HARRISBUKG TELEGRAPH
A NEWSPAPER FOR THB HOME \
Faundti lljt
Published evenings except Sunday by
THE TELEGRAPH PRINTING CO,
Tclecraph Building, Federal Square.
E.J. STACKPOLE./V' 6r Editor in-Ckirf
F. R. OYSTER, Bujintis Manatrr.
GUS M. STEINMETZ, Matiaftng Editor.
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herein.
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4 .
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office.
Avenue Pulldtng,
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FRIDAY. FEBRUARY 22, 1918
O Truth is easy, and the light shines
clear
In hearts kept open, honest and sin
cere.
• — ABRAHAM COLES.
WASHINGTON
HOWEVER his military fame may
excite the wonder of mankind.
It Is chiefly by his CITII magistracy
f that Washington's example will ln
l~ struct them. •..• . Such n chief
magistrate as Washington appears
like the pole star In a clear iky, to
direct the sklllfal statesman. His
presidency will form an epoch and be
distinguished ns the age of Washing
ton. Already It assumes Its high
place In the political region. I.lke the
Milky Way, It whitens along Its al
lotted portion of the hemisphere. The
latest generations of men will survey,
through the telescope of history, the
space whence so many virtue* blend
their rays and delight to separate
them Into groups and distinct vir
tues. As the best Illustration of
, them, the living monument to which
• the first of patriots would hare chosen
*
to consign bis fame, It Is my earnest
V
prayer to bcaTen that our country
may subsist, even In that late day,
In the plenitude of Its liberty and
happiness and mingle Its mild glory
9
r with Washington's.—Fisher Ames.
9
* Now. if Mr. Demain would only pro-
claim a few winterless days.
*
y
CLEARING THE WAY
PROCEDURE of the Public Ser-
Commission in calling for argu
te ment on the proposition
whether it has jurisdiction in de-
V ciding complaints against increases
* of trolley fare to six cents where
' there are franchise ordinances stipu-
lating five cents is a step in the
* right direction, notwithstanding criti-
cisms leveled at it. The question
* whether the Commission or the
courts, or either, can decide con- j
* tractual propositions such as fran-!
* chise ordinances has been looming j
I Mp for some time. Because the'
* Commission passes upon such mat- j
J ters as municipal contracts some
* people have held that it has au
thority to construe them and that I
* under the general regulatory powers
giova to the Legislature the Com- ■
natesion, created by the General As
* sembly, can decide contract prob- j
lems. Others hold that it is fori
* the courts to determine contracts, i
Counsel for municipalities at the.
* hearing here Tuesday declined to ;
* surrender the idea that the cities
y and boroughs are supreme.
*■ Thg argument brought together
* some of the best legal talent special
* izing in municipal and street rail
way matters and the Commission
* will soon have the benefit of the
< pleadings and can then determine
J upon its course. Many communities
oppose six cent fares as unreason
* able. These complaints, like those
involving service, are distinct from
■ fare questions where ordinances es
tablish five cents. By settling the
question of jurisdiction the Com
mission will clear the way for try
. ing the biggest question in public
service that has arisen this winter.
< Scranton has a six-cent street car
J fare. Another reason why we prefer
to live in Harrisburg.
t Y. M. C. A.'s OPPORTUNITY
* Y. M. C. A. has justified
itself as an institution worthy
* of popular support since the
* war started, in the eyes of thousands
* of people who thought little or noth-
J ing about the organizations previous
* to the entry of the United States
a into the conflict. The "Y" is the
* biggest influence for good in the
* soldier's life between the home and
the trenches. It carries to him
tr
FRIDAY EVENING.
comforts and conveniences and
cheering. up-lifting surroundings
that would be' impossible were Its
ministering services absent. It
"keeps the home fires burning" in
the soldier's heart. It makes a bet
ter fighting man of him and a better
citizen.
