Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1916-05-24
Ehrntttg Ol1at

Canoeists and others who take to
the river for business or sport watch
with interest the many caprices of the
Susquehanna. Not to be outdone by
the romantic Father of Waters" the
stream that flows past the city per-
forms many queer stunts with the
topography of the valley through
which it flows. Up opposite Marys-
vile few years ago was a large
island, the rendezvous of the towns
small boys who wished to swim and
the picnic ground of many of the
borough's families on a holiday. To-
DAY, due to a whim of the river. only
few struggling trees, leafless and
almost limbless and few stumps
sucking out of a sandbar, these are all
that remain. To the boy who onceE
caVorted in the cool water beneath the
IoVerhanging trees of the islands
banks, the spot is unrecognizable, save
Ior one huge trunk, once a towering
tree from the thick overhanging limbs
of which he plunged into the waters
pelow, but now a stark and gaunt
guardian above the whirling waters
that are slowly but surely undermine
ing its roots. 1t is only a question of
Few years, rivermen say, until this
list grim trunk will first sag, then
slowly give way to the streams pres
sure, topple and float hayward, a vic
tlm TO rivers whim. But while the
moody SuSquehanna is destroying one
place, it builds at another. over op-
poslte Hardscrabble there lies "a pair
OF squat islands known to canoeists
as Double Flats short distance
towards the Harrisburg shore is a
smaller island. Between the three,
a year ago, was deep channel
through which canoeists could drift or
paddle at will. To-day this channel is
almost impossible. Drifting sands
lshifted around by the Spring freshets.
nave clogged the stream and heaped
up DEBRIS to the low water level. Old
lrlVermen say that should the river not
ichange its capricious mind, or un-
usually high waters interfere, within
a lew years this sand bar will grow
shrubs will sprout and the islands
viii be one.
Although Lemoyne's paving propo-
sltlon was killed recently, progressive
residents of Bosler avenue are plan
hlng to put the Improvement through
lover the heads of those who refused
70 aftlX their signatures to the petit
uon' The street, which is one of the
main thoroughfares of the cross river
town is badly in need of Improvement
and the residents refused to have any
thing but pavement. The men who
refused to sign owned just a few feet
more than the progressive residents
VINO are anxious for the town to ad-
vance. 1t is a suppos1tion that it may
be possible for one of the prominent
men of the town to purchase one of
the lots, to enable the Improvement to
survive.
Fire Chief John C. Kinder is
rather busy man these DAYS. With
several companies partly out of SER
vice because of accidents in answer
ing false alarms. and few other
things to look after Chief Kinder
keeps his automobile humming from
morn til night. A lame horse at the
Camp Curtin company, electrical
equipment gone wrong at the Good
VIII, and trouble with the Friendship
apparatus are the worries of the daV
together with the nightly fear of some
more false alarms. The Chief, how
ever, turns up every morning with -
hearty Good morning" and doesn't
seem TO mind his daily troubles.
The sitting of the supreme court
here this month was one of the short
est held by the court in q long time.
The list was practically completed in
six hours of hearing of argument and
then the judges spent something over
two hours in consultation. The next
session Will be held here q year hences
The supreme court chamber is more
in use by the State Board of Pardons
than any other State body. The
Public Service commission uses il oc-
casionally. The appellate courts sit
here twice a year.