Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-03-22
Ehrntttg Chat

injured py the explosion at one or
the Paxton furnaces of the Central
Iron and Steel Companys plant the
other day must have been impressed
by the fact that so many of the
workers mentioned gave residences
outside of Harrisburg. The accident
was remarkable one in that no one
was really seriously hurt. Gener-
ally when blast furnace gets bad
it causes much damage and cas-
ualty list results. In this case the
| furnace seems to have had some in
| digestion and while it caught a doz-
| en- or more men none was badly hurt
But the interesting thing about the
| accident was that of a dozen men
| fiVe lived outside of Harrisburg AS
rule the men who work in Harris
burg iron and steel establishments
| live in this city. In this list one man
| lived in Steelton, another at Lochiel
one at Enola, another at Penbrook
and another in the county outside of
any borough. 1t is a commentary
| upon the way men are commencing
to scatter about the city. Men who
work at Steelton live in a score or
more communities in this section,
some of them as far up as Lucknow
and as far out as Hummelstown,
while many live in Cumberland coun-
ty and some in. the upper end of
York county.
The blasting season is on in full
force just at present and there must
be tremendous amount of stone be-
ing used in this section, judging from
the rapid fire practice heard in the
mornings. 1t used to be the custom
to fire the shots" in the evenings
so that things would be ready for
work in the morning. Now to 0
o'clock in the morning seems to be
about the time to fire all along, the
hills from Highspire to Hummels-
town. The firing sounds like a bonn
bardment or practice with big guns
far away.
The Rev. c. d. Rishel, pastor of
South Enola and Mechanicsburg
churches, bids fair to rival Henry
w. Shoemaker as writer on sub
jects having to do with the history
of Pennsylvania. His latest boon,
''Which-Barbara or the Indian?" is
meeting with a ready sale. 1t is an
eXciting story of Benjamin Brown
and his sweetheart, Barbara Elder,
and the scene is laid in Morrison's
Cove, Bedford county, during the
perilous period of 1776-S2, when the
Indians made frequent raids down
the Kittanning Path, where now is
the famous horseshoe bend of the
Pennsylvania railroad. During these
raids the Indians murdered, scalped
and plundered., Young Brown was
a conscientious objector" and did
not believe in the use of force under
any circumstances, but when the
great test came and his sweetheart
was under the scalping knife of
big buck Indian, Brown let go with
the Indians own rifle and shot the
savage in the hand. There is no
telling what else he would have
done had not the Indian decided to
run away. The story is replete with
historical data and the element of
peace at any price" and the final
sad fate of pacific scruples in the
final trial make the story very ap-
plicable to present-day conditions.
The writer is also the author of THE
Life and Adventures of David Lew
is" and of many other books and
short stories. Also he has given the
government some pointers recently
on combating the submarine and
has been in correspondence with the
Navy Department on this subject for
some time.
The State Forestry Department
the labor famine other employers
are complaining about. Not long
ago the department put out small
newspaper item to the effect that
800 men were needed for the spring
planting camps. The item brought
responses to the number of $50 from
men. who wanted to enter the state
service, of which SIS were from this
state. With the men at hand it
| hn 90 fn q fnrra
900 if necessary. OF course the
outdoor life in the woods may have
had something to do with the gen.
erous responses, but the pay is not
so large as to induce man to leave
steady employment for this tempor-
airy work.
Residents along Derry street, es-
pecially west of Twenty-fourth are
inclined to sleep with buckets of
water and old brooms handy because
the Reading railroad engines have a
habit of throwing sparks around
mighty careless like. The grass and
brush along the railroad right of way
is dry and the sparks start fires in
the lots and fields. In the last few
weeks there have been numerous
fires which have crept close TO
buildings and fences and people
have been called out many times to
fight flames when too close for COM
} fort. On one occasion the Royal
fire company had to turn out to save
garage. The railroad men say they
can't help it.
The early man gets the dandelion
appears to be the rule this year as
aiways because up on the lots in the
Tc. h ward men are out hunting the
tender stalks of the weed which is
so much priced when cooked with
a little bacon and vinegar dressing.
1t is a little early for dandelion, but
from all accounts the unusual wea-
ther has brought it out amazingly.
Friends of c. e. Fritcher, the stat
ute clerk at the State Department
and one of the best-posted men in
PENNSYLVANIA on the laws and the
way they are made, will be glad to
r know that he is recovering rapidly
and will soon be able to be back at
his desk. Mr.. F'ritcher is missed at
the Capitol. 3