Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1915-12-28
Ehrntng G1at

Judging from what men who, gent
ABOUT the city good bit have to say
OH the subject, Harrisburg's cel1s-
oration OF Christmas this year was OF
lhaI peculiar quiet which indicates
ilreside observance. Indeed, some of
the men who have heen long in police
OF other service which affords oppor-
.unlty Tor observation declare that the ]
tendency the last few years has been
TO make the great holiday of the
Christian world one in which tho
,einiiS dlnner and the~quiet hours at
nome rule rather than the fashionable
parade about the streets or attend
moral Day, the Fourth of JuIv and
THANKSGIVING Day have been getting
more or less to be marked by nublic
opserNances and New Years Day is
really more of business day than
ahythlng else, so that Christmas is be-
SoniIhB again the old-fashioned "home
holiday" Harrisburg's Christmas oh
servapces the last two decades have
undergone considerable change. If
Is not SO many years ago since brawls
dsed TO Keep the policemen in certain
sections of the city busy and of bip
saloonS and free gifts of "pints'' and
mars were among features of the
day. Now some of the drink dis
pehsarles close and districts which
uSed TO resound with rackets and
scrapping" do not need the eve of q.
policeman. There were boIrs on
christmas Day in the business norton
or the city, not so long ago. when II
seemed as though the main object of
men VINO had come from all portions
vi Town ana from some of the nearby
places appeared to be to make the
Weikin ring. This year and last wear
CHRISTMAS Day was marked by de-
serted streets and in place of roysterers
acting as though they did not know
any more about the holiday than n
cow uoes OF aurora borealis there were
men going quietly in automobiles and
with the true Christmas spirit carry
ing baskets to those whom fortune had
not favored.
Harrisburgers who remember meet
ing Miss Anne Hollingsworth Whar-
! ton, the authoress, on her visits to this
| city, notably those at the time of the
dedlcatory ceremonies at the State
capitol, Will be interested to learn that
IN her latest book, English Ancestral
Homes OF Noted Americans" the tai
enIeu Fhlladelphian has devoted con-
siderable space to the early home and
the FAMILY history of William Penn.
rms new book is probably the most
charming of those written by Miss
Wharton. The material for it was
gathered during days spent in Eng
| land. as Miss Wharton says "in days
of peace and the chapters verify take
| us back to the rock from whence we
were hewn." Naturally, Miss Wharton
| tells OF the early home of the Wash
lngton family, but it is doubtful if in
Iall the lives of Penn and Franklin
4 hH 4
description of their far-off early family
homes: There are good many Penn
| SylVanlanS TO whom PenShurst and ALL
! hallows are only English names but
| Miss Wharton has made the Sidney
country place alive again and we can
see the founder of the province going
| down to consult the great Liberal
about the frame of government to
| which we owe so much. Indeed the
| chapter devoted to Penshurst is as
| peculiarly interesting to the son and
| daughter of Pennsylvania as the pill
| srimage taken by Miss Wharton -
! the places associated with the boyhood
| and active life of William Penn The
| chapters on the early family homes of
| other eminent Americans are as sym
| pathetically treated and the book
makes a splendid shelf companion for
Social Life in the Early Republic"
and Colonial Salons" Miss Wharton,
who is sister of Bromley Wharton,
is descendant of one of the Colonial
| governors of Pennsylvania and has
| many friends who rejoice in each new
| book and especially those in which the
early life of the makers and molders
of our commonwealth is portrayed
|
The accident to the cross on the
dome of st. Patrick's Cathedral, which
was damaged in the big gale of Christ
mas night, recalls mishaps to other
spires in Harrisburg. Years ago pieces
of the acorn on Zion Lutheran church
were blown over on the Pennsylvania
railroad. Then the acorn on Market
! Square church was struck by lightning
years ago and a fourth of the steeple
| burned. But oldest of all was when
a big osprey or eagle impaled a wing
on the lightning rod on Pine Street
church.
/ In passing it might be remarked
that there are now very few steeples
in Harrisburg when one considers that
| 1t has church or mission for each
| 900 of population. In fact. st. Pat
| rick's was the last of the churches to
erect a high edifice. Most of the new
/ churches have been smaller, of course
but instead of money being devoted to
| going up in the air, the churches are
| spreading out, and some are putting
money which would otherwise be spent
for building into various activities
| Alexander Simpson, Jr., who was
| here yesterday before the Public Serv-
| ice Commission, is one of the most
prominent lawyers in Philadelphia
He is law partner of the Attorney