Not many soldiers were members
of the Y. M. C. A., possibly, when
they enlisted, but all of them will
be Y. M. C. A. "boosters" when they
come home and the livest kind of
"prospects" for the associations in
their respective towns. The return
ing soldiers will look upon the Y.
M. C. A. building as something pe
culiarly their own. The Y. M. C. A.
must stand ready to do for the
home-coming soldier as much as it
has done for the soldier In the field.
It can be especially helpful In his
period of readjustment to peaceful
pursuits and domestic surroundings.
It can be made to wield a tremend
ous influence for good in all his
after life.
I To that end, those who are at the
head of the organization work and
the local secretaries and their boards
of directors must work night and
day to make the association in each ,
town ready for the influx ot new
members that is bound to follow the
war. They must be up and doing.
They must see to it that their plants
are sufficient in capacity to care for
increased memberships. They must
organize themselves for this new
type of service. They must be as
ready in peace as they have showed
themselves in war.
Very likely these matters will
come before the State convention
now in session here. It would not
be like the Y. M. C. A. executives
to miss such a splendid opportunity
as is about to he presented to them.
They must reverse the old adage and
in time of war prepare for peace.
Save food. This means YOU.
HEAR THESE MEN
ON'T fall to attend the great
D patriotic rally at Chestnut
Street auditorium Monday eve
ning to hear George W harton Pep
per, chairman of the State Public
Safety Committee; Howard Heinz,
Federal Food Administrator for
Pennsylvania, and Lieutenant Sutton,
a veteran of the GaJlipoli campaign
and later of Flanders, tell us what
we must do to help win the war.
Bach one at home must be a
soldier for Uncle Sam, serving as
truly and as courageously as the man
in the front line trenches. To many
of us the war has not been brought
home with the seriousness with
which we must come to regard it
Our own part in it is not well de
fined. We know that it is the duty
of each of us to buy Liberty Bonds
and Thrift Stamps and to give gen
erously to the Red Cross, the Y. M.
C. A. and the other war service
funds. These things we have done.
We have not withheld our money
and many of us have worked in the
various campaigns and are doing
wonderfully good work in the Red
Cross. We have been told that it is
necessary to save flour and meats
and to conserve all manner of food
stuffs and fuel. But for some rea
son or another this message has not
reached us with full force. It has
not been as personal as it ought to
be. We have thought too much of
it as applying to the other fellow
rather than to ourselves.
It is for the purpose of bringing
the war service message home to
each one of us that the meeting of
Monday evening is to be held, and
no speakers are better qualified for
that duty than Mr. Pepper and Mr.
Heinz, both of whom have given up
practically all of their own affairs to
work without salary to help win the
war by making the home offensive
against the Germans just as effective
as we know the Army's will be when
|it hurls itself against the Huns In
France. Mr. Pepper is a noted law
j yer and one of the best orators and
patriotic speakers in America, while
| the name of Heinz is a household
word in the land and he is an un
j questioned authority on food. To
; back up their message will be Lieu
; tenant Sutton, whose word picture
iof conditions abroad as he knows
them will add the final and clinch
-1 ing argument to the need of saving,
j conserving and in every way back
| ing up at home our men on the
: firing line and helping keep the
wolf from the doors of our Allies in
England, France and Italy.
ASH REMOVALS
T' HE condition in which Harris
burg Councilmen on their in
spection trip yesterday found
the streets of the city shows the ut
ter folly of putting the matter of ash
removals up to the private citizen.
The highways of town were never
so dirty and bedraggled as they are
at this time. The householder is not
to blame so much as the system, or
'lack of it If there is nobody to col
lect the ashes when they accumu
late and no place to dump them ex
cept the streets, why Into the streets
they will go, regulation or no regu
lation. This is by no means an
apology or an excuse for those who
litter the highways with filth, but it
is a plea and a reason for the in
auguration of a city-controlled sys
tem of ash collections. These con
ditions are bound to continue, to
greater or less degree, until some
such method is devised and enforced.
