gen posed on_former P
suits of clothes to the tailors to have
BY P. GRAY MEEK.
SE SEs. |
INK SLINGS.
- —Up to this time Col. TAYLOR and his
steam heating plant have been doing
very nicely, thank you.
—The fellow who doesn’t have a ther-
mometer hanging around isn’t half so
worried about the cold as the fellow who
does.
* —While the thermometer is playing
hide and seek with zero in this neck 0’
the woods they are having a regular old
fashioned THAW up in New Hampshire,
. —The latest Parisian fad is to wear
shoes without stockings; of course only
the women affect it. Shades of Sockless
JERRY SIMPSON rise to welcome the new
style to Kansas!
‘ —If the mayor and council really un-
dertake all the “clean-ups” in Bellefonte
we hear they threaten, things will be so
warm in some quarters that steam heat
will be superfluous.
- —The more ROLAND S. MORRIS tries
to be chairman of the Democratic party
in Pennsylvania the more evident it be-
comes that he thinks the entire party is
comprised in the little crowd of faction-
ists he represents.
——The headquarters of the Congres-
sional Committee of the National Suf-
frage association have been moved from
Washington to Chicago. Probably it was
thought that it would be easier to “raise
the wind” in the windy city.
. ——The evidence that Representative
MANN and other Republican leaders have
been trying to organize a panic is multi-
plying. There are few industrious peo-
ple idle in any part of the country now
and there is likely to be none at all in
the near future.
—What the Hon. WILLIAM MCNAIR, of
Pittsburgh, has to say about the Hon.
MitcH PALMER, of Stroudsburg, these
days makes a noise like MITCH had kick-
ed BILL out of that Reorganized bed.
BILL was too good a chap ever to have
crawled into it anyhow.
. =—A Los Angeles dietician says that
onions promote spirituality. If tears are
indicative of spirituality then we are
ready to admit that strong onions pro-
mote.it. On the other hand, how many
of you have eaten onions and - then seiz-
ed that as an excuse for staying away
from church or prayer meeting.
*'—This thing of dropping from a $75,
000 a year job toa $5,000 professorship
‘Yale must be setting harder than was
them taken in to conform to the eighty
pounds loss of weight he has suffered
lately. Were it not for the fact that he
can still afford thirty-five suits we would
be alarmed about his condition.
—The Philadelphia Record is authori-
ty for the statement that a mile of
asphalt road, five yards wide, can be laid
at a cost of $18,400. In Michigan they
are laying concrete roads at $10,000 the
mile. While both of these look better
than our SPROUL roads at $21,000 we are
still of the opinion that brick is the best
and could be laid very cheap, especially
in counties like Centre, where most of
the roads have a good stone bottom.
—And they say that some of the more
progressive of the women who have been
doing things around here for the past
few years are quite angry with council
in particular and men generally. The
WATCHMAN doesn’t object to petticoat
rule, so long as it is amiable and benefi-
cent, but we want it understood, here
and now, we don’t propose to see the
men of Bellefonte hen pecked because
they don’t roll over and jump through
every time a petticoat cracks the whip.
— The spring primaries are only a few
months off and an important election is
to be held in the State next fall. If Cen-
tre county Democrats are to take an ag-
gressive stand in the fight isn’t it about
time they begin to prepare? Isn't it
about time a chairman is selected for
the county organization or is it to be put
off until the last moment and then, if re-
sults are not as they should be, those
who are neglecting their duty now will
be censuring the men in the ranks for
their own short-comings.
—In speaking of the Hon. JIM BLAKES-
LIE'S bombastic blathering at the late
Democratic dinner at Scranton Col.
HAYES GRIER’S Columbia Independent re-
marks that “hydrocephalous has caused
the death of as many men as tuberculo-
sis.” Hydrocephalous, you will recall, is
a disease most common among infants
and causes enormous enlargement of the
head. In other words, Col. GRIER adds
more testimony to the growing opinion
that the Fourth Assistant Postmaster
General has a decidedly swelled cranium.
