Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1916-10-07
BELIEVE COLLEAGUES
ARE "JOLLYING" GROSS

for second reading the discovery was
made that the balance which Mr.. Gross
thought he could use had already been
provided for in the budget way back
in December.
Mr.. Gross and Mr. Bowman locked
horns, figuratively speaking, when the
whole matter was threshed out last
Monday in an executive councilmanic
conference. Withdrawal of the ordi-
nance by Mr.. Gross followed-without
comment to ruffle the oily smoothness
cf the courcilmanic procedure.
Jollying Mr.. Gross
Then it developed that Commissioner
Gross in the opinion of municipal
circles. has been jollied along with the
belief that he is to have the balance of
$4,000 in the $4,000 fund set aside a
year OF two ago to pay the city's share
of the cost of paving half of Front
street north of Maclay.
The money, it is said. is available
and of late Mr.. Gross has been ten
tatively offered it; whether or not
Courcilmen are only teasing him is
matter of conjecture. Since it has be-
come known that the $4,000 in hiding
for a long time has been brought to
light, rumors have been persistently
current in city circles that Commits
sioner Lynch is now running a little
shy on street repair work. etc." And
the natural inference Is that MIR. Gross
will be kidded again.
All of which recalls to the memory
of city officials who knew anything
about the preparation of the 1916
budget how ex-Commissioner NJ. Har-
vey Taylor, Gross predecessor, had
tried to obtain several thousands more
for maintenance work. When Mr.. Tay-
lor had other Counoilmen practically
convinced. Mr.. Gross threw wrench
in the wheels, figuratively speaking,
with this observation:
Well, If can't get this additional
money why I guess we'll get along on
what we have"
Inclement weather has held up a lot
of the park work. it was admitted, but
even at that city circles generally have
wondered for months why Park Com
missioner Gross has not bent some of
his own energies toward getting some
of the necessary work accomplished.
No efforts have even been made to
prevent the ruthless destruction of
shrubbery on the slopes of the river
front or to guard the steps and river
wall from the stones of young vandals.
Planting the River Slopes
One important Improvement that
was accomplished along the river front
his year. however, was the filling in
with some 2,700 yards of earth south
OF Walnut street and the planting of
the new "filI with grass and grain.
The scheme was worked out. however,
by Assistant Superintendent Forrer.
While City Forester Gipple has
made all the showing an official with
out cent to spend could be expected
to make, the failure of the park de-
partment to give some urgent attention
to trees throughout Harrisburg has
been matter of comment. Council
, provided Mr.. Gipple a position. gave
him a salary of 900 with a tentative
promise, of course. of an increase If
he made good"-and then didn't give
him cent for running expenses with
which to make good. Lack of funds
to even try to make a showing outside
of census taking, nursery work and
some tree work in the parks has been
q subject for some quiet cussing on the
| forester's part. it is said.
The Expense Problems
| Against Mr.. Gross extraordinary
demand for additional money to COM
plete this years operating expense city
officials compare what was done by the
Park Commissioners predecessor
Park Commissioner Gross frequently
nointed out that he received $4,000
| less for maintenance this year than did
Mr.. Taylor last year. This has been
more than made up. however. by the
fact that Mr.. Taylor spent $4,000 on
the city forestry department, built new
| h~t a.