10
ARCHITECT WHO DESIGNED PENN-HARRIS HOTEL HAS
MANY MAGNIFICENT STRUCTURES TO HIS CREDIT
W.L STODDART
BIG FIGURE IN
BUILDING WORLD
Plana For New Hostelry Here
Result of Years of Wide
Experience
CLASSIC IN EVERY LINE
Beat Ideas of Scores of Hostel
ries Are Embraced
in This
WHAT style of architecture has
tne Penn-Harriss?
Of the myriad questions pro
pounded. from the time Harrlsburg s
great hotel began to develop none
has been more common than this,
and. as Oom Paul Krugcr identi
fied losing the Transvaal with the
word "staggering" the term
justly be applied to our community s
general ignorance of this divine and
'useful art. The Telegraph man who
Interviewed William Leo Stoddart,
planner of the Penn-Harris. knew
himself to be one of these del n
quents. and when Mr. Stoddatt la
conlcally replied "A am the oft
heard query, the only thing the un
[Continued 011 Page
PENN-HARRIS IS
OPENED TO PUBLIC
[Continued from Fifst Page.J
>"< •"-
thing will be in ship-shape.
Demand For Rooms
The influx of demands for rooms
began several weeks ago and tQ da>
every loom At to bo occupied was
engaged? Manager Wiggins had
answers from 175 legislators asking
for reserve, and the big news today
was that the Penn-Harris "
so besieged for rooms that an im
mediate demand is going to be to
make the hotel" bigger. If this de
mand is proved sane and demon
strable the chances are that Eenn
liarris will be extended along Wal
nut street; Architect Stoddart hav
ing the foresight to put in an ele
vator at the far end down ANalnut
street way. . . _ .
Today and tonight is the opening.
Timight marks the actual hotel open
ing and ltarrisburg's. citizens will
Celebrate with a dinner, beginning at
seven o'clock, to be followed by
music and dancing, tho largij ball
room being opened for the first time
for the social feature.
The president of the Penn-Tlarris
Company E. '/>• Wallower, will pre
side at "the dinner anil introduce
Governor Martin G. Brumbaugh.
Mayor D. L. Keister, Frank A. Dud
ley, president of the United Hotels
Company, which will manage the
Penn-Harris, and George 8. Rein
oehl, the president of the Chamber
of Commerce, who will extend the
greetings of that body.
Marvel it was that the big hostelry
opened on tIme.THR tonight, barring
the working to finish details, every
thing will be in swing. Green laurel
is twined about the lobby; the
lounge and banquet |-ooms are ready;
colored glr'.a in uniform man the
elevators; two orchestras will fur
nish music, and a special treat at
the dinner will be the selections of
Miss Neva 1-andrum, vocalist.
So tremendously popular is the
new hotel that events are booked
every night up to February 22. This
week will e® Victory Ball, Jan
uary 3; on January 4 tho Mrtorhead
Company banquet and- the dinner Jo
the Telegraph Family by E. J. Stack
pole.
A public inspection of the Penn-
Harris is announced for New Years
Day —• Wednesday from 3 to 5
o'clock.
How the Site
Was Bought
y , ORTUNATELY," wrote Mr.
H E. Z. Wallower, in his letter
headed: "The Harrisburg,
The Susquehanna, Or—(for at
that time a name had not been
chosen) "we now have under option
the very best location in the city,
at what is considered a most favor
able price." He then went on to
descrlbo the old Grand Opera House
corner, on which years ago burned
down lite play house of that name
and which had long been vacant.
"This location," he pointed out "will
rommand the largest rental values
for the Third street front, a most
important item in the profitable con
duct of the hotel, it will not only
command a view of the .Capitol
Prk, and the river from the upper
stories, but its close proximity to
the Post Office, the prospective wid
ening of Walnut street by the state,
its location in the heart of the city,
within three blocks of the railroad
- stations, will ail add value to its
location for a hotel site."
