6 HARRISBURG TELEGRAPH A XEWBPAPER FOR THE BOMS Founded 1831 Published evenings except Sunday by THE TEI.%2RAI*H PRINTING CO. Telegraph Bulldlag, Federal Sqaare E. J. STACKPOLE President and Editor-in-Chief F. R. OYSTER, Business Manager OUS M. STEINMETZ, Managing Editor A. R. MICHENER. CNrcarotion Manager. Execatlre Beard ). P. McCULLOUGH. BOYD M. OGELSBY, F. R. OYSTER. GUS. M. STEINMETZ. Member of the Associated Press—The Associated Press is exclusively en titled to tho use for republication of all nevg dispatches credited to-It or not otherwise credited in this paper and also the local ndWs published herein. All rights of republication of special dispatches herein are also reserved. m Member American Newspaper Pub gggg Easter r^ - Chicago, B m: Entered at the Post Office in Harris burg, Pa. as second class matter. By carrier, ten cents a CSffSS?) week: by mail. 15.00 a year In advance. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 17, IBIS % Friends, in this world of hurry. And work, and sudden end, tf a thought comes quick of doing A kindness to a friend. Do it that eery moment.' Don't put It off—don't tcait! What's the use of doing kindness If you do if a day too latef —CHARLES KINGSLEY. i. -■ - ==^ WATCH THE TELEGRAPH WHEN there Is REAL news the Associated Press has it. and when the Associated Press has it the Telegraph has it. too. for the Telegraph is the only afternoon : Associated Press newspaper in Cen tral Pennsylvania. Monday evening, when the Pres-1 Ident delivered his momentous reply to the German chancellor, the spe cial leased wire of the Associated Press delivered the note in the news rooms of the Telegraph within a few minutes after it had been made public at the White House, Twenty minutes later a special war extra edition of the Telegraph was on the streets and thousands of copies were in the hands of citizens anxious to know what the President had to say. Other newspapers published the President's note the morning fol- j lowing. When important news "breaks" here or in Europe, the Associated Press has it first. It is not given to the publication of wild and unfound ed rumors which it would be com pelled to dehy the next day, but it is truthful, authoritative, and to be depended upon. Read the Telegraph and get the full Associated Press report. Judge Bonniwell came and went, and few knew he was here—and that's about the way it will be on election day. SOFT FOR GERMANY THE British Board of Trade Jour nal says that Germany's chief economic thought is now di rected toward the securing of raw materials for after-war recovery of industry, and that the first item on the list of raw materials is cotton. In that respect, Germany has no reason to fear any trouble in this section of the world. The President has declared, as one of his four teen peace terms, in favor of re moval, as far as possible of all eco nomic barriers, which means free dom in trade. Germany is entitled to conclude from this statement, that she can hope to secure raw cotton In the American market and sell her manufactured cotton goods here in competition with the American pro duct- If that is not the meaning of "removal of all economic barriers," the expression needs further eluci dation. "Riots in Berlin"—a symptom of a fatal disease. THE SAME OLD TIN PANS THE fact that the same little group of Grangers that has play ed the Democratic tin pan . chorus for years and been very noisy since the Palmer-McCormick crew reorganized the Democracy of Penn sylvania and took the best federal posts that could be had. Is fighting the road bond Issue amendment to the constitution, is commencing to be apparent to everyone. Many of the representative farmers of the State want good roads and seem to realize that the only way to get them would be to issue bonds and do the work on a big scale. The argument in a statement put out from State Grange headquar ters that the bond issue would In terfere with.the Government's loan issues is about as 111-founded as the editorial opposition to the loan on the part of the morning newspaper of National Chairman Vance C. THURSDAY EVENING* ■ McCormtck. The Republican State | officials In charge of fiscal affairs of, Pennsylvania would not attempt to float a Sthte bond issue until the war is over and, in any event, they could not without approval of tho Capital Issues controlled by the Democratic National Admin istration at Washington. The tin pan chorus needs a new chorister. Germany has not yet reached the stage where she can realixe that she cannot eat her cake and have it, too. WE MUST DO IT! HARRISBURG MUST meet its Liberty Bond quota! That is settled. But it cannot go "over the top" unless YOU help it . ever. A very large number of Harris burgers have subscribed to their limit. But another very iarge class can and MUST buy more bonds. To which do you belong? The banks have thrown open their treasuries to the public. You