—~Congressman PATTON is getting in-
to the political lime-light just now. Be-
ing chairman of the Republican Congres-
sional committee for Pennsylvania he has
announced his opposition to the re-elec-
tion of Senator PENROSE and has started
a boom for Congressman AINEY, of Mon-
trose. It is gratifying to have it recalled
thusly to our attention that our District
has a Congressman in Washington. We
may be doing him an injustice, but we
don’t recall having heard anything from
him since he sent out that batch of seeds
who tempted Cea
‘crown were reduced to the level of rank
STATE RIGHTS AND FEDERAL UNION.
VOL. 59.
We Were all Wrong—Jim Blakeslie was
the Hero.
An interesting incident as well as an
important episode of the Baltimre con-
vention, hitherto concealed, was brought
out at a Democratic banquet in Scranton
a few evenings ago. We had become
familiar with the movements and achieve-
ments of Hon. ‘A. MITCHELL PALMER dur-
ing that memorable “party parliament,”
and aware of the fact that President
WILSON is indebted to the distinguished
statesman from Stroudsburg, not only |
for his nomination and election but for
the wise policies he has pursued and the '
splendid success he has attained. We
had been informed of the fact that when
Mr. WILSON had telegraphed to his con.
vention manager to withdraw his name,
Mr. PALMER tore up the telegram and
concealed from Mr. WILSON’S other
friends his wishes, thus guaranteeing his
subsequent nomination in spite of himself
and his manager. - But we didn’t know,
and blush at our want of perspicacity,
that the real architect of President WIL- '
SON’S magnificent political fortune was,
and is, the Hon. JAMES I. BLAKESLIE, now
enjoying his ample reward as Fourth
Assistant Postmaster General.
But happily we are now enlightened
and hasten to spread the joyous tidings
broadcast among our friends and the
public generally. At the banquet in
question Mr. BLAKESLIE told of his work
in a speech that was as thrilling as it was
eloquent. He had been able to get only
thirty-six hours sleep in nine nights at
Baltimore, but the stress neither temper-
ed his zeal nor dulled his enthusiasm.
During one of the nine nights he retired
to the apartments occupied by Mr. PAL-
MER and himself at half-past three o'clock
in the morning when Mr. PALMER told
him that “three men from New York,
.one from Indiana and one from Illinois
had told him, (PALMER,) that they had
the convention dead-locked against Mr.
WiLsON ‘and offered the nomination to
him, (Mr. PALMER.) There was certain-
ly “a howdedo.”
The three tailers of
n Imperial
pikers before these puissant shapers of
~detiny. And the Hon. “Jim” was the
bosom friend of the Hon. “MITCH.” Here |
was a test to try a Spartan.
Did the Hon. JM quail! “Perish the
thought.” According to the historian of
the Scranton Democratic banquet he
“went over to the table and took a drink
of water and then went back and lit a
cigarette.” It is not necessary to com-
mend the self-coatrol and fortitude thus |
revealed. He might have thrown the
chiffonier out of the window or stood on
After taking |
his head. But he didn’t.
the drink of water and lighting a cigarette
he “sat thinking for five minutes.” What
a commotion there must have been in |
the atmosphere of that chamber during
that period? Then his vocal organs got
busy and he said: “MITCHELL, go back
to that bunch of hyenas and tell them
you’ll do it when you get the word from
Sea Girt, and nof before. Tell them that
we can dead-lock the convention as
well as they can, and we can stay here
till ‘ell freezes over, if necessary.”
WILSON was at Sea Girt at the time
awaiting the result of the ballotting. The
alleged telegram asking that his name
be withdrawn after CLARK had received
a majority of the votes of the convention
was sent from there, if sent at all, and
PALMER had already read it.
. In view of this new development, there- |
fore, we withdraw the proposition to
raise a cash fund to pay PALMER for his
services in behalf of WILSON at the Balti-
more convention. He has already been
liberally rewarded for what he did. He
has been trading in patronage like a
huckster in a market stall for nearly ten
months in consideration of his work and
he didn’t perform the really great service ,
at all. His statement to BLAKESLIE would
even imply that he was willing to sacrifice
WILSON to further his own ambitions.