Ck
Bj the Ex-Committerman
-I
Between the gathering of the
Democratic leaders at Philadelphia
to-morrow to talk over a slate for
the May primary and how to fish up
anything worth while from troubled
Republican waters; the uncertainty
surrounding Governor Brumbaugh's
ideas on an exta session of the leg
islature and the Sproul appearance
at the Pittsburgh dinner last night
there is plenty to make Washing
ton's birthday of interest to people
who follow politics in Pennsylvania.
The Democratic leaders are try
ing their best to avoid a fight In
their party. The "wets" and the
"drys" have been getting ready to
throw things at each other and bat
tle between the Old Guard and the
Reorganizes will be renewed in
some form or other. The machine
element and the uplifters and the
"play safe" boys are all following
their own lines and the Democratic
situation looks like a spider web af
ter a drive by wasps.
—The Democratic conference will
be vastly different from that held
four years ago when the ticket was
framed up by half a dozen men at
Washington. This year resentment
against having it done on the banks
of the Potomac forced a change.
—O'Xeil men were jubilant to
day. They claimed the failure of
Scott and Mackey to appear at the
Pittsburgh dinner with Sproul was
conclusive evidence that there was
nothing doing in the reports that
the Vares were for the Delaware
man.
—The highway commission will I
he in Cambria county to-day and}
to-morrow will have a round up in j
Pittsburgh. In his Altoona speech j
last night Mr. O'Neil attacked the
present road law.
—State Chairman Crow, who was
at the Pittsburgh dinner, attracted
much attention by conferences with
William A. Magee, who Is with the
state administration and commonly
believed against O'Neil. Chairman
Crow will be in Philadelphia to-night
and spend the weekend in confer
ence with friends on the Republican
ticket.
. —The North American charges
that Yare men blocked a probe of
Mayor Smith's bonding company in
Philadelphia.
—Newspaper comment is not gen
erally favorable to the extra session
proposition which has been so much
talked of about the Capitol and men
prominent in the state administration
declare that there will be no re
convening of the legislature. The
extra session idea, however, is strong
ly urged by many of the men active
in the "dry" movement.
—lt is aaid that some people have
the impression that Governor Brum
baugh has read in the Pennypacker
biography how the governor of 1906
oktled the extra session that year
In spite of protests by the politicians
and his own friends and made a rec
ord of legislation which was com
mended by Roosevelt and may try to
do likewise. Others say that if he
has that idea conditions are differ
ent this year and that men in his
cabinet will tell him so when he re
turns from the South.
—The number of suggestions for
inclusion in the call is growing and
some of the up state administration
leaders are nervous about chances
that re-apportionment will subtract
from rural counties and add to ur
ban.
—Quite a number of names are
being talked of for the Republican
nomination for state legislator from
the Second Lackawanna district and
many of them are based on the sup
position that Hugh A. Dawson, who
is now the representative from the
district, will remain firm in his de
cision to retire from politics for the j
present. Prof. James R. Hughes has
many friends working in his behalf,
while John Wolfe, another Green
Ridge man, is also mentioned as a
possible candidate. Benjamin Jones,
of North Scranton. and Nathan Je
hu, who was defeated for alderman
last fall, are also possibilities along
with Virgil H. Crisman and William
R. Sims, all kniwn here.
—lt is pretty certain now that
Charles F. Ditchey, of Shenandoah,
who on the first Monday of January
retired from the office of Sheriff of
Schuylkill county, will not have the
track to himself in the race for the
Democratic nomination for the of
fice of Congress. Efforts are mak
ing to have James J. Moran, of Potts
| ville, enter the field for that nom
ination. Mr. Moran is a member of
the Schuylkill County Bar and is the
president of the Union Safe Deposit
Bank of Pottsville, possessing much
experience in the practice of the law
and in finance. He served a term as
County Auditor prior to the county
coming under the Controller act.
