Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 236, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 October 1915 — Watermelons Tie Up Philadelphia Street Cars [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Watermelons Tie Up Philadelphia Street Cars

P HIT .A TIELPHIA.—-Thirty watermelons tied up 30 trolley care on Chestnut street for 30 minutes at noon. The traffic congestion strung out in a line from in front of the Rittenhouse hotel, at Twenty-second street, to the west-

ern end of the Chestnut Street bridge. The two youths who manned the watermelon cart and the motormen and conductors of several cars engaged in argument The emergency wagon was called out to haul the wrecked wagon out of the way, but in doing this the melons were scattered over the street Finally a policeman organized a volunteer melon-carrying brigade. "If we carry the melons to the sidewalk we can then lift the wagon out

of the way," wisely argued the “arm of the law.” Him advice was heeded by everyone but the two youths, who belonged to the wagon. They preferred to smoke long cigars with the carefree and self-satisfied air of grocery clerks, and one of them got into an argument with a passerby as to who would be the next mayor of Philadelphia. Four motormen and one conductor Joined the policeman in toting the melons. This urogram was interrupted for a time when a darky volunteer forgot to droD his at the proper spot, and made a beeline for the Baltimore and Ohio railroad yards.' The cry ot “Stop thief!” went up, and the crowd gave chase. It was fully half an hour before all the melons had been stacked on the sidewalk. the wagon was hauled into an alley and traffic resumed.