Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-08-09
Enfntug Glrat

Edward Wilson, one of the Har-
risburg young men who have gone
out and made good. was in Harris
purg yesterday on work for the State
Board OF Public Charities, of which
he is special agent, and told some
interesting accounts of the way cities
and counties are utilizing short-term
prisoners to relieve the labor situa-
ton. The labor shortage is seri-
Gus, far more SO than many people
realize, and we will commence to feel
1t more and more" said Mr.. Wilson.
| Now what we are trying to do is to
get the prison authorities to make
inmates work instead of being kept
in prison. They can thus be useful
and earn at the same time" Mr..
Wilson discussed the matter with
Mayor Daniel L. Keister while here
and also took up the subject with
Warden William A. McIlhenny at the
Dauphin County Prison. "Dauphin
county has made start with pris-
oners and inmates at the county
farms at the Almshouse. All you
have to do is to look at the way they
harvested" said he. 'The point is
that the warden can put men out in
charge of certain persons who are
bound to see that they return when
wanted. The whole matter Is one
for the prison authorities and the
intent of the legislation was to re-
lieve the labor situation Suppose
men could be sent from the prison.
to help fix up roads in the county,"
Mr.. Wilson said that in Bloomsbury
prisoners were used to unload coal
and made more money than they
had in years as well as performing a.
service which was much appreciated.
In Wilkes-Barre they chopped up
ties and the money went to the Red
Cross, while in Williamsport they
have worked on streets In Reading
men were needed on some hurry
up work at an electric plant which!
supplied the whole community. Men
could not be had. but they were sent
from the prison and they did excel
lent work and were we'll paid. Il
understand that In Williamsport the
men did not come back to the JAIL
he concluded. 1.-The man in charge
gave them meal tickets and a place
to sleep and saw that they worked
And then they were paid. What
some of the people in prisons need
is chance to work with some one
to make them take the chance. This
is the time to try it, when every pair
of hands has place waiting for the
owner"
Major William G. Murdock. who
met Secretary of Labor William 3.
Wilson in the middle of the hottest
part of yesterday afternoon in Mar
ket street, remarked that he and the
Q labor member of the Presidential
Cabinet always seemed to meet up
( when the weatherman was doing
business. "The first ever met the
Z Secretary, who comes from UP my
way, was on a broiling hot afternoon
at Williamsport. We were together
e. TTyI. r 80 Al
very, very cold day in Washington
and then ran up against him one
day in Philadelphia when 1t was
. raining cats and dogs and no one
could go out. And now I meet him
when the weather is around 100 de-
fgrees."
q P. D. Calhoun, the Western Un-
ions wireman in these parts, is
@ sleeping with one ear open these
days. Mr.. Calhoun has to keep the
o lines in shape and this is the season
of the year when the thunderstorms
o are sudden, numerous and severe.
Often things will be nice and hot,
; such as we have been having the
last few days. and there will be a
glorious sunset and then about mid
night a storm that will have SUI
perabundance of lightning and trou-
BILE for every one having to do with
wires Between wind and lightning,
things are apt to be strenuous for
linemen at any hour these days
If Ex-Mayor Maurice c. Eby were
living, he would be getting after men
who drive horses over asphalt
streets these hot days without pro-
tecting their heads. There are not
as many horses to be seen in Mar
ket and Third streets these days.
but it does seem hard to see the
animals going through the blistering
heat without even handful OF
leaves to shade their heads. The
old horse sunbonnet ought to come
back again.
'Tf the war lasts many months
longer, we will not have any but
girl elevator operators. There are
not many men running elevators now
and they will be less in a few weeks"
said a man interested in building OPP
erations to-day. "There are girl ele-
vator operators in a number of build
ings and colored girl operators, too.
They all do very we'll, am told. and
are alert and obliging. We have not
vet come to the women on street.
cars, but the women jitney operators
who have been in the streets are
sign of what may come"
|
Sergeant Philip German. who will
be in charge of the scorers at the
Mount Gretna rifle matches next
week, has a record of over quarter
of a century connected with military
organizations here and is one of the
men active in expanding the old City
, Grays Association as an organization
to have handy in case of need. Mr..
German has been in touch with over
100 of the former members and Is
I. planning to have them uniformed
and armed.
]. o. Hauser, of the Philadelphia
q Press, formerly connected with the
q State Department of Health, was
among visitors to Harrisburg yester-
day He was at the Capitol, where
he met a number of old friends.
: WELL. KNOWN PEOPLE