Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1916-01-01
Ehrnttg Ghat

NE" Years day has always been
more OF less formally observed In
HARRISBURG, although as a matter of
"o' until the last few years there has
Deen no public celebration such as has
SIr Snen place through the agency of the
=. ~ luIlIners association, The ceIebra~
Ions nave been more or less confined
~ watchnlght services the night be-
nid,t anu tremendous racket at mid
| paai anu social events the next day
itbe Iaaa,e IA ene early days of Harrisburg
@ nc IedulnS men of the town kent omen
ouse Tor their neighbors and. If the
U.o,. utn pe told, punch bowls and toddies
! ere not unknown. Governor Simon
snyder the first Governor to be inaug-
tIo a'eu IN Harrisburg, always received
cit clIlZens at his residence in this
o,,:, tS, mere pe1ng no executive mansion
! G"eu Ga,.nu ny the State until the Civil war
So; Governors following General
ISSnyuer Kept up the custom and in the
t1urtlh and Hartranft administrations
tneIe We're receptions at the official
nome nome or the Governors, much on the
da llHes OF those of the last half
Szen aG1sii years. Old newspapers tell in
uaiuoh o,It e.o oil receptions given by promi-
| 90 ~ ~ HIitlIens and note that the friends
| ~ t'ils OF mat resident were his guests
az New Years party, while it was
| ipC uncommon for delegations to wait
/ m me Governor or some prominent
on'clal' When General Simon Gamer
oh was alive and the legislators han
pehed TO be here for an opening day
Iane tne lrst OF the year they used to
make make formal call on him. The late
mayor Eby used to greet his friends
az ms Office on the morning of New
ear ana 1t was a custom of a num-
Der OF men who have since passed
away TO welcome their intimate friends
on the hrst day of the year.
The States new stock transfer tax,
Sa,n SS,ien Is stamp tax like that Uncle
| sam requires to be paid on notes and
! other things, is making the usual
| amount of trouble for the State au-
| thorities. About 100 letters a day are
peing answered on the subject. but the
! prize went to man who complained
| Ilat stamp taxes were becoming too
| numerous and that he could appre-
ciate the feelings of the fathers over
the stamp tax. Then he wanted TO
! hhoW' lnasmuch as Uncle Sam and
rathef Penn are both engaged in
stamp taxes, whether he could not use
| ieueral tax stamps for business and
! tIlus avoid having to get two sets of
stamps. The officials in charge used
d postage stamp to tell him not to be
so thrifty. The State wants its two
| cents and the government wants its
TWO cents, and the inquirer must go to
separate places and buy stamps.
Commission Clerk Gilbert TT. Hass-
| Ter was given new form of inquiry
the other day. He gets asked all kinds
| OF questions about the service of this
| or that official in days gone by and il is
| a common saying that when any de-
partment gets an inquiry it cannot
handle it sends it to the Secretary of
the commonwealth and then it lands
| on Hassler. The other day someone in
Kansas wrote for information about
an ancestor who had served in one of
the early wars and helped organize u
| county. The writer stated that he had
! been justice of the peace and asked
for his military record, his marriage,
the name of his wife and where he
| had lived prior to becoming famous.
Mr.. Hassler found his public service
and where he lived, but Father Penn
never specialized on genealogy and
statistics of marriages before the days
of State Librarian Montgomery and
Health Commissioner Dixon.
Each change in the theater of war
brings a demand for new maps, ac-
cording to a merchant who handles
such matters, and it is declared by him
that he has no end of trouble with
people who get mixed up on the spell
ing Of places. Some come around and
say that the map sold does not give
what they want when it is as plain as
day before them only spelled different
| from what they read in the newspa-
! pers. One man, said the merchant,
has been a regular map buyer. He
| traces the armies on map at his
home and uses up one a week.
| The proposed State society which it
! is intended to organize among the
heads of departments of the State
government will probably take shape
about the middle of next week when
conference will be held. 1t is likely
that the organization will have it's first
luncheon in February and the Gov
ernor will be the guest of honor. Later
on a dinner will be held, possibly in
Philadelphia.
Prof Eli NJ. Rapp, the new president
of the State Educational Association,
! is well known to many residents of
this city as he has frequently spoken
here. Mr.. Rapp will preside at the
sessions here ir December of next year
when in accordance with custom the
! teachers will have their biennial meet
| ing in Harrisburg.