BLAKESLIE was the great figure and he
has his reward. But we insist on stop-
ping the claims of PALMER. As we said
before they are humiliating and demoral-
izing. Democrats don’t pay personal
debts with official patronage.
——The New Hampshire. commission
having declared . that HARRY THAW is
not insane it may be expected that he
will soon be released to resume his place
in the business life of the country. The
only trouble is that the New Hampshire
commission entered the case too late. It
ought to have made its report when
THAW was on trial for murder.
———Somebody ought to inject a little
of the virus of frugality into the arm of
the Hon. JosEpHUS DANIELS, Secretary of
the Navy. Mr. DANIELS appears to be
as liberal with other people’s money as a
away last spring.
spendthrift could be with his own.
Mr. |
The Sugar Trust Obdurate.
The Sugar trust is incorrigible. It re-
fuses to reorganize on the basis laid
down by the government. The exam-
ples set by the Money trust, the Tele-
phone trust and the several other trusts
which have gracefully, or otherwise,
bowed to public sentiment and the force
of the law, are lost upon this obdurate
malefactor. It made terms with the
ROOSEVELT administration, bamboozled
the TAFT administration and imagines it
can fool with the present authorities.
, But it will find out, in the course of
time, that it is sadly mistaken. Attor-
ney General MACREYNOLDS will teach it
the lesson it needs. He will not only
dissolve the trust but he will put some
of its arrogant officials in jail.
| During the ROOSEVELT administration
it was clearly shown that this conspiracy
had been systematically robbing the gov-
ernment by false weights and other pro-
cesses for years. It was almost conclu-
sively demonstrated that these frauds
were practiced with the full knowledge
and by the assistance of the officers of
the trust. It is true that a few of the
subordinate customs officials were con-
victed and punished for their misfeas-
ances but the high revenue officers and
the officers of the trust were allowed to
escape. They had rich or influential
friends and ROOSEVELT has great consid-
eration for rich men if they are friendly
to him. A generous campaign contribu-
tion has a wonderful influence on his
mind.
But President WILSON is built upon
different lines. He has set out to com-
pel all trusts to conform to the law and
. will accept no compromise. The Sugar
trust has opportunity to meet these con-
ditions just as other trusts have done.
If it fails the consequence is upon its
own head. The law will work the result
and it will inflict just punishment upon
those responsible for the crimes that
have been committed against the people.
The negotiations for-an amicable settle-
ment have been discontinued. The pro-
cedings | ition,
and pressed with vigor to the end. It is
a fight of the people and for the people.
Duty of a State Chairman.
Democratic State chairman ROLAND S.
MORRIS has been actively canvassing the
State for the purpose of creating senti-
ment in favor of Hon. A. MITCHELL PAL-
MER as the Democratic candidate for
Governor, according to our esteemed
. Philadelphia contemporaries. Mr. PAL-
| MER has not openly announced that he
is a candidate for the nomination but his
friends say that if the sentiment of his
party is favorable, he is willing to enter
the contest. This is an entirely fair at-
titude for any aspirant to assume. A
majority of the Democratic voters have
' a right to any candidate they want and
| they will get him.
But the Democratic State committee
has no right to establish a propaganda
for or against any candidate. The State
committee is or should be, the organ of
all the Democrats and it has no license
to interfere in behalf of any man for the
nomination. After the candidate is nom-
inated it is the duty of the chairman of
the State committee to manage the cam-
| paign for his election and of the mem-
bers of the committee to employ every
{ honorable means to compass that result.
- The present State chairman and some of
| the members of the committee seem to
imagine, however, that the purpose of
| the organization is to promote factions
“and play favorites. :
| _ During the recent campaign for Judges
| of the Superior court chairman MORRIS
| was asked to exert some effort to elect
| the only Democrat on the ticket, but de-
clined. He and the factionists with
: whom he is associated favored another
gentleman for the nomination and pre-
sumably were not friendly to the admira-
ble candidate who was nominated. But
they are willing and anxious to engage
in a factional fight for a nominee and
further widen the breach in the party.
Such action is rank recreancy and if
Chairman MORRIS persists in it he should
be removed from the office he disgraces.
| Democrats throughout the State should
| not permit such action on the part of the
chairman.