—The Pittsburgh Dispatch in a
story from Philadelphia says that
one of the things which is keeping
the O'Neil men busy is the attitude
of William A. Magee. former Public
Service Commissioner, who has not
indicated what he will do. Mr.
Magee favored Chairman Ainey some
time ago and although wooed by
O'Neil men has remained silent.
—Up in the northeastern corner
of the state things are shaping them
selves so that it looks as though
Senator E. F. Warner would have a
walKover for renomination on the
Democratic ticket, although some
' Democratic leaders around here are
making faces at him. Ex-Auditor
General E. B. Hardenbergh, Sena
tor from that district years ago, is
reported as thinking seriously about
running again.
—Representative James G. Dell,
of Huntingdon, may be agreed upon
for renomination for the House. Dell
was the leader of the "Farmers' al
liance" in the House last season and
kept things interesting because of
the insistence with which he com
batted city influences.
—Scranton people seem to think
that it may narrow down to E. B.
Jermyn and Albert Davis for the
Republican Senatorial honors in
Lackawanna. Senator W. M. Lynch
is said to be thinking more about
his piace as head of Farview hos
pital than of another term. Some
people say it is safer.
—Mayor Babcock has vetoed sev
eral of the ordinances for new jobs
which the majority of Councilmen in
Pittsburgh put over on him.
The Freight Truck
Army freight trucks traveling on
their own power from Detroit to the
Atlantic seaboard in midwinter,
demonstrate the possibility of using
the motor vehicle on the public
highway as an adjunct to rail trans
portation. But the first essential
is a hard surfaced road. In winter,
freezing temperature supply the
hard surface, but in summer only a
well improved highway can be de
pended upon. Just now, when we
have such large quantities of army
supplies to transport and so many
soldiers to be moved, the desirability
of permanently improved highways
is impressed upon the country.
HABRISBURGr t&SfHStfL TELEGRAPH
SOMEBODY IS ALWAYS TAKING THE JOY OUT OF LIFE BY BRIGGS
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—— J ;
No human mind can estimate the |
various incidents and emotions of I
this war. What instinct, for ex-j
ample, prompted the Scotch flyer,
Tarn, to risk his life by carrying a
wreath to the grave of the German!
aviator, Von Zeidlitz, whom he 1
brought down. The account says: I
"The wreath in a tin box, firmly j
corded and attached to a little para-I
chute, was placed in the fusilage of i
a small Morane —his own machine
being in the hands of the mechanics!
—and Tani climbed into the seat.!
In five minutes he was pushing upj
at the steep angle which represent-'
ed the extreme angle at which a
man can fly. Tam never employed
a lesser one.
"Evidently the enemy scout real
ized the business of this lone British !
flyer and must have signaled his
views to the earth for the anti-air-1
craft batteries suddenly ceased fire 1
and when approaching Ludezeel,
Tam sighted an enemy squadron en
gaged in a practice flight, they op
ened out and made way for him,
offering no molestation.
"Tam began to plane down. He
spotted the big white speckled ceme
tery and saw a little procession
making its way to the grounds. He i
came down to a thousand feet and
dropped his parachute. He saw it
open and sail earthward and then
someone on the ground waved a
white handkerchief.
"Guid," said Tam."
Great Britain is to have a stand
ard sl2 suit of clothes for all men.
Zowie! If Pennsylvania follows the
example we'll be sure that Sherman
had the correct idea.
A contributor to the Zenda Citizen i
so confidently believes in optimism
and cheerfulness that he takes the
measure of the sourfaced in these
lines:
The dog gazed at the big round moon
That was sailing through the sky.
And he chewed on the bones of the
big raccoon
And winked his evil eye.
Said the dog: "That moon thinks he
is big.
But he really makes me smile.
So I guess I'll howl awhile.
So he howled and he yowled.
And he barked and he yelled.
