Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1916-02-07
Ehrntng Chat

days while in Albert NJ. Hamer's Office
look in surprise at his Prose Smnr
Book" Mr.. Hamer, who is secretar,.
to Mayor e. s. Meals, just "sinile~
quizzically, and invites the curious
ones to take look.
The Smile" book is filled with "a,
kinds of newspaper clippings frot..
political stories of years gone by. TO
accurate and intelligent bits of in
formation about the latest inventions.
lnterspersed with all this information
are humorous cartoons, Clipped from
the newspapers also. Mr. Hamer
brought the book there "just to help
aInuse the visitors when things get
TOO quiet. He has another book which
contains only cartoons and pictures
also clipped during the last few years.
The Introduction of an ordinance i'm
Steelton's borough council granting
permission to the Pennsylvania rail
road to construct a new freight spur
in the bed of the old PENNSYLVANIA
canal through the borough, recalls the
days when this old waterway was one
of the principal means of transporta-
ton from the coal regions to tide
water.
There was time, and it isn't beyond
l.
est residents, when the canal was the
scene of as much hustle and hustle as
the railroad yards hereabouts now are
in comparison, of course, to the
growth of business due to the eXpan-
sion of the country.
Slowly but surely the canal is pass
ing INTO history and soon the old ia
mlliar scenes of the now abandoned
waterway will be no more. 1t is only
a rev years ago that the waterway
was filled north of the city as far as
Rockville and a storage track built
thereon by the railroad company. A
short time later the raising of tracks
between Middletown and Highspire
wiped out traces of the canal from
the lower end towns to Steelton-and
now 1T is to be filled from this city to
the steel borough. Only a short sec
uon used as Il storage reservoir by the
Pennsylvania Steel company will re-
main.
From Middletown a part of tho
canal ran due east. A large part of
this is now partly filled and under cul-
uVauon by farmers and but slight
traces of the old waterway still re-
main even in this rural section.
Friends of j. Clarence Funk, attor-
ney in the Telegraph building. are
pouring in congratulations for his ap-
pointment by Federal Judge Charles
+. Wilmer as clerk of the Federal
court for the Middle district.
Mr.. Funk is widely known through
out the city, having been formerly
president of the Society for the Pre-
vention of Cruelty to Animals and
former federal attorney. AS Cruelty
Society president, Mr.. Funk did eN-
cellent work and many prosecutions
were brought during his administra-
tion. AS the governments white slave
U 1, q, -. 4 -
/ er plane and prevented unspeakable
crimes because of his watchfulness of
conditions.
When the question of who was to be
who on Mayor Meals police and detec-
tive force was the chief topic of dis
cussion i'm city and police circles, en-
City Detective John Welsh was spoken
of as possible candidate. Friends of
Mr. Welsh were more than surprised |
when he did not get the job. Mr..
Welsh himself seemed astonished, too,
although he took the disappointment
with characteristic good nature. SinceV
then Jack" has been able to get some
fun out of it; he made it the butt OF
real old-fashioned Jack" Welsh bit OF
wit the other day. The eX-detective
is becoming q trifle stout and friend
commented thereon:
MY Jack" but you're getting fat"
ne exclaimed.
YES" returned Mr. Welsh, dryly,
but that's about all I am getting!"
! Within the next week or ten days
Courthouse Custodian Charley Pet
ers will have finished "house cleaning"
at the county building. For more
than a fortnight he has had a busy
corps of assistants scrubbing, mop
| ping, scraping and sweeping while car
penters, painters and paperhangers
have been equally busy renovating
some of the rooms. Were finishing
up, now" commented the new custo-
dian, land we'll be done during the
next week or so. My, this building
surely needed a little cleaning" added
I"Charley" And if you drop into any
of the county or city offices in the
courthouse these days you can easily
| learn how well Mr.. Peters efforts have
been appreciated.
The city police will appear soon
with new caps and overcoats selected
by the new administration officials
The badge on the cap consists of the
coat of arms of the State over the
number of the officer. Mayor T.. S.
Meals said that he had intended at
first to have the coat of arms of the
city on the badge, but found the eN-
pense too great. The Mayor says he
is economic, beginning right up at the
top of his tallest officer and extending
all the way down.