Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1914-10-23
EVENING Chat

/ EVENING CHAT
People who are enjoying walks
along the roads near the city the last
week or so, or who have gone into
the country on the pleasant afternoons
which late October is giving us, have
been noticing the activities of bttle
groups o. men who have been going
about by automobiles. wagons and car
riages and even on foot with curious
bundles of things. These men occa-
sionally stop and look intently into
the sky or else go to poles and stand
around them, occasionally tapping
, like woodpeckers, and sometimes
climbing up as though they were Ger
man Uhlans scouting over the coun-
try. They are wire repairmen and
they are engaged in their autumnal
task of seeing that the wires are in
shape for the cold weather and the
wintry storms. Corps after corps of
men have gone out of Harrisburg on
this errand and they put in a good bit
of time just going along and gazing
at the wires to see If they are in con-
dition to meet the weather. The task
OF these men is not done, however,
when they have made inspections.
They must be ready to rush out at any
time when the storms come and be
prepared to make all kinds of repairs.
The inspection in the Fall and the oc-
casional jobs of Tightening up or fix
ing things puts the men in possession
of information, and reliable. too, that
fits them for quick action when the
emergency arrives.
Capitol squirrels are commencing
to get into disfavor in some parts of
the city because of their liking for
bulbs as an article of diet. The other
dag several residents in the central
part of the city held caucus and de-
cided to see If their suspicious were
correct. They had set out a number
of bulbs for Spring Towering and
watched the. beds. Tomcats came
around and scratched the ground and
rolled on the beds. but the real mis-
creants were squirrels, which dug into
the ground and used the bulbs for en-
trees. And the funny thing was the
squirrels could spot where bulb had
been planted every time.
A couple of men who are interested
in natural history say they have been
asked a dozen times what to do with
the leaves that are falling off the trees
and that people who used to make
bonfires of them are now find
ing use for them. II have
told people to use the leaves
for fertilizer by digging up gardens
and working in the leaves a few
inches below the surface or even deep
err" said one man. The other man
said that he advised using the leaves
for covering flower beds, as they made
the best kind of bedding for winter. In
some parts of the city people who
have no trees of their own are taking
leaves for flower gardens now.
L.. e. - -
of low water offers some rather odd
sights. The other day one of the
steam dredges that suck sand from
the stream proceeded up the river
towed by horse. The horse was out
in the river a quarter of a mile, but
not in very deep. Another sight was
a cart driven into the middle of the
river. apparently, and filled with sand.
which a man shoVeled right out of
the river. Up in the north end of the
city there are points where a team
can be driven half way across the
river.
j. C. Dorworth, who was here yes
terday settling State taxes for the
companies of the Standard Oil sys-
tenn, is a prominent attorney of oil
City. He is an expert on oil proper
ties in Pennsylvania.
Residents of Mannheim who came
here yesterday to attend a hearing be-
fore the Public Service Commission on
grade crossing combined business
and pleasure. They came in automo-
biles, enjoying the run to and from
the city and going through the Capitol
while waiting for their case to be
called. 1t was one of the first in
stances in which complainants came
in automobiles.
Hundreds of the Republican cam
paign stickers have come to the city
and are being freely used on the backs
of envelopes. They are printed in
black and contain q keystone and the
State arms and portraits of the Re
publican candidates for State offices.