But the moon still stayed serene,
And he sailed right on, till the break
of dawn
Brought the light and he couldn't
be seen.
And that's just the way with a lot of
folks.
When they see that others can
smile.
They say: "He's a fright
To be happy's not right.
So I guess I'll howl a while."
So they howl and they yell,
And they start raisenell.
But the guy with the smile doesn't
mind;
They can argue and fuss,
But he doesn't give a cuss
From opinions from folks of that
kind.
LA BOR IN UNIFORM
Sometimes, as I sit at my window
at this cantonment, I think of the
psychology of clothes. Put me into
the rough-and-ready riding things
of my Western trips, and I am a
vagabond. Put almost any frivolous
girl into a nurse's uniform and watch
her very thoughts sober and change.
And so I wonder about an army
uniform.
It makes a difference in a man.
He develops the esprit de corps of
the army. We have excellent ex
amples of this in our police force
and among our postal carriers. They
wear the badges of great organiza
tions. They are marked men. And
they carry well the dignity of their
positions.
What of uniforming labor? Sure
ly the man at home, in munition
and shipbuilding plants, in all the
other industries which are fighting
this war as certainly as the soldiers
at the front —surely that man de
serves to wear a uniform showing
what he is doing.
And I venture to go further. Put
labor into uniform, and many of our
labor troubles will cease. It need
not be the army uniform. It should
not be. But by doing this the man
himself will develop an esprit de
corps—the conviction that he is of
those chosen to help. He is, wher
ever he goes, a marked man, a man
given, as truly as any soldier, to
the country's service. Think it over,
employers of labor, lying awake
j nights to hold your organizations
together.—Mary Roberts Rinehart
! in the Saturday Evening Post.
II Defeat Will Benefit the Germans I
HAROLD BELL, WRIGHT, the
famous author, says in the
February American Magazine:
"From our shores this gospel of
the man of Galilee and this gospel
of our national freedom have gone
forth to every land. To our shores
have come lives from every nation
to bo here fused into one national
life and to add thus to our ever
growing strength against this day
when, for all the peoples of earth,
the divine cause of humanity Is to
be won or lost.
"In the ranks of those who carry
our country's flag are men of every
land and blood —English and French
and German and Dutch and Spanish
and Armenians and Chinese and
Japanese and Africans and Indians.
There is scarce a race on earth that
is not represented in this army of
liberty. .
"Our army Is the army of this
nation, but it is more: It is the
army of the liberty-loving world.
Its blood is the blood of humanity,
the humanity of Jesus, the humanity
for which Jesus lived and died.
"But Jesus said, 'Love your ene
mies."
DON'T BE SENSITIVE
In an article called "How I Cured
Myself of Being Sensitive" a writer
says in the March American Maga
zine:
" 'Wagner, you've got ability,' he
cried, 'but you'll never get anywhere
in this world until you quit tearing
ourself to pieces! I've watched you
for the past three years; twice I've
had it in mind to push you up a
notch in the office, and every time
I've passed you and picked some
one else, because I know you aren't
fit to handle other men. No man
is fit to handle other men until he
has learned to control himself. You
can't, you're too blamed sensitive.
" 'Little setbacks break your
heart. A letter of complaint comes
in from some customers and >x>u
take it as a personal critcism, and
lose a day's work brooding over it.
You see me in conference with some
ot the other men, and you stab your
self wondering why you weren't in
vited, and imagine that I have turn
ed against you. You hear about
someone who is making more money |
than you, and immediately all far
fields look greener. You're a fairly
useful cog in your present job, and
it might put me to some annoyance
to lose you. But you'll never hold
a big job until you can forget your
own petty self and learn to laugh
when the world takes a crack at
you. Hanged if I don't think some
times it might be better if you were
to get out and try your hand some
where else.' "
LABOR NOTES
Experienced telephone operators
selected by the government to go to
France will receive a salary of from
S6O to $125 a month and rations, the
same as is received by Army nurses.
