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THE AWAKENING OF
HARRISBURG
Some Account of the Improvement Movement
Be^un in 1902; with the Progress of
the Work to the End of 1906
By JF HORACE MCFARLAND
Orisioally 'Presented at the Boston Conference of the National Municipal League in 1902, and
printed as its Pamphlet No. 8. Now revised and brought up to date by the author, with
additional illustrations, and published in cooperation with the Municipal League of
Harrisburg and the Harrisburg Board of Trade, by The National Municipal League.
Price, 10 Cents
Fl5q
1^1
D,
\
JUL 1 »9i6
The Awakening of Harrisburg
BY J. HORACE MCFARLAND
President American Civic Association, Secretary Municipal League pf Harrisburg
THE capital city of Pennsylvania, with unusual advantaged
of geographical situation, and surrounded by much natural
beauty of river and mountain, island and valley, had pursued
the even tenor of its growth in wealth and population for some-
thing over a century, with but little thought of esthetic develop-
ment. To the problems of water-supply^ street paving, sewage
disposal and the other questions that must beset congestion of
population, only incidental attention had been paid, without any
comprehensive view of the situation or any attempt to provide
adequately for the future.
In the course of time, individual citizens began to make com-
ment on the failure of the town to measure up to the more agree-
able conditions found in other municipalities, and numberless plans
were proposed for improvement. As usual with such propositions,
their most useful effect was in creating discussion, for it is seldom
that the citizens of any community will agree to adopt as best the
plans or suggestions of other members of the same community. "A
prophet is not without honor, save in his own country."
It may fairly be said that the real improvement of Harrisburg
began with an illustrated talk on "The City Beautiful," presented
. December 20, 1900, by Miss Mira Lloyd Dock,
. , - before a large number of Harrisburg citizens gath-
ered in the Board of Trade auditorium. Miss
Dock, one of the energetic founders of the Civic Club, had long
been a prophet of improvement. She now showed pictorially the
disgusting civic conditions in Harrisburg, contrasting these with
enlightened conditions elsewhere. Hundreds of citizens then real-
ized, for the first time, that a rarely beautiful river bank was not
the best place for a public dump, and that a modern city owes its
inhabitants, in return for taxation, something more than police pro-
tection, typhoid-laden water, imperfect sewerage, dirty and unpaved-
street^, and deficient park and playground facilities.
(i)
. ' > / .* • ' • i
2 THE AWAKENING OF HARRISBURG
The smoking spark of municipal betterment was by this lecture
fanned into a flame. The newspapers gave constant attention to
the more outbreaking nuisances in the city, and talk, more talk,
and yet more talk, followed.
Definite progress began when, on May 3, 1901, Mr. J. V. W.
Reynders, an active business man, a noted bridge engineer, and,
, best of all, a good citizen, published a letter in the
' . . Harrisburg "Telegraph," reciting the futility of
mere talk, saying that money should be appropri-
ated by the councils for the obtaining of expert advice upon the
Harrisburg difficulties and their remedies, and proposing that if the
city councils could not or would not provide the funds, he would be
the first contributor of $100 to a fund of $5,000 for this purpose.
This suggestion was strongly approved, and, as it was followed by
Mr. Reynders' energetic personal effort, the subscription required
was completed in ten days. It came from sixty persons, and is
notable because of its amount relative to the city's population and
wealth, and relative to the unselfishness of the subscription, which
was really for the purpose of discovering how these same citizens
might tax themselves for doing better by the town. To do as well
in proportion. New York would need to raise in ten days more
than $400,000 for a local public purpose not connected with any
charity; Chicago about $200,000, and Philadelphia just a little less.
Yet, as will be noted, Harrisburg's citizens doubled the $5,000
within barely six months.
A meeting and organization of those who had subscribed this
fund followed. The remarkable condition appeared that the city's
more conservative and phlegmatic citizens were now become its
most progressive residents. The Harrisburg League for Municipal
Improvements was formed, and an Executive Committee was charged
with the duty of obtaining expert advice, and with power to expend
the $5,000. The mayor, the city engineer, and a representative from
each branch of the city councils were invited to act with this com-
mittee, thus securing "semi-official cooperation, and recognizing the
existing political conditions.
After careful and painstaking inquiry, this Ex-
Selection of . ^ . 11
_ ecutive Committee retamed three emment engi-
neers: Mr. James H. Fuertes, of New York, to
report upon the sewerage and filtration problems; Mr. Warren H.
THE AWAKENING OF HARRISBURG 3
Manning, of Boston, to formulate plans for parks; and Mr. M. R.
Sherrerd, of Newark, New Jersey, to report upon the question of
paving. These gentlemen promptly took up the work assigned,
and during September, 1901, three comprehensive reports, supple-
mented by numerous detailed drawings and diagrams, were presented
to' the Executive Committee.
It was discovered that Harrisburg's debt could be increased by
$1,090,000, upon consent of the voters, under the constitutional
provision limiting the debt to seven per cent of the assessed valua-
tion. It was also discovered with very great satisfaction by the
Executive Committee that the recommendations of the engineers,
with but shght modification, could be carried out within the city's
resources.
The reports of the engineers, with the essential maps and dia-
grams, and a concise summary and recommendation by the Execu-
tive Committee, were published in pamphlet form. This pamphlet,
entitled "Proposed Municipal Improvements for Harrisburg, Penn-
sylvania," has long been out of print, though in constant and urgent
demand by the many other municipaHties which are following the
example of Harrisburg.
It should be noted that this movement was entirely unofficial up
to this time. To become effective, the consent of the citizens was re-
quired to the proposed increase of debt, — that consent to be obtained
through an election ordered by the city councils for the purpose.
