Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1914-07-17
EVENING CHAT

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The army worm is not to be suf-
fered to get a hold on Capitol PARK
with any of its numerous feet il the
vigilance of the gardening force of
father Penn can prevent it. Men con-
Hectea with the park have been out
10 examine the gardens where the
worm has been holding banquets and
nave gotten first hand information as
10 lts appearance and the acres of
lawn are being carefully scanned for
any traces of the voracious worm. In
cloentally, the watchfulness has re-
suited IN the roofing out of some
other pests which had started to spend
the summer on Capitol Hill The
garden force is varying the watchful
waiting for the army by exterminating
the caterpillars on the trees and about
the building. Every place that the
tent of one of the yellow crawlers is
spled is scraped with the end of a
broom stick and the lodges of the
granite building, the bases of pillars,
sides of door frames. even the inter-
stices of the great bronze doors and
the graceful bends of the Barnard
statuary have been scooped clean of
the cocoons of the pests, while scores
or tree trunks have been cleaned off
Each of the garden force has killed
his f1fties and his hundreds and some
of them have thousands. 1t is only
by such work that the caterpilars
are kept down at the Capitol and doz-
ems of pigeons and birds are helping
along the work as a sort of return for
the quarters allotted to them on Capitol
HILL The blackbirds appear to be
especially fond of ripping up the tents
and while they do not always eat the
worms they take a great delight in
tearing apart the silken boudoirs of
the creeping things.
The visit of an owl to the United
States Senate the other day recalls
sundry visits of pigeons, sparrows and
an owl to the House of Representa-
tives last year. The hall of the House
is ventilated in summer time by open
ing the windows which are as big
as the side of house and pigeons
and birds used to fly in and listen to
the debates. On the last night of the
session an owl flew in and after some
scrambling around roasted away up.
Paper balls and books were thrown
at it and it left with a poor opinion
of the keystone State legislators. The
owl was afterwards caught in Capitol
Park.
Several one-time tennis enthusiasts
who appeared on the Reservoir courts
for the first time this season-coaxed
out presumably by the call for tour
nament entries - gravely discussed
their possible showing after the couple
of years lay-off.
"Oh, WELL" observed one of them,
81 guess I'm a 'has-been.'
"Um-m, yes" assented compan-
t.. Et.1s l. IL. L.
been on the tennis courts here at all.
rather like the game. And I'd rather
he a 'has-been Eat tennis - than a
'never-waS.'
Think it better" grinned the 9TH
er. ito have loved and lost eh?"
From present indications Harris
burg city councilmen are not going to
get much of a vacation this summer
Under the old form of government
councils took much needed rest
every summer by holding one meeting
the last Monday in June, the first
Monday in July and the last Monday
in August, thus keeping within the
councilmanic rules authorizing at
least one session per month and still
giving the members the benefit of
quite a vacation. The city commits
sioners, however, made no provision
loi SutH d contingency III It's iuieS anu
unless these regulations are amended
meetings will be held regularly once
a week throughout the hot months re-
gardless of the fact that there will be
little or no legislation to transact
True, as has been pointed out by some
city officials, the commissioners could
go away for a couple of weeks at a
time-despite the fact that there
seems to be a little tension over the
problem of who's who. But some
how none of them want to be the
first to take the chance. And for that
they'll all probably stay at home.