can borrow money on terms tq suit f yourself. There is no excuse for ! any man not doing his full share. ' Germany is not conquered. Don't j believe any of the foolish stories of "unconditional surrender" now be ing put out in neutral countries of Europe. They are propaganda, in tended to injure the success of the ; Fourth Liberty Loan. Those who give prominence to them are easily deceived or they are wilfully play ing into the hands of the enemy. Victory is apparently still a long way in the future The soldiers in France are doing their part to bring it about cfuickly. Tho Government is planning an army of five mll i lions. Our part is to keep the men > already abroad supplied with all they naed and to lav tip funds for the equipment of those about to be i called. . When Germany finds that we really mean to put a quarter million I men into France every month for an indefinite period, her rulers may capitulate. But if we fail in the Liberty Loan Germany will know ' that we do not have the money with which to make gocd he Govern- I ment's program, and the Kaiser will, ' fight on. figuring that, after all. ; America is only "hl'iffing " and that i we at home are not in earnest about) the war. What are YOU going to do, about It? The Germans will be soon in post- ' ; tion to truthfully say they have no • thought of holding Belgium. COTTON, MOHAIR, RICE I I IMPORTS of rice have been em- : bargoed. thus permitting the ! South to have a monopoly of the rice trade In the American mar- ! ' ket. The attempt to fix a price for , cotton ended In a decided victory j for the cotton growers. No brake I was put on the brewing industry un jtll the brewers had purchased the ;bulk of the available stocks of brew ing grains, which are also used by the northern and western farmers to feed their dairy herds and farm 'horses, consequently feed has risen to outrageous prices, which is re- | fleeted in the steady advance in the price of milk and butter. Following government price-fixing of wool, and a commandeering of stocks, the War ! Industries Board refused to fix the price on mohair, a southern product .formerly listed in the tariff as wool, -class 2. But, of course, there is not ithe slightest Idea of sectionalism en tertained b ythe Democratic party. The party itself admits It. The present loan drive has devel oped a considerable yellow streak In a number of individuals who ought :to be ashamed of their slacker rec ords In the vtur. There has been ' some talk of publicity of names of ' men who have attempted to side : step their duties In the matter of war activities and the support of the government with their money and It might be well for some such thing !to happen. There appears to be no good reason why a war for humanity ; should be fought by a sacrifice of thousands upon thousands, while the : indifferent minority neither risks its life nor Us money. THE SHYSTER EDITOR NEWSPAPER publishers and editors will not lose sight of the fact that two noted pub lishers who took money secretly from large Interests which they represent ed, not only injured themselves, but cast an unjust cloud upon the whole newspaper profession. .Thoughtful people will not be misled, but thoughtless people will carry In their minds the suspicion that many other papers are similarly fihanced. The fact is that the so-called "control led" press is very limited. No paper published for the advantage of any special interest can long conceal the limitations upon its freedom of ex pression. Most people will readily understand this, and will not harbor unjust suspicions against the press in general. However, incidents sueh as those recently exposed cannot be otherwise than harmful to the press as a whole. Just as the evil deeds of a shyster lawyer bring the whole legal profession Into more or leas dis grace. It is a pity that dishonorable editors, like dishonorable lawyers, cannot be disbarred. ftUtUsU By the Ex-Commlttecman 11 11 —There havg been Yew stranger situations created in Philadelphia politics of recent years than that , brought about by the death of J., , H. Gay, just elected county commis sioner to succeed the late R. J. Moore a week or ten days ago. Mr. Gay was known to quite a few Har , risburgers. i —Speaking about the low regis tration in Pittsburgh the Gaxette- Times saya editorially: "When Americans fall to exercise the most . sacred right they possess are they not inviting the erection of auto cracy in our own country? There should have been'relatively a greater registration this fall than ever be r fore. There would have been had the people of Pittsburgh learned the s primary lesson which this war preaches so emphatically. The peo ple must do their duty at the polls if they are to preserve their govern ' ments and their own rights. A nor i. mal political year ought to be one In which everybody votes because he i j is interested in doing his part as a citizen." 