Harrisburg was not without those citizens who cannot see beyond
the penny upon which their eyes are always focused, and it also had
a large number of inhabitants who were properly conservative and
required to know what the money was to be used for, and how,
before voting for additional loans.
It was realized, therefore, that if this effort was to succeed, the
people must be fully informed as to the proposed improvements, and
„ , ,. convinced that it was wise to enter upon the expen-
Safeguarding ,. • , « i- f 1 1
.. ° . diture required. A prevainng fear that the money
the Work. •,,• 1 jji
might be misspent was also considered and com-
pletely dissipated by the preparation and passage of an ordinance —
introduced with the ordinance authorizing the election to determine
upon the loan — creating a Board of Public Works, charged with
the expenditure of most of the money involved in the loan. These
ordinances were pressed to immediate passage, and three citizens of
4 THE AWAKENING OF HARRISBURG
ability, integrity and high standing, universally satisfactory to the
people, were appointed as this Board of Public Works, long in
advance of having a dollar to expend or any work to do. That is,
before the vote was taken, the people in Harrisburg knew who was
to spend the money they were asked to vote.
To promote knowledge amongst the people as to the advisability
of the large increase in the public debt proposed, an additional fund
of $5,000 was raised, the total of both funds, indeed, amounting to
$10,221.55, of which 90 per cent was contributed by the sixty
citizens who pay nearly one-eighth of the taxes in the city. This,
as previously mentioned, is equivalent to a subscription of over
$800,000 in New York city.
The preliminary organization was now made permanent, with
the name of the Municipal League of Harrisburg, under a simple
but model constitution. Surely Harrisburg might now lay claim to
having awakened!
The Executive Committee of the League and its sub-committees
now planned a comprehensive and somewjiat sensational campaign
„, „ . of education. An abridged edition of the report of
The Campaign , ,,,,•• r
, p , .. the engmeers was prepared under the direction or
a Press Committee, which committee also was
charged with the duty of presenting a carefully progressive series of
arguments through the three daily papers each day of the six weeks'
campaign. These daily papers, it should be noted, gave most freely
and fully of their space, influence and help to this movement, with-
out which help success could not have been attained. Through a
corps of paid distributors, chosen from among the high-school boys,
two from each voting precinct of the city, a progressively argumen-
tative series of documents, tracts and appeals was placed in every
house in the city twice each week during the campaign.
A Committee on Meetings arranged for public gatherings in
various parts of the city, at which were presented, through the
stereopticon and by the voice of eloquent speakers, the various plans
and propositions involved, as well as pictorial representations of the
unpleasant conditions it was hoped to correct. Headquarters were
opened in the business center of the town, and a courteous attendant
there explained the proposed improvements, showed the diagrams
and handed literature to all callers.
A Committee on Cooperation wrote to every clergyman in the
Pennsylvania Railroad Bridge, just above Harrisburg, over the beautiful Susquehanna River
(See page 5)
Beeches in Wetzel's Swamp, now included in the new park system as part of Wildwood Park
(See pages 8 and 10)
The shores of the Susquehanna within the city's limits, showing unsanitary beach — 1902
North Front Street, on the bank of the Susquehanna, in 1902. An unpleasant dump was close by
on the river-bank; it has since been improved and a park established. The street
has been paved with asphalt, with a grass-plot on the right.
Street-car used to awaken voters before and on election day (1902). (See page 11)
South Frpnt Street, showing on right Riverside Park. The street is paved with asphalt, and there is
a grass-plot on the left.— 1906
A school-house in Harrisburg, 1902, showing the style of tree-trimming then approved, as well as
the older school architecture
The "Lincoln" school building in Harrisburg, completed 1905. Note central grass-plot in street
(See page 18)
THE AWAKENING OF HARRISBURG 5
city, urging his support through the preaching of at least two ser-
mons upon the gospel of municipal cleanliness, and a competent
speaker explained the plans of improvement to the Ministerial Asso-
ciation at an assigned meeting. The clergymen responded, as they
always do to every proper effort, and three-fourths of the pulpits
rang with this gospel of civic decency before the day of election.
The Catholic bishop of the diocese issued a letter urging his par-
ishioners to support the improvement loan, and the Jewish rabbi
joined in the movement. Every organization in the city, of what-
ever nature, was addressed and furnished with arguments and
literature.
While the newspapers and the more progressive business men
were earnestly supporting this movement, there was not wanting a
substratum of active and vigorous opposition, in
YF ., , , one case emphasizing itself in a house-to-house
Manifested. ... o
canvass agamst the improvement movement, oome
landlords threatened a large increase in rents if the loan was voted,
and just how this threat reacted in favor of the movement will be
shown later.
In the first arousing meeting held in the Court House, which
was thronged, as well as in the subsequent meetings in various parts
of the city, we threw upon the screen the ordinance, showing the
legal form of the loan which the people were asked to approve, so
that there could be no misrepresentation. (See third cover page.)
One of the essential features of this comprehensive and coordi-
nated plan of improvement, including water filtration, sewer exten-
sion, street paving and a park system, was the
„ alteration of the city's sewage disposal system and
Sewers. , . ; • t:'- -i .
the improvement of its sewers, rive miles above
the city, the Susquehanna river breaks through the low hills which
in primeval days held in check its waters, in a beautiful gap, now
spanned by the largest stone railroad bridge in the world, erected
by the Pennsylvania railroad. The driveway along the clean and
beautiful east bank of the Susquehanna toward the city showed
nothing but encouraging conditions until civilization was encoun-
tered within the city limits, where billboards, dumps and the stony
and sewage-encrusted beach of the river took the place of native
trees and grassy banks. In the meetings held, pictures of these
dumps and Ijillboards always brought a gasp of surprise from citizens
6 THE AWAKENING OF HARRISBURG
who had grown to accept them as inevitable, but were thus caused
to realize for the first time their nastiness. A beautiful line of
Norway maples in bloom right near the city's pumping station was
contrasted with the unpleasant conditions of the river-bank adja-
cent, and then a cartoon showing old John Harris, presumed to be
holding his nose as he revisited the once green banks of the river
along which lies the city he founded, brought the laugh which
always helps the assimilation of disagreeable information.
