Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1915-02-01
: EVENING CHAT

/ [ EVENING CHAT
The first robin to visit Pennsylva-
MAS capital city this winter on the
hunt for Spring may have been all
right in his selection of Saturday, but
he was certainly mistaken as to what
KIND of weather to expect The robin
showed up on one of the elms along
she ora boardwalk about noon on
SATURDAY when the sun was shining
brightly and the temperature was ideal
for winter day. The robin appeared
to be perfectly satisfied for he let out
a couple or chirps and darted toward
the Susquehanna. He was probably
dlssusted yesterday morning when he
round the snow. Two years ago when
the city suffered some severe weather
ABOUT this time the first robin came on
February !. having been seen near
Flne street church. However. he went
away because the mercury did some
awful tumbling later that month. Up
to date no shadfiies have been spotted,
although r. F. Stevick is authority for
the presence of some mosquitoes in the
VICINITY of the federal building. These
mosquitoes need cause no alarm in
view OF the snow-covered ground to-
day. Tomorrow is the historic day
| for the grounding. 1t is inseparabIy
I lsNSNSNAt'eON
ers with the Capitol fire on February
z, 1897, and the Grand Opera House
llre ten years later. Both fires occur
red when weather conditions were
atrocious. Muskrats have been report
ed along the river front and the signs
OF spring may be said to be appear
ing.
one of the veteran policemen at the
state capitol is wondering what makes
people get twisted on their directions
in Harrisburg. Another is of the opin-
ION that some folks are so much in
lterested in the Capitol that they do
not think about other places, while a
third says that some are wrapped up
in Harrisburg affairs and do not real
iZe what the Capitol is like. The Capt.
tol guides tell some funny stories about
the comments made by visitors to the
great building. The remarks run all
the way to the awe-stricken to the
captious and absurd. One loyal Penn
sylNanlan Informed a guide the other
| day that the Capitol had the Capitol at
Washington Skinned" while a fat,
toVerdressed lady asserted with vigor
that the beautiful Senate chamber was
in disadvantageous contrast to Select
Council chamber in city hall, Phila-
delphia. One man asked a guide to
show him where the bosses" met to
give out their orders to the legisla-
tors.
Possibly one of the most amusing in
cldents occurred the other day when
Captain Thomas S. Cook, one of the
Capitol policemen, was asked by a
much preoccupied man to tell him
what was in No. los. The captain ask
ed If he meant room No. los. The man
nodded and the captain asked casual
ly If there was any official there tho
IN "a
said he did not know, but desired to
know all about los. The captain
started to tell him what was in room
No. los and to show where it is locat-
ed. just then the man woke up and
said, Are you sure it is on this
street,"
street," What are you asking
about? This is the State Capitol said
the captain.
The man consulted a memorandum
and found he wanted No. los North
Second street. He appeared to be per-
fectly sober and very much in earnest
about getting to 10s.
People familiar with the trees in the
city's parks and along the river front
say that they have escaped much dam
age this winter in spite of the heavy
SHOWS and that some of the big fellows
were far more fortunate than those
vania railroad. Some of the fine trees
that line roads in Lancaster and Ches-
ter county and along the Reading
through Lebanon and Berks suffered
from the weight of snow early in the
winter and last weeks snow and ice
also did damage.
When County Superintendent +. II.
Shambaugh visited the Enhaut schools
the other day, one of the boys, Paul
Loudenslager, presented him with a
paper weight curiously but daintily
carved from n piece of anthracite coal
The gift was from the lads father
Charles Loudenslager and had been
carved for Mr.. Shambaugh by Louden-
slayer senior when the latter was a
miner in Wiconisco in 1910. The eld-
ed Loudenslager, however. never had
an opportunity of presenting his gift as
he and his family soon afterward re-
moved to Enhaut. When he learned
of Professor Shambaugh's visit he sent
the long deferred gift.
Francis J. Terrence, chairman of
the State Board of Public Charities
whose report is published to-day, was
formerly member of the Legislature
and has been a student of the charita-
BILE institutions of the State for over
a quarter of a century.