Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-10-28
Errtttttg G1at

Prohibition OF the usual stunts at
tending "Ttc-tac" and Halloween
in Harrisburg because of the intiu-
enza epidemic calls attention to the
change which has come about in the
celebration of those great evenings
of autumn. Twenty-Five years ago
election night was the occasion for
bonfires and juvenile 'carryings-on"
which would be raided by police If
attempted now. Then by common
consent they were made legitimate
procedures for a night locally desfg-
mated as Pancake" and which was
the night before '-Tic-tac." Eor
many years 1t was the custom for
Harrisburg to celebrate Christmas
Eve with "BeIlsnickles" or mum
mers" as they are called in Phila-
delphia and later on this joyous
plan was adopted for New Years
Eve. OF late years there has been
tendency more and more to divide
the times for romping and going
about in costume and throwing con-
fetti and parading in masks into the
Halloween and New Year periods.
Election night celebrations are con-
fined to politicians and the bands
stand ready at their practice halls to
respond to any call that is well guar
anteed, without regard to party.
Christmas Eve Is growing to be a
home occasion, as 1t should be, and
the demands of business people that
they, too, be given a chance to trim
the tree have brought about O
marked cessation of store crowding
after mid-afternoon of the day be-
fore" So youthful Harrisburg has
been getting into the habit of three
evenings of fun around Tic-tac
-
Eve. And by the same token, the
going out in costume at 'Tic-tac"
time has replaced, greatly to the re-
lief of many people the gentle
pranks of the old days which con-
sisted of hanging gates on telegraph
poles, moving steps a block, putting
wagons on top of stables and other
things, to say nothing of pulling
doorbells out by the roots. and plac-
Ing the "deVil-knockers" on the
doors of Chinese laundries which
used to be one of the choicest sports
| in the times when Harrisburg did
! not have paved streets and corner
gas lamps could be "doused."
And by the same token, it may be
said that the public attitude toward
such practical jokes" as used to
mark the old-time Halloween has
also changed. 1t was nothing un-
| common for downtown puddlers or
| uptown railroaders to hold "cops"
| suspended in conversation while they
watched out of the corners of their
| eyes boys, who are now among some
| of our most respected citizens, la
| boriously ripping off a section of
| fence to drape about the entrance to
! a church. Even Jim" McCann was
known to be lenient in those days
when he met a few youths carrying
a sign blocks away from it's habitat.
| Now, such a thing as removal of
| property is liable to be viewed as
malicious mischief and the taking
away of steps would be considered
more in the light of Grass disregard
for somebody's legs or neck than an
outpouring of the autumnal spirit of
mixing things up after the harvest
is past and the summer ended and
things made snug for winter: And
as for anyone who would be caught
after transferring a boat from the
shore of the Susquehanna to a Front
street doorstep or decorating Capitol
Park trees with red lanterns taken
from sewer trench, it would be 223
Walnut street for him, if caught.
| Inc CLdIe OIL IcuHSSINdIlld is
classy" even when it has to protS)it
people from entering its Capitol. ~At
each entrance to the great building
there are handsome mahogany sign
posts containing cards with the in
| formation that the Capitol is closed
to visitors This is an influenza pre-
! caution which does not even stop a
party of Lancaster county plain
people" Mennonite farmers who have
a habit of getting into anything that
| is public, no matter what may hap
pen to a delegation of anthracite
miners. In any event, the sign posts
| are going to come in handy later
on when there are meetings at the
Capitol and they will direct people
where sessions of various kinds are
being held instead of the time-hon-
ored plan of tying a card around a
pillar.
Three Harrisburg hotelmen OF
wide experience remarked on Satur-
| day that while there were numerous
travelling men ION the road" now
getting orders placed for next sum-
mer's goods they were all more or
| less uncertain about what business
was going to be like. THE only
thing they agree upon, as far as l
can see," said one hotelman, lis that
the people of Pennsylvania are bent
on cleaning up the Germans and de-
| mand Grants terms, unconditional