Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1915-08-11
Ehfntng Ghat

Harrisburg is mighty proud of it's
river front and justly so There are
few cities in the whole country that
have preserved water fronts for park
purposes and prevented railroads from
gobbling up the lowlands and shore
for sidings and tracks. The park sys-
dam. the whole scheme of river front
Improvement, is something which
arouses the admiration of visitors and
the pride of the residents of the Capt.
tai City. And yet. any person walking
north of Maclay street must wonder
why the city authorities who are so
Jealous for the betterment of con-
ditions from aesthetic and sanitary
stsndpoints do not get after the city.
Property owners who have vacant lots
have been required to cut down the
weeds. as they should be called upon
to do. and yet for blocks and blocks
along the fine river front the weeds
are breast high. Some of the vacant
land above Woodbine and other up :
| town streets has a fringe of weeds
abutting rows of corn or vacant lots,
but the display on the privately owned
land is nothing to what is shown along
the riverside. There are to be. seen
| burdocks, jimson. in short every kind
of weed that man labors to keep out
OF his property. If they were golden
rod or some other kind of flower it
would not be so bad. but the white of
the wild parsnip. the queens lace
handkerchief and the bright blue of
the chicory, none of which has good
| reputation among gardeners, is now
| blooming and will soon be casting seed
upon the winds to blow over lawns,
| flower beds. grass patches and dear
knows where. Indeed outside of tho
i Federal building lawn there is hardly a
finer collection of native weeds and
/ rAla aafG 70. he (, -,
| Harrisburg. 1t would afford a splen-
| did object lesson to the children so
| that they could readily recognize the
| plants which are nuisances and which
| should receive the attention of the
| man with the grass hook at an early
| stage of the summer, not in mid-Au-
| gust. This is one place where the en-
| terprising city is remiss and the
| sooner a good set of sharp scythes is
introduced among the screen of weeds
and reeds the view of the Susquehanna
will be improved.
IT'S a matter of some surprise to
me-" said a man interested in trolley
matters in other cities on recent visit
to this place, that your traction COM
pany does not try express cars to re-
| 1eVe the traffic. / have taken q num-
bei of trips to the outlying towns
reached by your system as a means of
killing time while here on business
and awaiting my turn and I have
round the through cars filled when
they leave the terminal and about two
thirds full when they have gone fifteen
or twenty blocks distance. 1t strikes
me cars run as express for a certain
distance would soon educate the people
to using local cars and make the
through trips not only pleasanter for
those who take them but quicker for
the traction company. A stop every
block or so is not a quick way to get
cars out of town.
Trolley car men call the front seats
on the open cars the "shiver" row
nowadays In ordinary summer
weather. the kind we have not been
enjoying this year, the front seats
are in demand and the motormen have
to umpire sometimes between rival
claimants. These cool evenings the
front seats go begging and those who
sit on them shiver Hence the name.
ut would improve the looks of
things a good bit, in fact it would add
very much to the river front, If some
electric lights were to be placed on the
coal hoist on the city's island" said a.
man who gets about different cities
and who keeps his eyes open. THAT
hoist house, or whatever you may call
1t, is not bad-looking affair. Now,
suppose the electric company should
put some strings of lights on it or out
line the building with bulbs or put on
} some colored lights or have a fountain
on 1t with some electric lights about
". What an addition ii would make to
our river front: 1t would be an added
charm and 1t would not cost the cleo
, trio company much. Outside of the
rows of lights along the bridges and
on the park front there is not much
. illumination on the river. Let the cleo
trio company put a couple of score
of bulbs on the plant and see how
, much 1t would be appreciated.
, |
James c. Watson. who was formerly
! one of counsel for the Public Service
Commission. is now Republican county
chairman of Lycoming and is stirring
up things as he can do. He is having
frequent meetings of Republican cam
5 didates and has the campaign in excel
> lent shape.