——Naturally no building or outdoor
' work can be done atthe new penitentiary
in Benner township this kind of weather,
but thesixty-one prisoners there now are
kept employed looking after the :tem-
porary penitentiary buildings; the power,
heat and light house and doing work at
the various barns on the penitentiary
farms. While nothing has so far been
done on the erection of the main prison
buildings, it is expected that considerable
headway on these will be made next
summer.
| ——Subscribe for the WATCHMAN.
BELLEFONTE, PA.. JANUARY 16, 1914.
! The Legislation Should be Enacted.
| The Republicans in Congress appear to
_ be on the verge of hysteria because the
Postoffice Appropriation bill contains a
i clause that will exempt assistant post-
masters from the classified list. There
are about 2400 of these officials in the
country and the salaries vary between
$1200 and $2500 annually. They were
put in the classified list during the TAFT
| administration, in anticipation, no doubt,
| of the political results which followed in
| 1912, Other postoffice employees have
been under civll service protection for
many years, and there is no disposition
to interfere with them. But it is held by
the majority in Congress that a palpable
political trick ought to be defeated.
The office of assistant postmaster is a
peculiarly confidential one. Except in
the very large cities the law provides no
confidential clerk or secretary for the
| postmaster. For this reason the assist-
ant postmaster assumes this relation to
the chief. In case of the absence or ill-
ness of the postmaster, moreover, the
assistant fills his place and the principal
is responsible for his actions. If he is
dishonest he has every opportunity to
loot the office and the postmaster must
make good any losses in consequence of
his unfitness or other delinquency. In
other words his services are essentially
personal and the selection of such an of-
ficial ought to be left to the man respon-
sible.
If the President, in the exercise of his
power to extend the classified service,
should order that the secretaries of Sen-
ators and Congressmen should be pro-
tected in their tenure by civil service
rules, Republican Congressmen would
justly protest. It would be subversive of
the very spirit of liberty. Even if an at-
tempt were made to put the secretaries
and clerks of Congressional committees
in‘the classified service there would be
just cause for complaint. But the secre-
taries of Senators and clerks of commit-
tees are in no more confidential relation
with their chiefs than the assistant
stmasters. For this reason the pro-
d legislation should be enacted.
——New York bankers insist on a
regional bank in that city big enough to
dominate all the other banks of that
kind. They forget that the purpose of
the regional banksis to prevent just that
sort of domination. No bank ought to
have such power over the finances of the
country and if the Owen-Glass currency
bill is properly administered no bank will
have such power.
Solution of the Problem.
The Progressive orchestra has at last
struck a note that promises harmony. It
has sounded a call which will lure toward
the band wagon. It has started a boom
for Boss FLINN for Governor. Out of
the western end of the State come these
glad tidings with the assurance that
“BARKIS is willin,”” as if that were nec-
essary. Mr. FLINN “will not announce
himself,” the statement adds, “until he
has had opportunity to learn conditions
in the Progressive conference at Harris-
burg,” in session at this writing, but we
assume that the announcement will be
forthcoming. The leaders have too much
respect for his vast bank balance to lose
an opportunity to tap it.
Really the nomination of Boss FLINN
is the only solution of the Progressive
problem. Possibly he would prefer the
Senatorial toga, as he has been studying
rhetoric and practicing oratory for some
years. But GIFFORD PINCHOTT, another
very rich and fairly liberal professor of
the faith has set his heart on that
“trophy,” and his long continued and
intimate relations with ROOSEVELT makes
his disappointment hazardous. Besides
the office of Governor is no mean station
and a Governor who is both eloquent and
garrulous has plenty of chances for lip
service. For that reason it may be as-
sumed that Boss FLINN will be entirely
willing to assume the office of chief
magistrate of Pennsylvania.
And if Boss FLINN were nominated for
the office of Governor, what a carnival
the camp followers might indulge. In
the interest of another he is said to have
spent nearly a quarter of a million dol-
lars in the campaign of 1912 and during
the campaign of last year, when he had
no direct personal interest in the result,
he paid nearly all the costs. If he is thus
liberal when personal considerations are
absent what might he not doin the event
that nearly all the advantage would ac-
crue to himself? Obviously “BILL” is
the man for Governor. Clearly his nomi-
nation is the solution of the problem.