The task of actually securing the
option was assigned to E. J. Stack
vole and Henderson Gilbert and one
/very cold but auspicious day they
1 took a fast train for Philadelphia,
feeling they were on a delicate and
mighty important mission. Other
spots for locating had been suggested
as for Instance Front and Market,
I the site of the Commonwealth Hotel
/ and Third and Locust, so that if they
/ failed to get the option another place
I would have been selected. But this
one was the desideratum and the
plenipotentiaries sought Hampton L.
i 'arson with something suggesting a
shiver. Mr. Carson, formerly at
torney general, was counsel for the
Wetghtman estate which owned the
Penn-Harrls location.
Procured An Option
Talking at first of a long mortgage
he became interested greatl/, but
presently, in the twinkling of an eye
the Harrisburg hungerers, suddenly
suggested the option proposition and
it was not long before they paid that
historic one dollar to bihd the .agree
ment for all time.
"We left Carson's offloo," relates
Mr. Stackpole. "In a perspiration,
hut in such elation, after so many
years of hoping we haif aecomplleh.
I ert this good day'e work, that we
almost walked on the air."
TUESDAY EVENING*
Recent Work of W. L. Stoddart,
Architect of the New Penn-Harris Hotel
DESIGNED ANP ERECTED AS ARCHITECT
Office and Hank Buildings—
Citizens National Bank Evansyllle, Ind $-00,000
Empire Life Building ' Augusta, Ga , 450,060
Chronicle Office Building Augusta, Ga 225,000
Connally Office Building ........ Atiunta. Ga •j>o,ooo
Perth Amboy Trust Company.... Perth Amboy, N. J. ... 60,000
Hough Avenue Bank Building.... Cleveland, Ohio 7<>,000
Garfield Bank Building Cleveland, Ohio 160,000
NatT Herkimer County Bank Little Falls, N. Y luO.OOO
Hotel Buildings— * Rooms. . , ' ■
O'Henry Hotel 175 .. Greensboro. N. C <<5.000
Penn-Harris Hotel 250 .. HARRI&'BURG ?2!!'nnn
Farragut Hotel 190 .. Knoxville. Tenn 500,000
San Carlos Hotel 175 .. Pensacola, Fla 300,000
Savannah Hotel 200 .. Savannah, Ga 4a0,000
Hotel Tybee 150 .. Savannah. Ga. ........ 12.000
Georgian Terrace Hotel . . 300 . . Atlanta, Ga Oao.ooo
Dempsey Hotel 215 .. Macon, Ga 4jU,uuo
Ponce de Leon Apts 200 .. Atlnnta, Ga ->OO.OOO
•Hotel Ansley 400 . . Atlanta. Ga 500,000
Winecoft Hotel 200 . . Atlanta. Ga. . 350,000
Tutwiler Hotel 330 .. Birmingham, Ala 1.-ao.ouo
• Associate architect.
Miscellaneous Buildings— nftn
G, Siegle Plant Rosebank. 8. I. •••,••
Sclienectadv Coitnty Courthouse.. Schenectady, N. X. ... ooo.ouo
Hodgman Rubber Co. Plant Tuckahoe, N. Y. . 30,u0u
Mica Insulator Co. Mfg. Plant Schenectady. N. x. ... in", "o
Cavanagh Loft and Mfg. Co Brooklyn, N. Y 200, o
Vitagraph Company of America.. Brooklyn. N. x 200, 0u
Public School Building Tenafly. N. J.
Public School Building No. 3 Hackensack, N. J. .... 2"",uuu
Hodgman Rubber Co. Office ......
Building : Tuckahoe. N. Y 100,000
and many other buildings of similar character,
. ASSOCIATED AS SUPERINTENDING ARCHITECT •
Prudential Building Newark, N. J 0.u00.000
New York Stock Exchange NeW York 3.
Williamson Building (16 storiesf.. Cleveland, Ohio MOO.OOO
St. I J aul Building (29 stories).... New York 1,.0u,0u0
The above are onlv a few of the very large building operations
of which Mr. Stoddart had personal charge during his ten years
association with George B. Post & Sons, architects, as chief super
intendent.
IIAWES, RESIDENT
HOTEL ARCHITECT
THE Susquehanna lured Ralph
E. Hawcs, resident architect,
to remain here until the finish.
"I only intended to remain a short
time," he relates, 'to fill a temporary
job, but 1 found the city so fasci
nating, association with the archi
tect "and members of the Hotel Com
pany so agreeable that I decided to
complete the work.
"You ask me what my work was
in Harrisburg. Well, 1 have directed
the construction of the building for
the supervising architect from the
time the first footings were laid for
the foundations until the completion
of the building, and you' will not
misstate the facts in giving me credit
for overcoming many of the difficul
ties to hasten the construction as
well as obtaining the finished work
of such high chdrqcter.
"As to my history—my residence
is Pleasure Farms, Kidgefield, Conn.,
my father was un architect and
builder who died in 1894, when 1
was eighteen years of age. I con
tinued the business until 1 left with
the Twenty-second National Guard
of New York and served with them
during the Spanish-American bar.
•i have since been associated with
some of the best-known -architects
and directed somp of the finest as
'well as the largest building opera
lions in this country—in fact, few
ALL ROADS LEAD
TO HARRISRURG
By M. 11. JAMES, !
Secretary of William l'ciin ll)ghw> j
Association, ami Associated j
Highways Organization of
Pennsylvania I
TRAVELERS overland through
the central tier of Pennsylvania :
counties have for years com- j
plained that hotel accommodations;
have not been sufficient. This con- j
dition has finally been remedied;
through the construction of the j
Berkshire Hotel, at Reading; of the .
Fort Htanwix Hotpl, nt Johnstown, J
and, finallv, of the f'enn-llarris, in;
Harrisburg. It is now possible forj
trans-Pennsylvania tourists using the ;
William Pcnn Highway, and the
feeder-routes which come into the |
William Penn from the north and
south, to find hotel accommodations
us tine as can be found anywhere.
While automobiiists can by push
ing their ears make the Philadel
phia-Pittsburgh trip in one day there
is no pleasure at all in a hurried
trip of that sort; and two days are
usually required. That means an
overnight stop. Three years ago
travelers found existing hotels in
sufficient; and as time passed the
congestion became worse. Three
times as many automobiles make the
trip from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh
in a season now as in 1916. The
short-trippers are Ave times more
numerous. And the coming expendi
ture of $50,000,000 for better high
ways in Pennsylvania will mean a
further increase one that cannot
properly be estimated at this time.
While the William Penn Highway
is the logical east-west route for
central Pennsylvanians traveling to
Pittsburgh or to New York and
Philadelphia, the Lincoln Highway,
in the southern tier of counties,
carries a more extensive through
state traffic. 1 Until recently these
travelers, knowing, as travelers do
about certain cities everywhere, that
hotel accommodations were insuf
ficient in Harrisburg, refused to come
this way froti. Lancaster, Gettysburg,
or Chambersburg. But tho opening
of the Penn-Harrls Hotel means
that, once the word gets around, Lin
coln Highway travelers will take ad
vantage of Increased accommoda
tions and come to Harrisburg to see
the Capital, and the city's other at
tractions.
Great Automobile Center
Harrisburg within five years will
each day accommodate more auto
mobile.travelers than any other otty
in Pennsylvania other than Phila
delphia and Pittsburgh. The state
of New Jersey is proceeding rapidly
with the construction of tlm hlgh
wuy which will Join the William
Penn Highway at Eaeton, and af
ford an all-weather, shorter route
between Harrisburg and New York,
men have had so vast an experience
and variety of work."
Mr. Hawes does not exaggerate
one little bit. The list of establish
ments which he helped to construct
would fill a page, nonpareil, the vast
majority of theni being in or about
New York. Talk about variety!
There was the "Singer Building; the
Wallabout Market; Bossert Hotel.
Brooklyn; St. Joseph's Orphan Asy
lum, Brooklyn; Meadow Brook Hunt
Club, Long Island; University of
Florida Agricultural College; bridge,
Shore road and First avenue, Brook
lyn; heating tunnels and trains, elec
tric ducts and cables for power,
light, fire alarm, watchman and tel
ephone systems and sewers through
out sixteen entire blocks in Brook
lyn; many churches, among them
The Lady of Presentation, Brooklyn;
many a residence, including those of
George Crocker, llobokcn; Herbert
L. Pratt, Ramsey, N. J., each costing
more than a million.
'Jn addition to this work," nar
rated Mr. Hawes, "I estimated many
buildings condemned in building the
Brooklyn subways; also estimated
buildings amounting to forty-odd
millions in a single/year for build
ing loans, and direcned the superin
tendents who Inspected the con
struction of buildings on which sev
enteen millions in loans were made.
Say—do you know now why the
plans of the Penn-Harris were car
ried out-to the letter?
passing through Reading and Allen
town. The State Highway Depart
ment has pluns for the permanent
improvement of the iteadir.g-Allen
town road: and if the commissioners
of Dauphin and Lebanon counties
will act speedily the thoroughfare
from Harrisburg to Reading will
soon be in excellent shape, Berks
county having agreed to go along
with the state.
West of Harrisburg many im
provements are planned. From Mil
lerstown to Ebensburg, Cambria
county, through Lewistown, Belle
ville, Huntingdon, Hollidaysburg and
Cresson, is a stretch of road un
paralleled in Pennsylvania. Improve
ments for the road from Harrisburg
to .Millerstown are a thing of the
near future. Eventually Liverpool
will lie eliminated, tlie William Penn
Highway passing direct from a point
west of Clark's Ferry through New
port to Millerstown. West of Ebens
burg .the highway to Johnstown Will
be in permanent shajl(e within six
months. Travelers who do not wish
to go into Johnstown will find the
direct route front Ebensburg to
Blait'sville improved within 18
months. It is now a good road in
tho summer months, but bad in win
ter. From Blairsville to Grecnsburg,
where travelers reach the Lincoln
Highway on their way to Pittsburgh,
lite road is in good condition.
Maui Market Roads
Under the road-construction plan
of Governor-elect Sproul Pennsyl
vania within a comparatively short
time will have four north-south main
market roads -which will mean much
to Harrisburg because of the great
amount of travel that will be thrown
this way. These four roads con
nect:
Erie and Pittsburgh.
Warren and l^wistown.
Elmlra and Harrisburg.
Blnghamton and Reading, through
Easton and Allentown.
These four feeders of the William
Fenn Highway tap a rich field, and
the result cannot help but be advan
tageous to Harrisburg.
Improvement of the road from
Harrisburg to York and-from York
to Baltimore will bring business this
way. There must be a better road
to Gettysburg and to Chambers
burg. The Lancaster route aan stand
a great deal of Improvement. When
these things come, It can easily be
seen, Harrisburg Will be the tourist
and market center of the state. A
glance at the map of Pennsylvania
will show that Harrisburg Is the
loglcnl highway cejltar of the Com
monwealth. All roods lesd to It.
Kor that reason Its hotel accommo
dations should be of tfie best, The
construction of the, Penn-Harrls
Hotel now puts HanlSburg Inh class
by Itself, so fur as Us hotels are
concerned.
ITARRISBTTRG esSSS* TELEGRXPH r DECEMBER 31, 1918. 1
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FRANK C. LEWIN IS
RtILDER OF NOTE
YOU have all read of how Noah
built the Ark, but he had a
ciftch, compared to the task
of Frank C. Lewin with the Penn
llurris. "It is comparatively easy
to describe the building, and draw
a picture after it is all completed,"
he writes for the Telegraph under
his own signature, "but it is quite
another thing to work through the
entire construction of a large un
dertaking of the nature of the
Penn-llarrls building and obtain the
results, particularly under the cir
cumstances and conditions which
were brought upon all construction
work by the demands of tho war.
This building is practically the only
large undertaking ol' its kind which
has been started and completed dur
ing the time the country was at
war. This has been accomplished
by surmounting innumerable diffi
culties from the start to finish.
Trouble From Start
"Beginning witn the foundations
the contractors encountered trou
ble in the excavating of .the hard
shale rock and formations of flint
and slate which had to he blasted
and practically pulverized to be re
moved. To'make things worse an
old stream which was covered up
years ago was encountered, which
had a heavy flow of water in it, and
filled the foundation holes almost
as fust as they were dug out, re
quiring constant hailing and pump
ing. Tnere were times when the
entire lot was covered with water,
resembling a small pond, the water
being three or four feet deep over
the entire area.
"After passing the "stage of the
foundations, the concrete of the
superstructure was started, but no
sooner had the concrete gained
some" headway, material supplies
were considerably reduced by em
bargoes on the railroud%. During
the time that the coal administra
tion stopped all shipments except
coal it was extremely hard to keep
the work going. The labor avail
aide was not experienced in this
class of work, which added to the
'troubles of the foremen in charge
of the work. In addition to all
these difficulties the hardest and
coldest winter of a generation came
along and made concrete construc
tion almost impossible ppr consid
erable. time. It was necessary to
heat the stone and sand with steam,
use hot water for the mixing, in
close the form work on the upper
floors with canvas, and keep tires
burning in salamanders for several
days in order to keep the concrete
from freezing.
Granite Came Late
"After tnc combination tile and
! concrete lloors were erected to
i about the seventh floor, the forms
on the lower stories were removed
! and the brick work started on an
angle-iron ledge at the third floor
level, in order to save time and
Inclose the upper part of the build
ing. The granite and terra cotta
work for the lower portion did not
arrive until late in tho spring, as
the quarries were frozen tight dur
ing the severo winter, and the fac
tories making the terra cotta were
put on half rations of coal. While
tho brick work was well under way
the government started a number of
warehouse projects In tho vicinity
and commandeered tho entire out
put of most of the brick kilns In the
territory and tho kilns that were
not coinmandeored lost most of
their holp, that went to the govern
ment Jobs for bettor' pay. The
building was actually starving for
brick. There were times when the
government material chasers Inter
cepted carloads of brick as they
entered the Harrlsburg yards, and
instead of letting them be delivered
to their consignee, the brick was
switched to the government work,
The only chance the contractors had
to get uround the government ma
terial men was to H6nd out trucks
a good many miles away for brick
and have Barne truckod to the build
ing as the government Inspectors
did not watoh the automobile roads
(but only the railroads,
" "During this period the Interior
portion of the building was being
pushed as fast as possible; piping
for the plumbing, heating and elec
tric wires were installed and tested:
the machinery for the elevators and
the boilers were installed. Each and
every one of these branches had
their own difficulties in obtaining
the necessary materials as all goods
manufactured from steel and iron
were particularly hard to get.
"After all the piping and rough
ing-in was complete 011 a few of the
floors, tho partition work stkrted;
about seventy-five carloads of par
tition blocks had to run the block
ade of the embargoes during the
winter and early spring but by con
sistent efforts on the part of every
man in charge all the material final
ly reached its destination, and was
put up in the building. The plas
tering of the building was well un
der way long before the roof was
put on, and here is where one of the
worst labor difficulties was encoun
tered. At different times there were
as many as 112 plasterers wording
at the building, but at no time were
there more than thirty-three actu
ally working on the same day.
Government Embargoes
"The difficulties of tho embargoes
and the government commandeer
ing did not stop witli the rough
materials required. After part yf
tnc wood trim and mill work wis
delivered to the building, the mill
manufacturing this work was also
comnrtrndeered for several of the
government housing projects, and it
was this that caused considerable
delay nguin, in completing the spe
cial woodwork for 'the main rooms
of tho hotel.
"While tlie wood trim work was
being put on, tlie plastering was
being completed on the upper
lloors and in the main rooms, the
tile floors in the bath rooms, the
marble work in the halls and lob
bies, the plumbing fixtures and the
various machines in the basements,
as well as innumeralfte details of
other branches of the work, were
being completed.
"it would lill a good many pages
to go into detail of all of these, but
tlie main tiling the general public is
interested in, is the result of all
the work done, which speaks for
itself, it is tho best finished build
ing of its kind between New York
and Chicago, its accommodations
and equipment are of tlie
grade and equal lo tlie best in the
country. It is a credit to the city
of Harrisburg, tho Harrisburg
Hotel* Company, who promoted tlie
enterprise, and the men who brought
the building to a rapid completion
through all the difficulties encoun
tered."
Civic Club Is
Much Pleased
THE Penn-llarrls will be rel
ished by members of the
Civic Club," spoke Mrs. Wil
liam Henderson, "If for no other
reason than that -< may now In
vite here tho of Wom
en's Clubs for its annual meeting.
It has been a great disappointment
to us that Reading and other cities
could entertain tills body but that
Harrisburg had to be tabooed bo
cause there was no sultnblo hotel
and assembling room.
"It Is quite exhilarating to all
women working for their sex to
know that Harrisburg will have fine
und clean quarters to take care of
the vast number of women now
traveling alone on business errands.
Also, thut like the Civic Club, which
demonstrated Its home atmosphere
In the entertaining of soldiers, this
beautiful place will appeal us a
homy spot where folks niay meet
downtown amid such charming sur
roundings, The Clvio Club extends
its heartiest congratulations to the
Penn-Harrls
LOCAL PRIDE WAS
BACK OF PROJECT
Public Need Met by Public
Spirit and Penn-Harris
Was the Result
"Breathes there the man with
soul so dead.
Who never to himself hatli said,
"This is my own, my native
land"?
With six-cylinder speed, as soon
as the hotel had been launched by
the Chamber of Commerce, the Har
risburg Hotel Company Incorporated
as owners of the Hotel Penn-Harrls,
under the management of the United
Hotels Company, with the follow
ing officers:
E. 54. Wallower, president; Wil
liam T. Hlldrup Jr., vice-presiilent;
Warwick M. Ogelsby, treasurer. Di
rectors—Edward Bailey, J. William
Bowman, Henderson Gilbert, Edwin
S. Herman, William T. Ilildrup Jr.,
William Jennings, E. •J. Stackpole,
A. C. Stamin, David E. Tracy, E. 54.
Wallower.
Appealing with tlie promise of its
being a good investment, ajid to in
stincts of loyalty for tlie horpe town,
very Utile difficulty was. found in
raising Hie necessary $1,300,000. in
the first canvass a number of promi
nent citizens and many who were
aide and who have the civic pride to
help were not called upon, so a sec
ond canvass took place, with tho re
sult thut little urging was necessary.
Some of the lending and financial
citizens took big blocks of stock, four
investing to the amount of over $50,-
000 each, and others for $20,000,
$15,000, SIO,OOO, $5,000 and SI,OOO
and a great number for less
amounts.
Other Hotels Managed
Tlie Harrisburg Company
was fortunate In making a lease of
the hotel to the Penn-Harrls Hotel
Company, operated by the United
Hotelrf Company, which leases and
successfully operates a lnrge number
of first-class hotels throughout the
tho country, Including The Ten Eyck,
Albany, N. Y.; Tho Senocn, Roches
ler, N. Y.; The Onondago, (Syracuse,
N. Y.; Tho Jefferson, Peoria, 111,;
The Uttca; Utlca, N. Y,; The Portage,
Akron, Ohio; The Lawrence, Erie,
Pa.; The Bancroft, Worcester, Mass.;
The Tutwllor, Birmingham, Ala.;
The Nonotuck, Holyoko, Mass.; The
Devonshire, Toronto, Canada; Tho
Royal Connaught, Hamilton, Ont.;
Tho Prince Eijwjird. Toronto, Can
ada.
A contract or lease has been exe
cuted by which Penn-Harrls Hotel
Company will pay to the Harrisburg
Hotel Company 8 per cent, per an
num, if earned, minimum of 4 per
cent., on tho umount invested, for
the first five years; thereafter, 7 per
c£nt. per annum, fixed, plush one
half (49 per cent.) from tho begin
ning of the lease of-all of the net
earnings s>f tho operating company,
The nature of the lease Is considered
exceptional and shows tho confi
dence of The United Hotels Company
In HarrlsbuVff as a hotel location.
Is, Or Is Not, Steam Shovel
Still In Penn-llarris Cellar?
Sons of Rest, at Last Session of Famous Order at Third and
Walnut Streets Today, Find Themselves Torn hy Dis
cussion Over a Momentous Question
THERE was a feeling akin to
sadness, as the poets say,
among the Sons of Best to-day.
It was the last session of tho order,
so far as the intersection of Third
and Walnut streets is concerned. So
ns they stood on tho corner watch-,
ing tho final touches being put to
tlie Penn-Harris Hotel, and ob
serving the scurrying around that
was lieing done by tlio hotel at
taches. preparatory to the opening,
tho Sons of Rest whistled bravely
and trlfcd to make believe that they
were glad their long vigil was over.
And into all this machinery tho
venerable John Newton of the 2400
block on Market street cast the
proverbial monkey-wrench. There
was the usual grinding and
of gears, of course, and everything
stopped. For this is what Newton
said: |
"I'm only sorry for one tjprfng —
anil that is that 1 didn't see them
| bringing out the steam shovel."
[ With that remark Mr. Newton
started something.
"Bringing it out!" ejaculated Ed
mund James, of Camp Hill. They
never brung it out. It's still in
there. llow could they have brought
' it out when you could litirdly see
1 the top of it when they got the cel
lar dug? Bon't talk so foolish!"
"Of course they brought it out!"
shouted Newton.
Folks began to gather around
the Sons of Rest. The proprietors
lof stores peered out to see what
wns going on.
"Course they brought it out!"
said Newton. "What would they
leave a steam shovel In tho cellar
for?"
"Did you see them fetch It out?"
yelled Arthur Newbold, another of
the Sons of Rest.
"No," admitted Newton.
'"Well," triumphed Nevybold.
"Course he didn't," Interjected
Edmund James. "They never brung
it out. It's still down there. Whut
they did was to make an lce-cuber
out of it. And they had some jparts
of It left over. 1 don't know what
,they did with them. But you can
take It from me that they never
brought out the sF&am shovol.
'Cause why? 'Cause tho engineer
forgot to leave a runway for the
dadblabie thing to climb out on."
By this time the entlro member
ship of the Hons of ltcst was In
a fever of debate. The long-for
gotten steam shovel was tho center
of conversation, A policeman came
running into the throng and de
manded to know the reason for the
riot, /
"Did iliey or did they not for
get to bring out the stoam shovel?"
John Newton demanded of the offl-
cer.
"I don't know," said the police
man. "I'm a stranger on this cor
ner."
James wanted to put it up to
George Harry, but Mr. Harry could
not be found. Postmaster Frank
Sites refused to be drawn into the
controversy.
And it is hard to tell what would
have happened just then had not
Warwick M. Ogelsby appeared and
distributed tickets of admission to
ttie opening banquet among the
Sons of Kest. - The steain-shovel
was again forgotten as the Sons
debated over their probable orders
for dinner. Supreme of guinea hen
seemed to have the first call, al
though there were one or two whose
blinds ran to pates Ue fois gras.
Difficulties
Were No Par
>
MUTATION for getting
PY filings done!"
This was the slogan
which caught the eye of the hrls)*
Chamber of Commerce men when
they began looking about for an
able cpntractor and builder and
the message exactly fitted the firm
of Frank C. I.ewln, with offices at
26 North Third street; 616 Twelfth
street, N. W., Washington, and the
Peoples' Gas Building, Chicago.
This firm had already erected 606
large buildings in a 600-mile radius
of Chicago, Including hotels, club
houses, high-class apartment houses,
etc., one of the most recent hostel
ries being the Washington Hotel, at
Washington, with its 500 rooms and
baths. The latter rose in time to
he a great boon for those working
on government contracts.
From the very start the Lewln
folk encountered vast difficulties
here, due to war conditions, but,
despite these, the Penn-Harrls is
opened for business now and It Is
Interesting to know -that it Is the
only big private project started In
1917 which is finished to-day. Thfs
uccomplislinr ent surely bears out
the firm's claim of "Twenty years
in business and no building opera
tion too big to tackle."
In the neighborhood of three
thousand cars of material were
usod In tlio building; as many as
800 men wore working at one time.
When materials did not come
through fast enough by frolght they
wore ordered through by express.
No stone was loft unturned to get
the Job done, and done as quickly
us human Ingenuity and facilities
could make possible.
The head of ifho firm has asked
that high tribute bo given to his
superintendents and foremen on tho
Job, General Superintendent L. E.
Hholtes, Assistant Superintendent
E. J. Johnson, Foremen Ous Alm
qulst and Harry Bartel, Mason Su
perintendent H, S. Qllbcrt, Mason
Foreman John Crollg.