Evening star., 1919-08-31

During the middle and the latter
of the United States
Philadelphia's was visited with a
nr,, Gil severe burst OF heat.
Dry Spell. with prolonged
drought. Several deaths from the
heat occurred in Washington. One
that of Philadelphia. which suffered
from a shortage of water. In The
Star Of August "a. 1869. is an item
telling of the situation in that city:
Not a drop of rain has fallen in
Philadelphia since August 4. the night
or the great whisky fire. Nor has
any account been received from the
interior. except a short thunderstorm
on Saturday last. about thirty miles
up the Schuylkill. All reports agree
as to the great damage to the corn
from the drought in Pennsylvania. A
special meeting of the Philadelphia
CITY councils was held Yesterday to
conSluer the water famine; 25,000
was appropriated for the families of
| destitute canal boatmen. and power
was given the chief engineer to take
such measures as he may deem proper
10 raise water into the basins at Fair
mount. The experiment was tried
yesterday afternoon of raising water
by means of steam fire engines The
hill at Paramount is ninety-six feet
nigh. and it is doubtful if the hose
would stand the pressure The result
is not vet announced
A later publication indicates that
after several failures Of hose the
steamer pumped the water to the
reservoir. but at a rate that indi
Gated that if the entire department
was put on this job the quantity
pumped would not be half days
supply.
Visitors to the battlefield at Gettys-
burg have doubtless wondered how
the markers and
Locating Positions monuments de-
at Gettysburg. 4p,,ss t,ons of t". ,ronns p"
and the scenes of engagements and
incidents in that great battle were
accurately located. The files of The
Star at this time fifty years ago will
throw light on this question. for
they contain accounts of a reunion
held at Gettysburg. attended by par
who made a painstaking survey OF
the field for this purpose of identi-
flying permanently the spots of chief
interest. One of these reports is
printed in The Star of August 25.
1869. as follows:
yesterday morning at Gettysburg
at meeting of the officers, or. motion
of Gen. Meredith. Col. Batchelder was
unanimously chosen to take charge of
the exercises of the day. as he had
collected more information on the
subject than any one present. The
party then repaired to the field for
the purpose of definitely fixing the
position of the troops in the first days
battle. Among those who composed
the party were Gems. Meredith, Dana.
Robinson. Leonard, Fowler. Golfer and
Hoffman, and Coils. Held, Cooper, Dud-
ley, Sheaffer and Lipdlay. who were
all participants in that fight. together
with several members of the Battle
field Memorial Association and a
shorthand reporter. to make notes Of
the conferences. Many interesting
incidents of the contest were related
as the party passed from point to
point. The roads by which the troops
advanced and retired, the positions
where the ouposing armies met, in
connection with interesting incidents.
were carefully studied. The additional
information which was derived will
be added to history. The places where
prominent officers fell or were wound
ed were designated. One of the most
interesting points was the locality of
Gen. Reynolds death-a tree. with the
letter r. marked upon il showing
where he died. Lieut.. Turtle of the
Corps of Engineers. who at present
has charge of the government survey
of the field. personally superintended
the driving of the stakes to mark the
various positions. The work yesterday
was confined to the ground covered by
the troops in the first days fight. in
cluding Seminary ridge. The exam
ination was conducted in a spirit of
fairness, the desire being to settle
controverted points. In the after
noon positions of the 11th Corps in
the first days engagement were de-
termined.''
AS the timber in southern Michigan
was gradually exhausted by intensive
numbering after the
Salt Found in civil war there was
Michigan. me nrosneritv of
that state. but about fifty years ago
a new source of wealth was discover
ed far below the surface and il help
ed to tide Michigan through the
transition from numbering to an