1 —Over in Lehigh county the Dem r ocratic row is taken to mean a seri ' I ous split in that bastion of Demo i cracy. A dispatch from Allentown ! says: "It is possible Judge Bonni t well will not be able to muster half .Ithe registered Democratic vote in c : Lehigh, and political prognosticators . i look for a fine plurality for Senator I Sproul in the gubernatorial contest, t with the probability that Congress man Arthur G. Dewßlt will also lose • the anti-Bonniwell Democratic vote , because of his alleged alliance with the booze ticket nominees." —State Chairman B. E. P. Prugh says that reports of Dr. E. J. Fithian, ' Prohibition candidate for governor, | being on campaign tour last week or this week are erroneous. Dr. Fith ian's cold water auto band wagon has been engaged on Liberty Loan work, he says. • Just what Dr. Fith ian is doing In this campaign is puzzling people here. Every vote taken away from Sproul. an avowed advocate of the prohibition amend ment, will help Judge Bonniwell, who is emphatically "wet." Dr. Prugh insists that saloonmen are ifor Sproul and displaying his pic ture, when everyone knows that the liquor element Is for Bonniwell and increasingly vocal against Sproul be cause of his stand. It is not hard I to understand some things about the ) Prohibition Vote in Pennsylvania in recent years. —Judge Eugene C. Bonniwell. Democratic nominee for Governor, was busy yesterday delivering ad dresses in Lebanon county. During the afternoon he was in Myerstown. and from there he went to Lebanon, where he was the guest at a recep tion held last night in the YVeimer House. Among those in charge of the affair were Dr. John Walters, Wil liam E. Schaak and Dr. A. C. Hersh. W. L. Pace, chairman of the Democratic committee in Wllkes- Barre. has extended an invitation to Judge Bonniwell to meet Luzerne icounty voters. Judge Bonniwell yes terday announced that he would be in Lackawanna county on October ,23. and in Luzerne on the following j day. j —Senator Edwin H. Vare vester 'day called up the members of the i Republican city committee in Phil ladelphia. to work as hard in the in terest of the Fourth Liberty Loan as ;they will to get out the vote on No vember 5. "If you do this," Senator Vare said, "there will be nothing to it and the loan will go across with 'ease." Emphasizing the ease with Which subscriptions can be procur ed for the loan. Senator Vare said 'that on Tuesday night two of his 'daughters canvassed only one block jin the Thirty-ninth ward and pro cured 150,000 in subscriptions. , Back to ConOersation [Phila. North American! The not which President Wil son sent in response to Germany's peace offer contained less than 250 words. The various interpreta tions of it—some of them in total conflict with others—would fill many columns. These facts suggest the possibilities of confusion and Invol vement which can be crowded into a single brief utterance. As in the de plorable Lusitania controversy, Pres ident Wilson has again undertaken 'to clearify issues which are utterly plain, to elucidate stark simplicities; and the result, as before, is to create obscurity and cloud the common judgment with new discussions. Whether the action is, as the Pres ident's eulogists declare, "a master stroke" comparable in power to that being delivered by Marshal Foch, its I effects in Germany will show. But :the effect in this country Is already • manifest, in a startling change in public thought from unity and con tidence to uncertainty and suspense. The fervid spirit of victory and the absolute unanimity of sentiment which were stirred by the German 'maneuver have perceptibly declin ed. Once more the American nation, eager for leadership, finds itself con fronting instead a question mark. Fresh Air as a Germicide I [From the Philadelphia Evening Ledger] • If everybody could be assured of 'fresh_air the present epidemic would ;soon disappear. The marked fall ing oft reported in street car travel is a popular recognition tjiat, under the normal conditions of crowding, .the street cars are one of the most | dangerous sources of contagion. Yet it is only fair to the Rapid Xran , sit management to point out that everything possible is being done by ut, even though it be under impulse of self-interest, to mitigate the dan ger and to maintain sanitary con ditions. The cars are now being dls- I Infected at the end of every trip, doors and windows being opened to insure thorough ventilation. More over, the cars are required to begin their trips with open windows. If, therefore, passengers And that cars are like closed boxes, without ade quate ventilation, the fault lies with 'passengers, not with the company. The point that needs to be empha sized, for those to whom the street cars are the only means of trans portation to and from business, is that the remedy tot foul and 111- ventllated conveyances lies in their own hands. As a transit official ex pressed it yesterday, "Half the peo ple would be glad to have the win dows open all the time; the other 'half Is determined that they shall be kept closed." Between the two conflicting purposes the* car crews arc powerless. But Intelligent pass engers should resolutely insist upon plenty of fresh air on the way to and from work; those who don't like fresh air ought not to be allowed to imperil the lives of those who do like it. * HJLRRISBURG (MM* TELEGFTAPH MOVIE OF A MAN AND A BUSIED CIGAR ✓ HA-3 BEKM A VF "V"*"™ .W WTM I £T HM E~ .K C E WFRS 7T"v?'S= "v" ■ eNO 11 J^SEO vt wcrer WW) - E"JOOV T ATTEMPTS POLLS AT CTGAT* REMOUES SO^E WRAPPER LLSM-TTMG BVJT 6MOK6 COWN'T MORC WRAPPER toosaweo WRAPPER THROUGH. . 