Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1917-06-12
Ehrntttg Ul1at

present General Assembly there has
peen little to attract more attention
tnan that pertaining to third class
oiues' the municipalities having less
'han 100000 population which have
sraouated from the borough stage.
Ahere are now something like thirty
one such municipalities not counting
IN the Bethlehems. which will vote
next month on the proposition to
make one city out of two which
would become such cities next lam
uary. Butler and Duouesne have
voted TO get out of the borough list
In January and Beaver Fails NAV
make another try. Warren also has
the bee. Norristown, Chambersburg.
Shamokin, Sunbury, Mt Carmel and
NUMBER OF the other large bor-
oughs are also considering plans for
another try. In this connection Il
is interesting to note how sentiment
changes. Now the desire is for home
rule in the municipalities, for the
enactment of law elastic enough to
meet local conditions. but at the
same time to conform to a general
state standard. What suits Read
Ing, Wilkes-Barre, Harrisburg and
other large cities of the class does
not suit Oil City, Lock Haven and
Others. But prior to the passage of
the constitution of 1873 the cities
were all governed by their own char
ters. And when the constitution was
ratified they all gave up their char
ters except the canny Lancaster
| folks who are continuing to operase
under a charter granted in 1918.
| The only other city that had a char
| ter which has hung on to 1t, al
though 1t is but q shadow of a city
Is Parker City, q great oil town in
Its day, but which waned with the
passing of oil drilling in its vicinity.
Reading was the first to give up its
charter, surrendering on July s,
1874, and then came our own fair
city which handed back to the Com
monwealth its grant of privileges
and accepted the constitutional form
of government on August 25 of the
same year. Wilkes-Barre did not sur
render its charter until 1898, Monon-
| gahela in 1912 and Lock Haven as
| late as 1913. Four cities, Bradford,
Lebanon, York and Easton were in
| corporated under the act of 1874,
and Johnstown, McKeesport, Hazle-
ton and Pittston under the act of
| 1889, while Pottsville and Connells-
willie came under the act of 1911 and
| Uniontown and Dubois by the pro-
| visions of the law of 1913. The
Bethlehems had trouble getting into
the third class as one election in
| South Bethlehem was declared void
while Beaver Falls lost out entirely.
Malachi Sheahan, a member of an
old Harrisburg family who was for
years stationed at Governors Island
| in the offices of the Department of
| the East, has been commissioned as
a captain in the Quartermaster's De-
partment of the army and is now
| stationed at Hoboken where he is in
charge of important work at the
North German Lloyd docks. Captain
Sheahan will have considerable to
| do with the fitting out of the liners
for United States service.
An interesting fact in connection
with the big battleship Pennsylvania,
which was reported sunk, torpedoed.
| rammed, blown up, snapshotted,
photographed and embalmed in a
movie" film all within four days
last week, is that 1t is Just a year
| ago to-day since the huge warship
was commissioned as a part of Uncle
Sans navy. Incidentally the Penn
sylvania Is safe and sound notwith-
standing the rumor mongers.
General ]. J. Pershing, who is in
| England preparing for the part the
| United States army is to take in the
war, is nothing IL not a civilizer.
| There are officers who tell of how
soon after he had pacified the Moro
| country he had q country club estab-
.lished for the officers and their fam
lilies.
Owners of small automobiles are
sitting up and taking notice of the
| legislation pending to readjust the
| The small
have been playing s. licenses for a
long time, but the new bills will
cause considerable difference to the
owners of lighter cars. And they are
becoming vocal in their protests.
Announcement that the truck COM
pany of the supply train of the divi-
| sion of the National Guard would be
! formed here, will give this city still
! another unit of the organized mill
| tia outside of the reserve medical
| units, the hospitals and the other or
ganizations which will go from Har-
risburg into service. There are now
| two lettered companies, the head
quarters, supply and machine gun
companies as we'll as headquarters
and the band of the Eighth infantry
here and Troop G of the First cav
airy, the Governors Troop. In addi-
ton some Harrisburg men are going
into other commands of the Eighth
in order to get Colonel Finney's regt-
ment up to the war strength.
Thomas e. Orr. connected with
the Philadelphia office of the Public
Safety Committee. who was here
yesterday in connection with the
plans of the committee to stimulate
recruiting, did newspaper work here
during the strenuous times of the
Capitol investigation. He was then
connected with the Philadelphia
Evening Bulletin.
Among recent visitors to the city
was Walter L. Hill, a Scranton
lawyer, who had a case before the
Public Service Commission. He isS
son of David Jayne Hill, former
Ambassador to Germany.