This Was Doylestown, 1909

Doylestown Public School holds Christmas programs -

The Doylestown Public School held interesting Christmas entertainments Friday morning, before the children were dismissed for the holidays.

The exchanging of gifts by teachers and pupils was stopped by the school directors, and this added a great deal to the pleasure of the occasion as it did away with a great deal of embarrassment for many of the children.

In the secondary grades, the program included the following songs: "Silent Night," "The Christmas Time," "Manger Song," "Merry Bells Are Ringing," "A Letter to Santa," "Deck the Halls," "Jolly Old St. Nicholas," "Christmas at Sea" and "Merry Christmas."

Exercises performed by the children included "How We Love It," Sara Fisher, Lulu Bastin, Clara Hellyer; "The Guess Game," George Leattor, Earl Garis, Melvin Fox; "What We Would Like To Be," seven children; "High Ambition," Leslie Leattor, Hugh Atkinson, Russel Eastburn, John Weaver; "Waiting for Santa," twelve girls.

In the Grammar School, there were songs by the entire class, readings and recitations. Piano solos were performed by Madeline James, Norman Brunner and Arthur Leatherman, a duet by Ethel Bigley and Ruth Stecker, and a violin solo by George Mathews, all very creditably rendered.

In the Primary Department, they had a real tree and the little tots gave a cantata, "A Christmas Dream." The soloists were Wimred Shisler, Edith Rohrman, Frank Hefner and Dorothy Fretz, who made a very dainty and pretty Fairy Queen. Her attendant faires were Anna Fisher, Elizabeth Buckman, Susan Swartley and Marie Kentopp.

Boys and girls bring Christmas cheer to County Home -

Boys and girls afforded great pleasure to inmates of the County Home [residents of the county almshouse in Doylestown Township] with a Christmas entertainment Friday afternoon. They made it a real Christmas for every person in the Home, from the oldest to the youngest.

For the occasion, the inmates, with the assistance of Mrs. Pollock, the matron, had decorated the chapel with wreaths of holly, but it was the spirit of the occasion which did most to make it a genuine Christmas celebration. Little members of the Sunshine Society, under the direction of Mrs. Paul H. Applebach, rendered an interesting musical program. The phonograph selections given by Wilbur Fox were very much appreciated.

The little folks who took part were Misses Edith Raubusch, Jennie McConnell, Reba Kolbe, Harriet Case, Gertrude Miller and Bertha Hoff, and Masters James Fretz, Roland Randall and Fritz Slotter. There were carols which were pleasing, and solos by Bertha Hoff and Jennie McConnell which pleased the audience very much.

Toward the end of the program, the girls and boys passed down the aisle and gave each person a Christmas card and an apple. Later, each inmate was treated to candy, oranges and home-made doughnuts which had been presented by interested persons.

Doylestown armory nearing completion -

Mechanics who have been working on the handsome new armory of Company G say they will be through with everything except the painting and finishing this week. A large force is hurrying the building to completion and it is now possible to get some idea of the size and appearance of the interior of the structure which will cost over $25,000 and be one of the finest in the county seat.

It is finished much finer than most of the other armories in the State from the fact that the lot cost less and this left several thousand more to be expended on the building itself. It will be very complete, convenient and attractive and undoubtedly will stir up more interest than ever in the company which has gained fame, efficiency and strength under the administration of Capt. Abel MacReynolds and with the assistance of hard-working lieutenants Mathis and Myers and the conscientious company of men.

The armory is located on Shewell avenue only a square [block] from the 104th Regiment monument in the very center of the town, and is of brick and light-colored stone. The battlemented administration building contains the assembly room of the men on the second floor, with the library or reading room adjoining. In the assembly room is a mammoth open fireplace attractively designed and set with Mercer tiles, above which will be an attractive keystone.

On the first floor are the locker rooms of the men, fitted up with the latest steel lockers, a ticket office facing on a spacious reception hall, the commissary's room, the officers' room, and a non-commissioned officers' room. The latter will be used as a ladies' cloak room when entertainments or dances or anything of that nature is held there. All of this upper part of the building has light brick walls with red bricks on the lower part.

Back of these rooms is the drill shed, which has the largest floor space in town, with an arched roof supported by steel girders on which are attached incandescent electric lights. It was intended that there should be a number of expensive electric controllers but the lights on the girders were substituted at Captain MacReynolds' suggestion as they afford less opportunity for damage when basketball games are held and result in a better illumination of the drill shed. Over the entrance to the shed is a good-sized gallery.

This is but a partial description of the building which will be an unusually handsome one and a credit to the company and the town. Doylestown is indeed fortunate in having such a high-rising company of the National Guard as to be able to get the armory. Credit is also deserved by Mitchell Brothers, the builders, for making such rapid progress. The workmanship is of the best and has been frequently commended by mechanics.