In the northern and western states
the average teachers' salaries paid
for each child 6 to 14 years of age,
range from $15.78 to $36.30 per an
num for all pupils, and in the south
ern states from $5.27 to $13.79 for
white pupils and from $1.44 to $8.53
for colored pupils.
After a three-year fight, New York
Dock and Pier Carpenters' Union
hassecured an eight-hour contract
with the Dockbuilding Contractors'
Association. Minimum wages shall
be 62% cents an hour.
Metal tradesmen in the Wyoming
Valley, Pennsylvania, have increased
wages 15 per cent, and reduced hours
to 50 a week. This lessens the
work week five hours, in many in
stances.
Colorado Springs (Col.) Typo
graphical Union has signed a new
agreement. Rates for (lay work
tare S2B a week and for night work,
S3O, with seven and one-half hours'
work.
Director General of Railroads Mc-
Adoo has appointed a commission
to recommend action on wage and
labor questions before the Govern
ment Railroads Administration, in
cluding wage demands of the raif
road brotherhoods.
The Industrial Welfare Commis
sion insists that if Washington wo
men and child workers are to be
maintained according to American
standards of living, a much higher
wage must be paid than the rate 3
which were .established in 1914-15.
"Well, this nation sings no hymn
of hate. The spirit of those who
will carry the Stars and Stripes to
Berlin is not the spirit of hatred.
When the well-loved and faithful
dog of the household goes mad and
menaces the lives of friends and
neighbors, it is not hatred that fires
the bullet to end its madness. Be
cause this 'mad dog of Europe' must
be stopped in his career of death
does not mean that hatred has rais
ed the army that will accomplish
that necessary end.
" 'Bless them that curse you. Do
good to them that hate you,' said
Jesus.
"Well, the blessings of our cause
in victory will be to those men
who face our soldiers in battle, as
well as to those brave ones in whose
support our men are fighting. The
good of liberty will be for the Ger
man people as well as truly as for
all other peoples of earth. No great
er good could come to the people of
Germany who are fighting now the
battles of their kaiser than the de
feat and utter annihilation of the
spirit of that ruler who drives them
to the battlefield."
WHY WOMEN FOUGHT
An American woman who spent
over a fortnight with the Women's
Battalion of Death in Russia tells
in the March Woman's Home Com
panion what led them to volunteer.
She says:
"Many had joined the regiment
because they sincerely believed that
the honor, and even the existence,
of Russia were at stake and that
nothing but a great human sacri
fice could save her.
"Some, like Bachkarova, in the
days of the Siberian village, had
simply come to the point where
anything was better than the dreary
drudgery and the drearier waitffig
of life as they lived it.
"Personal troubles had driven
some of them out of their homes
and on to the battleline. One girl,
a Japanese, said tragically when X
asked her reason for joining, 'My
reasons are so many that X would
rather not tell them.'
"There was a Cossack girl from
the XJral Mountain, fifteen years old,
with soft, brown, questioning eyes
and deep, rich color tinting her d<jrk
cheeks. Her father and two bro
thers had been killed early in the
war. Soon after, her mother, who
was a nurse, had died from the
effects of a German bomb thrown
upon the hospital where she Ttfas
working. She was absolutely alone
in the world.
"'What else is left for me?' she
asked with a pathetic droop to her
strong young shoulders.
■Two girls, Red Cross nurses, who
had already been decorated four or
five times for service to their coun
try, said they had seen too many
brave men suffer and die for Itus
sla to be willing to see her sacri
ficed now on the Kaiser's altar.
"One serious-looking woman who
took no part in any of our frivoli
ties carried a photograph in her
kit-bag. Xt was the picture of her
husband—who is a prisoner in Aus
tria—holding a small boy on his lap.
The child had .died the week be
fore the regiment was formed, and
there were other things that rob
bed danger of all its sting for her.
