Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1917-10-11
Errtttt,p Ulrat

patrof wagon, so intimately con-|
nected with the newspaper anG|
police work of the city for we'll niexl|
TWO decades, until the days when
1t reached a haven of rest as a tool
vehicle for street repairs seems to-
nave stirred up O good manv|
"reminiscences. The two last davs
many an incident has been told.
old police officers have recalled the
days when the wagon was a bsesI
FACTOR In police affairs and one man
SAID to-day, II don't think you ola
'iihe hewspapermen realize thvl
quieting effect of that old gong on
the wagon" While resentinp tn.
ciassification of age in newspaner
work the compilers of the "ps-
'roliad do admit that the peculiarlv|
penetrating clang of the gong never
uld seem particularly soothing on
1he angry murmur of the mob
iioweVer' those who "sing of horses
anu lhe wars of men and tbairI
nshts' can recall many a time wba,
the rushing of the white steeds and
the reVerberating sound of tha oiS
gong dld cause a crowd to give WV
ana men to stink back out of tbs
way, Whlie crowd has been known
70 melt at the appearance of a "con1|
stroiaiIy natroi When he hoped from a
! Tragedy and comedy were r,t-,|
IN the life of the old patrol waso,o
lluch as they are in the lives of hn
mans. one time there came
hurry CALI in the dead of vin+or
10 a remote section of Allison Hill
~ was Just after the Christmas holt
aays ana the officers who made tbe
UP IeIt the warmth and cheer Of
80, eeatloh' Where lunch of Christ
mas cake and other goodies had haan
spread, to respond to the "ambuIancaI
request' Their good humor went
WIN them and they laughed and re-
| lated Christmas experiences as tbaI
wagon crunched through the hard
frozen snow. But their lauphter|
suIheo tuti 10 tears when a heart-brokenI
Iatner carried from his home to theI
wasoh the cotton-swathe form of n
paDy girl terribly burned bv theI
candles that had set fire to har
| christmas tree. And all the wav fol
! pIe hospital the policemen silentlyI
prushed away their tears as tbeI
parent talked to and soothed the
llttie one, who two hours later was
TO breathe her last on a cot in the
chlldrens ward at the hospital. All
yes, the old patrol wagon could tell
q tale or two, had it a real tongue
=, one dark and dismal night. with
the rain falling in torrents, the pa
troll was called to State and short
streets. Someone had notified the|
pollce department that two men were
showing large quantities of jewelrvI
IN the back room of a hotel. TbeI
late Fred Erb, who was sergeant
WIN squad of officers and news-I
| paper reporter went to the hotel
The colored men were arrested and
placed in the patrol. In those 6avs|
there were no paved streets and on
| the way back to the police station
the patrol wagon stuck in the mud
.Iohn Hooker was driving and his
| horses had too heavy a load to get
! the wagon out of q big hole. Ser
| Seant Erb ordered the newspaper
man and two officers to get off theI
wagon. They obeyed the order andI
| down they went almost knee-deepI
into the mud. OF course there was
some cuSsing for a time, but it wasl
not safe to take the prisoners outl
OF the wagon. The reporter, how.
ever, struck it rich in a story by getE
ting out of that wagon. While mel
was tramping about in the mud heI
noticed white package drop fromI
the side OF the patrol. ThrustingI
his hand into the mud puddle heI
withdrew the package, which he|
carefully handled until the police|
station was reached. The package|
contained nearly $4,000 worth OIL
| tewelry which had been stolen from|
houses between Oil City and Pitts
burgh. The two men were convict
| ed and served time in the Western|
Penitentiary. The reporter was AL
star witness at the trial. having
traced the ownership of nearly aii|
of the stolen jewelry.
Captain Charles P. Meek comments
upon the fine work done by the
patrol crew and the team on the
morning of the terrible Lochiel
wreck in May, 1905. The wreck oc-
CURED shortly before o'clock in
the morning and the team made
twelve round trips from the scene
just below the Paxtang power plant
to the Harrisburg Hospital before
eight o'clock in the morning That
made thirty-six miles and Captain
Meek says that every time he saw
at full gallop. What the old wagon
did on that morning can probably
never be told.
Perhaps the most elaborate OBJ
.servance of Columbus Day was held
in 1892. 1t took place on October
Fl and attracted many people to-
Harrisburg because of the cere
monies and the big parade The
late William G. McFadden was the
chief marshal on that occasion and
the procession was one of the larg-
est in years.
1t is not generally known that
Auditor General Charles A. SnyderE
was the champion of the bill to es-
tablish Columbus Day and he fought
it through in the face of many dis
couragements. One bill was passed,
but something happened to it and
1T was necessary to pass a law two
years later which Incorporated
discovery Day" in the list of legal
holidays in Pennsylvania. Then i'll
was decreed to be a real day and
the observance hepan