Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-07-24
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6StbihB itS stEccC pdNAuB pIOBTdiu
we'll out of the way before the war
began is apparent from the difficul4
ties other municipalities are encoun4
tering. Frank B. Bosch, head OF
the Central Construction Corpora
ton. of this city, yesterday went to
Williamsport to begin the work of
resurfacing one of the main streets
of that city. The work will cost ths
municipality $1.35 a square yard and
the specifications call for a depth Of
only one and one-half inches. Press
ent prices of labor and asphalt cons
sidered, this is not too much. the
Central Corporation being the lowest
bidder.
Harrisburg's street paving, which
included grading, foundation. bind-
ing and surfacing coat, cost as low
as $1.42 a square yard and the most
expensive not much over 81. Com
pairing these figures with the res
surfacing coats in Williamsport, the
advantage Harrisburg enjoys through
the early completion of Its paving
program becomes eV1QenL-
But it is not entirely a matter of
prices. The Government has cut
down the importations of asphalt to
save shipping and labor. When the
Central Corporation endeavored to
get the $50 tons needed for the Will
Transport job the Federal Govern
ment cut the request down to 14S
tons and it was only after the hard
est kind of work that the full order
was procured, the company being
compelled to show the absolute me-
cessity of doing the work this year4
In another respect also is HARRIS
burg's paving policy a matter oS
congratulation over the state. This
is one of the few municipalities that
does its own street repair work, but
others are coming to it. Allentown
has seen the advantage of direct
work and is putting up such a plant
as we have here and there is talk
down there of actually paving a
street or two without the aid of a
contractor. This hardly pays, how
ever, in view of the fact that under
the contractor system the city is
free from repairs for five years.
Reading from a letter written
him by one Captain Jones, a veteran
seaman in the transatlantic serv-
ice, Edwin ]. Lewis, the well-known
shoe manufacturer, brought
| round nf nnnlaIIGa from he
of the Harrisburg Rotary Club
lunching at the Y. NJ, c. A. Monday
when he related how the captain
fooled the commander of a German
sub" The captain was in COM
mand of a mule transport in the
days before merchant ships were
larmed. From below decks there
protruded the booms of derricks
used to lift reluctant mules aboard.
From a distance these looked like
guns. The colored attendants wore
cork Jackets constantly and these
through marine glasses doubtless ap-
Ipeared like the cartridge cases of
soldiers. So when the U-boat came
up the commander took a squint and
then stood still. Captain Jones at
once perceived the situation and
proceeded to train his gums" on the
sub" There was but one thing
to do" he writes, which was to
carry out my tremendous bluff. so
steamed slowly toward the subma-
| rine. This was too much for him
tand he ducked out of sight" Then
the clever captain tackled his ship
and sailed off full tilt in another di-
rection. Nowadays the captain car
ries an expert gun crew and Is just
Itching to meet up with a sub
marine.
An interesting story was told by
the Rev. Mr.. Riddle in his talk be-
fore the Rotary Club. He described
the intense enthusiasm of the Amer
Iican boys in the fight at Cantigny
and told of one boy who came to the
Y. M. C. A. hut after the battle, tired
but happy, and asked of Mr.. Rid
die: Are you going to have a serv-
lice tonight? If you are, can give
iyou a text" The Y. NJ. c. A. leader
was curious to know what text was
in the soldiers mind and asked him
for a suggestion. The boy replied
that after going through such fight
he was convinced 1t wasn't gas masks
or rifles or anything of that sort that
counted, but 1t was something else,
and he found great satisfaction in
this text, "Lo, 1 am with you alway.
even unto the end of the world"
Mr.. Riddle said there was no doubt
Iabout the serious side of the Amer
lean soldiers; that they didn't talk
much about their religious faith. but
they showed it all the time.
Thousands of Harrisburgers last
uight sweltered in their homes dur
ing one of the hottest nights of the
summer season. The position of the
city's sufferers was peculiar. Dur
ing the early part of the evening,
in spite of the fact that the clouds
hung low, the rain refused to descend
and consequently for several hours
Immediately following the evening
meal the residents of the city who
were fortunate enough to have front
lporches to their homes sat and
waited for the shower that was to
cool things enough for them to take
their evening stroll.
AS for those who are confined to
| their homes during inclement
weather regardless of how close the
atmosphere, the early evening was
terror in that while the rain contin-
ually threatened, the intense heat of
the evening refused to let up and
they sat in stuffy rooms waiting for
the draught bringing rains. It
looked too near to the point of rain
| for the timid to go to the parks, in
spite of the heat, and consequently
there are hundreds of Harrisburgers
to-day who are praying that there
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