Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1919-02-12
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uinh yesterday to the famous visit
OF Abraham Lincoln to HARRISBURG
on Washington's Birthday in 1861,
when he was on his way to Wash
ingtonfor for his Inauguration. II
was one of the red letter days oz
Harrisburg and on Lincoln's Birth-
day 1T is fitting to reprint few ex-
tracts from the files of the Harm
burg Telegraph of those days ~
show how the people of this city re-
ceived him. Harrisburg had just be-
come n city and not only its peo..
pie, but the folks for miles anSZ
miles around came here to see LIZ
coin. This section, led by Came-.u
and his friends, had gone heavily
for Lincoln and, as in the days of
the War for Independence, was in
tensely loyal. 1t was with Curtin to
man. Lincoln's visit was marked
by parade, a reception and speech
at the Jones House, later the Com
monwealth; a visit to the Capitol
and to the Pennsylvania railroad
roundhouse. 1t Is a matter of his
tory the wonderful greeting he re-
ceived when he made his short
speech at the Jones House and how
he was acclaimed in the streets and
cheered at the Capitol. 1t was a
ine, clear, cold day. and all Har-
risburg was. out. The Harrisburg
telegraph tells of some of the
events which are not so we'll remem-
bered or recalled. It says in one
part of its story of the day, "The
flag raised over the cotton mills
(now the Harrisburg Silk Mills, at
Front and North streets) was
bought by the hundreds of employees.
After it was flung to the breeze the
Star Spangled Banner was sung"
Then comes an interesting account
of the railroad mems part in the
day. "At the roundhouse of the
Pennsylvania railway" says the
lTelegraph's reporter of that far-off
day, "a mast 160 feet high was
reared and the employees sent UP
fine flag fifteen by twenty-five feet.
Flags were also raised on many 9TH
er buildings" In other words, the
railroad men of that day did just
what they did when the war with
Germany broke out, and put out
their flags. The old-time reporter
estimates that there We're between
! four and five thousand military
men" in the city for the parade, and
says that speeches were made by
Lincoln and Curtin. One part of
Lincoln's speech is notable and is of
interest in this wartime: "While I
have been proud to see to-day the
finest military array I think I have
ever seen, allow me to say in re-
gard to those men they give hope
of what may be done when war is
inevitable" Those men did demon
strate what they could do at Fred
ericksburg, Gettysburg and many
another field, Just as their grandsons
have done in France in the last sin
months.
The real story of Lincoln's trip
| to Washington will probably never
be written. Some interesting ac-
counts have been told by old Har-
risburgers OF how the train. which
was supposed to go south by the
Northern Central to York, was
quietly moved to Second and Vine
streets and there Lincoln boarded il
for Philadelphia. William Perrine
! has written in the Philadelphia
Evening Bulletin a most interesting
account of the incidents of the trip
| in Philadelphia and some recollec-
tions of that time have been con-
tributed to the Philadelphia even
| ing newspaper.
The Lafayette cannon which has
again been discovered" at the State
Arsenal has been state property for
| about seventy-five years and has
been in Harrisburg for probably
| fifty. The cannon was one of sew
eral given to the States by the mar
quis when he paid his visit to the
United States in the twenties and the
/ nV.f Nf hn 1fa faf nrH-
nance and forgotten. 1t was moved
from the old arsenal in Capitol Park
and every now and then turns up in
some inventory at the military store
house. This time it will be given
mountings in accord with its his
| torical value and be displayed with
| the interesting collection of artillery
which the pieces at the State Ar
.senal can make with a little atten-
ton. Adjutant General Beary is
anxious to make the display of can
non at the arsenal illustrative OF the
| changes which have occurred in
ordnance in the last century. There
are many old cannon about the state.
some neglected and some damaged.
which could be made one of the fea-
lures of the arsenal.
Speaking of military matters, the
movement to place the flags of the
Pennsylvania National Guard regi-
ments in the rotunda of the Capitol
| is finding general support among
legislators some of whom have
mem bers of their families in the
keystone Division and are anxious
that regimental flags which the or
ganizations took into the federal
service should be put beside the
Civil and Spanish War flags If the
standards carried by the 10th and
18th and other regiments can not
be obtained from Washington when
the war is over and the men are
mustered out.
Draper Cooper. son OF Mr.. and
Mrs. f. N. Cooper. of Camp Hill, and
an officer in the United States Army
Medical Corps, has no superstitions
about crossing the Rhine. He
crossed the river on the thirteenth
of December, which some people re-
call as a Friday.