Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1914-09-24
EVENING CHAT

One of the things that people ia
miliar with Harrisburg's remarkable
| transportation facilities and its impor-
lance as shipping center do not un-
oerstand is why some effort is not
made to establish a cold storage ware
mouse or place where fruits and agri-
| cultural products may be stored. Here
IS Harrisburg pointed out man who
| oeais in fruits on a large scale, within
snort distance of the greatest apple
district In this part of the country and
close to the famous York county
strawberry farms and the South
Mountain peach belt, and yet while
hundreds of cars of fruits pass
through the city on their way to
| cold storage warehouses in Philadel-
phfa. New York, Baltimore and even
Reading none stops here. Fruit rails
ing has been stimulated very much in
| this district lately and commercial
orchards have been planted within
thirty miles of the city and there Is
| no place to store the fruit when IL is
gathered. The owner must either sell
| II 10 commission merchants and ship
1t away or depend upon the local mar
| kets Some years ago a study of the
problem was made and attention was
called to the fact that a cold storage
warehouse here would enable farmers
| ana fruit growers to store products
ana would increase the business of
the city and at the same time be a
source of greater interest to buyers
| and shippers as we'll as furnishing a
convenience. Now with the greatest
peach crop known in years and all
kinds of fruits and vegetables in
| abundance there is no place where
| the stun can be stored here. 1t all
goes away.
Firemen here are wondering If they
| can get back to the city for the State
convention some of the old fire en-
| gines that helped put out blazes in
this city years ago. The old Citizen
engine was sold to Ohio and there are
hand engines at MELVILLE and Cham
bersburg which II is thought came
from this city, but their history is not
accurate. The Good Will engine was
sold in an eastern county. In all
probability the oldest hand engine
here will be that now in Northumber-
land. 1t dates back over $50 years.
There has been a revival of gossip
about hook and ladder companies as
result of the gathering of the con-
Vention. The Mount Vernon, which is
No. on the city list. is officially hook
and ladder company No. 1. It was
the first hook and ladder to be organ
ICED, but the Hope had a truck before
the Mount Vernon came into being,
say old firemen. The old Hope truck
had history. Years ago. according
to tradition. the Hope members under
took to sell their old truck. which was
painted white Permission was re-
fused and one night the truck dis
appeared and Is said to have been sold
at place down the Cumberland Val
ley. 1t was a forerunner of the con-
troversy over ownership of fire appa-
ratus which got into court when
Vance c. Mccormick was mayor and
he tried to discipline the Paxton
company.
officers and men of the National
Guard are commencing to take a big
interest in rife practice work because
of the changes made in regulations
and the steps being taken to encour-
age the work at the targets and the
chances are that there will be some
busy days at the range on First Noun
tain. The local cavalrymen and in
fantrymen have been working all
summer. but in October Is when they
put in their best liclcs.
State Commissioner of Fisheries N.
r. Butler is being congratulated by
friends upon the action of the au-
thorities of the directors of the Con-
neaut Lake Association. which held
a big fair in Crawford county and
which attracted exhibits from far and
near. The commissioner has received
a formal resolution of thanks from
the directors for the splendid fish ex-
hibit at our fair. which was. without
doubt, the most complete exhibition
of fish shown here" The resolution
also commends the educational value
of the exhibit and the care shown by
superintendent Phil Hartman.
In a short time the authorities of
Paxtang will take some steps to i'm
prove the State highway which runs
through the baby borough from end
to end. Unfortunately for the bor-
ough. the new municipality was
erected before the States repairmen
could get to work and nothing could
be done. the State not handling re.
pairs on highways where they go
through boroughs. Consequently, It is
up to the new borough fathers to fix
up things for the travelling public. 1T
bids fair to be an expensive job, but
1t will be done to show that Paxtang
is on the job and to gently call the at
tention of Camp Hill, Penbrook and
other nearby towns to the necessity of
fixing up State highways.