566 M 3 "too NWCH V/CAJTI UAT'OAJ R ' SONIC TMH6 H6HTS ONCE PXTRA HARD BLOWS ON IT. MORS '" ' PULV " ' INOIPFERENT j j "The Princes of Germany, Are Shaking Dice For the United States 1 * By HERBERT QUICK WE must buy bonds to the last cent of our ability because our country is fighting for its very life. Make no mistake, citi zens of America, the cirisis is just that—we are righting for our very life. We must fight this war through. We must fight it through to a peace, the basis of which will be written by us and our Allies. Germany must not write a single clause in the Treaty. She must be whipped until she will sign & treaty, every word of which will be drawn by the Allies. Germany must not he allowed to dot an "I" or cross a "t." Why ? Because Germany has become nothing but a robber empire, a mur derer empire, an empire every pur pose of which is the enslavement of the rest of the world. Such purposes admit of no compromise. We must conquer or die. If we do not con quer, we shall nevertheless die — and die slaves. > Germany began with the inten tion of robbing France of her iron, coal, her best land and her great factories; of making Belgium, with her rich mines, great cities and im mense factories, a part of Germany; of gaining the Belgian coast from which she might conquer England, and of combining under her flag the hordes of Mohammedan Turks, and all the Balkan states, so that she might train soldiers in countless mil lions, build navies to sweep ths oceans, and conquer the world. This war was fo be a step to ward world conquest. If we do not fight the war through FIGHT INDIAN FASHION [The Philadelphia Public Ledger] Virtually every American general in command of the American troops in France gained a portion of his training fighting the Indians on the Western plains and in the Rocky Mountains. To this they added their experience fighting the crafty polomen of the Philippines, the Malays and the wild tribes of the Orient. All of which accounts for the new tactics employed by the Yankees who have blazed a new trail over there since the marines let loose early in the summer at Chateau Thierry and never let up until the Hun rested on the upper banks of the Aisne. Formerly the French and English shelled machine gun nests before launching attacks; the Americans creep up Indian fashion, surround the light artillery nests and then rush therti. much after the manner In which the Indians used to rush the camps of Custer and Miles and Scott and the Buffalo and Pawnee Bills of yesteryear. The best story told in this con nection was of an Incident during the fighting along tho Marne. An American contingent, having cap tured a French town, pretended to retreat. The Hun fell into the trap land walked into the toVn. With drawing by a southern outlet, the American line divided and passed right and left in a wide encircling movement. At the signal to ad vance they swooped in on the be leaguered town from every direc tion and made a pretty haul of prisoners. The American generals have been playing the game Indian fashion from the start, having applied the methods of warfare they acquired In their earlier Indian campaigns in the "wild and wooley." Gen. Hun ter Liggett was an Indian fighter. General Duncan is known as "The Father of the Scouts." General Bunday and General Bullard had their Inaings with the Moros. Oen T eral Pershing was an Indian cam paigner. Before our troops got going over there the French and English news papers were full of caricatures of American soldiers in war paint and feathers. The drawings were not so far fetched at that, for, minus the paint and feathers, the Yankees are giving the Hun a first class taste of real Indian fighting. Centralization [From the Chicago Dally News] Dally the Central Eigptres are be coming more central. to complete victory she will still keep on and she will succeed. She will surely succeed! Russia with her nearly 200.000,- 000 people lie prostrate at Germany's feet. Germany could now give up the Balkan states, give up Belgium, force Austria to yield up the Ital ian territories, give up conquered France, yes, she could give up these,' and even Alsace-Lorraine, and if al lowed a free