The problem of a pure water supply was of the greatest impor-
tance to Harrisburg. Drinking unfiltered Susquehanna river water
after it had received the sewage of twenty-four cities and towns,
with 522,799 population, it was not to be wondered at that the
typhoid fever statistics were disgracefully alarming.
We showed graphically that smallpox and diphtheria were inno-
cent diseases compared with the less feared typhoid fever, and that
„ „, . a radical increase in the percentage of typhoid cases
Unfiltered , t. , . /
— , was occurnng each year, 1 akmg mto account
the fact that all deaths from typhoid fever in excess
of six in the one hundred thousand are insisted by sanitary experts
to be simply municipal murder, we showed that Harrisburg, which
could without fault answer for three deaths per year, had killed in
the preceding year twenty-four persons beyond the proper limit.
At this point in the illustrated addresses it was the custom to
SMALLPOX — DUE TO INFECTION AND DIRT
In 1901 — 103 cases reported — I death
DIPHTHERIA — due to infection and dirt
In 1901 — 1 17 cases reported — 13 deaths
TVDUnin milTD 98 P®*" ««"* «•"« *<> drinking
lirnUlU rLVLK — unfiltered river water
In 1901 — 211 cases reported — 27 deaths
Thus TYPHOID FEVER, a preventable diseasei due to sewage-
laden water, in I90I killed
TWICE as many as Diphtheria, and
27 times as many as the dreaded Smallpox
VOTE THE ANTI-TYPHOID TICKET
Lantern-slide used in the campaign of education— 1902
THE AWAKENING OF HARRISBURG 7
throw on the screen a great interrogation mark, and to ask for
questions. They came, and sometimes in no friendly
. , , fashion! At one of the meetings, held in a section
of the city most hostile to the movement, in a
cold hall, one cold January night, with a still colder audience, a
man who had been following the lecturer about the city and
fomenting covert opposition, blurted out with the query when the
interrogation mark came on, "Do you know, sir, that there are five
hundred thousand bacteria in a cubic inch of milk?" The lecturer
assured him that he had not recently counted the bacteria, and that
we were not discussing milk, adding the return question, "Do
you know how the bacteria got into the milk?" It was answered
by a loud-voiced gentleman at the rear of the room, seemingly
inspired by Providence to say, "Because the cows drink unfiltered
Susquehanna river water!" The laugh which followed raised the
temperature of the room, though it did not silence the objector,
who returned to the charge by saying that this talk about bad
water was all nonsense; that he had used the water for years; that
it was good water, and that typhoid fever was not caused by it.
He was then accused by the lecturer of having a filter in his own
house, which he admitted, unwisely adding, "But it cost only
$1.85." The lecturer instantly seized the opportunity by shaming
this man (a large property-owner, with his money invested in real
estate rented at high prices) for thus securing the little trickle of
partially pure water he cared for himself at a cost of $1.85, while
for less than two dollars taxation on the thousand of valuation he
could help to give all the people all the pure water they needed, not
only to drink but to bathe in! The man's opposition was nullified
by the hilarity which followed this animated exchange of question
and answer, and the improvement temperature of the room became
quite tolerable. The speaker was not again thus annoyed.
In addition to furnishing the water which Harrisburg drank
unfiltered, the broad Susquehanna river, fronting the length of the
. city, received the sewage of the city, turned into
J. it by means of many sewers, the outfalls of which
caused an intolerable nuisance at the low stages
of the river prevaihng in the summer months. Mr. Fuertes' plan
involved the erection near the southern limit of the city, at a favor-
able point, of a low dam, in order to maintain a constant minimum
8 THE AWAKENING OF HARRISBURG
height of water in front of the city, thus covering the sewer out-
falls, providing by sluiceways for the rapid disposal of the sewage,
and also affording delightful boating facilities through the slack
water which would thus take the place of the strong current exist-
ing. This proposed dam aroused much opposition in the part of
the city nearest to which it was to be erected. It also introduced
a little element of humor, for the lecturer who explained its plan
and location was gravely assured at several meetings that a dam
four and a half feet high would inevitably cause a rise in the water
level of that many feet, even in a twenty-foot flood ! The engi-
neer's diagrams were used to combat this error, backed up by an
actual instance produced from a river in India in which a dam had
been erected under similar conditions. These arguments proved
convincing, and while the dam, it may be said in passing, has not yet
been built, the money is assigned for its erection, and when certain
legislative difficulties are removed it will undoubtedly be built.
A serious menace to the health of Harrisburg existed through
the turning of the sewage of about two-fifths of the city's popula-
^ tion into Paxton Creek, a small stream running
The Paxton „ , , r , c u
parallel to the course of the busquehanna river,
y^TQ&k. JNUISSUCB. r ^ t • ^ 111 t_
east of the low ridge serving as a backbone to the
city. Paxton Creek, flowing through a beautiful natural park known
at the beginning of this improvement movement as Wetzel's Swamp,
but now much more appropriately entitled Wildwood Park, was an
altogether clean and sightly stream until it flowed into civiHzation,
where the usual adornment of dump, filth and liquid wastes changed
it into a foul open sewer. The pictures following this stream
through, its woodland course into the city, and giving in large detail
the dumps, sewer outfalls and filth, so far as these could be rep-
resented by the camera (the stench being unphotographable !),
invariably produced a sensation when shown. The fact thus
impressed that, while Paxton Creek could receive at low water
without damage to health the sewage of a thousand people, it was
receiving all the time the sewage of twenty thousand, strongly
enforced the vital importance of this part of the improvement work.
