Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-07-03
Ehpntng Ol1at

OF the places where the nations
birthday has been given fitting cele-
bration and while the observance of
our latter days have been notable
for magnitude and solemnity those
OF older days were marked by much
hilarity. There is no record of the
way the news of the Signing of the
Declaration was received at Harris
Ferry but as the first men from the
Paxton district had fallen in battle1
with the British it may be imagined
that there was a tightening of belts :
and pledging of fealty when re.
news was brought in by "a hard r1s,-
ing courier to the ferry magnate.
After the long war ended the ami
Versary became real occasion for
| the people OF the future State Capi-
tol and the old reliable Oracle or
Dauphin tells in it's quaint way on
July 6, 1885, of how the folks cele-
| Drated two days before. After a
preamble in which the eagles that
used to frequent the Susquehanna
| were MADE to fguratively scream
their freedom the Oracle saws:
| About IL o'clock the bell rang and
as a signal for the citizens to pro-
ceed to Federal Spring, (suppose5
| TO nave been somewhere north ot
what is now Walnut street and or
the land near Royal Terrace), where
ana under the boughs of the spread
ing arbor, they partook of a public
entertainment provided by the com
mlttee appointed for that purpose;
after which General Hanna being
1 fo
f. president, toasts were given under
| discharge of cannon under Citizen
| Fenton." 1t must have been some
day, but the Oracle next year saws
! that the Fourth was observed with
much hilarity and social glee.''
Captain John Kean's artillery com
pany fired cannon to wake up the
town at dawn, aG the Oracle writer
ieenngly says. A parade was formed
IN Market Square where tomorrow,
| l22 years later, another parade will
form in honor of the Fourth. The
old town must have been consider
able of military center because the
parade was preceded by Lieutenant
Elders light dragoons; Captain Fish
er's light infantry and Captain
Kean's company of artillery, three
companies in a town that was not
much larger than Highspire, If as
,
j tsided and every toast was marked by
Ia discharge of cannon and rifles. In
i lSO9 the citizens had two celebra-
tions, one on William Maclay's
Island where Ensign John Brooks
infantry was in charge and the other
lat Laurel Hill where DR.. John
j Luther presided. And so on the list
4 goes and every reference to the
slorlous Fourth is marked by peep
Iof day firing of cannon, a parade of
sthe military, a feast in the woods
Iand much oratory accompanied by
cannon. The cannon seemed to have
been part of the day and from all
accounts the public feasts were by
no means dry" any more than they
were free from discharge of fire.
arms. 1t is interesting that now
neither liquor nor gunpowder is con-
sidered as essential to proper cele-
bration of the nations natal day in
the capital OF the second state of
the Union.
Fourth of July parades in the last
fifty years in Harrisburg. Soon after
the Civil War Memorial Day had the
call but in 1875 the centennial year
there was a big parade here axd
several in the eighties, althougHVit
was not held until September in our
own centennial year of 1885. In the
early nineties there was one large
parade, but the largest one was in
the year before the Spanish War.
There were several in the next ten
years, with a big one in 1911. This
year all records are going to be
broken and broken right
Among visitors to Harrisburg YES
terday was John M. Phillips, wealthy
Pittsburgh man who was reappointed
recently as a member Of the State
Game Commission. Mr.. Phillips has
given of his time, money and brains
las a member of the commission for
sixteen years and much of the pro-
gress made in game protection and
conservation in the Keystone State
has been due to the efforts of him
self and his colleagues. 1t was a
matter of much qualification when
he was reappointed as sportsmen all
over the state had been in a state of
Indignation over the attention given
in high places on Capitol Hill to
the envious chatter emanating from
a few pinheads against the Pitts
| burgher. The wonder was that It
received any notice at all. but when
the sportsmen were heard from
things soon changed.
|
Officials of school boards in var
| ious parts of the state have been
sending their congratulations to
| Dan" Hammelbaugh upon his re-
election as secretary of the Harris
burg School district for about a
| score of times. Dan" Is now one
of the veterans of school Tdminis-
tration in the state. having been con-
nected with the Harrisburg district
for more than quarter of a CEN
tury, and as full of ginger as in the
days when he used to boss the boys
around at the old Y. M. c. A.