate cake, courtesy of Sara Lee.
Also expected are demonstrations from
radical groups, with catchy names such as
"Rich Off Our Backs." Fear of possible
trouble, coupled with Mayor Rizzo's recent
unsuccessful request for 15,000 government
troops, have not stimulated visitors, many
"BUT THERE'LL DEFINITELY be more
people here on and after the 4th,"
confidently predicted a female horse-drawn
carriage driver, whose black pantaloons,
frilly blouse and tri-colored hat made her
a distinct Paul Revere look-alike.
"You better believe it," she added, wav-
ing her cigarette in the air, "People from
all over the world will be in Philadelphia."
Later she tried, unsuccessfully, to woo
several tourists into a curbside carriage for
8th, 1776. The Bell, however, has been
cursed ever since the day in 1752 when it
cracked on its very first ring. Re-cast
shortly after, the bell eventually re-cracked,
and has not uttered a peep with its own
clapper for 130 years. Today it lives in air-
conditioned comfort in a garish, glass mau-
soleum across the street from Independence
Hall, an unfitting shelter for America's
foremost symbol of freedom.
Not particularly inspiring in some re-
spects, is the fact that the Bell is one of the
Saturday
Magazine
a high-priced 20-minute jaunt past gracious
old buildings, well-kept gardens and dozens
of wide-eyed vendors, who occasionally cor-
ner child-tugging tourists the way a hungry
alley cat would pounce upon an unsuspect-
ing sparrow.
The Bloody revolution might be over, but
modern day ambushes abound in Philly-
aimed toward people's pocketbooks.
IT IS SAID that only a third of the colon-
ists really participated in the revolution,
the rest just sat back and watched it all
happen. Now two hundred years later we're
few relics that tourists can fondle to their
heart's content-that is if they like cast
iron.
A CROWD was waiting on a zigzag queue
for the honor, while a bearded and
striped Uncle Sam kibbitzed with some pre-
school tourists.
"And what's your name?" Sam boomed,
See PHILLY, Page 12
Jay Levin is a Daily night editor with
a fetish for historical bric-a-brac.
4-11.Pilv Photo by STEVE KAGAN
our de f ourth
tour
2