The engineer's plan for remedying this trouble included the
erection of a great intercepting sewer parallehng Paxton Creek and
receiving all but the flood -water discharge of the section of the city
draining into it. He also provided for the improving of the channel
THE AWAKENING OF HARRISBURG 9
of the creek, so that it would become a clean and wholesome
stream. This work has been completely accomplished, and the
intercepting sewer has been in successful service for more than two
years. The improvement in the appearance of Paxton Creek is
most noticeable.
Harrisburg had a most inadequate park provision at the incep-
tion of this movement, as has before been suggested. Setting aside
_ ^ ^ the unkept and irregular strip of grass along the
Inadequate . . ... ,
Parks "^^^ front, sometimes edgmg an unpleasant dump,
and the little Capitol Park of sixteen acres, mostly
taken up by the buildings of the state administration, Reservoir
Park, of less than twenty-five acres, inconveniently situated more
than a mile from the center of the city, afforded the only recreation
spot. Of playgrounds there were none, save as the ladies of the
city had temporarily converted several of the unpleasant school-yards
into summer playgrounds, maintained for a short time only. When
the pictures of these playgrounds were shown to people, contrasted
with an orchard view close to one of the schools — but separated
from it by a barbed-wire fence — there was no difficulty in noting the
desire of all the people for adequate park and playground facilities.
In this connection, some Httle attention was paid to the crowded
streets of the city, to the telegraph poles which hne its highways,
„.„, , , and to the billboards which sometimes hide beau-
Billboards and -r 1 • T 1 , ni 1 j:
p , titul vistas. In one particular case, a billboard of a
most offensive character shut out the view of a
tract of land proposed in Mr. Manning's plan to be taken as a
small park. When the question was asked, "Which do you prefer,
the trees on the banks or the billboards on the streets?" there was
always a shout of "Trees!"
Attention was also paid to the mutilation of existing trees on the
city streets, through the operations of so-called "tree trimmers,"
^ „ , who are usually nothing but ignorant butchers.
Tree Butchers. .. ,. r,,,u
A picture showing one of these butchers in the
act of ruining a good tree was most effective, and it is a significant
commentary on the work thus undertaken to know that one of
these men whose living was made ready by ruining trees has
recently broken into the public prints with a two-column stream
of abuse of the man who called attention to his acts of mutilation,
and who, he says, is interfering with his "business."
lo THE AWAKENING OF HARRISBURG
HARRISBURG LEAGUE FOR MUNICIPAL IMPROVEMENTS
ACTUAL COST TO TAXPAYERS OF
ALL PROPOSED IMPROVEMENTS
UNDER PROBABLE CONDITIONS:
For Pure Water . \ In 190a— WO I NCREASE WHATEVER
'* Paxton Creek I " '903 — % mill increase
Clean-up • . I ., . ^ -n «
'^ I '904 — 1 mill "
" Better Sewers /
" 1905— IX '"•'•s •'
'• Less Mosqui- I ..,906-2 mills ••
toes and Ma- /
laria ... I
" More Parks . \ AVERAGE ^X MILLS,
"Justice in I o** '^^^ than one-third of a cent per
Street Paving / day on $1,000 valuation
Lantern slide used in campaign of education. The tax-rate increase for 1907 was one-half mill
LESS than the promise for 1906
The lack in Harrisburg of public bathing facilities was touched
upon in this campaign, and later, with the result of creating a strong
. desire for the establishment of public baths.
p hV T5 fh ^^^ need for street paving in Harrisburg re-
quired but little discussion, for all were cognizant
of it. True, we had one or two paved streets, but the seldom-swept
asphalt, thickly coated with mud and filth, had long been lost to view.
When entering this campaign, it had been my personal conten-
tion with the Executive Committee that I should have permission
to enlarge upon the necessity for parks. My excellent associates
were not convinced either of the absolute necessity for parks or of
the advisability of pressing the park movement among the people.
Dechning to do the work upon any other basis than that of giving
full importance to the provision of proper outdoor recreation facili-
ties, I was permitted to have my way. The presentation of our park
needs to the people soon justified itself absolutely ; for in some parts
of the city in which little attention could be secured to matters of
THE AWAKENING OF HARRISBURG ii
HARRISBUBG LEAGUE FOR MUNICIPAL IMPROVEMENTS
COST TO RENT-PAYERS OF ALL
IMPROVEMENTS, IF LANDLORDS
DO THE SQUARE THING
On a Property Assessed at $1,000 for City Tax the
INCREASE In City Tax will be:
In 1902— NOT A SINGLE PENNY
in 1903—50 CENTS for the year
In 1904 — $1 for the year
In 1905— $1.50 fo*" *he year
In 1906 — $2L foi" ^^^ year
Or, .'f the MOST UNFAVORABLE conditions exist, the aver-
age after 1902 would be S1,8T PC y®*""' — about 15X
cents per month.
Lantern-slides used in the campaign of education. {Set page 12)
sewerage, filtration and paving, the appeal of near-by green trees and
grassy lawns, located where tired mothers might give their children
the recreation due to every American child, was noticeably strong.
The park propaganda became a strong element in obtaining favor.
