Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1915-04-19
EVENING CHAT

1
4 q trip it made a stop in Harrisburg
and several thousands of people gath
cred about the station to greet it,
while its passage from Middletown to
| ROCKVILLE was literally between lines
of old and young. This was in 1893,
| When the bell was taken to Chicago
lof the Columbian Exposition, and it
was sent, by the way. after just such
objections are being heard now. The
pen travelled by special train and came
! mere on very rainy afternoon. The
schoois We're dismissed and business
suspended so that all might have OPP
| portunity to see the relic, which, 1t
was then predicted. would never be
sent away from Philadelphia again.
! Ihe train was late, but that only
| larger.
The visit of ex-President Taft to
TINS city last week recalls the fact that
the last ex-President to visit here ex-
cept on political tour was General
Grant. The General stopped here on
his return from his trip around the
the Executiye Mansion by Governor
Hoyt, while the national guardsmen,
| Hfemen and various organizations had
a big parade. The General visited the
Capitol and met many of the state
officials and legislators. his stay in this
city being theme of conversation for
| many months afterward
EX-President Tafts remarks here
| last week on government budgets and
ownership appear to- have attracted
| considerable editorial comment In
this respect they are like the remarks
| made about year ago from the same
place in the Capitol by the man Mr..
Taft defeated in 1908, William Jen-
nings Bryan. On that occasion Mr..
Bryan made some remarks about
pledges that had both a state and ma
tional edge to them.
The first gypsies have come to the
gates of the city. Last week one of
the giddy wagons that are an indis-
pensable part of a caravan drifted into
aoitmans woods and camp fires were
llghted, much to the entertainment of
the kids of the neighborhood. Cen
orally gypsies come to the city before
TINS, but the late spring has kent them
lingering in Tennessee or Virginia.
The city used to be a favorite stopping
place because of its position at the end
OF valleys, but according to policemen
there are fewer than ten wears ago
TO be seen here during the summer.
1t takes a Sunday fire to draw a
crowd. Yesterdays blaze collected
probably one of the greatest Sunday
afternoon crowds known in years and
the work of the firemen and police
men in the neighborhood was inter-
fered with time and again. The re-
markable thing about it was that
someone was not hurt in the surging
crowds that thronged about the scene
of the fire and assembled near the
engines.
Decline of the foot and mouth dis
case and release of certain areas from
quarantine is indicated by the increas-
ing number of cattle cars seen on the
railroads. The last fortnight cattle
cars have been seen on many trains
passing through the city and they can
be made out for long distances be-
cause of the splashes of white that
mark them as the result of the dis
injecting processes.
Blackbirds, or rather grackles. are
more abundant hereabouts than known
at TINS season of the year in a long
tlme and while they have not vet
shown much tendency to become de-
structive it is said by farmers that
their appearance in such numbers will
probably lead to them becoming a
nuisance. The blackbird is late this
year, but has made up for it by ener-
getically getting to work on forapinsy
Under the new state law they may be
killed If caught destroying property of
any kind.
Recent fires in patches of woodland
near the city are said to be due to
carelessness on the part of a good
many city people who go into the
country for a day and do not use
prudence in throwing away matches
or cigars or cigarets. of course. a
certain percentage are attributable to
sparks from engines which are not
well fired. but often it is found that
failure to take reasonable precautions
insisted upon in a built-up community
result in brush or woods fires entailing
much loss.
If YOU have any idea that this sec
ton OF the country is not a big agri-
cultural district. all you have to do is
to get out into the country on one of
the trolley cars. Any weekday you
can pass men ploughing or preparing
land for seeding with corn or oats or
potatoes. In fact, the whole country
round about Harrisburg except for the
woodlots appears to be under culti-
vatfon. and where fields are lying fall
low cattle are being raised. This is
especially true of Dauphin and Perry
counties. Cumberland and York are
being very closely cultivated.
People who stood on the Mulberry
street bridge yesterday afternoon
watching the fire along Paxton creek
saw two other fires raging about five
miles away. These fires were on the
First Mountain. where some blazes
broke out late Saturday night and
appeared to be eating their way
through the timber among which they
made such havoc last fall.
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WELL KNOWN PEOPLE