Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1914-08-18
EVENING Chat

People who have gone about the
Susquehanna in motorboats or in row.
boats have been rather surprised to
see wild ducks breeding in this sec
ton. Not only is 1t surprising to see
ducks here at this time of the year,
but that they should select this por-
tion OF the river, which is girded by rail-
roads, spanned by numerous bridges
and constantly traversed by the sand
and coal fleets. is rather remarkable.
Men who observe game say that the
fact that the birds have remained here
during summer is due to the fact that
they were not hunted or shot at last
spring, the new federal regulations on
migratory water fowl having reduced
the season to the fall months. Some
of the ducks have been observed fly
ing close to the city. as though they
knew that they were perfectly safe
from the hunters. Under the new
regulations the shooting of ducks Will
be legal in September and If the fowl
remain in this section there should be
good sport. 1t has been a long time
since any water fowl were known to
be here in summer months or to breed
in this vicinity. The new regulations
will prevent the shooting running very
late into the winter and will prevent
any spring shooting at all.
Except for raccoons, snipe and
ducks. there will be precious little
shooting this year until the middle of
October The blackbirds, which used
to afford some prime shooting in the
first few weeks of September, are now
protected by law because of the serv-
ices they do the farmer by destroying
insects and pests, an act of 1913
recognizing their work. The grouse
and squirrel seasons start the middle
of October but rabbits and quail can
not be shot until November 1 and deer
not until November TO- A hunter has
to take a book of game laws into the
woods with him these days Just as
must a fisherman, as the laws are
changed so frequently that even the
wardens have to think rapidly to keep
posted.
People whose conduct and remarks
caused removal of the benches which
stood in front of the State Museum
building have deprived the public of
one of the pleasant gathering places
in the States park This spot has
| been a popular one for Sunday serv-
ices, for meetings of various sorts and
for people to rest in the afternoons
and evenings, while it has always been
favorite place for children to go to
feed the squirrels. However, investi-
cation shows that the removal by the
park authorities was amply justified
been complaints about the remarks
emanating from the benches.
The fact that Pittsburgh is going to
celebrate the two hundredth anniver-
sary of its settlement in 1916 calls to
mind that this city and vicinity have
/ been passing by some interesting an
| niversaries without so much as a no.
tce. Only two years ago it was 100
years since the State government was
removed to Harrisburg and various
towns in this part of the State have
been passing up their centennials
without even flag being put out.
Unfortunately, there is no public rec
ord easily accessible which permits
people to learn exactly when these
anniversaries occur and consequently
important dates are lost sight of.
Paving of Derry street has crawled
by Twenty-first street and it has two
more blocks to go and then the neces-
sity for making the detour by way of
! Greenwood street will be ended. And
in passing 1t might be remarked that
next time it is necessary for the march
of improvement to force travel on an
other highway steps should be taken
to put it into good condition. Some
of the macadam dug from Derry
street could have been used on Green
wood to advantage and it is a wonder
that the city has not been sued be-
cause of damage to automobiles
Excursions run to Hershey and other
points in the vicinity of Harrisburg
have had the effect of bringing thou
sands of visitors to the State Capitol
from places in Central Pennsylvania
and the register of the guides at the
State House shows the names of people
from half the central counties. For
a long time the railroad people did
not realize the interest of the people
of the State at large in the new Capt.
tol and they persistently refused to
grant stop-off privileges for the pur-
pose of visiting the big granite pile in
the center of the city. A few years
ago some new passenger men came
here and worked up the officials with
the result that now stopovers are
granted on application. The result
has been series of visits to the Capt.
tol and pleasure for many people.