"On a cord around each girl's
neck was a collection of sacred
medals and a tiny cloth pouch, whose
contents I had speculated upon.
" 'What will you do if you are
taken prisoner?' I asked Skridlova
one day.
" 'No one of us will ever be taken
alive,' she answered, and pulled out
the little gray pouch. 'lt is the
strongest and surest kind there is,'
she said."
Compromise
A life of action if it is to be use
ful must be a life of compromise.
A public man is often under the
necessity of consenting to measures
which he dislikes, lest he should
endanger the success of measures
which he thinks of vital importance.
—Macaulay.
Strive Not
Strive not with a man without
cause, if he have done thee no harm.
—Proverbs iii, 30.
Modest Demands
[Philadelphia North American.]
Germany merely asks as a basis of
peace that she may be permitted to
keep all she won and get back all
she lost.
FEBRUARY 22, 1918.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR]
Commends Telegraph
To the Editor of the Telegraph:
I want to congratulate you on
your leading editorial of last Satur
day on the subject of the prohibition
amendment, reiterating the attitude
taken by the Telegraph some time
ago. Your editorial was fearless,
clear and strong. There is no good
reason why the sentiment of the
state should not prevail in having
Pennsylvania in the foremost rank
of the states ratifying the amend
ment. This is not a political ques
tion, and we are not "political pro
hibitionists" but it is a great moral,
economic question concerning the
welfare of the people, and the first
chance we have had to settle it
nationally—and finally, I am glad to
note the attitude of the Telegraph
in fearlessly presenting the issue and
opportunity to the people of Dauphin
County. Sincerely yours.
E. Z. WALLOWER.
/I Flat Failure
The kaiser's olive branch, with
lemons growing on it, is the horti
cultural wonder of the age, but as
German camouflage it is a flat fail
ure. The foliage fails to conceal
the fruit.—From the Louisville Cour
ier-Journal.
OUR DAILY LAUGH
FORTUNATE.
Mouse; How fortunate we were
passing this plate of cruellars. when
the wheel broke!
HE COULDN'T STAND IT.
She: At least a mirror doesn't
flatter one.
He: No, that is why I never look
I In one.
QTJ EER,
Chick: It's funny.
Turtle: What Is?
Chick: You say you're 80 yeari
old, and you're not out of your shell
BETWEEN NURSES.
"Oh, Alice, my patient has Just
proposed to me."
"Had another delirious spell, did
he?"
Etentng (Elja!
Although it has been said many
timea that Georgo Washington visit
ed the lower reaches of the Susqu
hnnna river on some surveying anct
exploring work before the French
and Indian war, the only record that
has been made of any time spent by
the great American at this point oa
the wide branching river is when ha
came here on his way to the front in
the Whisky Insurrection. Wash*
ington came here on October 3,
1794. This place had become liar.
rishurg nine years before. Prior to
that time it had been John Harris'
Ferry, the great crossing place on
tho Susquehanna for the people who
mailt the southwestern counties and
pans of Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky
and Tennessee and it was a place of
great interest to the oliicer of the
Ametican army because of its ideal
location as a point for quartermast
ers' stores and supplies, a use to
which it was extensively put in the
French and Indian war and by Sul
livan and Wayne when they planned
expeditions against Indians to say
nothing of what John Harris did to
help along the army at Valley Forge.
Washington came into town from
the road to Middletown, probably up
Hace street and went up Second to
Market Square. There has always
been a controversy about where ho
lodged, but lie made an address to
the citizens, who were joined by
many people from tho surrounding
country, irom the horse block or
stepping stone in front of the Wash
ington house, which stood where tho
Commonwealth hotel was located.
