Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-04-04
Eurttttg Ollat

gether with big corporations ana
railroads, plan to rid the munitions
and shipbuilding district OF the
Delaware below Philadelphia of
mosquitoes. have not only attracted
i wide attention, but recall that the
late DIR. Samuel G. Dixon, when COM
missioner of Health, urged that Har
| risburg adopt means to get rid OF
the pests. In this line of work, Just
as in the proposed municipal sew
age disposal plant, DIR. Dixon want
ed the State Capitol to set the pace
for the rest Of the state. Unfor-
tunately, lack of local support pre-
vented much being done here. DR..
Dixon, was of the opinion thatga
! comparatively small expenditure
! would have rid Harrisburg OF the
| "skeeters" that come around in
summer time. In his walks about
| the city, the commissioner located a
number of ponds, shallow places in
| the Susquehanna and spots along
the Paxton and other creeks which
were favorable to breeding. Once
they were eliminated, said he, the
chances of Harrisburg being annoy
ed would be reduced. DR.. Dixon did
not think that the Susquehanna was
the big source of mosquitoes here.
| He thought that the ponds and
swamps and similar places about
Harrisburg We're to blame. In the
big suburban Philadelphia operation
refuse of powder plants VIII be used.
which will materially cut down the
cost. On the success of this expert
ment will depend similar moves
about the state and possibly Harris
burg.
Captain Harrie A. Douglas, of the
quartermasters construction bureau.
United States Army. is now n full
fledged commissioned officer. He ap
peared in uniform to-day. Captain
Douglas has been assigned to duty
with Major William Il. Gray, i'll
charge of the government work in
this vicinity. Captain Douglas was
formerly connected with the State
Highway Department. This is not
the first time he has been associated
with Major Gray. When the latter
was chief engineer, and director gen.
eral for Contractors Kerbaugh and
Company, directing the construc-
ton of the Rockville bridge, Marys-
vile and Enola yards and the low
grade line of the PennSy, Harrie
Douglas was disbursing officer, and
, in charge of other important work
He is the one person. who in a very
short time, can tell how much stone,
concrete, steel reinforcements, Gin
der and other material were used in
the construction of the Rockville
bridge. He still has the records in
! his possession. He can also give the
number of rails, ties, spikes, and
amount of ballast used in building
) the low grade line from Enola to
Shocks Mill bridge, crossing the
SusQuehanna river. Captain Doug
las is considered a valuable acquisi-
ton to Major Gray's forces.
In the opinion of f. S. Stevens, the
agricultural expert of the State
. Chamber of Commerce, the farmers
of Pennsylvania will not fall down
, in raising of potatoes this year. Mt
stevens was at Allentown where he
, addressed a big meeting and he also
got among the farmers in that coun-
, tvs famous potato belt, where he is
we'll known. "The farmers are in
terested in the prices of course, but
do not think there is anything to
? the stories that they contemplate
I abandoning potatoes" said he.
One of the funniest of the stories
r which are coming to ear about the
experiences of Harrisburg people
with the daylight saving was told
, last evening to a group of hilariously
unsympathetic men. This man 1t
, the idea that the saving plan meant
: turning the clock back. He did so
=, when the whistles blew, but he did
/, not tell his wife that he had done so.
, although he had carefully explained
: his theory earlier in the day. Sun
:. day morning Mrs. Wife turned the
clock back herself. The family then
, proceeded to run on a schedule three
hours late.
DR.. Sheldon w. Funk, the Boyer
town fruit expert, who is well known
here because of the frequent ad-
dresses he has made in this section,
has written an article for the Penn
lsylvania Farmer on pruning, in
which the veteran grower makes
some observations which are well
worth reading just now, when the
annual tree cutting frenzy is upon
people. 1t is also interesting be-
cause of the characteristic way in
which the fruit grower says experts
are not needed. This is what he
says: MY experience has been that
the ordinary pruner spends twice as
much time considering what should
come out as he does in the actual
cutting This is where nine out of
every ten growers get into trouble.
They cut away at their young trees
for several years without any fixed
idea as to what the tree should look
like, and all at once they are simply
up against a stone wall and do not
know how to proceed. In other
words, they have a tree that the or
binary man can no longer handle
and an expert is required to start
it over again. We do not want trees
that require an expert, but trees that
can be pruned by any ordinary man
with good common senses"