"Bellefonte, Pa., October 17, 1913.
Silly Side of It.
Miow an Aspiring Society Gir
Was Taught a Lesson in
| Slumming.
By CLAUDINE LISSON.
. IR was strange that Jack Ashton
be bored. He was a young
of wealth and social privileges,
educated, a member of four
por five clubs, rather a favorite with
ihe fair sex, always invited every-
ball, football, regattas and
races, with a trip here or there
few months. It seemed like a
to be bored.
And what does a young man do
{when he Is bored?
+ There is Africa with its big game
land mosquitoes.
There is Mt.
'glimbed,
There are theatrical companies to
be “angeled.”
There is the chorus girl to be won
and divorced again.
Young Mr. Ashton thought of all
these things and rejected them. He
went to a Sunday newspaper editor
and had a talk with him, and the re-
sult was that he did just what no
friend of his would have looked for
him to do. On the next Sunday, and
on every succeeding Sunday for many
weeks, there was an article signed
“Toff.” It was descriptive of life in
the underworld. The underworld said
of them:
“Believe me, dat guy is surely one
of us!”
There was no remarks made about
the sudden appearance of a “strange
guy” in the hang outs of the under-
world. He might be a yeggman, pick-
pocket, burglar or what, so long as he
was not a detective. He didn't talk
too much. He didn't listen too closely.
He made few inquiries. He played
poker with murderers and pool with
burglars. He spent his money just as
the others did—not too freely. He
hinted at a prison term or two, but
did not go into particulars. After be-
ing watched for a spell to make sure
that he was not a stool-pigeon for the
police, he was in a way admitted to
the underworld. That is, he was not
blackjacked or robbed as a slummer,
and now and then he was offered a
partnership in a “job” to be done.
The articles of “Toff” made a sen-
sation. They were were read and com-
i.ented on by the under as well 2s the
upper world. To get the local color
they said the writer must speak from
personal observation and experience.
Was Ye a Raffles taking a vacation
from crime? Was he some young
man not yet so hardened in crime that
he could not be saved if he could only
be identified and wrestled with?
Among those who hoped so was
Miss Clara Converse. She had long
been interested in and had taken some
part in mission work. Indeed, she
had, as she fondly supposed, been the
direct means of reforming several
hard cases. She had furnished them
money to go west and make a new
start and grow up with the country,
and the police, not wishing to hurt
her feelings, had concealed the fact
that they had gone to Sing Sing in-
stead.
It was on account of her mission in-
terest, and in the hope of interesting
“others that Miss Converse made one
of a slumming party one evening.
They saw just what they were in-
tended to see and no more. The un-
derworld doesn't do any safe-cracking
or blackjacking before the eyes of
slummers. Miss Converse had a
mental photograph of “Toff,” and she
looked for him.
At length, in a den frequented alto-
gether by men who had shed human
blood, as the guide solemnly assured
the party, the man was discovered.
He looked intelligent and almost re-
spectable. Met in a walk along Fifth
avenue, he might have been taken
for a rising young lawyer, hoping that
some workman might be killed and
his widow bring suit for damages.
The only crime “Toff” was commit-
ting just then was tha. of beer drink-
ing. This greatly astonished the
slummers. They looked for blood on
his hands, but they were cleaner than
a trolley car conductor's. Miss Con-
verse spoke to him, and he talked in a
gentlemanly way. In fact, she boasted
afterward that he “almost used as
good grammar as a floor-walker in a
department store.” She did not want
to preach to him before his wicked
companions, and so she quietly left
him her card. In return she received
a look which she interpreted to mean:
“For heaven's sake, don't betray my
identity here!” and she heeded the
request. After she had passed out,
“Slippy,” the pickpocket lifted up the
card with a laugh and showed it
around and said:
“Another of the sex gone bug-house
over saving us from ruin! Why didn’t
some of you pinch her diamond breast-
pin?”
A week later, one rainy afternoon,
Miss Converse received a caller. The
butler who brought in the written card
sald that the owner appeared to be a
bill collector, but he was admitted, and
after a moment was recognized as
“Toft.” He hadn't come to pay a 80-
cial call. He had come at the request
of a dying burglar who wanted to
make a confession to her and say how
sorry he was that he had not started
out in the ministry instead.
“I will go with you at once,” replied
the impulsive and enthusiastic young
lady.
But “Toff” suggested that she come
by herself, so as to escape observation
and remark. She must wear her old-
McKinley to be
set Lat ou het head ad's fulucout su,
cover her clothes, and she hadn't bet!
ter mention her errand to any one. It
was Blank street and the number was |
i
in order, but
Miss Converse scarcely noticed any-
thing and certainly felt no fear.
