Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-04-22
Ehrtttttg Ul1at

1t only takes a few trips about
the city, and Harrisburg has ex-
panded good bit both as to length
and breadth in the last few years.
to surprise the average dweller here
with the numerous fruit trees in
town. The development of the war
gardens" last year amazed many
Harrisburgers, but the cultivation of
vacant plots such as is to be seen
on the outlying portions of Cameron,
Derry, Second, Third, Sixth and
other streets this year, is really moth
ing compared to the gardens that
have been planted in backyards and
1t is only when the fruit trees are in
bloom that some idea is gained as
to the number that survive the-early
days. Many of these trees are ten,
twelve. fifteen, maybe more years1
old. Some of them started from
slips from still older trees which
were set out a long time ago in Har-
risburg because fifty years ago when
! Harrisburg was a rather overgrown
| village every house had it's yard and
competition in fruit raised, especially
cherries and peaches, was as keen as
| is now the rivalry for the largest
ear of corn or the biggest tomato
raised in block or in a parcel of
| land devoted to war gardening"
| There are still some patriarchs
among fruit trees about the older
part of Harrisburg. trees whose
| choicest yields were won't to be
! shown with pride and even put in
| the window of the grocery store. But
that was a long time ago when We
knew who had the prize fruit trees
up in the big part of town we used
| to know as the Sixth ward or out
on the "Hill" when Nineteenth street
was away out. Fortunately, Harris
burg people are commencing to real
! ize that the men who twelve years
ago were urging that houses be built
with a little ground to the sides and
to the back of them, and little in
front, too, would be better for health
and appearances, knew what they
were talking about and some of the
yard is being used for gardening
when it comes in mighty handy,
while fruit trees are being planted
more than ever: The fruit tree is
certainly not showing any signs of
dying out in Harrisburg.
But If we still have fruit trees
that yield res' old-time fruit we do
not have those fire big shad that
used to adorn every table about this
time of the year. Ed Halbert, who
is a Fifth warder still. was talking
the other day about the old shad
days. Nowadays you pay for ono
roe what we used to pay for whole
fish," said he. And then he recalled
the days when the boys, who were
always good buyers, used to be sent
out with half dollar and told to
make a bargain for a fine roe shad.
i AS it was part of the code that all
left above the purchase, provided the
fish filled the bill, was to be COM
mission. the bargains were generally
good. Until the McCall's Ferry dam
spread it's bulk across the Susque-
hanna and did what experts testified
in court that it would never do. shad
fishing used to be big matter
around here. For a long time the
Columbia dam kept the fish down
! the river and we used to go to the
cars down along the old canal for the
fish. but when the dam went away
shad began to come up and there
were fine batteries around McCor-
micks Hess and other islands.
Some shad were even caught up
around independence Island, but
they did not like the drainage from
the city and kept mainly to the Cum
berland side of the stream.
| S......r- ..s.s s...,. .......-
"I do not think that the signifi-
canoe of the patriotic services held in
every house of worship in Harris
blrg yesterday struck the average
resident of this city, but I think 1t
is one of the signs of an awakening
that is going to leave an impress
upon our life here" said man ac-
tive in religious movements yester-
day. when you consider that prac-
tically every church in Harrisburg
gave over it's services yesterday to
services in which Christian patriot
ism was the paramount thought II
is remarkable. The prayers, the
sermons and the singing were all
elevating. This is a patriotic COM
munity, but it needs to be aroused:
The churches are going to do 1t L
think"
Hardly a day passes but what
strings of automobiles pass through
Harrisburg on their way to some
eastern city. 1nese cars are run IN
punches of anywhere from SIX TO
thirty-six and the sight of car after
car speeding along all of the same
pattern, all mud spattered and all
giving an air of having no time TO
Iinger is an interesting one. If Har-
risburg only stirred itself 1t could
get some of the trains of Army trucks
that pass over the Lincoln highway
and through Chambersburg to come
down the William Penn highway ana
give us sight of the means by Whlch