The star-independent. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1904-1917, 1915-03-18
Great Inventions in Pennsylvania


Great Inventions in Pennsylvania
1.-The first piano manufactured in
America, the first steel and silk made
in America were all produced N Penn
sylvania. 1t was in Pennsylvania that
oil was first discovered, that the first
steel rails were made in America, that
the first armor plate and first steel cars
in America were produced.
The mariners quadrant was in
vented by Thomas Godfrey, Pennsyl-
vanian; the first steamboat operated n
America Was run on the Delaware river
by John Fitch, its inventor, and the
first locomotive built in America was
constructed in Philadelphia.
''The world IS first international Ex-
position was held in Philadelphia, Just
one hundred years after the Declara-
tion of Independence. The first Speak
er of the National House of Representa-.
tives was Frederick A. Muhlenbcrg.
Famous in World of Art
"Among Pennsylvanians famous in
the world of art were William Rus, the
first American sculptor; Edwin A. Abb
bey, the great painter of the nineteenth
century, and living to-day are the
sculptor George Gray Barnard, tie
acknowledged Michael Angelo of this
generation, and Miss Violet Oakley,
whose mural paintings enrich aud ligni-
fly the State Capitol at Harrisburg and
many other edifces thro ighout the
United States.
"Valley Forge and Fort Duluesne
are in Pennsylvania, as is also the bat
tlefeld of Gettysburg. Lancaster, the
richest agricultural county in yield in
all the world, is in Pennsylvania. Penn
sylvania levies no tax on real estate or
personal property for State purposes.
She is absolutely free of ,lebt and has
substantial cash surplus i'll her treas
ury. Pennsylvania s tax laws are the
best and her election laws the most pro-
gressive.
Citizenship Loyal to Flag
"Her population, consisting as it
does of eight million souls, constitutes
a citizenship as loyal to flag and coun-
try as God-loving as can be found in
all the universe. Such is brief and
partial review of her achievements
and sacred possessions. And l admon-
ish every loyal son of Pennsylvania to
defend and safeguard her glorious rec
ord.
"Of special pride and interest must
it be to you of California to know that
John w. Geary, was in January, 1S49,
appointed postmaster of San Francisco
by President James X. Polk and on
August l, of the same year elected
your first Alcalde, and chosen the first
Mayor of your city May I, 1850.
Geary was later Governor of Pennsyl-
vania and major general in the armies
of the North during the Civil war and
it was he who fought the "Battle
Above the Clouds'' ON Lookout Noun
tain. 1t must also interest you to know
that John Bigler, brother of Gov
ernor William Bigler, of Pennsylvania,
was the chief executive of your State
from 1852 to 1856.
James Lick Born in Lebanon County
''That James Lick was born in
Fredericksburg, Lebanon county, Penn
sylvania, August 25, 1896, and died
in San Francisco, October 1, 1876, In
1874 he gave large sums of money to
public institutions here and among
others for the erection Of the most
powerful telescope in the world and
now In use in connection with the as
Economical observatory of the Univer-
sity of California.
"When the Civil war broke out in
1861 there were no railroads across
the continent and no means of COM
munication with California save by
overland trains or by vessels around
Cape Horn. At this time the Hon. E.
D. Baker, who had long lived in San
Francisco, was United States Senator
from Oregon. Imbued with spirit of
patriotism and animated by State
pride, he organized in Philadelphia
the first California regiments. In a
speech to his command as it was de-
parting for the front, he said:
Pickett's Gettysburg Charge
" And is from the far Pacific a
voice feebler than the feeblest murmur
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