Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1916-07-24
Ehfntng Ghat


like the trolley service of the Harris
burg Railways Company are being
brought back to good many people
these troublous days when they are
taking to the railroads. Trains touch
ing Steelton, Lucknow, Rockville. Pax
tang, Hummelstown and other places
which have long enjoyed trolley serv-
Ice nave suddenly become popular
again and conductors have to stock I'D
with pennies before starting in order
to meet the demands for odd rates of
rare to and from suburban places.
Some idea of the extent to which su)AlA
urban train traffic has revived can be
gained by watching the crowds about
tne gates FOR local trains. Maclay
street station shows what a strike can
do because few people would think in
ordinary times of boarding a train at
tnat station to ride to Union station or
or COINS to the Market street station
TO ride to Maclay street. Incidentally.
PaXtang is on the railroad map again,
although the stopping place is only a
mound beside the subway, and Boyd
station has come to life again. The
Readings Steelton trains are now COM
ing to the city with stops at streets
which were abandoned as stations a
long time ago. The sale of tickets TO
Lucknow and Rockville has Jumped.
as has the Maclay street traffic, and
the Pennsylvania is selling more tickets
to and from Steelton than it has for
years. The two railroads have met the
Increased traffic with little trouble and
bid fair to hold some of it,
Some pretty funny jitneys arc Offer
ing their services for transportation
Just now, including some which in the
interest of public safety should be rele-
gated to a motor vehicle morgue at an
early day, just as some drivers should
pass examination as to their knowl-
edge of how to operate a car or what
constitutes safe and decent crowding.
Ihere are motor trucks which give the
| average person the same considerate
riding as they would a bar of pig iron
and some delivery wagons in which
people are housed up like the unfortu-
mates who have to ride in the Police
DEPARTMENTS BLACK Maria" But the
funniest sight of all are those bathtub
arrangements hooked to a motorcycle
which are rather popular. One went
around town Saturday night with this
big sign across the back of it:
JITNEY FOR ALL PARTS OF TOWN
1t might be remarked in passing that
some of the men who are in the jitnev
business and have feeling for the suf-
| fering public are making a hit by
honesty. Some of the cars Offering
themselves for business are placardedd
with a big sc. Others are COM
mencing to display signs such as 80
cents to Steelton" or "5 cents to Broad
street" Another man has put out
sign Ten cents to all parts of the
Hill" These men and others who have
| regular rate cards penciled out are de-
serving of more consideration than the
| robbers who are holding up women for
a quarter and jamming them into cars
already overcrowded. Unfortunately,
the men in the latter class are going
without any effort to check them on
the part of police officials and it is
only a question of time until someone
will get into row over an attempt to
gouge. 1t would be a comparatively
| easy matter for police control of a
man who overcharges because all that
| is needed is the license numbe to
round him up. But this is the time of
the harvest for some jitney owners and
they probably think that some police
officers of Harrisburg have done such
| peculiar things the last week that fail
ure to regulate the jitney robbers will
not matter much in the long run.
Saturday night in Market, Third
and Fourth streets will probably be
remembered as the worst congested
| in long time. Automobiles by the
score and people by the thousands
| jammed the streets and officers were
| all but worn cut trying to keep the
| traffic flowing In the proper directions.
That it was efficiently done was demon
strated by the lack of accidents. The
! traffic men probably felt that they
were on their mettle because of the
general criticism of the police force in
! failing to curb disorder early in the
week and the trying duty of standing
in the middle Of the street hour after
| hour keeping order in confusion, was
| creditable to the men who did it. Just
why they did rot have orders to limit
! iitneys to safe numbers of passengers,
which they could have done as we'll as
make the drivers move properly, is one
of the problems which it is too hot to
consider now. Figuring out what
Mr.. Jiggs is going to do next in
Bringing Up Father" is easy COM
pared to finding plausible reasons for
some performances of certain police
officials the last week.
There have been summer days in
! times gone by when POLICEMEN went
out in boats to round up boys swim
ming on Sunday afternoons and when
the people who walked up and down
the River Front exclaimed in horror at
the white figures of swimmers. Now
| adays a good many of the people who
used to walk along the River Front go
out in boats and take dips themselves
Conditions and viewpoints change even
in Harrisburg and the way in which
| the river and its delightful amuse-
ments are now considered would shock
some of the folks who tried to regulate
things twenty years ago. Some of
these days the mountains above the
| city will be regarded as Nature in
| tended they should and will be under
municipal control, having roads and
paths and affording delightful places
for a ramble, a picnic or for Just plain
| contemplation Of one of the finest
river valleys in the land.
Captain James B. Kemper, now
Iieutenant-colonel of the Eighth
Pennsylvania, was given best wishes in
teIegrams, by friends to-day, as he
starts for FL Paso tonight.