Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1914-06-29
EVENING Chat


For some reason or other the por-
tico OF the Courthouse and the space
OF pavement In front of 1t holds more
favor for open air religious services
than any other spot in Harrisburg, and
It's rather odd, when you think of 1t.
There is more room in Market Square
and the front of the Capitol or of the
State Museum offers very formal sur
roundings and more space, but the
Courthouse is the place where evan
gellsts, salvation Army workers, tenn
perance speakers and others who deal
with the better life present their argu-
ments and make their exhortations.
Perhaps it is because that spot has
been public property from the closing
decades of the eighteenth century and
that the two or three courthouses
which have occupied the site have
been used intermittently for religious
services for over 100 years. The his
tory of number OF the church or
gan1zations of Harrisburg begins in
the court rooms where justice Is dealt
out by day and political speeches smite
the air by night, and probably it is
because of this rather singular asso-
citation, coupled with the fact that it is
the town hall or rath haus of the
to be preferred for religious services.
For time Market Square was used
by some religious workers, and is yet
occasionally, but it is probably too
large or the noises of traffic are too
great to make it an attractive spot
for services. So the front of the old
structure, which is one of the finest
types of courthouse architecture of
ante-bellum days in the State, by the
way, hears services almost every even
ing in the week these days.
The new borough of Paxtang just
now presents very interesting study
for the man who is interested in the
rule of the people and other things so
much heard of in the last few years.
The residents of the county's newest
municipality, which will probably be
No. 967 in the list of boroughs of the
State, are going to have a town meet
ing to pick their officers tomorrow.
The law authorizes the court to name
officers or to order a special election
so that the machinery of government
may be started. The voters will de-
termine whether they want to have
an election or whether they will pick
out their own officers and request the
court to name them to serve until the
regular election comes around. While
there has been a lot of talk about it.
the field is open in PaXtang and the
chances are that a good example of
town meeting will be held in the
schoolhouse tomorrow night.
The dog days are we'll nigh upon us
and it is about time to think about
the dogs. There are many valuable
q MI lie IIa,. .fclN, xrat
are half a dozen places where a dog
can get drink of water except from
gutter, the Susquehanna river or
Paxton creek, they are not listed.
State officials are calling attention to
the dangers of rabies, and it is a we'll
known fact that hot weather is mighty
hard on the animals. 1t seems queer
that there is no provision made in the
public drinking fountains for "a dog
and that while horses are well pro-
vided for, the dog, whose devotion to
man has been the theme of poem, song
and story, is not thought about.
Some of the best roadways in the
county have been made within a very
short distance of the city by township
authorities and individuals who have
taken advantage of the opportunity
to use railroad ashes, or Sparks" as
they are called by railroadmen. This
material makes good hard road,
which will stand the ordinary traffic
for long time without much atten-
ton. In many instances private roads
and lanes have been rebuilt by the
use of sparks" and if the haul is not
too great it means much saving. The
trouble is that the average road in
Dauphin county is allowed to go with
out much care unless some one makes
big kick, and, strange to say, in
some districts roads have been allowed
to go for the reason that 1.-The State
is not doing anything now, either"
On the subject of highways it might
be stated that the municipal authori-
ties could very well afford to get out
with road drag or scraper in Green
wood street some one of these morn
ings after a hard rain, This street,
which begins at a point along Paxton
street and runs east intersecting Der
ry street near Twenty-third, is now
being very heavily travelled from
Nineteenth to its junction with Derry,
owing to the paving operations under
way from near Eighteenth to Twenty
third. In fact practically all of the
traffic that used to pour out Derry
goes by way of Berryhill to Nineteenth
and then to Greenwood The street
was never used to any great extent
prior to this sudden service and looks
the part. 1t is badly cut by motor
trucks and teams and when a heavy
rain has fallen it is plain mud. A drag
employed for half an hour after a rain
would work wonders
Speaking about highways, again it
might be added that it Is not hard to
figure where the city line ends in
Walnut, State and Herr streets. The
condition of the roads in Susquehanna
township close to the city's gates are
much in the same shape that Derry
street has been between the paved sec
ton and the State highway. Ruts,
holes and facilities for humping
abound.
WELL KNOWN PEOPLE