Up the dirty stairs to the dirty
floor, and there was the chalk |
on the door. Her knuckles |
scracely touched the panel when
door was opened by “Toff.” It was |
the windows were |
light came from a |
As for furniture, |
Miss Con- |
she peered about her, |
of the |
man as he locked the door and |
pocketed the key.
“But where's the dying burglar?” |!
“He's put off dying ‘till after the
Panama canal has been finished!" |
“Sir, 1 want to leave this place in-
stantly!"” exclaimed the girl as she
realized that she had been lured into
a trap.
“Take a chair and make yourself at
home. I want to talk to you a bit.” |
“Unlock that door or I'll scream!”
“Go ahead.”
She cried “murder!” and “help” a |
dozen times, and “Toff” only grinned
at her and replied:
“You'll crack your voice and do neo
good.”
“But what do you want with me!”
was demanded. |
“That's more sensible. I want to ask
you, first if you can't see the silly side
of this thing? You and others come
down to the slums and pose as reform- i
ers. Reform nothing! All of us re
gard you as bug-house and easy-marks, |
We live as we live and do as we do, |
and a thousand like you couldn't |
change us in a hundred years. We |
prefer this sort of life to any other. |
The idea of reform makes us laugh. |
Do you get that?”
“I—I don't know!” stammered Miss
Converse as she looked around and |
shivered.
“Then take my word for it. It's
life it's somebody that wants to make |
| tional
NO TAXES ON REAL ESTATE
Farmer Escapes, While Nearly All of
the Interest on the Proposed Bond
Issue Will Be Paid by Corporations
and Automobile License Fees.
Reasons for voting for the Good
Roads amendment to the constitution
and building the roads, exist in al-
most infinite variety; but of reasons
. to the contrary no valid or even
plausible ones have been shown. In
this connection a few facts may be
interesting:
With nearly seven billion dollars’
worth of property, Pennsylvania real
estate pays no state taxes, and the
State has no debt. Sixty-eight per
cent of its population live in its cities, |
boroughs,
but 32 per cent on the farms. The
State has an area of approximately
45,000 square miles, 100,000 miles of
roads of different classes, or about
32 miles of road to each square
mile of land. -
The revenues of the State, out of
which will be paid the interest and
amortization charges on the Good
Roads loan, are derived mainly from
a tax on the capital stock and the
gross receipts of corporations, some
| licenses of various kinds, a variety
of fines and penalties, the automobile
registration tax and some other items.
The farmer, therefore, nor the real
estate owner, will pay a dollar of
the cost of carrying a road loan, and
the people who will pay it all are
very greatly in favor of the proposi-
tion. Their taxes will increase, but
not in rate. The great enhancement
of business, caused by the improve-
ment of the roads, will naturally in-
crease the gross receipts, on which
the corporations will quite cheerfully
pay the added tax.
On the other hand if the constitu-
tional amendment be defeated at the
polls, the defeat is almost certain to
be followed by the levy of a direct
property tax. The absolute necessity
for the improvement of the State
Highways will force action on the
subject; and while no additional taxa-
tion will be necessary to pay the car-
rying charges on an issue of bonds,
in case of the failure of the bonds the
only recourse will be to direct taxa-
tion to get the amount of money
necessary to go ahead with the work
of highway construction.
This danger is not one to be pooh-
poohed, nor laughed at. Last fall the
voters of Ohio defeated a constitu-
amendment providing for a
bond issue for road purposes; where
a stake out of you. You'll simply
make a liar and a hypocrite of him.”
“But you will please let me out of
here!” appealed the girl.
“Oh, certainly. Got any money with
you?”
“Two or three dollars.”
“No good. I want your check for a
thousand dollars!”
“But—but—"
“Talk business. You've got an ac-
count at the Third National bank.
Here's a blank check, and here's pen
and ink.”
“And then 1 may go?”
“Yes, at 11 o'clock tomorrow foie
noon I've got to draw the cash first,
We don't take any chances on you
swell people. You'd beat us as quick
as we'd beat you.”
“But I can’t stay here all night!"
wailed Miss Converse,
“You'll just have to.”
“Lut my parents!”
“Oh, the flunky will tell them that
| You are out on the reforming busi
! ness."
The girl stood up and screamed.
| Then she went over and beat with her
| fists on the door. Then she realized
her helplessness and sat down and
began to sob. “Toff” turned to ciga-
rettes and had nothing more to say.
There was no further appeal to him.
