Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1914-10-05
EVENING Chat

If any man had any doubt about
Harrisburg being one of the great
churchgoing cities of Pennsylvania.
all he needed was view of the streets
about the hours for the commence
ment and close of worship yesterday.
10 be sure, yesterday was communion
sunday in practically all of the
churches and many of them had rally
day exercises in their Sabbath schools
to inaugurate the winter work after
the summer vacations. and then there
was the interest of Peace Sunday But
all of these only added to the character
OF religious observance and enabled
one to secure an idea of the numbers
and numbers of people who are in
terested in church work and to realize
that in Harrisburg, the capital of a
state based upon religious freedom,
there is an army of folks to whom the
church means as much as it did to
their forefathers. There are half a
dozen points in Harrisburg where
some conception of the throngs who
| attend services can be obtained. Yes
| terday about noon time ii was aston
! lshlng to see the continuous streams
J OF people passing on their way home
from the churches in the vicinities.
| Ihe same thing was to be noted, only
| IN lesser degree. in the evening
When the bells began to ring the call
Tor the last service of the day. To be
sure, there were a good many in the
| streets who were not especially inter-
| eSted IN churches, but between half
past eight and nine the numbers had
SO increased that it was not hard to
ten where fair proportion came
from. The Rev. ]. Ritchie Smith,
VINO as pastor of Market Square
Church was in close touch with the
pif 4 L, l.. Il
never known community in which
SO many of the big men, the men of
aHalrs in the city. were so actively
Identified with church or Sunday
school work, while the late Bishop
Ihomas McGovern said years ago that
the proportion of men who took
an abiding interest in religious work
was unusually high in Harrisburg.
AND he was as well posted on every
denominations progress as he was on
ms own. Harrisburg has grown con-
slderably in recent years and there
are some diverse elements in its popu-
latlon, but in spite of all that is said
about 1t in one way or another not
necessary to refer to here it main
tanned, in the language of the late
DR.. d. NJ. Gilbert, long pastor of old
ZION set in the busiest part of Har-
rlsDurg, religious impulses which en-
dure throughout the years" With
its almost 100 churches and thou
sands upon thousands of churchgoers
harrisburg compares most favorably
with some much larger municipalities.
Next to problems of good citizen
snip there come matters of good order
ana the highways of a city offer a
pretty good index of the manner in
which law is observed. The police
department spasmodically chases the
loaters. often referred to as crows"
from the corners and curbs and has
managed by dint of hard work and
threats of arrest to hammer into the
heads or people who walk, drive and
ride such things as traffic regulations
But there is another problem coming
up ana the sooner it is met the bet
ter On certain mornings. notably
saturday, streets in vicinity of mar
kets are lined with wagons, most of
them without horses, Just allowed to
remain. on many nights, especially
saturday, certain other streets are
lined with automobiles for hours
Market street, for instance, is lined
between Market Square and Fourth
street with automobiles on both sides
of the street, all drawn up to the
curb all put into line and all we'll
watched, but nevertheless restricting
available space. The congestion is at
the busiest part and the thought nat
urally arises whether the police could
not require certain blocks to be kept
clear of automobiles and permit them
to be stored in others?
The eighth anniversary of the dedi-
cation of the Capitol happened to be
marked yesterday by an influx of auto
mobile visitors and there was general
regret voiced that some provision is
not made by the authorities to enable
people to see the beauties of the Capt.
ha
latlons for the pay of the guides and
attendants is based on weekdays only
and they frequently have TO work
overtime on Saturdays because of the
excursions which have come to the
city on so many Saturdays. Expert
ence has shown that it is not wise to
throw open everything about the Capt.
tol without having someone in attend
ance and the presence of guides not
only affords information to visitors but
enables an eye to be kept on things,
However, Sunday visiting of the Capt.
tol by out-of-town people is growing
and since the installation of the bat
tic flags in the rotunda there have
been many folks from Steelton and
the West Shore towns joining the Har-
rlsburgers in going to the State House
sunday is about the only day of the
week some people get to see what
there is in Harrisburg and maybe the
attendants could be present on the
Sabbath. No matter what may be saio
against Sunday visiting of such places,
there is growing demand that public
buildings be open on the first day of
the week, and it has been growing to
an extent that would surprise those
of us who have been brought up to
regard the day as one on which to alb
stain from pleasures
John f. Lowers. member of the last
House of Representatives from the
Braddock district and now deputy
register of wills of Allegheny county,
was among visitors here over Sunday.
MIR. Levers was active in behalf of
the hunters license bill in the last
session and made the strongest speech
in it's favor, pointing out how it would
enable farmers to spot" the hunters
who trespass on their lands and on
able them to bring to book people who
do damage.
WELL KNOWN PEOPLE
-RiSboD n hin pplandar of DbiIoJat