I have mentioned before the possibiHty of a great natural park,
known at the time this movement began as Wetzel's Swamp, and
,.„ . esteemed by most of the citizens of Harrisburg to
Wetzel s .
„ ,, be a boggy neighborhood, available only as a burial-
place for deceased domestic animals and as a resort
for tramps. Only a few of us knew that this "swamp," inserted, as
it were, into the very center of what must be the future city of
Harrisburg, was one of the greatest potentialities in America for
a superb natural park. Mr. Manning had enthusiastically advocated
the including of all of it, so as to provide here a park of over five
hundred acres in the city's system. Very little of the land included
was used for agricultural purposes, and, at first laughed at, the
proposition soon became a most important adjunct to our improve-
ment propaganda. A^s pictures were shown indicating the beauties
12 THE AWAKENING OF HARRISBURG
of this natural park, — with its great trees, grassy roads and pleasant
open spaces ; with its succession of wild flowers, from the hepatica
in earliest spring, through the time of violets, dogwoods, redbuds,
irises, marshmallows, and other members of the rich flora of Central
Pennsylvania, to the close of the blooming season with the witch
hazel's defiance of the frost, — a strong desire was evident to possess
this land for the good of all. It required little argument to show the
advisability of taking as park territory land in which great trees of
the oak, maple, tulip and ash were already matured.
But after all this appeal, it was absolutely necessary to discuss
each time the question of economics. This the Executive Com-
mittee had foreseen, and a statement had been se-
T ^ cured from the city treasurer and a city controller,
Improvements. . i , , i • r •
showmg the actual probable mcrease of taxation
for five years, under favorable conditions and under unfavorable con-
ditions. These statements were thrown upon the screen, accom-
panied by one showing the cost to rent-payers of all improvements,
"if landlords did the square thing."
Just here may be mentioned the fact that the chief opposition
to the improvement loan came from the landlords of the humbler
houses, rented at relatively high figures. In some cases the- land-
lords had taken time by the forelock and had raised rents from one
to two dollars per month as soon as the improvements were sug-
gested, and long before the election which was to decide as to
whether or not they should be effected ! Inasmuch as it was shown
that the increase in rents should average but one dollar per year on a
property assessed at a thousand dollars, this arbitrary action on the
part of the landlords reacted in favor of improvements. Many rent-
payers said, "If vve are to be taxed anyway, we might as well have
the improvements, and we vyill vote for them." It was soon made
obvious that the increase in rents was due to the growth of the city,
and to the operations of law of supply and demand rather than to
any probable increase of taxation.
The campaign I have outlined was waged with the utmost
vigor from the ist of January to the i8th of February. There was
"something doing" every day, and the seven Executive Committee-
men, all of them active business men, were assisted by many others
who gave time and effort to this movement which promised so
much for the city. The ladies of the Civic Club were of very great
THE AWAKENING OF HARRISBURG 13
assistance. Through their agency a simple and admirable gospel of
improvement was read to 8,000 school children in the various
public schools, and by this action the truth reached many homes
otherwise closed to it.
As the campaign worked to a finish, the public meetings fostered
civic enthusiasm in addition to promoting civic education. The
last meeting in the Court House, addressed by the
_. . p . , governor of the state, two eloquent clergymen, a
senator and a business man, was designed to arouse
strongly the local patriotism of the citizens. Our slogan in these
last weeks was "Don't give your own town a black eye," and this
we emblazoned on both sides of a trolley car kindly provided by the
Traction Company, which was run all of the Monday preceding
the election up and down the city streets. The novelty of this
method of campaigning was enhanced by the big and noisy hand-
organ kept going inside the car.
Hating billboards, we used them, nevertheless, at the end of
this campaign, for displaying great posters urging a vote for improve-
ments. Late on the Saturday night preceding the election, a four-
page paper entitled "The Harrisburg Plan" was placed in every
house. By arrangement, most of the pulpits in the town preached
civic improvement the next day, and for once real politics and real
religion combined in a most admirable effort to create better con-
ditions on earth as a preparation for the world to come.
A perplexing political situation faced those in charge of this
movement. A mayor, a city treasurer and a city controller were to
be elected at the same time that the vote was to
„.^ ^. be taken upon the million - dollar loan. Harris-
Situation. , ,, r. .1- J u
burg, naturally a Kepubhcan city, was under the
administration of a Democratic mayor, whose interest in the real
welfare of the city was dubious. An admirable Republican city con-
troller desired reelection, and the Democratic city treasurer, just as
capable, was also a candidate. The Republican candidate for mayor
had been proposed by the same machine which had brought about
the election of the existing inefficient Democratic mayor. This
Republican candidate, while personally of good character, was weak,
boss-controlled, and would not pronounce for the improvements,
or for anything in particular. One of the heartiest supporters of
the improvement movement, a wealthy young Democrat of the
14 THE AWAKENING OF HARRISBURG
highest character who had been doing splendid service in the
Common Council of the city, had been nominated by his party for
the mayoralty.
Inasmuch as partisan lines were rather strongly drawn in Harris-
burg, the Municipal League could not directly endorse any of these
candidates. A careful block system for the fostering of the loan
vote had been established, and it was hoped that the people would
be able to distinguish for themselves the necessity of electing an
administration of an advanced character.
The result of the election was everything that could be asked.
Out of a total vote of 1 1 ,039, the million-dollar loan received a
majority of 3,590. The mayor we wanted, Vance
„. C. McCormick, was elected by 2,566, though a
Democrat in a Republican city, with the full
power of the "machine" against him. The efficient and upright
Republican city controller and the Democratic city treasurer were
both elected by majorities closely approximating those received by
Mayor McCormick. This time, it will be seen, the people were
selecting men, regardless of partisan politics! Indeed, they even
took the best three out of six candidates for city assessors, including
two Republicans and one Democrat.