The time drifted to close on mid.
night. Then a key was so softly in-
serted in the lock of the door that no
sound was heard till the door was
flung open. A young man appeared
and pointed a revolver at the guardian
and quietly said:
“Get out of this!"
“Just as you say,” replied the false
“Toff” as he went.
“Oh, sir—oh—" began the girl; but
the man interrupted her with:
“Let's get out of this!”
They were within a block of her
home when she asked:
“Won't you come in and help me to
explain?”
It was in the explaining that he had
to give his true name and non de
plume, and to admit that he was no
longer a bored young man. He was in
love.
Mr. Jack Ashton has now dropped
his “Toff” articles, and the late Miss
Clara Converse is no longer a slum-
mer or a reformer.
(Copyright, 1913, by the McClure News-
paper Syndicate.
Complete Bri~~~ Missiny.
Dayton, O.—The ccunty bridge near |
the paper mill canal locks at West Car-
rollton, valued at $600, is lost, strayed i
or stolen. Four vears ago a contractor |
found it necessary to remove the |
bridge temporarily to put in the locks. i
The other day another contractor |
made a thorough search for the struc- i
fure, but not even a bolt could be |
| upon the Legislature at the following
| session, responding to the insistent
demand for highway improvement,
| enacted a law levying a direct tax
| on real property for road purposes
for a series of years. If the consti-
tutional amendment had been carried
at the polls the extra direct taxation
would not have been necessary.
The proposition should appeal to
| the business intelligence of every
| citizen of Pennsylvania. With the
roads improved over the State so that
every producer can haul his products
to market at a minimum of cost, and
| when it suits him, the agricultural in-
| terests of the state will prosper and
i grow rich; both on account of the
‘ money saved in the haulage and by
| reason of the fact that the farmer can
‘ market his products at his own in-
i clination, instead of being obliged to
haul when the roads are passable;
and this invariably occurs when there
{is a shortage of cars, a congestion
of markets and low prices.
Among the corporations which pay
revenue to the State of Pennsylvania
! the Pennsylvania Railroad Company
stands as the leader. It makes the
largest individual payments of any
| firm or corporation. Since its organ-
: ization the company has stood uni-
{ formly in favor of highway improve-
| ment, and has many times assisted,
i
i
1
i
| with influence and money, in their
construction. It has always been and
| still is the view of that corporation
| that the development of commerce, by
| reason of highway improvement, is an
| important factor in the material prog-
! ress of a state and its institutions.
! In the fourth annual report of the
| Pennsylvania Railroad Company, page
| 9, dated December 31, 1850, occurs
| the following paragraph:
| “The plank roads from Bedford to
Hollidaysburg, and from Somerset to
Johnstown, with numberless kindred
i improvements under construction or
in contemplation, wil! aid in swelling
the receipts of the mother work (The
Pennsylvania Railroad) to which they
owe their existence, and in develop-
' ing the dormant wealth of Pennsyl-
| vania.”
The company still maintains the
| idea that the construction of improv-
' ed highways is in line with the de-
| velopment of Pennsylvania's dormant
resources; and with this development
| must come more business for the rail-
|
i
i
|
' subsequent should show great activity
| roads, and a greater accummulation
of wealth by the people.
Not only must the quality of the
soil and improvements be satisfactory
to the man who wants to buy a farm,
but he first wants to know, before he .
| will go to look at it that it las a
telephone, and is along a rural mail
route and a good road.
found.
Sounds Like It.
Mrs, Young—They say Mrs. Tubbs
treats her husband like a mandolin.
Mrs, Younger—How like a ‘ mando-
lin?
Mrs. Young—Picking on him all the
time.
w—!lave your Job Work done here.
The traffic over the roads, both
| team and motor, is increasing beyond
| the wildest imaga.ings of two or
three years ago. In 1908 there were
19,000 automobiles owned in this
| state; now there are more than 80,
| 000, including trucks. Next year there
| will be more than 100,000. A strung
argument in favor of the vote for
Good Roads.
—=For high class Job Work come to
' the WATCHMAN Office.
QUESTION HAS BEEN SETTLED
Under State Highway Law Now in
Force All Counties Alike Will
Be Benefited By the Pro-
posed Bond Issues.
The terminal points are the im-
portant factors in determining the
value of an improved road. A good
road that begins nowhere and ends
nowhere may be a matter of pride to
those who live along it, but its prac-
tical value is determined by the con-
dition of the highways which connect
the improved section of road with the
city or town where the commercial
and social interests of the commu.
nity converge.
