Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-06-10
Ehrning Gl1at


formed Harrisburg. the deep pa
triotism aroused, the generous sub
scriptions. the devotion of leisure
hours to Red Cross and relief work
and the many other means by which
| the Keystone States capital Is mani
Testing the way 1t feels, many nave
probably not realized the spiritual
effect of the struggle across the seas
upon the people of our city. 1 have
| 1t from some observers of church
activities that attendance at SER
vices, especially in the mornings, is
larger. that there have been more
accessions to membership and that
the influence of congregations in the
community is greater. Minister'S are
taking a prominent part in many ac-
| tivities and certainly getting down
| among our men as never before. 1t
may be true that there is Ionsid-
cradle devotion to Sunday amuse-
ments, but at the same time the dis
position is to hold it within bounds.
The old idea of Sunday is changing
in Harrisburg just as in many old
established places in Pennsylvania
and while there are acute outbreaks.
so to speak, disregard for its reli-
gious significance is not growing in
Harrisburg. Rather there is ten
dency to consider 1t, in the language
of the old hymn,
oh, day of rest and gladness
oh, day of joy and peace
And this regard for religion which
ie so noticeable a characteristic of
the Americans who have armed
| th CnIUac fhncn OF
home has been displayed in many
ways. The uniform is welcomed in
church and Sunday school and the
gift of Bible and tract is gratefully
received. The hours for morning
and evening services are marked by
more people on Harrisburg srreets
than at this time last year. And in
closing these observations on Sunday
it is pleasant to note that more bells
now ring at evening in Harrisburg
than ever before. The custom OF
ringing the church bells during war
time is not new, but it is something
to which many now look forward
every Sunday whereas a few years
ago they paid little attention.
|
The new order of the Bell Tele-
phone Company to conserve" time
energy and various other things by
declining to have operators give the
correct time has been a source of
considerable amusement to some un-
righteous spirits about Harrisburg.
The other day a couple of men de-
siring to get the time and being fully
aSage of the order called up George
/ s. Reinoehl, who bosses the Bell in
this part of Pennsylvania geography,
ana asked him the time. Othets
thoughtfully interrogated the chief
opera tor as to the best means to get
the attention of the executives of the
company when busiest ard others
den9 nded information to know why
the time was not given. The loss of
time caused by the quizzing made
the order seem like vacation in
ducer. One man in despair with his
: watch stopped and no clock near
called up the Pennsylvania railroad
and asked for the time. The rail
road men thought he was Kidding
and gave him several varieties. Still
others called the weather bureau
and one man called George Harry's
cigar store.
It's odd the way the River Front
steps" come into their own. We all
recall how some people looked down
their noses about them. And Sat-
urday evening when the eclipse was
on the steps" were the real place
to see the phenomenon. There are
people walking along the steps"
every evening and they are a boat
convenience that some OF us who
were raised when we had to push
our fiatbottom boats over yards of
foul mud into sewage streaked Sus-
quehanna wish had been brought
here from Europe some decades be-
fore certain Americans made GER
tain pilgrimage.
General Clement. addressing
meeting in Harrisburg Friday night,
paid a high tribute to the honesty
of the American soldier. "As / was
leaving the. steamer which landed
me in France" he said, referring to
his trip to the war front. VI lost one
of my trunks. 1t contained valu-
ables hut was not locked, merely
tied with a rope. I could get no
trace of it. but when 1t was finally
delivered to me after six weeks, dur
ing which II wandered all over
France, in my wake, the fastenings
had not even been disturbed and the
contents were intact. 1t might have
been looted a dozen times without
anybody having been the wiser
| "PakJdnB park Cdihe lIllo Ito oWh
Saturday night. There had been
some fears that the war would put
crimp into the park and there were
misgivings about whether II would
go. But last week the weather was
right and 1t filled up Saturday with
a crowd that forced the standing
room only sign all around and made
the men at the flying horses, the fig
ure eight and the other things fairly
fight to keep people away, while the
birds and the beasts were kept up
until late hours to receive peanuts.