This .-tone was presented by the late
William A. Kelker to the Dauphin
County Historical Society. Conrad
lionibc.ugh and Alexander Berryhill,
the burgesses, made an address to
which the general responded re
marking upon the patriotism which
had always marked the people of
the place. Next morning the general
accompanied by Alexander Hamilton
and other officers, went across tho
river on John Harris' Ferry on his
way up the Cumberland Valley. Tho
whole town appears to have gona
down to see him off and cannon wero
fired from what is now Harris' park
as he left with a squadron of drag
oons which acted as his escort.
One of the interesting facts about
the visit of Washington was that for
years the fathers had a dispute over
where the general lodged. There
was a lot of political feeling here
and tho general seems to have pre
ferred to go to a tavern rather than
spend the night at the home of any
of the citizens. John Harris had
died a few years before and Wash
ington and Senator William Maclay
were at odds and had been for some
years. Many were aligned with
Maclay. There were several taverns
in the town and although it is gen
erally believed that he stopped at
that later known as the Washing
ton House, no less than three inns
were pointed out in later years as
the place where Washington lodged.
The alert editor of the Oracle of
Dauphin did not record very clearly
where the general stopped. The
tcwn was full of soldiers on their
way to the scene of the outbreak in
Western Pennsylvania and not only
inns, but residences and warehouses
were used to take care of them.
Soldiers even occupied the buildings
about the Ferry and from this prob
ably grew the legend that Washing
ton lodged on the water front. Tho
Market Square tavern was the big
gest one in the city and contempo
rary notices tell of various meetings
and functions being held there, as
well as mention it as a stopping
plac for stagecoaches, so Market
Square probably has the honor. At
any rate the hotel was called the
Washington House for long after
ward.
It is of record, however, that tho
death of the great general and
and statesman was nowhere mourn
ed than in Harrisburg when he
passed away some six years after
he had been here. The citizens met
on December 23, 1799, in the Wash
ington House, then kept by the noted
Captain Lee, the James Kuss of his
day, and adopted resolutions which
provided that everyone should wear
mourning for a month. The Oracle
came out with column rules inverted
and other journalistic'signs of grief
and stores and housese were hung in
black, while everyone wore crepe on
the arm or the hat. The following
month the military companies of
the town, and there were three or
four such organizations although
Harrisburg in 1800 was not as large
as New Cumberland was ten years
ago, went to Middletown where a
parade and public meeting attesting
sorrow was held. Harrisburg people
took a prominent part in that affair
in the oldest town in the county and
it seems that if there was any place
in the country where Washington
was mourned it was hereabouts for
the full thirty-day period.
• * *
It may be said that the banks of
the Susquehanna furnished the chief
rival to the selection of the District
of '""ilumbia, as now located, for the
fCv". ral capital after Germantown.
And it is possible that if the Phila
delphia people had not been so in
sistent upon Germantown that this
state would have had the national
seat of government. The banks of
the Potomac were chosen as the re
sult of a compromise of great Issues
and at one time it looked as though
the district would come to the Sus
quehanna. There were two points
mentioned for the honor in this
state. One was at Wrightsville,
where the Mifllins had large holdings
and where the congressional com
mittee made inspections. The other
was here. William Maclay proposed
to make the district extend from the
mountains to the mouth of Swatara
creek and back into what is now
Dauphin county some ten or twelve
miles. He said the location was
ideal as a center of travel.
WELL KNOWN PEOPLE 1
—Judge H. A. Fuller has stirred
up Luzerne county by intimating
that 11 p. m. may be the closing hour
for saloons in that county*
—T. H. Given, the Pittsburgh pub
lisher-banker, is taking a hand in
the Democratic state politics these
days.
—General Charles T. Cresswell
has been busy in the western part
of the state working up the Reserve
Militia.
—A. A. Vosburg, active In the
movement for a reclassification of
state cities, is a former Lackawanna
Judge.
DO YOU KNOW
—That Harrisburg lias celebrat
ed Washington's birthday for
over a century and a quarter?
And never missed.
HISTORIC HARRISBURG
The town's first water works was
j located where the pumping station
I stands.