hand in Russia she would still have won a victory great er than any of which she ever dreamed at the beginning of the war. Give her control of Russia, and! she can and will within a few years come back with power to take back Alsace-Lorraine, crush poor Belgium once more and destroy exhausted France, sweep every vestige of re sistance from Europe, Asia and Af rica, and ihen what? J Then she will thunder at our doors i i—from Asia she will invade us onj : the west, from Europe on the east," ! and from Mexico on the south. If Germany has control over the ! termß of peace, we who read this will live to see one of the Kaiser's six , sons emperor of America. The time to. whip Germany is now! 1 It is now or never! The princes of Germany are shak ; ing dice for the United States. It will take money, money, money, that we may send men, men, men. Buy bonds, for so only can the war be won. Unless it is won, every thing you possess is lost, and with it the American soul is lost. LET FOCH DECIDE! i [From the Boston Herald] Let Foch decide! Let him say, "No, Never surrender to a beaten foe ;The safety of the world, for which have died •Viilions of honest men. Beware of whimper of the van quish'd Hun, I Beware the whining of the homi cide— I William the Liar, who brags, and | slays, and then |With ratlike squealtng seeks his hole again! i Trust not the hazard of a Juggler's 1 pen To keep what we have won!" In Foche confide! |The silent, strong, enduring, daunt less man— ' First in a hundred fights, trust him I who never ran. But thrice —art Nancy, Marne and Ypres—smote [The Teuton legions and abased their pride. Woe unto those who at this fartal j time , Would compromise with crime. And bandy cunning with the shame less Hun! {He stands on ruin's brink; . I Our victory is near; not ink, .But blood, but valor and unshaken will Should be our weapons and our • skill. In Foch we trust! [He writes no letters and his speech j is brief; He scorns the subterfuge of dust |Thrown into statesmen's eyes; iHe will not compromise! jHe saw far off the goal, 'And with undaunted soul 'Wins it, unboasting, as becomes a Chief! Be every reptile message of the Boche Referred henceforth to Foch! WILLIAM ROSCOE THAYER. Made Fast Time For fast running we commend Field Marshall von Sanderse, Ger man commander in Palestine. He has got to Constantinople already and Is half-way home, but the sound 'of Allenby's bugles is still In his eara.—Brooklyn Eagle. One More Push The German structure is coming down about the German ears. That only makes Samson put a little more muscle Into his push against the pillars.—Chicago Tribune. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR ! — —■ COMMENDS TELEGRAPH j To the Editor of the Teletrafh: I have just received a copy Of, your issue of the 12th instunt and ; have read with considerable interest i your splendid editorial contained; "therein on the incident at Dickinson College where two colored students were refused admission at that in- j stitution on account of their color, j 1 It is indeed a "regrettable incident" | when at this period of our nation's ; i history, there should be an instance jof such flagrant discrimination on j j the part of Dickinson College be- i cause of color alone, particularly j J when Dr. Morgan gives as his excuse j the present war conditions, when our i 1 sole aim is the perpetuation of the i | ideals and principles of democracy. I j If the present war means the tnitia- j (tlon of such principles and practices, i jso greatly in opposition to the idea which democracy is supposed to ! express, then it is our opinion that i j the war shall have been fought in i : vain. One of the most pleasant aspects of this situation is that you should have taken such a commendable stand upon the matter and we de sire in the name of the National As sociation for the Advancement of I Colored People with its 145 branch |es with 40,000 members of both J races scattered throughout the coun try, to express our appreciation of your editorial of the 12th. It is in-/ deed the "silver lining" of the cloud raised by Dickinson College. Sincerely. JOHN' 11. SHILLADY. Secretary. THE SECRET (From the New York Sun] Many American observers in Eu rope, Including soldiers, various aux jlllary workers and the plainest of I civilians, have been amased to see 'the military appearance of the Amer ican soldiers, plucked straight from i probably the most undisciplined public in the world, after only a few months' training. And if their personal appearance was surprising., what of their literally magnificent fighting? The explanation of this crowning miracle in a miraculous period, the secret of the American soldier as suddenly displayed, seems to have been put in few words by one of our older officers: said he: "They grabbed our West Point tradition pf absolute obedience and ran away with It as they have with every other martial virtue." None