So much for the situation on February 19, 1902. Full five years
have now elapsed, and the city administration has necessarily been
^. „ changed. There has been ample time for the
Five Years . , , . • 1 • ^ 1 1 ■
. , impulse for improvement to smk into the old-time
apathy of indifferent citizenship.
It is therefore with intense satisfaction that I briefly detail the
present status of the various movements thus inaugurated in what
was probably the first concrete and comprehensive campaign for mu-
nicipal advancement ever undertaken in America. I do not wish to
be misunderstood in this statement, for the volume of improvements
involved is not so great, compared with the many millions spent in
the larger cities. It is the method employed: that of engaging
expert advice for the preparation of a concrete plan so that all the
needs of the town might be met through a coincidently proceeding
and harmoniously interlocking plan of improvements, that challenges
attention. With filtration incomplete and typhoid murders yet
proceeding in Philadelphia after many years of effort, with wealthy
THE AWAKENING OF HARRISBURG 15
Pittsburg drinking raw typhoid-laden water, with the inadequacy
of even great Boston in some respects, with the limited success of
spasmodic improvement movements in many other cities, it is dis-
tinctly the most important part of this story to call attention to the
entire and unqualified success of this, the first movement under-
taken upon a harmoniously complete and definite plan.
The administration of Mayor McCormick was a revelation.
The city was cleaned up, morally and physicially, as fast as this
active young man could bring it about. Sacrifi-
The McCormick .. ,. j,ii
■ , . . ^ ^. cmg important busmess mterests to do the hard,
Admimstration. , , , , • rr 1 n 1 • 1
arduous work of his ofiice, he called into consul-
tation constantly the best citizens of the town. No man was
appointed to office who was not competent, and those retained in
office were given to understand that efficiency was their only back-
ing, inasmuch as the "pull" had gone out of business! The police
department was completely reorganized. The highway department
was also placed upon a business footing, and within the time of
Mayor McCormick's administration, but three short years, Harris-
burg had the satisfaction of becoming one of the cleanest cities in
the United States; for its twenty-two miles of paved streets are
swept every day the year round, and the excellent asphalt pavements
are really visible at all times.
Under this same highway department, the $I00,000 involved in
the million-dollar loan for the payment of the cost of paving street
intersections was combined with more than a million dollars realized
by assessing abutting properties, so that the paved area of the city
has increased, as I have stated, to twenty-two miles, all kept clean.
So changed has the attitude toward paving become in the city,
that another loan has recently been voted by the people to pay for pav-
ing more intersections. This has permitted the mak-
AnotherLoan . . . , r tt • l >
„ ^ , ingof contracts to increase the area of Harrisburg s
Voted.
paved streets to more than forty-five miles.
Under a capable organization through the city engineer's depart-
ment, and under the vigilant eye of the mayor, the competition for
, , street paving resulted in unusually low rates, pro-
p . posed by the two largest asphalt paving concerns.
What these concerns expected to deliver I do not
know. What they did deliver to the city I do know, for the inspec-
tion bureau, organized under the direction of the mayor, backed
i6 THE AWAKENING OF HARRISBURG
up by expert investigation paid for by the Municipal League, kept
them down rigidly to the. specifications, also prepared by the Mu-
nicipal League's expert. The paving that we have had laid down
is good paving, and the city has been well served at a low rate.
The test of the temper of the city came at the expiration of the
term of Mayor McCormick, he being ineligible for reelection under
^ „ the Pennsylvania constitution. The "machine"
The Gross .... ■ , a r ,
. , ... ,. was agam m evidence m the eiiort of the previous
objectionable mayor to be reelected, every one
knowing that his reelection meant a return to the former "wide-
open" conditions. He made a desperately active personal canvass,
but was defeated by Edward Z. Gross, the Republican candidate,
representing the progress and the decency of the city. I can say of
him that he has continued and extended the admirable administra-
tion of his predecessor. An active business man, he yet gives most
of his time to the city affairs, and regards himself, as he should, as
the head of the city's administration, and not as a mere perfunctory
and relatively ornamental official.
The matter of the sewerage problem and the filtration of the
water had, preceding the election of February i8, 1902, been placed
._. in charge of the Board of Public Works, including,
o ,. J as I have before said, three admirable citizens.
The city councils promptly passed the necessary
legislation to enable this Board to get to work. It selected the
same excellent engineer, Mr. James H. Fuertes, and it has com-
pleted its work, except for the erection of the drainage dam (pre-
vented by legislative difficulties) most successfully. Filtered water
was served to the city beginning October, 1905, and thus in but a
little over three years from its organization this Board, after making
for six months exhaustive tests of the water of the Susquehanna,
followed with the installation of a modern filtration plant able to
supply from nine to twelve million gallons a day of pure, clear,
sparkling. water, in place of the muddy, culm-mixed and typhoid-
polluted fluid previously served to our defenceless citizens. Careful
daily bacteriological examination of the filtered water is maintained.
_, ^ As previously mentioned, the great intercepting
The Intercept- , , 1 1 , 1 r 1
o sewer has been completed, and a number of other
mg Sewer. . 11
main sewers have been added to the city's drainage
system. Its term expiring, and several of its able members declining
Work proceeding on line of Cameron Parkway, along Spring Creek. — 1906
Wetzel's Swamp or Wildwood Park grass road. This indicates tlie beauty of this natural playground
Outdoor gymnasium and wading pool at Twelfth Street Playground.— 1906
Riverside Park, North Front Street. In the circle is the "Depressed Path" along the river-bank.- 1906
Tennis courts in Reservoir Park.— 1906
'^•0^- ■ 'S'
<-#^*";'Tr-"- ,;. ^ I ^''^'-^M'':$3t'
'MAmMit'
'|SW^«.^^;|
In Reservoir Park, near picnic grounds. — 1906
Dedication of formal city entrance, April 20, 1906. The columns are from the old colonial Capitol,
destroyed by fire. The bases carry commemorative bronze tablets relating to the burned
Capitol and to the old "Camel-back" bridge. This entrance was erected under
the auspices of the Civic Club of Harrisburg, and presented to the
city by the estate of Col. Henry McCormick. (See page 18)
West State Street, from Capitol. Shows central grass-plot in 120-foot street.— 1906
THE AWAKENING OF HARRISBURG 17
reelection because of the very great drain upon their time required
in the three years of arduous labor, a new board was elected, of no
less capable character, and under the new loan voted in 1905 is pro-
ceeding with further extensions of the sewerage system and with
the rebuilding of a viaduct connecting two parts of the city.
I have mentioned the street paving which has been effected
under the provisions of the loan ordinance, and which is being
-. Of f extended under the second loan. The organization
of the street-cleaning work under the city highway
department of Harrisburg is unique, in that this is probably the only
city of less than 75,000 inhabitants maintaining a regular uniformed
street-cleaning force, working with a high degree of efficiency.
The cost is approximately $1,500 per mile per year — a very low
cost for the admirable work performed.
Naturally nearest my own heart is the park proposition involved
in the loan ordinance. Concerning it, I can report that the city has
been transformed through the operation of the park scheme. Mr.
Warren H. Manning, the same engineer who had proposed the
original plan, was retained to carry it into effect. A Commission
of five citizens has proceeded vigorously with the work.
To briefly recount its accomplishments, I may say that the river-
front has been combined into one splendid strip of green more than
„. _. ., a mile long, giving a superb view over the unsur-
The Riverside . . • j • 1 j
p , passed panorama of river, and island and mountam
to the west, and affording easily reached breathing
places for a vast multitude of people. Just what this means can be
realized when it is stated, upon the authority of the Harrisburg Park
Commission, that 368,000 people used the Riverside parks alone
during the six months of 1906.
More than two miles of additional river-front have been secured,
or are in process of being secured, by the Park Commission, so that
before long the city of Harrisburg will have the unique distinction
of a river front untouched by commerce or residence, maintained
as a continuous park and open for the pleasure and recreation of all
its citizens along not less than four miles.
This Riverside park forms an essential part of
p 1^ the parkway scheme which is to encircle the whole
of the city of Harrisburg, with approximately eigh-
teen miles of driveway. Of these eighteen miles, nearly one-third
1 8 THE AWAKENING OF HARRISBURG
have been already secured and partially opened. It is a notable
evidence of the public spirit of property ow^ners to call attention to
the fact that all the property required for the parkway, vv^hich
follow^s for the most part small streams in valleys of great beauty,
but of little agricultural or residental value in themselves, has been
contributed without cost to the city. While it may easily be argued
that in thus permitting the establishment of a parkway, these
citizens increase the value of contiguous property, it can also be
shown that high prices have been exacted elsewhere.
The small and inadequate Reservoir Park has been more than
trebled in size, including now eighty-nine acres of rolling land, top-
^ . -r^ , ped by three notable summits. Lawns, drives,
Reservoir Pa.rk ^ j ' »
tennis courts, a golf course, swings, playgrounds,
picnic grounds, rest-houses and a flower-garden have made this a
most attractive spot. Each summer, through the liberality of the
citizens and the local traction company, a series of band concerts is
maintained in a great open natural auditorium, seating 2,500 persons
and providing comfortable hearing for 4,000. This park is on the
line of the parkway before mentioned.
A playground of ten acres has been opened in a locality con-
venient to most of the city, but immediately contiguous to what
„ ,, . „ was the worst slum district. A great change in
Twelfth Street , , juiu/u -uuuju
T>, J the order and health of the neighborhood has
Playground. .
followed the establishment of this playground,
which includes up-to-date apparatus and a wading-pool, the latter
serving as a skating pond in winter. This example has led to the
beautification of business premises close by, and, indeed, all through
the city the park example has caused adornment to follow.
The city's filtration plant was established on an island in the
Susquehanna river facing the central part of the city. The southern
J -p t P^^' ^^ ^^^^ island, including some twenty acres,
has recently been secured for park purposes on a
long lease at a nominal rental, from the pubhc-spirited corporation
controUing it, and ball fields, a running course, and tennis courts
have been established therein, to the great delight of the young
people of the city. A park nursery, also estabHshed on this island,
saves much money to the city.
The proposed great natural park to the north and east of the
city, known in the campaign as the "Wetzel's Swamp" neighbor-
THE AWAKENING OF HARRISBURG 19
hood, was fully included in Mr. Manning's comprehensive plan. By
cooperation with the Board of Public Works, and in connection
with a plan for the prevention of floods in the
1 woo Paxton Creek valley, a storage lake has been in-
eluded with this park, now known as Wildwood
Park. Fully two-thirds of the property involved has been acquired
for the city, and portions of the park will be made available to the
citizens during 1907. The total area to be included in Wildwood
Park and Wildwood Lake approximate six hundred and fifty acres.
The Parkway skirts its whole length on the east.