In many states it is not unusual
| to find isolated sections of Ilyic
and other centers, leaving | wick
macadam or gravel roads which have
‘been constructed by the local authori
ties with the expectation that the-adja-
cent township would continue the im.
provement to the county seat, or to
some other desirable center. This
is particularly true of Iowa and In.
diana, and also unfortunately of Penn.
sylvania.
This question was settled in our
state by the Legislature of 1911,
when a system of State Highways
was adopted, so that the benefits
will reach all counties alike, and that
the great interests of through travel
as well as the convenience of local
communities may be served.
With State aid to counties and
townships as the dominating factor in
highway building, the State is always
at a disadvantage, by reason of the
fact that the original impulse must
come from the local community.
Counties and townships rarely, it
ever, are known to act concurrently
in highway matters, the result being
that one county may be well supplied
with improved roads, while the ad-
Joining counties are seriously lacking
in that respect, leaving the more en-
terprising community, which has done |
its full share, cut off from important |
centers of population and with only!
a portion of the benefits it had a
right to expect.
Our system of State Highways cor-
rects this situation. The state takes
over the main roads, improves and
maintains them at state expense.
These State Highways, connecting all
county seats and all principal centers,
not only correct the inequality in the
distribution of public benefits but
provide for that wider travel which
has become so common.
Uniform improvement of the High.
ways is imperative in a great State
like Pennsylvania. But wniform im-
| FATHER OF PHRENOLOGY.
Or. Gall at One Time Had the Whole |
of Europe In a Furore. .
The first public notice of the “Father |
of Phrenology” appeared in Weiland's |
“Dutch Mercury” on Aug. 14, 1798.
Gall was a practicing physician of |
Vienna, and early iu his cureer he be- |
came a firm believer in the idea that |
the talents and disposition of men are
dependent upon the functions of the !
brain and, furthermore, that they may |
be inferred with perfect exactitude |
and precision frow the external ap- |
pearauces of the skull. |
Gall was an able wan. He set forth |
his theory in a graphic, unctuous man-
per, and in a very brief period he had |
all Europe at the top notch of excite |
ment. The idea spread like wildfire, |
and in all grades of society people |
were discussing “the greatest of all |
discoveries.” The new theory had to |
meet the customary opposition from |
the custodians of truth and the pre- |
servers of morality, but the opposition |
only increased the popularity of the
theory, and Gall's celebrity increased
by leaps und bounds His lectures
were interdicted. and he wus threaten. |
ed with the direst penalties unless he
censed his “immoral and atheistical’
teachings, but he kept on with his
propaganda, visiting all the Inrge towns
of Germany aud the continent, and by
1805 all of Europe was interested in |
the Vienna doctor
In INZN, the year of Gall's death,
phrenology was in vogue everywhere.
But after a great and glorious tlood-
tide of popularity it began to wane.
and today it is but seldom heard of.—
New York Aterican
BANISH THE RATS.
They Are Not Only Disease Carriers,
but Thieves as Well,
Alwost unbelievable are some of the
things done by the rat—the squealing,
| filthy, gluttunous all pervading, all
destroying brown rat. Rats often guaw
the hoofs of horses until the blood
| comes. They have been known to at- |
tuck fat hogs and eat Loles in their |
| bodies, causing death. They will fight |
| human beings if cornered. They often
| steal valuable articles to use in build-
| ing nests
{| The following were found in a sin. |
gle nest: Three bedroom towels, two |
; serviettes, tive dust cloths, two pairs
| of linen knickerbockers, six linen pock. |
et hanilkerchiefs and one silk bandker- |
chief This same rat, which was a |
! model of industry and thrift, bad car-
ried away and stored near its nest a |
pound and a balf of sugar, a pudding, |
a stalk of celery, a beet. carrots, tur- |
nips and potatoes. i
In the last dozen years over 5,000, |
000 human beings have died of plague |
in India alone. The India plague com- |
mission, after careful inquiry, found
that bubonic plague in man is entirely |
provement does not mean that all |
roads must be built of the same width
or the same material. It means that |
with all the facts before it, the High-'
way Department can determine what |
type of improvement should be given
each section of the State Highways,
80 as to place all on an exact equal-
ity; taking into consideration present |
AA
Dry Goods, Ete.
dependent on the disease in the rat!
Marvelous in Its destructiveness is
the common house mouse, closely re
lated to the rat, and. like it, imported
from Europe The field mouse. too. is
highly destructive. the most destruc
tive to agriculture of all the rodents.—
Farm and Fireside.
Missed the Bird and Lost.
The Glasgow News records a singu-
lar incident during a lawn tennis tie.