——The Mexican General VILLA who
ordered the execution, without trial, of
300 prisoners of war, the other day, is
“cherishing up wrath against the day of
wrath.” No settlement of the Mexican
trouble will be just that does not involve
the punishment of that fiend for murder.
| cember 1st, the duty on woolen cloth
LL
NO. 3
The Cost of Roads.
From the Philadelphia Record. a
The average cost of the roads this
State began to make between thyce aiid
our years ago compares favorably
the cost of roads in New York, and we
trust that no investigation here will ever
disclose the grafting that ‘has been sys-
tematically practiced there for many
years. Of the quality of the work done;
of course, no financial statement gives
any idea whatever. There is no work
where honest inspection is so important
as in road-making, for nowhere else can
skimping and the substitution of inferior
materials be so readily concealed.
In looking into the cost of highway
work Auditor General Powell divided it
into four groups, the percentage con:
tracts, the national roads, rcads made
under the Sproul law and State aid roads.
The average expenditure under the per-
centage contracts has been only 3
and on the national roads about $13,400.
The Sproul roads have cost $21,000 a
mile, and the cost of State aid roads has
been about $12,800 a mile. ei
Except in the case of the Sproul roads
these figures are not high enough to
raise a presumption. of extravagance.
Yet costs of more than $10,000 a mile
upon roadbeds already in existence de-
serve to be pretty carefully scrutinized
in view of the report that Michigan is
getting concrete roads for about that fig-
ure and the fact that this city gets as-
phalt streets made in small pieces for $2
and $2.10 per square yard. A
Certainly the cost of what are called
the Sproul roads suggests the making of
grand boulevards, and some of the costs
in this vicinity come up toward the im-
posing figures of that group of highways.
For example, 9.61 miles of road from
Warminster to Buckingham cost $19,720
a mile, 3.57 miles from Media to the
bridge over Chester creek cost $18,776 a
mile, and 2.71 miles near Bethayres cost
$18,715 a mile. :
_ Of the roads contracted for from 1910
to the present there are 267 miles which
have cost, or will cost, $13,900a mile, but
if we leave out the ‘so-called percentage
contracts we have 167 milés; that have.
cost nearly three millions, an averagete
more than $17,700 a mile. A mile of
asphalt, five yards wide, and laid on a
concrete base, would’ cost only ‘$18,400.
The improvement of our roads is ‘a ne:
cessity, but it demands technical skill,
rigid economy and supervision and thé
complete divorce of public works from
politics. i Bo
Cruel and ©
From the New York World. » % ;
John Wanamaker’s view that “the per-
son who sees nothing but disaster ahead
is not a true American,” and that “the
breeders of panic ought to be deported,”
is no doubt conceived in an admirable
spirit, but as a judgment to be execut-
ed we must protest against it as cruel
and unnecessary. i ‘
Our leading panic-breeders as lately
developed include such men as “Uncle
Joe” Cannon, James R. Mann and his
Republican following in the House, Mr.
Gallinger and the Old Guard in and out
of the Senate. They are men who" have
been long with us. They have at times
been the government of the United
States, and if all the time they have held
themselves as essential to the govern-
ment, for the prosperity and greatness of
the nation, the country at large is par-
tially responsible. Some of them are re-
ally too old to be deported, and for the
others there is yet reason to hope they
may in time become industrious and use-
ful citizens who will not try to breed pan-
ic whenever the government is taken
away from them. :
We ask that they be given another tri-
al under more careful watching in recol-
lection of how well the same treatment
worked with the old-time Federalists. It
is a serious matter to think of deporting
the whole leadership of a once great po-
litical party.
Challenging a Test. .
From the Hartford Times.
This story comes from Pennsylvania.
