Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1916-07-10
Ehrntttg Ulrat

Shortage of labor is causing big
fields of wheat throughout Pennsyl-
vania to go unharvested although
some of it is reported as dead ripe.
The lack of harvest hands is assuming
serious proportions in some parts of
the State and unless farmers can get
help one of the best crops known in
years will be affected. In some of the
counties the wheat has ripened rapid
ly in the last few days and as the hay
crop, which is a record-breaker, has
been coming on about the same time
the farmers have been going from
morning to night and have been send
ing calls for help from all sections.
The shortage of help" is blamed upon
the Industrial conditions which are
calling every man who wants a job
and to the fact that the supply of
foreign help is shut off. The military
situation in this country has not af-
fected many rural communities al
though there are a good many in
stances where farmer lads have
developed the Soldier fever" Color
ed harvest hands, who have been the
mainstay of many farmers in southern
and central counties for years, have
nearly all gone to the mills where
work is rushing and pay is large,
while the comparatively few foreign
ers who used to help and who knew
what to do on farms are also swallow
ell up in the industries. The farmers
have oeen calling upon the State EN-
ployment Bureau for help and while
g hn
other agencies it has been able to get
number of students places on farms
for the summer. But the labor situa-
ton IL the State remains in a more or
less serious condition as far as the
farmers are concerned and the fields
Of golden grain are just right for
cutting.
McCormick's island playground
camp in the not very distant future
may be little community of log
cabins instead of a summer town
built Of tents" One staunch little cabin
compactly of logs that were hewn,
young campers couple of years ago,
already forms the headquarters, as it
were, of the camp. phe tiny building
has easily withstood the ravages of
several winters floods and rushing ice
cakes. Incidentally it has proved a,
VI real refuge Ilnl6 or neaNY
rains or under such conditions as
make the life in tent not so desirable.
Playground Supervisor j. K. Staples
favors the erection of several of tho
cabins and has suggested that a new
one be built each summer, the con-
struction to be part of the daily
routine of the successive camping
classes.
Tennis players throughout the city
as well as in the surrounding towns
have welcomed enthusiastically the
decision of the Reservoir tennis com
mittee to make the annual tournament
on the park courts greater Harris
burg event so that the players in
towns within radius of twenty-five
miles of the city may be eligible. The
entrance cards, by the way, are being
prepared and within a few days they
can be had. The tournament will be-
gin August l and entries will be re-
ceived until July 27.
Taking advantage Of their first
summer half holiday, young men and
women employed in the downtown
stores, were to be found In large
numbers in canoes or swimming in
the river The islands opposite the
shore were dotted with the young
folks. Some of the best swimmers in
the city were found among the crowds
ard al of them weren't men by any
means.
Benjamin w. Demming, who recent
| ly retired as ruler of the Harrisburg
lodge of Elks, will not be able to at
tend the annual reunion of the Elks
of the United States at Baltimore this
week, although this year he is the
official representative of the lodge
The calling out of the National Guard
is to blame. Mr.. Demming is chief
clerk of the adjutant generals depart
ment and in charge of many details
connected with the States military
establishment. 1t will be impossible
for him to get away and he will miss
the first gathering of the kind in
years.
Colonel James S. Rogers. who was
formerly stationed here on recruiting
duty, is now colonel of the Eighteenth
infantry and is stationed along the
border in Arizona. Colonel Rogers
came here Immediately after service
in the Philippines.