Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-05-15
Ehrntttg Glrat

township maintenance forces declare
that it is a greater effort to get the
roads which radiate from the State
Capital like the spokes of a wheel
put into good shape this year than
ever known bfore. Repairmen are
at work on the highways in Dauphin
county. but not much progress has
been made either by state or town
ship authorities because of the
scarcity of materials, the difficulties
OF transportation and the lack of
labor. The same condition prevails
IN Cumberland and Perry counties
and old men and youths hardly
more than boys can get jobs on the
roads where q year ago only the
most able-bodied men could land.
Naturally the progress made has not
been startling and there are places
on roads which show that the men
have not reached that section. In
some sections of the county it is not
difficult to obtain teams to haul
stone, but in the Harrisburg dis
trict with all of the military con-
! structlon under way trucks and
wagons are as hard to get as stone.
| The roads to the two big military
! operations are in poor condition, in
! townships as we'll as boroughs. 1t
|
! maintenance was going to be an
| arduous task this year. Many of
! the roads were subjected to unusual
! strain during the winter by trucks
| and the effort to relieve railroad
| transportation and the damage done
by such vehicles in addition to the
! effects of winter will combine to
make the repairs not only extensive,
but costly.
1t is interesting to recall that the
last French soldiers here was about
225 years ago. English were by no
means the first white men on the
banks of the Susquchanna. Years
before John Harris ever saw the
ford where he later established his
ferry and dreamed of a city there
were French traders in this section
and more than once French soldiers
moved up and down the river to the
great annoyance OF the English at
Upland and Philadelphia. One of the
most noted French traders, Peter
Charter, who later became active
about Fort Duquesne, had settle
ment on the hills near New Cumber-
land and French soldiers went with
him to straighten out some Indians.
| Presence of the French soldiers
caused many an argument in Har-
risburg yesterday. One colored man
was firmly of the opinion that the
Blue Devils were Hungarians and
got his ethnology and war stuff all
mixed up. But that did not prevent
him from cheering the visitors. He
said he saw Cap" Slime at the head
and knew it was all right.
1t will not be long until the school
children of the city will insist on
parading again. With true Harris
burg spirit the youngsters, instead
of passing up the parade idea be-
cause of the terrible storm through
which they marched, have been
talking about having that parade
} over again. There is a keen rivalry
between the schools for best ap-
pearance and 1t is not going to be
satisfied with the memories of what
things were like before the storm
I came along.
The painting of the Susquehanna
Water Gap and the upper end of
. Harrisburg in 1881 painted by the
late j. Aug. Beck and presented by
his children to the Harrisburg Pub
lie Library has attracted consid-
: erable attention. 1t portrays one of
the finest views along the river and
: will form nucleus for old Harris
cure for the Library.
The Philadelphia North American
: contains this interesting note in one
Y of it's Cumberland Valley life re-
I views: The Rev. DIR. Henry Van
I Dyke, Princetons noted teacher and
= poet and former minister to Holland,
: was able to whip Franklin county's
l trout streams last week for the first
time in several years. Doctor Van
l Dyke, DR.. William Mann Irvine and
v a party of friends tried their luck,
S with but fair results, this year, in
= the headwaters of the east branch OF
the Conococheague. In former years
I Doctor Van Dyke has tshed in the
1 streams forming the west branch of
4 the creek, and one of his poems is
l dedicated to the Conococheague."
, The controversy over the appoint
ments to the Supreme Court and the
fact no May session will be held
here calls to mind the history of the
lcourt, which used to have its head
quarters in Harrisburg. In early
idays the court was pre-eminently a
branch of the state government, but
2 for years 1t has been sitting about
I two days in Harrisburg, the Superior
Court occasionally meeting here for
e three or four days. The arrange
\ ments for the court here are the
y most elaborate in the state and the
least used.
It was interesting yesterday to
see how the drafted men on leave
took to the French soldiers here for
the demonstration. The men who
have Just left civilian pursuits to
take up arms for the nation were
pretty keen about the veterans of
war, especially as they had been
"shock" troops, and more than one
man in khaki regretted that he had
not studied French so that he might
talk about things in general and
fighting in particular.