A young man desired to marry a young
woman. Her father doubted the youth's
desirability. He loaned him $1,000 with
the challenge to transform it into $25,000
within two years. He transformed it
into $125,000. Glorious vouth! Ring the
joy bells! i gg
Exploits such as this were once the
prime criterion of worth. Nowadays
there is at hand not a majority but a
multitude to rise up and ask, “Where did
he get it?” Assuming that his courses
were honest, at least to the extent of
being legal, did he profit by the misfor-
tunes of others? Did he create or destroy?
Did his activities contribute to the sum
of welfare? Did he have when he started
a gentle heart and a pure mind and a’
clean soul; and has he preserved them
Sei We know all about the $125,000,
ut—! ’
In these days that Pennsylvania father
is almost so old-fashioned as to be im-
practical.
New Tariff Lowering . Clothing Prices.
From the Boston Herald.
An evening contemporary, usually Re-
publican in its politics, finds from a study
of men’s clothing now on sale that the
prices have actually fallen, as a result of
the new tariff. It allows thatthe after-
Christmas mark-downs ordinarily yield
attractive bargains, but believes these
seasonal effects do not wholly account
for the prevailing prices. : X
The duty on wool was taken off De-
January 1st. Bonded warehouses are
now disgorging thei Scsurmlations, and
prices have dropped. Our contemporary
adds: . “Customers who bought clothes
today had no difficulty in believing ' that
fiey were benefited by the new tariff
aw.”
SPAWLS FROM THE KEYSTONE.
—Leaping from a third story window at the
Westmoreland county home, Miss Kate Milbee,
aged 55, a feeble minded and crippled lady. was
picked up dead.
* —George Moore and a compariion, of Punxsu-
tawney, approached the home of the former, to
see a burglar on the roof. They gave chase but
; | the man eluded them.
—C. E. Palmer, for twenty-three years chief of
police of Punxsutawney, has been re-elected for
the twenty-fourth term, the highest compliment
that could be paid his efficiency. =~
—Four Republican clerks in the State Treas-
ury received notice of their dismissal, to take
effect February 1. State Treasurer Young ‘said
their places were desired for Washington party
men. y ' I
—So close was the escape from death of Henry
Dewalt, at Hughesville grade crossing that the
engine of a passenger train struck a rear wheel
of hisbuggy. He was thrown out but neither
‘he was hurt nor his buggy damaged.
~—Former Judge B. W. Green, of Emporium,
died recently at his home there, aged 65 years,
He was appointed judge of the Clinton-Cameron-
Elk district in 1906 to fill the vacancy caused by
the death of Judge Mayer. He was a prominent
business man at Emporium.
—A bundle of stamps, supposed to have been
stolen from the Mt. Pleasant post office, was
| found under a loose board in the Suterville lock-
up, where the suspect was confined before taken
‘tothe Allegheny county jail. An unsuccessful
effort had been made to burn the stamps. !
—Johnstown anthorities are hunting some clue
to the identity of a man who cut all marks out of
his clothing, left the name of Carl Johnson on
the register at the Lincoln hotel and strangled
himself in his room. He was aged about 55 years
and had considerable money about his clothes.
_—The condition of Roman Dauksza, a Shamo-
kin undertaker, who suffered blood poisoning in
his right arm after he had pierced it witha
needle, while engaged in embalming a body, is
considered unusually serious and it is fearéd
that amputation will be necessarv in order to
save his life.
—Mrs. Tall, a widow woman keeping board-
ers at Latrobe, sent after one of them ina hurry
a few days ago, when a satchel in which she had
$425 left the house at the same time as did Oliver
‘Willis.” When the man was arrested he had $403
of the money, a watch, locket and bracelet. He
was held for court. :
—A fatal accident occurred Wednesday after-
noon near St. Marys, in which W. J. Shaffer, a
brakeman on the Hall and Kaul Lumber com-
pany’s log train, lost his life. While making a
coupling he got caught between the cars and had
his back broken and sustained other internal in_
juries, which caused death.
- —Fines of $100 each, costs and thirty days in
jail were handed out to Louis Brusic and Joseph
Warmus, of Wehrum, by Judge Telford, of Indi-
ana county recently. The men had pleaded
guilty to violation of the mine laws. Judge
Telford thinks the courts should do something
to lessen the number of mine fatalities. r
—Enraged because he was refused the hand of
a nine year old girl in marriage, John Vane, an
Italian track worker of Bellwood, fired two shots
‘into the body of Guian Petroli, father of the
child; and the victim is now in the Altoona hos-
pital, hovering between lifeand death, while the
assailant is ‘at large, with a posse of railroad
police on his trail.
