Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1917-10-12
Et1rt1tt1p Glrat

department of Forestry, that the
owners of forest and woodland in
upper Dauphin County, get into
loucn with the forest protective as
soclaton organized in the anthracite
held. Mr.. Writ, who was trained by
commissioner Conklin in forestry
work, has been working to cut down
tho appalling fire losses in the
woods of Pennsylvania for years and
the Dig coal companies have Joined
hands with the state so that parts
of Schuylkill County where land has
for years been bare of trees and
subject to the erosion of weather
ana storms, is now being planted
! with trees, while other areas are
being protected with a care that is
somewhat astonishing to a person
who has been over that section OF
the state in bygone years and re-
calls what it used to be like. The
coal companies are sure of mine
props and water. The state is as
sured OF conservation of water and
SOIL and the public saved from a nIi-
sance In the form of periodical fires.
in the upper end of Dauphin County
/ there are large coal company hold
lngs and the eastern townships of
this county have many tracts of
valuable woodland. These woods
like those in the upper part of the
| county, are the sources of our own
! Paxton creek and the streams which
run down to the wide branching Sus-
quehanna. The suggestion that Dau-
| phln county forest owners, and thew
control many thousand acres, get into
| touch with the people who are MAX
ing Schuylkill hills green again is
worth while. The example will slim
ulate farmers and others who need
| or love the woods. And when il
comes to scenic features old Dauphin
| County is worth while.
The average resident of this colln-
tw who has the means to travel or to
own an automobile probably knows
more about the beauties of the upper
Delaware, the Rangeley Lakes, the
Adirondacks Sullivan County or the
| Whlte Mountains than of the splen-
uid scenery of our own county. One
reason is because it is home" and
we OF Harrisburg are prone to travel
eastward by rail instead of going
north into the glories of the hills
and val lleys by foot or gasoline. What
tne man who has time to take O days
ride should do is to take the Read
lhSs line to Auburn. Many people
90 not know where that line goes.
1t IS the Schuylkill and Susquehanna
ana 1t takes you up or down the
stony Creek valley. This railroad
now has the New England scenery
packed off the map. The valley is
historic. 1t was the site of old Vic
torla furnace and Glendale forge.
established by the Bayards a century
ago And it is beautiful. In spring
thefe are laurelS. In fall holly trees.
The woods are full of evergreens.
There are the ice dams, whence we
get our ice, and they look like little
lakes. But this valley is only one
OF several. Old Dauphin can show
you scenery that will make you glad
you live in its limits and wonder why
you never saw it before.
"One of the pleasures of CAM
patgning," said a newspa perman who
has been up and down the county a
great deal in recent years with
county candidates on their pre-elec-
ton rounds" is the ride from Har-
rlSburg to the, upper end of the
county - Elizabethville, Gratz or
Lykens, for example. The whole
journey is one constant and ever
changing delight to the eye. The
drive up the river roads gradually
| develops the low lying mountains
from streaks of blue to the high hills
| they are covered with the vivid
hues of the woods in their autumhal
dress. That brings one to Dauphin
farms keep one pleasantly occupied
until Halifax is reached. From there,
If it is the upper end of the Lykens
| Valley for which one is headed, usu-
ally he motors back through Fisher
vile, along which road he gets sew
eral fine panoramic views of farm
and forest spread far to the South
and East as his machine steadily
climbs toward the famous Mountain
House halfway over to Elizabethville.
The view is magnificent from the
! Mountain House, but from there far
! beyond the summit and dipping
down well toward Elizabethville,
through the fine young apple or
chards of County Recorder James f.
LentZ, the traveller gets his real idea
| of the beauties of the upper end.
The roads wind down the mountain
side between the trees which open
now and again to give the spectator
| glimpses of far reaches of luXuriant
! farm land, spread away to the noun
tains that bound the valley on its
! northern side, with Elizabethville
| lying like a checkerboard at his feet
and Berrysburg, Gratz and other
| towns looming up in the distance.
| The roads are good and the trip
| is safe, except in wet weather. The
wonder is that more people do not
| take it,"
|
Another wonderful view is to be
had from the roof garden of the Ma
sonic lodgeroomS at Millersburg.
The Masons have their headquarters
in the Brubaker building, itself a
| monument to its progressive builder
! and n great credit to a. town the
| size of Millersburg, and they have all
| the magnificent appointments of
metropolitan club. Naturally the
Masons are proud of their home but
prouder by far are they of the view
to be had from their roof garden,
which overlooks the Susquehanna
! River for miles to the North and
South and from ten to twelve miles
! of the adjacent country. 1t is safe
to say that no other Masonic lodge
in Pennsylvania has anything like
the wonderful situation that the Mil
lersburg lodge has and it is to be
member will see to it that a huge
painting of the landscape is made q
part of the state museum at Harris
burg. Certainly it would be an or
nament to the Capitol and great
advertisement for Millersburg.
j. Horace Mcfarland, the nature
lover, traveller and author, once took
some Harrisburg people on a motor
trip to see scenery up the state. It
was fine and the party enjoyed 1t.
Some one in the group remarked
that it was hard to beat. YES" re-
TliaH Mr. y N