Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1914-07-01
TAYLOR HOLDS KEY
To RIVER FRONT
CONTINUED From First Pagel

for planting ana park purposes Tor
several years to come.
1t is the judgment of many con-
sentative citizens that a few emit
more or less per load for the hauling
of this filling material should not pre-
vent its use in this connection. All
who have been interested in grading
operations during recent years know
how difficult 1t is to obtain the neces-
sary material and now that the city
is pushing forward It's improvement
undertakings, failure to make avail
able this subway material is bound to
precipitate a storm of criticism.
George b. Sucker, of the contract
ing firm which is building the river
wall and steps, is authority for the
statement that several gangs or men
will be put to work within the next
week OIL two On the construction oil
the STEPS and the laying of the grano-
lithic walk. He said further tina 1t
was the expectation of his firm to
complete the work this summer unless
something unforeseen occurs. 1t so
happens that this operation can be
pushed in several sections at the same
time and as labor is plentiful there is
no excuse whatever for dragging the
undertakings owe another year.
Parking Should Be Pushed
For this reason it is extremely inn
portant that the parking of the slope
should go forward with the wall and
walk along the depressed park below.
1t is necessary only to grade the slope
at a proper angle from the top of the
embankment to the depressed park
stretch at the bottom. Many people
have had the idea that it is necessary
TO fill out at the street level to the
g%ranolithic walk. This is not the
plan and to do so would spoil the
whole scheme of treatment. By rea-
son of this fact very little filling will
be necessary between Calder and Ma
clay streets. All that will be required
is to bring the slope between hose
streets to a uniform grade. Not a
great deal of filling material will be
necessary until the narrow stretch
from Maclay street northward is
reached.
Practically all of the work on the
wall and walk between Iron alley and
Paxton street will be completed this
week and Roadway is now being made
in the construction of the steps along
Harris Park, which will be restored
to usable conditions as 500 as the
subway work at Front and Mulberry
streets is finished. 1t is expected that
Front street under the Mulberry street
bridge will be open for use within the
next ten days, the excavations at this
point having been practically complet-
ed.
To Eliminate Hardscrabble
Another effort to solve the Hard
scrabble" problem by officially open
ing Front street between Herr and
Calder streets to the low water mark
of the ~Susquehanna will be made in
the near future, it is understood, by
the introduction in City Council of an
ordinance providing for a improve
ment.
on several occasions efforts have
been made to remove the cluster OF
houses IN the west side of Front street
between Calder and Herr and gen
orally called "Hardscrabble." The
latest of these was made by Ross A
Hickok when common councilman
from the Fourth ward.
At that time-1907-an ordinance
was offered which provided for the
opening Of the highway to low water
mark. Protests were made at the time
by some residents of the district anC
after some discussion councilmen were
prevailed upon to let the whole matter
drop and the ordinance died in com
mittee.
The contemplated action relative t,
the remova of "Hardscrabble" is baseC
on h legislative acts of nearly hal
ii century. In brief This is the his
tory:
The First Step
In 1869 the Legislature passed al
act authorizing the appointment of
commission to lay out the streets o
Harrisburg, to indicate what new high
ways were to be included n to sho
by red line erasures what streets wer,
to be vacated. This was to apply t,
the then corporate limits and one mil,
beyond. Maclay street at that tim,
was the northern city line.
The commission made its report ant
presented it to the Dauphin Count,
Court. but Judge Pearson at the tim,
sustained exceptions to it and refuse,
10 act. Two years later another ac
was passed by the Legislature ratifyinj
and approving the commissions sug
gestions. In this report Front stree
was laid out as a highway. A line wa
fixed as the eastern curb and the stree
was authorized to be placed on tn,
map from this eastern line to Low
water mark.
The Report Approved
Provision was made that any dwell
ings which had been erected prior t
1859 could be condemned when tn
street was opened, benefits and dam
ages assessed and the owner could b
recompensed for house and land. TO
any subsequent development only tn
cost of the ground was to be Above,
for. Naturally the Front street dis
trict question. including the "Hard
-.-u EIlar arABIaA, rovId L. G.,I,lA