_—The proverbial “ounce of prevention” saved
‘the lives of the family of Mrs. Blaine Parsons, of
Punxsutawney recently. Mrs, Parsons carefully
tasted the contents of a can of salmon, then de-
| cided to give it to the cat. The animal died after
twenty-four hours terrible suffering and the lady
. was thankful she hadn’t included that salmon in .
the family’s menu.
—The Board of Crawford county commission-
ers has decided not to take advantage of thé
Mothers’ Pension act as passed by the last State
Legislature. They claim the present system
used by the board does not involve as much
“red tape” and is more direct. In 1912 this
county expended $7,114 for outdoor relief while
in 1913 the total was $10,000. .
—Should it be necessary for State Treasurer
Young to call in the deposits of State moneys to
keep up the amounts in the daily depositories,
about 225 banks will have to give up sums rang-
ing from $5,000 to $25,000. The deposits will all
be applied to the general fund. There is about
$800,000 in the sinking fund held by 100
banks, but this will not be affected.
—Courts will be asked to settle the muddle in
South Greensburg where there are eight duly
elected council-men instead of the legal seven.
By some mistake the election proclamation call-
ed for six councilmen instead of five and now
there are two organizations, each having elected
a chief of police. Four of the men are Repub-
licans and four are Socialists.
—Six valuable horses, fourteen head of Hol-
stein cattle, with crops, machinery and vehi-
cles, were burned when fire of unknown origin
destroyed the new barn on the farm of W. S. De-
Armitt, in Shaver’s Creek valley. Loss is $5,000
without insurance. Mr. DeArmitt and family
were enjoying a barn dance on a neighboring
farm and found the structure ablaze on their re-
turn.
—That William Lechtenfield, whose body was
found riddled with bullets in Briar Creek tcwn-
ship, Columbia county, December 19th, paid $30
for his own murder is the conclusion announced
by officers who have been working for weeks on
the case. Lechtenfield, they say, furnished the
revolver and bought the cartridges that were to
penetrate his own body. Then, according to the
theory, he hired the assassin to commit the
deed and stood in the bushes while his siayer
shot him.
—There was a thrilling time in Youngwood
while state troopers were. trying to subdue a
maniac. A doctor had been summoned and he
called the troopers. The maniac, who had taken
possession of the house and held everybody at
bay with an ugly knife, could not be persuaded
to drop it until an expert marksman put a bullet
through his wrist. He promptly grabbed the
knife with his left hand, but his hold was not so
firm and he was overpowered. Ammonia fumes
had been tried on him, but without effect.
—Three men were sitting in Jacob Mitchell's
shoemaker shop in Duncansville Saturday after-
noon when Thomas Hamell entered and flour:
ishing a revolver made the declaration that he
intended to shoot one of them. Two of the men
bolted for the door and got out. David Mobley,
aged 18, thinking Hamell was joking, made no
move and was shot through the breast, dying
almost instantly. Hamell ‘ran to the woods but
was captured late Saturday night. He makes
the defense that he thought the revolver was not
loaded. a
—William Dunn, now of Watsontown, was one
of the Pennsylvania emergency men who hustled
south when the battle of Antietam was inpend-
ing, to help fight the Confederates. Although
on the job when his country called, he was ab-
sent from Muncy when a paymaster visited that
place, some time later, to settle with him and
the other members of Captain Lloyd's company.
The others got their money, but when Dunn re-
turned the paymaster had gone. For fifty-one
years Dunn has kept that account receivable in
mind, and now feels that the time to realize upon
it has come. He has written to Auditor General
Powell explaining the circumstances and making
a request for payment, and Powell, who has done
some fighting himself as a soldier of a later war,
~The best Job Work denelhere.
will mail the veteran a voucher and instruct him
how to present his claim in a Jurmal way. J
Wo gi