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