knows better than the old West Pointer that "every other martial virtue" assem bled in a good man—lacking that one ; point, obedience —would not make a 'splendid soldier. But with obedi lence included, why, in the quoted words of one of our Major-Gencrals: "Of course you never saw this par ticular kind of men at home. They weren't there, either. They're high strung, high spirited, tractable, but ! solid young fellows who've been I touched by the fire of war, and it's made them over. When you've got a combination df imagination and horse sense, how can you beat it?" Of course you can't beat it, noth ing can beat It. But the vitalising ispark which has made this young ! American soldier a figure imposing i among all the brave soldiers of the 'world is the supreme virtue of obe ! dlence to authority, without enough to prevail utterly against an oppo nent whose general moral and phy sical equipment is inferior. To learn how to obey is essential to the man who would learn to com mand; also it is the first lajv of Na ture: '"These are the laws of the Jungle, And many and mighty are they; But the head and the hoof of the And the' haunch and the hump. ' is Obey." This lesson has been learned by our young Americans so swiftly and miraculously' that one is quite dis posed to believe in the direct inter position of Providence in behalf of the United States, "Our West Point . tradition," said • the officer. Well, if "absolute obedience" be that tradition one can see how deep are laid the foundations of America's military strength. Learning Differently No* the Huns insist that America Is "war mad." Two years ago they were declaring that we could not be goaded or kicked Into making war. They are glimpsing the truth of the maxim, "beware the fury of the pa tient man."—Richmond Tlmes-Dls- ' OCTOBER 17, 1918. " AMERICAS AIRCRAFT [From The Kansas City Times] Representatives Kahn of the House committee on military af fairs announces that by the first of the year America i will have more airplanes on the front than all its Allies together. We have the as surance that planes are now going forward by the carload. Dr. Burris [Jenkins reports having seen the thousandth DeHaviland unpacked in France, and the head of the Day ton-Wright Company says in a speech that by January 1 twelve hundred planes a week will be go ing over. Even now we are able to muster planes in such numbers that a dis patch, yesterday reports more than 350 taking part in an American bombing raid on the Verdun front. We have been late in getting started. But we are making up for lost time. Evidently our a+r ! craft program was based on a sound : foundation and we are now getting i the results that will shortly give I the Allies the complete supermacy in the air for which we have been looking. I I OUR DAILY LAUGH | WHY HE Olgy, X want I am glad you la re becoming ' article says one I I jlfll [1 111 I way to acquire I 1 II 111 I a good carriage f,H \Tbl WrM !is to practice JZf balancing a jfl if book on your ** j head. POOR THING. Bill Bird —You keep away from hose woman's rights meetings. You'U •e wanting me to lay the eggs next. ONE GOOD ■f ' ' How did you get rid of the trouble you ! • were having I^x7wKw J with your auto- 4 1 sold the car. I V MUTUAL CONFESBION. He—You don't know how nervoui was when I proposed to you. She—And you don't know how ervoual-waauunt(lyou did so. letting (Wfatj! Attontion given in the last twc or three months to the subject ol improving the navigation of tho SUB. quehannu, which since' tho conges tion on the railroads and the de mand for movement of various sup plies for the national defense has been again found highly desirable, recalls the fact that not only did people from the counties along the wide branching river meet here 100 years and more ago to discuss the project and start some work, bU that the Susquehanna is supposea to have had the first iron steam boat in America. No less an au thority on iron and steel than tho .ate James M. Swank, the historian of tho industry in" America, gives prominence to a statement that tho iron steamboat Codorus was tho first on the Susquehanna and inti mates that it was probably the an cestor of the iron and steel fleets of to-day. This statement regarding an iron steamboat built and operated on our, river is taken from a report made in the Eighth Census and writ ten by Henry Hall. Mr. Hall, who has studied the shipbuilding indus try extensively, says that the Codo rus was launched in 1826. Hero we have an authoritative statement regarding steam navigation on our own river among the steamboat en t .srprlses of almost a century ago. It wus not so many years before that Henry Fulton, born in Lan caster county, which borders tho Susquehanna, sailed the Clermont in the Hudson. • / • • That the Codorus ( mentioned by the eminent student of shipbuild ing had a notable career is sub stantiated by a newspaper publish