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Report reveals problems at borough water works -

At its monthly meeting Monday night, Doylestown Town Council received the report of an expert who visited the borough's water pumping station to investigate the physical condition, which has caused Council great uneasiness for months past because some of the machinery is in bad repair.

As one councilman expressed it: "All that stands between this borough and a water famine are the tubes in one boiler." The other boilers are practically out of commission.

The expert's report, made by an engineer from the American Pipe and Construction Company, revealed that some of the machinery is antiquated, worn out or extravagantly costly to have in use. In conclusion, it made recommendations for the repairing of some machinery and the installing of new machinery, which it was estimated would save the borough $2,000 per annum.

It pointed out that the present system of heating feed water is wasteful. It showed the boiler capacity as insufficient to run both the pump and the compressor at the same time, whereas by making a change it would only be necessary to operate the plant five or six hours a day, with the resultant saving in fuel and labor. It showed that whereas there is a capacity for pumping 900,000 gallons of water a day, it is now necessary to run all day and night to get 300,000 gallons, which is due in great measure to scarcity of water, as time must be allowed the wells to fill up.

Recommendations included the following: Overhauling the engines, overhauling the pipe between the compressor and the low pressure cylinders, installing a new feed water heater, one new boiler and the overhauling of the old ones, a change in the delivery pipes to the deep wells, the elimination of the injector, and the use of buckwheat coal in place of pea coal.

The engineer also said that there is no method as wasteful as the present air-lift system in getting water from the wells. To show that the engineer, for whose services the borough will pay $100, was unbiased, it was announced that his company has no machinery to sell.

Doylestown Fire Company wins shuffleboard championship -

Doylestown Fire Company's shuffleboard artists defeated Lansdale on Friday night by a score of 372 to 342, winning the third in a series of three games and also winning the championship.

But they are not gloating over their honors. In the first place, Lansdale was immensely handicapped because Leister, one of the experts, was out of the match on account of a sprained thumb, and Abendschein, another of the unbeatables, was unable to play because he couldn't get there in time. With them in the running it undoubtedly would have been rougher going for the Bucks countians and the lead of 30 would have been cut down if not wiped out.

Murphy made possibly the greatest gains for the Doylestown team by beating Orr, one of the cleverest weight shovers of the opposing team, 62 to 25, but Hillpot of Lansdale wiped out a bunch of these by lambasting Hotchkiss 52 to 33. There were some surprises all around, and the contest between Doc Boyer of Lansdale and Yerkes was one of the spectacles of the game, for the Doctor is just as clever with the discs as he is with the forceps, outpointing Yerkes by 48 to 39..

Without a doubt the most sensational feature of the game was the uphill game played by Eastburn of Doylestown. After Berry had him 30 to 3, Eastburn kept plugging away until at the finish the score stood 56 to 51 in favor of Berry. That's real playing.

After it was all over, Lansdale Burgess [Mayor] Harvey, who used to be some pumpkins at the game himself, took the boys all out to his palatial residence on the beautiful boulevard, where all of the councilmen, editors and other big bugs live, and set them down to a banquet that couldn't be beaten and certainly was appreciated by the visitors. There's the true spirit of forgiveness and generosity for you--getting licked and banqueting your assailants.

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Doylestown Town Notes -

It was said Thursday morning that the singing mice at Bigler's bakery have started singing Christmas carols, but this report could not be confirmed.

Prisoners in the County Prison will have sports on Christmas morning and religious exercises in the afternoon. Sheriff Beidler and his jailers are preparing for a grand sauerkraut and pork dinner.

Express Agent C.C. Magill has made himself a Christmas present of another attractive delivery wagon.

Miss Mary Walton has taken a position as clerk in Miss Annie Hargrave's store during the Christmas holidays.

Financial troubles of the firm of Dudbridge & Kelly were adjusted on Monday. Paul Dudbridge, a member of the firm, will conduct the business in the future. The store is one of the most attractive in the town and carries an attractive line of stationery.

Edward Neis, captain of the 1910 football team of Villanova College, is spending the holidays with his parents.

Miss Emma Leinhart, daughter of Mrs. Emil Leinhart of West State street, and George Cratty, of Doylestown, were clandestinely married last week in Wilmington, Del.

Robert Robinson, who has been seriously ill with typhoid fever, is able to walk about again.

Rev. A.C. Wright preached on Saturday afternoon in the chapel at the National Farm School [now Delaware Valley College].

James Kane, of East Oakland avenue, is among the contributors to the January Popular Mechanics, giving a plan for making concrete paving blocks.

Several cases of chicken pox have been reported to the Board of Health. The patients are these: Richard, eight-year-old son of Mr. and Mrs. William Tucker, of Wood street; Helen, six-year-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Cope, of Franklin street; Laura, six-year-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Howard C. Vaux, of East Oakland avenue.

A Chinaman has rented the part of the property on Main street formerly used as the Lyric moving picture show hall, and will open a laundry there.

From the Doylestown Daily Intelligencer, Week of Dec. 19-25, 1909