Harrisburg telegraph., December 31, 1918, Page 6, Image 6

6
HARRISBURG TELEGRAPH
A VEWBPAPER FOR THE HOME
Founded ISSI
Published evenings exeept Sunday by
THE TBI.ftQRAPH PRINTING CO.
Telegraph Bnlldlng, Federal Square
EL J. STACKPOLEI
President and Editor-in-Chief
T. R. OYSTER, Butinete Manager
OUB H. BTEINMKTZ, Managing Editor
A. R. MICIIKN'ER. Circulation Manager
Executive Board
J. P. McCULLOUGH,
BOYD M. OGELSBY,
F. R. OYSTER,
GUS. M. STEINMETZ.
Member of the Assoolated Press—The
Aseoclated Prees is exclusively en
tttlod to the use for republication of
all news dispatches credited to It or
not otherwise credited In this paper
and also the local nAvs published
herein. ...
All rights of republication of special
dispatches herein are also reserved.
At Member American
Nowspaper Pub
1/111* Hshera' f Aa^
■frTrrffigßßj3a Bureau of Circu
la 11 on and^Penn
-1 Kli f tst Mm Eastern office,
! 3M 555 SB Story, Brooks &
ijfii g 3§S W Building
est ® rn j3
Entered et the Post Office in Harris
\ burg. Pa., as second class matter.
" w '.:s?'b -fm.
g year in advance.
I am in the world, not only to do
all the pood I can, but to prevent all
the evil 1 can.— William Knlbb.
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 31, l" 8
FTT- T """"""
THE NEW PRESIDENT
THE directors of the Harrisburg
Chamber of Commerce have
made a wise selection in the
choice of George S. Reinoehl, di
vision manager of the Bell Telephone
Company, as president of the body
for the coming year. During tho
administration of Andrew S. Patter
son, at a time when the activities
of the Chamber embraced many lines
of national and local enterprises, Mr.
Reinoehl was first vice-president and
as such constantly at the elbow of
the president and his mainstay in
many of the trying war work cam
paigns. He *lll be a worthy succes
sor to Mr. Patterson, whose term was
marked by many worthwhile accom
plishments.
Mr- Reinoehl has been a resident
of Harrisburg for many years and
lias been active in tho affairs of the
community. He is a member of the
Harrisburg Club and of the Rotary
Club and has just completed a year
of service as president of the Boy
Scout Council, the advisory body
which looks after the welfare of the
Scout movement in Harrisburg and
vicinity. He is a man of much energy
and ability and will bring to his new
office the experience, tact and force
necessary to make the coming year a
success. The Chamber of Commerce
lias come to occupy a very important
place in the life of the community
and the presidency is not tin empty
honor. It requires work very often
of an arduous nature, and exacts at
tention and concentration that were
thought unnecessary a few years ago.
An exchange talks of the "Dignified
officers and the humble privates,"
which sounds pretty good, but who
ever heard of a humble American pri
vate?
The President says he is not thlnk
'l Ing of Incorporating Bryan's peace
' treaties in his League of Nations idea,
and we notice he Isn't giving William
Howard Taft much credit for having
originated the idea.
TRUCKS AND HIGHWAYS
MORE power to the movetnent
for the limitation by the Leg
islature of the size and weight
of trucks using the highways of
Pennsylvania. Too long these enor
mous trucks have been permitted to
rip to pieces the expensive highways
of the Commonwealth. There is no
reason whatever why corporations
or individuals should be permitted
to destroy the good roads of the
State.
But the effort should not end with
, the improved highways constructed
1 by the State. Right here~in Hstrris
' burg well-paved streets are being
I destroyed simply because the munl
clpal officials will not restrict the
weight and size of trucks which
are utterly destroying the asphalt
streets. \ .
For instance, the splendid boule
' vard along the river—the pride of
the city and the admiration of ali
visitors —Is being gradually ruined
by heavy trucks of coal dealers and
others. Business is necessary, of
course, but business can be con
ducted without damage to the public
welfare, and the city, having ex
pended, directly and Indirectly, hun
dreds of thousands of dollars for
Improved paving, has a right to ex
pect that the officials will see to it
I that this paving Is not torn to pieces
through the use of heavy trucks that
are utilised because It la more eco
nomical for their owners.
The Legislature will be entirely
justified in pcpvldlng limitations
u upon these enormous vehicles that
I rendering the highways of the
unsafe,for other users and at
Hnme time destroying the roads
TUESDAY EVENING.
constructed at great cost for the use
of all.
New slogan for Harrlsburgors —
"Meet you at the Penn-Harrls."
THE PENN-HARRIS HOTEL
NO CITY, however progressive,
ever meets allthe requirements
of modern life without an adequate
and well-appointed hotel. Harrls
burg has been going forward In
every direction (tor a period of
years, but has failed In the matter
of hotel accommodations. As a
city It has lost somewhat In pres
tige by reason of this fact and the
formal opening df the new Penn-
Harrls this evening is something
more than the mere throwing open
of Its doors to public patronage.
This event marks another signifi
cant step In the progress of a city
which stands alone In Pennsylvania
as a leader In municipal progress.
After years of discussion as to
the great need, a group of our pub
lic-spirited men determined that the
time for talk had passed and that
the time for action had come. This
was two years ago and this evening
the stockholders and their guests
will take formal possession of the
splendid,building at Third and Wal
nut streets.
It is at once a substantial and
enduring expression of the will of
a community that has been doing
things in a big way since 1901. The
Penn-Harrls stands as a monument
to the grit and community spirit
of a considerable number of our
people. It is a beautiful structure,
modern In all Its appointments, ade
quate for the purpose and a strik
ing reminder of what a people can
do when they once reach the point
of decision.
Where so many have been Inter
ested In an enterprise so important/
to the city it may seem discour
teous to speak of one of the group*,
but E. Z. Wallower, as president of
the company which has achieved
this great success, and who has
been responsible for the direct su
pervision of the colossal Job, de
serves special mention at this time.
His best reward, of course, is the
grateful appreciation of all the peo
ple, whether, directly concerned as
stockholders or merely interested as
citizens. Fortunately, too, Mr. Wal
lower has had associated with him
a number of men of courage and
vision and in spite of the stupendous
difficulties of a war period these
pressed forward undaunted and the
accomplished work stands out as
a testimonial of their perseverance
<
and sand. With embargoes on ma
terials, a shortage of labor, increas
ing wage costs, decrees of the gov
ernment as to non-essentials and
other difficulties confronting the
company, its directors never stop
ped, but surmounted every obstruc
tion with a spirit which called forth
the praise of all who passed this
way.
The Penn-Harris hotel. promises
to be the center of the social, official
and business activities of the city.
It is something more than a local
undertaking; It is appreciated and
appropriated by the people of the
State, who look to Harrisburg to
maintain In every way the prestige
of a great Commonwealth. It Is
an auspicious event which calls to
gether this evening those responsi
ble for this hotel and the opening
of the handsome building Is an
augury of greater things to ba done
by the city Itself and In co-opera
tlonwlth The State.
THE CITY GROWS
THE death of Patrick Gilnaugh,
known to thousands as "Chiefy
Gllner," self-appointed custo
dian of the capltol, marks the pass
ing of the last of a number of some
what similar figures whose peculiar
ities for years had made them con
spicuous. It is not so much that
these types aro disappearing u it
Is that the city Is growing. We are
past our village stage and the vil
lage characters are lost In the hosts
of people that make up the life
of the larger, more metropolitan
oommunlty. We shall never know
their like again. They were a pa
thetic lot at best. Like the court
' Jester of old, they have had their day
and find no place for themselves In
the hustling, bustling Harrisburg
that haa oome into being In the post
ten yearn
AIN'T IT A GRAND AND GLORIOUS FEELING ' ... By BRIGGS
JANUMW FEBRUARY march APRIL MAY JVIMS
/ (oh". ' ( fow• f TIS FPtoS^jl
/oh- wish] owWv*.s I lump- y\ F,6Rce - france- t h * ,/V y
AUGUST September OCTOBER —— 7-^
. . ■ , (OH - FRI6ND-S \
, IOH * 1 TeiL YOO ) fiyh I won T YO<J our \
f OH- Ths ) /OH-m- \ fS)i (hank - THii ujar / A
( ROTTEM " FLU / / WHAT A)W lA*" LL LftST Foft / HuS- - J
\i A MtseRABLEj/ Ui TeARi W A bono- /
Mtveneeß '
(ffw kyy <y, gloT W ™. I nzz™
"fyolltlct LK j
* flKKtytiTCLKtfl
By the Ex-Commlttceman !
—Commenting on the appointment
of D. J. Snyder, a Greensburg law
yer, to the bench of Westmoreland
county, to succeed the late Luoien
W. Doty, the Philadelphia Press to
day says: "Though the vacancy had
existed many months, the appoint
ment to-day took Capitol Hill com
pletely by surprise and started no
end of gossip as to whether the Gov
ernor had decided not to fight the
Gaither suit to prevent him, from
acting as head of the War Service
Bureau and writing a history of
Pennsylvania's part in the war.
"Since the State Defense Commit
tee voted, with the aid of Auditor
General Snyder and others previ
ously opposed to the Governor, to
name Dr. Brumbaugh to the War
Bureau post, there have been re
ports that an understanding had
been reached under which in return
for the place given the Governor he
would refrain from filling a number
of offices, incuding a Superior Court
vacancy, when Judge Kephart goes
on the Supreme bench, and leave
them for Governor-elect Sproul.
Some have doubted, however, wheth
er such an agreement, if there was
one, included the Westmoreland
Judgeship.
"Even before the Governor was
actually named, Walter H. Gaither,
who was dropped from the Public
Service Commission by Governor
Brumbaugh, threatened to bring suit
to prevent his taking the job, and
several weeks afterwards, on De
cember 3, started equity proceedings
to secure service on the Governor.
"Yesterday Governor Brumbaugh
accepted service in the suit and a
couple hburs later he announced the
Snyder appointment.
"Capitol Hill is wondering If the
Governor has made up his mind to
fill all vacancies, in view of the Gai
ther contest, probably letting the
suit go by default and permitting the
job to take carc of itself. Service in
the Gaither suit has now been ob
tained on all of the War Board ex
cept Lieutenant Governor McClain
and State Treasurer Kephart. The
latter is ill. •
"Snyder has served two terms in
the Legislature. -
"With the death last summer of
Judge Doty, a number of candidates
sprung up for the place. Three men
had their claims for recognition
pressed the hardest, Snyder, C. D.
Copeland, judge of the orphans
court, and Charles B. Whitten.
"Snyder was a member pf the
Legislature and consequently could
not take the office until after his
term as Assemblyman expired in De
cember. All three made trips to
Harrlsburg along with large delega
tions, and had interviews with the
Governor. ,
"Judge Snyder is classed as a dry,
and besides taking an active part in
the politics of Westmoreland county,
has an Interest in a newspaper."
Farmers Benefited Most
(Will Payne in the Saturday Even
ing Post)
At least 25 million people in the
United States are on a payroll, liv
ing on wages and salaries. As to
other large contingents, such as min
ers, lumbermen, teamsters, farm
laborers, we have evidence of much
higher pay. As to still other con
tingents the evidence is more frag
mentary. For example, I know of
no statistics covering 3 million per
sons and more in domestic and per
sonal service, but every woman who
hires a domestic servant knows that
wages have advanced briskly.
Next to those on a payroll the
most numerous division of the popu
lation consists of 6 million farmers.
The Department of Agriculture will
no doubt put the gross value of farm
products this year well in excess of
20,000 million dollars, against a lit ■ lo
less than 10,000 millions in 1914.
This means, for example, the gross
value of all the corn us well as the
gross value of all the hogs and
cattle that ate the corn; It contains
duplications.
But of all products considered in
big groups war has increased the
price of farm products moat. From
July, 1914, to August, 1918, the
wholesale price of all leading com
modities taken together increased
10 5 por cent In the United States,
while the price of farm products
creased 141 per cent. The
price has benefited most. Ni big
group has benefited more ;)i an '
farmers. /
THAKRISBTJRG TELEGRAPH
Lancken Refused to Aid Edith Cavell
HERBERT HOOVER'S tart re
fusal to have anything to do .
with Baron von der Lancken|
as a representative of Germany in
food matters and his message to tell
Lancken and his colleague, Dr. Rleth,
"to go to h with my compli
ments," is due to his knowledge of
the two men.
One explanation of Mr. Hoover's
reference to Baron von der Lancken
is- found in the record of the latter j
while he was the German Civil and |
Political Governor of 'Brussels. It j
was to von der Lancken that Brand |
Whitlock, American Minister to Bel- |
gium, vainly appealed to intercede ;
for Miss Edith Cavell, the English
nurse who was cxeevted by the Oer
mans on the charge of "treachery."
On the night of the execution Am
bassador Whitlock wroto this note to
von der Lancken:
"My Dear Baron: I am too sick
to present my request myself, but I
appeal to your generosity of heart
to support it and save from death
this unhappy woman. Have pity on
her."
Hugh S. Gibson, Secretary of the
American Legation, sought out the
Baron, but tho latter told him that
he ould not intervene ot stay the
death sentence, that General von
Blssing, the Military Governor, hav
ing supreme authority in such cases,
had decided, "after mature deliber
eratton," that the infliction of the
death penalty on Miss Cavell was
imperative. Baron von der Lancken
Sproul as Choice of the People | They'd Make Us Talk German
[Philadelphia Inquirer]
Not often is it given to a puolic of
ficial to go into the gubernatorial
chair with such overwhelming sup
port as has beeii given to William C.
Sproul. The Stat<j Department has
just announced the complete official
vote of the State of Pennsylvania
and it shows that Senator Sproul has
a plurality over his opponents of
2 45,"93. It is evident that this would
have been still larger if it had not
been for the injection of issues which
really had no bearing upon the Gov
ernorship. It is quite clear, therefore,
that the successful candidate will as
sume office as the choice of a groat
majority of the people.
The Importance of this overwhelm
ing vote lies in the fact that it will
give him the opportunity to be of
real service to the citizens of Penn
sylvania. It is not too much to say
that he will assume the Governor
ship with no friends to regard and no
enemies to pttnish. He will not be
harassed by partisan or factional
quarrels. He will not be called upon
to placate this or that element of tho
people. He will be as nearly untram
meled as it Is possible for a man to
be in this practical and work-a-day
world.
This is as it should be, and it is no
exaggeration to say that he gives
promise of living up to the expecta
tions of his supporters and that he
is tho ideal man for the times. He
has had an experience of twenty
years in the State Legislature, he has
proved himself a successful business
man, he knows the needs of tho state
and he has the disposition to de
velop its industries and to increase
Its importance among the sisterhood
of Corfimonwealths.
| The coming four years should be
' fruitful ones In Pennsylvania, and
I with energy and harmony of action
tho Keystone state should bo placed
! among the most progressive states
! of the union.
Woman and Her Vote
•
"I told Henrietta that I was proud
to see her vote Just like a man,"
said Mr. Meekton.
"Did that please her?"
"No. The choice of phrase was
unfortunate. She said that if she
couldn't use better Judgment than
a man thero would have been no
need for her troubling about the
vote in the first place.—From the
London Sketch.
The Financial Earthquake
From The Walnut IMdge Blade)
The earthquake shock at 4.30 Sun
day morning came like an explosion.
It caused Mr. Herden, night clerk
at the Boas Hotel, to stagger and
almost fall. It shook a dollar out
of his hand which had Just been
paid him by a guest.
Heed What You Hear
Therefore we ought to give the
earnest heed to the things
~ have heard, lest at any
let them slip.
J, m ® w e *Ll,
Hebrews
also refused the request of Presi
dent Falder of the Belgian School
I for Nurses that Miss Cavell's body
I be delivered to them.
In an article called "The Last
Hours of Edith Cavell," Mr. Gibson
last year told how he labored in
vain with von der Lancken on the
night in which Miss Cavell had been
sentenced to die, seeking at least
a stay, and was rebuffed with a
1 sneer. Mr. Gibson related that
j when he and Matter Gaston d Laval,
| attorney to the American Legation,
j told von der that the civil-
I ized world would be stricken with
| horror at the shooting of a woman,
i the German replied that the effect
on the world would be "excellent."
At the same moment, he related,
Count Harrach, a colleague of von
der Lancken, interrupted with the
remark that his only regret was that
| they did not have "three or four old
English women to shoot-"
Mr. Gibson said he asked Von der
Lancken to telephone the Kaiser at
Great Headquarters, but the request
was refused. .
In October, 1918, von der Lancken
was appointed by the Kaiser, head of
the so-called neutral commission to
Investigate charges of devastation
and destruction during the German
retreat in Belgium. In commenting
upon the selection, The London
Daily News said:
"The selection of von der Lancken
Is extraordinary when it is recalled
that he played a leading role in the
murder of Edith Cavell."
[New York Times.]
Away back ill the dark days of
last February there was printed an
Associated Press dispatch from Ber
lin that would make strange read
ing if it were to come across the wa
ter now. It was to the effect that
the members of the Deutscher
Sprachverein, or German Language
Association, had adopted a resolu
tion earnestly advising the chancel
lor to decree that when the time
came to establish terms of peace, all
the negotiations should be conduct
ed in the German language. Only
in that tongue were the representa
tives of the vanquished nations to
be allowed to say what little they
would have to say when their fate
was decided.
That proposal was highly charac-*
teristtc, and there is no reason for
supposing that if the Germans hud
won they would have seen nothing
unreasonable In adopting It, though
to have done so might have had its
practical inconveniences, even for
the victors.
But February Is long ago. Much
more than eleven months have pass
ed since then—it is a whole era that
has elapsed, and now the Germans
are thinking not of how to empha
size a triumph, but of how to es
! cape from a few of the consequences
of utter defeat. They would accept
; mercy, no matter In what language
iit might be expressed. They are
asking for it, too, in all the lan
guages they know and, to give
them due credit, they know, and
! know well, not a few. Yet their lin
! guistic abilities did not save them
; from misunderstanding all their
: neighbors, ncur and remote. Their
i learning was a snare, as learning of
' ton is when its possessors make
wrong use of it.
All Papers Take Notice
The Westfleld Evening Journal
knows what it wants und doesn't
hesitate to ask for it. It says:
HAS ANY ONE—
Died.
Eloped.
Married.
Divorced.
Left town.
Embezzled.
Had a fire.
Had a babyj
Broke a leg. "•
Had a party
Sold a farm.
Hud twins Or
Rheumatism!,
Struck it rih.
Been arrestdd.
• Come to town.
Bought a hiome.
Stole a cow)or
The neighbor's wife.
Committed suicide.
Committed h murder.
Bought an automobile.
Fallen fron.l an'airplane.
Hun away with a handsomer man.
; That's nevfe. Phone 400 or 491
land the Evetlng Journal will pub-
I llsh it. —Providence Evening Trib
une.
Cruel Incompetency
(From the Kansas City Times)
It has been more than forty days
since the afmlstice was signed and
the fightihg ended in France. Still,
the casualty lists continue to pour
in at the rate of from 1,500 to 3.000
daily.
How long is this form of cruel
incompetence to continue?
The manner, of handling the cas
ualty lists has been one of the worst
of the bungling features that have
characterized iho war organization
in Washing : on.
Months after the battles in which
the casualties occurred, the relatives
and friends of in France are
not yet al/e to ascertain definitely
the fate of their loved ones. The
fathers ux mothers at home wait in
dreadful suspenses for news from
Washington. '
Suppose it be granted that the
cables cannot carry all the names.
There are, nevertheless, steamships
sailing all tiio time, and there were
torpedo destroyers available for the
War Department to bring the lists
bach in the original. Surely the
dead and the severely wounded
were known a few days after hos
tilities ceased, and should have been
available for publication in this
country several weeks ago.
One man who returned from hte
war in France, who reached Kan
sas City the-morning of December
2, read the casualty list printed that
morning in The Star and said: "Why,
come of these boys were killed or
wounded September 26. Is it posr ,h le
that you are Just receiving the news
of a list so old as this one?"
After all these weeks since the
war ended, the list is but little more
than one-half completed. The War
Department permits them to drag
through the endless chain of red tape
machinery organized for handling
the names and distributing the news.
Only One Real Englishman
[From The Literary Digest]
A correspondent in the Ix>ndon
New Witness recently pointed out
that "England is suffering from for
eign domination." He wrote. "We
are governed by the Welsh, prayed
at by the Scots, and preyed upon by
the Irish." From a note in the Lon
don Evening Standard the genuine,
native-born Englishman does not
seem to have much to say nowadays.
It writes:
"Tho Versailles conference is con
sidering decisions which may effect
the fate of Great Britain for genera
tions.
"A correspondent points % out that
on this conference our country is
represented by: :
"One Welshman, Mr. Lloyd George.
"One Scottish Canadian, Mr. Bonar
Law.
"One Jew, Lord Reading.
"Four Scotsmen, Mr. Balfour, Sir
Eric Geddes, Marshal Haig and
Admiral Wemyss.
"One Englishman, Lord Mllncr.
"Is this not?" he asks, "a humilia
ting position for tho country south
of the Tweed—the so-called pre
dominant partner? England proper
is suid to contribute 70 to 80 per
cent, of the men in the British army,
90 per cent, in tho British navy,
and about 90 per cent, of the British
war expenditure. Yet she has only
one Englishman to make her voice
| heard ut this crisis of her history."
Oddly enough—though the Evening
Standard omits to mention it—the
one Englishman cited, Lord Mllncr,
was actually born in Germany, and
his father before him, since his
grandfather, a physician settled
t there, without losing touch with
[England or acquiring German citi
zenship.
Chair of Americanization
[Chaycnne Leader]
The. first American university to
establish a separate department of
Americanization is the University of
Wisconsin. The purpose of the new
project is the development of a con
crete and practical policy for the
teaching of citizenship. The schools
of tho state of Wisconsin will then
be used in carrying this policy Into
effect.
A special training course has al
ready been established for tho in
struction of students who are to
deal with foreign-born peoples in
America. Three of tho speciilc
plans already outlined are (1) nat
uralization of aliens in tho state: (2)
a training course for teachers of Im
migrants, and (3) instruction in all
the parochial and privnto schools,
some of which* havo hitherto used
foreign languages to a large extent.
All available agencios wltl be
! used to make the scope of the work
state-wide. The help of the public
I schools, vocational schools, and the
j Y. M. C. A., as well as the university
| extension service, will bo called in to
| reach every community, urban and
[rural. ■
T DECEMBER 31, 1918. 1
C-Jvot
Some Old Hnrrlsburg Hotels
Formal opening of the new Penn-
Harris to-night, giving to the capl
tol of the Commonwealth founded
by William Penn and the city laid
out by Jo'ac Ha.-ris, a son of an
early friend of the proprietor the
modern hotel which It has so long
needed calls to mind the fact that
Harrisburg being a transportation
center has always been noted for
its, Inns, traverns or hotels as the
time and fancy rryiy style them.
When John Harris established his
ferry over tne Susquehanna just
about 200 years ago places for en
tertainment of the people who wore
flowing westward naturally follow
ed. Harrisburg has had many
hotels, and their locations have
marked .In a most interesting man
ner the trend of business. At first
they clusfored about the ferry
which was at the foot of Paxton
street and gradually moved up
Front and Second streets. When
the Harrisburg bridge was opened
Market street began to have hotels
and with the .coming of the War
of 1812 the very corner of the Penn-
Harris was occupied by a tavern.
These Harrisburg hotels have enter
tained many famous men. Gen
eral Washington and Alexander
Hamilton lodged in one supposed
to have been on the site of the old
Commonwea th. This is denied by
old residents who say that he
occupied the Black Horse tavern at
the ferry. Sons of William Penn,
a French Duke, John Adams. And
rew Jackson, Zachary Taylor,
James Buchanan, Albert Erlward,
then Prince of Wales and the
lamented Lincoln, Dickens, Bayard,
Taylor. Grant, Porter,
Meade, are a only a few of the men
who have been guests at the hotels
of Harrisburg.
Prom the very early tlmcß Har
risburg was noted for its taverns.
The story goes that one of the
grandsons of William Penn liked
Harrlsburg life so much that he
stayed here after the French and
Indian war The Duke de la Hoche
foucald-Llancourt, one'of the royal
dukes of France, who was here in
1795 and 1796 and wrote most en
tertainingly of the benut'es of Penn
sylvania, especially the Susquehanna
valley, expressed his surprise at tho
number of inns. "This place," in
his Journal when referring to the
hospitality of Harrisburg. "contains
no less than thirty-eight."
Eugene Snyder, the nestor of the
Dauphin county bar and a native of
Harrisburg, whose reminiscences
of the old days are so Interesting
and so accurate, says that the site
of the Penn-Harris was occupied by
a hotel called the Globe when he
was a boy. Mr. Snyder is one of
the older generation but bis recol
lections of the way Harrisburg used
to look, are clear and he tells me
that the Globe was a log tavern
of generous size, weatherboarded,
and noted as a place of entertain
ment. A description of the site of
the old Grand Opera house which
filled the hotel plot from the seven
ties until 1907. written about the
time the <fld "Temple" was opened
says that soon after tho state capi
tol building was occupied on Jan
uary 2, 1822, a hotel was built on
the corner. It was possibly the
Globe, but what its name was we
have no record. Harrisburg had
many inns in those days and their
names changed with the landlords.
In any event the Globe and then the
Mansion house, kept by Daniel
Wagner, occupied the corner for
many years and the residence of
Michael Burke, one of the promin
ent men of Harrisburg years ago,
stood on the eastern half of the
new hotel site. It is interesting to
note that at one time the opposite
corner, now part of Capitol park,
contained an enginehouse of the
Citizen Fire company, while the
post office site was occupied by
a very noted hotel, the State Capi
tal where such genial bonifaces as
Omit and Prince dispensed cheer.
The Columbus corner did not be
come a hotel site until compara
tively recent years when John Gross
built the Gross house and It was
later remodeled into the Columbus
and went out of business for a time
because of the Grand Opera house
fire.
No one seems to know whether
the Black Horse tavern, about where
the Harris Park school now stands,
or the Bell tavern, which stood near
where the Reading bridge crosses
Front street, was tlrst. Both wei'e
old-time log buildings, weather
boarded and with the swinging
signboards which were a part of
the ojd tavern. In any event both
played a prominent part in early
days before John Harris laid out the
town, in 1785, The Black Horse
had a famous landlord, William
Umbarger, who Inter established the
Cross Keys, which was out about
Walnut and Filbert. Then there was
the Swan inn which occupied the
site of the Harrisburg hospital and
had a sign which was a target for
many a boy and occasionally for
some marksman who was shootnig
on the range that people kept on
the lower river bank to race horses
and for the autumn shooting
matches. This lower bank was a
place of amusement and on a level
with Harris Dark of to-day. A con
venient tavern was a necessity in
those days, although it may not
be polite to talk about it Just now.
The Sheaf of Wheat sign swung
in the breeze on the site of the
residence of Mrs. A. J. Dull and the
Harrisburg club lot was occupied by
the Blue Anchor. Paxton street
being a highway to the east had
several hotels, one of them called
the Wlilta Horse, which was kept
by Q)gan. not far from the older
Black Horse. The Andrew Jackson
was near the old canal and Conrad
Knepley, chief burgess -and terror
of the boys and the evildoers,
"Cooney" Knepley , as he was
known, had a tavern which was
noted locally and among the farm
ers.
There was quite an early hotel
at Second and Washington streets.
It was known as the Great West
ern and stood for a long time and
had a big patronage. The Mansion
house stood at the northeast corner
oi' Second and Mulberry streets and
was the place where jthe Cumber
land valley railroad stopped its
trains to allow pasengers to dine.
Further up street near Chestnut was
the Seven Stars, which was a real
old world Inn with a courtyard and
sheds and stables, quite a preten
tious place. Where the Johnston
building stands was Nagle's hotel,
later kept by that famous landlord.
Wslla Coverly, It was caled the
Union and General Taylor was on®
of the notables who patronized It.
This hotel was known far and wide.
, Probably the earliest hotel on Mar
ket street was the Washington
House, kept by Captain Andrew Lee,
a revolutionary veteran who was th®
George C. Boldt, of Harrlsburg, a
leader In every movement and In
whose purlors the first assembly
was held 1 'back about the time w®
were having a war with France.
There was a pigiron warehouse
first on that site but the Washing
ton House had some notable suc
cessors. the Jones of Civil war fame,
the Leland and the Commonwealth.
It is now an office building and tra
dition says that until Washington
visited hero at the time of the Whis
ky Insurrection, the tavern was
known as the Dauphin, In. honor of
the heir of France. In any event
the .figure of Washington on Its
swinging signboard has been told
about at many a Harrisburg fire
side and was a haven for travelers.
An early inn near the Washington
House was called the Bear and there
is a legend that its disreputable
signboard was due to the fact that
the landlord made a sign painter,
trying to jump his bill limn a
sign. The painter too.k revenge by
using pigments that would run and
left before the first shower came
along to mock the hardhearted
tavernkeeper. The William Tell
hotel was on the corner of Mar
ket and Court streets just across
from the Dauphin Deposit Trust
company's banking, house and later
on the White Hall came to bear It
[ company. It used to be a store and
tradition says housed county officers
when the Legis'ature occupied the
courthouse from 1813 to 1822.
■ The old sign of the William Tell is
well remembered.
No record of the hotels of Harrls
burg could be complete without the
Bolton. It was an early hotel site
and was next to the office of the
Calder, stage lines so that it became
widely known. It was called the
Golden Eagle aj*l hotels of similar
name were operated by the Kneed
lers and others affiliated with them
in Heading and Chambersburg. It
was one of the early chain of hotels
but by and by George Bolton came
along arid changed the name. The
sign on the old transom can still
bo seen. The Journal of Charles
Dickens speaks of the courtly land
lord of the Eagle. The Bolton has
always been a great Democratic
hotel, and has had a tone for many
jears, being probably the best
known of all the Harrisburg hotels.
Men whose grandfathers slept there
have gone to the old Bolton and
passed by the Commonwealth, Loch
iol and the newer Senate. Another
famous hotel locality was Third and
Market streets. Matthew Wilson,
who seems to have succeeded to the
honors of Captain Dee as the genial
boniface of Harrlsburg, built the
hotel on that site and Matthew Wil
son's was where was given
a dinner on January 31, 1825. In
the accounts of that function it is
said that at the the gen
eral, "Hail Columbia" was sung, the
general leading. Wilson had a long
list of banquets which made history
and in due time the hotel came to
be known as Ilerr's and then began
a career in the political history of
Pennsylvania as the Lochlel which
inscparately connects it with tho
names of Cameron and Quay. Across
the street David Patton had a hotel
on the site of what is now the
Hergner building. That was in the
twenties and long before tho Har
risburg Tolegraph was issued from
fhat throbbing center.
In common with most every place
of any size Harrisburg had a Bed
Lion hotel. It stood where the
Dauphin now stands, and there was
a smaller hotel further down the
block much frequented by farmers.
The Peters hotel, which stood where
the Hershey is located, was also
popular With the agricultural folks.
In fact, that side of Murket street
even in our day with the Motter and
others has been known as a locality
of farmers' hotels. The Mocker
mans built the famous Steamboat
which stood beside "the Pennsylvania
railroad at the Market street sub
way, and there was an early log
hotel on the site of the United
States. A Washington House and a
Temperance hotel, which had op
posite policies, were also in that lo
cality at an early day. Across the
railroad there was the Bomgardner
House, which had quito a vogue
among travellers. The Cross Keys
was kept by an enterprising citizen
who had the city weight scales re
moved to the front of his place of
entertainment when tlioy were taken
from Capitol Park during the exten
sion that followed the- civil war.
| There was also a McCabe hotel over
near the Walnut street or Penn lock
of the canal, which the watermen
preferred.
• * •
Back before the Civil War the site
[of the Harrisburg Telegraph build
ing was occupied by a hotel known
as the Shakespeare House. It had
an interesting history und was the
p'ace where the sqjdiers who pass
ed through Harrisburg on the way
to the Mexican war were lodged.
Later on it became known as
| Shakespeare Hall, a place for
i dances and shows and finally of tho
I Kden Museum. A book could be
| written about Locust and Court. The
1 Bxchange Hotel, which stood on
j Walnut street about opposite the
prison, was a notablo place for Har
! risburgcrs to gather during the civil
war, and must have vied in those
| days with Jim Russ' later hotpl en-
I terprlse in Brandt's hall, now the
j Commonwealth Trust Company's
I building, and others with which
i that noted landlord was identified.
[ Tho Russ fami y ilgurcd much in
I hotel life in Harrisburg for a gen
16ration, and their places are re-
I called by the older people who re
: member Sheriff Davis' Octoraro, the
! Stiniler on tho Ridge Road to Camp
Curtin, the Bull's Head down on
Second street and others. Some of
tho small taverns whose names are
forgotten, provided places for rest
and cheer, principally cheer, for
years and years, and occasionally
got into court records.
• *
One of the fashionable early tiv
crns was tho Golden Lamb at Sec
ond and Locust where James
J Buchanan and other gcntleiften
i lodged. The Pennsylvania House,
, kept by Hale, was noted among the
* politicians of tho middle period. It
stood on the site of the Y. M. C. A
and had some noted landlords. Up
at Second and Pine streets, the sit*
of tho Moiflt property, stood the In
dependence House, a family hoteL
Years after the Brady house was
I built where the Masonic Temple
I stands. It had r. varied career and
I somehow never met the hopes of
those who had an idea of making
| money out of a hotel close to .'tha
' i Continued on Page 3-1 " \