ed in our own town. The Harris burg Chronicle of December 5, 1825, the year of the launching of the boat, says: "The sheet iron steamboat Codorus paid another visit to Har risburg on Sunday last with the members from York county as pass engers. The members of the Legis lature in general are much pleased with the performance of this boat and express great satisfaction with the success of the experiment. From what we have heard, we infer that there will be a legislative en actment in favor of the enterprising proprietors." This extract which is 'nteresting In view of the fact that it shows that legislators were not adverse to taking free rides even in that day. Moreover Sunday excur sions were not as severely frowned upon as we have been led to be lieve. although any party from Cap tol Hill which would be likely to indulge in a Sunday steamboat ride now would probably get into the I newspapers with less gentle refer ence than given by the editor of the jHarrisburg Chronicle. It also shows that navigation was open as late as the first week in December on the Susquehanna. This steamboat was a sister ship of several whose names have come down to us through families whose i grandparents rode on them. From | all accounts they were not as large as the Kingfisher, the flag ship of the West Fairview squadron, while the steamboats, which ply between New Cumberland and Steelton aro considerably bigger. In any event if the Codorus, Susquehanna. Pio neer, Conestoga, Augusta and other early steamboats found the river safe there is no reason why the coal dredges which go up and down every day now do not indicate poss ibilities if the worst rocks could be blown out in the fashion approved by Major W. B. Gray in his recdKit address before the Rotary Club. The Codorus and her sisters were launched by a company which was formed after the Legislature had at last in 1823 taken hold of the pro ject for improving the navigation of the Susquehanna which had been [agitated since 1790 in Harrisburg land various places along the stream. In March, 1823, the Legislature au thorized improvement of the river from Northumberland to tidewater and made an appropriation, but in 1827 declined to continue it after r.iore than 115,000 had been spent in blowing up rocks. Of this sum one-twelfth was spent between Col umbia and Northumberland and the rest betcV?n Columbia and tide water. • • • That attempts to establish a reg ular steamboat service on the Sus quehanna were made by Baltimore and York capital is on record in Harrisburg financial institutions. One company proposed to run pack ets between York Haven and North umberland. It is believed to have been the one which built the Codo rus. The Chronicle notes regular movements of the steamboats in the spring of 1826 and on April 3, 1826, says that the Codorus was at Mont gomery's Ferry, which is a score of miles above Harrisburg. Later on it announcedi that the Susque hanna had gone up as far as Milton and Danville. But soon after the newspapers announced that the Sus quehanna had blown up in attempt ing to navigate the river near Ber wick, killing two person* and injur ing several, among them a Lancas ter county legislator. * * The records of the War Depart ment, which show that Susquehanna navigation matters have been the subject of correspondence periodi cally between officials on the banks of the Potomac and residents of the shores of the Susquehanna for 125 years contain a letter written to Lewis Cass, when secretary under Andrew Jackson on the problem. It was from Henry K. Strong, one of our leading residents of that day in which he said that one of these York county boats was "propelled by steam to the line separating the states of Pennsylvania and New York." He believes it to have been the first steamboat on American waters, which is further evidence corroborating Mr. Hall. Mr. Strong was one of a group of Harrisburg men who in the thirties made an earnest effort to induce the national government to go into the matter. Among his associates were Valen tine Humifiel, who was chairman of a select committee; George Mlsli, Jacob M. Haldeman, then famous as an Ironmaster; John C. Bucher, C. C, Rawn, Henry Buehler, Joel Bailey, Henry Walters, George Washington Harris and Mordecai McKinney, who was the secretary and a sort of J. Horace McFarland of his day. | WELL KNOWN PEOPLE • —Col. Howard S. Williams, men tioned for bravery In France, used to be chief of artillery on the staff of Governor Tener. •—Representative J. R. Wylie, of Wilklnsburg, has been made tho in dustrial member of the Pittsburgh district appeal board. 1 DO YOUKNOW ) —Tlint tho third class cities of the state art> all watching to sco whut Harrisburg Is doing with Its loan? , HISTORIC HARRISBURG United States securities were tho foundation of more than one busi ness In Harrisburg in its early -
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers