Wall, the first thing we come to as we begun on the right side—­and anybody with my solid principles wouldn’t begin on any other side but the sheep’s side—­we wouldn’t begin on the goats—­no, indeed!

The first thing we come to wuz the Match Company.  Here you could see everything about makin’ matches, and when you consider how hard it would be to go back to the old way of strikin’ light with a flint, and traipsin’ off to the neighbors to borrow a few coals on a January mornin’, you will know how interestin’ that exhibit wuz.

And then come the International Dress and Costume Company—­all the different countries of the globe show their home life and costumes.

And I sez to Josiah, “If this Fair had been put off ten years, or even five, I believe the American wimmen would show a costume less adapted to squeezin’ the life out of ’em, and scrapin’ up all the filth and disease in the streets, and rakin’ it hum.”

And Josiah sez, “Oh, do come along! we shan’t git to that wheel to-day if you dally so, and begin to talk about wimmen and their doin’s.”

Then come the Workin’ Man’s Home in Philadelphia.  Then the Libby Glass Works, and when Josiah discovered it wuz free, he willin’ly accedded to my request to walk in and look round.  He told me from the first on’t that he wuzn’t goin’ to pay out a cent of money there.  Sez he, “We can see enough—­Heaven knows we can—­without payin’ for any sights.”

Wall, here we see all kinds of American glass manufactured, from goblets and butter-dishes up to glass draperies, dresses, laces, neckties, and all sorts of orniments.

Josiah sez, “Samantha, oh, how I would like a glass necktie—­it would be so uneek; how I could show off to Deacon Gowdy!”

“Wall,” sez I, “we can try to buy one, and at the same time I will order a glass polenay.”

“Oh, no,” sez he, “it would be too resky; glass is so brittle it would make you restive.”

And he tried to hurry me along, but I would look round a little; and we see there right before our face and eyes a man take a long tube and dip it into melted glass, and blow out cups and flower-vases, and trim ’em all off with flowers of glass of all colors, and sech cut glass as we see there I never see before; why, one little piece takes a man a month to cut it out into its diamond glitter.

And I would stop to see that glass dress all finished off for the Princess Eulaly.  There it wuz in plain sight in Mr. Libby’s factory draped on a wax figger of Eulaly.  Mr. Libby made it and presented it to the Princess.

It took ten million feet of glass thread; it wuz wove into twelve yards of cloth, and sent to a dressmaker in New York, who fitted it to the Princess on her last days in the city.  It is low neck and short sleeves, and has a row of glass fringe round the bottom, and soft glass ruching round the neck and sleeves.  It looks some like pure white satin, and some different.  It is as beautiful as any dress ever could be, and Eulaly will look real sweet in it.  She’ll be sorry to not have me see her in it, I hain’t a doubt.