Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-12-08
Peculiarities and Politics in the Old
City of Harrisburg.
4 COMMUNITY OF CLANNISH PEOPLE
Preliminary BIuffing in the Game
for the Governorship.
CANDIDATES AND CHANCES

Stan Correspondence of The Evening Star.
HARRISBURG. Pa. December 6, 1897.
PercEed upon the east bank of the Sus-
quehanna river, where that noble stream
Is mile wide and foot and half deep,
is the capital city of the great state of
Pennsylvania. 1t contains a complacent
and self-satisfed population characterized
by the steadiness peculiar TO the keystone
state, and which the irTeverent delight to
regard as slow. esq ecially where Philadel-
phia is concerned. Harrisburg is an ex-
cellent understudy for the city of brotherly
love in this respect. The likeness to the
latter is Illustrated in another striking
manner. The people here are nothing if
not clanish. Each inhabitant regards his
church his society his immediate So
cial circle as the representative quintes-
sence of everything that should be. Re
Egiously they are ardent and active, and,
amusing it may be to an impartial OBJ
server. they mix their business with their
reHglOn in no uncertain way. To illus
trate what L would convey, I'll take the
Presbyter1ans, who include the most prom
1nent and the wealthiest portion of the
community They have three big churches
the Pine Street, the Market Square and
the Westminster The latter is comDara-
lively new, but its membership is power
1nl commercially and the editice is a mag
nlhcent one. The Market Square and the
Pine Street congrega lions, however are
The Oldest, ard no efforts are made to dis
guise the fact that they represent re-
spectively, the Harrisburg Trust COMPANY
and the Dauphin Deposit Bank. The Bal
Ieys. who are the bore and sinew of the
Harrisburg Trust. PASS the collection plates
on Sundays at the Market Square; the Nc
CoTmlcks, who are the substance of the
DauDhln Deposit, receive the offerings of
substantial character at the Pine Street
house of worship If a business man who
holds membership in Market Square should
desire an accommodation at the Dauphn
Deposit Bank ne would be regretfuiy in
formed that everything was full and the
same reception would await the MEM
Der of Pine Street who expressed a SIM
liar desire al the Harrisburg Trust Com,
pany.
Where All Are On a Level
They all drink the same water, however,
which is procured from the once pelIucl
Susquehanna. and at present the fluid is
filed with coal in Jumps a little too small
TO burn, but entirely too large to swallow
Ii is In its political character, however
that Harrisburg is most interesting 1t is
the central pot to which the state affairs
of that character are brought to boil All
the conventions of all the parties are held
here: all the scandals with which keystone
politics are so replete are first aired here
and the atmosphere is ever redoent with
the fumes of those past and suggestive of
the odors of those to come. The burning
OF the state house last year gave rise to
one which promises to have no unimportant
bearing on the campaign next year, when
a governor, a lieutenant governor, a secre-
tary of internal affairs, a full membership
OF the state house OF representatives and
senators in the even numbered districts are
TO be chosen. The latter are elected for
fve-year terms. The destruction of the
state house occurred while the legislature
was in session. and the structure was burn
ing over the heads of the senators and
members while they were considering af-
fairs of state. The ruin complete in a
couple of hours. and edifice with a stir
ring history was thing of the past Ru-
mors of incendiarism were at once rife and
took more substantial shape in the declara-
ton of Rev. DIR. 5. G. Swallow, the Metho-
dist divine, that the building had been de-
lberately fired. and that interested parties
high in official life stifed the facts that
would prove it, Out of this charge grew a
hot controversy. during which Swallow
charged John c. Delaney, custodian of pub
lie property, with sharing in the profits of
contracts given out under his direction. AMI
charging the trustees of the orphans home
with the same thing. Both Delaney and
the trustees sued Swallow for libel, and
Delaney secured verdict. The case was
appealed, and shrewd observers here regard
this as the last of it. Swallow was the pro-
hibition candidate for. state treasurer this
year, and received l15OOD votes.
Meantime, when the legislature was made
homeless by the confdgration the trustees
Of the Grace Methodist Church, hand
some and imposing Gothic stone edifce on
State street, in what was heralded as a
burst of patriotic Zeal, offered the church
10 the legislature to hold its sessions in.
the existence of a mortgage of S20,0U on
the church was believed in some quarters
to have inspired the Offer but at any rate
il was accepted and the sum of $1o,rO was
appropriated to fix up the church for the
accommodation of the house and senate
and their respective committees. Then an
appropriation of sJ00.OoO was made for the
erection of new state house, capitol
A commission to build it was created, con-
sisting of Governor Hastings. State Treas
urer Haywood, Auditor General Mylan, Pres
ident pro tenn of the Senate McCarreli and
Speaker of the House Boyd. When the
commission met there was trouble. Gov
ernor Hastings claimed the $JpJ,OoO was in
tended to build the capitol entirely
The other members held the sum should be
devoted only to erecting the main building
and that further appropriations should b.
secured for building the wings Governor
Hastings probably knowing. from his long
familiarity with state affairs, that there is
good picking in wings. whether of fowls
or public buildings. withdrew from al,
further participation in the deliberations
OF the commission, and has attended no
meetings since. The other members pro
Ceeded with the preliminaries, however
and selected Henry Ives Cobb OF Washing
ton. ID. C.. as the architect, and he is now
at work on the plans.
Some Discordant Notes.
II is generally believed here that there
VIII be music in the air, of a more or less
N+SNtiudiit before the roof Is pax
On. and that it will be heard particularly
during TIE campaign of 1898.
The preliminary blufiing in the game for
the Gubernatorial nomine ton is now in pro-
RreSs The recent break between Hastings
ana senator Quay was TIE starter. The
governor removed Senator Qpay's particu-
lar political friends, Gen Frank Reeder
and j. p. Elkins. from the secretaryship
OF the commonwealth and the assistant
attorney generalship, respectively. as we'll
as Deputy Secretary Of the Commonwealth
Barnett and two or three smaller office
holders of Quay proclivities, giving Reed
er's place to Dave Martin. Mr. Elkins is
chairman of the state republican commit
tee This action will undoubtedly have last
ing effect in widening the breech now ex-
listing among the republican factions and
conservative men who have observed the
result of one of the photograph letters writ
ten on House Of Representative paper, but
dated Allegheny.
Every G. A. r. man and ex-soldier in the
state. as well as every working republican
Eas