During all this period of construction, the Municipal League
has maintained a watchful eye upon proceedings. When a weak-
ness was apparent in respect to paving specifica-
. ^. tions and paving performance, the ablest paving
League Active. . r , l t. u u
engmeer of the country was brought here at the
expense of the League to inspect and report. When an officious
paving company attempted by questionable methods to capture
most of the paving contracts, its head was sent for, interviewed,
caused to see that politics could not take the place of performance,
and to withdraw entirely from the field. When it appeared that
the city councils, which have always capably assisted the improve-
ment work, did not have a proper comprehension of a modern park
system as a whole, the Municipal League arranged for a special
trip to Boston, taking there not only the city councils but the
Park Commission and the mayor, to see, under the kindly guidance
of the Boston officials, the admirable Boston park system. This
visit had a most wholesome effect.
A notable advance has been scored in city architecture, as evi-
denced in improved school buildings, surrounded by better open
grounds. No less notable has been the introduc-
^ ^ tion of some miles of grass plats, both central and
Entrance. • ^ • 1
at the sidewalks, decreasing the cost of pavmg and
greatly increasing comfort. The Riverside Parks before alluded to
include a beautiful walk, known as the "depressed path," and as a
central feature of this river-front park there is the beautiful city
entrance. This, I am informed, is the only formal city entrance in
the United States. Its distinguishing features are two columns from
the old colonial State Capitol, set on dignified bases and with suit-
able capitals, and made historically important by two bronze tablets
20 THE AWAKENING OF HARRISBURG
reciting the circumstances. This entrance was erected, through"
the intervention of the Civic Club, by the heirs of Colonel Henry
McCormick, and given to the city at a notable formal presentation
ceremony held April 20, 1906.
It can hardly be surprising that the whole face of the city of Har-
risburg has been changed by this movement for improvement.
„■ When the cost of it is inquired into, a marvel ap-
Small Increase , , -i 1 r , ,
. ^ pears ; tor while the most favorable construction
placed upon the cost proposed, in 1906, an increase
in the city taxes of two mills, the effect of the improvement feeling
in increasing enterprise, the further efifect of a better adjusted valu-
ation, and the city's advance along all. lines, enabled the city author-
ities to keep house properly with an increase of but one-half mill in
the tax rate for 1906. That is, the increased cost has been barely
one-fourth that proposed under the most favorable conditions at the
time the movement was projected. For 1907 the tax rate has been
fixed at a rate one-half mill less than the 1902 promise.
During the time of the improvements here recounted, the
state has been erecting a Capitol building to replace the old colonial
structure destroyed by fire February 2, 1897. That
P . . Capitol building, now completed, stands in the very
center of the city, dominating it as its crown of
beauty. Itself one of the most majestic and richly adorned buildings
in the world, it incites the city to further effort for beautification.
The all too narrow space about this great building, preventing a full
appreciation of its majesty, will undoubtedly be increased in the near
future by the extension of the Capitol Park.
In conclusion, I may properly call attention to the fact that there
is no feeling of regret at the improvements undertaken and carried
out. On the contrary, our citizens are looking forward to greater
achievements. A modern sewage disposal plant ; the burying of the
wires which now obstruct our streets ; the inclusion in the great
Wildwood Park as part of a flood-protection scheme of a pleasure
lake more than a mile long ; the erection of a City Hall in harmony
with existing structures, so that there shall be even in this small city
a proper grouping of public buildings — ?re all in mind; and "Harris-
burg, a growing city," can fairly now lay claim to being also, "Har-
risburg, a live city."
WHAT WE ARE VOTING ON
(Ordinance No. 20, File of Common Council)
"That the debt ol the City of Harrisburg should be increased
$1,090,000 for the following purposes:
"$310,000 for the extension, improvement and filtration of the water
supply;
"$365,000 for the extension and improvement of the sewerage system;
" $65,000 for the construction of a dam in the Susquehanna River to
form part of the improved sewerage system;
"$250,000 for acquiring land and property for parks and for making
park improvements; and
"$100,000 for the creation of a fund out of which the city may defray
the cost of paving the intersections of streets hereafter
authorized to be paved."
THE ONE QUESTION is the increase of the city's indebtedness for the
purposes above noted. All the details belong to the Board of Public Works
— Messrs. Gilbert, Stamm and Gorgas — subject to the appropriating power
of the Councils. The plans supplied are only suggestions, and bind no
one. They may be entirely discarded or changed in any way found best
for the public good.
The issue is: IMPROVEMENTS or NO IMPROVEMENTS ;
A Greater Harrisbur g, good to live in,
or A Dead Town? only fit to get out of I
THE OBJECTS OF THE PROPOSED IMPROVEMENTS
1. The Abatement of the Paxton Creek Nuisance. (It is suggested to
deepen the channel to prevent floods and to construct an intercepting
sewer to take the drainage of half the city, thus making Paxton creek
clean and safe.)
2. The Correction of the Defective and Dangerous Sewers of the City.
( This means the removal of all present difficulties and dangers to
public health, and a great saving of money.)
3. The Filtration of the Water Supply. (This will remove disease germs
as well as culm and clay, and make the water safe to drink as well as
fit to use.)
4. The Building of a low Dam to keep the Susquehanna River about four
feet above low-water mark. (This will cover the mouths of the
sewers, and prevent malaria and mosquitoes.)
5. The Creation of a Park System for the City. (This means the exten-
sion of Reservoir Park and the opening of other parks and playgrounds,
to be easily reached by all the people without necessarily riding on the
trolley-cars.)
6. The Provision of a FtMd for Paving Street Intersections. When prop-
erty owners petition for pavements, Councils can then provide for the
intersections.
Extract from "The Harrisburg Plan" as placed in every house in the city
the Saturday evening before election
Filtration plant on Hargest's Island, in Susquehanna river, Harrisburg, Pa. Capacity, 12,000,000
gallons daily. Loan voted February, 1902; in service, October, 1905
3477-250
lot 29
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