The two players. who may be term-
ed A and B. were very evenly match-
ed. The game was long, and some
times one and sometimes the other
narrowly led At length when A was
within a stroke of defeat he returned
a ball softly, und it looked as if his
fate was sealed So it would bave
Leen, but fust at that moment a bird
flew acrosx the court in a line parallel
with the bal!
As all good tennix players can well
understand. B mistook the bird for
the ball and “smashed” at it vigorous
ly. It =wiftly rose and he missed it
by a feather's breadth, and ere he
could recover hix balance the hall had
dropped on his court
This stroke proved the turning point
in the tie. as A thereafter played up
strongly and ran out winner
The Sheep In the Grass.
Lord Palmerston once inspected
“Summer In the Lowlands.” a picture
by Sir John Watson Gordon “Look
here,” said Lord Palmerston to the
artist, “why should the grass in that
field be =o long when there are sc
many sheep in the field?”
“My lord.” replied the artist, “those
| sheep were only turned into the field
last night!"
Lord Panmerston bought the picture
at a high price
Penny Gone! No Warts,
Maurice, need six, was weeping bit
terly. and wother inguired as to the
cause of the deluge
“1 bought two warts from Vincent
for a penny.” he wailed. “and Vincent
basn't given me the wurts and won't
glve my penny back.” - Indianapolis
News
Round and Square.
te mode of expression plays a
very important part in diplomatic ne
gotiations
“Yes, but there is not much use of
trying to make a well rounded sen
tence take the place of a square deal.”
—-Washington Star
Entertaining.
One of the most entertaining sights
in life is to see two people who know
it all attempting to instruct each other
—-Purk.
A moral, sensible. well bred mar
will not insult me No other can.—
Cowper
travel now and what is likely to de-.
velop after their improvement. Where
heavy traffic predominates one type |
of construction is necessary; if light |
vehicles or automobiles predominate |
and heavy loads are rare, other types
may be employed as a matter of or-|
LYON & COMPANY.
dinary economy in construction and
maintenance. |
The French government does not '
hesitate to state that its reason for |
keeping within the department the
control of the location and character
of the improvement of a road, is to
“keep it from the distractions of |
local political interests.” Only by!
centralized authority can this be ac-
complished in France, or in Pennsyl.
vania, or in any county or state. |
A centralized Highway authority is '
the only agency that can properly
study the needs and requirements of
all sections of a state; and while
treating all counties alike, determine
what particular roads should first
be improved to accommodate the!
greatest number of people, and most |
rapidiy develop the interests of the |
state as a whole, |
With the Constitutional Amend. |
ment carried at the November elec- |
tion, the Highway Department may
begin the preparation of plans for the i
improvement of Pennsylvania's State |
roads on a scale hitherto impossible. !
A year from now the Legislators for
1914 will make the laws putting the
Amendment into operation and ap-
propriating the money for the road
work.
As these funds could not be made
available for other purposes, there
would be no uncertainty as to the
amount for road building and main.
tenance, so that 1914 and the years
popular Silks.
in raw silk.
are quality garments.
and Pennsylvania, among the most
progressive of commonwealths in
every other respect, will take its
place among the leading states in its
mileage of improved highways.
SAA.
Idea for Poultry Raisers.
Electric food and water heaters are
ors—crepe de chines,
sald to Increase hens’ egg laying pow
ers and to prevent poultry disease
due to cold food.
Wants to Dress as woman.
Atlanta,
South Georgian, who lives in Wure
county, Controller General William A.
Wright has just received a letter ex-
Ga.—From a prominent’
pressing a desire to wear woman's at-
tire, and asking permission to do go. |
“l have very much the appearance |
of a woman, and when dressed as |
such and wearing long hair I look a
perfect figure of a female and would |
not be noticed as being a man. I wish !
descriptions.
NEW SILKS.
Our Silk department is now full of the most
All the new weaves and col-
crepe meteors, bro-
cades, poplins, charmeuse satin and messa-
lines. These were bought before the advance
La Vogue Coats and Suits
We are showing new
models every week. So satisfactory is t's
variety that the very suit or coat you want is
doubtless among the number. The styles are
in accord with the latest approved fashions;
the fabrics of superior quality ; workmanship
flawless. Prices extremely reasonable. No
trouble to show this complete line. We can
fit the lady, miss and child. An early inspec-
tion will give you more satisfaction than all
to adopt this attire because it is more |
suitable for me than male attire.” |
“It's the queerest letter I ever re-
ceived,” sald General Wright. He with. '
holds the name out of deference to
he man’s family.
TELL
Lyon & Co. .... Bellefonte